Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 22.

When I read in a Register of 1915 an account of the school taught by Mr. A. K. Hathaway in Medford, saying that on his death the school was dispersed, I thought of writing to correct that statement. Then I decided to let it pass. Since, in reading an interesting paper in a Register, correcting some errors in former articles concerning records of Medford, I was much impressed by its writer saying that, when possible, mistakes should be rectified. This is my reason for making the correction at this late hour. In the fall of 1859 I became a pupil in Miss Hale's department in Mr. Hathaway's school. [p. 18] After his death a young man taught there; I think his name was Sanders. He was quite unpopular, and was succeeded by D. A. Caldwell. I have, in an old album (that was the day of albums), a quotation written by him in 1861. I did not return to the school after vacation. I met Mr. Caldwell some years after and he told me he was teaching in a Boston school.

In a very interesting paper, mention is made of the house on the corner of Hastings Lane and High street. In 1854 it was occupied by an English family from Canada, William Woods, wife and two daughters, the latter teaching a school. Mrs. H. would remember this school, as she and her sister were pupils there. I can recall sixteen pupils. In the tornado of 1851 a mother and two daughters, Hartigan by name, lived there, and a large piece of slate came through the roof, nearly striking the old lady, who was sitting in an upper room. That incident, added to the death of Mr. Huffmaster, made such an impression on my childish mind that even now I have a perfect horror of a high wind.

At that time there was a door to the house on High street. The one on the lane was used for a school entrance. It had a long shed on the back, and a sloping roof reached to the ground on the Brooks estate, and we used to sit there very often in recess time when we were not playing games in the lane.