Daniel Forbes (1789-1871), Buckland, Mass., circa 1860
Item Information
- Title:
- Daniel Forbes (1789-1871), Buckland, Mass., circa 1860
- Description:
-
Teacher Daniel Forbes (1789-1871), also known as Daniel Forbush, was born in Ashfield, Mass. and spent a significant amount of his life in Buckland, Mass. Forbes is said to have begun teaching at the young age of sixteen. He remained a gifted and well respected teacher in the public schools, as well as in the Christian communities in Buckland and Ashfield, his entire life. Author of The History of Buckland 1779-1935, Fannie Shaw Kendrick, writes that Forbes taught ninety-nine terms, usually in select schools. Forbes was also known as a poet and a devoted Christian who loved to pray and study scripture. Forbes served as superintendent of his churches Sunday School and taught weekly Bible studies for many years. Forbes had excellent penmanship and shared this gift with students of his writing classes, which he held in different sections of Buckland. His scholars of penmanship included Mary Lyon (1797-1849), the founder of Mount Holyoke College. In his Buckland Centennial address on 10 September 1879, seventy-five year old Joseph Griswold (1806-1883), a Buckland native and founder of the Griswoldville Manufacturing Company, remembered Forbes: The earliest select school in my memory was taught by Mr. Daniel Forbes, or Forbush, who was called by the boys, little holy Daniel. He was a teacher by nature, mild and pleasant; I never saw a scholar out of place, nor saw him use the ferule or switch; while in Mr. Tobey's school I have the most lively recollection of both. Mr. Forbes kept school in both of my fathers shops, and in his upper hall, also at Mr. Benjamin Carters, and I think in the large shed room of Jabez Brooks. He also taught in the west, south and east part of the town, but perhaps those were exclusively writing schools. He wrote a beautiful, round hand, and in it made out many of the family records of those days oftentimes adding beneath a suitable verse. I have seen Miss Mary Lyon sit behind one of the work benches in my fathers shop, and write and study under his direction. She also wrote that fine, old fashioned round hand, acquired through his copy. O, I revere the memory of Mr. Forbes and Mr. Porter. They did more to lift the young men from ignorance to information than any others I ever knew. [The History of Buckland 1779-1935, by Fanny Shaw Kendrick, pages 227-228 and 281, serves as reference for this description.]
- Date:
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[ca. 1860]
- Format:
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Photographs
- Location:
- Buckland Historical Society
- Collection (local):
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Buckland Historical Society Collection
- Subjects:
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Forbes, Daniel, 1789-1871
Teachers--Massachusetts
Buckland, (Mass.)
Ashfield, (Mass.)
- Places:
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Massachusetts > Franklin (county) > Buckland
Massachusetts > Franklin (county) > Ashfield
- Permalink:
- https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/bk128q980
- Terms of Use:
-
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
- Language:
-
English
- Notes:
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From the collections of the Buckland Historical Society, Inc., P.O. Box 88, Buckland, MA, 01338, http://www.bucklandmasshistory.org/contact/
- Identifier:
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2009-M002
daniel_forbes_1789-1871_buckland_mass_circa_1860
