In 1827, when the school house shown here was two years old, it served seventy pupils between the ages of five and twenty-one. They studied the three R's at the lower levels, with geography and English grammar replacing reading and writing as they grew older. Rudimentary as this may seem, it was a big step beyond the rural, one-room school house. There were very few academies in the Eastern Townships at this time, partly because the settlers could not afford to forego the labour of their older children and partly because the only government grants available were through the Royal Institution of Learning. As former New Englanders, most of the Townships' residents were religious dissenters who resented the Royal Institution's affiliations with the Church of England. Hatley and Stanstead Townships did not build academies until 1829 when government grants became available for schools not under the control of the Royal Institution. Previously, local students who attended school beyond the elementary level had to go to New England. Eaton's settlers were more pragmatic. Their first resident minister, who also acted as teacher, served both the Congregationalists and the Presbyterians, then became an Episcopalian (Anglican) around 1820 in order to draw a salary from the Royal Institution The school house in the photograph is now a museum.
After many years teaching in the Eastern Townships and Vermont the author Cyrus Thomas maintained a low opinion of the school facilities in 1880:
Almost every other building, public or private, displays in its architecture the progress of wealth and intelligence; but the educational institution gives little evidence of general prosperity. It would almost seem as if people imagine that during the hours the children are at school they are in an abnormal condition, not requiring any of those comforts which are so necessary for their enjoyment while at home. Rarely, indeed, do we find a country school supplied with curtains, and still more rarely do we find one, or even an academy, supplied with water. In many instances, to keep out the blinding rays of the sun, the teacher resorts to newspapers, or perhaps, if possessed of sufficient courage and energy, he produces curtains of more durable fabric with money raised by subscription.
