The first meeting of the trustees under the Act of incorporation was held on the second day of April, 1794, at the house of Mr. Joel Abbot, and was continued by several adjournments to the 21st of July following. At this meeting, the arrangements appear to have been completed, or nearly so, for the orderly working of the institution. At this meeting, Mr. Levi Iledge was requested to have a public exhibition on the 4th of July. This is the first notice or intimation on record of his being in office as teacher or preceptor.

First among the early promoters of this literary enterprise stands the name of Zaccheus Wright. His interest in the Academy is evinced by the liberality of his gifts, and the estimation in which he was held is apparent from the fact that he was elected the first president of the board of trustees, and was annually reëlected to that office till 1808, when he declined further service. He died in 1811, highly respected by his fellow-citizens, whom he had long and often served in various capacities. Long after his decease, his name continued to be mentioned with respect, as one of the best and most public-spirited men that Westford had produced. He is said to have been a man of uncommon size, weighing perhaps two hundred and fifty pounds, or even more, yet active and agile, constantly superintending his farm, and capable when occasion called of chasing a flock of sheep as nimbly as the most lithe and youthful of his servants.

Next, perhaps, in prominence among the founders and friends of the Academy, comes James Prescott, Jr. At the time when the Academy was started, he was residing in Westford as a lawyer, but removed early in this century to Groton, where he lived till his death, in 1829. For many years he filled the office of secretary to the trustees, in which he was succeeded by the Rev. Caleb Blake. He was president of the Board from 1815 till 1827, when he declined a reëlection. He was possessed of a strong mind, was a graduate of Harvard College in 1788, was respectable as a scholar, and was a sound lawyer. He continued to take a deep interest in the affairs of the school which he had helped to originate.

Levi Hedge, the first preceptor of the Academy, graduated at Cambridge in 1792, and came to Westford with a high reputation as a scholar, and left the place two years after with an equally high reputation as a teacher. He returned to Cambridge to take the place of a tutor in Harvard College, and after several years was promoted to a professorship of logic and metaphysics. Though not eminent as a writer or thinker, he was somewhat famed as a teacher and disciplinarian. His interest in the Academy never abated. He was chosen a trustee in 1802, and resigned in 1844 in consequence of growing infirmities. It was well known in College that when the annual meeting

of the trustees came, he would give his class a day,- 66 a miss," as they delighted to call it, whilst he enjoyed no less the pleasure of visiting a spot endeared to him by many agreeable associations. In later years he was commonly known as Dr. Hedge, having received the honorary degree of LL. D., which his long service in the cause of letters well merited.

John Abbot, eldest son of John Abbot, one of the original corporators of the Academy, graduated at Harvard University in the class of 1798, a class distinguished for talent, and in which he took a high collegiate rank. He immediately became preceptor of the Academy, and held that place for two years. IIe then studied law, and opened an office in Westford, and soon after was chosen a trustee; and on the decease of Mr. Carver was made treasurer, as before stated, which office he held for fifty years, less three or four months. To his careful management and prudent foresight the institution is chiefly indebted for its present funds. During his long administration, they increased nearly or quite threefold. The Academy had no wealthy patrons, like its neighbor and rival institution, the Academy at Groton, but depended for the increase of its means on small but carefully husbanded accumulations. It was the aim of the treasurer to save something from the annual interest of the funds, to be added to the principal, and almost every year's report showed some increase in their amount. The trustees had implicit confidence in his integrity, fidelity and skill, and rarely interfered, if ever, with his plans. During this long period his services were rendered gratuitously to the institution, whose welfare he had so much at heart; and he will always be remembered as one of its stanchest friends. He was also distinguished as a member of the Masonic Fraternity. He was twice Grand Master of the Royal Arch Chapter of Freemasons of Massachusetts, and in that capacity laid the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument.

It is but proper, in passing, to take some notice of that preceptor whose term of service was the longest of the whole line of teachers. Nahum H. Groce was a native of Sterling, Mass., but his family removed to Salem, He graduated at Cambridge in 1808, and came immediately to Westford as principal of the Academy, and remained in that office till 1822, when he became a farmer in Westford, where he died in 1856. It was his misfortune, at the age of fourteen, to meet with an accident which made him a cripple for life. After years of intense suffering consequent upon this accident, he fitted for College, and, by his own exertions and the aid of friends, worked his way through. His lameness was such as to deprive him of the use of his right foot, and compelled him to use a crutch. It made him morbidly sensitive, perhaps at times irritable. But he was generally liked by

his pupils, to whose instruction he devoted himself with great industry and fidelity. His judgment was clear and penetrating, and he was perfect master of all the branches he attempted to teach. His retiring habits, and critical judgments, and somewhat severe tastes rendered him less popular than some who have preceded and followed him; but he had a higher and well-deserved reputation as a teacher. His school was almost always full. Sometimes he had in one term and at one time sixty or more pupils whom he taught without assistance, or only such aid as he occasionally sought from some of the older and more advanced members of the school. It was not till 1819 or 1820 that he had any regular assistant. About that time Miss Susan Prescott, daughter of the Hon. James Prescott so often mentioned heretofore, was the first female assistant employed in the Academy, and her instructions were confined solely to the female classes. She was justly regarded as an accomplished teacher; but she held that position only two successive summer seasons. She subsequently became the wife of John Wright, Esq., of Lowell, who was also the successor of the late Judge Charles P. Huntington of Boston, as principal of the Academy.

The government and general management of the school is left very much to the principal for the time being, subject, of course, to the supervision and control of the trustees.

The average attendance per term may, perhaps, be stated at fortyfive or fifty. It varies with the seasons, and still more with the popularity of the teachers, as well as with the popularity of neighboring schools and Academies. This latter circumstance has now and long has had a material influence on its prosperity. Whilst many such have been established or opened within the present century, some have flourished and some have not; but the bare multiplication of them has doubtless had some effect to retard the growth of this. It has, however, endeavored to hold on the even tenor of its way, aiming to meet the wishes of its friends and achieve the primal objects of its foundation, undisturbed by jealousies or petty rivalries.

Present Condition.-The Academy is located in Westford Centre, eight miles from Lowell, on a height of land commanding an extensive prospect of beautiful natural scenery. The town is remarkably free from everything which can tempt the young to evil habits and neglect of studies, and is easy of access from all directions by railroad.

Candidates for admission are required to pass a satisfactory examination in reading, spelling, the outlines of political geography, parsing plain English prose, and in written arithmetic through common fractions.

Candidates are admitted to advanced standing if found to be well versed in the past studies of the class they desire to enter. Special attention is given to those who wish to fit for College.

Apparatus.-Apparatus is provided for experiments in natural philosophy and chemistry. There are also outline maps for the use of classes in ancient and modern geography. The school library contains valuable works for reference.

Examinations, Etc.-A public examination of the various classes is held at the close of each term. The rank, deportment and attendance of each scholar, for the term, is then exhibited to parents and visitors. Three written examinations are held during each term.

Expenses.-Tuition for English branches, and ancient and modern anguages, $6 per term. Extra charge is made for instruction in drawing and music. Board, including room and washing, varies from $4 to $5 per week.

50

* Deceased.

WESTFIELD ACADEMY, WESTFIELD.

Compiled from historical address of Hon. Wm. G. BATES, on laying of corner-stone of the new building, July 31, 1857.

The Act of incorporation of Westfield Academy was passed June 17, 1793, with the following preamble:

"Whereas, The encouragement of literature among the rising generation has ever been considered by the wise and good as an object of the most serious attention, and as the prosperity and happiness of a free people greatly depend upon the advantages arising from a pious and learned education," etc.

Means of Support.-The institution received an appropriation from the town of Westfield of £600 ($2,000) in advance of the Act of incorporation, and $1,000 additional was subscribed by the citizens. Subsequently the State set apart a half township of land in the Province of Maine as a grant to the Academy. The proceeds of this grant, with accrued interest, constitutes a considerable part of the present fund of the Academy, and is that which contributed for so long a time to sustain its operations,—the amount raised by the town and contributed by private individuals having been expended in the erection of the original building, which even now gives evidence of great architectural beauty.

In the year 1857 a new building was erected in front and adjoining the edifice. In response to a resolution presented to the board of trustees by Hon. Wm. G. Bates, a circular was addressed to the citizens of Westfield and to former pupils of the institution, soliciting a subscription of $10,000 for the erection of the building and for the repairing of the old structure. The $10,000 was soon raised. At this time the old fund amounted to $5,000. Just previous to this, a bequest of $5,000 had been made to the Academy by Mr. Stephen Harrison, an intelligent, practical farmer, with whom scientific agriculture was a passion, and who desired to elevate the calling to the dig nity of a science. That fund was subsequently increased by the town, in its corporate capacity, in the sum of $5,000, with a view to the establishment of an agricultural department to be connected with the Academy.

A few years since the Academy property was sold to the town, and a High School was established, which is still occupying the buildings and grounds, the Academy itself being in a state of suspension.

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