HISTORY OF THE PRATT FREE SCHOOL

HISTORY OF THE PRATT FREE SCHOOL Messrs. Nathan F, C. Pratt (President), Morrill Robinson (Vice President), Zebulon Pratt (Secretary & Treasurer), Augustus Pratt and Elbridge G. Little. When this was accomplished Titicut Academy ceased to exist and became Pratt Free School, free of tuition to benefit all children over 8 years of age, who lived within the limits of Titicut Parish or 2 ½ mile radius. This would include parts of Bridgewater, Raynham and Lakeville. Certain requirements were placed upon the Trustees. Only interest income from stock could be used to hire teachers or for building repairs and maintenance. Anyone taking charge of the school must read the Bible and open each day with a prayer. No Latin or foreign languages shall be taught. Moses G. Mitchell was the first teacher. At a reunion of graduates in 1912 an alumni association Old postcard picture of Pratt Free School. Endowed was formed in honor of the first teacher at the in 1865 by Enoch Pratt of and North school. From 1900 to 1925 grades 7, 8 & 9 were Middleborough. Note outdoor toilet in rear of taught, with the 6th grade included in 1918-1920. building. Photo of Enoch Pratt, founder, shown in the From 1926 to 1954, grades 7 and 8 were taught. upper right corner. Maximum students in 1919 equaled 33 and a low of 6 in 1931. From 1954 to 1991 the school was used for various grades as needed; third, fourth and fifth The building was originally known as Titicut for some years, then changing to first, second and Academy and incorporated on June 6, 1856, by an third. act of the Legislature. A group of local stockholders contributed $50.00 each to build the schoolhouse and establish an academy that In 1951 by agreement with the Trustees of Pratt would be supported by students and contributions of Free School and the Middleborough School Board, a friends. Students came from the surrounding area to lease was signed renting the building to the Town of study high school and some college level subjects. Middleborough for $200 a year. The Trustees would Zebulon Pratt was instrumental in obtaining the act renovate the building and cover all maintenance of legislature and securing funds for the erection of costs for repairs and upkeep, while the Town would the building. The school remained an academy for staff and operate the school. This agreement lasted nine years, until 1865. for 40 years until 1991. At that time all the small outlying little (red) schoolhouses were closed and children bussed into larger schools, near the center During 1864 the stockholders in Titicut Academy of town. It was easier to administer to a few larger had voted to convey the property to Zebulon's schools, than scattered small ones. cousin, Enoch Pratt of Baltimore, MD, who had expressed a desire to endow the school. Thirty one stockholders surrendered their shares to Enoch Pratt Free School originally held only two large open Pratt, who in turn made them over to a board of rooms - one upstairs and one downstairs. Upstairs trustees with 200 shares of Philadelphia, Wilmington also had a large stage, used for graduations and & Baltimore Railroad Co. stock, whose par value plays staged by local church and community groups was $50.00 and worth $68.00 at the time. The to raise money. When classrooms were renovated to trustees had the building location and over $10,000 make more space, walls were installed to create four to start with. Dr. Morrill Robinson gave shares fully rooms. The existing stage was removed, much to equal to the land value whereon the building stood. the dismay of local residents, many of which had In 1868 and 1873 Enoch Pratt would further endow graduated from that stage. (Curtis-1989) the school with more money and stock, until a total of $25,000 was presented to the trustees (Weston, In February of 1992 the Frederic L. Chamberlain 1906). School, Inc. leased the building. This school is a private, residential school (since 1976) for The act to incorporate the Trustees of the Pratt Free emotionally disturbed and learning disabled School was passed March 16, 1865, by a special adolescents, 11 to 18 years of age. The Act of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Chamberlain School exists for the purpose of Massachusetts. Named as original trustees were providing alternative educational placement for 1

HISTORY OF THE PRATT FREE SCHOOL troubled adolescents. This arrangement with the was only at its infancy stage, Enoch went on to Pratt Free Trustees still exists today. prosper in the hardware trade both in New Jersey and . Both construction nails and From the original Act of Incorporation on March 16, horseshoe nails were brought from to 1865, the charter was amended on March 9, 1899 Baltimore and sold in his store. Although he became and March 11, 1918 by further Acts of the General very prosperous in business, Enoch was shunned by Court. In 1996 The Trustees of the Pratt Free School society. He had joined the unfashionable Unitarian had Cy-Pres amendments filed with the Attorney Church. (Connelly-1981) Eventually he established General, to update the original incorporation in 1865 wholesale iron houses of Pratt & Keith and Enoch with amended By-Laws, so as to modernize certain Pratt and Brother (Isaac Jr.). (Romaine-1969) sections of the incorporation. Today a board of five Trustees still administers the will of the original Enoch became president of the new Farmer's & bequest. By-Laws have been modified to allow Planters Bank and purchased large amounts of women to serve as Trustees. Even though the government bonds. He became a close friend of school is now leased, the Trustees still cover major , who became inspired with Pratt's improvements such as painting, shingling, new fans, gift of the . As a result, in fire alarm systems, etc. Scholarships are awarded 1887, Carnegie started his own project to build a each year to two Middleboro High School graduates. free library for Pittsburgh. In 1906 Carnegie gave Originally the student must have attended Pratt Free $500,000 to the Pratt Library for 20 additional to qualify, but today that requirement is impossible. branches. (Connelly-1981) Enoch Pratt made the largest family fortune and became a great In the early 1950's the school was experiencing philanthropist. He never forgot his North some financial difficulties and Leila Ogden Allen, the Middleborough roots and through the years made boards first female Trustee, must be given credit for the following gifts: rebuilding the trust fund. Each week she met with an investment broker and turned the situation around, 1852 - After the 1852 fire of the North in the following few years before her death in 1975 Congregational Church, Enoch gave $500 for a new (Curtis, 1989). Today after 137 years the Pratt Free bell and clock, $100 toward the organ and $200 Trustees stand on solid ground. toward the parsonage.

When I graduated from Pratt Free School in 1945 1865 - $10,000 to start Pratt Free School. Two there were two grades - seventh and eighth. hundred shares of stock. Plymouth Street School held three grades - first second and third - while Pleasant Street (later 1868 - $10,000 stock certificates to add income to named the Maude DeMaranvile School) had the Pratt Free School for support of a library and fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Each school was one repairs. large open room with one teacher for all three grades. Twenty pupils or less was the usual size 1873 - $4,050 donation to Pratt Free School. (Pratt attending school at one time. There was no running Free Records 1865-1889) water - drinking and wash water was obtained from the pump on the Titicut Green. All schools had 1895 - Additional land for Titicut Parish Cemetery outdoor toilets. I always thought I received a better was purchased by Enoch Pratt, who then deeded education in the smaller schools, since there was over to the Titicut Parish Cemetery six acres and the more personal attention for each student than in the house of Mrs. Otis Pratt. In 1952 this house was larger schools. purchased by Miss Florence Davis, who had it moved down Plymouth Street about a mile for her Enoch Pratt (1808 - 1896) Enoch Pratt was born in residence. This made over eight acres available to the Cemetery for additional burial lots, Indian John North Middleborough on September 10, 1808. His Thomas having donated the original two acres. father, Isaac Pratt, ran a general merchandise and hardware store in Titicut Parish, North 1899 - Substantial contributions to the Middleborough. Isaac imported Swedish and Russian iron, which he made into nails. Working in Middleborough Unitarian Society. This included a lot his father's business and in a Boston hardware for the church around 1889. store, Enoch gained a wealth of experience, at an 1899 - $10,000 in his will endowed for the early age. He left home and arrived in Baltimore, MD Middleborough Public Library. in 1831. Because Maryland's iron and steel industry 2