USA > New Hampshire > Carroll County > Wolfeborough > History of Wolfeborough (New Hampshire) > Part 27
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SCHOOL TAX.
INTEREST ON SCHOOL FUND.
TOTAL.
District one
$35.90
$33.29
$69.19
two
25.46
23.35
48.81
66
three
30.49
28.00
58.49
four
12.80
11.15
23.95
five
6.74
6.18
12.92
six
13.58
12.45
26.03
seven
8.85
8.II
16.96
eight
34.98
32.32
67.30
$168.80
$154.85
$323.65
338
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
In 1804 the interest arising from the school fund was divided according to the number of polls in each district. This method was continued until 1808, when it was divided according to the number of children between the ages of three and eighteen years in the several districts. In 1804 it was voted to raise fifty dollars extra for schools.
Soon after the division of the town into school districts it was required that each should erect a schoolhouse at its own ex- pense. There was some delay in complying with this requisition. The first schoolhouse erected was probably in district number one. It was located near the house of Benjamin Blake, and was always designated as the Blake schoolhouse. Not far from the same time a schoolhouse was erected near the dwelling of Daniel Brewster for the accommodation of district number two. This is said to have been built of logs. In a few years a frame school- house was erected near the residence of Henry Wiggin, Esq., now occupied by Mrs. George W. Furbur. The first school- house in Pine Hill district was built near the Mason spring ; the first one in the Center district, known as the Rines schoolhouse, near the present residence of James Stevenson, his grandfather, John Rines then occupying the dwelling ; the first in the Haines district at Dimon's Corner, near where stood Aaron Robert's store. The first schoolhouse in the Farm district was built on the Farm road. Some years after this district was divided into three and a schoolhouse erected on each of the three parallel roads leading from Brookfield, viz., the Farm, Pequaket, and Cot- tonborough.
In 1807 non-resident lands were taxed and the ratable value apportioned to the several districts by the selectmen. In 18II Richard Rust, Samuel Nowell, and Dr. Moses Hoitt were ap- pointed a superintending school committee. Schools had now three sources of revenue, the school tax assessed on polls and estate of residents, the annual interest of the school fund, and the non-resident school tax, which had been established by legis-
THE OLD ACADEMY
BREWSTER ACADEMY
THE OLD BRICK SCHOOL-HOUSE
THREE NOTABLE INSTITUTIONS
339
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
lative enactment. The resident school tax was appropriated in the several districts in which it was raised; the interest from the school fund was divided among the districts as determined by a vote of the citizens, and the non-resident school tax was as- signed to the more needy of the school districts at the discretion of the selectmen.
April 17, 1820, at a special town meeting, it was voted to form a new school district from portions of districts numbered one and two, to extend from the Neck road to Pickering's Corner, in- cluding the farms of Joseph Varney and Daniel Bassett, and to be called district number nine. At another town-meeting held on the fourth day of the following May, agreeable to the petition of James Fullerton, Tobias Banfield, and thirty-seven other persons, the foregoing vote was reconsidered.
Following is a list of the persons who taught school in Wolfe- borough to the year 1820. Some of them kept only a single term, while others were thus engaged more or less for years. The date preceding a name indicates the year that person first taught in the town. 1781, Andrew Collins; 1782, Isaiah Horne ; 1785, Nathaniel Ambrose, Jr _: 1791-3, Samuel Tucker, Abraham Peavey, George Nicholson, Anna Blake; 1794, Thomas Demer- ritt, Col. Mark Wiggin, (Col. Wiggin was then past the meridian of life. He had been an active citizen of Stratham, where he held much office, civil and military. He taught a number of schools in Wolfeborough, and was a prominent town official), William Kent, (Mr. Kent subsequently became part-owner of the Cutter & Sewall mills, and eventually removed to Canada), Betsy Wig- gin; 1796, Moses Thompson; 1797, Katherine Edmonds, (this was the Neck school. It continued nine weeks, and the teacher received one and one-quarter dollars per week, boarding probably in her father's family), Horatio G. Balch, Moses Bickford, Nancy Wiggin; 1798, Benjamin Canney; 1799, George Melville, John French, Joseph Ordiorne; 1800, Samuel Fox (afterwards a prominent citizen holding various offices) ; 1801, Israel Piper,
340
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Betsy Lucas, Betsy Fernald; 1802, Nancy Coleman, Charles Barker, Jonathan Copp (a teacher for many years) ; 1803, Samuel Wiggin, Betsy Gould, Sarah Johnson (afterwards the wife of Esquire Thomas Stevenson), James F. Moulton, Mrs. John Snell, Mrs. Josiah Frost ; 1804, Wealthan Wiggin, Hiram Hodge ; 1805, Aaron Boodey, Nehemiah Ordway, Henry Horne, Ebenezer Meader, Jr .; 1806, Stephen L. Creighton, Polly Gould, Charles Foss, John Brown ; 1807, Dudley Leavitt. To secure his services as teacher for a three months' term of school, he was paid sixty- seven dollars. A portion of this sum was voluntarily contributed by Isaiah Horne, Ebenezer Meader, Jr., and John W. Horn, the two last being desirious of obtaining a knowledge of certain branches, most probably including higher mathematics and sur- veying, which ordinary teachers could not impart. (For the oc- casion the new Blake school-house was the college), Miss Savage, Sanborn Blake, Thomas Stevenson, James Stuart; 1808, John Bassett, Moses Connor, (Because of the many schools he had taught, he was called "Master Connor." He was a nephew of James Connor and a cripple. Being a good penman, he wrote many family records, some of his artistic productions being still preserved), Isaiah G. Orne, Hannah Lucas; 1809, Nathaniel Burleigh, David T. Livy (for many years a Wolfeborough phy- sician), John J. Coleman, Jonathan Blake, John Rines, Hannah Horne, Mary Young, Charles Foss, Abigail Meserve, Polly Gow ; 1811, Joseph Farrar (a practising lawyer, the grandfather of Mrs. Charles Rollins), Joseph Shorey (who constructed the Mason watering-trough, which has been in use for more than a century), William Cotton, Daniel Fellows; 1812, John W. Horne, John C. Young, Joseph Edgerly (a Wolfeborough physician), Thomas J. Tebbetts (a Wolfeborough physician, held much public office), Dearborn Wedgewood, Mary Hayes, Sally Crosby, Dolly Teb- betts, Betsy Brewster; 1813, Samuel Burleigh, Olive Shepherd, Jonathan Bickford, Jr., Nancy Philbrick, Elizabeth Powers, George W. Warren; 1814, Mary Copp, Samuel Leavitt, Jr. (be-
34I
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
came a prominent citizen and public officer of Tuftonborough), Gideon Straw, George Nowell, Sarah Lyford, Deborah Gilman ; 1815, David B. Straw, Henry Tebbetts, Abigail Snell; 1816, Hannah Gage, Mary Dudley; 1817, Charles Gilman, Polly Hawkins ; 1819, David Fullerton ; 1820, Betsy Lucas.
The money arising from the sale of the school lot was for a number of years loaned to individuals, and with some additions from the literary fund, or railroad tax, constitutes the school fund, which now amounts to forty-three hundred dollars. After a while the town used the principal in paying current expenses and thereby became legally and morally responsible for the amount thereof. A six per cent interest is allowed for the same, which is annually expended for the maintenance of the schools of Wolfeborough.
For the half-century following 1820, there was no very rapid progress in Wolfeborough schools in methods or general charac- ter. There was, however, a gradual improvement. Most of the persons who engaged in teaching were natives, but few visiting the town in search of employment as instructors on account of the low wages of teachers and the short terms of school. Enter- prising young men and women generally regarded the business as merely a stepping-stone to some more constant and lucrative employment ; consequently experienced teachers were not very abundant. A few farmers continued to instruct in winter schools for several years, their circumstances being such as to afford them some leisure in winter, but mechanics, merchants, and busi- ness men found their time fully occupied in their chosen occupa- tions.
At the annual meeting of 1821, the selectmen were instructed to re-district the town and determine the boundaries of the several districts. Their action was to be considered at the next annual meeting. This they did, increasing the number of the districts to eleven. In 1823 Rev. John P. Cleveland, Drs. Thomas J. Tebbetts and David T. Livy, Aaron Roberts, and Thomas Rust
342
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
were chosen superintending school committee. They were in- structed to visit the schools at the beginning and close of each term, and to employ no person to teach who had not received from them a certificate of proper qualifications for teaching. In case they should not follow the latter instruction, they would become personally liable for the wages of that person. In 1828 a prudential school committee consisting of a resident in each district was chosen. It was composed of David Fullerton, Daniel Pickering, William Furbur, John Bassett, Joseph Banfield, Samuel Huggins, Benjamin Smith, Thomas J. Tebbetts, Jeremiah Towle, Robert Newell, and Joshua Pierce.
On account of the small amount of money appropriated for the early schools of Wolfeborough it was necessary to impose on the pupils duties which to those of today would seem very irksome. For many years the wood for the school-house fires was delivered green, and sled length, that is, in logs from eight to twelve feet long. Occasionally it was dragged to the place in whole trees, the branches only being removed. A fire list was prepared by the teacher, and the boys were expected to fit the wood for burn- ing and "tend the fire." It required a considerable portion of the previous afternoon to cut the wood and gather the kindlings, which consisted of partially decayed stumps and fallen limbs. If the weather was extremely cold, the temporary janitor would be obliged to spend a large portion of the next day in efforts to keep the open school-room comfortably warm. He was not ex- pected to be sparing of the fuel, and its consumption in the broad fireplace, with its high jambs was not inconsiderable. Such exer- cise was well calculated to develop muscle, and render unneces- sary expensive training in athletics.
A sweeping-list was also a necessary accompaniment of the school-room. The broom was manufactured on the spot. It con- sisted of a flat bundle of hemlock sprigs fastened to a long stick handle with a tow string, perhaps hand-twisted. To properly shape such a broom and attach it firmly to the handle required
343
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
a degree of skill. It would not be strange if sometimes a youth, as he watched the manipulations of the deft fingers of the maiden before him, fancied that at some future time she might become the neat and tasteful mistress of his home.
Boarding around was a method adopted by some of the smaller school districts to lengthen the term of school, the parents and guardians mutually agreeing to board the teacher for a period proportionate to the number of pupils they were to send to the school. This practice was advantageous to the children, as it permitted them to become better acquainted with the teacher, who tutored them at their homes. It also promoted sociability between parents and teachers. The objectionable feature of the custom was the liability that the teacher become a dyspeptic by an over-indulgence in the indigestible delicacies which the house- wives vied with each other in preparing for him, or a rheumatic from the occupancy of the long untenanted bed in the spare room.
Occasionally a sagacious parent who had a large number of children and a well-stored larder would take as a boarder an en- terprising teacher at a merely nominal price in order that the family might be benefited by his example and instructions. On the approach of evening the chores would be early finished, and the younger members of the household sent to bed. Then the broad dinner-table would be drawn before the blazing hearth in the capacious living-room, and the books, slates, and tallow dip placed on it, while the teacher and pupils would gather around for study and exposition. A few hours thus spent brought more pleasure and profit to the participants than would have been ob- tained in a much longer stay in a modern club-room. Out of families thus trained, have gone forth many sons and daughters who have creditably and successfully won their way in the broader fields of life.
Until about 1830, the town as a corporation managed school affairs either by the direct action of its citizens in town meeting, or by its agents, the selectmen, or, in some measure, by superin-
344
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
tending and prudential committees. At that time it transferred a large share of its power and oversight in such matters to the little republics known as school districts. These had their officers -a clerk and prudential committee-and such special agents as occurring circumstances required. They determined the time and length of school sessions, purchased fuel and furniture, re- paired and erected school-houses, and voted money for extra instruction ; but could neither assess nor collect taxes. These must be authorized by the selectmen. In cases where statutory requirements were neglected, the selectmen supplied the deficien- cies at the expense of the district.
In one instance it is evident that the bounds of lawful action were exceeded. The inhabitants of a certain school district had met for the purpose of making arrangements to build a much needed school-house. As usual there were objections to the scheme. It was decided to purchase a gallon of brandy at the expense of the district. The result was that the gloom of antici- bated rates was banished by visions of golden prosperity, and an affirmative vote was obtained. The act was not meritorious in a moral or legal aspect, but it was politic, and therefore con- doned.
A superintending school committee was elected in 1823 and one in 1829, consisting of Nathaniel C. Towle, Joseph Banfield, and Thomas Rust. After that time they were appointed by the selectmen. Here follows a list of the committees appointed.
1830-I, Thomas J. Tebbetts, Daniel Martin, Zachariah Bat- chelder ; 1832, Henry H. Orne, Obadiah Stoddard, Enos Merrill; 1833, Thomas J. Tebbetts , Daniel Martin, David Fullerton ; 1834, David Fullerton, Ebenezer Tebbetts, David Shaw; 1835-6, Ebenezer Tebbetts, Obadiah Stoddard, David Shaw; 1837-8, Ebenezer Tebbetts, James Edgerly, Samuel J. Stevenson ; 1839- 40, William Thompson, Benjamin F. Parker, James A. Tebbetts ; 1841-2, Henry H. Hazelton, Samuel J. Stevenson, Matthias M. Haines ; 1843, Obadiah Stoddard, Jeremiah F. Hall, Matthias M.
345
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Haines ; 1844-5, Zachariah Batchelder, George W. Warren, Jesse A. Sanborn; 1846, Zachariah Batchelder, Benjamin F. Parker, Obadiah Stoddard; 1847, Zachariah Batchelder, Benjamin F. Parker, Thomas L. Whitton; 1848, Thomas Rust, George W. Hersey, Thomas L. Whitton; 1849-50, Thomas Rust, Ira Blais- dell, Samuel J. Stevenson ; 1851, Thomas Rust, Samuel J. Steven- son, Thomas Bartlett ; 1852, Thomas Rust, Samuel J. Stevenson, Matthias M. Haines ; 1853-4, Thomas Rust, Matthias M. Haines, Charles H. Parker ; 1855, Samuel J. Stevenson, Charles F. Hill, William C. Fox; 1856, Thomas Rust, Thomas Bartlett, Stephen Merrill ; 1857, Stephen Merrill, Thomas Bartlett, Charles F. Hill ; 1859, John Wingate, Charles F. Hill; 1860, Charles F. Hill, Wil- liam C. Fox, Samuel J. Stevenson ; 1861, Charles F. Hill, John Wood, Samuel J. Stevenson; 1862, William C. Fox, Henry R. Parker, Woodbury P. Horne; 1863-4, Chase Moulton, Wood- bury P. Horne, Samuel D. Fox; 1865, Charles F. Hill, William C. Fox, Oscar F. Whitton ; 1867, Albert B. Rust ; 1868-9, Henry G. Horne, Chase Moulton, Moses T. Cate.
About this time it was decided to have the superintending school committee consist of one person only, who was to receive a salary not exceeding sixty dollars. Under the regulation the following persons were appointed: 1870, Oscar F. Whitton; 1871, Josiah H. Stinchfield; 1871-3, Woodbury P. Horne; 1874-5, Aaron W. Ayer; 1876-7, Moses T. Cate; 1878, Henry R. Parker; 1879, Sumner Clark; 1881-2, Woodbury P. Horne ; 1883, George E. Symonds ; 1884, John G. Cate ; 1885, George A. Haines. Previous to 1870 each member of the superintending school committee received annually two dollars. This was his compensation for attending two meetings of the committee held for the examination of persons who proposed to teach schools in the town. If he performed judicial functions, he was paid for his services. Visiting schools, of which there was little done, was gratuitous. Subsequent to 1885, school matters in Wolfeborough have been managed by the town school district.
346
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Here is an exhibit of the school in Wolfeborough in 1840. The first column shows the number of the district; the second, the number of pupils in it between the ages of three and eighteen years ; the third, the amount of money alloted to it; the fourth and fifth, the names of the teachers employed in summer and winter.
I
77
$110.55
Sarah A. Doe
Charles G. Tebbetts
2
I02
$124.19
Mary A. Mason
Benjamin F. Parker
3
35
$ 56.56
Louisa A. Cate
Phœbe Furbur
4
28
$ 45.24
Shuah Libbey
Mary A. Mason
5
76
$ 96.39
Melissa Tebbetts
Samuel J. Stevenson
6
21
$ 31.27
Elizabeth Folsom
Eliza Tebbetts
7
20
$ 34.55
Ann Moulton Matthias M. Haines
8
93
$135.05
Mehitable Bickford James A. Tebbetts
9
22
$ 24.65
Hannah T. Hersey Hannah T. Hersey
IO
IO
$ 11.35
II
16
$ 14.92
I2
21
$ 34.96
Elizabeth Tebbetts George W. Horne
13
75
$ 95.69
Betsy A. Rust Samuel S. Parker
14
40
$ 44.56
Mary J. Tebbetts Phineas Johnson Obadiah Stoddard
15
43
$ 53.72
Total 697
$913.65
The average amount of school money expended for each pupil was one dollar and thirty-four cents. These teachers were nearly all natives of Wolfeborough, at least five of them being farmers with families.
School district number two originally extended from New Durham to the Hersey Brook, a distance of about five miles. It also embraced the whole of the Col. Rust lot and that portion of the Sewall lot which was on the south side of Smith's River. As in 1829 it had increased considerably in population, small vil-
347
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
lages having been formed in two localities, it was proposed to divide the district into two, the severing line to be a little south of the Guppy (now the Berry) place. A proposition so reason- able met with no opposition, and the southern portion became district number thirteen.
This division left district number two without a schoolhouse, and it was decided to erect one in Harmony Grove. This loca- tion, although not central, was regarded as desirable, since it was at a convenient distance from the two villages, the Bridge and Mill Village, while the nature of its environs was such that the erection of many buildings in the vicinity seemed improbable, quiet and an ample play-ground thus being insured.
There was a disparity in the financial conditions of the two sections of the district, the Bridge portion being comparatively wealthy, while many of the inhabitants of Mill Village were poor. At first matters were quiet and harmonious. Soon, however, there were murmurings of dissatisfaction because the money of the more wealthy was educating the children of the poor. For this there was only one remedy-a division of the district on the property line. Repeatedly this matter was brought before the town by petitions, but in every instance the petitioners had "leave to withdraw." Repeated failure brought quiet. The population of the district continued to increase, and about 1860 the school- room, which was only twenty-eight feet square, became much over-crowded, the school sometimes consisting of one hundred pupils. The roof and other wood work of the building had be- come mnuch decayed, and it was deemed proper to erect a new schoolhouse suitable for the necessities of the district. At a school-meeting it was voted to build on the lot then occupied by the district a school building two stories high, with one room on each floor in which could be held graded schools, the cost of which, as guarranteed by responsible persons, should not exceed two thousand dollars. A building committee was chosen, con- sisting of persons living in different parts of the district.
348
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Soon agitation in relation to a division of the district recom- menced. No complaint was made against any of the inhabitants of the district, old or young, but the cry was against the projectors of the building enterprise, although responsible persons were ready to guarantee that the cost of the school-house should not exceed the estimated sum. Some persons, who were really opposed to the division of the district, became so alarmed at the prospect of high taxes that they voted in favor of the measure. By methods which it is better to let the pall of oblivion cover, the seceders prevailed notwithstanding a majority of the inhabitants of the district voted against a division.
The secession of the more wealthy portion of its inhabitants left district number two in circumstances peculiarly difficult. It was probably per capita the poorest district in Wolfeborough, although in the aggregate it possessed more property than some of the smaller ones. It had been made the unwilling possessor of a partially decayed schoolhouse, for which it had been required to pay to the new district its proportion of the estimated value. This building it could not advantageously repair, remove, occupy, or utilize. It could not be permanently occupied as a school- house, as it stood within ten rods of the southern terminal of the district, while the homes of every pupil were in a northerly direc- tion ; it could not be removed, as its walls were of brick ; it could not be repaired and used for any other purpose than a school- house, as in that case the lot would be forfeited.
The district was forced to make a virtue of necessity, and for a short time a school was kept in it, although the decayed roof threatened danger to the pupils. It was afterwards sold at auction for old brick. As soon as practicable, arrangements were made to build a new schoolhouse. A lot was purchased for seventy-five dollars, and on it erected a schoolhouse at a cost of sixteen hundred dollars. Enlarged by the town of Wolfeborough, it remains an evidence of the correct educational sentiment of dis- trict number two.
349
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
The seceding district constructed no school building, but de- pended on renting until 1878. Like all events occurring in human affairs the division of the district was not barren of fruitage. It occasioned animosities of long continuance, and wounded close friendships that were never healed. It is, however, proper to ob- serve that some of the more considerate promoters of the act ac- knowledged and regretted their error, and later invited co- operative action in school matters.
School district number one was settled quite uniformly, and the population remained quite evenly distributed for some time. During this period the Blake school-house was convenient for it. In process of time, however, the southern part became quite populous, while the inhabitants in the northern end lessened somewhat. It was then claimed that it was unjust to require the major part of the pupils who were living in the compact part of the district to travel so far to school. The claim was admitted, and the district divided. The Blake school-house was removed nearer to the village, and a small one erected for district number one. Subsequently the new districts, seventeen and nineteen, with a portion of number sixteen, which consisted of parts of numbers two and thirteen, were consolidated, and the combina- tion was called district number seventeen. In 1878 this district obtained possession of the Academy building on condition that it should maintain a High School. This it did by taxation and such tuition as it obtained from other districts. The school was of respectable grade and proved quite beneficial to the town until the opening of the Brewster Free Academy.
School district number twelve was located between Water Village and North Wolfeborough, and number eighteen between the Haines Hill and Center Wolfeborough. They were both small.
Great improvements has been made in the schools of Wolfe- borough during the last thirty years. This has been especially noticeable since John Brewster made in his will such ample pro-
350
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
visions for educational purposes. In 1880 the schools in districts numbered two and seventeen were managed by boards of educa- tion. In 1886 the town system of schools was adopted, and they are now under the direction of a school board of three persons elected by free suffrage. One member of the board retires each year, the place being filled by a new election or his own re- election.
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