USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Peterborough > Historical sketches of Peterborough, New Hampshire : portraying events and data contributing to the history of the town > Part 17
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May 18, 1844, the district voted that the dimensions of the house be 27 feet long and 20 feet wide and chose James Howe, Samuel McCoy, William E. Treadwell, John Stuart and Capt. Asa Carley a building committee. May 14, 1844, Timothy Holt, Joseph Holt, John Stuart and Samuel McCoy being aggrieved at the location of said house petitioned the selectmen to appoint a committee to make an examination and decide upon the location. John H. Steele, Samuel
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Adamıs and Abial Sawyer were appointed this committee, who reported May 27, 1844 that we are of the opinion that said location ought to be changed. We there- fore designate as a spot whereon to build their school house on the corner of land owned by Caleb F. Wilder at the inter- section of the road between Adams Miller and Hugh Miller's house near the house formerly occupied by Peggy Freeman.
Upon the report of the building com- mittee, Dec. 2, 1844, the district voted to raise $234 and at an adjourned meeting, December 9, they voted to purchase five rods square of ground of Mr. Wilder at Hugh Miller's corner for ten dollars. June 28, 1845 the district voted to build a new school house on the spot the house was burned on and raise two hundred dollars, and the building committee be the same as chosen last year. Upon petition to the selectmen by persons in said district aggrieved by the location of said house, William Follansbee, John Todd, Jr., and William M. White were appointed Oct 4, 1845 a committee to examine and report thereon. The com- mittee met at the house of Adams Miller, Oct. 17, 1845 and reported that they are of the opinion that said location ought to be changed. We therefore designate as a spot whereon to build their school house on land owned by James Howe on the westerly side of the road about ten rods south west of the corner leading to Hugh Miller's house.
Nov. 4, 1845 the district voted to build a school house this fall and it was built upon the lot last designated by the com- mittee, and at an adjourned meeting held at the school house, Feb. 5, 1846, they raised thirty-five dollars to settle up for building said school house. The founda- tion of said house is plainly seen today.
So far as the records show, peace and quiet prevailed in the district until after the new road was built from the Varnum corner, so called, west to the road leading to Adams Miller's, in 1851. Samuel Mc- Coy, John Leathers, Jr., John Stuart, and
Hiram McCoy, Oct. 25, 1852, petitioned the prudential committee to call a meet- ing to see if the district would move the school house, and Nov. 10, 1852, they voted not to move the school house. April 24, 1854, another petition was pre- sented to the prudential committee signed by Parker Varnum, John Leathers, Jr., John Leathers, Daniel Edes, Jr., William McCoy and James McCoy, to call a meet- ing to see if the district will vote to move the school house and raise money and take the necessary measures therefor. No action was taken at the meeting in relation to moving the school house and the warrant was dismissed.
Another petition was presented to the prudential committee March 15, 1855, signed by J. D. Diamond, Asa Carley aud Daniel Edes, Jr., to call a meeting to see if the district will move the present school house and fix upon a location for the same and raise money and take the necessary measures therefor. The dis- trict, April 4, 1855, did not take action upon the subject but voted to dismiss the warrant.
Oct. II, 1855, Asa Carley, J. D. Diamond and J. S. Diamond petitioned the pruden- tial commitee to call a meeting to see if they would raise money to move the school house to the new location. The district, Nov. 12, voted not to raise the money. There is no record of the district or a com- mittee of the district selecting a new loca- tion. The last record of the school district relating to moving the school house is as follows :
August 29, 1856. To the selectmen of the town of Peterborough : The subscrib- ers, legal voters of school district No. 5 in said town, respectfully represent that said district, by a committee legally called for that purpose, designated as a spot whereon to set their school house, a lot of land in said district owned by Adams Miller and bounded thus: About fifty rods from Mr. Osmer's barn west on the north side of the new road, but the said Adams Miller refuses to sell the said lot
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for a reasonable price. We therefore re- quest you to lay out said lot not exceed- ing half of an acre for purpose of a school house lot for said district and to appraise the damage to the owner thereof and to cause a record thereof to be made according to the law in such cases made and provided. Rufus Moore, John Stuart, Benjamin B. Osmer, Samuel McCoy, John Leathers, Jr., John Leathers, William Mc- Coy, Asa Carley, William Diamond, J. D. Diamond, J. S. Diamond, Daniel Edes, Jr., Joseph Mace.
The selectmen ordered a hearing on said petition to be held Sept. 29, 1856, at the house of Adams Miller. They re- ported as follows : We are of the opinion that said lot ought to be laid out for the purpose of a school house for said dis- trict, and we hereby, for said purpose, lay out the same to be bounded thus : Beginning about fifty rods west of Benja- min Osmer's barn, on the north side of the new road leading from said Osmer's to Peterborough Village, at a stake and stones; thence north four rods to a stake and stones; thence westerly six rods to a stake and stones ; thence southerly four rods to the highway; thence on said highway six rods to the bounds first mentioned, containing twenty-four rods. And we appraise the damage to the said Adams Miller of taking said lot as afore- said at the sum of ten dollars, and to build the wall around said lot. Said dis- trict to have what stone is necessary for to build said wall and to underpin said school house, which is to be paid by said district. The same school house is still standing in No. 5 where you have met to- day for an old home day gathering.
The house in No. 6 was the same house and location as the house in the northeast diocese ; it was afterwards built of brick and remained there until after No. 6 was united with No. 10 in 1856, and then it was taken down.
The school house in No. 7 was built of brick and located on the west side of the highway leading from the north factory
past the house of S. W. Vose a few rods north of the two-story house formerly owned by Charles Wilder and remained there until after the present school house was built in 1887, a few rods further north on the east side of the same highway, when it was taken down.
The school house in No. 8 was built of brick and located on the west side of the highway leading from the Charles Stuart or Faxon farm past the Silas Barber house, and was occupied for school purposes until after the town adopted the town system of schools in 1886, and it is now occupied by Conrad Naglie for a dwell- ing.
The school house in No. 9 was built of brick and located on the east side of the highway leading from the Morrison Pa- per mill to Hancock nearly opposite the house of Stephen Pierce, and while the brick house was being built the school was held in the corn barn of said Pierce ; the brick house remained as a school house until the present school house was built in 1846 on the north side of the highway leading from the Morrison Paper Mill to the west village. The brick school house was then occupied by Samuel R. Howe until his death and has since been changed into a bungalow.
District No. 10 was taken from No. 6 in 1824. The house was built of wood and located on the north side of the highway leading from the Harrison D. Washburn corner to Greenfield near the bridge where the B. W. Crosby road con- nects with the Greenfield road; the house remained there until No. 6 and No. 10 were united in 1856, and then it was moved to Happy Valley and became the school house for the united districts known as No. 6. Afterwards an addition was built to it which makes it the pres- ent school house standing nearly opposite where Eri Spaulding formerly lived; the brick school house in No. 6 was taken down, but the location and part of the foundation is plainly seen, and the cellar
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still marks the spot where the house in No. 10 formerly stood.
No. II was taken from No. 1 in 1833 and a brick house was built on Summer street a little north of Sylvester Tenney's store. It remained a school house until 1844 when No. I and No. 11 were united and a two-story house with two ells was erected west of the present depot where the school was maintained until the pres- ent high school building was erected in 1888 on the hill north of Main street. The brick school house and lot on Sum- mer street was sold in 1847 to Daniel B. Cutter, and the lot is now occupied by W. W. H. Greenwood.
In 1840 a district was formed by taking some of No. I, some of No. 2 and some of No. 9, and a school house was built of wood and located on the west and north side of the highway leading from Stephen D. Robbe's, to Jacob Longley's in the bend in the road and was afterwards known as No. 4, and the house remained there un- til after the town system of schools was adopted in 1886, when it was sold and taken down.
In 1845 John Barber, Samuel Carey and John W. Barber were set set off from No. 9 into a new district, and Elijah Washburn of Hancock was annexed to them, and the district was called No. 12, until about 1860 when the number was changed to No. 10. No. 10 in the north- east part of the town having been united with No. 6 before this time. The school house was located on the east side of the road leading from Samuel Carey's to Hancock, twelve rods south of John W. Barber's house. It was occupied for school purposes until the town system of schools was adopted, when it was sold to to the owner of the surrounding land and now is used for farm purposes.
No. II was formed in the northwest part of the town in 1867, by a vote of the town, and a school house of wood was built a little northeast of the Electric Light plant, on the north side of the highway near the bridge, it was occupied
for a school for several years, when it was sold, but the building still remains on the same location.
Peterborough Academy was incorpor- ated Dec. 28, 1836, and they received a deed of the lot from James and Robert Wilson, and a brick building was erected in 1837, on the east side of Grove street opposite Putnam Grove. It was used for an Academy and High School until after the town erected the present high school building. It was deeded to the town in 1899, and is now used by the Grand Army
Post. The town erected the high school building in 1888, on the hill north of Main street. It is two stories, built of wood and now accommodates the High school and graded schools of the village. I have spoken as briefly as I could, and do it intelligently, of all the districts and school houses in town, as shown by any records since the town was incorporated.
As you have met today for an old home gathering in school district No. 5, it may be proper to speak a little more fully about the boundary, lots and inhabitants of said district. When the town was first divided into school districts in 1817, dis- trict No. 5 was bounded as follows. On the south by No. 4, the south line com- menced on the Temple line and run west on the north line of John Steele's Pierce lot, the line between William Diamond and Asa Carley, and the south line of Oliver Felt's now Wm. F. Hughes farm. On the east by Temple and Greenfield; on the north by the north lines of David Holt, Hugh Miller and Matthew Gray. On the west on the west lines of Matthew Gray, Nathan Leathers, Samuel Edes, and Oliver Felt and to Carley's south line. This district comprised lots Nos. 22 to 28 inclusive in the east range next to Green- field and Temple. Lots Nos. 43 to 48 in- clusive in the next range. The double home lots for settlers Nos. 22-85 to 27-90 inclusive in the third range from the east line, and also No. 41 in said third range. The lots numbered 22 to 28 in- clusive, were seven of the lots out of
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thirty-four that the Masonian proprietors reserved to themselves when they con- veyed their interest in the township Jan. 26, 1748 to John Hill, John Fowle, Jr., Jeremiah Gridley and the heirs of John Vassal. These thirty-four lots were di- vided among the Masonian proprietors and allotted to said proprietors.
No. 22 was the northeast corner lot of district No. 5. It was alloted to Mark H. Wentworth and has since been owned or occupied by John Swan, David Ames, Joseph True, Hale and Clarissa True. Rufus Moore, John O'Keefe, Noble Fol- lansbee, and is now owned by John A. O'Keefe the president of this district as- sociation as a summer home. In 1819 David Holt resided on this lot with a family of seven persons.
No. 23 was allotted to John Moffat and has since been owned or occupied by Gideon Parker, Timothy Holt, Joseph Holt, Morris Frye, James Scott, Emery W. Alexander, and is now owned by the heirs of John S. Morton as a summer home. In 1819 Timothy Holt resided on this lot with a family of 8 persons.
No. 24 was alloted to John Moffat and has since been owned or occupied by John Neal, Nathaniel A. Haven, Robert Swan, Samuel Cunningham, R. and S. Swan, B. B. Osmere, Johu Stuart, Albert Wilkins, John Alexander, John F. Alex- ander, and George D. Willis is the pres- ent owner. In 1819 R. and S. Swan re- sided with a family of 7 where Mr. Willis now lives.
No. 25 was allotted to George Jaffrey, and has since been owned or occupied by Daniel Treadwell, Samuel Cunning- ham, Robert Swan, Thomas Caldwell, William A. Swan, B. B. Osmere, John P. Varnum, and is now owned by George A. Varnum. Another house has been built within a few years on the same lot a few rods south of the Varnum house, and is occupied by William A. Sumner. Thomas Caldwell I was occupying the Varnum house in 1819.
No. 26 was allotted to George Jaffrey, and has since been owned or occupied by William McCoy, John Leathers, Jr., John Leathers 3rd, and is now owned by John E. Leathers and occupied by Charles Fi- field. In 1819 John Leathers, Jr., resided on this lot with 8 in the family.
No. 27 was allotted to Matthew Liver- niore and has since been owned or occu- pied by Samuel Morrison, Thomas Mc- Coy, Robert Swan, Robert Smith, Daniel Gray and Ephraim Weston, Abel Weston, Ezra Mansur, Samuel Miller, Jr., Jessie Miller, Parker Varnum and Charles H.
Varnum, and there is no house on the lot today. A cellar hole on the east side of the mountain road a few rods south of the corner of the road leading to the house of Henry W. McCoy, marks the spot where Abel Weston lived in 1819, with a family of 7, and a cellar hole on the same side of the mountain road and a few rods north of said H. W. McCoy's corner tells where the house of Charles Varnum was burned.
No. 28 was allotted to Mathew Liver- more, and has since been owned or occu- pied by Samuel Morrison, Samuel Miller, Jr., Joseph Mace, Betsy Farwell and Mary Ragan. A cellar hole marks the spot where the house formerly stood. It is on the east side of the mountain road 125 rods south of the corner of the road leading past tlie Asa Carley place. In 1819 Samuel Miller, Jr., lived there with a family of 6.
No. 43 was drawn by John Hill, and since then has been owned or occupied by Francis Shaw, Samuel Parkman, Mathew Wallace, Ezekiel Morrison, John Carley, Asa Carley, J. D. Diamond, Henry Wilson, Calvin N. Washburn, Elizabeth B. Bald- win, Mary M. Murphy, George R. Peas- ley, Peterboro Shank Co., Walbridge & Dustan, Henry A. Wyman, and is now owned by Elizabeth S. and Elizabeth Che- ney. The house was brick, and has been burned. A cellar hole tells us where it stood on the southeast side of the high- way. In 1819 Asa Carley lived there with a family of ten. No. 44 was drawn by Benjamin Pollard as assignee of Peter Prescott, and was afterwards owned by Jonathan Pollard, Thomas Morrison ; then it was divided, and the east half was owned by David Whitney, Charles Mc- Coy, William McCoy, and is now owned by Henry W. McCoy. The west half was owned by Ezekiel Morrison, Samuel Mc- Coy, Joel Howe, David Steele, Jr., Wil- liam McCoy, James Howe, Hiram McCoy, Townsend & Nichols, Elwin McClena- than, and is now owned by Hugh Mur- phy. In 1819 Charles McCoy, with a family of seven, lived where H. W. Mc- Coy now lives.
No. 45 was drawn by Jeremiah Gridley, and the east part was afterwards owned or occupied by Walter Butler, Samuel McCoy, William McCoy, Charles McCoy, Charles E. Shorer and Edmund Brickett, J. Albert Walker, Frederick Watts, Jo- tham F. Parker, George F. Bosher, Wal- bridge & Taylor, Alphonso Paquet, and is now owned by Ellen A. Parker. The west part was owned by James Temple- ton, Abel Parker, Sewel Parker, James
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Howe and the widow Agnes Howe, who was living on the place in 1819 with a family of five. The house 'stood on the east side of the road leading to Hugh Murphy's, near a gate. William McCoy lived with a family of five where Ellen A. Parker now lives, and James Howe, with a family of five lived where Hugh Murphy now lives.
No. 46 was drawn by Jeremiah Gridley, and afterwards sold for taxes, Mathew Templeton getting nine acres in the northwest corner and Samuel Treadwell the balance. Mr. Treadwell built a house on the east end of the lot on the west side of the mountain road, and died there. Samuel Weston was living there in 1819 with a family of four. It was afterwards occupied by Leonard Stiles, Samuel Mc- Coy and his widow, Elizabeth McCoy, Elbridge G. Parker, Hilaire Bourdon, and is now owned by Mrs. John S. Harriman.
No. 47 was drawn by John Fowle, and was owned by Mathew Templeton, Sam- uel Templeton, and afterwards the west part was owned by James Howe, and is now owned by Rodney H. Wilder. There were no buildings on the west part except the schoolhouse east of the brook, which was burned, and the schoolhouse west of the Hugh Miller road, which was moved. The east part was owned by Samuel Miller, Adams Miller, George Wilkins, Albert Wilkins, Mrs. Holmes, Mrs. Gard- ner, Charles A. Bragdon, Sylvester Ten- ney, L. F. Richardson, J. F. Dunklee, and is now owned by Maude L. Grant for a summer home. Adams Miller lived there in 1819 with a family of five, and a few rods west of his house, on the north side of the same highway, is a celler hole where once stood a house owned by the widow Dina Alld, then Caleb F. Wilder owned it, and it was occupied by a colored family, consisting of Peggy Freeman and others, and a school was kept in this house after the schoolhouse was burned and before a new house was built.
No. 48 was drawn by John Hill, and sold by him to William Maxwell. His heirs sold it to Hugh Miller in 1795, who resided there till his death in 1847. He held the office of selectman twenty-four years, the longest term held by any one man in town. Daniel Edes afterwards occupied the same lot. Today a cellar hole marks the spot where the house for- merly stood on the west side of the high- way, and on the east side a foundation marks the site where the barn stood.
No. 22-85 was one of the lots surveyed as a home lot for settlers, and was drawn by Jeremiah Gridley, who deeded it to
Isaac Mitchell, and he, after owning it seven days, conveyed it to Kelso Gray, Oct. 24, 1765, who erected buildings upon it, and resided there during his life. His son, Mathew Gray, succeeded him on the lot, and was living there in 1819 with a family of eight. A cellar hole, on the north side of an abandoned road, north of where Nathan Leathers once lived and now the summer home of Ida F. Miller, marks the spot where the house stood.
No. 23-86 was another of the home lots, but was not drawn. It was conveyed by the three proprietors to James Mitchell, and then passed through the hands of David Steele, John Leathers, Nathan Leathers, Nathan Leathers, Jr., Isaac N. Leathers, Calvin W. Leathers, C. H. & G. E. Mayhew, Aaron Bassett and Edgar Ma- hew, John F. Dunklee, E. W. McIntosh, Edwin Puffer, John Parker. John F. Dunklee, and is now the summer home of Ida F. Miller. Nathan Leathers occu- pied it in 1819 with a family of seven.
No. 24-87 was one of the home lots drawn by Jeremiah Gridley, and settled by William Spear. He sold it to James Templeton in 1761. The east part has been owned since by Mathew Templeton, Samual Templeton, Catherine Wilder, and is now owned by her heirs. Mathew Templeton built a house a little west of where the house was burned a few years ago. Samuel Templeton had a house in 1819 twelve rods further east, where he was residing with a family of five, and J. Allen was living in the Mathew Temple- ton house with a family of three. Both houses have disappeared, and another house was built by Mr. Wilder a little east of the first house, and this house has been burned, and a small house occupied by Charles W. Smiley has been erected on the spot where the house was burned. The west half of the lot passed from James Templeton to Ephraim Wilson and Jere- miah Boynton, and has since been owned by Samuel Edes, Isaac Edes, Almira J. Follansbee, Thomas and Noble Follans- bee, Elbridge G. Parker, William Tyler, Susan R. Lee and Edwin Blake, and is now owned by Rodney H. Wilder. The house was occupied by Samuel Edes in 1819 with a family of five. There was a house near the southwest corner of the same lot on the south side of the high- way, eighty-six rods west of the house where R. H. Wilder now lives, occupied in 1819 by the widow Edes and a family of nine. Jonathan Felt, who is eighty years of age, says that he remembers see- ing an unoccupied house standing there when he was a boy, and of getting gela-
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tine apples from a tree near the house. His grandfather, Thomas Caldwell, at that time lived in the Jane Edes house, now owned by Frank S. Parker a few rods west of where this old house then stood. There is nothing now to mark the spot except apple trees still standing there. In the same lot on the north side of the highway about twenty rods east from the corner of the road, near the Jane Edes house, stood the schoolhouse in the middle east dioceses, and it was the first schoolhouse in district No. 5. Elbridge Howe, who is 76 years of age, says that his father, James Howe, who lived in the same district, pointed out to him when a boy, the spot where the schoolhouse stood, and told him that he had taught school there.
No. 25-88 was drawn by John Fowle, Jr., and selected by James Archibald as a settler's lot. It came into James Temple- ton's possession before 1758. The house was built upon the east part of the lot and the owners have been Joel Howe, Nathan Leathers, John Leathers, William McCoy, William E. Treadwell, John S. and Wil- liam S. Treadwell, Read Bros., Walbridge & Taylor, Almon Hill, and is now owned by Albert Wilkins. John S. Treadwell built a house in the northeast corner of said lot and sold the house and six acres to Mary Ritchie. It was afterwards owned by Thomas Follansbee and is now owned by Perl S. McCoy. The house owned by William Treadwell in 1819 had a family of 4.
No. 26-89 was one of the home lots and drawn by John Hill, but there is no evi- dence that there was ever a building on it. James Templeton bought it of John Hill in 1774 and sold it to George R. Minot in 1793. It came into the posses- sion of Isaac Edes and has been divided and sold in small lots.
No. 4I was south of the above named lot and drawn by John Hill. He sold it in 1757 to John Fayearweather. It was afterwards owned by Byam Blowers, Thomas Fayearweather and Samuel Edes. The west half passed through the hands of Joseph Little, Oliver Felt, Ira Felt, and is now owned by Jonathan Felt. The east half passed through the hands of James Howe, James Ferren, Frank A. Hodgdon, John F. Dunklee, John A. Dunklee, and part of it is now owned by Mary A. Bag- ley and the balance by Hugh Murphy. There is no evidence that a house was , ever built on this lot.
No. 27-90 was one of the home lots and drawn by John Hill. It has been owned or occupied by Thomas Morrison, William Scott, William Ritchie, Jonathan Morri- son, John Alexander, Samuel Morrison, Jotham Blanchard, Oliver Felt, Ira Felt, Jonathan Felt, Ebenezer T. Lakeman, Rodney Goodhue, Silas Farwell, Samuel Weston, Ann E. Ferren, and is now oc- cupied by William F. Hughes. There was no house on this lot till about 1829 when Jonathan Felt built one. This lot was disannexed from school district No. 5 and annexed to No. 3 in 1845 while it was owned by E. T. Lakeman.
In 1844 Gen. John Steele owning one of the home lots No. 42-J04 was annexed to No. 5 from No. 7. His place was later occupied by David Steele, Franklin Perry, Henry W. Dunbar, Charles H. Varnum, and is now owned by Charles E. Varnum. J. Allen, who lived a few rods west of Gen. Steele, was also annexed to No. 5. His house was burned and last year James Sounier moved a house from a spot south of the highway opposite Pine Hill cemetery and placed it upon the foundation over the cellar where the Allen house was burned. The Caldwell or Jane Edes place was also annexed to No. 5. This house stands on the Gen. Steele lot, near the south east corner and is the house now occupied by Frank S. Parker. In 1855 the John D. Diamond and Daniel Edes places on the south were annexed to No. 5 from No. 4. Both places are now owned by Elizabeth S. and Elizabeth Cheney. The Diamond lot was No. 42 and there are two sets of buildings upon it, one near the south-east corner about 20 rods west of the mountain road which has been occupied by J. D. Diamond, Rufus Moore, Agnes J. Puffer and Charles C. Hunt. The other house is in the field in a northwesterly direction but no public highway leads to it. It has been occupied by William Diamond, Horace Holt, E. G. Howard and W. W. Lovejoy, Edwin L. Perry and Charles M. Moore. The Edes farm included No. 27 and No. 28 of the second division lots; the buildings have been burned and the cellar hole on the height of the land a few rods west of the mountain road marks the spot where the house stood. In 1819 there were residing within the limits of school district No. 5. as then bounded. 128 permanent resi- dents. Today only 48 permanent resi- dents are residing within the same bound- aries, but one of these is the oldest per- son in town, Andrew Frye, who is ninety- eight years of age.
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