USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume II > Part 66
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
The great feature of the day's celebration, however, was the parade of the school children in the afternoon. The procession formed in front of the high school building and moved in the following order : I. Platoon of police ; II. Third Regiment band; III. Grand Army posts; IV. Companies C and E, New Hampshire State Militia; V. Board of Education; VI. Teachers and pupils of the following schools : High, Kimball, Merrimack, Chandler, Walker, Parochial, Merrimack County academy, Tahanto, Bow Brook, Fair Ground, Plains, Rumford, Penacook, Franklin, and West Concord. Each school was designated by handsome silk banners bearing its name and embellished with designs both interesting and unique, the work of pupils, the one carried by the Kimballs being a reproduction of that raised by Columbus when he first stepped foot on the soil of America. All the pupils carried small flags, and many were dressed in uniforms made especially for the occasion. The handsomest ap- pearance in the line was conceded to the pupils of the Rumford school, every one of whom, boy or girl, from the largest to the small- est, appeared in uniform. Some of the juvenile marshals were mounted and a few of the young misses drove handsome pony teams. John Kimball marched with the teachers of the school bearing his name. The procession was a long one, the front of the line reaching city hall before the rear had turned from Pleasant street into Main. The marching of all, from the nearly-grown students of the high
1 People and Patriot.
1300
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
school to the little ones from the primary grades, was excellent in step and precision, and gave evidence of skilful training. The route was down State from School to Pleasant, Pleasant to Main, Main to Court, and thence to the city hall. The passage through Main street was a continuous ovation from a throng of people that completely filled the street, suspending all traffic for a time, and cach of the passing divisions was greeted with round after round of hearty applause, the little ones receiving the larger share. Many of the public buildings, business houses, and private residences along the line of march were handsomely decorated. Arriving at the city hall the children were massed in the park in the rear, filling it to its utmost capacity. Here other exercises took place. The schools at Penacook and at the East village also celebrated with similar exer- cises and a large attendance of visitors. This was the third time only in a century in which the pupils of all the schools appeared in public procession, the first occasion being at the dedication of the Bradley monument, August 22, 1837, and the second on the day of the mem- orial exercises following the death and burial of President Lincoln, April 19, 1865. But a large number of schoolmates attended the funeral and marched to the grave when Bennic, the young son of President-elect Franklin Pierce, who met his death in a railroad acci- dent, was buried, January 10, 1853.
A cooking school was opened in the winter of 1892-'93, a kitchen being fitted up for the purpose in the basement of the high school building. Miss Lucy A. Andrews, of the Drexel institute in Phila- delphia, was engaged as instructor. The cooking was done with gas stoves. The following year the district voted to provide further instruction in the culinary art, and Mrs. Georgie L. Green was engaged as teacher. Both gas and electricity were used as fuel for a time, but the latter was given up after a little while. Only high school pupils were at first admitted, but iu 1894 pupils from the higher grades were given entree, which increased the attendance, and a greater interest was manifested. In 1898 Mrs. Green resigned and Miss Mary A. Gannon was chosen successor. The latter died June 15, 1900, and Miss Harriet C. Gilmore became the next instructor, and is still in service, 1902.
Henry J. Crippen, of English birth, a member of the school board, 1871-'88, and a former teacher, died December 24, 1893.
District No. 12, East Concord village, with a school population at that time of a little less than one hundred pupils, was united with Union district July 1, 1894.
In 1895 a law was passed requiring a school census to be taken annually. The first enumeration was made in April of that year.
1301
SCHOOLS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
The whole number of children in Union district, between the ages of five and sixteen years, was two thousand two hundred and nine, of which number one thousand one hundred were boys, and one thou- sand one hundred and nine girls. West Concord reported eighty- four boys and sixty-five girls, and East Concord fifty-one boys and thirty-seven girls.
The old primary school building at the corner of Broadway and West streets, long known as the " Fair Ground " school, was replaced by a modern two-room building, first occupied in September of the latter year. It was built by E. B. Hutchinson, from plans made by J. E. Randlett, under the direction of Shadrach C. Morrill, Eliphalet F. Philbrick, and John C. Ordway, a committee of the school board. It cost about seven thousand dollars. It was subsequently named the " Cogswell school," in honor of Parsons B. Cogswell, a member of the board of education from its organization in 1859 until his death October 28, 1895.
The schoolhouse at Millville was moved a short distance, in the summer of the same year, from its old location at the junction of the two branches of the main road near the hay scales, to the road that runs northerly to Long pond, and was enlarged a few years later to accommodate an increased number of pupils in that locality.
A school census taken in Union school district in 1900 gave the following result : Boys, 1,351 ; girls, 1,415; total, 2,766.
The number of pupils and students under school instruction in the entire city, March, 1900, was as follows :
Boys.
Girls.
Total.
Union School district,
1,160
1,187
2,347
Sisters of Mercy,
119
137
256
Miss Proctor's,
10
3
13
Rolfe and Rumford,
19
19
Town district,
135
116
251
Orphans' Home, Millville,
19
14
33
District No. 20, Penacook,
145
109
254
St. Paul's,
345
345
St. Mary's,
7
7
Totals,
1,933
1,592
3,525
Reverend Henry E. Parker, D. D., one of the first members of the board of education, and its first president, died November 7, 1896, at Boston, Mass. He was a professor in Dartmouth college from 1866 to 1892.
The year 1898 was one in which the work of the schools was ear- ried on under some discouragements and interruptions. The excite- ment attending the declaration of war with Spain, in April, the bustle of preparation for raising troops, and the enlistment of the local com-
1302
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
panies of the state militia, further increased by the encampment of the First Regiment of New Hampshire volunteers in this city, per- vaded the schools to a considerable extent and was a source of some distraction. Twenty-eight young men, then or previously members of the high school, enrolled themselves in the First regiment, New Hampshire volunteers, as follows :
Colonel, Robert H. Rolfe, '80; adjutant, George D. Waldron, '89; assistant sur- geon, Arthur K. Day, '81; captains, Otis G. Hammond, 'S8, Thomas F. Clifford, '91; lieutenants, Charles L. Mason, '92, Edward W. Richardson, '89, Clarence A. Goodhue, '92, Frank W. Brown, '92; sergeant-major, Solomon B. West, '97; quar- termaster-sergeant, Harry P. Bennett, '88; sergeants, Clarence A. Burt, '89, Vaughn V. Himes, '90, James Jolinston, '92, James J. Quinn, '93; corporals, Grant Hartshorn, '94, Micah D. Crockett, '97, Willis G. C. Kimball, Jr., junior class, '99, Omar S. Swenson, junior class, '99, Herbert M. Sanders, '98; hospital steward, Joseph W. Robins, '93; musician, Harold L. Pack, freshman class, '01; privates, Daniel E. Colbert, '95, Frank J. McNulty, '97, John W. L. Willcox, '98, Harry N. Lane, '99, Willis S. Beane, '99, Robert E. Waldron, junior class, '99.
Three former members of the board of education, whose terms of office had but recently expired, died during the year,-Austin S. Ranney, June 4, for six years a member of the board (1882-'98) ; Daniel B. Donovan, November 28, a member of the board from 1882 to 1890, a period of eight years, during seven of which he per- formed the duties of secretary; James L. Mason, December 18, a typical American of the old school, an historic figure in the city, which for more than threescore years had been his home. His life seemed to overlap the dim past and link it with the living present in a most delightful way.
Union School district, in 1900, had forty-eight regular and four special schools, making the whole number fifty-two, classified as fol- lows :
Regular schools: High, 1; grammar, 16; primary, 24; kinder- garten, 6; mixed, 1. Special schools: Manual training, 1; sewing, 1; cooking, 1; drawing, 1. Total, 52.
The whole number of regular teachers, including the superin- tendent, was sixty, with seven special teachers, making a total of sixty-seven.
Of the regular teachers, forty-two of the sixty (seventy per cent.) were graduates of Concord schools, nearly all of whom were natives of the city, and thirty-one of the forty-two (nearly seventy-four per cent.) were graduates of the local school for normal training.
District No. 20 employed six teachers, and the town district eleven, making a total of eighty-four, or, including the nine pupil teachers in the training-school, a total of ninety-thrce teachers were regularly employed in the public schools of the city.
In addition to the above, six teachers in the parochial school, five
1303
SCHOOLS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
teachers or tutors of private schools, seven at St. Mary's School for Girls, thirty-six at St. Paul's, two at the Rolfe and Rumford, and one at the Orphans' Home at Millville, made a total of one hundred and fifty professional teachers in the whole city.
The Dewey school, at the West end, was built in 1900. By a vote of the district the committee purchased a lot on High street, then owned by the city. The site was at that time a knoll of rocky marl rising ten feet above the level of the street, and the removal of four thousand cubic yards of earth and rock was necessary before a beginning could be made. The plans for the building were made by J. E. Rand- lett, architect, and John L. A. Chellis was the principal contractor. It was named the Dewey school in honor of Reverend Harry P. Dewey, D. D., a former pastor of the South church and a member of Dewey School. the board of education for nine years, 1890-'99. It was dedicated January 31, 1901. It cost, including land, grading, and furniture, thirty thousand dollars. William F. Thayer, Willis D. Thompson, and John C. Ordway were the building committee.
Joseph C. A. Hill, who served nearly ten years as a member of the school board between 1876 and 1890-an ideal citizen, whose many graces and virtues will be long remembered by a multitude of friends,-died March 14, 1901, in the eighty-first year of his age. Mr. Hill left pleasant reminders of his generosity in beautiful pic- tures donated to the Franklin and Kimball schoolhouses, adding much to the ornamentation of the rooms.
The ventilation of school buildings was a subject for study and experiment for nearly sixty years. The carly buildings had open fireplaces and large chimneys, which provided simple and natural ventilation. But when the change to cast-iron stoves was made, between 1820 and 1830, trouble began. The need of a better supply of fresh air assumed such importance that many experiments were made as carly as 1846. The first improvement was the lowering of the upper sash of windows, which, previous to about 1850, were made stationary and immovable. Transoms over the doors were in- troduced a little later. In 1857, with the building of two new gram- mar schools in contemplation, a special committec, of which the late Judge Fowler was chairman, gave considerable time to the matter, consulting the best authorities ; and the Merrimack and Rumford schools, built soon afterward, were considered a great improvement
1304
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
over any previously erected. A further study of advanced methods was made when the high school was built in 1864, the Walker in 1873, and the Chandler in 1878. C. C. Lund, then city .engineer, and the late Dr. Bancroft, a member of the school board, gave much time to an investigation of the subject in the latter year. Soon after this a trial of the Houghton system, by which fresh air was taken from the outside, warmed, and discharged near the ceilings, and open- ings made into the chimneys near the floors for outlets, was found to work very well. A central ventilating chimney was put into the high school in 1880, and in 1886 an improved ventilating apparatus was installed in the same building. The next year the Walker school was equipped with the Smead system, by which a large quantity of fresh air was taken into a room in the basement, moderately warmed by passing over large furnaces, and continuously discharged into the several school-rooms, in place of a less quantity at a much higher temperature. The foul air was withdrawn by suction through large openings in or near the floor, carried to a large central shaft (artificially warmed), from which it was discharged through the roof. This system was so satisfactory that the Frank- lin school, built in 1889, was similarly equipped. The system installed in the new Kimball was the same in principle, except that steam was also used for warm- Present Rumford School. ing, instead of hot air only. The fol- lowing year changes in ventilation were made in the Merrimack, Rumford, Penacook, and other buildings, by which fresh air from the outside was conducted to a confined space about large stoves, where it was warmed and entered the rooms above the heads of the pupils. In the new high school an elaborate system of artificial ventilation was installed, warm air distributed by means of a blower and fan, operated at first by an auxiliary engine and afterward by electricity. The Dewey school, built in 1900, was equipped with the Fuller- Warren system of warm air, and the Rumford, built in 1902, made use of the same, with an auxiliary boiler for warming the corridors with steam. Many of the changes in later years were made upon recommendations of Professor Woodbridge, of the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, and Dr. S. C. Morrill, a member of the school board.
Physical exercises of a mild character were introduced in all the schools of Union district as early as 1862, occupying from three to five minutes at a time twice each day. The exercises at first employed
.
1305
SCHOOLS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
consisted of taking correct positions, both sitting and standing, and a variety of other movements, mostly of the upper and lower extrem- ities and the respiratory organs. These were continued, with slight variations from time to time, for many years. In 1890 a more mod- ern system of calisthenics was introduced, consisting mainly of sim- ple movements for the harmonious development of the whole body, under the supervision of Florence F. Barton, of Newport, a special teacher of elocution and physical training. The latter resigning at the close of the fall term in 1891, was followed by Bertha L. Col- burn, of Hollis, who continued as instructor until the summer of 1897, since which time the work has been carried on under the direc- tion of the regular teachers.
The high school boys, for nearly twenty years, have taken great interest in athletics, and have for several years won the state inter- scholastic championship. A casual observer might easily get the im- pression that baseball, football, high jumping, and fast running held priority of rank in the curriculum, with Greek and Latin striving hard for second place. Nor was physical training overlooked in the olden time; muscular development was then encouraged by methods which furnished the necessary fatigue, but with rather less of sport. " The woods and the fields were the gymnasium," says Forester Lyman, " and the axe, the saw, the shovel, and the hoe the implements gen- erally employed."
The first little paper published in the interests of the pupils of the high school in recent years, was the High School Mite, a tiny quarto of eight or ten pages, published by W. J. Drew and B. Jackman, two enterprising pupils. The first issue made its appearance in January, 1880. In July it was united with the Amateur Sportsman, and in November of the same year merged with the Granite Echo, when II. D. Smart became associate editor with Master Drew. These were, however, but embryo conceptions, effervescent and transitory, and a year later even the Echo itself had dwindled away until lost in obliv- ion. But the seed had taken root, and a year or two later, as out of a clear sky, came The Comet. This was a quarto larger than its pre- decessors, and in general appearance and contents was a credit to the school. It was a monthly conducted by the senior class, and was published for two years, 1883-'84, and then, like its luminous name- sake, suddenly vanished and was seen no more. In 1887 the publi- cation of The Volunteer was begun, and has continued, with but few interruptions, to the present time. In 1892 and 1893, under the management of Editor-in-chief William H. Porter, now of Haverhill, Mass., it was much enlarged, cach number containing from twelve to twenty double-column pages, handsomely illustrated, and enclosed in
1306
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
tasteful covers. Beginning with Volume VIII, published in 1899- 1900, the paper was made a part of the English composition work of the school, and placed under the general direction of the instructor of that department, its contents being chiefly the best work done by pupils in composition. Thus journalism became a feature in the course of high school study.
The High School lyceum, a debating society, was organized in October, 1887, and is still in a flourishing condition. Joint debates are frequently held with other schools and academies of the state.
For five years, beginning with the winter of 1890-'91, the school supplied a lecture course, which was discontinued with the opening of the Walker free lecture courses. During the year 1900-'01 many addresses on various topics were made before the school by citizens of Concord and others.
When Mr. Kent began his work as principal of the high school in 1882 there were 130 pupils in the school; since then the numbers have rapidly increased until, at the present time-the winter of 1901-'02-the registration is 258, a larger number than ever before. The whole number of graduates between 1860 and 1901, inclusive,- a period of forty-two years,-has been 981, of whom 327-exactly one third-were boys, and the remaining two thirds (654) of the other sex. Of this total, seventeen and seven-tenths per cent. (174) entered colleges or technical schools as follows: Dartmouth, 66; Harvard, 18; Wellesley, 16; Boston University, 8; Vassar, 7; Rad- cliffe, 6; Brown, 6; Smith, 6; New Hampshire college, Durham, 4; Bates, Yale, Wesleyan, Massachusetts Institute Technology, Wor- cester Polytechnic Institute, 3 each; Amherst, Williams, Trinity, Mt. Holyoke and West Point, 2 each ; and Annapolis, Baltimore, Barnard, Byrn Mawr, Colgate, Columbian, Middlebury, Princeton, Tufts, University Illinois, University Michigan, University Wisconsin, 1 each. Nine and a half per cent. (94) of the total number of gradu- ates are already numbered with the dead.
The following is a complete list of teachers who have been em- ployed in the high school since the first class fitted for graduation :
PRINCIPALS.
Henry E. Sawyer, from 1857 to 1865.
Moses Woolson, from 1865 to 1867.
J. H. Woods, from 1867 to 1868.
J. D. Bartley, from 1868 to 1875.
John L. Stanley, from 1875 to 1882.
L. B. Pillsbury, fall term of 1882.
Jolin F. Kent, from winter term of 1882 to June, 1902.
ASSISTANTS.
Henrietta Carter, from spring term, 1858, to close of spring term, 1862. Augustus P. Salter, spring term, 1858.
1307
SCHOOLS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
Mary A. Currier, from fall term, 1858, to close of spring term, 1862.
Henry J. Crippen, from fall term, 1862, to close of spring term, 1863. M. M. Otis, from fall term, 1862, to end of spring term, 1864.
Laura Wentworth, from fall term, 1863, to fall term 1864.
Miss F. A. Bellows, fall term, 1864.
Sarahı E. Blair, from winter, 1864, to close of fall term, 1874, withi leave of ab- sence the winter and spring terms of 1871-'72.
Miss E. J. Sherman, from winter term, 1864, to close of fall term, 1866.
Mrs. Abba Goold Woolson, from fall term, 1866, to end of spring term, 1867.
Julia C. Hunt, fall term, 1866.
Helen E. Gilbert, fall term, 1866.
Mary H. Brooks, winter term, 1866-'67.
Abby B. Parker, from spring term, 1867, to close of spring term, 1872.
Laura Carlton, from winter term, 1871, to end of spring term, 1889, withi leave of absence for winter term, 1883-'84.
Miss C. E. Blake, winter term, 1873-'75.
Helen L. Webster, from spring term, 1875, to close of fall term, 1876.
Caroline E. Foster, winter term, 1876-'77.
Annie A. Agge, spring term, 1876.
Robert A. Ray, from fall term, 1876, to close of spring term, 1878.
Saralı E. Bradley, spring term, 1877.
Anna L. Savil, from fall term, 1877, to close of fall term, 1882, withi leave of absence for winter term, 1879-'80.
Miss E. A. Foster, from fall term, 1878, to close of spring term, 1879.
Mary F. Redington, winter term, 1879-'80.
Miss Kate B. Eastman (Mrs. Kate E. Wilson), from fall term, 1879, to spring term, 1887, and from fall term, 1893, to close of spring term, 1900, with leave of absence last half of year 1895.
Frances M. Abbott, winter term of 1882-'83.
Robert H. Rolfe, winter term of 1883-'84.
Ida J. Bartlett, spring term of 1883.
Lilla O. Davidson, from fall term, 1883, to end of spring term, 1884.
Mariana Cogswell, from fall term, 1884, to end of spring term, 1889, and from fall term, 1892, to 1902.
Josialı F. Hill, fall term, 1884.
Mary F. Stubbs, from winter term, 1885-'86, to end of spring term, 1891.
Hester D. Nichols, spring term, 1887.
Rose M. Ladd, year 1887-'88.
Helen W. Poor, fall term, 1888, to end of spring term, 1895.
Roger Eastman, April, 1889, and 1890-'91.
M. Grace Caldwell, fall term, 1889, to end of spring term, 1892.
Margaret W. Twitchell, fall term, 1889.
Charlotte M. Keith, winter term, 1889-'90.
Julia Ellis, spring term, 1890.
Mary E. Quimby, spring term, 1891, to end of spring term, 1892.
Herbert E. Sargent, fall term, 1891, to end of spring term, 1893.
Elizabetlı Averill, fall term, 1891, to present time.
Editlı Ross, fall term, 1892, to end of winter term, 1893.
Mabel A. Phelps, spring term, 1893, to end of spring term, 1894.
Nellie C. Lewis, fall term, 1894, to close of fall term, 1895.
Mary E. Whitten, from November 5, 1894, to present time.
Jolın M. Gallagher, last half of year 1894-'95.
Editlı M. Walker, fall term, 1895, to close of school year, 1903, withi leave of ab- sence for year 1901-'02.
Cornelia Golay, spring term, 1896, to end of spring term, 1897.
Louise V. Dodge, fall term, 1897, and winter term, 1898.
H. Katlıcrine Brainerd, spring term, 1898.
Newton H. Black, fall term, 1898, to end of spring term, 1900.
1308
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Mary W. Dean, fall term, 1899, to present time.
Philinda P. Rand, winter and spring terms, 1900.
Cora J. Russell, fall term, 1900, to present time.
Willard I. Hyatt, year 1900-'01.
Grace Morrill, fall term, 1901, to June, 1902.
Emma Hindley, fall term, 1901, to present time.
Caroline M. True, fall term, 1901, to present time.
The following list of school buildings, date of erection, seating capacity and value, is inserted for convenient reference and for the benefit of future historians :
INVENTORY OF SCHOOL PROPERTY, REAL ESTATE, 1902.
Number.
Name of building.
Union District. - Location.
Date built.
No. of rooms.
Seating capac-
Estimated
value of land
and buildings.
1
High School.
School, State, and Green.
1890
9
200
$100,000
2
Kimball
North Spring, near School
1890
8
400
60,000
3
Walker.
Church, State, and Fiske.
1873
6
300
35,000
4
Chandler.
Fayette and Soutlı.
1878
4
200
22,000
5
Penacook
West and State ..
1870
4
200
21.500
6
Franklin
Franklin and Rumford.
1889
4
200
15,000
7
Merrimack.
Washington, near State. .. Monroe and Thorndike.
1858
8
400
40,000
9
Cogswell.
Broadway and West ..
1895
2
100
8,000
10
Eastman
East village.
1870
3
150
6,000
11
West Concord.
West village, near depot.
1862
4
200
6,000
12
Bow Brook ..
Warren and Washington.
1864
2
100
2,000
13
Tahanto.
North State, near cemetery.
1889
2
100
4,000
14
Manual Training
North Spring, near Warren.
1852
2
2,500
15
Sewing School
Union, near Centre. .
1852
2
Chairs
2,000
16
Plains. .
Off Loudon road ..
1873
1
50
1,500
17
Dewey School.
High, School, and Centre,
1900
4
200
30,000
18
Penacook Village. Summer street.
1877
6
300
14,000
19
Horse Hill
Old District No. 1.
1870
1
40
1,400
20
The Borough
West of Penacook village.
1854
1
36
1,000
21
Little Pond
Ballard neighborhood.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.