Return of the Schools in the town of Sterling, April 1, 1826. The above is an actual return of the Winter Schools-the numbers added for the Summer Schools is conjectural. Whole number of Males, 396-Females, 348-whole number attending the public schools annually 744. 55 178 10 20 10 75 188 From 14 and up-DN2005 wards. From 7 to 14. Under 7 years. Time of keeping ຜາ B { 14 33834 562 965 keeping2 school in the year. Number of public} school districts. Amount paid for public instruction. 6 $160 08 08 08 88888 6 HISTORY. This place having been incorporated as a town since the American revolution, its local history is blended with that of the other towns from which it was taken. Shrewsbury leg contained but few families when it was annexed to Lancaster. The town of Shrewsbury granted leave for the separation as early as 1752; but such was the repugnance of the inhabitants to leaving their old town that it did not take place until 1768. About that period Dr. Zachariah Harvey* was an influential inhabitant of that part of the town. He gave a lot of land, by deed, for the purpose of a burying field and a school house lot to "the Inhabitants of Shrewsbury leg." That part not occupied for a burying yard, is annually leased, and the rents are applied to the support of the school. Those inhabitants who have been annexed to West Boylston draw their proportion. This is a singular instance, in our state, of a Corporation by prescription. The Leg forms an entire School ward in Sterling, and a part of one in West Boylston. The Mile was probably settled nearly as soon as the other parts of Lancaster; it included a portion of the east Washacum pond. The new grant was the property of the Indians previous to Philip's war. Here was the royal residence of the chiefs of the Nashawoggs. At the time of the grant of Nashua plantation, in 1643, to the English, Sholan, the proprietor, resided on a small eminence between the two great ponds. This interesting spot presents a commanding view of both of those beautiful sheets of water, including many miles of the adjacent country, from the Wachusett range of bills to the Highlands of Boylston and Berlin. The palace probably formed a part of an extensive village. There is a tradition that here formerly were visible, the ruins of an Indian fort; but the vestiges of this rude structure have long since disappeared. Matthew, the nephew and successor of Sholan, resided upon the same spot. Near the base of the hillock runs a small stream through which the waters of the east pond are discharged into those of the west. At the upper end of this rivulet was a weir for the purpose of taking fish, styled in the ancient records, Matthews' weir. It is called the weir to this day, without connecting with it the name of the Sachem, who probably erected it, and ranked it among his most valued possessions. Thus transient is the fame of the family of Princes, when stripped of their people and deprived of their dominions. *The Harvey apple, so famous, was introduced by him. The Indians were fond of English names, although they generally adopted them in addition to their own native appellations. What Matthew's Indian name was, we have not yet ascertained, nor the dates of the commencement and close of his reign. He was succeeded by another nephew of King Sholan, called Sagamore Sam; but his real name was Shoshanim. Under his administration his subjects, probably from their increased intercourse with the white's, departed from the purity and simplicity of their former character. Their numbers diminished to fifteen or sixteen families living in the lowest state of savage debasement and degradation. In the autumn of 1674, the venerable Apostle Eliot accompanied by that unwearied friend of the natives, Gen. Gookin, made a missionary visit to the several Indian villages scattered through the Nipmuc country. When at Boggachoag, they held a court at the house of Harrowaninnit, the principal Sagamore.* They here agreed to send a pious Indian to the backsliding people at Weshakim alias Nashaway. Mr. Gookin addressed an epistle in a truly apostolic style to the Sagamore and his subjects, exhorting them to abstain from their vices, to receive the instructions of the teacher, whom they were about sending among them, and to observe the Sabbath. The same night one of the tribe appeared at the court, where he made a speech with "much affection and great gravity." He expressed a willingness to receive Christianity for himself and others of the tribe, but many of the people were very wicked and disorderly, and he earnestly importuned Mr. Gookin, that he would help them, particularly to suppress the vice of drunkenness. It was proposed to him to accept the office of constable to enable him to suppress the disorders, but he answered that he must first consult the people, and if they would choose him, he would willingly take the trust. The disposition discovered by this little remnant of a tribe, in the war with Philip that broke out the next summer, manifests that these benevolent exertions were not of much avail. TO BE CONTINUED. See 1 Hist. Coll. 1-193. This is Gen. Gookin's method of spelling this word. He is not followed by any of his cotemporaries. They invariably terminate the word in um om or omb, always retaining the sound of u to the vowel. Gookin it is said was a Hebrew scholar, and he probably adopted the termination im in analogy to the idioms of that language. Wechekum signified sea or the larg est collection of water, and Washacum is probably a modification of that word W with an aspirate is sometimes placed in the Indian dialects to signify great or large in the superlative degree. It is difficult to establish an orthography for an unwritten language. Our fathers endeavored to retain the sounds of the pronunciation in the spelling. Thermometrical Register. Days. S. rise. Noon. S. set. 35 39 44 40 43 42 36 43 34 24 32 33 32 34 34 40 36 47 23 55 48 MARCH, 1826. Wind, Weather, &c. N. W.-N.-N. E.-cloudy, rainy. S. E.-E.-E.-rainy, cloudy. N. E.-E.-N. E.-cloudy, foggy, wet. 9. W.-S. W.-W.-rainy, cloudy. N. W.-W.-S. W.-fair, cloudy. S. W.-W.-N. W.-snowy, cloudy, fair. N. W.-N. W.-N.-fair, cloudy. N. E.-E.-E.-cloudy, little snow, rain, hail. S. W.-N. W.-N. W.-cloudy, rainy. S. W.-W.-N. W.-fair, cloudy. TO THE READERS OF THE MAGAZINE. THE Publishers have received a minute and interesting account of the town of Shrewsbury, written by A: H. Ward, Esq. As the length of this article would exceed the size of a number as now published, and as great inconvenience has resulted to the writers, readers, and publishers, from the division of the History of the towns of our County, it is proposed in future, to unite the two semimonthly numbers into one publication, to be delivered on or before the first of each month. Those who are desirous, can receive their numbers as at present. The title page and index of the volume finished by the present number, will be furnished with the next, which will be ornamented with an engraved Portrait of Judge Theodore Sedgewick. |