USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Candia > History of the town of Candia, Rockingham County, N.H., from its first settlement to the present time > Part 11
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
Island district. District No. II was the territory which is situated in the eastern part of the town and is now called East Candia. It was formerly called the Langford district. District No. 12 was that made up from territory lying in the southeast section of the town. It is now called the Patten Hill district. District No. 13 was Tower Hill and a section near the Chester Turnpike. District No. 14 was constituted of territory situated on the North Road, which was formerly a part of district No. 2. It was set off and made a separate district in 1849.
The following are the names of a few of the prominent teachers in the schools from sixty to seventy years ago :
Samuel Cass, Daniel Fitts, Jr., John Lane, Joshua Lane, Ezekiel Lane, Moses H. Fitts, Franklin Fitts, Frederick Parker, Henry M. Eaton, Abraham Emerson, Francis Pat- ten, Alfred Colby, Nathan Carr, Rufus E. Patten, Asa Fitts, ? Abigail Lane, Polly Rowe, Lucinda Dolloff, Melinda Patten, Julia Rowe. -
About the year 1810, the school districts were made inde- pendendent, officers were elected, and each district man- aged its own affairs. The principal officer, who was called the Prudential Committee, hired the teacher and had the general oversight of matters pertaining to the school. Each of the schoolhouses in the town was erect- ed at the expense of the taxpayers of the district in which it was located.
The oldest school house now in town, is that which was probably built one hundred years ago, on the North Road, in what was formerly district No. 7. The frame o the school house at the Corner was probably put up more than ninety years ago. Nearly all of the other school houses in town are of comparatively modern date.
The following is a partial list of the text books which were in use in the schools of the town near the close of the last century and during the first quarter of the present cen- tury :
Dilworth's Spelling Book, Webster's Spelling Book, and Marshall's Spelling Book, Webster's Third Part, Bingham's American Preceptor, Scott's Lessons, The Columbian Ora- or, Murray's Introduction, Murray's Reader, Blair's Rheto-
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
ric, Ladies' Accidence, Pike's, Welch's, Adams' and Walsh's Arithmetics.
Text books for parsing :
Pope's Essay on Man, Young's Night Thoughts, Milton's Paradise Lost, Thompson's Seasons.
Watts' on the Mind was a very common text book sixty- five years ago.
Colburn's Intellectual Arithmetic was introduced into the schools in Candia about the year 1826. This little work was of immense benefit to the pupils of that day, as it enabled them, to work out, not only simple sums in arithmetic with- out the use of a slate, but also those of a somewhat compli- cated nature. This work was soon followed by Colburn's Sequel.
The following are the names of some of the reading books which were in use about the year 1826 :
Popular Lessons, The New Hampshire Book, The Histor- ical Reader, Porter's Analysis, Pierpont's National Reader, and the American First Class Book.
Reverend Abraham Wheeler was one of the Superintend- ing Committee at the time Pope's Essay was introduced to be used for parsing exercises. Both Mr. Wheeler and Dea- con Daniel Fitts condemned the work, on account of the heretical suggestions contained in it. They could not agree with Pope that " all partial evil is universal good," or that " whatever is, is right," and so the book was taken out of the schools.
Among the duties of the school teachers prior to 1840, was that of making and mending pens for the pupils. The pens of those days were made from quills plucked from the wings of geese, and it required a considerable amount of skill and experience to make a good article from these ma- terials. The teacher was sometimes required to make or mend twenty or thirty pens every day, besides setting a copy in each pupil's writing book. Sometimes much better pens were made from quills which had been boiled in oil. These latter were called Dutch quills, and were brought into the town from Boston or Newburyport.
A Superintending Committee, consisting of three or more members, was first appointed by the selectmen in
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
1816. The members of this committee were charged with the duty of examining all candidates for positions as teachers, and of visiting all the schools in the town.
About the year 1880, the school in District No. 5, near the east end of High Street, was discontinued. A part of the pupils belonging to that locality were transferred to District
No. 2, in the vicinity of the Congregational Meeting House, and a part to District No. 6, near the west end of High Street, at the east end of North Road. District No. 14 was also discontinued, and the pupils were transferred to Dis- trict No. 2. At the same time, school District No. 8, which included the Lang road and Walnut Hill, was united with school District No. 7, situated in the northwest section of the town.
In 1885, the New Hampshire Legislature enacted a law abolishing the old school district system of the state and uniting all the schools into a single district. This school district was placed under the control of a school board con- sisting of three persons. The board was authorized to ex- amine and select all of the teachers, furnish the fuel and other supplies, and to have a general supervision of the school. The following are the names of the first school board which was chosen in this town under the new law : J. Lane Fitts, Henry A. Hubbard, and George F. Cass.
The first named was elected to serve for three years, the second for two years, and the third for one year.
The following are the names of the members of the board for 1890 :
Albert E. Colcord, George E. Richardson, and George F. Cass.
In 1889, the Legislature enacted a law, which provided that all the books used in the public schools of the state should be furnished at the expense of the several towns. It was also provided that the books should be selected by the school boards of the towns.
The following are some of the text books now in use in the schools :
Barnes' Readers, Sheldon's Arithmetic, Harper's Geogra- phy, Barnes' History, Meservey's Book Keeping, Harvey's Grammar, Munroe's Speller, Brand's Physiology,
.
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
Seventy years ago. there were many families of from eight to twelve children, and in many cases three fourths of them attended school at the same time. In the largest districts, there were often from seventy to eighty scholars in the winter. In these days, there are very few Ameri- can families in which there are more than three or four children, and in many cases there are none at all. The schools are consequently thinly attended, the average number in the eleven branch schools being eighteen.
The school houses were warmed with open fires, previous to 1828, when stoves were introduced. The fire-place, which was located upon one side of the building, was large enough to receive wood four feet long. In the very coldest weather, a roaring fire was necessary to keep the pupils comfortable, and sometimes the girls and boys had to stand around the fire in the morning or after recess. Sometimes, when one of a group of boys happened to stand with his back to the fire and his arms behind him, a mischievous companion, who wanted a little fun, would slyly snatch up, a live coal and drop it into the palm of one of his hands.
As there were no janitors in those days, it was the cus- tom for the larger boys to take turns in building the fire in the morning an hour or two before the commencement of the exercises of the school; and just before the school was closed in the afternoon of each day, the master announced the name of the boy whom he had appointed to make the fire on the succeeding morning.
Many years ago, some of the teachers of the schools be- lieved that obedience and good order could not be secured without an appeal to the fears of those who were placed in their charge. Under such circumstances, the discipline was severe, and pupils found guilty of whispering, quarrel- ing, making up faces, circulating comic pictures drawn up- on their slates, idleness or inattention to their lessons, throwing spit balls or other violations of the rules of the school, were sure of encountering the wrath of the teacher. The ferule, a hard wood ruler, fifteen inches long, an inch. and a half wide, and half an inch thick, was the weapon principally relied upon in such cases. The heavy blows, which were struck by the teacher upon the hands of the
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
offenders, caused intense pain, and in some cases the hands were blistered. The worst offences of the boys, were pun- ished by a severe whipping upon the back with a strong withe. Lighter offences were sometimes punished by com- pelling the offender to stand upon one leg with a book held aloft in one of his hands. Some teachers had a habit of seizing a pupil by the ear with one end of a pen-knife han- dle and the thumb on one side, and the fingers upon the other, and dragging him from his seat into the floor.
These errors on the score of discipline were by no means universal among the teachers in this town. The greater majority were discreet and kind-hearted, and greatly respected by their pupils.
In 1828, a law was enacted by the Legislature, which provided for taxing the discount banks in the state to the amount of one-half of one per cent, for the purpose of rais- ing a fund for the benefit of the common schools. The money thus raised was called the Literary Fund. The money has been paid out to the towns in proportion to the amount of their state tax many years. The law is still in operation, and the tax upon the greatly increased amount of bank stock now owned in the state, yields a compara- tively large sum for the Literary Fund. The proportion of the fund paid to Candia in 1890 was $185.00.
The money which was derived from the sale of the school lots during the early part of the present century, was of great benefit to the schools of that day.
The amount of money annually appropriated for schools in the town during the present century, has ranged from five hundred dollars to fifteen hundred dollars. The amount appropriated in 1890, was fourteen hundred and fifty dollars.
Until recently, the money raised for schools in the town was divided among the several districts in proportion to the amount of taxes which were paid by each. Thus, if the people of a district paid more taxes than were paid in any other, they received more school money than any other district, and could consequently have the longest school terms. Seventy years ago, there was more taxable proper- ty in district No. 2, and the schools in that district were
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
kept six months each year and sometimes longer, while the schools in some of the other districts were not kept more than two-thirds as long.
In some of the districts the prudential committee, for the purpose of lengthening out the school term, sometimes made an arrangement for the teacher to board around, the citizens agreeing to furnish board and lodging without charge to the town.
By the law of 1885, by which all the old school districts of the town are consolidated into one, the people of the va- rious sections of the town enjoy equal school advantages.
This main district is divided into eleven branches or sub- districts as follows :
The Corner, the Meeting House district, South Road, High Street, North Road, the Village, the Island, East Candia, the Chester Road, the Turnpike, and Patten's Hill.
HIGH SCHOOLS.
Ever since 1820, High Schools have been kept at inter- vals in Candia. The first teacher in these schools was probably Daniel Fitts, Jr. He was for sometime a pupi, in the academy at Bradford, Massachusetts. He kept a private school in the town several terms in Master Fitts hall, and two terms in the old Remington house, afterwards owned by. Joseph Fitts. He was succeeded by Moses H. Fitts, Frederick Parker, a Mr. Rice and Mr. Whitemore David Cross and James O. Adams, of Manchester, all of whom kept excellent High Schools upon the hill near the Congregational Meeting House, more than fifty years ago.
CHAPTER XVIII.
HISTORY OF THE MILITIA.
VERY soon after the first settlements were made in New Hampshire, all the able-bodied men in the colony were or- ganized into squads and military companies for the com- mon defence against the Indians and when the colony be- came a British Province the military forces were organized into battalions and regiments. During the long war be- tween France and England about the middle of the eigh- teenth century, the Province of New Hampshire greatly aided the mother country by furnishing regiments of troops at various times to serve in Canada, Cape Breton and else- where.
At the beginning of the War of the Revolution, there were two classes of soldiers, besides those who enlisted to serve in the continental armies, viz .: A Training Band, which was constituted of all able bodied persons in the state from sixteen to fifty years of age, and the " Alarm List," which was made up of all males between sixteen and sixty-five years of age. These were liable to be called out when an alarm was given by firing three guns rapidly, one after another.
Soon after the independence of the colonies had been achieved and New Hampshire become a state, the people took a great interest in military affairs.
In 1792, the militia was organized into twenty-seven reg- iments, six brigades, and three divisions. The seventeenth regiment belonged to the Third Brigade, First Division.
The regiments were organized into two battalions, each of which was commanded by a Major, and a regiment, consisting of the two united battalions, was commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel. The Seventeenth Regiment was constituted of the companies of Chester, Candia, Raymond and Allenstown. The first batallion of the regiment was composed of the companies of Chester, and the second bat-
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
talion was formed of the companies in Candia, Raymond! and Allenstown. Stephen Dearborn, of Chester, was the first Lieutenant-Colonel under the new arrangement. Major Simon Towle, of Raymond, commanded the first. battalion, and Major Samuel Mooers, of Candia, command- ed the second battalion. In 1808, Thomas Wilson, of Candia, was Lieutenant-Colonel.
In 1812, Theophilus Lovering, of Raymond, was Lieuten- ant-Colonel-Commandant of the Seventeenth Regiment .. Henry Sweetser, of Chester, was Major of the first battal- ion, and Henry T. Eaton, of Candia, was Major of the: second battalion. In 1814, Henry T. Eaton was Lieuten- ant-Colonel-Commandant of the regiment.
In 1818, the law dividing the regiments into separate bat- talions was repealed, and in that year the Seventeenth Reg- iment was commanded by Colonel Samuel D. Mason, of Chester, Samuel Head, of Hooksett, which was then a part of Chester, was Lieutenant-Colonel, and Nathan Brown, of Candia, was Major.
The exact date when the Candia Light Infantry was or- ganized, cannot now be ascertained ; but it was probably about the year 1810. The cavalry company or troop, which was attached to the regiment, consisting of men belonging to Chester, Candia and Raymond, was prob- ably organized about the year 1805. The Artillery Compa- ny, which was also made up of men belonging to the three towns, was organized in 1820. A four pound brass cannon, which was furnished by the state, was kept in a small building, which stood on the site of the present Congrega- tional Church. A small sign with the following inscription was placed over the door : " Gun House 17th Reg. N. H. M."
About this time, companies belonging to Hooksett and Allenstown were transferred to the Eighteenth Regiment, which consisted of the companies belonging to Deerfield, Nottingham, Northwood and Epsom.
In 1820, and for nearly thirty years afterwards, the Sev- enteenth Regiment was made up of the company of Cav- alry, the company of Artillery, Chester Light Infantry, Can- dia Light Infantry, and two companies of infantry in
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
each of the towns of Chester, Candia and Raymond. In 1812, soon after the second war with Great Britain broke out, the military organizations of the town were in most excellent conditions.
FIELD OFFICERS.
The following are the names of the Candia men who served as field officers in the regiment at various times :
COLONELS, Nathaniel Emerson, 1776, Coffin M. French 1829, Rufus E. Patten, 1836, Levi Bean, 1843.
LIEUTENANT-COLONELS-COMMANDING, Thomas Wilson, Henry True Eaton, Major Samuel Mooers.
LIEUTENANT-COLONELS, Samuel Cass, Coffin M. French, Abraham Emerson, Rufus E. Patten, John Prescott.
MAJORS, Nathan Brown, Simon French, Samuel Cass, Eb- enezer Nay, Francis Patten, Abraham Emerson, John Pres- cott, Ebenezer Eaton.
ADJUTANTS, Nathaniel Wheat, 1818, John Moore 3d., Sam- quel G. W. Patten, 1839.
QUARTERMASTERS, John Emerson, Moses H. Fitts, C. Ed- win Eaton, Nathaniel F. Emerson, Rufus Hall, John M. "Turner.
SURGEON, Moses Bagley.
SURGEON'S MATE, Joseph Eaton.
CHAPLAIN, Charles P. Russell.
The following are the names of the officers of Candia Light Infantry as far as can now be ascertained, with the date of their commissions :
Jonathan French, 1812, Peter Eaton, 1815, Simon French, 1820, Coffin M. French, 1824, Henry M. Eaton, 1828, Fran- cis Patten, 1830, Thomas Anderson, 1833, Abraham Emer- son, 1834. Samuel Clough, 1836, W. Sargent Shannon, 1837, Charles S. Emerson, 1839, George W. Anderson, 1841, Na- thaniel Robie, 1844.
LIEUTENANTS, who had no higher rank : Jesse Smith, 1820, Moses Bursiel, 1824, Frederick Fitts, 1826, John Rowe, 1832.
ARTILLERY,
CAPTAINS, . William Turner, 1820, Jonathan Pillsbury, 1823,
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
Ebenezer Nay, 1825, Gilman Richardson, 1828, Hazem Batchelder, 1833, Benjamin P. Colby, 1835, Rufus E. Pat- ten, 1836, Joseph Richardson, 1838, Nathaniel Brown, 1841.
LIEUTENANT, John Hobbs.
CAVALRY.
CAPTAINS, John Pillsbury, 1824, Gilman Clark, 1830, John Moore, 1834, John Prescott, 1839. LIEUTENANT, Edmund Hills.
UNUNIFORMED INFANTRY COMPANIES.
There were two ununiformed Infantry Companies in the town, one of which was called the Upper Company, which consisted of men who lived west of a line dividing the town into two equal parts. The other, called the Lower Compa- ny, consisted of men who lived east of that line.
The following are the names of the officers of the Upper Infantry Company :
CAPTAINS, Samuel Cass, 1820, Joseph Fitts, 1826, Aaron Cass, 1827, Abraham Cass, Jr., 1830, True Eaton, 1832, William Fifield, 1835, Levi Bean, 1839.
LIEUTENANTS, who had no higher rank : Jonathan Eaton, Alfred French.
ENSIGNS, Jonathan Brown, 1820, John L. Fitts, 1837, Thomas Emerson, 1828, Stephen M. Baker, 1835.
THE LOWER INFANTRY COMPANY.
CAPTAINS, Samuel Dudley, 1820, John Moore, Jr., 1822, John Smith, 1825, Stephen Bean, 1830, James Gale, 1831, Moses Varnum, 1832, Asa O. Colby, 1835, Joseph Noyes, 1837, Jason Godfrey, 1840, Austin Cass, 1841, George Em- erson, 1842.
LIEUTENANTS, who had no higher rank : Samuel O. Dear- born, 1831, Jacob Morrill, 1832, Thomas Dearborn, 1837, Nathan Rollins, 1841.
ENSIGNS, Josiah Turner, Jacob Worthen, Gilman W. Nich- ols, 1826, Warren Clay, 1831.
About the year 1836, the two Infantry Companies having become quite thin, were consolidated into one.
The uniform of the cavalry consisted of bright scarlet
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
coats with brass buttons, dark blue pantaloons and leather caps with red plumes.
The Artillery Company wore dark blue coats and panta- loons, trimmed with red. They had leather caps with black plumes tipped with red.
The uniforms of the officers of the ununiformed Infantry Companies, consisted of blue coats trimmed with silver lace, white pantaloons, and leather caps with white plumes tipped with red.
MAY TRAINING.
By the law of 1818, all males between eighteen and forty years of age, were required to perform military duty three times each year, viz .: in May, in September, and at the general muster of the regiment.
The following was nearly the form of the notice to each soldier, warning him to appear for inspection on May train- ing day :
CANDIA, N. H., April 20, 1825.
To John Severance,
Sir :-
You, being duly enrolled as a member of the Company of Infantry in Candia, commanded by Captain Amos Smith, are hereby warned to appear near the Congregational Meeting House on Tuesday, May 10th, at I o'clock P. M., armed and equipped as the law directs for inspection and military exercises, and then wait further orders.
STEPHEN GATES, Sergeant.
The men who were between forty and forty-five years of age were required to exhibit their muskets and other equipments to the officers of companies, on the first Tues- day in May ; but they were not required to perform any other military duties. According to the law, the display of the equipments could be made by proxy, and it often happened that a boy was employed to perform that ser- vice.
The law provided that all officers of a regiment who served six years, became exempt from all further military duty, and, although it was thought to be a great honor to hold a commission, there were some who sought the posi-
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
tion for the purpose of thereby obtaining an early discharge from military obligations.
In case the weather was pleasant on the first Tuesday in May, there was a very large gathering of men, women and children on the street near the old Congregational Meeting House, to witness the evolutions of the soldiers.
The members of the Light Infantry Company assembled at Peter Eaton's Hall, those belonging to the Artillery Com- pany at Master Fitts' Hall, while the ununiformed Compa- ny belonging to the west half of the town assembled at a room in Master Fitts' dwelling house, or if the weather was fine, ' under the trees near the Congregational Meeting House.
After the roll was called, the laws relating to the duties of the soldiers were read, and then the inspection of equip- ments took place. The company was then drilled in the use of arms by the officers, after which came the marching and counter-marching of the company to the music of a fife, a tenor or snare drum, as it was called, and a bass drum. This was quite entertaining to the spectators, espec- ially when a man of true military spirit and enthusiasm was in command. How dignified was his bearing, and how proudly he marched around the old meeting house and up towards the Pound at the head of somewhat less than a hundred men, from High Street, the North Road and the South Road. At the same time, the Light Infantry and Artillery are performing sundry and divers evolutions upon the grounds, each one with a small band of music much superior to that employed by the ununiformed Infantry, for among the instruments used, there is a bugle and per- haps two clarionets, and in rare cases, a t.ombone. To- wards the middle of the afternoon, the captain of the Low- er company of ununiformed Infantry, consisting of soldiers belonging to the village, the Colcord and Langford dis- tricts, and the Burough road, under the command of Cap- tain John Smith, came marching up the hill from the Cor- ner to join their brothers-in-arms at the meeting house. A little later, the troop which had also been inspected at their , quarters at the Corner, have arrived at the old church, and at the sound of the trumpet are executing various miltary
1
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Fhvdeste che
COFFIN M. FRENCH.
Sketch, page 516.
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HISTORY OF CANDIA :. :
evolutions. And now the scene has become lively and in- spiring. The artillery has unlimbered the cannon and op- ened a furious assault upon an imaginary foe in the valley below, in the direction of Mr. Duncan's store. The gun- ners ram down the cartridge with vigor, and the piece is touched off with a fuse made of a section of tarred rope at- tached to an iron rod. The three privates, who have been. detailed to carry the two small, blue-painted chests contain- ing the ammunition, rush boldly up close to the cannon's mouth to deliver the cartridges to the gunners as they are wanted from time to time. The gun, though only a four- pounder, sends forth a loud and sharp report, which echoes over the hills and valleys for miles away. Once in a while on the explosion of a cartridge, the smoke rushes from the muzzle of the gun in the form of a ring, which as it ascends becomes larger and thinner, until at last it is lost to view.
The Light Infantry, posted upon the left of the artillery, is rapidly firing volley after volley of musketry, sometimes by platoons, sometimes by sections and sometimes by the whole company at once. Meantime the troop, which has been on a short reconnoitering expedition upon the high- way leading to the North road towards the old schoolhouse in District No. Two, is returning on a full gallop to the pa- rade ground. The smoke from [the cannon and the musk- ets of the Light Infantry nearly covers the field ; the bands of the companies are playing, some one tune and some an- other, and the enthusiasm of the soldiers and spectators has reached its height.
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