There are few quaint inscriptions on the gravestones, but there are many original epitaphs which speak of the faith, the hope, the trust of succeeding generations; and, of course, that quaint epitaph which, in slightly varied forms, has attracted the eye and not irreverently amused the mind of many visitors to both European and American cemeteries, appears in this one. It is found on the gravestone of Samuel Metcalf, who died in 1772, and adds another to the almost endless variation showed in expressing the same sentiment : "Stop here, my Friend, and Cast an Eye as you are now so Once was I. as I am now so you must be Prepare for Death and follow me." The burial-place has been gradually developed in the course of a century and a half from a little neglected spot, overgrown with grass, weeds, and brush, into an attractive cemetery, which is under the watchful supervising interest of the inhabitants generally and the particular care of a board of cemetery commissioners. The enclosure has been named Highland Cemetery. In all of the one hundred and sixty-five years of its existence the old burying-ground has never been encroached upon, or the last resting-place of the fathers disturbed. It is believed that, in excavations that have been made in the vicinity, no mortuary relics have ever been brought to view. Neglected it often has been; and, perhaps, in the early time, like English churchyards, it was used for pasture purposes, but desecrated never. No record has been kept of the number of burials in the enclosure; and it must be found in the register of God, not in the record of man." Shall we not cherish the spot where, one by one, at the call of the grim messenger, have been buried the young and the old, the loveliest, the humblest, and the proudest of those who have dwelt within the confines of what we call home? For more than a century the first settlers have been but a memory. The grave even of the first minister is unknown to many of the merry children who pass it daily on their way to school. Until within a very brief period the graves of Revolutionary officers and privates, as well as soldiers in the second war with Great Britain and in the late Rebellion, were alike unmarked. But now on each recurring Memorial Day the members of the Grand Army of the Republic place flowers over the silent dust of both the makers and defenders of the nation. In the years that have passed, "on how many hundred hearts has fallen the sound of the dropping clay upon the coffin-lid! What floods of parental tears have moistened that soil, for babes torn away from supporting arms, or sons and daughters cut off in youth's bright hour of promise! Parents lamented, lovers parted, wives and husbands sundered, all the sad possibilities of grief and separation have hundreds of times been experienced within those narrow precincts." CHAPTER XVI. SCHOOLS. FIRST SCHOOLHOUSE - DAME SCHOOL APPROPRIATION FOR FIRST WOMAN TEACHER-NEW ENGLAND SCHOOLS PRIMER REQUIRED STUDIES NEW SCHOOLHOUSE SCHOOL COMMITTEE SUPERINTENDENT FIRST FREE SCHOOL SCHOOL - COLLEGE GRADUATES. Still sits the schoolhouse by the road, A ragged beggar sunning; Around it still the sumachs grow, And blackberry vines are running. WHITTIER. In Dedham was perhaps the first colonial town to establish a free school supported by general taxation. 1644 the town set up a free school, built a schoolhouse, and supported the school by a general tax. Other schools had been established in Massachusetts, but none were wholly supported by taxation. The Dedham school was practical from the start, and gave elementary instruction in English, writing, and arithmetic. The instruction in penmanship was thorough, and included the art of making and mending quill-pens. After the first settlers had passed away, the cause of education languished for a time; but a thorough study of the town records shows that this period was not of long duration. It is impossible to determine just when the first school was opened in the Springfield Parish. Before even the precinct was formed, the scattered settlers demanded school privileges for their children. There was a genuine dame school located on Main Street, near the residence of H. R. Stevens, which may have been the first school. These early dame schools are of interest, where the dame, busy with sewing, knitting, or weaving, taught the little children their letters and told them stories from the Bible. "Her room is small, they cannot widely stray; The dame school appeals to our imagination, and shows the earliest of many steps from which the present school system has been evolved. The demand for schools was met by the town for many years in the "moving school," which was kept by a master for a few weeks in different parts of the town, as appointed by the selectmen. Small schoolhouses were sometimes erected by individuals. The earliest Dover records show the existence of such a schoolhouse, which was situated on Haven Street, not far from the house of George Ellis Chickering. It was a peculiarity of these early schools that the boys were obliged to furnish the wood in winter; and, if the parents sent logs too large to be used in the open fireplaces, the boys had to cut them up. The first separate appropriation for schools in the Springfield Precinct was made by the town of Dedham in 1726, when it appropriated five pounds to support |
