USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Stratford > History of the town of Stratford, New Hampshire, 1773-1925 > Part 14
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In 1828 it was voted to choose a committee in each district. The following are the committee chosen: District No. 1, Abner Day; No. 2, Joshua Marshall; No. 3, E. A. Barlow; No. 4, S. F. Brown; No. 5, David Ross; No. 6, Aaron Jackson. The number of scholars for the year 1827, and the amounts raised by the town
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
and appropriated by the State in the "Literary Fund," are as follows:
Scholars Town
Fund
District No. I
12
$4.45
$8.32
66
2
30
11.13
31.86
66
3.
43
15.19
32.21
66
4.
52
19.25
31.07
5.
19
7.05
9.58
66
6
18
7.05
4.25
Total
174
$64.12
$117.29
The number of scholars in the town was 174; the total money, including the Literary Fund, was $181.41; the cost of schooling per pupil was $1.05.
At a school meeting, in 1837, called in the brick schoolhouse in School District No. 9, the district voted to raise $25 to pay for a stove. This was undoubtedly the first stove placed in a school- house in Stratford. Thus began the reign of the old box stove of the schoolhouse, around which cluster so many chilly or heated memories, according to your distance from it, but a great advance in comfort from the fireplaces of the earliest school- houses. The town now comprised nine districts, and the brick building had replaced the first schoolhouse in Stratford, which had been burned. The matter of installing that stove was of great moment, evidently, from the space devoted to it in the town records. The warrant called for $35, which should include the stovepipe; but the frugal fathers of the district considered that sum entirely too large, and the price was cut down to $25. Stoves were soon introduced into other schoolhouses. We know that in one instance the school was closed until search could be made for the stovepipe, which had been taken and secreted by parents with whom the teacher was unpopular.
In 1831 land was laid out for a schoolhouse in District No. 2 (the Baldwin district), nearly opposite David M. Holbrook's house; damage was allowed at $4.50. In 1839 it was "voted to build a new schoolhouse on the southerly half of District No. 9. Voted to raise $135 to build schoolhouse, to set the schoolhouse in the center of south half of district." This must have been the first schoolhouse at the Hollow, which was moved out into the road by Hiram Lucas, who claimed the land.
The principal duty of the superintendent was the examination
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
of teachers and granting of certificates to teach. The teachers were still hired by the Prudential Committee. In 1844 we have the first record of a Superintending School Committee, appointed by the selectmen. Elisha Johnson was chosen that year, and Elisha A. Baldwin in 1845. We know the names of but few of these teachers. Nathan Baldwin must have been one of the first, riding down on horseback, keeping his horse through the day on blue grass cut at the mouth of Bog Brook for that purpose. Others were Nahum Day, Maria Marshall, Grandison Fuller. There were several Dartmouth students, George P. Rowell of newspaper fame, Dr. Stockwell from Lancaster, Tirzah and Cath- erine Baldwin, the Lucas girls. Luther Parker, who was so ac- tively connected with the Indian Stream Republic, and who married Aletta French, taught here before 1827, the date of his marriage.
In these schools "the three R's" were rigidly taught, special emphasis being laid upon the last of the three, and the teacher's reputation hung upon his ability to "cipher," and to lead his big boys and girls through the intricacies and cunningly devised pitfalls of those old arithmetics. He must be able to parse also, and the students' knowledge of poetry was gained chiefly by dis- secting such classics as "Paradise Lost," Pope's "Essay on Man," etc. In reading the pupil passed from his Webster's Spelling Book to the English Reader, with its selections from Young, Blair, Johnson, and Addison. In that reader was found material for oratorical displays at the school exhibition at the Town House. Geography was often learned by "classification," which consisted of a sing-song repetition of geographical names; but the Stratford student of one hundred years ago had but a limited amount of geography to learn, and the same might be said of history.
School equipment was poor; books few and varied, handed down from one member of the family to the other,-but how they were studied! Courses and grades, there were none; schools were limited to from ten to twenty weeks; but fine minds grew and thrived under that schooling.
Then for recreation and good-natured rivalry there were the spelling schools. Singing schools were popular. Many fine voices belonged to that day. Alger Baldwin was always a recog- nized leader, and Ann Schoff had the reputation of being the sweetest singer in town. Then was heard counter and high
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
counter, and their high pitched voices carried the old fugues with an accuracy and zest which a modern singer might envy.
In 1850 the state required that a report of the schools should be submitted by the superintendent of schools to the town and the state. A few of these reports have been preserved, and from them we learn the condition of the schools and the perplexities of the superintendents of that period. William G. Fuller, Wesley Johnson, Charles Johnson, Richard Ockington, and George Johnson are the men who stood in the front during the next two decades, urging the town to give larger appropriations, to build better houses. One long-suffering superintendent com- plains of the "general apathy in educational matter." The reports up to 1860 are very incomplete, but we are able to gain a few facts. In 1854 the average amount spent upon one scholar is $1.53. The largest monthly wage for a male teacher is $15, for a female teacher for a winter school is $9. The teacher "boarded 'round," and fuel for the school was supplied by the family in which the teacher was at the time boarding. The amount raised from all sources that year was $547.13, and there were doubtless men in town who raved over the exorbitant prices paid teachers, and voted down any attempts to better conditions.
There were schoolhouses in town that were declared unfit for use every year, for over twenty years. The report of 1860 is complete in its statistics, and we quote from it literally. The town contained nine districts, numbering from the upper end down through the town, coming back to place No. 9 at North Stratford. There was no schoolhouse at that village, the school being held in a basement room of the Baptist Church. This continued until the burning of the church in 1868. From this time until the building of a schoolhouse in 1870, the schools were kept wherever a room could be obtained. The bowling alley under the store that stood on the site of the John C. Hutchins Company store, and the Knights of Honor Hall, served as school- rooms during that interval. This first schoolhouse at North Stratford (now the double tenement north of Willard's garage) cost $1,000, and was considered very adequate for the time.
In 1860 there were 199 scholars in town; 18 at North Stratford, 26 at the City, 30 at Stratford Hollow, and the remainder dis- tributed among the other districts. At the City, the Hollow, and the Johnson District male teachers were hired. The highest
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
wage was $24 a month. The average wage of a female teacher was $10.II. One very significant item attracts attention : there were 45 children in town between the ages of four and fourteen not attending school, and these were found principally in the districts where there were the largest number of scholars. There were no truant officers in those days! The schoolhouses were valued at $3,300, and equipment at $7. The amount raised by town tax for schools was $360.63. The amount contributed by individuals for board, fuel and money to prolong the schools, $155.50. Literary fund from the State, $42.84, divided among the districts according to the number of scholars. Amount of income from local funds, $19. Average amount appropriated for each scholar was $2.75. This amount depended upon the district, and the amount raised by its citizens. Two districts in 1860 spent over $4 per pupil, where the largest number of scholars was but fifteen. Other districts, where the number of scholars was nearly twice as large, expended less than $2 each.
These figures are interesting as showing the inequalities of the old district system. The average length of summer school was a little over nine weeks; winter sessions a little over eight weeks. There were four districts where there were no schools in winter. These four districts contained 108 scholars; so we learn that in 1860 more than half of the children in Stratford received at the longest but twelve weeks' schooling yearly; some had but eight weeks; while in more favored districts, where the citizens took more interest in the schools, and the value of taxable property was greater, the children had twenty weeks, in one instance twenty-six weeks, of schooling.
As for textbooks, there are citizens now living in Stratford who will remember the old Town's and Progressive Readers and Spellers; Adams', Burnham's, and Greenleaf's Arithmetics; Mitchell's, Colton and Fitch's, and Cornell's Geographies; Weld's Grammar; Goodrich's and Quackenbos' Histories. Some- times a teacher was found who was willing to teach Algebra; then the old reliable Davies' was used; but academies and private schools were more available, and study of the higher branches was reserved for them. Colebrook, Lancaster, and Derby, Vt., received many of Stratford's ambitious scholars.
The work of the common schools in Stratford was often sup- plemented by private schools. Rev. Charles L. Walker, pastor
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
of the Baptist Church, was an excellent teacher; Chester B. Jordan had a very popular school in the Baptist Church; Fred N. Day taught in the Knights of Honor Hall; Charles B. Turner taught at North Stratford; while at the Hollow we find Rev. L. W. Prescott.
Among the earliest teachers remembered at North Stratford are Mrs. Marion Alger, Lucinda Baldwin, Persis Beach, Mary Snow, Martha Brown, Melinda Aldrich, Guy Johnson. Later came Martha and Annie Baldwin, Ellen Forbes, Mira Cross, Mrs. Henry Fuller, etc. Other Stratford teachers of this period were Mary J. Martin, Eva Martin, Mary Johnson, Addie Johnson, Persis Brown.
In 1870 we begin another era in the schools of Stratford. Fred N. Day, a student of Plymouth Normal, and a successful teacher, became superintending school committee, an office which he held for eighteen successive years, with two exceptions. From his report of 1870 we gather the following items: 221 scholars in town -34 at the Hollow, 48 in the Merrill District, 42 at North Strat- ford, the remainder in the other six districts; number not attend- ing, 17; while 18 are reported as attending private schools. Wage for male teachers, $32, for female teachers, $22.75. This report is worded in no uncertain terms. The two schoolhouses in town which for twenty years have been denounced as unfit for school purposes he declares that no farmer would employ for a sheep pen without making extensive repairs. We quote one paragraph entire from Mr. Day's report, as it foreshadows Stratford's future policy in regard to her school buildings:
It is a fact that must very soon demand your serious con- sideration and action, that but very few of the schoolhouses in this town are fit for their original purposes. They should be made larger, more comfortable and convenient, instead of being the bleakest and most uninviting places in the whole town. They should be among the most pleasant and attrac- tive. Then, and not until then, may you expect to reach the full benefit of the common school.
Under such vigorous leadership we may expect results, and we find that the town raised that year $200 beyond the amount required by law, which sum represented 30 per cent of the entire school funds of that year.
In 1876 $500 was raised beyond the sum required. This was
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
divided among the several districts, giving $50 to each district. That year the school money amounted to $855. The school- houses were valued at $6,100. This was after the building of a new schoolhouse at the Hollow in 1875, costing, with the land, $1,350. The building committee was: Fred N. Day, Andrew J. Ockington, and Noah B. Waters.
Mr. Day announces in his report of 1870 that he has introduced into the schools the "Spencerian method" in penmanship, which would do away with the copies set by the teachers, so diverse "that very few scholars have learned to write a fair, even legible hand."
With the new schoolhouses came new furniture and the dis- carding of the old benches and desks that bore the initials of generations of scholars. More feet of blackboard were added, dictionaries, charts and globes began to make their appearance in the school rooms, paper was beginning to replace the noisy, un- sanitary slate. "Boarding around" had ceased, and in 1880 they report (Mr. Day had associated with him other men, often resi- dent ministers), that one teacher, Miss Ellen Drew, has written examinations on the month's work. This marks the introduction of written examinations into Stratford's schools. Miss Drew was a very successful teacher, and later became a resident of the Hollow District as Mrs. Fred N. Day. She was succeeded by Miss Esther Piper (Mrs. Charles E. Clark). Miss Nellie Hobson, a graduate of Salem (Mass.) Normal, was another popular teacher. Harry B. Amey, the Misses Maddocks, Miss Chamberlain, Mrs. Antipas Curtis are well remembered teachers. While the school at the Hollow was building up, the one at North Stratford was also growing. Mr. John C. Pattee was closely connected with the schools in this part of the town and was deeply interested in their development. The schoolhouse which was built in 1870 was out- grown by 1884, and a two-story one was erected (now Willard's garage), costing, with furnishings, $2,852.42. The building committee were W. R. Danforth, Sr., Clark Stevens, and H. B. Hinman. In 1887 the entire amount of school revenue in town was $2,175.76; the amount paid for teachers' salaries, $1,167; the entire length of school year in weeks, in the school continued longest, 26 weeks; shortest, 18 weeks. Average monthly wage paid male teachers, $53; female teachers, $41. Scholars in town, 234. Estimated value of school property, $4,325. This report
MEMBERS OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE John C. Pattee
John C. Hutchins
Fred N. Day
Garvin Magoon
Charles D. Platt
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
was given by the first School Board, Frank W. Piper, John C. Pattee, Guy W. Johnson.
The new law providing that the old system of school districts be discontinued, and the entire town comprise one district, the schools being managed by a school board chosen by the town school meeting, went into operation in 1886. All schoolhouses were to be appraised by the selectmen and paid for by the towns, and be the property of the several towns. Much opposition was manifested against this change. It was feared that the small back schools would be discontinued and the central or larger ones become still larger. The board was to consist of three per- sons, one elected for one year, one for two, and one for three years, and one elected annually for three years. The first board con- sisted of Frank W. Piper, one year; Guy W. Johnson, two years; John C. Pattee, three years. Then followed Charles D. Platt, 1887; John T. Connary, 1888; John C. Pattee, 1889; W. R. Brown, 1890; Guy W. Johnson, 1891. Besides these the following men have been active in the school affairs of the town, and their names frequently appear in the list of members of the school board: W. H. Kimball, Harlan T. Connary, Hugh H. Johnson, Garvin R. Magoon, and John C. Hutchins. The last two mentioned have been particularly interested in the establishment of the High School, and the impetus of that movement was largely due to the foresight and energy of these two public-spirited citizens. The present board is composed of John H. Hinman, Hugh H. Johnson, and Ralph M. Hutchins.
In 1890 the upper story of the schoolhouse at the Hollow was finished at a cost of $300. New schoolhouses were erected in the Johnson and Baldwin districts in 1891, and in the City in 1893. That in the Johnson District is still in use; those in the other two districts have been sold and transformed into tenements.
A new era began for Stratford's schools in 1900, for in that year the town voted to establish a high school at North Stratford. Frank B. Flanders was the first principal. The school was held in the graded school building. Mr. Flanders was succeeded in 1903 by George F. French, with Eva M. Johnson as assistant. F. W. Watkins became principal in 1906, with Miss Ruth Park, assistant. Earl P. Freese was principal from 1916 to 1920, when he was succeeded by H. Warren Dow, who is still headmaster. The present staff of teachers (1925) are H. Warren Dow, head-
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
master; E. H. Watson, sub-master; Ethelyn M. Pattee, French- English.
In 1906 Stratford united with the towns of Columbia and Northumberland in forming a union school district, and engaged the services of Willard B. Atwell as superintendent, the state paying half the expense of the same. In 1912 Orrin M. Holman succeeded Mr. Atwell, remaining until 1923, when he was suc- ceeded by Eugene S. Foster. During Mr. Holman's term the town of Columbia was set off with Colebrook, and Stark was added to Stratford and Northumberland in forming the district.
An up-to-date schoolhouse was built at the Hollow in 1913, at a cost of $5,644.05, W. L. McGivney being the contractor. In the town warrant of 1915 we find the first mention of a new school- house in North Stratford. A vote to build was carried, and the house was ready for occupancy at the opening of the school year, September, 1916. C. R. Whitcher of Manchester was the architect, the Wallace Building Company, contractors, and John C. Hutchins, John H. Hinman, and Donald J. McDonald, the special building committee. The total cost was $32,883.57. The debt was floated by bonds, $3,000 being retired each year. The last bond was paid in 1924. This elegant building, with its beautiful surroundings, its fine athletic field prepared as a memo- rial to the Stratford boys in the World War, stands as an indica- tion not only of the growth and development of Stratford schools, but also of the public spirit and prosperity of her citizens.
The present valuation of school property is placed at . $82,300.00 Salary of teachers 12,015.00
Cost of maintaining elementary schools 11,431.37
Cost of maintaining high school . 6,099.18
Membership in elementary schools, 169; high school, 47; total . 216
This is the story of the evolution of Stratford's schools through the first 140 years of her existence, as we have gathered it from the records. The state has always been a compelling force in this advance, and every great step forward has had a law behind it urging it on. The schools of a half century ago were taught by young inexperienced teachers; they were rough and undisciplined ; schoolhouses were uncomfortable and unsanitary. There could be little class work; it must be individual. This, in view of the
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HISTORY OF STRATFORD
multiplicity of classes, was scanty; and if a student of 1925 could be set back fifty or seventy-five years, and try to master the task set before him, without the repeated explanations of the teacher, as today, he would be bewildered. But he might know the joy of independent thinking, of forging ahead without waiting for the dullard in the class to be drilled ad nauseam. It was this in- dependence, this ambition to assert oneself, that stimulated and saved the scholar of those early years in the midst of the un- favorable conditions which then prevailed. The short school year demanded intensive effort on the part of the pupil. A student learned in spite of his surroundings. Scholarship was not so general, nor so evenly balanced as in the schoolroom of today. But there were more outstanding pupils, and laggards received little attention from the busy teacher. It was the ambitious student that demanded and received help. In com- paring the schools of the present time with those of the past, this fact should be kept in mind.
It is a far cry from the little log cabin where Master Bradley taught his handful of scholars to the comfortable modern school- houses of today. May the same spirit of enterprise and courage animate the boys and girls of 1925 as did those of 1784.
SE
MARKER OF FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE
CHAPTER XIV HISTORY OF STRATFORD'S CHURCHES
There is no record bearing upon the religious life of Stratford in the early years of its history. The first hint is found in the warrant for a special town meeting called at the dwelling house of Henry Schoff, June 27, 1800, "To see if they will build a meeting- house and to appoint a committee to pitch a spot where to set it." No action was taken, however. It is doubtful if any trace of religious exercises or meetings is left on record till subsequent to the War of the Revolution. Yet it is not to be supposed that these pioneers to the wilderness, coming from the religious influ- ences of the Housatonic valley in Connecticut, were unmindful of their spiritual welfare or neglected Christian duty. James Brown, one of the first settlers, brought with him a commentary written by Mr. Burkett, and published in 1760. This book is inscribed, "Isaiah Brown, 1762; James Brown, Stratford; Isaac Brown, Stratford." These are father, son, and grandson. Charles D. Platt, a great-grandson of James Brown, now owns the book and another religious work, entitled "The Safety of Appearing in the Righteousness of Christ," bearing the following inscriptions: "Isaiah, His book, it was my Brother Samuel Brown's Book in his life time, given to me by his widow in 1792, Isaiah Brown." "James Brown, David Platt's book in 1815. Given to me in 1870 by my mother Roxanna Platt, C. G. Platt."
Jabez Baldwin was an Episcopalian, and brought his Bible and Prayer-Book with him. These and several other religious books are in the possession of the family. One that belonged to Jabez Baldwin's mother, "The Practice of Piety," has the inscription, "Elizabeth Baldwin, Her Book, 1700." The worn covers of these old leather-bound books, and the rounded corners of the hymn-books, show us the constant use to which they were put.
It is to be supposed that the religious privileges and influences of the early settlers were, for the most part, of the standing order of those early days, Congregational; and that these first settlers coming from Connecticut and Massachusetts would bring predi- lections in this direction. Yet no church of this order was ever formed. No minister settled in town, and the "Minister's lot" was never claimed. As late as 1855 Rev. L. W. Prescott, being
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CHURCHES OF STRATFORD
First Baptist Church (Destroyed by Fire 1915) First Baptist Church North Stratford Methodist Episcopal Church Stratford Hollow
Roman Catholic Church North Stratford First Church (Now Townhouse) Episcopal Church North Stratford
170
HISTORY OF STRATFORD
a pastor in town, was invited to settle for the purpose of receiving the lot. "The Priest's lot," so called, was located on Bog Brook, and territorially about the center of the town, though thus far it has been on the outskirts of the settlements. The lot is No. 108, and was leased by the town to Hiram Lucas, who built a mill on it in 1847, and operated it for several years. He was succeeded by William K. Richey, who lumbered here for a term of years, and he was succeeded by J. L. Wright, who, after running the same mill for several years, took in Alvin G. and Sidney A. French, and the mill was changed into a clothespin shop. It passed after this into the possession of Frederick Fisk, formerly of Lancaster. No highway led to this lot when it was first occupied, but teams could reach it by the way of Dennis Hill, and two families, Messrs. Hall and Tucker, had settled beyond this point, these two settlements being nearly at the foot of Sugar Loaf. No highway was opened to it until later than 1856. For over three-quarters of a century after the settlement of the town, and over sixty years after the Revolution, it lay in an untouched state and almost beyond the limits of civili- zation.
We have seen that spiritual lights and helps had been brought to the new home. Strong spiritual influence had been thrown around one of these early settlers, and James Brown, the son of a Congregational deacon in old Stratford, Conn., became perhaps the leading man in church matters, as well as one of the most prominent in town affairs. His home was for years a minister's tavern and the scene of quarterly meetings and religious gather -. ings, when open house was kept for all comers. It is said that a creature would be slaughtered and the worshippers fed, coming from forty miles around. His son Isaac was the first person baptized in town, and became one of the most devoted Christian men of the place. He was exceeding zealous in the Lord's cause.
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