USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Lancaster > History of Lancaster, New Hampshire > Part 45
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prised the limits of the present High school district (old Union district comprised of Nos. I and 12). It extended from the old Parson Willard place to Indian brook, and east as far as the town was then settled, which was nearly the present village limits. Dis- trict No. 2 comprised all the territory south of the Willard lot to Dalton line, and has always retained its number. District No. 3, all the territory north of Indian brook to Northumberland line, and east to the limits of the settlement on Page hill.
This was the first action of the town in organizing and providing for the management of its schools. For nearly thirty years after the settlement of the town, the only school advantages it afforded its youth were those of private schools, sustained through the pri- vate funds of the few settlers who thought more of the benefits of a simple education for their children than they did of hoarding their limited wealth. It seems that those who took the initiative in the matter were the settlers in that section of the town that has become District No. 3. Those who settled in what is now the village High school district and at the south end of the town, were early inter- ested in founding schools.
One can readily imagine that the mothers tried to teach their children the alphabet, and that the fathers contributed their scanty store of general knowledge, gleaned from their earlier lives in the set- tlements of Massachusetts before coming to New Hampshire. The instruction thus imparted was given, in many cases, to the less favored of the companions of the boys and girls, and in this way the little spark of knowledge was kept from going out; and later it was kindled into a bright flame which has grown brighter with each suc- ceeding generation, until its radiance equals that of almost any com- munity in New England. As science has developed and shed its light upon our country, Lancaster has caught its rays and concen- trated them upon the path of her life.
Many men and women have borne testimony to the great difficul- ties they labored under in acquiring even the rudiments of an edu- cation. Books of any kind were scarce. School books were not only scarce, but of the most primitive character and design, and it took many hard knocks to get their intent and meaning into the minds of the youth who sought their aid. In my father's possession was a manuscript copy of an arithmetic, having only the funda- mental rules,-that is, the rules and examples of addition, subtrac- tion, multiplication, and division, with a few examples in interest and the " Rule of Three." It was because there were so few books that this labor of transcribing was bestowed upon it; and it must have been regarded as a treasure, crude and simple as it was. Judge Everett also copied arithmetics for his girls.
The old residents, the first settlers, have told us how they read
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and studied evenings by the light of blazing lights of pitch-knots on . the stone hearths of the log cabin. Tallow was scarce, and the " tallow dip " was only used when some guest was present, or on other like important occasions, such as weddings or funerals. This " pursuit of knowledge under difficulties" was after a hard day's work in the forest or field, clearing land, or cultivating or harvest- ing the crops. The winter afforded more time for study, while the snow was piled high about the cabin and in the little clearings, and the only path to a neighbor's cabin was indicated by the blazed trees through woods dense and deep, and almost as illimitable as the sea. With the Bible and " Sternhold's and Hopkins's version of the Psalms," and an arithmetic, such as has been described, parents and children read and repeated over and over again, the wonderful prophesies, or the sacred songs, or perhaps with charcoal worked out the arithmetical problems on pieces of bark. A monot- onous life it was, but it strengthened many for the broader fields upon which they entered.
District No. 1 .- The first schoolhouse in District No. I was of hewn logs, similar in its outward construction to the log houses of the first settlers. It had rows of low seats around the sides. The teacher's desk was at the end of the room near the low doorway that admitted the pupils. At the other end of the room was a huge fireplace built of stone, with a chimney of the same material. This house, however, gave place to a frame structure, occupying nearly the same site, early in this century, and is described by one who knew it well, in the following narrative: "The schoolhouses indicated pretty clearly how the settlement progressed. The school- house in district No. I stood directly north and adjoining the pres- ent court-house lands. The northeast corner was crowded into the street twenty feet or more from the present limits. The house was a large, flat-roofed structure, capable of accommodating, after a fash- ion, more than a hundred pupils. The windows were so high that the boys and girls could not see into the street or meadows without standing up. The house was warmed by an immense fireplace some six feet wide and three feet deep. There was a broad board seat next the wall all around, except at the teacher's desk; and there were as many as four or five rows of seats, with an occasional table on each side, with a chance for entrance at the ends, and from a narrow alley through the middle. There were seats in front of the tables or desks on which the smaller pupils sat. These were often so high that they could not touch their feet to the floor. The seats and tables were raised by an inclined plane, two feet or more at the back side of the room. Directly opposite the fireplace, and at the other end of the room, was the teacher's desk, raised two steps above the floor. At the northeast corner of the house was a large
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entry, where the boys hung their hats, and in the opposite corner of the same end of the room there was a large closet where the girls hung their cloaks and bonnets. It has been said that there was a sort of rivalry between what is now the village school, or district No. I, and school district No. 2. General Bucknam lived in No. 2, near the mouth of Beaver brook. Col. Stephen Wilson lived on the place which has passed successively through his hands and Richard Ste- phenson, Ephraim Cross, John Mason,W. J. Brown, Samuel Rowell, J. W. Savage, R. W. Dickson, and is at present occupied by H. S. Hill- iard. The extensive Beaver meadows and the beautiful intervales made the location particularly desirable to Captain Weeks and Lieut. Joseph Brackett; and Joseph Toscan sold goods in district No. 2 as early as any were sold in town." (MS. of James W. Weeks.) This old building, erected about 1810, in the village dis- trict, continued in use, somewhat remodeled inside, until 1869, when the present graded school building was built. In 1870 this old building was moved down Main street and placed upon a lot then made vacant by the removal of the old county building. Later it was moved to Canal street and placed upon the rear end of the lot once occupied by the old Coös hotel. The building was taken down in 1897.
District No. 2 .- The first schoolhouse in district No. 2 was of logs, and stood on land owned by General Bucknam, on the south side of the road leading from the village to Dalton, and about fifty rods westerly of the site of the old brick schoolhouse that was built in 1837 and pulled down in 1889. The first framed schoolhouse in that district was built in 1800, on the north side of the road, at the top of " Brackett Hill," as it was called, on land owned by Capt. Briant Stephenson. It was of nearly the same style as that in dis- trict No. 1,-a square, flat-roofed structure. The seats, however, were on the northerly side, rising from the floor on an inclined plane about two and a half or three feet on the back side of the room. The space on the floor was occupied by several long, rude benches, on which the little children sat, enduring torture from having no means of resting their backs or supporting themselves from the floor ; for in many cases their legs actually dangled in the air. Some teachers, however, were thoughtful enough to give the little ones some rest, by allowing them to change their positions by reclining upon the benches, if there was room, or by letting them have a longer recess out of doors, if the weather would permit of it. Expe- rience taught a lesson of misery never to be forgotten, as the small boys and girls were sometimes required to sit bolt upright, and as rigid as mummies, hour after hour. Some teachers, possibly most of them, were thoughtful and considerate of the comfort of children. There was one teacher, however, whose whole course of conduct
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toward the small children was brutal. He was too great a coward to " tackle " the older ones. On one occasion the day was very cold, the big fireplace was piled high with wood, and the fire roared up the great chimney, but there was not enough heat to make the room comfortable at its farthest limits. Many were the " permis- sions " asked, " May I go to the fire?" These were granted. After the larger boys and girls had been allowed to go to the fire and warm themselves, and a place was open before the great fire, a little fel- low asked, " May I go to the fire?" He was allowed to do so; and one after another of the small boys and girls, emboldened by his success, made the same requests until fourteen of them were ranged about the hearth, when with the fiendish joy of a savage, the master arranged them in a semicircle about the roaring fire, then with the long poker he stirred the fire and added fuel, keeping every one of the children in their tracks, while the blood, in two or three cases, ran from their noses. He savagely said to them, " I'll learn you to ask to go to the fire!" The school suffered that act of sav- agery as long as it could, when some of the older boys arose and told the suffering children to go to their seats, and breathed threats of vengeance against the cowardly wretch, who dared not resist their orders. The result was, that some of the children were made ill by the roasting, and the teacher was summarily dismissed from the school. This man was a clergyman's son, and perhaps he thought it best to put to a practical application some of the theology of the times.
Capt. Briant Stephenson, before mentioned, was the first clerk of the district, and held that position for many years. His handwrit- ing was almost perfect-" plain as print." He was a gentleman of the old school, neat in his personal appearance, and courteous to all. The old book of records, nearly filled by him, has unfortu- nately been lost.
Among the schoolmasters in this old house were Samuel Webb of Lunenburg, Vt., John Dwight Willard, James W. Weeks, and James M. Rix. Among the schoolmistresses were Miss Eliza Moore, who later married Capt. Charles White, Miss Ann L. Whid- den, Miss Cynthia Stanley, daughter of Lieut. Dennis Stanley. Samuel A. Pearson was superintending school committee for the town many years, and his visits to the schools near the end of each term caused a great deal of trepidation among the pupils, as he put them through a pretty rigid examination, and was somewhat stern in his demeanor. Deacon William Farrar for a time held that office. He was not as large as " Squire Pearson," nor had he as imposing a presence; but he was thorough, and gave many a boy and girl a " set back," who had come to think themselves remarkably profi- cient in their studies. Glibness of tongue failed to impress the dea-
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con with a conviction of the solid attainments of the pupils. Like. Gradgrind, what he wanted was "facts, sir, facts." Another com- mittee man in his remarks, after the examination, always alluded to the possibility that before him was a future president of the United States ; at least there might be a governor or a judge.
Another committee man when he arose to deliver his remarks, disclaimed the intention to make a speech, but thought it best " to throw out a few hints," invariably interlarding his discourse with Latin phrases and quotations, which the boys and girls knew as lit- tle of as they did of the language of the Indians, who a few years before had hunted and fished among these hills and along the streams.
In 1836 the inhabitants of district No. 2, after a long controversy upon the location, decided to build a brick schoolhouse on the northerly side of the road, near the mouth of Beaver brook. The location was the worst that could have been chosen, the Connec- ticut river here coming within four or five rods of the west and north sides of the building and the highway, much traveled, pass- ing close to the enclosure, with a high, rocky bank immediately in front, leaving no play-ground except the dusty and dangerous road, and what could be had by trespass upon the neighboring fields. It was a compromise measure, and as such measures generally are, was never entirely satisfactory to either party. The easterly and hill portion of the district wanted it located near where the old schoolhouse had stood ; the westerly and southerly, or " Cat Bow" inhabitants, as they were called, wanted it still farther down the river. There was a deed in existence conveying the land to the dis- trict where the log schoolhouse had stood, and the land might have been held, if the people of the district had decided to build on that lot; but it reverted to the owners of the farm from which it had been taken. The plot was thus lost, and the hill portion of the dis- trict was set off as District No. 14, in 1837.
The brick with which the old brick schoolhouse was built were made on the farm of Judge Spencer Clark in Lunenburg, Vt., loaded upon a scow and floated down and across the river to the mouth of Beaver brook. The inner wall was laid up with clay morter, and the plaster laid upon the bare wall without furring or lathe. One can readily imagine the chilliness and dampness of the house in cold or cloudy weather. There were no means of ventilation except a broad and capacious fireplace and chimney. In summer the bare walls on the south and west sides would become heated to a very high tem- perature, there being no blinds to shut out the rays of the blazing sun, and its heat being intensified by the dusty road and scorching bank in front made the room intensely hot. There was one compensation, however, the back windows could be raised and
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the cool air from the broad and beautiful river, and the fragrance of the meadows, rich and fair, penetrated the room and renewed some- what the languor of spirit that otherwise must have pervaded the place.
The first term of school taught in this house in the winter of 1837-1838, was by the late Hon. Benjamin F. Whidden, then a student at Dartmouth college. There were about twenty-five pupils. The comforable seating capacity of the room was about fifty. Then the pupils were from the families of the Berkeleys, Gosses, Whites, Chessmans, Weekses, Fields, Bracketts, Bakers, and Lanes on the river road, and the Hodgdons, McIntires, Stebbinses, and Jennisons from the hill, or what was set off and became district No. 14. From over the river in Lunenburg, Vt., there were the Clarks, Moores, and one or two other families. The second winter term was commenced by George B. Hemmenway, also a student at Dartmouth college, a son of Solomon Hemmenway, whose health failed so that he had to give up the school. He went to Virginia and remained there until he died of consumption in 1844. He was a young man of great promise. Mr. Whidden filled out the remain- der of his term. Whidden was a good teacher, and introduced some new methods in his work by which the school greatly prof- ited. There were then but two terms of school in a year,-a winter term of three months, taught by a man, because all the big boys were in attendance, and a summer term of the same length, taught by a woman, because only the smaller children attended at that time of the year. The list of teachers among the men employed in this school is a long and honorable one,-college students and those who had acquired their education in the common school and at the Lancaster academy, men who subsequently made honorable records for themselves in the great, busy world. Among the women were some mature and experienced teachers, while not a few had just entered upon this means of obtaining a living, some of whom were successful and others utter failures. In those early days, and up to about 1860, this district held its reputation as being foremost in scholarship of any in town, not even excepting the village district, which was deservedly high. [This may well have happened, for the village district only expended $62.13 for school purposes in, 1853, of which $5.13 went to mend the windows, and $4.50 for wood, leav- ing $52.50 spent on teachers. In 1859 it spent on account of teach- ers $112.16, since which time the expenses have grown and the school has improved in the ratio of expense for teaching talent .- ED.]
Owing to various changes in the population of district No. 2, the number of pupils decreased, and there was not that stimulating rivalry that had formerly obtained, and the school lost its high place
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in the rank of schools in the town. The old brick schoolhouse was thoroughly repaired in 1854, by a committee consisting of William A. White, John S. Clark, and James S. Brackett. More modern seats and desks displaced the old pine ones, which bore the marks of many a jackknife, in quaint letters and designs. In 1889 the old house was dismantled and the present one erected. The present schoolhouse stands on the site of the barns built by Andrew Adams, a cousin of the famous John Adams, second president of the United States. Mr. Adams lived on this farm for many years, and was suc- ceeded by his son, Benjamin Adams, who raised a large family. This house is finished and furnished in accordance with the pro- gressive ideas of the times, with what is necessary for the physi- cal, mental, and moral training of the young; and over it floats the flag of our country, as it does over many of the schoolhouses in our town.
District No. 3 comprised the farms and families of the Stock- wells, Pages, Lieut. Dennis Stanley, and several others. The first schoolhouse was built and maintained for a number of years on the high bank, on the south side of the old road, a short distance east of the old Stockwell house, now occupied by a grandson of Emmons Stockwell. On this farm Emmons Stockwell, David Page, and Edwards Bucknam struck the first blow and felled the first trees to make a settlement in Lancaster. This old schoolhouse, probably the first one in town, was built on the same plan of the others men- tioned and described,-square, low, and flat-roofed. A. N. Brackett, then a young man, taught here several terms, and his experience, he always maintained, was of much benefit to him. The old house became too small for the growing number of pupils, and another was built. It was later moved up to near the place where A. J. Congdon lives, and after a few years it was removed to the site now occupied by it, on the more direct road to Northumberland.
District No. 4 was all that remained of the territory not set off by boundaries into school districts in 1794. From this district were taken all the remaining districts except No. 12, which was a part of No. I, and has been united with it since 1869, and No. 14, which was a part of No. 2. There was no schoolhouse built in dis- trict No. 4 for a long time after those of the districts taken from it. As now defined it embraces the Aspenwall, McGerry, and Farnham neighborhoods. The district has a comfortable house and an attend- ance of over twenty pupils.
District No. 5 .- This district lies along the road from the village to Jefferson Mills, or Riverton, and the cross-roads westerly from the first-named road. The first schoolhouse built in this district, then called the Gotham district, stood on the south side of the road lead- ing from the Jefferson road to the Judge Eastman place, now owned
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by Charles Chessman, and near where a road leaves this one to pass east of Mt. Prospect. It was like the other houses described, with the exception of its desks, which were so constructed as to seat but two pupils, and the teacher, without having an elevated platform and desk, had a table and chair on the level of the floor. This house was very early used as a place of worship by the " Calvinist Baptists," of which faith were the Gothams. People of that faith from Jefferson and the east part of the town thronged it on Sundays to hear the scriptures expounded from their point of view. After district No. II was taken from this district, a new house, more mod- ern in architecture and better fitted and adapted to educational pur- poses, was built on the west side of the Jefferson road and on the southern slope of LeGro hill, a few rods south of the Samuel Twom- bly place.
District No. 6 .- This is the " out east" portion of the town. It comprised the families of Goss, Twombly, John Savage, Balch, and Douglas Spaulding, and others. It became a separate district in 1825, and a schoolhouse was built on the east side of the road, not far from the location of the present one. It conformed to the scrip- tural teaching and was built upon a rock. It was built upon a smooth ledge of rock, difficult of access. It resembled, in general appearance, all those which had preceded it in town. Grace and adornment had not entered into the practical and hard-worked souls and bodies of these men and women who wrought against odds in their struggles to make homes for their children and grandchildren. They conquered the wilderness, and made it " blossom as the rose." They founded schools and churches; and if their buildings were not models of beauty and art, their characters of honesty and worth are worthy of imitation and remembrance. Many persons now living can remember the time when this district was very thinly settled. The woods were everywhere. Now it is beautiful for its scenery, and the well-cultivated farms, neat and commodious farm buildings, all of which is indicative of the intelligence of its inhabitants.
District No. 7 .- This was, not long ago, more sylvan than No. 6; but the same general character pervades it now. It comprised, when set off as a new district, all of the territory "out east" not embraced in districts Nos. 4 and 6; that is, all the territory west- erly of the farm of Samuel L. Whidden and now of Reuben F. Car- ter, including what is now called Grange village as far as the Abbott place. The present schoolhouse is said to be the first and only one the district has had, although it has undergone extensive changes and repairs, with improvements upon the old structure.
District No. 8 .- This district covered a large territory at first. It extended to take in all the settlements on both sides of Martin Meadow pond as far as Abiel Lovejoy's. The first schoolhouse was
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built about 1820, and was situated on the westerly side of the road leading to East Whitefield and about eighty rods north of the house where James B. Weeks lived, on the highest point of land on the road. This house was somewhat of an improvement on some of the former schoolhouses of the town. It retained the flat roof, high windows, and the big fireplace as its predecessors had. After this house had become dilapidated to a certain extent, and had become unfit for occupancy, another house was built at the forks of the road leading to Whitefield and East Whitefield, very nearly on the site of the dwelling-house once occupied by John W. Brackett, a loca- tion much more pleasant, and more sheltered from the bleak winds that swept over the height of land where the old house had stood, although it does not command as fine a view of the surrounding coun- try. Mr. John W. Brackett and family were zealous Freewill Bap- tists, and those people of the same faith living within ten or fifteen miles of his house made it their centre of religious activities; and when the old schoolhouse was not otherwise occupied they held their meetings in it. Many were the scenes there and then enacted that would seem very strange to the people of to-day. Prior to the building of the first schoolhouse in this district, as had been the case in nearly all the others, the school itself " went around." Hon. James W. Weeks, who remembers those events, says of district No. 8: " There were at least twenty children in this district of school age, and they lived nearly two miles apart. The school would com- mence in a room at Coffin Moore's (he lived where James E. McIn- tyre now does), where there were twelve children, but some of them were away. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught. The school would continue at Moore's two or three weeks, or what was his proportion of the time, determined by the number of pupils, when it would be announced that the school would move. The time having arrived for moving, the larger boys would take the benches (which were made of slabs, with sticks set in augur holes. for legs) upon their sleds, and go to J. W. Brackett's, where there were ten children. A room would be vacated, and the benches moved in. A table on which to write would be borrowed, or rudely constructed of pine boards, and the school opened again. The teacher boarded with the family until their proportion of the time was filled out. Then the school would make another move to J. B. Weeks's, and from there to Mr. Bucknam's, from whence it next would go to Abial Lovejoy's, and round out its term. The teachers were women competent to teach the common English branches, and in a few instances they were able to teach the higher branches."
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