USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Washington > History of Washington, New Hampshire, from the first settlement to the present time, 1768-1886 > Part 17
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A vote was passed this year "that each school district build their own school houses according to their propor- tion of the school house tax ; that the north, middle and south districts have their school houses built by the last day of November next ;" and the usual vote, "that each district have the benefit of the money it paid into the town treasury for the support of schools."
This approximates very near to the district system which made the districts independent of the town. The next year thirty pounds was raised for schools. In 1795 the sum raised for the support of schools was thirty-five pounds. The usual vote was passed in regard to the di- vision of school money, and another, that any person might send his children for instruction to any district in town where a school was taught. At a town meeting held in March, 1797, a vote was passed "that sixty-five pounds should be raised to build school houses in town." A com- mittee was chosen to build a school house in the middle district. This year sixty pounds was raised for schools. In 1801 a motion prevailed to raise two hundred dollars for the support of schools. The town voted in 1802 that the middle and west districts should be united for the pur- pose of maintaining a school. At a subsequent meeting permission was given to the middle and west districts to sell their school houses and build another to accommodate both districts. March 14, 1804, a committee was chosen
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to see whether the school house in said district ought to be removed and to report to the town. No report of that committee appears on record, and we are left to infer that no action was taken by the town.
At the annual meeting in 1805 it was voted to raise one hundred dollars in the south-east district to build a school house ; and at a meeting held the 6th of September, the same year, the vote was reconsidered. At this meeting the town accepted a report made by a committee consist- ing of Ephraim Farwell, Ephraim Davis, and William Da- vis, in regard to the south-west district. The report was that a new district be organized, which, from its bounds, we infer was the district now known as No. 7. In 1810 collectors of the school tax were appointed in each dis- trict. The report of a committee appointed to consider the affairs of district No. 2, was, that in their opinion, the school house ought to stand on or near the center as the ground would permit between Rufus Breed's and Benja- min Newman's. At a meeting held March 9, 1813, it was voted to allow the school house of the middle district to stand on the north line of the common ; and Joseph Healy, Moses Dinsmore, and Jacob Wright were chosen a commit- tee to stake out the ground for that purpose. In 1814, the town voted that Charles Jones, David Tabor, and Ben- jamin Smith be allowed to draw their school money and have a school in one of their houses.
The IIth of March, 1817, Charles Jones, David Tabor, Benjamin Smith, and John B. Emerson were set off as district No. 8. The same year a tax of two hundred dol- lars was assessed in district No. 5, to build a school house, which was accordingly built, and remained until 1849, when it was replaced by the one now standing. On the 9th of March, 1819, a vote was passed that the sum of five hundred dollars, which the committee appointed for that purpose found due from the town, for school lands previously sold by the town, the proceeds of which had
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been applied to other purposes, should be now funded for the use of schools in said town, and the interest arising from that fund be applied annually, forever, to the use of schools in town. At an adjourned meeting it was voted that two hundred dollars, due from David and Jonathan Danforth, for school lands bought by them of the town, remain on interest for four years, they furnishing satisfac- tory security for its payment, and that the other three hundred should be paid out of the town treasury, and loaned on mortgage security of at least double the value of the money loaned, for the term of four years. In 1823, at a school meeting of the East Washington district, it was voted to vendue the board of the master,-struck off to Jonathan Brockway, Jr., at seventy-four cents per week. The same year the committee for visiting schools made a report of the condition of the schools, charging the sum of seventy-five cents for each visit. A resolution was passed declaring it to be the duty of the committee of each district to inform the inspectors, as they were styled, of the beginning and close of each term of school, in their limits.
In the year 1825, the inspectors report that they have visited all the schools; that the number of scholars in- structed had been three hundred and seventy-one, and that the improvement had been manifest, except in district No. 1. The school inspectors in 1828, report : "That in some of our schools it had been the practice for children to study grammar, arithmetic, geography, rhetoric, and even philosophy, before they had any adequate knowledge of reading, writing, or the power and sounds of letters. This the inspectors have uniformly discountenanced, and now have the satisfaction to state that there appears to be a due attention to reading and writing in all our schools. We believe the education of the rising generation to be an object of the first importance, not only as respects their individual usefulness, but as it respects the improvement
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and stability of our moral, political and religious institu- tions."
In 1828 the town chose the prudential committees, but in 1829, voted to allow each district to choose its own prudential committee. During this year the committee, previously styled inspectors, was called the superintending school committee, and they report the number of scholars in each district. In district No. I, which had the largest number, the scholars numbered seventy-three ; in winter an assistant teacher was employed. In 1830, the super- intending committee directed that the following should be used as class books in the several schools in town, viz :- Lee's Spelling Book, Easy Lessons, by Leavitt, Murray's English Reader, History of the United States, Putnam's Grammar or Murray's Grammar, Adams' Scholars' Arith- metic, Woodbridge's Geography or Worcester's Geogra- phy, the Bible and the New Testament.
At the annual meeting in March, 1832, a vote was passed "that one-fifth part of the literary fund which has accrued, with what shall annually accrue, shall be expend- ed annually for the use of schools, and that the selectmen attend to the school fund and see that it is secured by land security to double the amount."
In 1840, a committee consisting of Martin Chase, Asaph Wilson, David Farnsworth, 2d, John May and Ward Samp- son, reported : "That the proper place for a school house in district No. 3, is about sixty-one rods north-westwardly from the old school house in said district, on the west side of the road leading from the village in said Washing- ton to Stoddard, where they have set a stake and stones as the north-east corner of said school house." In 1846, a request, signed by ten of the inhabitants of the town, was presented to the selectmen, asking for a division of the town into school districts, the signers of the request mak- ing a statement that the town had neglected to divide itself into school districts according to the law made and
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provided in such cases, and according to a vote passed in 1827. The selectmen proceeded to act, and divided the territory of the town into nine districts, as follows :
No. I was bounded by a line beginning on the second New Hampshire turnpike, at the easterly corner of land owned by James Mapes and northerly corner owned by Charles French ; thence southerly on the casterly line of said Mapes' land to the south-westerly corner of said Mapes' land ; thence northerly on the westerly line of said Mapes' land to the home farm of Daniel Millen ; thence westerly on the south side of said Daniel Millen's farm to the home farm of Heman Millen ; thence westerly, north- erly and easterly on the westerly line of Heman Millen's farm to the farm of Hazen Ayer ; thence northerly and easterly on the westerly and northerly lines of said Ayer's farm to the farm of Alden Rounsevel ; thence northerly and northwesterly on the southerly line of said Rounsevel to the road leading from the middle of the town of Stod- dard by Harvey Healy's ; thence southerly on said road to the southerly corner of land owned by B. C. Weld; thence north-westerly on the westerly line of said Weld's land to the Brockway pond; thence on the easterly shore of said pond to the corner of Ammi W. Millen's home farm near his brickyard, and the westerly corner of land owned by James Tubbs ; thence easterly on the northerly line of said Tubbs' land to the farm of William P. Greenleaf ; thence northerly on the westerly line of said Greenleaf's farm to the home farm of Jonathan Kendall; thence westerly and northerly on the southerly and westerly line of said Kendall's farm and land owned by Col. Henry Train to the Jabez Fisher farm ; thence northerly and easterly on the westerly and northerly lines of said Fish- er's farm to the aforesaid second New Hampshire turn- pike; thence easterly on the northerly line of land owned by Ebenezer Wood, Jonas White and Levi Farwell, to land called Ames' pasture ; thence northerly and easterly
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on the westerly and northerly lines of said Ames' pasture to the home farm of Samuel Cilley ; thence on the south- erly line of said Cilley's farm and the home farm of Wil- liam Dow to the south-westerly corner of said William Dow's farm"; thence westerly on the southerly line of said Dow's farm, and land owned by Abraham Dow, to the westerly line of land owned by Joseph Crane; thence southerly on the westerly line of said Crane's land, and land owned by William Severance and Joel Severance, to Island pond; thence south-easterly in a straight line across said pond to the north-westerly corner of land owned by J. M. Tabor; thence southerly on the westerly line of said Tabor's land and land owned by Monroe and Smith, and Benjamin Priest, to the bound first mentioned.
District No. 2 was described as bounded by a line be- ginning at the south-west corner of William Dow's home farm ; thence northerly on the westerly lines of the home farms of said William Dow, Samuel Cilley, Abraham Dow, Widow Lucy Proctor, Hiram Taylor, farm and land owned by Francis Grimes, and land owned by Philip F. Pattee, to the line between Goshen and Washington; thence easterly and southerly on the lines of Goshen, Newbury and Bradford, to the north-west corner of James Ayer's old farm; thence southerly on the westerly lines of said Ayer's farm, and the home farms of Jerry Fletcher, Caleb Woodward, Isaac Gage, Joseph Severance, Isaac Proctor, and the old Joseph Crane farm, and the home farm of Joel Severance, to the road leading from the mountain road to the east part of the town; thence westerly on said road to the north-east corner of Joseph Crane's pasture ; thence southerly on the westerly line of said Crane's pasture to the north-easterly corner of district No. I, being the south- easterly corner of Abraham Dow's pasture land ; thence westerly on the line of district No. I, to the first bound.
District No. 3 was bounded as follows : beginning on the westerly side of Long pond, at the line between Wash-
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ington and Stoddard; thence westerly on said Stoddard line, to the westerly line of Eliphalet Fox's pasture ; thence northerly on the westerly line of said Fox's pasture and the home farms of Alonzo Barrett, Widow Theodosia Barney and Charles Wright, to Ashuelot pond ; thence westerly and northerly on said farm to the home farm of John Stowell; thence northerly on the westerly line of said Stowell's farm to the home farm of William Farns- worth; thence easterly on the northerly lines of the home farms of said Stowell, Harvey Barney, David Farns- worth, 2d, to Brockway pond; thence easterly on the northerly side of said pond to the westerly line of district No. 1, near A. W. Millen's brickyard ; thence southerly on the line of said district No. I, to Long pond brook ; thence south-westerly on said brook and the westerly side of Long pond aforesaid, to the first bound.
District No. 4 is bounded as follows : beginning on the line between Lempster and Washington, at the northerly line of Charles Lowell's home farm, thence easterly and southerly on the northerly and easterly lines of the home farms of said Lowell and Nathan Wright, to the north line of district No. 1; thence westerly and southerly on said district No. I, to the easterly corner of district No. 3, near A. W. Millen's brickyard ; thence westerly on the north- erly line of district No. 3, to the south-westerly corner of William Farnsworth's home farm; thence northerly on the westerly line of said William Farnsworth's farm to the home farm of Simeon Farnsworth; thence westerly, northerly and easterly, on the southerly, westerly and northerly lines of said Simeon Farnsworth's farm to the Ashuclot river ; thence northerly on said river to Chauncy Farnsworth's meadow ; thence westerly and northerly on said Farnsworth's meadow to Lempster line; thence east- erly and northerly on said Lempster line to the first bound.
District No. 5 is bounded as follows : by a line begin-
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ning on the line between Bradford and Washington, at the north-easterly corner of district No. 2 and the north-west corner of James Ayer's old farm ; thence southerly on the east line of district No. 2, to the north-easterly line of dis- trict No. I, on the south-westerly line of Joseph Crane's pasture ; thence southerly on district No. I to the land of J. M. Tabor, being on the south shore of Island pond ; thence easterly and northerly on said pond to the north- westerly corner of the home farm of Rufus Severance ; thence easterly on the northerly line of said Severance's farm and the home farms of Benjamin Smith, Jr., Joseph M. Tabor, and land of David Greene to Hillsborough line ; thence northerly on said Hillsborough line to the north- west corner of said Hillsborough ; thence easterly on said Hillsborough line to the south-east corner of Washington, and corner of Bradford ; thence north-westerly on the line between Bradford and Washington, to the first bound.
District No. 6 is bounded by a line beginning at the turnpike at the south-easterly line of district No. I, being at the north-westerly corner of land owned by Charles French ; thence southerly on district No. I, to the north- easterly corner of district No. 3 ; thence south-westerly on district No. 3 to Stoddard line ; thence easterly on Stod- dard line to Windsor line ; thence northerly on said Wind- sor line to the northerly corner of Woodbury Dresser's home farm; thence westerly on the north line of said Dresser's farm to the south side of Smith's Pond ; thence westerly and northerly on said pond to the north-east cor- ner of the home farm of Joseph Lewis; thence southerly and westerly on the east and south lines of said Lewis' farm to the road leading from the turnpike to the east part of the town by Charles Jones'; thence southerly on said road to the south-east corner of land of Daniel L. Lewis ; thence westerly and northerly on the south and west lines of said Lewis' land to the south line of George Smith's home farm; thence westerly on the south line of
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said Smith's farm, and land of David Parmenter, James Howe and Henry Crane, to the east line of Solomon Mc- Neil's land; thence northerly on said line to the south- easterly corner of Monroe and Smith ; thence westerly on the south line of Monroe and Smith's land to the east line of land of Benjamin Priest; thence northerly and westerly on the northerly line of Priest's land to the north-westerly corner of said Priest's land; thence south- erly on the westerly line of said land, to the first bound.
District No. 7 is bounded by a line beginning on the line between Washington and Stoddard at the south-east- erly corner of district No. 3, being the westerly line of Eliphalet Fox's pasture ; thence northerly on the westerly line of said district No. 3, to the south-westerly corner of district No. 4; thence northerly on the westerly line of said district No. 4, to the line between Washington and Lempster ; thence westerly on said line to the line of Marlow ; thence southerly on the line of Marlow to the line of Stoddard ; thence easterly on the line of Stoddard, to the first bound.
District No. 8 is thus bounded : beginning on the line between Washington and Hillsborough, at the north-east corner of land of David Greene and the south-easterly cor- ner of district No. 5; thence southerly on said Hillsbor- ough line to the northerly corner of Windsor; thence south-westerly on said Windsor line to the north-east cor- ner of the home farm of Woodbury Dresser, and the north- easterly corner of district No. 6; thence westerly on the northerly line of said district No. 6, to the easterly line of district No. 1; thence northerly on said district No. I, to the south-easterly corner of district No. 5; thence north- erly and easterly on the southern line of district No. 5, to the first bound.
District No. 9 is bounded as follows, beginning at the line between Lempster and Washington, at the northerly line of Charles Lowell's home farm and the northerly cor-
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ner of district No. 4 ; thence southerly on said district No. 4, to the line of district No. I, being the north westerly corner of Ebenezer Wood's land ; thence easterly on the line of district. No. I, to the west line of district No. 2; thence northerly on the westerly line of district No. 2, to the line between Washington and Goshen ; thence west- erly on said Goshen line to the easterly corner of Lemp- ster ; thence southerly on said Lempster line to the first bound.
A town meeting was called April 30, 1849, to organize a new district. A vote was passed that it should be or- ganized, and was bounded as follows: beginning at the north-east corner of Solomon Crane's homestead farm ; thence westerly on the north line of said Crane, Nutting, and Hale, and the north line of Joseph Crane's land to lands of Henry Smith ; thence southerly on the west line of Reuben Monroe's, Samuel Burbank's, and Olive C. Crane's land, to the north line of district No. 6; thence easterly on the north line of said district to the west line of William Conn's pasture ; thence northerly on west line of said pasture to land of Joseph Kingsbury ; thence northerly on said Kingsbury's west line to lands of Benja- min Smith, Jr .; thence easterly on said Smith's south line to land of Joseph M. Tabor ; thence northerly on said Ta- bor's west line to land of Isaiah K. Crane ; thence easterly on the south line of Isaiah K. Crane, Solomon Crane, and Jonathan Severance, to Hillsborough line ; thence north- erly on said line to the corner of Israel Proctor's meadow land ; thence northerly on said Proctor's line, to the bound first mentioned. This district was organized as district No. 10, but some time after took the name of No. 8, and the district formerly known as No. 8 took the name of No. IO; though by what authority or in what year we find no record. At the annual meeting held March 8, 1853, dis- trict No. II was set off from the south part of district No. I and the east part of district No. 3, but at the annual
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meeting, held March 9, 1858, district No. 1I was dissolved and divided between districts No. I and No. 3.
In the year 1882, June 17, the district now known as No. 10 having become depopulated, a meeting was held at the school house in said district by the inhabitants of No. 6, No. 8, the superintending school committee and the board of selectmen. At this meeting No. 10 was dis- solved and divided between No. 6 and No. 8 in the fol- lowing manner: The land of Dole & Sons, Eliza J. Fletcher, A. D. White, Col. Lewis place, and Charles W .. Conn, was placed in No. 6; and the land of J. D. Crane's heirs, G. A. Hoyt, Roxanna M. Smith, Clark S. Spaulding, Elizabeth Bickford and Kingsbury Heirs was placed in No. 8. It cannot be determined on-what the allegation that the town had not been legally divided into school districts rested, as the selectmen had, in 1828, divided all the terri- tory of the town into eight school districts. The only marked difference between the two divisions is that the last one makes two districts of No. I, the new one being designated as No. 9. The division of 1828 was not by any means the first of the kind, but the town had been at first divided into four districts in 1780, and again into six in 1788 or 1789. The schools must have been taught in pri- vate houses before the erection of buildings owned by the districts. In 1785 a school was taught at the house of Rev. Mr. Leslie. In 1791, Lieutenant Woods let to the town a part of his house for the purpose of accommodat- ing a school. The next year the town treasurer paid to that district its proportion of the money raised by the town for building a school house. We may infer that this year most or all of the districts proceeded to the erection of buildings to accommodate the schools. The old brick school house in district No. I was erected in 1813, by Ephraim Farewell, who received for it three hundred and ninety dollars and the old building. The vote of the dis- trict was to build a house thirty-two feet by twenty-six,
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and ten feet between the floors. The brick house now belonging to No. 4 was erected in 1827, on the same spot where had stood the old building erected in the early his- tory of the district.
In 1809 district No. I voted to adopt the following by-laws and resolution, reported by a committee composed of David Heald, Ward Sampson, J. S. Batchelder and Nathaniel Thayer.
BY-LAWS.
I. The school shall begin at nine o'clock in the morn- ing and close at twelve, as near as the situation of the school will permit. In the afternoon it shall begin at one o'clock in the winter season, and at two in the summer season, and continue at least three hours, except on special occasions.
2. The school shall in no case be kept on Saturday in the afternoon.
3. The instructor shall assign a particular place to each scholar, except those who are so small as to render this arrangement inconvenient.
4. The instructor shall not suffer any violation of the regulations of the school to pass without suitable repri- mand or correction.
5. The instructor, at the commencement of a school, shall be furnished with a copy of the by-laws, by the com- mittee who employ him, at the expense of the district.
6. It shall be the duty of the instructor to read the by-laws in school three times the first week, and after- wards once a week during the continuance of the school. .
7. It shall be the duty of the instructor, on suitable oc- casions, to inculcate in the scholars the principles of mor- ality and the necessity of a decent and proper behaviour.
8. It shall be the duty of the instructor to examine the students of grammar and arithmetic on the principles of the science which they are studying at least once a week.
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9. The scholars shall at all times treat their instructor with respect.
IO. The scholars shall behave with decency and pro- priety, and shall use no profane or obscene language while going to or returning from school, or at or about the school house»
II. When the instructor approaches the school house each scholar shall retire into it, take his seat, rise from it when the instructor enters the school room, and shall not afterwards depart from his place without leave.
12. There shall be no whispering or other unnecessary disturbance in the school ; but if any scholar have occasion to speak in school, he shall respectfully address the in- structor, and obtain leave before he speaks to any other person.
13. If any scholar over the age of ten years shall re- fuse to obey the instructor, that scholar shall be immedi- ately expelled from the school, and shall not be restored without the consent of the committee of inspectors.
14. Each scholar shall be furnished with a suitable book before he shall be instructed in reading.
15. Each scholar shall be furnished with a suitable writing book, ink-stand and ink, pen or quill, ruler and plummett, before he is instructed in writing.
16. There shall be no scribbling in the books ; but all which is written shall be in imitation of the copy, except the last line of each page, in which the scholar may write his name and date, if the instructor shall think it advis- able.
17. Each scholar studying arithmetic shall write his own rules and commit the substance of them to memory before he practices upon them.
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