History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

182 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [1'50.
and an allowance voted for schools in tlie second precinct
and in the remote parts of the first precinct. In 1752,
English schools were established at Pascommuck and at
Bartlett's Mill, and an nsher provided for the grammar
school, to assist "Mr. Street in teaching reading and Avriting."
It was also voted that a separate room should be
provided for the nsher. Here was another forward step.
The "nsher," apparently more competent than the "assistant,"
who had tanght nnder the eye of the head-master,
was to keep an independent school, in reality forming two
schools at the center. A room was hired for the nsher in
the honse of Samnel Jndd on Pleasant Street. There was
still a strong party in favor of a new school-honse at the
center, and the proposition to bnild one there was defeated
by a majority of only three votes the same year.
Girls Excluded from In tliis agitation of the school question
the Public Schools. j^q reference has been made to the edncation
of girls, the accepted inference being
that their schooling was neglected because they were not
admitted to the town schools. The first schools in New
England were not free. Only a portion of the master's
salary was paid by the town ; the rest, as many facts already
cited abundantly prove, was collected of the parents.
While the education of boys was amply provided for, that
of the girls, left to their parents, was by no means
neglected. Though some of the wealthier citizens, like
Col. Stoddard, educated their daughters in Boston, private
schools for girls were kept at the houses of the inhabitants
in all sections of the town. The girls within certain limits
would gather at one of the farm-houses, and the wife or
some other member of the family was paid for teaching
them. Co-education of the sexes was as slow in coming
into practice in primitive schools as it has been in more
modern days in colleges and scientific institutions. No
attempt to admit girls into the town schools was made for
more than a quarter of a century.
Bills of Credit De- So great had been the depreciation of Bills
preciatiug. of Credit that in 1747, action was taken
upon the matter in town-meeting. "The
Question Was put, whether the Town will take Something