<\/p>\n
Several years ago on this program I mentioned briefly and rather casually the Eaton School at Norridgewock, which gained wide fame in the last third of the 19th century. I want to tell you more about it tonight.<\/p>\n
In the summer of 1865, only a few months after Lee had surrendered at Appomatox, there came to Norridgewock a young veteran of the Union Army, Hamlin Fairfield Eaton. He had been in many battles during three years of service, and had risen from private to first lieutenant. Eaton had been born in a minister’s family on Mt. Desert Island in 1838 and had been educated at Kents Hill, where he became an excellent student of Latin and Greek, tie never attended college, but he had enjoyed a period of teaching before he entered the army. In fact he nad tried to start a boarding school of his own. So when he arrived in Norridgewock he knew just what he wanted to do. He proposed to start a combination boarding and day school. Receiving cordial encouragement from the people of the village, be bought a large double house on the west side of the river, which even as l.ate as 1865 was the more important part of Norridgewock.<\/p>\n
Norridgewock had earlier supported a Female Academy, but by 1865 its building had been abandoned. Using the double house for his own residence and a dormitory for students, and the abandoned Female Academy for classes, Eaton started his school in October, 1865. The very next year the school obtained more suitable quarters. Money was raised by public subscription, a new building was erected and presented to the town for use of the Eaton School. The school gained wide renown, rather unexpectedly in conservative, slow-to-change Maine, because of Mr. Eaton’s adage, “In teaching, don’t get into a rut.” Hence the program in any particular year in his school was no indication of what the next year’s program would be. Students were so enthusiastic about this novel way of running a school, that parents caught the contagion, and even the head-shaking old timers had to admit that the Eaton School was a success.<\/p>\n
Many a student arrived at the school without ability to read intelligibly, and Eaton saw to it that such a student got persistent drill. His method was oral reading, and the slow reader had to keep reading aloud day after day until he passed the Eaton test of proficiency. From the start singing Was taught as part of the curriculum, and many a pupil, bored with the inveterate parsing of sentences in the grammar class, got relaxation when it came time to sing.<\/p>\n
Mr. Eaton insisted that the same study hours apply to the day students as were required of those who boarded at the school. At 7:30 on every evening except Friday and Sunday, the church bell in the village summoned the boys and girls of the Eaton School to the quiet study hours, and woe betide the luckless one found outside after the last peal of that bell. Mr. Eaton and his fellow teachers so often patrolled the streets to pick up stragglers, few students dared take a chance that they might not get caught.<\/p>\n
Mr. Eaton was enthusiastic about the new game of baseball, and every Saturday morning in spring and fall the boys played the game. The girls, seated in groups on the grass, were the spectators. Another recreation was the May walk. On a chosen for day the whole school went to the Glen or to Sunset Hill for a picnic.<\/p>\n
The Eaton School had no age limits. Pupils of any age could attend, but by 1875, it had become for the most part a regular four-year secondary school, not unlike the public high schools which were then being introduced for the first time in Maine. The first class of six members was graduated in 1870. Besides music, drawing and painting were favorite subjects with the girls. Foreign languages were emphasized. The Eaton School was one of very few in Maine at that time to teach, in addition to Latin and Greek, three modern foreign languages: French, German and Spanish.<\/p>\n
The school attracted many boys from Latin America. Perhaps the most famous was Pelayo Garcia, hero of Elbert Hubbard’s Spanish War classic, tip” Message to Garcia”. At a reunion of alumni, in the 1920’s, long after the school had closed its doors, two sons of the great Garcia attended and were given a conspicuous d ~dely publicized welcome.<\/p>\n
In 1883 Mr. Eaton became attracted by glowing accounts of the boom in the Dakotas. He sold his school and his other Norridgewock property and moved west, where he resided until his death in 1927. He remained fond of his Norridgewock associations and often returned for visits, especially in connection with reunions of the Eaton School alumni. In his last days he said to a-daughter, “Remember, Norridgewock was always my home”.<\/p>\n
After Eaton left the town, his school was conducted for a few years by George Hopkins, but it soon became absorbed into the public school system of Norridgewock.<\/p>\n
In the early days there attended the Eaton School two Mary Hiltons. One was the daughter of James Hilton; the other’s father was Jonas Hilton. To distinguish the two girls, they were called Mary Jim and Mary Jonas. Ii. student of those days who gained later prominence was Nathan Haskell Dole, who attributed his success as a writer to Mr. Eaton’s instruction in composition. Almost every year some one of the numerous Bixbys were enrolled. One of the Bixby girls was responsible for a couplet that went the rounds for several years: “Young men are like the leaves on a tree. The younger they are, the greener they be.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Eaton, who was a stickler for correct grammar, could hardly have approved of the young lady’s grammatical structure. Mr. Eaton took pride in his method of discipline. He laid down no rules. Theoretically, at the Eaton School there were no rules until they were broken. He made most of his pupils feel they were honor bound to behave themselves. But woe betide the fellow who misbehaved. To such a one the friendly, easy-going Eaton became a Tartar. One freshman, after he had been at the school less than a week, remarked: “This is a funny school. There aren’t any rules.”<\/p>\n
A senior at once admonished the puzzled freshman: “You may not see any rules, but I advise you not to act as if there weren’t any.”<\/p>\n
A number of persons who are still living attended the old Eaton School, and they all have fond memories of it. Its fame spread far beyond the borders of Norridgewock, even to the turbulent Caribbean. And, of course, what most of the old students remember is the same as those who have memories of Coburn or of Hebron at that time. A memorable school is always the lengthened shadow of a memorable man. What James Hanson was to Coburn, what William Sargent was to Hebron, Hamlin F. Eaton was to education in Norridgewock eighty years ago.<\/p>\n
Everyone in Norridgewock knows that the town produced several persons who became recognized writers, but none more famous than the woman known as Sophie May. Born in Norridgewock in 1833, Rebecca Clark, who took the pen name of Sophie May, lived all her life in the town, all her adult years in the brick house just under the hill where the old road from Madison approaches the bridge. As a young lady, she was a celebrated beauty, with black curls and dark blue eyes, and a rosy complexion. Graduating from the old Female Academy, she in tended to become a teacher, and in pursuit of that profession made her one sortie away from Norridgewock. She went as a teacher to Evansville, Indiana, but soon returned to her native town, never to leave again except for short visits.<\/p>\n
Just before she left Indiana, a Cincinnati editor asked her for an article about school children. It met with such approval that she decided to leave teaching and make writing her vocation. She proceeded to write so rapidly that she produced no fewer than 42 books for girls. She peopled them with real children. In her stories there were no saintly Little Lord Fauntleroys, no angelic little misses. She created Little Prudy, who sat in her barrel singing, “Sing a song of sink sprout”; and Cousin Horace, who seemed to be the perfect gentleman until he started playing his pranks. Some of her books were for young children, others were for teen-age girls. She tried her hand less successfully at adult novels. Her true forte was the world of children.<\/p>\n
Sophie May died in 1906 at the age of 73, leaving a rich heritage in her many books and in the hearts of her many Norridgewock friends. One of them said of her: “Rebecca’s wit never had the sting of malice. It was a droll, dry humor, not made of sidesplitting jokes. Even when she sat silent in a room full of people, she looked as if she were all ready to say something funny.”<\/p>\n
The record of deaths in the town of Norridgewock from 1828 to 1850 is probably typical of mos~ Maine river towns. Nearly every year someone was drowned. In 1849 John Marshall was killed when a steamboat blew up. Of the diseases that struck down persons between the ages of 15 and 30, the commonest was consumption, called today tuberculosis. The infant mortality rate was astounding. In the period of 22 years before 1850, total deaths over the age of one year were 215. In the same period the infant deaths totaled 126, more than a third of all the deaths in town.<\/p>\n
Some of the recorded causes of adult deaths are interesting.<\/p>\n
Joseph Baker, killed in the woods at the age of 20. Samuel Jones, a lad of 16, killed by the kick of a horse. James Bates, 50, died of delirium tremens. Elias Blackwell, 58, suicide; Stephen Tuckerman, 50, intemperance; William Palmer died in a fit. Frequently the record gives the cause of death as old age, and very often the age given did not exceed 75.<\/p>\n
The designations of some of the deceased persons are worthy of comment. Deacon John Clark, one of the first settlers, age 81. Charles Witherwell, a Revolutionary soldier, age 71. Jacob Cook, a schoolmaster. Nathan Parlin, pensioner. Peter Gilman, the old post rider, age 82. Deacon Soloman Bixby, a worthy man. Richard Sawtelle, former sheriff. Thomas McKechnie, surveyor. Elder Francis Powers, Baptist preacher. Wife of Miles Williams, colored. Two persons of color in Miles Williams’ family.<\/p>\n
In closing let us note some statistics about Norridgewock in 1843, when it was the county seat of Somerset County and a prominent trading center on the Kennebec. The village then had 17 buildings used as stores, shops and offices. It had a commodious court house and an impressive jail. Its total number of dwellings was 236, and it had 378 barns and sheds. In the town were 267 horses and 740 oxen. In its pastures were 1,200 cows and 4,500 sheep. The valuation of real estate was \u00a7200,000. Its people owned 28 pleasure carriages and chaises.<\/p>\n
Year: 1962<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #523, Broadcast on January 28, 1962<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1182,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}