Joseph Campbell cautioned not to believe a thing just because it is logical—logical is not always true. On the other hand, don’t believe a thing just because it’s sensational—being scintillating and titillating, that is, fun to believe does not make it true. Finally, just as there is urban myth, there is country lore. Myth and lore are always instructive, but that doesn’t make them true either.
Urban myths tend to be scary and even threatening. They seem to tell us, “Beware; be alert; be on guard.” Country lore tends to enhance the vicinity and its residents. Country lore seems to say, “You thought we were rubes, of lesser value than our city cousins, well now hear this.”
One piece of country lore begins: three Supreme Court justices, who served at the same time, were educated in the tiny village of Stockbridge. Translation: the greatness of America began in a little red schoolhouse in a village in Western Massachusetts. Isn’t that impressive? Go Stockbridge—from three Supremes to Nathaniel Hawthorne and Catharine Sedgwick to Norman Rockwell and Erik Erikson – wow! But is all of that true?
Did three justices from Stockbridge serve on the Supreme Court at the same time? Yes
Appointed by Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Johnson Field served on the Supreme Court from 1863 to 1897. Both appointed by Benjamin Harrison, David Josiah Brewer served from 1890 to 1910, and Henry Billings Brown served from 1891 to 1906. One part of the story is true, for six years, 1891 to 1897, these three men served together on the Supreme Court. Were they educated in Stockbridge?
Were all three educated in Stockbridge?
Probably not but it is a logical assumption.
Stockbridge had a dedication to education and built more schools sooner than surrounding towns. John Sergeant, missionary, and Timothy Woodbridge established the first school in Stockbridge two years before incorporation. Called the Old Indian School, it served from 1737 to 1740 when the Government School was established by a grant secured from Boston. The Town was incorporated in 1739.
In 1764 the Plain School was built on (what is today) Sedgwick property. The Plain School is said to be the first industrial school in America offering courses in carpentry, weaving, and agriculture. In 1799 The Old Academy was built on Elm Street (approximately where the old fire house is today). The Old Academy was intended as a college prep school. It educated the young students on the main floor and the older students upstairs. It was a feeder school for Williams College. In the first graduating class at Williams College, 1795, three out of four students were from the Stockbridge school.
The Old Academy served until 1828 when the Stockbridge Academy was built on Main Street. Stockbridge Academy stood until 1842 when a new school, Williams Academy, was built on the same site. The academies were tuition-based schools, but Cyrus Williams gave $3000 (a prodigious sum) to establish scholarships for students who could not afford the tuition but who were recommended by the pastor, the principal, and the school committee. Williams Academy stood from 1842 to 1872 when the new school was built and renamed the Williams Academy and High School. In 1914 the present school replaced the old Williams High School. Since 1828 there has been a school on the same site on Stockbridge Main Street—it is there today but serves as the town offices.
So, were they all educated in Stockbridge?
No, but two out of three ain’t bad.
Stephen Johnson Field was born in 1816. In 1819, when he was three years old, his father, David Dudley, was named pastor of the Congregational Church of Stockbridge. Field was educated in Stockbridge. Field would have started his education at the Old Academy, perhaps in 1821 when he was five years old and stayed until he was fourteen. In the early years, he would have been taught spelling, English, mathematics, and politeness. In 1828 Field would have continued his education at the new Stockbridge Academy on Main Street. He graduated from Williams College in 1837.
Henry Billings Brown was born in 1836 in South Lee. The Brown house was on what is Route 102 today very close to the Stockbridge line. It would have been convenient for Brown to continue a short distance down that road to school. Did Brown cross the line from Lee to Stockbridge and attend the Stockbridge or Williams Academy? We think so, because the Browns were successful merchants who could afford the tuition. Stockbridge offered a prestigious college prep school that fed into Williams College, and Brown graduated from Williams College in 1856.
What about Brewer? Here’s the rub: Brewer was born in 1837 in Smyrna, Asia Minor. However, do not abandon all hope that he attended school in Stockbridge. His mother was Emilia Field, daughter of Reverend David Dudley Field, sister of Stephen, and a true daughter of Stockbridge. Another of her brothers, Henry Martyn Field, wrote that no matter how far a Field wandered, all of them defined home as Stockbridge. Did Emilia Field Brewer send her son back to Stockbridge to school? By the 1840s, when Brewer was school-aged, there certainly was a fine school in Stockbridge.
With his strong Stockbridge connection—uncles, aunts, and grandparents in Stockbridge—it is fair to assume he visited. Did he stay to be educated? We don’t know. It is possible, but when his missionary father and family returned from Asia, they settled in Connecticut. Brewer graduated from Yale not Williams. Still, an argument on either side could be supported.
Either way, Stockbridge retains bragging rights for its three “sons” and for putting education first by first building a school in the little village.
