Historic leaves, volume 3, April, 1904 - January, 1905

This indefinitely designated locality ‘beyond the Neck,’ or ‘outside the peninsula,’ consisting, we see, of distinct communities separated by wide stretches of unsettled or sparsely settled territory, to all appearances, after the vote of May, 1736, amicably portioned out the sums we have quoted above. That each district had a school of its own is not certain, but we are inclined to think it did have one. As yet, there is no mention of schoolhouses, and, although they may have been built by private subscription—little cheap affairs—it is more probable that, for some years, at least, the benefits of education were dispensed in private rooms hired for that purpose. From a study of conditions in some of the neighboring towns, we learn that it was customary, at this period of our history, for the poorer and more sparsely—settled districts to have an itinerant schoolmaster, who devoted himself for a stated period—say a month or six weeks—to one section of the town, and so on until all had been similarly served. The invariable wording of the vote during these first years is for the ‘school,’ not ‘schools,’ outside the Neck, and for the schoolmaster,—singular, not plural. Now it is very certain this school was not held in some central locality, accessible to all. Neither is it supposable that the young people of Milk Row, for instance, traveled to Medford, or those from Medford to Milk Row. The only way left was for the schoolmaster to circulate about, to time his peregrinations so as to suit the convenience of his constituents. Still another way has been suggested, namely, that, after receiving its just share of the appropriation, each section continued its school for the rest of the year at its own expense.

Concerning the teachers of these outlying districts, the records are provokingly silent. We are indebted to them for one name, however, that of Cotton Tufts, who may have taught on Somerville soil, but it is more probable that his labors were confined to the Medford precinct. This is the record:—

‘June 12, 1751, voted to pay Mr. Cotton Tuffts, 76£, old tenor, in full, as schoolmaster and employed by Mr. John Skinner, deceased, one of the committee to regulate the school without the neck.’