USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Sullivan > A history of the town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917, Volume I > Part 48
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"No. 4. Beginning at the north-east corner of Capt. Ellsworth Hubbard's [17[] home farm, and running southerly on the old Patent Line to the town line, thence westerly on the town line to the south-east corner of the town, thence southerly on the town line to the south-east corner of the town, thence bounded south and west on the town line and north by Dis. No. 2. [Obviously the select- men or the clerk blundered curiously in the description of the east line of this district. On the date named, the whole eastern boundary was really on the Patent Line. There was some confusion in their language. In 3d line, " west- erly " should be southerly. Since then a change was made in the eastern line to take in the Stevens or Kemp farm, 165, which was partly in Dis. No. I.]
"No. 5. Bounded south by Dis. No. 2, west and north by the town lines, and east by Dis. No. 3.
" All of which is humbly submitted by your committee .- Samuel Locke, Roswell Osgood, Ellsworth Hubbard."
No. 6, retained for highway purposes, was all that portion of No. 2 which was west of the roads leading past the houses numbered on the map as 228, 229, etc., to 236.
It had been voted, Mar. 10, 1807, to annex the farms of James Sawyer and Joshua Osgood to the Dimick or West District, but in the plan just considered
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the farm of James Sawyer was not included in that district, which for school purposes was a part of No. 2.
These boundary lines proved quite indefinite, in some cases. In 1843, a new division was made, as the following record on the town book will show :
" RECORD of the division of SULLIVAN into SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
" To the select-men of the Town of Sullivan :
" WHEREAS the Town of Sullivan has neglected to divide itself into school districts, according to the law in such cases made and provided, we, the sub- scribers, legal voters of said town, hereby request you forthwith to divide said town into convenient school districts and define their boundaries and cause a record thereof to be made by the Town Clerk according to law.
Sullivan, May 2, 1843.
Harrison Rugg Amos Wardwell
Dexter Spaulding Thomas Winch
Chas. F. Wilson Charles Mason
Chas. Rawson Solomon Esty
C. W. Rawson Asahel Nims
Atwell C. Ellis
Stephen Foster."
Lucius Nims
" Upon the foregoing application, the' subscribers, select-men of the Town of Sullivan, said town having neglected to divide itself into school districts according to law, do order that the territory of this town be divided into five school districts, to be bounded and divided as follows :
" SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. I
" is bounded thus : Beginning at a stake and stones on the town line between Nelson and Sullivan, and between the lands of Nathaniel Osgood and Timothy Buxton [Osgood owned lot 4, range VI., living at 64 of the outside numbers on the map. Buxton owned lot 5, range VI., and lived on the lot. The houses of both men were in Nelson], thence westerly and southerly on the northerly [and western] lines of the lands of said Osgood, to the Warren farm, so-called [Wm. Warren lived at 56], thence on the northerly line of said Warren farm and of Lucius Nims's land [in lot 4, range VIII.], to Charles F. Wilson's land [south part of lot 4, range IX., and north-east of the brook in lower part of lot 4, range X.], thence across said Wilson's land [along the south line of the farm] to the north-east corner of Selim Frost's homestead [where the Woods Brook crosses the old Gilsum line], thence, on the northerly line of said Frost's farm, to the Patent Line, so-called, thence southerly, on the westerly line of said Frost's and Amos Wardwell, Jr.'s [now Hubbard brothers'] farms, on the Patent Line, to a stake and stones, at the corner of Dan. A. Nims's and Ben. Kemp, Jr.'s farms [in west line of lot I, range XII.], thence easterly across said Wardwell's pasture to said Kemp's meadow lot, thence easterly, on the southerly line of said Ward- well's farm to Selim Frost's land [in west line of lot I, range XI.], thence southerly to Roxbury line, thence easterly, on said line of Roxbury, to the south-east cor- ner of Sullivan, thence northerly on Nelson line to the first-mentioned bound, and comprising all the territory within said limits.
" SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2
" is bounded thus : Beginning at a stake and stones, on the town line between
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN.
Keene and Sullivan, south-west of the Gates house [248 on map] so-called, thence north-easterly on the road that leads from Sullivan to Keene by Roswell Osgood's house [247], to a stake and stones, thence east 4 deg. north, across the land of Charles Osgood [whose home was at 246], to a stake and stones, thence across Roswell Osgood's farm, to the north-west corner of David Nims's farm [he lived at 160] thence on the southerly line of said Osgood's farm to James W. Osgood's farm [the latter lived at 167], thence northerly, on the easterly line of said Ros- well Osgood's farm, to Charles Osgood's farm, thence northerly, on the easterly line of said Charles Osgood's farm, to the south-west corner of Joseph Seward's homestead farm [he lived at 99], thence easterly, on the southerly side of said Seward's farm, to Wm. Smith's farm [he lived at 228], thence southerly, on the westerly line of said Smith's farm, to Ellsworth Hubbard's farm [he lived at 171], thence easterly, on the southerly side of said Smith's farm, to the road that leads southerly from I. N. Wardwell's store [231] to Keene, thence northerly on said road to the south line of Joseph Seward's homestead farm, thence easterly, on the southerly line of the farms of Joseph Seward, I. N. Wardwell [232], Josiah Peabody [234], Benjamin Kemp, Jr. [80], Thomas Winch [107], and Charles F. Wilson [64], to the Great Brook, so-called [Spaulding Brook], thence on said brook, by Jacob Spaulding's mill [118], to the place where the brook running from the Chapman Pond empties into the Great Brook, thence westerly, up the Pond Brook to the mouth of the Chapman Pond, thence on the southerly shore of the pond to a stake and stones, thence west 24 min. south, across the land of Seth Nims [then living at 72], 16 rods, to a stake and stones, thence westerly, on the northerly line of Fred. B. Nims's homestead farm [he then lived at 73]> to Ira M. Rawson's farm [who lived at 173], thence southerly, on the westerly line of said Nims, to the south-east corner of said Rawson's farm, thence west on the north line of said F. B. and George W. Nims's farms [latter lived at 104], to Samuel Locke's pasture [in lot 6, range VII.], thence west 12 deg. north across said Locke's land, to James L. Proctor's farm [who lived at 252, but owned land much farther to the north], to a stake and stones, thence across said Proctor's farm to Martin Spaulding's farm [latter lived at 253], to a stake and stones, thence across said Spaulding's farm to an elm tree on the top of the Cummings Hill, so-called [above M. J. Barrett's, 255], thence to Ashley Spaulding's farm [he lived at 255], to a stake and stones, thence across said Spaulding's farm to a stake and stones on the Gilsum line, thence southerly on Gilsum line and Keene line to the first mentioned bound, and comprising all the territory within said limits.
"SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 3
" is bounded thus: Beginning on Nelson line, between the farms of Nathaniel Osgood and Timothy Buxton [Osgood lived at 64 and Buxton about a half mile east of 65 of the outside numbers], thence westerly on the southern line of said Buxton's farm [and thence southerly on the west line of Osgood's], to James Comstock's land [at south-east corner of land of Comstock, who lived at 112], thence westerly on the southern line of said Comstock, to the south-east corner of Ephraim Holt's [115] farm, then westerly on the southern line of said Holt's farm to Calvin Locke's land [Locke lived at 71, but this land was west of the Holt farm], thence westerly on the southerly line of said Locke's land to Charles
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SCHOOLS.
F. Wilson's land [Wilson lived at 64, but his farm reached easterly to the Locke land just mentioned], thence westerly on the south line of said Wilson's land to the Great [Spaulding] Brook, thence northerly on said brook, and the east branch [Great Brook] of said brook, to the north-east corner of Rufus Mason's Seward pasture, so-called [on the Patent Line, east side of lot 10, range XI., Gilsum laying- out], thence northerly [on the Patent Line] to the corner of Gilsum and Stoddard, on the north line of Sullivan, thence easterly, on Stoddard line, to the north-east corner of Sullivan, thence southerly on the line of Stoddard and Nelson, to the first mentioned bound, and comprising all the territory within the limits.
" SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 4
" is bounded thus : Beginning at a stake and stones on the town line between Keene and Sullivan, south-west of the Gates house [248] so-called, thence north- easterly, on the road that leads by Roswell Osgood's house [247] to Keene, to a stake and stones, thence east 4 deg. north, across the land of Charles Osgood [246], to a stake and stones, thence across Roswell Osgood's farm to the north- west corner of David Nims's [160] farm, thence easterly, on the northerly line of David Nims's and Nahum Nims's [159] farms, to James W. Osgood's [167] farm, thence northerly, on the westerly line of said Osgood's farm, to the Nims pasture, so-called, thence northerly, on the westerly line of said Nims pasture, to Joseph Seward's [99] farm, thence easterly, on the northerly line of said pasture, to Wm. Smith's [228] farm, thence southerly, on the easterly line of said Nims pasture, to Ellsworth Hubbard's [171] farm, thence easterly, on the northerly line of said Hubbard's farm, to his north-east corner, on the Patent Line, so-called, thence southerly, on the easterly line of said Hubbard's and Daniel A. Nims's [170] farms, to the road that leads westerly by Amos Wardwell's [25], thence southerly, on the Patent Line, across said Wardwell's land and the east line of Daniel A. Nims's farm, to Benjamin Kemp, Jr.'s [then 165] farm, to a stake and stones on the Patent Line, thence easterly, across Amos Wardwell, Jr.'s pasture, to Ben- jamin Kemp, Jr.'s meadow, thence easterly, on the line of said Kemp and Ward- well, to Selim Frost's land [which was lot I, range XI. of Packersfield laying-out, the two preceding courses being an " east & west " line, a little south of, and parallel with, the north line of lot [, range XII.], thence southerly on the easterly line of said Kemp's land, to Roxbury line, thence westerly, on Roxbury line, to a stake and stones standing on the west side of the road that leads from Sullivan to Roxbury, thence southerly, on Roxbury line, to a stake and stones, it being the corner of Sullivan and, Keene, thence westerly, on the Keene line, to the south-west corner of Sullivan, thence northerly on the Keene line, to the first mentioned bound, and comprising all the territory within said limits.
" SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 5
" is bounded thus : Beginning at the corner of Gilsum and Stoddard, on the north line of Sullivan, thence southerly [on the Patent Line] to the north-east corner of Rufus Mason's Seward pasture [where the Great Brook crosses the Patent Line, at its most northerly crossing], thence southerly, on the east branch of the Great Brook and the Great Brook, to the place where the [Chapman] Pond Brook empties into the Great Brook, thence westerly, up the Pond Brook, to the mouth of the Chapman Pond, thence westerly, on the southern shore of the pond, to a
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN.
stake and stones, thence west 24 min. south 16 rods, across Seth Nims's [72] land, to a stake and stones, thence westerly, on the southerly line of Seth Nims's and Ellsworth Hubbard's meadow lots [Hubbard lived at 171, but owned a meadow here], to Ira M. Rawson's [173] farm, thence southerly, on the easterly line of said Rawson's farm, to the south-east corner of said Rawson's farm, thence west, on the south line of said Rawson's farm, to Samuel Locke's land [in lot 6, range VII.], thence west 12 deg. north, across said Locke's land, to James L. Proctor's [252] farm, to a stake and stones, thence across said farm to Martin Spaulding's [253] farm, to a stake and stones, thence across said Spaulding's farm to an elm tree on top of the Cummings Hill, so-called [just north of 253 and 255], thence to Ashley Spaulding's [255] farm, to a stake and stones, thence across said Spaulding's farm to a stake and stones standing on Gilsum line, thence northerly, on said Gilsum line, to the north-west corner of Sullivan, thence easterly, on said Gilsum line, to the first mentioned bound, and comprising all the territory within said limits.
" Given under our hand, this 5th day of May, A. D. 1843. D. W. Wilson, Joseph Felt, Ephraim Foster, Select-men of Sullivan."
DISTRICT NO. 6
was for highway purposes only, and was that part of No. 2 west of the roads leading past 228, 229, 235, and 236.
We have given these bounds as they are recorded. The language is need- lessly cumbersome and vague. In some cases, as in the west line of No. I, it is really inaccurate, a few words being repeated which have no relevancy to the subject. Our bracketed explanations will help to make the lines clearer to modern residents and strangers. The oldest residents will recognize all of the names here mentioned, which will awaken many memories. In the writer's mind, these farms will always be remembered by the names of the owners mentioned in these descriptions.
Mar. 14, 1848, the town raised 2 per cent. more than the law required for schools, for a county teachers' institute. These teachers' institutes were a feature in the school system of the state for many years. We now have occasional teachers' institutes, which last for a day or perhaps a little longer, for lectures and essays upon school subjects, but the old-time teachers' institute is a thing of the past. These institutes, as a rule, were in session about two weeks. The presiding officer was the County School Commissioner. He employed such assist- ants as he desired and the expenses of the institute were defrayed by a tax upon the towns of the county, levied by the state. The writer of this history attended several sessions of such an institute. They were very profitable to those who attended the sessions, who were usually the teachers of the county or those who intended to become teachers. The instruction was partly by lectures, partly by actual recitations, conducted by the Commissioner or his assistants, the teachers present acting as pupils. This exercise was for the purpose of illustrating to these teachers (or those who proposed to become teachers) the true methods of imparting instruction to youth. From about 1846 to 1851, the towns were per- mitted to raise yearly not over 5 per cent. of the amount required by law to be raised for schools, to promote a teachers' institute. After 1851, for a few years,
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they were required to raise, each year, for promoting a teachers' institute, 3 per cent. of the amount required by law to be raised for schools. These institutes were generally held at Keene, occasionally at some other place (in the spring of 1860, at Westmoreland).
The establishment of the normal school at Plymouth was supposed to sup- ply this instruction in methods, and, for a time, the teachers' institutes dis- appeared. Since 1883, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction has been expected to provide for such an institute in each county once a year. The expenses of these sessions are defrayed by an income derived from the proceeds of a sale of the state public lands which was made in accordance with a joint resolution of the legislature, approved, June 28, 1867. These modern sessions usually last only a day, or, at most, two days. The lectures and papers are interesting, but they do not seem to excite the interest which was felt by those who attended the old-time institutes. Many of our teachers are not graduates of normal schools ; nor could a normal school make a good teacher of one who did not possess the natural aptitude for teaching. There are many " fads and fancies " about methods of teaching, but many of the former methods were much superior to some that are now in vogue. No method of teaching mental arith- metic can be a good substitute for that splendid discipline acquired by a right use of Colburn's mental arithmetic. The old methods of teaching English gram- mar and spelling were probably much better than the methods now in use. The same may be said of geography. The craze for " up-to-date " ideas has had a marked effect upon the degree of thoroughness with which studies are pursued. Practically, the only object of teachers today, in teaching arithmetic, is to teach " how " to do some kinds of number-work quickly, but not at all to teach " why " any particular process has been used. In modern schools, even in colleges, rapid- ity is apparently a greater virtue than thoroughness. The old institutes sought to instruct the teachers how to impart thorough instruction.
Another feature of the old school days was the County School Commissioner. By a law of 1850, such an officer was appointed for each county, by the Governor and Council. The salary for this county was $120 only. He was to devote at least one day to every town of the county, visiting schools, and, on the evening of his visit, delivering a lecture in some public place. It was a great day for the children of the school when the County School Commissioner made the annual visitation. The teachers were nervously anxious that the pupils should do their best. The latter made the greatest possible effort to do so, often reciting lessons which had been the subject of considerable drilling for several days. The work exhibited at such a time was often far from an average specimen of the status of the school. On that day, the Commissioner was accompanied to the schools by the superintending school committee of the town, and, in each district, there was likely to be present a very good attendance of the parents and friends of the pupils.
Since 1867, these County School Commissioners have been replaced by a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, appointed by the Governor and Council. Certain good results have been brought about by the change, especially in securing a certain uniformity in methods of school work, and the return, from all parts of the state, at regular intervals, of the school statistics.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN.
In 1823, Sullivan voted for a committee of three, " to inspect masters and schools both." The custom has prevailed for many years of examining all teachers, by the superintending school committee (or school board), with respect to their intellectual fitness to teach, and they are also required (although it is not always exacted of them) to furnish certificates of good moral character. By a law of 1895, " the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall cause to be held, at such convenient times and places as he may from time to time designate, public examinations of candidates for the position of teacher in the public schools of the state. Such examinations shall test the professional as well as the scholas- tic abilities of candidates, and shall be conducted by such persons and in such manner as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may from time to time desig- nate. Due notice of the time, place, and other conditions of the examinations shall be given in such public manner as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may determine." A certificate of qualifications is given to all who satisfactorily pass examinations in such branches as are required by law to be taught. The certificates are probationary or permanent and indicate the grade of school which the person named is qualified to teach. A list of those who pass is kept in the office of the department of public instruction, and copies, with such information as may be desired, are sent to school boards by request. " The certificates issued under the provisions of this act shall be accepted by school boards in lieu of the personal examination required " by the old law, which is still operative as before in cases where candidates for " the position of teacher " come from another state or have not taken the examination specified in the law of 1895.
Mar. 13, 1855, the homestead of Dauphin Spaulding, 2d, was taken from District No. 2 and annexed to District No. I. Dec. 10, 1880, the homestead of Mason A. Nims was taken from District No. 1, and annexed to District No. 2. The north line of No. I is now as seen on the map.
Mar. 12, 1878, it was voted to furnish each school with a copy of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Formerly, schools were quite destitute of reference books and apparatus. They are now quite generally supplied with dictionaries, maps, charts, and some other conveniences for aiding the pupils in their studies.
The public schools derive certain aid from the state. The Literary Fund was established by an act of June 29, 1821. By the terms of that act, one half of one per cent. of the actual capital stock of every banking institution in the state was levied as a special tax upon the banks. The proceeds of this tax were set apart as a fund, the income of which was to be used in aiding a college established under the auspices of the state. No such college appears to have crystallized. By act of Dec. 3, 1828, it was enacted that this special bank tax should inure to the benefit of the public schools. The Governor, Treasurer, and Secretary of State were to be a board of commissioners to manage the fund. During the month of June, the Treasurer was to distribute to the towns of the state the proceeds of this Literary Fund, in proportion to the then existing apportionment of public taxes. In 1848, the law of distribution was changed and based upon the number of children in each town of not less than four years of age, who had attended school not less than two weeks. Still later, the age was fixed at tive years. Finally, a new law, now in force, was passed, with reference to the Liter- ary Fund, according to which : " All taxes collected by the state upon the deposits,
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stock, and attending accumulations of depositors and stockholders of savings banks, trust companies, loan and trust companies, loan and banking companies, building and loan associations, and other similar corporations, who do not reside in this state, or whose residence is unknown, shall be known as the 'Literary Fund'." The state treasurer annually, in November, distributes the proceeds of the aforenamed tax to the different towns, in proportion to the number of pupils of not less than five years of age, who have attended school not less than two weeks the previous year, according to the official reports. Sullivan, from 1829 to 1885, passed votes, at the annual meetings, to divide her share of this fund equally among the school districts. Occasionally, in later years, it was divided according to the number of pupils, or the most pressing need, but it is now, since 1886, divided among the schools as the school board direct.
The schools of small towns derive state aid from another source. By a law of 1899, the state annually makes an appropriation of $25,000. A fourth of this is set apart to be used in helping to pay the superintendents of schools in the supervisory districts created by a union of two or more towns. Each supervisory district employs a common superintendent for all the schools in the towns thus combined. The remaining three-fourths of the aforesaid appropriation are paid by the state treasurer, in December of each year, to all the towns of the state in which the equalized valuation is less than $3,coo for each child of the average attendance in the public schools of such towns during the school year next pre- ceding, and to such other towns, needing aid, as the Governor and Council, upon a recommendation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may designate. The amounts paid to the several towns are in direct proportion to the average school attendance, and in inverse proportion to the equalized valuation per child, and the money thus paid shall be used for school purposes only.
The schools likewise derive aid from the dog tax. All money arising from the taxation and licensing of dogs, remaining in the treasury of any town or city on the first day of April, annually, which is not due to holders of orders given for loss of or damages to domestic animals by dogs, shall be applied to the sup- port of the public schools, and shall be assigned to the districts as other school money.
By the law of 1899, every district must maintain at least 20 weeks of school in a year. It was also provided that none of the appropriation of $25,000, nor any of the Literary Fund heretofore mentioned, should be paid to any district which had not complied with the law requiring its returns to be made to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The amount of the Literary Fund annu- ally received by Sullivan has varied from about $30 to $131.52 (in 1893). The amount in 1905 was $36.85. The money raised by dog licenses was first available in 1891. The amount in Sullivan has varied from $45.80 (in 1893), the smallest sum, to $63 (in 1904), the largest amount. In 1905, the dog tax amounted to $55.10, from which amount $8 were deducted, which were paid to the owners of sheep killed by dogs. The aid given to Sullivan by the state from the yearly appropriation of $25,000, known as the school fund, available since 1899, has varied from $108.24 (the last received,-in 1905) to $194.75 (in 1903).
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