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A
synopsis of a paper
by
CHARLES F. BEESTON
DEALING with early educational
facilities in Kent County, Mr. Beeston says:
"The settlers in those days worked
under what was entitled ‘The
Common Schools Act of 1816.' Its principal provisions were that it
authorized the inhabitants of any locality to convene a meeting at which
provision might be made for building or providing a school house, securing
the necessary number of scholars (twenty or more), providing for the
salaries of teachers, and electing three trustees for
the management of the school."
"Having formed a section
and built a school house, the most
pressing difficulty was that of obtaining a teacher, almost all males, and
very often although men of some intelligence, ability and acquirements,
many of them were drifters, of indifferent character, and morals, the
salaries offered being too small to attract men of a better class, and
small as they were, were very difficult to collect in specie. The system
of boarding them around in the houses of the settlers for short periods
necessitated, very often, the travelling of long distances to and from the
schools, giving no sort of permanent home life, comfort or companionship.
The system, too, of keeping the schools open during the winter months
only, offering no continuance of employment, sent teachers away in the
spring, generally never to return, giving the section trustees the
difficulty over and over again of obtaining others. Then, again, there
were no authorized text books, or
system of teaching, each teacher pursued the plan that seemed best to
himself, or no plan at all. Each child brought what books he or she had,
often one book or slate doing duty for several scholars. Blackboards were
almost unknown, and the small appliances of ink, pencils and paper
difficult to procure. The only appliance that seemed to be in profusion
was that substitute for the cane known as the ‘blue beech gad’ and that
was a great deal too much in evidence."
Mr. Beeston mentions three early
schools . . . one in Raleigh
Township about two miles eastward of the line known as Drake Road, on the
old Dolsen lot . . . another where the
present Bloomfield schoolhouse now stands, partitioned off from the part
in which dwelt a family and another across the river on the Dover side
near Thornbury Cottage, Sheriff Foot’s home
. . . this latter was first a log school,
replaced later by a frame building, and finally
replaced by a brick structure on the second concession.
On January 1,
1842, the "Educational Bill" came into force
and under this Act we find that on March 5, the Harwich School
Commissioners met and defined the sections for that Township, the number
being ten, so it would appear that at that time schools were becoming more
numerous. About this time, the salary to male teachers was $200. per year
with board, and $250. without. To
females $130. with board and $150,
without.
The first common school in Chatham
was on the present site of Central School. There were other schools in
town, private schools for little girls, although some took small boys
also. One of these schools was kept by two sisters, the Misses Pratt, in a
house where Harrison Hall now stands, another was conducted by a Miss
Scott.
After the passing of the Ryerson Act
in 1850 municipalities had power, under certain conditions, to establish
Grammar schools. The first Grammar school in Chatham was held in one of
the jury rooms in the Court House under the direction of the Reverend Dr.
Jameson, a scholar and disciplinarian. |
