113 



count ten to thirteen of its graduates, natives of the town, 

 in business as successful teachers, in this and the neigh- 

 boring towns ; * with a corresponding elevation of the 

 habits and manners of the population. Now, with an 

 amount spent for town schools fourfold what it then cost 

 for them and the academy, in the vain attempt to make 

 learned gentlemen and ladies of the whole community, 

 we hear of no teachers from our town schools, and have 

 a deterioration in our manners and morals which I have 

 no disposition to portray. 



The academy stood, and was useful for short terms ot 

 schooling and social purposes, till September, 1870, when 

 it was destroyed by fire. 



To the speaker, who then stood and now stands alone 

 of the original board of trustees, and who had in younger 

 life expended his utmost energies for its erection and sup- 

 port, and experienced and witnessed its usefulness, this 

 was a sad and sickening sight. 



Capt. Benjamin Parker was early elected a trustee, 

 and in 1827 secretary and treasurer, and though an 

 octogenarian like myself, and confined by sickness, has, 

 by his counsel and his vote, rendered essential aid in 

 the re-occupation of this spot, so dear to the memory of 

 a thousand of its alumni and their friends, with a build- 

 ing, larger than its predecessor, in which we have the 

 pleasure of meeting you this day, for scientific purposes, 

 instead of the solitary visit of some of you, who may 

 remember its schools, its lectures, its exhibitions, and its 



*Iu this connection mention may be made of the valuable services of Miss 

 Apphia Spofford, a teacher for fourteen years, and Miss Sarah Tenney, a'teacher 

 for twenty years in the public schools of this and other towns. The first is sister 

 of Dr. Jeremiah Spofford, born July 1, 1796; married Amos J. Tenney, Esq., of 

 Georgetown ; at that town she now resides, his widow. The second is daughter 

 of William and Abigail [Jaques] Tenney, and is now a much respected inhab- 

 itant of this town. 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN. iv 15 



