In 1647 the Massachusetts School Law required every town at least 50 households to maintain a grammar school. The law was the first to mandate public education in America. In the middle colonies at the time, schools were often dependent on religious societies, such as the Quakers and other private organizations. In the South, families employed private tutors or relied on the clergy to conduct education. At the outset, most elementary schools were for boys, but schools for girls were established in the eighteenth century in most cities and large towns.