Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 2.

That the school as first established was of a very elementary character is certain; that later it became of higher grade likewise seems as certain from the indirect evidence. In the eulogy of Gov. John Brooks delivered before the Massachusetts Medical Society by Dr. John Dixwell, quoted in Brooks' ‘History of Medford,’ he says: ‘Dr. Tufts observed the anxiety of the mother to elevate her son to a superior station in life, and encouraged her to give him as good an education as their finances would permit. He was accordingly placed at the town school, where he was taught the rudiments of science and the Latin and Greek languages. Such was his proficiency in his scholastic studies, etc., that he secured the friendship of Dr. Tufts, who took him into his family at the age of fourteen to educate him for his profession.’ These subjects were taught in our school, then, before 1766. Dr. Brooks was born in Charlestown, Symmes Corner, in 1752, but this had become a part of Medford in 1754, so the town school referred to must have been our own, and not that of Charlestown. The school must by this time have lost its elementary character as indicated by the early votes previous to the town owning its building, and have assumed that of a grammar school or one fitting for college. When this change was made we have no means of knowing with definiteness, but the evidence from the amount of salary paid the masters, and the increase in length of the school-year, would place it not far from the time when the town built its first schoolhouse, in 1732. Medford has always been a law-abiding place and she probably complied with the law requiring towns of one hundred families to support such an advanced school. The teachers in this first school-house were all college graduates, as well as most of those in the second building. This statement is made with positiveness,