Excerpt from Henry S. Nourse’s “History of the Town of Harvard Massachusetts 1732–1893,” written in 1894.

It will be of interest to discover what educational opportunities were offered the builders of the town of Harvard, and who were the school-masters that taught them. We shall find that their privileges were greater than might be anticipated, both in the time given to instruction and in the character of the instructors.

. . . the town was sharply warned of its obligation to maintain a regular grammar school—with requirements which correspond to those of our high-schools—as early as December, 1715. ... the town fathers appeal to the court as follows:

We would crave leave further to acquaint your honors that we are humbly of the opinion that we are scarcely liable to presentment for we have but very lately had the number of families the law requires, and a considerable number of them are either single persons, widows, or poor families noways able to contribute to the charge nor yet subsist without reliefe, therefore humble pray that no fine may be imposed upon us, nor be as yet enjoined to be constantly provided with grammer schoole master, but that a writing schoole may answer till our number be increased.

Nothing was said in this appeal about the hazards attending the sending of children to school, but only a year before a complaint had gone to the council that a band of Indians frequented the country about Washacum [near Sterling], stole corn from their fields, killed their horses in the wood—”being a terror to the women and children for fear of some ill design.”

It appears then that the youth of the community around Bare Hill were instructed for about 12 weeks in each year, by some student, at the most enthusiastic period of his life, fresh from a collegiate course. This custom of employing young university graduates as teachers prevailed throughout Massachusetts towns, and was one potent cause of the superiority of her schools and scholarship. No better plan could have been devised for the discovery and development of the genius or special talents everywhere awaiting the Ithuriel touch of encouragement and sympathetic help to awaken their dormant powers for usefulness.

The duty of providing for the instruction of their children engaged the attention of the citizens assembled in town-meeting April 1, 1734. Twenty pounds were then voted for a school, and it was ordered that the town should be divided into four districts. It was also voted to build four school-houses, each 20 by 15 feet in plan, and permission was given the rate-payers to select to which district their school tax should be paid.

At first the selectmen were instructed to procure the schoolmaster and “place him in which Quarter they please,” but in November 1737, it was “voted that each Quarter of the Town be empowered to chuse their own Schoolmaster.” There was some friction, unrecorded, for the vote to build a school-house in each quarter was reconsidered October 12, 1737. It was not until January 10, 1738, that the selectmen reported their division of the town into quarters. The districts were outlined as follows: Barehill Quarter, Still River Quarter, Old Mill Quarter; and Oakhill Quarter.

The town was presented to the grand jury in 1739 for not being provided with a school according to law, and on May 16 of that year voted to have a school at the meeting-house. January 7, 1740, a special town-meeting came to the following settlement of a school system: Voted, to have the School for the futer in the quarters; that each quarter shall have a quarter of the money spent in Schooling among themselves, as it shall be granted from time to time; that each quarter shall find or build a convenient house to keep the school in; that the Selectmen shall have full power to order the School in each quarter from time to time—it is to be understood that if one quarter has the school in a good time, then to have it next in time not so good, as it shall be judged the the Selectmen who are fully Impowred to manage said affair; that if any quarter neglects to build or procure a Convenient House to keep the School in, when it comes to their turn the School shall be kept in the next quarter whose turn it would be.

275 Years of a Town:  In June 1732, the town of Harvard incorporated within the colony, after nearly 100 years of settlement in the area and several years of petitions, objections, and re-petitions to the legislature. To celebrate this milestone, the Press is running extracts from Henry S. Nourse’s History of the Town of Harvard Massachusetts 1732–1893.