USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 44
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The open fires were disastrous in many cases. The live coals falling upon the floor set fires which were extinguished only when the building had gone up in smoke. In Districts No. 1 and No. 7 the school-houses were lost in this manner, and new ones erected. Stoves did not come into use in the outlying districts until 1842, but were used in the village a few years earlier. These stoves were made in Franconia. The first school-house in District No. 1, and the second in town, was built on the west side of the road between Parker Cushman's and Obadiah Carpenter's. It was burned in 1825 from the open fire as mentioned, and was rebuilt on the present site near the old Williams place. This having been burned in 1853, a new house was built and is still standing. In District No. 7 the first school-house was on the road leading from Mann's to Farr Hill, and was burned by coals escaping from the fireplace in 1823. It was rebuilt in 1824, but was so worn out in 1857 that it was torn down, and the present building was erected near Mr. Bartlett's. In No. 10, Farr Hill, a school-house was burned in 1828, and another was erected by Levi Hildreth during the summer of the same year. Though this had a fireplace, it existed until it reached a dilapidated condition, when it was torn down and the present building erected on the original site.
The first school-house in the village district, No. 8, stood, as
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has been mentioned in Vol. I., on the lot now occupied by the house of George Gile. This was built under the direction of Bethuel White in 1805. As early as 1826 the building was in such a decayed condition that it was regarded by many of our citizens unsuitable for school purposes, and they agitated the question of building a new structure, but could not secure a vote for that purpose. In July, 1831, Elisha Hinds bought of John Bowman a tract of land adjoining the school-house lot, which he deeded as a gift to the district. It is evident from the provisions of the deed that " Esquire " Hinds contemplated the gift to the village of a structure on the same lot to be used for public meet- ings,1 but circumstances soon after rendered the execution of his plans, whatever they may have been, impracticable. After repeated failures to obtain a vote of the district authorizing the erection of a new structure, the old building was burned about 1834. The origin of the fire was not known for many years, when the facts were disclosed. It seems that a party of citizens, disguised as Indians, set the building on fire and remained on the ground till they saw that the structure was doomed.
1 The conditions of the deed of Elisha Hinds to the district were as follows : "It conveys a tract of land with the rights and privileges of building, repairing, altering, rebuilding, and forever maintaining and using a school-house and the other necessary buildings appurtenant thereto, for the benefit of said district, on a certain rectangular piece of land in said district, which I, said Hinds, have this day purchased of Jolin Bowman, the side lines of which are seven rods and a half a rod each in lengtli and are parallel, and the end lines of which are each six rods in length and parallel, which piece of land is the second piece described in said Bowman's deed of this date to mne, said Hinds, and adjoins the northeasterly side of another piece of land two rods wide, conveyed by said Bowman to said Hinds and the first piece described in said deed ; and except the old school-house lot extending from the road leading from Glynville to Mann's Hill, otherwise called Allen's Hill, in said Littleton, to the road leading from said village on the northerly side of Ammonoosuc up the river towards Portland, the piece on which the rights and privileges aforesaid are granted is equi- distant from each of said roads, and also the right and privilege so far as said Hinds' title extends of having a public highway laid out on said piece of land two rods wide without said Hinds claiming any compensation for any damage by him so sustained, and do further by these presents give, etc., the right and privilege of using in a con- venient and proper way and manner, so long as the schools of said district are kept on said land, so much of said land as may be necessary for the comfortable and pleasant accommodation of the school or schools which may be kept or established in said district, and also the riglit and privilege of having or permitting a hall to be erected over said district school room or rooms for any of the purposes, political, moral, literary or religious, before named in this instrument, and also for any other peaceable meeting of the good citizens and residents of this vicinity. Said Hinds also reserves the right to himself so far as it shall not interfere with and obstruct the riglits and privileges hereby conveyed, to erect, or cause to be erected, or to give, grant and convey the right and privilege of erecting on a part of the same land another building or buildings for any of the aforesaid purposes, literary, moral, or religious, and for any other peaceable meetings of the good citizens and residents of this vicinity."
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The new school-house was built on Union Street, on the site now occupied by the residence of Mrs. Charles C. Smith.1 It was a build- ing of one story with a side to the road, and set well back from the street. It contained two school-rooms, one for advanced pupils and the other for the younger element, the first attempt at grading schools in the town. This house was a great improvement on the prevailing style of school-rooms at the time. The seats and desks were made of pine, and each was arranged for the accommodation of two pupils. The teacher sat upon a raised platform containing a chair and a table, with a small blackboard on the wall behind the desk. This was also the first school-house in town to be heated with a box stove, which was made by the Franconia Iron Company. The house was abandoned for school purposes soon after the organ- ization of Union School District, and was purchased by Charles C. Smith, who used its timbers for a part of the house which he erected in 1870 and which still stands on the lot which reverted to the heirs of John Bowman when the school-house was given up and was purchased from them by Mr. Smith.
In 1853 District No. 17, on the south side of the Ammonoosuc River, was organized, and a new school-house built on the lot now occupied by the residence of George C. Smith, which a newspaper of the time thus describes: "The rooms are very pleasant and well planned, and the furniture is superior to that we have ever seen before. It was bought of S. Wales, Jr., in Boston. The desks are for two scholars, all made with immovable tops, the bottom
forming shelves for books, etc., underneath. Every desk is fur- nished with a glass ink-well with metal cover, and is also grooved for pens, pencils, etc. In brief, the school-house, in respect to style, construction, convenience of arrangement, elegance of finish, furniture, and means of ventilation, as well as amplitude of grounds, may be pointed to as a model." This building was moved and converted into a dwelling-house when Union School District was formed.
It is difficult to realize, in these days of the multiplicity of text- books, how meagre was the supply in the early days of the last century. The speller and the arithmetic were the only books in which there was any uniformity. There were no reading-books extant, but each pupil carried from home some book in which to read, and these were varied in character, - some reading from the Bible, some from a history, and a favored few from the " Columbian Orator." At a later period the demand for text-books caused the publication of such books on different subjects, and about 1823 came
1 The lot deeded by Elisha Hinds, or a part of it.
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into use Murray's Readers and a grammar by the same author ; also Woodbridge's Geography, with maps. Miss Rankin, a former pupil in No. 3 and afterward a distinguished teacher in our own town and in other States, writes as follows : " The maps accompanying Woodbridge's Geography, which were the first we ever saw, pre- sented a new world to our vision, and the one particularly which represented the moral condition of the world was a revelation which stirred the depths of the soul. From the pictured representations we learned that a great portion of the world was buried in profound darkness, a less portion in semi-darkness, and but two or three bright spots indicated that light and knowledge prevailed. It was while seriously contemplating the map of the various civilizations of the world in that distant school-house that my resolutions were formed to go personally to some of those dark domains of hea- thenism and bear the torch of truth to souls for whom Christ died. From Murray's Reader came also an inspiration from the hands of a pious writer - the sentiments of which I adopted as a part of my life, and often in after years repeated experimentally : ' Should Fate command me to the farthest verge of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes, rivers unknown to song, where first the sun gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam flames on the Atlantic isles, 't is naught to me, since God is ever present, ever felt, and where he vital breathes there must be joy.'" Miss Rankin also adds that, " As a passing and merited tribute to Lindley Murray, I will say that no better selection of matter for the formation of mind and character was ever presented to our schools than was found in the old-fashioned and now obsolete ' English Reader.' "
A few years later, Whelpley's Compend of Ancient History was added to the curriculum for advanced pupils. In these days of kindergarten methods, when the sole aim is to keep the interest of the children unflagging, the poor little urchin who sat on the rough benches in the early days awakens our pity. No bright pegs, string of beads, or gayly-colored pictures to divert his mind, but every active muscle strained to keep still until he should be called to toe a crack and learn his letters from the spelling-book, in the back part of which he afterwards read until he was advanced to the New Testament !
The scarcity of books, though a drawback in many respects, still had one advantage. The pupil became thoroughly acquainted with the contents of the few books within his reach, instead of having a superficial knowledge of many, as is apt to be the case to-day. The poor boy or girl who could procure no books was
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History of Littleton.
in sad straits until the law passed in 1827 required that pupils should be well supplied with books at the expense of parents and guardians, and, in case they were not able, at the public expense. In 1858 a law was passed that text-books must continue in use for three years from the time of introduction, and not more than one such book or series of books used in each class of schools could be changed in any year. In 1883 an act was passed author- izing any town or district to raise money by taxation or otherwise, for supplying pupils in the common schools with text-books free of charge. Several efforts had been made to pass a compulsory free-text-book law, but without result until the session of the Legislature. of 1889, when a bill was introduced by William H. Mitchell of Littleton, then a member of the Senate, and largely through his efforts and in the face of strenuous opposition the present law was passed. Because of the aid given by this law, many a pupil has received instruction in our schools for a longer period than would have been possible if his parents had been obliged to provide books.
This question of text-books and suitable teachers rendered necessary some supervision of the schools, and this need was met very early in the history of education in our town. In 1808 an act was passed making it the duty of towns " to appoint a committee of three or four persons who should visit and inspect the schools annually in a manner which they might judge most conducive to the progress of Literature, Morality, and Religion." In compliance with this act school inspectors were chosen in Littleton in 1809. This board consisted of Rev. David Goodall, Dr. William Burns, and Robert Charlton; the next year Joseph E. Dow succeeded Mr. Charlton. Judge Batchellor, in an article on Joseph E. Dow published in the proceedings of the Grafton and Coös Bar Association, has rescued from oblivion a characterization of these gentlemen as they appeared to the irreverent minds of some of the pupils, expressed in the following lines attributed to David Goodall, Jr. : -
" Lord, have pity On this committee That stands before us now. There 's Old Bald Head And Wooden Leg And Popple Headed Dow."
This board evidently fulfilled the duties of the position in an acceptable manner, for they were re-elected for three succes-
Schont
KILBURN SCHOOL BUILDING.
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sive years, when John Charlton took the place of Joseph E. Dow.1
There is a break in the record of these inspectors, but they were evidently appointed, as some old receipts for money paid for inspecting schools have come down to us, though no record for those years is found in the books.
Under the law of 1827 we find recorded the names of five who were chosen as superintending school committee : Drury Fairbank, Walter Charlton, William Burns, Richard Peabody, and Guy C. Rix. But in 1833 complaints of the expense of supporting superintend- ing school committee were so numerous that an act was passed allowing towns to dispense with them ; this was repealed in 1846.
The election of a prudential committee was also authorized by the law of 1827. This officer was the guardian of expenditures. He called the district meetings together, selected and contracted for the teachers in the district, provided them board, and fur- nished necessary fuel. He could not employ teachers, however, until the superintending school committee had certified to their qualifications. This law was amended at different times, but the duties of the committee remained about the same, and in 1872 " female citizens " were allowed to hold the office of such committee ; but Littleton has never honored this portion of her citizenship by an election to this office.2 In 1886 the town system was established, and from that date a Board of Education consist- ing of three members was chosen each year, until 1903, when by an act of the Legislature the schools of the town were united with Union School District under the control of the same Board of Education.
The money necessary for the support of schools has been raised by taxation; the first assessment being, as we have said, in 1791, when sixteen bushels of wheat, value 75 cents a bushel, were appropriated. Two years later the appropriation was in- creased from sixteen to thirty bushels of wheat, or from $12 to $22.50, and the appropriation was not again increased until 1796, when $40 was raised for schools, and in 1800, $100 was appro- priated. That our citizens have always been liberal in appropri- ations for schools is shown by the fact that in 1900, one hundred years later, the sum available for the support of schools was $13,154.99. Before 1821 direct taxation was the only method
1 A full list of school inspectors and superintending school committees, as well as the members of the Board of Education, will be found in the statistical history of this volume.
2 In March of the present year (1904) two women were elected, Mrs. William H. Bellows and Julia A. Eaton.
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History of Littleton.
by which money was raised for educational purposes. In that year the Literary Fund was established by the Legislature for the sole purpose of endowing and supporting a college for instruc- tion in the higher branches; but in 1828 this idea was abandoned, and the money divided among the towns of the State for the use of the common schools. This fund is raised by a tax on savings- banks, trust companies, and the deposits, stocks, and accumula- tions of depositors in such institutions and incidental holdings of savings-banks, and trust companies not resident in the State. In 1890 the dog tax was added to the money available for school purposes. In the year 1900 Littleton received $415 from the Literary Fund and $360 from the dog tax. In 1852 Littleton ranked twenty-seventh among the two hundred and twenty-five towns in the State and seventh among the thirty-seven towns in Grafton County, in the per cent of school money raised above the amount required by law. In 1853 Littleton stood second among the towns in the State and first among the towns in the county.
The compensation for teaching has increased in like ratio with the appropriations. In a bundle of old receipts we find the following: -
LITTLETON, March 22™ª A. D. 1811.
Received of the Selectmen of this town forty-two Dollars by the hand of Ebenezer Pingree, Collector in District No. 2 for teaching the school in said District three months last past at fourteen Dollars per month.
HUBBARD CARTER.
LITTLETON, 26 August, 1815.
Received of Richard Peabody twelve dollars in full for my teaching school in Littleton three months the present year.
POLLY THORNTON.
Forty years later a schoolmistress received $25, and a master $34 a month. These prices included board, which was reckoned as worth $1.50 a week.
The first school for special training of teachers was established.by Rev. S. R. Hall, a Congregational minister who opened an academy at Concord, Vt., in 1823. This has been termed " the first real Normal School on the American Continent."1 From this school Littleton obtained teachers, and most of the young men and maidens received the higher education. Mr. Hall afterwards established a similar school at Plymouth, where Matilda Rankin, a former pupil from Littleton, became his assistant. This was
1 Bush's History of Education in New Hampshire, published by order of Con- gress, p. 42.
Mitchell Scheal.
MITCHELL SCHOOL.
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many years before the Normal School was established there by the State in 1870. Littleton has depended largely on this institu- tion for her teachers, and the standard of education has thereby been raised ; for though normal instruction cannot make a teacher of one lacking that indefinable quality which is the necessary possession of every man or woman who achieves success in this profession, yet to such a one the training given develops and per- fects this natural talent. All the laws respecting teachers have required that they should be of good moral character, and Little- ton has been especially fortunate in this regard. Nearly all her teachers have stimulated in their pupils a desire for knowledge, and have aided in developing their mental and moral faculties in such a manner as to give the right impulse and direction to their lives.
Among these, beside Robert Charlton and Ansel Hatch, whose connection with the schools has been considered at length in Vol. I., were the Rev. Mr. Churchill, a Baptist minister in the first years of the nineteenth century ; General Cushman, a distinguished lawyer in Maine; Gen. Jacob Benton and William Heywood ; Reuben Benton, prominent in the political life of Essex County, Vt. ; Edmund Holmes, brother of Ariel, who taught in District No. 2 in 1827 and 1828 and was an excellent teacher, as was also Samuel Fletcher, captain in the militia, who afterwards went to Lyndon, Vt. One of the best teachers of this period was Loren Spencer, of St. Johnsbury, Vt., afterwards a graduate of Dart- mouth. When Mr. Palmer, who was committee that year, wished to hire Mr. Spencer, he was amazed because he would not come for less than $14 per month and board. Such a high price for teach- ing school was unheard of! After recovering a little from his amazement, he said, if he had to pay that sum, Mr. Spencer must teach twenty-six days in a month and have no holidays or half- holidays. Under these conditions he taught three months, and was a good disciplinarian as well as instructor. William Hubbard also taught in No. 1 very acceptably and afterwards became noted as a constructor of steamboats. Stephen Stanley Hill, who mar- ried the eldest sister of Harry and George A. Bingham, also made his mark as a capable teacher, and later was a California pioneer. Among others were P. F. Davidson, afterward a Baptist minister, as was his father before him ; Salmon H. Rowell, Roby Curtis Town, Job Pingree, Guy C. Rix, Douglas Robins, Joseph Robins, Jr., and Douglass R. Dexter.
Richard W. Peabody was a famous teacher in these early days. He was a man of vigor and of undoubted courage, - useful ad-
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juncts at a time when the larger boys intended to run matters if there was a weak point in the disciplinary armor of the teacher. In a school which he taught one winter, the boys formed a con- spiracy " to clean Peabody out," as they expressed it. One night they turned a white horse into the school-room. Arriving in the morning, Mr. Peabody saw liow matters stood. Nothing daunted, he compelled them to drive out the horse, to take brooms and water, and no rest and no school were allowed until the room was restored to its original state of cleanliness. There was no further trouble in that district.
Daniel Wise, D.D., LL.D., the celebrated Methodist author and divine, was a faithful and efficient instructor in District No. 5. Samuel B. Page, the well-known lawyer of Haverhill, also met with success as a teacher. George Streeter began his career as a teacher in our schools. He afterwards practised law in New York and became a municipal judge. In the Civil War period Hiram K. Dewey, now cashier of the bank at Barton, Vt., taught in District No. 13. Daniel Wilkins, son of Philip C. Wilkins, the surveyor, also was famous as a local mathematician as well as teacher.
Frank Peirce, late a prominent business man in Michigan, and Elisha May, a noted lawyer of St. Johnsbury, Vt., taught in Littleton in their early manhood, and gave satisfaction. The late Warren McIntire was a noted teacher for more than thirty years. Not a strict disciplinarian, he yet had a happy faculty of arousing the interest of the pupils, thus insuring the best possible discipline, that which comes from earnest labor. He taught in New England and in New Jersey and the Western States, filling acceptably all the positions to which he was called. Something of romance gathers about the school-houses in District No. 8.
Among the teachers in the house located on Pleasant Street was Calvin Ainsworth, who taught during the winter months when the strong arm was needed and whose alternate during the summer term was Eliza Bellows. Their association as teachers while he was a law student in her brother's office ultimately led to their marriage. When the new house was erected on Union Street in 1836, a similar situation aroused the same sentiments in the hearts of Charles R. Morrison, afterwards a prominent lawyer and judge of the State, and Susan Fitch, both of whom taught in this building, and were united in marriage soon after.
Among the young women who made successful teachers were the daughters of Gen. David Rankin, Clarissa, Melinda, Mabina, Harriet, and Persis, who began to teach when very young, - Melinda at the age of fourteen, - and Hannah G. Peabody, who is
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APTHORP SCHOOL,
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still living. At the same early period may be mentioned the Tift sisters and the Rowell sisters. The daughters of Parker Cush- man, Betsey and Rebecca, are remembered as teachers of fine character, and as meeting with much success in their calling, as is also Lavinia Gile, the daughter of John Gile and mother of F. A. Eastman. Others are Isabel Charlton, Polly Thornton, Lydia Dexter ; Susan and Jennie Abbott, daughters of Capt. Isaac Abbott, who respectively married John and Wallace Lind- say ; Adaline Owen, from St. Johnsbury, who married Lieut. Edward Kilburn ; and Joan Stevens, afterwards the wife of Judge Rand.
Those of a later date who achieved success were Hannah B. Farr, Luella J. Gould, Sarah E. Blair, Caroline Farr (Mrs. B. F. Page), Martha Goodwin, Olive Goodwin, sisters of Major Sam- uel G. Goodwin, and the Calhoun sisters, daughters of James Calhoun, all of whom are given high praise for their successful methods.
It is to be regretted that all the reports of the superintending school committee have not been handed down in the printed page, for the few to which we have access furnish a vivid picture of the schools and the personality of the teacher, at least as she appeared to her superintendent, whose frankness in discussing the qualifi- cations of each teacher under his supervision seems startling in this age, when it is the custom to refrain from any criticism of our public servants, except fulsome praise. How would the modern schoolmistress like to see herself described as " not up with the times ;" "too quiet, without enthusiasm enough to be a good teacher," or " wanting the staid dignity of instructress " ? Quite as well, perhaps, as to see herself described as "moving about the school-room with ease and gracefulness," or occupying a " school-house that was without a broom and decidedly dirty."
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