USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Mont Vernon > History of the town of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire > Part 13
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Fall Term,
Aug. 30
Winter Term,
Nov. 29
Spring Term, .
Feb. 28
Summer Term, .
May 29
124
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
EXPENSES.
Common English Branches, per term,
$3.50
Higher English and Languages,
4.00
Drawing (extra), 2.00
Painting in Water Colors,
.2 00
Painting in Oils,
10.00
Music, 8.00
Writing,
1.00
Bills are made out for one half of a term, or for the whole, only.
Board in good families at reasonable rates. Conveniences are good for those who may wish to board themselves.
TEACHERS FOR THE ENSUING YEAR.
Mr. George Stevens, A. B., Principal.
Mr. John Colby, A. B., Assistant.
Mrs. Elizabeth R. Stevens, Preceptress, and Teacher in French, Drawing and Painting.
Miss Caroline M. Burnham, Teacher in Music.
Catalogues will be sent, or any information in respect to the school given on application to the Principal or either of the Trusees.
Mrs. Stevens came to Mont Vernon a bride. She was a native of Littleton, Mass., and a most worthy helpmeet as a member of the board of instruction with her husband. Mr. Emerson came over from Pittsfield, N. H., where Mr. Stevens had been teaching the Pittsfield Academy since his graduation from Dartmouth in the class of 1849. The residences of the pupils show that many of his students followed him to Mont Vernon. Mrs. Stevens, then Miss Kimball, was his as - sistant at Pittsfield.
The second catalogue contains the added names of Miss Abby W. Jaquith as Preceptress, with Mrs. Stevens as teacher of drawing and painting, Mr. W. S. B. Mathews as instructor on the piano forte, and George Bowers as teacher of penmanship and book-keeping. Inadvertantly the name of Mr. John Colby, A. B., was omitted from the list as Assistant Principal. He had just graduated at Dartmouth (class 1852), and had intended to go directly to Andover Theological Seminary, but in order to earn some money he engaged to teach for Mr. Stevens during the fall term of 1852. Mr. Colby again assisted Mr. Stevens during the fall term of 1853. In a letter written from Fitzwilliam, N. H., under date of January 18, 1905, (where Mr. Colby was then living as a retired clergyman, he having been settled over the Congregational church there for several years) he says: "I think the fall term of 1853 was the largest in numbers known to Ap- pleton Academy. My impression is strong that it was the last term of Mr. Stevens as Principal of the institution. I cannot speak defi-
125
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
nitely of the time Mr. Stevens closed his connection with 'Appleton.' But I was there with him in the same relation to the Academy in the Fall term of '53 as in the Fall term of '52. I boarded in his family in '53. It would be difficult to estimate the number of times I took little George about the house in a baby carriage, with the announce- ment-'Music and Drawing taught here'-little George furnishing the Music and I the Drawing. The exact date when Mr. Stevens gave up his position of Principal I cannot give. But in a little time after my return to Andover, at the close of the Fall term, Mr. F. O. Kit- tredge, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, came to Andover, and in an interview with him he expressed the desire of the Board that I would take the position which Mr. Stevens had given up. But I could not think of postponing my Seminary studies."
The above reference to "little George" may explain why Mrs. Stevens did not act as full Preceptress during the second year. In the second catalogue the classification of students is not by terms, but by classes, and into "Classical" and "English" Departments. But in the summary it is shown that during the fall term there were 101 students ; winter term, 37; spring term, 80; summer term, 47. Total, 265. Whole number of different students, 160. It was, as Mr. Colby says, the largest number known at Appleton Academy.
It is probable that Mr. Colby is not quite right in assuming that Mr. Stevens left the school at the end of the Fall term, 1853, for Chapman's History of Dartmouth College has this statement concern- ing Mr. Stevens, which probably he furnished himself : "He taught at Gilmanton Academy from 1849 to 1850; Pittsfield Academy, 1850 to 1851 ; Mont Vernon Academy, August 1851 to March 1854." This book was published as early as 1867, and is probably correct.
Mr. Colby delivered the address at the first meeting of the Alumni, which occurred August 31, 1854. In this address he alluded to the completed new building, so that it must have been finished sometime during the fall term of 1853 ; for the closing exhibition that term was in the new building, which was so crowded with a standing audience-the settees having been removed-that the "exhibition" could not take place, and was adjourned indefinitely. But early in the morning, long before daybreak, after a big contingent of rude visitors from outer places had departed, the boys aroused the sleep- ing students and villagers, and the exhibition was gone through with successfully, concluding about the time it had come to be broad day- light.
126
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
The New Academy hall was the pride of the Trustees. the teach- ers, the students, and the people of the town. It is unfortunate that the Academy records are so meagre. It is impossible now to trace its progress to completion, its cost, or the sources of all the money which was secured for building and equipping it.
The records of the Trustees are very meagre and unsatisfactory, after the organization had been effected. Just why it was named "Appleton Academy" is not told in the records. Neither does it ap- pear what were the conditions on which Mr. Stevens undertook to carry on the school. January 1, 1853, there was a meeting to con- sider a request of Mr. Stevens to be released from his contract, al- though there is no record of his having preferred such a request. The school had started out splendidly under his management, and the people were much disappointed at the prospect of losing him. The trustees voted, however, at this first of January meeting to comply with his request, "providing we can procure a good teacher to take his place."
January 8, 1853. Voted "to release Mr. Stevens agreeable to his request," and Nathaniel Bruce and J. A. Starrett were chosen a com- mittee "to notify Mr. Stevens that after the close of the present term he is released from his agreement unconditionally." Two days later the trustees were informed that Mr. Stevens had been notified, and the members of the Board were "severally requested to exert them- selves to find a good teacher."
The project for erecting a new Academy building must have been well underway before this. and the people were incited to effort to achieve this by the success which the school had met, and by the per- sonal push and spirit of the Principal. His release did not seem to dampen their ardor. This enthusiasm was general, and in no wise confined to the Trustees. It seems that the corporation had already run behind.
On the 13th of May there was a meeting of the "Trustees and others" and a committee was appointed "to collect what money they could" for the Academy. and on the 20th, the committee was author- ized "to see if they could procure $250 towards paying the debts of the corporation."
May 14, 1853, the Trustees voted "to build a new Academy building, and that it be placed on land of George Stevens, if the land can be bought." F. O. Kittredge, William Conant and Nathaniel Bruce were appointed a building committee, and it was voted that
127
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
"the building be 38 by 58;" also voted "that the building committee trade with Mr. Stevens for land. if they can."
On the 24th William H. Conant was chosen Clerk both of the corporation and the Trustees, and Dea. Starrett was appointed a committee to procure a teacher for the Fall term of 1853.
It is exasperating to the historian, who is trying to make out a clear and connected story, to find breaks in the very official records which should make it plain sailing for him; and to be obliged to search here and there contemporary records, and miscellaneous sources of information. In this case the records of the trustees fail to tell us when Mr. Stevens was allowed to leave the school. Nor is there any story in detail as to how the new Academy was built, or just when it was finished. This much, however, is certain : A deed found in Hillsborough county records shows that on the 27th day of May, 1853, George Stevens conveyed to the Trustees of Appleton Acad- emy the land on which the Academy was subsequently erected, the consideration being 8215. In further consideration the Trustees were "to build a good picket, or tight board or other fence against the Stevens land," and it was provided that "no building or other in- cumbrance should be placed on the piece of land reserved for a street on the north side of the above lot, providing it is not used for a street."
This land so conveyed, was a part of the old Dr. Zephaniah Kit- tredge place, which was afterwards "Conant Hall," burned in 1896, and now (1905) the site of a fine summer cottage owned by Mr. C. E. Osgood of Boston. Zephaniah Kittredge, (son of Dr. Zepha- niab) and Charles Wilkins are named in the deed as the grantors to Mr. Stevens. There were about seven acres in the lot, and it ex- tended on the turnpike from the old tavern line of Thomas Cloutman to the place of S. O. La Forest (now owned by A. W. Bragg). and on the Milford road from the old blacksmith shop of Capt. William Bruce, just below the southwest corner of the Park, to the meeting- house lot, north of the new meeting-house. The deed to Mr. Stevens was dated February 6, 1852, and the consideration named was $1500. The roadway reserved was evidently the present street, running from the Milford road, just south of the William H. Conant house, since built, to the turnpike, just below George W. Averill's house, which was built by John Kidder, after this transaction.
Of course when Mr. Stevens purchased this place, he must have intended to remain more or less permanently at Mont Vernon. And
128
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
the committee having been "able to trade with Mr. Stevens for the land," they must now push for the new building, that was to furnish a permanent home for their Academy, which had made so auspicious a beginning.
The institution had no doubt been named Appleton Academy in honor of William Appleton of Boston, one of her wealthy business men, and afterwards the representative of one of the Boston districts in Congress.
In the book of the treasurer, Mr. William A. Stinson, under date of November, 1853, is the following entry :
"Received of the Hon. William Appleton. by donation. a library containing about seven hundred volumes, for the use of the Institu- tion "
It is not of record whether there had been any promise or intimation of this gift. before the school was named, but its found- ers evidently had "expectations" from the namesake of their academy. Mr. Appleton had often visited the town, where his mother and three sisters had resided for some years. It is said that he was not consulted as to the name, and it was felt by some that he did not very warmly appreciate the honor done him. The library was, however, a very welcome adjunct to the equipment of of the school, and was a well-selected and valuable collection of books, which have been freely used by teachers and pupils, and which were accessible to the towns-people, and to this day, are in constant use. Mr. Appleton also added one hundred dollars in cash, to his donation, in the spring of 1855.
The propriety of the name "Appleton" was enhanced by a do- nation of 8500 in money by Samuel Appleton, a cousin of William, as is shown by an entry on a page of the Record book of the Trus- tees, next following a record of a meeting held August 16, 1852, but which is itself without date, to the effect that the Trustees requested that a record be made upon the book of records, "of a donation of the Hon. Samuel Appleton towards the New Academy of Five hun- dred Dollars, also a donation of Two hundred and fifty dollars from Dr. Ingalls Kittredge of Beverly, Mass., for the same building."
In the Treasurer's book for 1853 ( William A. Stinson. Treas- urer) is the following entry of donations and loans to build the new Academy, which were received in cash :
Samuel Appleton,
Dr. Daniel Adams,
$500.00 25.00
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
129
Dea. William Conant,
300.00
F. O. Kittredge,
250.00
M. G. Rotch.
50.00
Thos. Cloutman.
100.00
Timothy Kittredge.
125.00
Albert Conant,
25.00
Ladies Levee,
64.11
W. H. & A. Conant,
50.00
Rev. C. D. Herbert,
15.00
Nathaniel Bruce,
50.00
Zephaniah Kittredge,
25.00
Wm. A. Stinson,
50.00
John Trevitt,
25.00
H. H. Bragg,
100.00
John Bruce,
50.00
James Bruce,
50.00
Dea. Geo. E. Dean,
50.00
George Stevens,
50.00
Joshua Cleaves,
10.55
Ira Kendall.
5.00
Wm. L. Cleaves,
10.00
Ezra Batchelder,
3.00
Henry Batchelder,
3.00
Clinton Roby,
5.00
Daniel P. Kendall,
5.00
Ira Wilkins,
5.00
Warren Williams,
1.00
Thos. H. Richardson.
100.00
Dr. Ingalls Kittredge,
250.00
Dea. Alvah Kittredge,
100.00
Ezra Holt,
3.00
Fines of Burnham & Langdell,
8.75
Interest and Lumber,
1.95
Building Committee, (Money Borrowed, )
1625.00
N. Bruce, Auction bills,
4.76
Levee Feb. 22nd, 1854,
59.50
Asa Stevens.
50.00
Building Committee, (Note given John Elliott. )
175.00
Win. T. Haskell,
25.00
Lumber sold at Auction,
6.75
130
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
Geo. E. Dean, (Money Borrowed,) 60.00
Hannah Lamson,
25.00
Greenough Marden,
300.00
Widow Blanchard,
400.00
Donation of T. H. Richardson,
25.00
" D. R. Baker,
25.00
" A. A. Gerrish,
10.00
" J. A. Starrett,
25.00
" Chas. G. Perkins,
5.00
" C. D. Herbert,
5.00
" Jos. W. Perkins,
3.00
" Mrs. Whittemore,
3.00
66
" John Bruce,
5.00
" Joseph Underwood,
3.00
" Samuel Baldwin,
1.50
6 6
" Ira Kendall,
2.00
" Sardis Johnson,
3.00
"' Perley Batchelder,
2.00
66
" Henry Batchelder,
1.00
" B. F. Marden,
5.00
$5319.85
This was the beginning of the enterprise of building the Acad- emy. It is a pity that the story cannot be told more in detail. It was no small undertaking for these men, none of them of more than moderate means, to raise upwards of five thousand dollars for such a purpose. It was secured only by the co-operation of some men who could but little more than support their families, and by the widows' mites.
The Trustees' records are silent as to when work on the Academy was begun, or as to what its entire cost was .. In his "Annals," read at the Quarter-Centennial celebration in 1875, Mr. H. Porter Smith says : "We remember the day that Capt Kittredge and others came with their oxen and broke ground for its foundation." He does not give the date when this happened, but as the above list of donations is dated March, 1853, the breaking of ground most likely occurred as early that spring as the ground could be worked.
The Treasurer's book shows in detail to whom the money which had been raised was paid, but it does not furnish much information as to the details of what was done. There is no mention of any
131
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
contract entered into by the building committee, and perhaps there was none. The construction was superintended by Mr. Samuel Mar- den, of Newton, Mass., a contractor and builder of large experience, and whose wife (born Eliza Ann Young) was formerly a resident of Mont Vernon. Mr. Marden did a remarkably good job. The Academy, which still stands apparently as sound as ever. is a hand- some structure, 40 feet by 60 in size, the upper story mainly devoted to a fine hall, nearly 40 x 50, with 12 foot posts, and well adapted to the purpose for which it was erected. Work on it was rapidly pushed all summer, and the disbursements shown on the Treasurer's book indicate that about every mechanic and farmer in town was more or less employed on the building. There were frequent loans of not large amounts, from time to time, as exigences arose, and all the time there were accessions to the funds by contribution.
Not only were these contributions for the erection and equipment of the building, but there were long lists of contributions "towards defraying the deficiency for teachers' services, after deducting tuition for the year ending in 1856." Thirteen citizens are recorded as hav- ing paid an assessment of $20.43 each towards this deficiency.
There was still another subscription towards "paying the Acad- emy debt." It is dated 1855 and 1856, and is worth reproducing, as showing the devotion and persistence of the men who were pushing the enterprise.
Dea. William Conant,
$750.00
F. O. Kittredge,
400.00
J. A Starrett,
150.00
Timothy Kittredge,
150.00
Geo. E. Dean,
100.00
James Bruce.
171.90
John Bruce,
100.00
Thomas Cloutman,
50.00
C. B. Southworth,
10.00
Win. A. Stinson,
25.00
Samuel Campbell,
35.00
Dr. A. A. Gerrish,
25.00
Hiram Perkins,
20.00
Newell D. Foster,
5.00
Chas. R. Beard,
25.00
Daniel R. Baker,
25.00
Wm. H. Conant.
25.00
132
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
William Lamson,
20 00
John Weston, 10.00
Trask W. Averill, 10.00
Nathaniel Bruce, 25.00
Wm. O. Lamson,
10.00
Mrs. E. W. Bruce,
25.00
Matthew G. Rotch,
25.00
Joshua Cleaves,
10.00
The donation of $750 by Dea. Wm. Conant was the valuation of a house bought by him probably for a boarding house for pupils. It is now known as the "Sunset House" for summer boarders owned by W. H. Marvel.
Besides these there were several small contributions, including sundry amounts of interest due on money loaned-and very likely some of the subscriptions represented the principal of loans to the Academy. In fact in addition to the above is an entry of "Cash received of Dea. John Bruce, balance of note given up, $27.00."
The records of the Trustees, until the endowment by Mr. McCollom in 1871, and the change of name, abound in entries show- ing frequent "taxes" as they were sometimes called. or "assess- ments," or "subscriptions" to make up deficiencies of teachers' salaries, or to pay debts. But these records almost every time fail to give the details which would be most interesting.
In the catalogue issued at the close of the school year (August, 1853,) it is remarked that "the Institution has now been in opera- tion two years. The unexpected success which has attended it eneour- ages the Trustees to prosecute their plan of making it a permanent school. A new, elegant and spacious building, now in process of erection, will be opened for the school at the commencement of the Fall Term, 1853."
It is also remarked that "the school is furnished with a good Philosophical Apparatus." Several pieces of this apparatus are still in use.
It is also noted that "the Philorrhetorian Society, a Literary Association connected with the school is already in possession of a valuable library, which is to be enlarged the present season by books to the value of five hundred dollars presented for that purpose by the Hon. William Appleton, of Boston." This last came duly to hand in November, and was housed in a room set apart for a library in the new building.
133
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
Without finding any record showing that the Fall Term of 1853 began in the new building, it seems to be established that Mr. Stevens began the year as principal, and that the new building was moved into late in the term, and it is certain, as previously narrated, that the "closing exhibition" was given there.
Geo. Stevens was a remarkable teacher. He was not only a scholar of high attainments. but he had the rare gift of arousing the interest and enthusiasm of his pupils, and an unusual ability in im- parting instruction. and in making the student work for himself. He was the prime cause of the establishment of the Academy, in securing the new building, and in starting the school on a prosperous career. Rev. Dr. Bancroft of Phillips Academy at Andover, one of Mr. Stevens's successors, in a paper read at the alumni meeting in 1890, said : "There were many who might properly be mentioned as found- ers of this school. It is doing none of them injustice to say Mr. Stevens was at the head of the column, and that but for him the thing would not have happened as it did, or when it did."
Mr. Stevens not only planned and pushed the erection of the new building, but he gave. from first to last, most liberally in a pecuniary way to its success, even in years after he had left it. When he came to Mont Vernon from Pittsfield Academy, he brought with him a con- siderable number of young men who had attended his school there, and whose character and attainments did much to give the school a reputation. They had tested Mr. Stevens's abilities as a teacher and followed him in order to further profit by them. They not only in- cluded the Pittsfield names which appear in the first catalogue (1851- 52) given above, but those of Buzzell of Northwood, Emerson and the Hansons of Barnstead, Wheeler of Amherst and Morrill of Canterbury.
Mr. Stevens was born in Stoddard, N. H., October 23. 1824. His father was Daniel Stevens, a farmer, and his mother was Tabitha (Sawyer) Stevens. Later the family removed to Hancock, and later still to Mont Vernon. He worked his way through a preparation for college, and entered Dartmouth in 1845, paying his way chiefly by teaching. He graduated with his class in 1849, and at once began teaching at Gilmanton Academy, and the study of law in the office of Ira Allen Eastman, who was a Dartmonth man of 1829. The next year (1850-51) he taught the Pittsfield Academy, continuing his law studies with the Hon. Moses Norris of that town. In the fall of 1851 he came to Mont Vernon, where it is to be presumed that he contin-
134
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
ued his law studies as he found opportunity. When he had gotten the school well started, he asked to be released from his contract with the Trustees, and they released him. He removed to Lowell in March, 1854, and finished his law studies in the office of the Hon. William A. Richardson, afterwards Secretary of the Treasury under President Grant. Three of the young men who had begun to fit for college with him at Mont Vernon, followed him to Lowell and fin- ished their preparation under his tuition there. They were Ains- worth E. Blunt and John F. Colby, who subsequently graduated at Dartmouth, and William E. Barrett, who graduated at Harvard.
Mrs. Stevens was Elizabeth R. Kimball, daughter of Mr. James Kimball of Littleton, Mass. She graduated at Mount Holyoke Fe- male Seminary in the class of 1847, and for a time'occupied the position of secretary to Mary Lyon. She assisted Mr. Stevens at Pittsfield Academy. They were married at Littleton, September 19, 1850.
On his admission to the bar at Lowell in 1854, Mr. Stevens at once began to achieve success in his profession. On January 1, 1856, he was appointed Clerk of the Police Court in Lowell and served in that capacity until August 1, 1857. The Justice of the court at that time was the Hon. Nathan Crosby, a prominent gradu- ate of Dartmouth. From 1858 to 1874 Mr. Stevens was an Associ- ate Justice of the same court, and frequently presided at its sessions. In 1858 he served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, but declined a re-election, saying he could not afford to spare the time from his practice. In 1867 and 1868 he held the office of City Solicitor of Lowell, and for five years (1874-1879) he served in the position of District Attorney of the North Middlesex District.
There seems to have been no catalogue published of the last (partial) year of Mr. Stevens's administration. But there is in pos- session of the Rev. John Colby, his assistant, a list of names of those in attendance during the fall term (1853) who presented Mr. Colby with "a very valuable book in 2 volumes" as "a token of their respect and regard." The names of 41 ladies and 37 gentlemen ap- pear on this list, and it is not improbable that there were some who could not afford to enroll themselves; so that there must have been over 78 pupils in attendance that term.
It is a remarkable fact that neither the records of the Trustees nor the Treasurer's book make the slightest reference to the school year 1854-55, during which Mr. Fenner E. King was the third prin-
135
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
cipal of the Academy. There was no catalogue published of Mr. King's year. There is extant, however, the circular issued by the Trustees under date of August 1, 1854, from which we learn that-
The Board of Instruction consisted of Fenner E. King, A. B., Principal; Miss Elizabeth A. Neilson, Preceptress; Miss Sophia M. Neilson, Associate Preceptress. The following paragraphs, among others, appeared in the circular:
"The new and splendid Academy Building erected the past year, is completely finished."
"MEETING OF THE ALUMNI .- In accordance with the wish of many of those who have enjoyed the privileges of Appleton Academy, the Trustees hereby extend an invitation to all its former students, as well as those who propose attending the ensuing Fall Term, to meet at Academy Hall, Mont Vernon, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 1854, at 10 o'clock A. M., to review the pleasant social feelings of the past; and at 2 o'clock P. M., listen to an address from the Rev. John Colby, a former Instructor, and remarks from those who have been connected with the school.
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