USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Salem > History of Salem, N.H. > Part 18
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About 1825 the stone house was built by John Merrill, who owned the land where the old building stood. The town paid him $300, and gave him the old schoolhouse, in exchange for the stone house. This was used until the new building was put up in 1873. Toward the last of its years of service it was entirely too small to fulfill the demands of the rapidly growing village at the Depot, and at last had to give way to its successor. It was then sold to William L. Bradford for a very inconsiderable sum-about thirty-five dollars.
The committee for building the new house was Charles Kim- ball, Isaac Thom and Samuel P. Kelly. The cost of the build- ing, which was designed for a graded school, was $3,500. It stood where the present house is for twenty-one years, being consumed by fire in 1894. This put the town to the necessity of rebuilding. This time the construction committee was Ephraim A. Peabody, Charles F. Kimball and Edric A. Wade, M. D. The total cost of the building was $4,415.08.
No. 7. We do not know much of the history of this district. In 1847 and thereabouts a great deal of discussion took place regarding the location of the schoolhouse. Several meetings were held, committees chosen, but nothing was accomplished except the incurrence of expense to the district. At last a building was put up near the house of Samuel Palmer, east of the corner where the present house is located. It was there in 1859, and is described as a small red building. At one time the school was kept for a time in the old shop now standing at Thom's Corner.
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No. 8. Here is the only schoolhouse in town which admits no priority of station to another building, it being the only original house in use for school purposes. The date of its erection is probably near the opening of the last century. It has been greatly changed in appearance, both inside and out. The floor, like that of every old building in town, was laid sloping toward the teacher's desk, the back part being raised several feet. The pupils had to take care of the buildings in the early days, and used to come back Saturday mornings occasionally to scrub the floors. This work consisted in pouring pailfuls of water down at the upper end and sweeping it with a broom as it flowed to- ward the front. The long wooden benches were thus arranged in tiers across the room, an arrangement which gave the teacher a better view of his pupils. However, there was serious complaint later that those sitting near the back had to breathe impure air because of their elevation, also to suffer from heat during the summer term. When the house in this district was remodeled, in 1864, the floor was laid level and modern desks introduced.
Mr. Baxter Hall has a book of records of the old district, beginning at 1828. Among the names of men who served as Prudential Committee are those of nearly all citizens of the district who were at all prominent in the neighborhood and town affairs. Mr. Hall is the only present resident of the district who still occupies the family homestead of the early days. In the accompanying cut of the buildings may be seen the last view of it before its demolition, as a new house is now under process of construction. At the last school meeting (held in March, 1907,) the town voted to raise $2,000 for a new building to supply the growing demand for accommodation in this district.
No. 9. The old schoolhouse in this district, located somewhat north of the present site, had been several times repaired up to about 1860, when its condition was such that further outlay on it was deemed inadvisable. Consequently several terms passed, especially during the winter months, when no school was kept here. But in 1864 the present building was erected, being con- sidered at the time a very fine home for the school of the district.
No. 10. This, being a comparatively new district, had no old
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schoolhouse. When the new brick building in No. 4 was built in 1853, the old house, which had stood north of the Thomas Duston place, was moved, after having been taken down, to the hill in No. 10, and built into the present schoolhouse. It was raised May 8, 1854.
The old system of districts for school management was done away with in 1885, when the whole town was merged into one body for conducting educational affairs. Meetings are held annually, apart from town meetings, and have jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to schools.
For many years a Superintending School Committee was em- ployed, under legislative enactment, for the general supervision of all the districts. These men reported annually to the town regarding conditions and results of the year preceding. Some of these reports are interesting in the extreme. Each incumbent felt himself called on to present a dissertation upon the duties of parents in school interests. Without question the advice given in this way was sorely needed then, but no more so, perhaps, than in many cases today. By far the most interesting of these reports is the oldest, of which we have a copy. It outlines the duties of the committee as prescribed by law, and then proceeds to indicate some of the things that militate against the proper performance of them. It is remarkable that the conditions here set forth, as long ago as 1848, are the same as those which today furnish such a weighty problem to school authorities, even in our large city school systems. Some extracts from this report are here presented, together with a few paragraphs taken here and there from reports of other superintendents :
"The Sup. School Committee for the town of Salem, for 1847, submit the following report.
"The duty of said Committee will be found in the R. S., Chap- ter 73, which your Committee deem proper to embody in this report. We wish every person may read attentively, and for once know what the law is, and what alterations have been made.
"Chap. 73, Sec. 2-It shall be the duty of said Committee to examine every person proposing to teach any district school in such town; to visit and inspect every school, at least twice a year; to inquire into the regulation and discipline thereof, and
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SCHOOLHOUSE NO. 6. (M 210) (See page 218)
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suggest any necessary alterations, to examine the proficiency of the scholars, and to use their influence that all the youth of each district attend and profit by the school therein.
"Chap. 73, Sec. 11-The Superintending School Com. shall determine and direct the class books to be used in the district. schools of the town; and the parents, masters, or guardians of the scholars, attending such schools, shall supply said scholars with the books so directed to be used.
"Chap. 73, Sec. 11 .- If any poor child attending any district school is destitute of the necessary class books, the selectmen shall provide such books at the expense of the town, upon appli- cation therefor.
"We have copied, at length, these sections, that every person may know the duties involved upon this com. All will see by an Act, passed by the Legislature, June, 1846, that Sec. 5, Chap. 73, is repealed, and the Town has no right to vote to dispense with the examination of Schools. It is not in the power of the Town, by their vote, to repeal a State Law; if individuals feel grieved, they must apply to the Legislature for the remedy.
"We may differ from some of our friends in regard to this new law, but we are of the opinion it is one of the best acts ever performed by that grave body, and hope it will remain un- changed, at least, until this generation shall have the advantage of a common school education. It must be apparent to every one who takes any interest in our district schools, that the pal- pable neglect of this Town to have their schools examined, has been the means of bringing them into almost the deplorable situation we found them. We have found over thirty different kinds of books in the schools ; some of them we could not tell what they were, they had neither cover nor title-page. Now, we would ask, how came they there? It was for the want of a Sup. School Com. to have examined the schools and directed what books should have been used, and this ought to have been done ten years ago. This multiplicity of books found their way into the schools by the fancy of every new master or mistress that was employed.
"Your Committee saw the necessity of a change; that some standard books must be adopted, and we were unanimous that
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most of the old books should be excluded, and these instructions were given at the commencement of every school. We gave our reasons for it,-that teachers could not do their duty, and children could not get their equal share of instruction. For in- stance, allowing thirty scholars in a school, and each one has a different book, the teacher would have only six minutes to each, (this is allowing three hours in the forenoon, and three in the afternoon, the usual school hours,) who wonders that our chil- dren have not learned any thing for years past; and because they did not, the blame, in most cases, has been wrongfully thrown upon the teachers. Now, we say, had every district complied with the wishes of the Committee, but five or six dif- ferent books would be in use, and this would bring the school into five or six classes, and instead of six minutes to each scholar, they would have nearly half an hour to each class, and instruc- tion to one in the class is instruction to all; and here is a gain of twenty to twenty-five minutes to each scholar and the same increased gain if they belonged to more than one class.
"There is another reason, why all the books in town should be alike, if a family should move from one district to another, there would be no change of books required, and furthermore, those now used could be passed from the eldest to the youngest in each family; and should the direction of the Committee be fully com- plied with, our schools here after will not be overwhelmed with all kinds of books, and we assert with great assurance that the cost for books for the next three years will not be as much as the cost for new books at every new school under the former confused regulation would cost for one single year.
"We have found some opposition in the discharge of our duty. Some person says we have no right to direct the books. We referred them to the Revised Statute, Chap. 73, Section 11. Another says it is wrong to go into the schools it disturbs them ; and some children when they find out that the committee is coming will keep away from school, no doubt but this is true, and no doubt they are bad scholars too, and the fault is not their own altogether, for if they were under good parental discipline at home, they would never run away from school and, mark ye! if that scholar is a boy, before he is thirty years old, would
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give all he may then possess if he had learned to read and write his own name. Others say, there will be a new Committee next year, and then there will be more new books required. If there is a change in the Committee you will make it yourselves, and the conduct of a new Committee is not chargeable to this Com- mittee, and furthermore, whatever change there may be, no prudent men will advocate a change of books until they know the result of this change.
"Others say, to examine the schools it will cost too much! Why it cost more than all the literary money we get, and there- fore, let it go! This is not the only requirement of the law. It must be done if there is no literary money. The expenses of the Sup. School Com. for the last year is one cent and eight mills on the amount of the taxes raised in town, which would increase a poll tax two cents and seven mills. Away with this mincing and squirming about a few dollars and cents where the education of our children is a consideration, the grand lever which raises man above the beast, the foundation of all social and religious freedom. Will you give your children money, or will you give them education? Give them the former and it will soon take wings and be gone. Give them the latter, and it is there, an everlasting monument, an ornament to your family, an honor to society, and a blessing to mankind. Is there a parent, a master or guardian in this town that will turn a deaf ear to the request of your Committee, and still persist that the old books are good enough, and allow them each a different book, and by doing so cheat your children out of one hour and perhaps an hour and a half of tuition, every day while your school may keep, we hope and trust that there are but a few who will differ from us and to that few we would earnestly recommend that they had better dispense with some unfashionable luxuries which they indulge in, and procure the required books for the education of their children.
"But one or two complaints have been made to the Committee for disorderly conduct or disobedience of school regulations, and on examination we found the circumstances as in most such cases to be the fault of parents and not of the teachers, and we would recommend to all such parents that if they intend to direct the
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schools they had better come to the school house and not send their orders by their children. Great care has been taken in the examination of the literary proficiency of applicants, and in several instances certificates have been refused. It has often been said, and too often practised upon this town, 'that anybody can keep a school in Salem;' some of these applicants however have been obliged to find a school somewhere else, as their quali- fications were not sufficient to meet the views of this committee.
"We would add in conclusion, and repeat for the third time, that the town will chose the Sup. School Committee by ballot. "All of which is respectfully submitted, "John L. Clendenin "John Ayer 2 Sup School Committee" Also a word from J. Lewis Trefren, superintendent in 1858 :
"Another evil against which your committee and teachers have to contend is a want of interest on the part of parents in visiting the schools; though some interest is manifested by some parents; yet there are others who never see their children in the schoolroom. No man in town would consent to place his farm, cattle and horses in the hands of an entire stranger and never go near him and see how he managed. And yet they do not hesitate to send their children to the guardianship of a teacher whom they do not know and never go near him to learn how he proceeds in the guidance of their minds and hearts. Alas, that it should be so. Vain, comparatively, will be all the efforts of the teacher to form the mind and heart of the child, unless they are met by corresponding efforts on the part of the parent."
Mr. E. Scott, in his report of 1862, saw fit to add the following to the contributions of his predecessors :
"If 'order is heaven's first law,' it certainly should be the first in the schoolroom. Without good order it is simply impos- sible to have a good school. Let every teacher understand this, and that order is to be insisted on first, last and all the way through the term. It is no way, except a very bad one, to allow scholars to take their own course for the first few days in the hope of more easily introducing discipline afterward. Such a course will involve a failure in ninety-nine cases in a hundred. Either such schools will become demoralized or at best prove an
CAVOMIEL.ALEAM
SCHOOLHOUSE NO. 8. (M 316) (See page 219)
DR. VLADIMIR N. SIKORSKY.
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essential failure. The teachers task is sometimes rendered ex- tremely difficult and unpleasant by the manifest want of sym- pathy and cooperation on the part of parents. Some are strangely unwilling to have their children governed at school and thoughtlessly take part against the teacher in any conflict in which their children are parties. Let children once learn from their parents that they think the teacher ought not to govern them, or cannot, and the teachers task at once becomes a very arduous one. Still the teachers prerogative is well defined, his duty plain; he must govern the school, whether parents approve or disapprove. For incorrigible offenders, there is a short way and an effectual one; if a scholar cannot be governed in school let him be excluded from it. Evil example is conta- gious. 'One sinner destroyeth much good.' Better one suffer than many."
Even this left ample opportunity for succeeding officials to "ring a new change" on the old theme. We present but one more specimen, from the pen of Mr. George W. Rogers in 1866 :
"A WORD TO PARENTS.
"Parents inflict a great wrong upon their children when they take them from school at too early an age for the sake of the advantage derived from their labor. Suppose they can earn half as much as a man on the farm or in the shop, ought they to be obliged to do so? Or, if the child wishes to leave school himself for this purpose, is it right to allow him? Certainly not. For by and by both parents and child will see what has been lost in suffering the precious opportunities our Common Schools afford to pass by unimproved. It is a loss that is hard to make up when the deficiency is felt. It is more than a question of dollars and cents."
Do not the arguments herein contained seem valid, especially when we consider that the work for the nine schools of the town was done on an expenditure of only $700.04? It is the pains- taking effort of men such as comprised this committee that has gradually brought up the standard of Salem schools.
Various means have been resorted to to raise money for school purposes. In these attempts the village districts were better
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situated and therefore usually more successful. On one occa- sion the people of No. 1 district held a school festival in Salem Hall to raise funds for necessary expenses. It was on January 17, 1865, when the stringency of war times made money a little scarce. The success of the affair may be judged by the fact that ninety dollars profit was realized. It was expended as follows: Seventy-five dollars for teaching to March first, six dollars for fuel, and nine dollars for prizes to be awarded efficient pupils. This gives an idea of salaries paid at that time. Miss Laura Haynes taught the term above referred to. Men were paid higher wages. The following term was of only eight weeks instead of twelve, during which school was conducted by L. Everett Fogg, who received ninety-two dollars for teaching and board.
There is one homestead in Derry which was placed under Salem school jurisdiction by legislative enactment of June 28, 1859. By this act George A. Goodhue of Derry was annexed to School District No. 4 in Salem, with all the liabilities and privileges as fully and completely as if located in Salem. It was also provided that all such persons as in the future should reside on said homestead should come under this act. The wis- dom of this bill is apparent when the relative distances from the Goodhue place to the schools of both towns are considered, and more especially since all trade and travel from there nat- urally turns to North Salem.
HIGH SCHOOL.
Salem has never had a high school. When parents have desired to give their children educational advantages beyond the scope of the local schools they have sent them usually to Pinkerton Academy in Derry or to Tilton Seminary. A few pupils have attended the normal schools at Plymouth, N. H., Salem, Mass., or Lowell, Mass. The school most closely asso- ciated with the interests of Salem, however, has for several years been the Methuen High School. This school has graduated a large number of Salem boys and girls, many of whom have sub- sequently completed their education in the colleges and univer- sities. Since the passage of the state law in 1901, compelling
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all New Hampshire towns, which had no high schools, to provide that grade of education in some adjoining town, nearly all high school pupils from Salem have been sent to Methuen. The tui- tion charge has been forty dollars per year for each pupil, a part of which is returned to the town by the state. The picture on page 228 shows the high school boys and girls of Salem on board the electric car at Point A, en route for Methuen. The opening of the electric line of the Southern New Hampshire Company furnished a quick and economical means of transpor- tation of pupils to and from school, reduced rates having been granted by the company. This means much to the success of the pupils, since one of the most exhausting influences to boys and girls attending school is a long, tedious ride before and after the session. The value of easy access cannot be estimated in terms of dollars-experience has proved it to be a question of physical health and conservation of vital nerve energy.
Last year there were twenty-one pupils from Salem in the Methuen High School, two of whom graduated in June, 1906. During the past year there were nineteen, five of whom grad- uated June 21, 1907. The group picture of these five graduates, taken just after graduation, on the high school lawn, is shown on page 232.
The school report for the year ending August 1, 1906, the last issued, shows a total enrollment for three terms in all nine districts of 859 pupils, an average for each term of 286. The number of different names registered during the year was 329, of which 180 were boys and 149 girls. Fourteen teachers were employed during the year in the twelve schools. There are two grades in the No. 1 building, and three in No. 6. The total expenditures were $6,652.23. The board consisted of Frank D. Davis, Clinton L. Silver and Seth M. Pattee. This board has full charge and management of school affairs, except the pay- ment of bills, which is attended to by the school treasurer, James Ewins.
The office of superintendent of schools was created in 1826, when Rev. William Balch was first elected to that office. Vari- ous methods of supervision have since been employed with equally various degrees of success. The old plan of having a
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prudential committee for each district, who should engage the teachers and have general control of the running of the school, was discarded at the time of consolidation of the districts in 1886 in accordance with the new state law then passed. In June, 1901, the towns of Hampstead, Epping and Salem were formed into a Supervisory District by a joint meeting of the school boards of the three towns held in Hampstead. Mr. Edgar E. Hulse was elected superintendent for the district, at a salary of $1,200 per year. Epping and Salem were each to pay two fifths, and Hampstead one fifth, of this amount. But under the state law sanctioning such districting of the towns it was provided that one half the sum paid should be returned to the town by the state; consequently the net cost to Salem was only $240 per year.
Mr. Hulse was succeeded in 1904 by Harry A. Brown, at which time a new district was formed by Salem and Hudson. In 1905 Hudson voted to discontinue the supervision, and Salem, unable to bear the full expense of engaging an efficient superintendent, and unable to arrange cooperation with another town, was forced also to follow the action of Hudson.
In the spring of 1907, after a period of two years of super- vision by the school board, a new arrangement was made by which Atkinson, Hudson and Salem formed a supervisory dis- trict and employed Mr. J. E. Wignot as superintendent.
The schools of the town will graduate twelve pupils this year, who will be sent to Nashua to take the high school examinations.
SALEM SOCIAL LIBRARY.
In 1798 an act was passed by the state legislature incorporat- ing a body of men to be known as the Proprietors of the Social Library in Salem. They were Rev. John Smith, Thomas Dow, David Allen, William Thom and Andrew Packs( ?). We do not know how long the organization existed, or the nature of its work. If its records are preserved, they are obscure from the present demand for them.
SALEM PUBLIC LIBRARY.
For some years public-spirited citizens looked forward to the institution of a public library in the town. Not until 1893,
PUBLIC LIBRARY. (M 34)
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however, did a means present itself. At that time the state offered one hundred dollars' worth of books to a town which would raise one fourth of that amount toward equipping a library. Salem took advantage of the offer by voting at the annual meeting in 1893 to raise twenty-five dollars. The books were received in due time and put into one of the rooms of the town house. Here the first distribution took place, February 17, 1894, at which time thirty-six books were drawn out. This was the home of the library until the fall of 1895, when it was moved into the present building, then just vacated by the school of the district, which had been transferred to the new school- house.
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