Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 9.djvu/355

Rh to education in Lowell, In 1822, there were two schoolhouses within the territory, one near the pound, the other near the stone house at Pawtucket Falls. The Merrimack Company soon after its organization built a schoolhouse on Merrimack Street and paid the teacher. The Reverend Theodore Edson had

charge of the school. Joel Lewis was the first male teacher. Alfred V. Bassett was the second. In 1829, the school had one hundred and sixty-five pupils. In 1834. the school was divided. The High School building on Kirk Street was erected in 1840. and remodeled in 1867. Charles C. Chase was teacher from 1845 to 1883. He was succeeded by Frank F. Coburn, the present teacher.

After the log chapel presided over by the Indian Samuel had fallen into decay, a century and a half passed before another place of worship was erected within the limits of Lowell. In December, 1822, a committee was appointed by the Merrimack Corporation to build a suitable church, and in April, 1824, the sum of nine thousand dollars was appropriated for the purpose. The church was organized February 24, 1824, as "The Merrimack Religious Society," and the Episcopal form of