Document text
STATE
NAME OF WORKER
ADDRESS
DATE OF INTERVIEW
SUBJECT
NAME OF INFORIANT
ADDRESS
Ella Bartlett
Paper 6
MASSACHUSETTS
LOUISE G. BASSETT
BROOKFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
JULY 15, 1939
LIVING LORE
ELLA BARTLETT
BROOKFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Names Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Ella. Bartlett
Paper 6
It was a cloudy afternoon with every hint of rain in the air
when I stopped by to see Miss Bartlett. She had been sitting it
the half-light doing the inevitable needlework and appeared more
than glad to see a visitor. 14 sat and chatted, gradually drifting
into "bygone" days.
"Where did you go to school, kiss Ella?" I asked.
"Right here in Brookfield," she quicklyr-eplied.
"No, I mean in what school house did you learn your three 'R's'?"
"Oh, that, why in th' school house almost opposite my old
home, it still stands, yow pass it every time youl go cross th'
river. They held school there up to 'bout ten years ago an' maybe
you don't think there was S. row when th' school committee decided
to close it for good. It should 've been done long before but th'
Over th' River folks always made such a fuss th' school was kept
goin' no sense to it neither.
"Didn't youi ever notice that little school house? You haven't?
That's funny, goodness, I don't see as how youl; could miss it.
"It's a little sort of square house paints not bad yet. Th'
folks over there still give entertainments there that's s'if youl
can call 'em entertainments.
"It only has one room ant a entry where we hung our coats ant
caps 'an tippets, up on little wooden pea. Some of th' pupils
would leave their lunch baskets or boxes out there. I lived so
near I'd run home for my dinner, except once in a while mother
would let me carry mine jest for fun.
-2
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignments Brookfield
Titles Living Lore
Topics Ella Bartlett
Paper 6
wrh' walls of th' room was plaster that was always whitewashed,
they kept 'em lookin' pretty good, too.
"Say, honeLt, do you, really want to hear 'bout it? I don't
want to bore you- 1 but you, know I like to talk about it sometimes
though, its nice to live it all over again once in a while."
The wistfulness of her voice made me want to cry and I hastened
to say Of course I want to hear about it, I welt to hear all you
can rememberliall me everything you feel like telling, I'd love it."
"Well, it was awful unattractive, that room, but I loved it.
There was never but two pictures on th' walls, one of Washington
an' one of Lincoln. Then later on one of th' teacher's brought a
big map an' hung it back of her desk.
"There was a little platform an' till teacher's desk stood on
that an' they had a stiff backed chair to set in like a. kitchen
chair I guess it was a kitchen chair, at that.
'orb' teacher's desk always had books, copy books, an, ink an'
pens an' pencils an' a -globe. VS used to love to twirl that globe
around an' round when teacher wasn't lookin' or was out. They was
always havin' to fix th' standard it was on.
"Course there was our desks two had to set at one desk. Thl
ones in th' back rows was supposed to be th' beat 'cause th' model
)014.,44
boys an' girls was put back there, for theyemselves an' didn't
whisper at least it was thought they didn't. We used to say that
it was mostly teacher's pets that got set there.
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield.
Titles Living Lore Topic: Ella. Bartlett
Paper 6
"There was a big old stove that they burned wood in, one of th'
boy's had to see that th' wood box that stood right beside th' stove, was
kept full. Thl farmers of that district eachbrought their share of
th' wood. They/d dump it in th' yard an, th' boys had to cut it up
in pieces to fit th' stove. They never had to change that stove all
th' years I went to school an' could that old stove heat up. Why,
sometimes that room would be so hot we could harOly breath. Th' boy
who kept th' wood box full got a. dollar, I think it was, at th' end
of each term.
*There was a ventilator in th'eeilin' ant every now ant then
some boy would have to crawl up an' open or shut it. It was supposed
to have a string tied to it but it was always bein' yanked off.
*On one side of th' room was a blackboard an' under it was a
bench so's th' little children could stand on it an, reach th' black-
board, an' on th' opposite side was another long narrow bench. Doesn't
sound very attractive, does it?°
Without waiting for an answer, Ella Bartlett continued her
musing. "We always had women for teachers icept once; he was young
ant th' older girls was all crazy 'bout him an, thought he maa aw-
ful good lookin'. His father was a farmer ant he'd sent this lad to
some academy an' he was teachin' to save enough to go to Harvard.
He was awful polite goodness knows where he 'earned it his
folks wdn't one bit. Anyway, he was all'when we saw him comm' ant we
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Ella Bartlett
Paper 6
was out playin' waitin' for school to begin, we'd, quick, run in ant
when he come in he'd take off his cap an' say, 'Good mornin' children,'
an' then we'd say, 'Good mornin,' sir,' an, then when school was out
in th' afternoon, we'd get on our wraps an' come back in th' room ant
say, 'Good afternoon, teacher,' an, th' girls would curtsey.
aOne time, when school had let out, four or five of us was standint
oy th' side of th' road an, a team come long an'. though we didn't know
th' folks we curtesied an' said, 'Good afternoon,' an' th' woman that
was riain' said, 'What nice manners you children have.' An' after
that you. couldn't keep us from curtesyin, every time we saw any folks.
'Some of our women teachers wan't as polite as he was but they
was cheaper an, we learned 'bout's much jest as much,- I guess, if
th' truth was told. Th' girls was all for havin' men teachers though
but they didn't get tem.
aLookin' back at it now, I wonder how some of those poor women
could have taught us anythint. They always boardedat some farmer's
house, paid 'bout two dollars a week board. They was paid five or
six dollars for teachin' I remember hearin' my mother say. they mostly
had to sleep in a room with one orimo others sometimes three
Of course, th' houses was pig in those days but youi got to remember,
so was the families.
"Another thing I rmember her sayin' was that she knew they must
all hate pork 'cause a kid'd come to school an' say, 'Ma wants you
to coma to dinner cause Pa's jest killed a pig.' They was always
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: =2=114
Topic: illa Bartlett
EMMA
always asked when 'Pa had jest killed a pig'.
"When I first started there wan't a clock in th' school house.
Th, teacher had an hour glass think of that AN HOUR GLASS Then
one day we walked in an' found that my uncle Fred had give th' school
a clock to hang on th' wall. We was all to excited to do much work
that mornin'.
*School started at nine, or about then. It wasn't a crime to be
late those days like it is now. You see children walked to school
sometimes near two miles except in awful deep snow weather, then some
farmer would have his ox sled started out an' he'd collect all till
children along th' way. There'd be two, three men on th' sled 'cause
lots of times snowdrifts would have to be shovelled away.
*They'd get to school with th' sled all full of children, all
shoutin' ant callin'. Pretty soon another sled, from another direction
filled with children would come. School would be real :Short those
days, 'cause we couldn't play out much an, th' folks would want to
come early to take th' children home before it come dark. I always
felt bad that we lived so near th' school I missed beine on those
rides.
oTh' children used to always walk unless th' roads had to be
broken out but they hardly missed a day durin' th' winter. Thl
children, today, think the're killed if they have to walk six blocks.
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topics Ella Bartlett
Paper 6
*Well as I was sayine, school begun around nine oeclick. Some
one was delegated to ring a big dinner bell out the door an' then we'd
tumble in an' get our coats off en set down. Then the teachered read
some of the Bible an' give a prayer. Not long after I started it was
changed, a chapter was taken in the testament an' the pupils who could
read would each read two verses as long as the chapter lasted an'
then we'd all iecite the Lord's Prayer. We didn't have flag salutine
those days. Then out'd come our books an' we'd go at it.
"The A.S.C. class would be the first to get up then the First
Reader, then the Second Reader an' all like that. Th' teacher had a
little bell she'd ring to show each class was through an' then she'd
ring again to show th' time had collie for the next class to do their
best or worst.
'We studied spelline an' jrithmetic an' history an' when we got
old enough, geography. We used to always count on our fingers ant
in summer when some went barefoot you could see toes movine when we
was doin' sums an' you'd knew they was countin' with their toes, too.
"Most ev_rybody had a slate an' if you was real lucky, maybe
you had a double one. We'd have a bottle of soapsuds an' arag to
clean the slates with. We used to put bits of colored paper in the
soapsuds an' make 'em blue or red.
"At first, I went to school six days a week, that is, we went
Names Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Ella Bartlett
Paper 6
from Monday to Saturday noon. We didn't have any vacations icept
between terms. We had three terms a year, the winter one begun right
after Thanksgivinl, that was twelve weeks, then th' spring an' fall
terms had ten weeks a. piece. Sometimes there wastrouble gettin' a
teacher an' we couldn't have any school for a little while. There
want as many pupils in th' summer as in th' winter for th' boys,
'speci,aly th' bis- ones had to help on th' farms.
"Thl smallest children always had four recesses, two in th'
mornin' an' two in th' afternoon. Th' big girls would have fifteen
minutes 'bout ileveh o'click an' then they'd come in an' th' boys
would have fifteen minutes. 14 weren't let go together like they
do now.
"Oh, yes, I've forgot to tell youi 'bout our drinkin,' water.
Two boys would go across th' road to a well over there an, they'd
bring back a big paikfull of water. It was set down on one end
of th' long bench an' every now an' then some one would pass th' pail
around th' school sols we could all get a drink. We'd drink even if
if killed us, any thin' to take time from lessons. We had a dipper or
a tin cup we drunk21
I tried to get a question in out before I could say Jack Robin-
son Miss Ella was off again.
"You know, all th' teachers had a ruler, that they'd use when
Nana: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignments Brookfield
Topic: Ella Bartlett
Paver 6
some of th' scholars was bad. She'd make 'em hold out their hands
an' then she'd whack 'em. Some of 'em would yell 'till you could
hear 'em a mile away an' then some other boys would jest laugh, you
know to show off.
"I've seen a teacher get so mad she'd throw a ruler as quick as
a wink, right at a boy an' mostly nobody could blame her. Then,
sometimes, when two boys Would be whisperin', th'-teacher would
sneak up behind 'em an' knock their heads together before they knew
what had happened. Another punishment was to make you atand in till
corner with your back to th' school or stand on one leg or hold
out your arm straight out it hurts like th' dickens after you've
done it a while.
"Course th' dunce cap was used a long time only it was stopped
before I left school. I always thought it was silly. One thing we
all dreaded was to have to set with a boy or a girl. We always
felt foolish an' guilty though, maybe we wan't th' one to blame.
Then there was havin' your ears boxed, an, oh, yes, we hated this,
too when a girl an' boy had been caught whisperin', to have a
teacher put you up by her desk, an' make th' girl put on th' boys hat
an' th' boy put on th' sunbonnet. My that was awful.
"A thing that used to be hard on th' boys, was to have till
teacher take away their jackknife, sometimes, she'd have as many as
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
a dozen in her desk.
Assignments Brookfield
Topics Ella Bartlett
Paper 6
"I know now we didn't learn much, but I'll say this for our
teachers most of 'em was real serious an' tried hard to teach us, We
had one or two what was careless but th' children would go home an
report things an' th' parents would tell the school committeemen
who always on th' job an' a no good teacher didn't last morein a
tern.
"There was about twenty five or thirty pupils most of till time.
There was only two or three boys whO ever went further then our country
school an' I don't remember one girl goin' away.
"Ly parents wanted me to go to an academy in New York but I was
a fraidy cat. I didn't want to go away from home it was silly of
me an' yet maybe not I don't know.
"As I look at it now, I come to realize how little envy an,
jealousy there was in that little school house. If a girl had any
thin' new a dress or a ribbon or new shoes, we would all get around
her an' look an' sometimes feel the goods an' admire but we weren't
jealous."
"How did you dress when you went to school? Not like the children
do now." I rushed my question before she could draw a breath.
"Wha-a-a-t--like they do now? Well, I guess not, we put on some
clothes. We wore atockin's not these socks :thing like they do today.
Goodness knows our shoes weren't fine but neither was they these flat
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Nil& Bartlett
Paver 6
ugly, ungainly things they put ontheir feet today. Myself I think th'
girls today look awful jest awful.
"We used to dress real cute. Our things was made of print -calico,
or percale or gingham an' was made plain but honestly they was becomin'
an' what a child should wear. No frills or fuss, but neat. An' we
mostly had aprons an' lots of 'am were real fancy an' sweet with a lot
of little ruffles of th' same material or embroiclery.
"That's some -thin' you don't see today, embroidery, at least hardly
ever an' it was real dressy an' helped a lot when it was put on a dress.
We wore checks a lot an' later polka dots was all th' rage. Another
thing our dresses were long enough to hide our knees an' didn t look
as if they'd run out of goods.
"My stockin's was knit at home at first but not for long. We had
quite some outtons on our things. lt was always outtoned up th' back,
sometimes we had hooks an' eyes I don't jest know when snaps come in.
"In th' winter some of th' girls would wear a knitted hood or a
little square maue like a shawl an' in th' summer it was sunbonnet an'
above all things We didn't want to get tanned. These girls today
my land, they look like niggers, some of 'em.
"Th' boys walit so lucky about their clothes as th' girls, they
mostly had suits made out of th' older folks things an' nothinl ever
matched. That is, their pants would be made from one suit an, th'
coat from another an' the vest another. It was surprisin' though how
good th' motherse could make clothes for th' boys out to old things.
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Ella. Bartlett
Paper 6
“Th' boys would only wear overcoats when it was awful cold.
They'd. wear &cep pulled down over their ears an a tippet around
their necks but nary a coat 'till they was forced.
"'You know, we really had lots of happiness in those days. We'd
go a...flan' when there was a crust on th' snow. Most of our sleds was
home,made an' could always hold three or four. They usually had hard
wood runners but some of th' boys would have th' blacksmith put on iron
runner. The sleds went faster with th, iron runners. Th' boy who owned
th' sled would put two or three on th' sled. He always set in th' back
to steer, an' then away we'd go.
“Th' scholars would go snowballin' or slidin' or make snow men
or build forts. I remember one winter some of th' boys got mad at
some of the other boys an' both crowds ouilt a fort for themselves,
great big ones, too, they were. Ant then they made a lot of snowballs
an' soaked 'em in water an' was gettin, ready for a real fight. I
told my mother about it an' she told my father she thought he ought
to do somethin' about it for some boy might get hurt bad.
*He kind -a pooh -hood it but she kept at him so, he told her he'd
keep a eye out an, if they got real bad he'd see that they stopped.
Lots of mothers was worried but th' night before th' fight, it come
real warm an' it thawed an, till forts was like a flood, almost, so
that ended that feud.
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Ella Bartlett
Paper 6
°We played 'fox an' geese' a lot in winter, too. In summer we
played 'tag' ant hide an' seek' ant 'blind man's bluff' an' 411111 gull'
ant 'odd an' even' an' some of th' girls would play ball with th' boys.
"There was a good sized field right by th' aide of th' school
yard. an' it was jest dandy for playin' ball. Th bats was usually
a right shaped piece of wood got off th' wood pile an' the ball was
home made. It'd be made.out of ravelin's from old'stockin's, all wound
together solid ant then it'd be covered with some kind of skin.
"There was a little b rook that run through th' fields emptied
in th' Quafboag river we used to get mud for our mud pies an' sail
little boats an' take good sized empty nut shells ant put little colored
homemade flags stand up in 'am an' put 'am in tilt brook an' bet each
other which one's boat would stand up th' longest.
"We used to play 'horse' a lot out in thl road. We'd some-
times play half a hour before a team would come along. One of th'
boys' mother had let him take a baby high chair an' th' judge would
set in that. Each horse would have a driver of course. All us children
carried string, lots of it in our pockets, for reins. Th' drivers would
play they was in sulky's an' we'd. get our horses all lined up like they
did th' horses at th' fair an' then thl judge would pound on th' chair
with a big stick an' yell 'Go'l an' go we did.
*We played see -saw a lot, too. There was a high fence at thl back
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield.
Topic t Ella Bartlett
Paper
of the school an, every now an' then a new one would have to be put up for
th' boards of th' old one would be gradually pulled down for our see -saw.
*When I think how excited we'd. get blowin' bubbles an' makin' a
loud noise by blowin' up a. bag an' then poppin' it, it doesn't seem true.
*I remember a boy who could crack his knuckles an, make a. loud
sound. It almost made me sick to hear it anl yet it fascinated me, too,
an' I'd always hang around when he did it. He could wiggle his ears
an' pound on his head ant make a sound as if his head was hollow. We
all thought he was very accomplished.
*my goodness. Am I born' you with all my chatter why I don't
believe I've talked so much about the old days in an age. Does me good,
you know and there aren't many folks left I can talk to nowadays. They
just won't listen. Do 'em good if they did. They aren't many like youl*
*Ohl I love hearing about those old times Miss Ella. I'm going
to come back again soon and hear more
my impulsive offer to come back was a shade too enthusiastic. I
hadn't waited to be asked. Miss Ella stiffened and with calm politeness
murmured, "I'm sure I'm always glad to receive guests."
It was my dismissal and I had sense enough to know it, Miss Ella
seamed to regret her voluble afterno_n and I was bowed out with dispatch
and a cool courteousness.