First Recorded Teacher in Farmington

The first school in Farmington was most likely established about the same time as the church. Puritan codes required one teacher for every settlement of fifty households —  so children could learn to “write plainly and read distinctly” — and a schoolhouse when a settlement grew to 100 houses. There’s a record of a teacher named John James in Farmington in 1685; he received a salary of thirty pounds, with the stipulation that he also fill in for the minister at the pulpit when necessary.