"Education: A Debt Due from Present to Future Generations"- George Peabody, 1852

 

  

 

 

PEABODY SCHOOL HISTORY PROJECT

PROJECT SYMBOL - The Endecott Pear Tree

 

The Endecott pear tree, the oldest cultivated fruit bearing tree in New England. It produced fruit for more than two centuries. It was planted in the seventeenth century near the Waters River which today forms the border between Danvers and Peabody. The seed for this tree was brought from England by John Endecott, the earliest land holder in Danvers. As Colonial Governor, Endecott (later Endicott) ordered the establishment of the first free school in the land in 1641. The school was set up in Salem "to educate the children of the state from the treasury of the state."

The illustration of the pear tree used as the symbol of the Peabody School History Project and reprinted as a wallpaper here appears in the "History of the Town of Danvers From Its Early Settlement to the year 1848" by J.W. Hanson. (Published by the author, Printed at the Courier Office, Danvers, 1848).



"Ordered, that a note be published on next Lecture-day, that such as have children to be kept at schoole, would bring their names, and what they will give for one whole year; and also that if anie poor bodie hath children, or a childe, to be put to schoole, and is not able to pay for their schooling, that the towne will pay it by rate." - (Account of Centennial Celebration at Danvers, Mass., 1852)


















 


















John W. Proctor, an early member of the Danvers school committee, commented on Endecott’s order in his address at the town’s Centennial Celebration in 1852. He said, "Hence is the seed whence sprung the free schools of Massachusetts. It contains the germ of freedom itself. Here it was planted on the orchard farm of the Governor….Governors in those days were well employed in looking after the fruits of the field and the children of the household."


"The predominant feeling has long been that it is the bounden duty of the town to carry out the free-school principle first proposed by Endicott – to provide for the complete education of all children, at the public charge, in such manner as their condition in society demands." - John Proctor.


 


 


NOTES:


It is helpful to be aware of the various name changes associated with what is today Peabody, Massachusetts. Ann Birkner, in her book "The Torrent – Peabody Fire Company No. 3", provides a detailed description. "In 1628 when the area was first settled, the boundaries of Naumkeag (Salem) included present day Peabody and Danvers. When the Selectman of Salem wanted to expand the settlement westward in 1635, they offered land grants to those willing to farm the rich pastures and lush green fields of Brooksby. By 1672 the new settlement called Salem Village Parish or The Farmes, was composed of what is now Danvers and about half of today’s Peabody….In February 1710, the people living in that part of Salem Village Parish that is now Peabody petitioned to become a separate parish. This separation occurred on November 10, 1710 when Brooksby was designated as the Middle Precinct of Salem. Brooksby continued to be part of Salem until 1752 when the district of Danvers was incorporated. Peabody then became known as the South Parish and later, as South Danvers. On May 18, 1855 the citizens of South Danvers voted to separate from the Town of Danvers and form their own government. The name remained South Danvers until 1868 when it became Peabody in honor of its most famous son, international banker and financier, George Peabody. The Town of Peabody became a City in 1916." (Peabody Historical Society, Peabody, Mass., 1996)