"Marshall Conant succeeded Nicholas Tillinghast in August 1853, first serving as principal pro tempore," wrote Dr. Turner in his introduction to Mr. Conant.

     "On December 16, the board referred the matter of a permanent replacement to Secretary of Education Sears and the executive committee with power to make an appointment, and Mr. Conant was hired permanently as the second principal.

       "Born in Pomfret, Vermont, on January 5, 1801, Principal Conant was the son of Jeremiah and Chloe (Pratt) Conant, who had moved from Bridgewater to Vermont in 1780.

     "He attended district schools and, at an early age, exhibited an interest in mechanics that led him to construct waterwheels and windmills to power devices such as trip hammers and sawmills.

     "His father, a farmer, was also a carpenter, and at age

17, Marshall was apprenticed to this trade, although he quickly decided to become an architect," continued Dr. Turner.

      "To support himself and his family, he began his teaching career in a district school at a salary of $12 per month, although in rural Vermont part of his salary was paid in corn rather than cash.
     "Largely self taught, he acquired works such as Morse’s Large Geography and Pike’s Large Arithmetic, which familiarized him with astronomy, algebra and geometry.

      "The appearance of an 1823 comet reinforced his interest in the study of conic sections and planetary motion. This led him to prepare theoretical tables to compute the time of lunar and solar eclipses, which, to his great pleasure, actually worked.

     "In 1828, he assembled an almanac for 1829, which sold 10,000 copies, an enormous number for that time period.    

      "His almanacs continued to appear through 1834.

       "In 1829, Mr. Conant opened a private school in Woodstock, Vermont, where lacking adequate apparatus and the funds to purchase them, he constructed an electrical machine and astronomical equipment.
     "He also studied both French and Latin and availed himself of the resources of the Dartmouth College library.

       "For a young man of ambition, however, opportunities in Vermont were rather limited.

    "At the age of 33, Mr. Conant came to believe Massachusetts offered many more opportunities for the future: 'I wished

to become better acquainted with her institutions

and share the amenities of a higher intellectual

life.'

     "He, therefore, secured a position as a teacher in Boston at the Boylston Grammar School; this position also provided the opportunity to continue his self study at the Old Atheneum," Dr. Turner said.

     "In 1837, he journeyed to Hillsboro, Illinois, to head a new academy in which his wife also taught.

      "Like Mr. Tillinghast, he was plagued with ill health throughout much of his life. At the age of 18, he had

contracted a severe cold that damaged his lungs,

and while he lived a relatively long life, he never

fully recovered.

    "In that period, doctors often prescribed fresh air as a curative. Therefore, when he returned to Massachusetts in 1841, he took a position as the head of the topographical depart-ment of the Boston Water Works, a job that would

take him outdoors.

     "During his four-year tenure, Mr. Conant made the hydraulic computations for the first water lines being laid out in the city.

      "Subsequently, he became the engineer in charge of constructing the new railroad from Dover, New

Hampshire, to Lake Winnipesaukee, also in New

Hampshire," Dr. Turner wrote.

     "In 1852, he settled in his parents’ hometown of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, as superintendent of the Eagle Cotton Gin Company.
      "As a prominent citizen of Bridgewater, he became acquainted with Mr. Tillinghast, the normal school principal.
    "The two men shared an interest in mathematics, and

their friendship led Mr. Tillinghast to recommend

Mr. Conant to succeed him.

      "While it is fair to state that Conant’s name is not as famous in the annals of education reform as that of Tillinghast, Peirce or Newman, he, nonetheless, played an important transitional role in Bridgewater’s history, considering that when Mr. Tillinghast resigned the school was still very much in its infancy.

     "While Mr. Conant served for only seven years, his principalship was an important bridge between Mr. Tillinghast and the 46-year service of Albert Gardner Boyden.

      "Given his background, Mr. Conant pushed the school in a more scientific direction, although the sciences had not been neglected under the first principal.

      "Between 1840-1850, at least 10 graduates became physicians, while an additional number of students became chemists, apothecaries and engineers, including two who worked for the United States Coastal Survey. Still others taught science in the new high schools and academies that opened in the decades before the Civil War.

    "The 1850s curriculum reveals this emphasis on science and mathematics. During the first term, pupils studied physiology, algebra and geometry, followed in the second term by natural philosophy and finally trigonometry, optics, astronomy, geology

and natural history.

     "Mr. Conant also continued to acquire books for the growing library many of them coming from benefactors. Over the years, the library benefited from the contributions of many prominent donors,

     "By the 1850s, the collection had grown to the

point where Mr. Conant had an alcove constructed to

house both the reference and general library collections.

     "While most of the school’s procedures remained the same under Mr. Conant as they had been with Mr. Tillinghast, there were a few modifications. In 1854, the board voted that there should be two long terms a year rather than three shorter ones, and since students were still required to attend three terms, this had the practical effect of lengthening the school term to one and a half years. The fall term was 21 weeks and the spring term, 19 weeks. The change took effect in March 1855.

     "Mr. Conant helped lay the foundation for future building

expansions, asking Board of Education for appropriation for

enlargement of the schoolhouse.

     "Thus, by 1859, the average state expenditure for the four normal schools was $14,500 per year," concluded Dr. Turner.

       In his profile of Mr. Conant, Dr. Turner goes on to note that after Mr. Conant left Bridgewater, he went to work for the U.S. government in Washington, D.C.

        

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