USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Dublin > The history of Dublin, N.H., Volume 1852 > Part 23
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1822. Levi W. Leonard. Moses Adams, jun. Moses Hardy. John Taggart, jun. Dr. Stephen H. Spalding.
1823. Levi W. Leonard.
Moses Adams, jun. John Morse, 2d. Calvin Mason. John Taggart, jun.
1824. Levi W. Leonard. Moses Adams, jun. Jonathan K. Smith. Thomas Fisk. Dr. Asa Heald.
1825. Levi W. Leonard.
Thomas Fisk. Jonathan K. Smith. Moses Hardy. John Morse, 2d.
1826. Levi W. Leonard. Jonathan K. Smith. Calvin Mason. Dexter Mason. Charles Mason, 1st.
1827. Levi W. Leonard. Jonathan K. Smith. Calvin Mason. Dexter Mason. Nahum Warren.
1828. Levi W. Leonard. Moses Adams, jun. Jonathan K. Smith. Calvin Mason. Ebenezer Perry.
1829. Levi W. Leonard. Cyrus Frost, 1st. Calvin Mason. Moses Adams, jun.
Dr. John H. Foster.
1830. Levi W. Leonard.
John H. Foster.
Moses Adams, jun. Jonathan K. Smith. Thomas Fisk.
1831. Levi W. Leonard. Jonathan K. Smith. Thomas Fisk.
Moses Adams, jun.
John H. Foster.
1832. Levi W. Leonard. Jonathan K. Smith. Asa Heald. Moses Adams, jun. Ebenezer Perry.
1833. Levi W. Leonard. Moses Adams, jun. Thomas Fisk. Asa Fisk, 2d. John H. Foster.
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HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
1834. Levi W. Leonard. Thomas Fisk. Jonathan K. Smith. Ebenezer Perry. Asa Fisk, 2d.
1835.
Levi W. Leonard. Thomas Fisk. Moses Adams, jun. Asa H. Fisk. Calvin Mason.
1836. Levi W. Leonard.
Asa Fisk, 2d. John Perry, jun. Jonathan K. Smith. Ebenezer Perry.
1837. Levi W. Leonard. Dr. Simeon S. Stickney. Asa H. Fisk.
Thomas Fisk.
Dexter Derby.
Daniel G. Jones.
1838. Levi W. Leonard.
Rev. James Tisdale. Thomas Fisk. Asa H. Fisk. Moses Adams, jun.
1839. Levi W. Leonard. James Tisdale. Dexter Derby. Asa H. Fisk. Thaddeus P. Mason.
1840. Levi W. Leonard. James Tisdale. - Thomas Fisk. Jonathan K. Smith. Asa H. Fisk. Thaddeus P. Mason.
1841.
Levi W. Leonard. Rev. Henry A. Kendall. Jonathan K. Smith. Thaddeus P. Mason. Asa H. Fisk.
1842. Levi W. Leonard. Henry A. Kendall. Thomas Fisk. Asa H. Fisk. Thaddeus P. Mason.
1843. Levi W. Leonard. Henry A. Kendall. Jonathan K. Smith. Thaddeus P. Mason. Dexter Derby.
1844. Levi W. Leonard. Henry A. Kendall. Thomas Fisk. Asa H. Fisk. Thaddeus P. Mason.
1845. Levi W. Leonard. Henry A. Kendall. Thomas Fisk. Asa H. Fisk. Cyrus E. Hardy.
1846. Levi W. Leonard. Rev. Warren Cooper. Jonathan K. Smith. Asa H. Fisk. Henry C. Piper.
1847. Levi W. Leonard. Warren Cooper. Jonathan K. Smith. Henry C. Piper. Lawson Belknap.
257
HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
1848.
Levi W. Leonard. Jonathan K. Smith. Henry C. Piper. Cyrus E. Hardy. Calvin Mason.
1849. Levi W. Leonard.
Jonathan K. Smith. Henry C. Piper. Dr. Ransom N. Porter. Lawson Belknap.
1850.
Levi W. Leonard.
Jonathan K. Smith.
Rev. Daniel H. Babcock.
Ransom N. Porter.
Aaron Smith.
1851.
Levi W. Leonard. Rev. Alonzo Hayes. Jonathan K. Smith.
Thomas Fisk.
Ransom N. Porter.
1852. Levi W. Leonard. Alonzo Hayes. Ransom N. Porter. Jonathan K. Smith.
1853. Levi W. Leonard. } Jonathan K. Smith. Dr. John G. Parker. Henry C. Piper.
NOTE. - Where a brace is used, the first person named in it resigned, and the other was appointed in his place.
In 1822, at the suggestion of one of the committee, Moses Adams, jun., a printed form for returning the names, ages, books, and studies of pupils in the schools, was deliv- ered to each teacher. The requisite returns were made ; and, with the aid of these returns, a full report of the condition of the schools, with suggestions for their improvement, was prepared and read at the annual town-meeting in March, 1823. Similar forms were furnished in subsequent years, and reports prepared, and, with one exception, read at the annual meetings in March. The first report printed was that for the years 1842-43. It was printed at the expense of such individuals as chose to purchase it; but the next year the town voted that a sufficient number of copies of the report of the superintending school-committee be printed at the expense of the town to supply each family with one. The printing of the school-report has been continued at the expense of the town to the present time ; each voter or tax-payer receiving a copy of the same, and the committee one hundred copies. It will be perceived that most of the members of the school-committee in Dublin have been lay- men ; and the chairman of the committee considers it due to them to say, that, serving on said committee for many years,
33
258
HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
as several of them have done, with punctuality and fidelity, gratuitously devoting much time to the examining of teach- ers and the inspection of schools, they are justly entitled to the grateful regards of those for whom they have thus labored.
With the decrease of the population, there has been a decrease of the number of pupils in the schools. In 1821, and till 1830, the whole number of pupils attending the several schools was about four hundred and fifty in each year. During the years following the above-named period, the number of pupils has varied; but on the average there have been not far from three hundred and fifty in attend- ance, or about one third part of the population. The fol- lowing is an extract from the conclusion of the school- report for 1850-51: "The reading of this report closes the thirtieth year in which the chairman of your commit- tee has been engaged in superintending the schools in this town. He has made to them more than a thousand visits. He has spent much time in examining teachers and preparing reports, and in other ways endeavored to sustain and im- prove the schools. He says this in no spirit of boasting. It has been a labor which he loved, and it will ever remain a source of gratifying recollection. He has not labored alone and unaided. His associates on the committee have been faithful and self-sacrificing; and, with no exceptions worth naming, the people of the town have extended a generous confidence to the measures and efforts of their superintend- ing school-committee. Let the same harmonious action, and the same spirit of improvement, continue for another period of thirty years, and your schools will be so perfected that the period just closed will seem like a day of small things."
Schools for instruction in what are termed the higher branches of education have been kept at various times du- ring the last thirty years. In the autumn of 1823, a school was taught by Levi W. Leonard ; in 1828, by Samuel Bar- rett, of Ashby, Mass. ; in 1831, by Thomas Fisk; in 1835, by William C. Richards ; in 1837, 1845, and 1851, by Mark True; in 1839, by George F. Clark; in 1841 and 1843, by Thaddeus P. Mason ; in 1847, by Ransom N. Por- ter ; in 1848, by Henry C. Piper and Ransom N. Porter ; in 1850, by John D. Crchore, of Walpole; and in 1853, by Charles Corey, jun.
259
HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
A session of the Cheshire County Teachers' Institute was held in Dublin in October, 1846, and continued four weeks. The principal instructor was the Rev. John Goldsbury, of Warwick, Mass.
THE APPLETON FUND.
As the letter of Samuel Appleton, contained on pages 88 and 89, was not so explicit as to the mode of appropri- ating his gift of a thousand dollars as was thought to be desirable, the Chairman of the Committee of Invitation to the Centennial Celebration wrote to Mr. Appleton on the subject, and obtained the following reply : -
" BOSTON, July 13, 1852.
" Gentlemen, - I have received your favor of the 18th ult., acknowledging the receipt of my letter of the 15th, with my check for one thousand dollars. For this attention, and the friendly ex- pressions contained in your letter, I return my sincere thanks. It affords me gratification to learn that the celebration 'passed off very pleasantly ;' and I am happy if I have, in any way, contri- buted to the enjoyment of that interesting occasion.
" Towards the close of the communication, you call my attention to the subject of the appropriation of the one thousand dollars presented by me for educational purposes to the town of Dublin. In answer to your inquiries upon that subject, I would say, that, having implicit confidence in the present superintending school- committee, it was my intention to place the thousand dollars entirely under their control, to be laid out without any restrictions or qualifications on my part in the manner deemed by them most expedient. I trust this reply is sufficiently explicit. The delay in sending this letter has been occasioned by indisposition and my advanced age, which is now upwards of eighty-six years.
" With the best wishes for the continued prosperity of Dublin, and its great ornament, the common schools, I remain your friend and obedient servant, SAML. APPLETON.
" To JONA. K. SMITH, ASA H. FISK, and RANSOM N. PORTER, Committee of Invitation."
In consequence of the foregoing letter, the superintending school-committee, chosen by the town of Dublin at the annual meeting March, 1852, namely Levi W. Leonard, Alonzo Hayes, and Ransom N. Porter, have, by the authority vested in them, adopted the following rules and regulations for managing and appropriating the thousand dollars and its
0
HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
260
proceeds, and, in honor of the benevolent donor, have funded the gift, and named it the Appleton Fund.
" Samuel Appleton, Esq., of Boston, Mass., having presented to the town of Dublin, in the State of New Hampshire, one thousand dollars for educational purposes, to be applied as the superin- tending school-committee of the town shall deem expedient, the undersigned do hereby adopt the following rules and regulations for the management and appropriation thereof : -
"1. The said thousand dollars shall be kept at interest for ever, and be denominated the Appleton Fund.
" 2. All proceeds from the fund shall be subject to the draught of the trustees, and shall be applied to the purchase of apparatus for the public schools of Dublin, for courses of free lectures, for the support or in aid of high schools, and for such other purposes of education as the trustees of said fund may deem expedient.
"3. The trustees shall appoint an agent, who shall act as trea- surer; whose duty it shall be to keep the money safely and profita- bly invested, and pay out the proceeds of the same on the order of the trustees. Said agent, having had his appointment approved by the selectmen, and having subscribed his name to the rules and regulations of the trustees, shall be qualified to enter upon the duties of his office. The state of the treasury and security of the investment shall be examined annually by a committee chosen by the town, and reported to the same. The trustees may remove said agent from office, when, in their opinion, the safety of the fund and its proceeds requires it. Said agent shall deliver to his successor in office, or to the trustees, all moneys and papers per- taining to said fund in his possession.
"4. The term of office of the trustees shall be fifteen years, except that of the present board; the term of office of R. N. Porter shall expire in five years, and that of Alonzo Hayes in ten years, from this date.
"5. The trustees shall be chosen by the joint ballot of the two remaining trustees and the selectmen, and the person having a majority of their votes shall be declared elected; and the person thus elected, having subscribed his name to the rules and regula- tions of the trustees, shall be qualified to enter upon the duties of his office. Vacancies occurring by death, resignation, or removal from town, shall be filled in the same manner for the unexpired term.
"6. The trustees shall keep a faithful and impartial record of all their appropriations and proceedings of regular meetings, and make a detailed report of the same to the town at the annual meeting of each year.
"7. Meetings for the choice of trustees shall be called by the remaining trustees, or, in their neglect to perform the duty, by the selectmen ; a written notice stating the time and place of the
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HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
meeting having been served upon the selectmen or trustees, as the case may be, one week, at least, previous to the time of holding the meeting. Four members shall constitute a quorum.
" LEVI W. LEONARD, Superintending School Committee of
ALONZO HAYES, R. N. PORTER, Dublin, N. H.
" THOMAS FISK, Agent of the Trustees.
" DUBLIN, N. H., July 30, 1852."
A portion of the interest of the Appleton Fund has been applied to the purchase of five sets of Dr. Cutter's physio- logical charts, a tellurian globe, and ten maps of New Hampshire.
Several sets of Holbrook's apparatus for the use of schools were gratuitously furnished in former years by Jona. K. Smith.
LIBRARIES.
The Dublin Social Library was established in 1793. The first meeting was held Oct. 29, and Isaac Appleton was chosen clerk. A committee was chosen for purchasing books, consisting of Reuben Morse, James Adams, Samuel Twitch- ell, and Isaac Appleton. Moses Greenwood was the first librarian. The cost of the first purchase of books was $56.60. The price of a share in the library was two dollars. In 1795, Eli Adams was chosen librarian, and his successor in 1800 was Dr. Samuel Hamilton. Other librarians were Aaron Appleton, Moses Marshall, Cyrus Chamberlain, and Joseph Appleton. For several years, the librarian received for his services four dollars per year. In 1805, the vote was " to allow Aaron Appleton two dollars for keeping the library." In 1798, the whole number of books was ninety- three, and Moses Greenwood paid Matthew Aikin, of Peter- borough, $11.25 for covering them with sheepskin. The same covers are on some of the books at the present day. A privilege of reading the books was granted to Rev. Edward Sprague and Rev. Elijah Willard. This library was incor- porated in 1797, by an act of the legislature; and the members were authorized " to enjoin penalties of disfran- chisement, or fine not exceeding three dollars, and make, purchase, and receive subscriptions, grants, and donations of
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HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
personal estate, not exceeding the sum of one thousand dollars, exclusive of the books contained in said library." During the ten years previous to 1824, the society seldom raised any money for the purchase of books ; and, of course, the interest of the members was much abated.
In 1824, a society was formed, and called the Dublin Literary Society. Its object was, not only to establish a new library in town, but to hold meetings for literary pur- poses. For several years, such meetings were held during the winter season; and they were found useful for those who were employed as instructors in the public schools. The fee for admission was two dollars, and an annual assessment of twenty-five cents was required. In 1825, seventy-one vol- umes of books were purchased, a book-case procured, and a Gardner's terrestrial globe. The society was incorporated in 1824, and it was allowed "to hold personal property not exceeding two thousand dollars." In 1834, the price of a share was reduced to one dollar and fifty cents. In 1835, the old Social Library and the Library of the Literary So- ciety were united under the name of Dublin Union Library. L. W. Leonard has been treasurer and librarian of both these libraries from their first establishment to the present time. Any person in Dublin may have the privilege of reading the books in the Union Library for one year by paying thirty-seven and one half cents. The whole number of volumes in 1851 was four hundred and thirty-eight.
The Ladies' Library was founded in 1799, and contained in 1851 one hundred and sixty-one volumes. For many years Mrs. Lucy Marshall has been librarian.
The Dublin Juvenile Library was instituted in 1822. The use of its books is free to all persons in town. It has on its catalogue one thousand nine hundred and ninety volumes ; but some are lost, and others are worn out. Since 1825, this library has been sustained by the voluntary subscrip- tion of persons in the several school-districts.
Rees's Cyclopedia of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, con- sisting of forty quarto volumes, was purchased by a company organized for the purpose in the winter of 1824.
DUBLIN LYCEUM.
The Dublin Literary Society having united its library with that of the Dublin Social Library, and entered upon a new
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HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
organization, it was voted at a meeting on the 7th of October, 1836, that the society resolve itself into a lyceum, and retain its present form of organization and its present officers for the ensuing year, viz. : Levi W. Leonard, President ; Thomas Fisk, Vice-president ; Jonathan K. Smith, Secretary.
The lyceum thus instituted, held meetings from November to March in each year. Its last meeting was March 18, 1844. A town Common School Association having been organized, its exercises superseded those of the lyceum. The exercises of the lyceum consisted of lectures, debates, and reports on various subjects previously assigned. A paper called the Rural Repository was read at each meeting, containing voluntary communications from different persons of both sexes. The persons who officiated as presidents of this lyceum were Rufus Piper, Hervey Learned, Thomas Fisk, and Jonathan K. Smith.
In 1839, the young people of Dublin formed a "Society for Mutual Improvement," which was usually called the " Young Lyceum." They held meetings every other Wednes- day evening, alternating with the Dublin Lyceum, which in the previous years had met every week. The exercises in the young people's society were-a lecture occasionally, declamations, the reading of a paper called the Ladies' Mis- cellany, another called Wednesday Evening Post, which was followed by a debate on some subject previously announced.
The following are the names of some of the persons who gratuitously delivered lectures before one or the other of the above-mentioned lyceums : Rev. A. A. Livermore, of Keene ; Charles Mason, Esq., of Fitchburgh, Mass .; Roswell D. Hitchcock, preceptor of Jaffrey Academy ; Amos A. Parker, Esq., of Fitzwilliam ; Rev. Stillman Clark, and John Conant, Esq., of Jaffrey ; Harry Brickett, of Jaffrey Academy ; Rev. C. Cutler, Dr. Albert Smith, Hon. John H. Steele, Mr. Addison White, David J. Clarke, Esq., Frederic S. Ains- worth, and George Walker, of Peterborough.
The meetings of the Common School Association were held during the winter months in the several school-districts, two or more in each week. The meetings of this association were often well attended; and they have been regarded as exerting a favorable influence upon the schools. Lectures were delivered on educational subjects ; and a great variety of topics, relating to the instruction, discipline, and improve- ment of common schools, were discussed in a free and social
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HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
manner. The meetings of this association were continued in the winter of 1853-54.
The annals of Dublin for a series of five years, beginning with 1839, were prepared by the pastor of the first church, and read at the close of each year before the Dublin Lyceum. Although the events of a town "remote from cities " may prove of little or no importance in the history of a State, yet many things valuable and interesting for the descendants of the people may thus be preserved. Had the annals of Dub- lin been written and preserved from the time of its first settlement, they would have saved the committee of publica- tion a great amount of time and labor, and have prevented most of the errors which may be discovered with regard to dates. The records kept by a town-clerk contain only a small part of what is necessary to a full history of a place.
GRADUATES OF COLLEGES.
Amos Twitchell, Dartmouth College .
1802.
Amos Allen,
"
1808.
Ebenezer Morse,
" "
.
1810.
Samuel Morse,
"
.
1812.
Thomas Hardy,
1812.
Daniel Elliot,
"
1813.
Charles Mason, Harvard College
1834.
Frederic Jones
1835.
George Faber Clark, Theological School, Cambridge
1846.
Samuel Fulton Clark, " "
"
1847.
PHYSICIANS OF DUBLIN.
The first physician who resided in Dublin was Nathan Burnap. He was in town as early as 1776, and lived on the twelfth lot of the sixth range. Respecting his professional qualifications or the extent of his practice, tradition is silent. Dr. Young, of Peterborough, was much employed by the people in the east part of Dublin, before as well as after the above date. The name of Dr. Ward Eddy occurs in the clerk's records in 1781, that of Dr. Abel Maynard in 1787, and that of Dr. Benjamin Hills in 1794. Dr. Samuel Ham- ilton was clerk of the Dublin Social Library in 1794, and he appears to have been the principal physician in town till his removal in 1815. He was a representative to the general
1811.
John Bixby,
" ·
265
HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
court, a selectman, a merchant, and for many years had much influence in managing the business of the town. He was succeeded by Dr. Moses Kidder, who removed to Ashby, Mass., in 1819. Dr. Stephen H. Spalding came to Dublin from Littleton, Mass., in the same year ; having purchased the house and land owned by Dr. Kidder. Dr. Asa Heald bought the same of Dr. Spalding, who in 1823 removed to Natick, Mass. Dr. David Carter, who had been a physician in Marlborough and Peterborough, settled in Dublin in 1824, and died January, 1828. He was succeeded by Dr. John H. Foster, from Ashby, Mass., who removed in 1833 to Chicago, Ill., where he now resides. Dr. Simeon S. Stickney, from Townsend, Mass., began practice in Dublin in 1836, and removed to Milford, N. H., in 1837. Dr. Eaton, from Fitzwilliam, took the place of Dr. Stickney, but left town the next year. In 1848, Dr. Ransom N. Porter, from New Salem, Mass., began to practise medicine in Dublin, and remained till 1852, when Dr. John G. Parker, from Peterborough, took his place. Dr. Heald and Dr. Parker are the present physicians.
Several persons besides those above named, have, for short periods, practised medicine in Dublin : Dr. White, Dr. Peabody, Dr. Beede, Dr. Pettes, Dr. Hitchcock, and Dr. Barton. Physicians in the neighboring towns have had, at times, much practice in Dublin, especially in those parts of the town adjacent to their own. Dr. Kidder, during his residence here, is said to have been the physician for nearly all the families in town. The whole business of the place would afford one physician a fair support ; but, when it is so divided and subdivided as it has been at some periods, it will not be so easy for a doctor to sustain himself with- out some means independent of his profession.
SICKNESS. - MORTALITY.
In the early period of the settlement of Dublin, it has been said that fever and ague was an occasional disease; but for many years past it has been unknown here, unless con- tracted in some other region. No full record of births, deaths, ages, and diseases, has been kept in this town. In the partial records in the office of the town-clerk, we find the births pretty fully recorded, but only a small portion of the deaths. In the year 1777, the dysentery prevailed, and twenty deaths are recorded as having occurred in the
34
266
HISTORY OF DUBLIN.
months of July, August, and September. All except one, Abigail Mitchell, were children or youth. There were only three other deaths recorded for the whole year.
From January, 1820, to January, 1852, a full record of deaths was kept by the pastor of the First Church. The ages of the persons who died, and their diseases, when known, are noted in this record.
The following table shows the number of deaths at differ- ent ages in periods of five years : -
Under one year of age 63
From forty-five to fifty .
9
From one to five years
75
fifty to fifty-five
18
,
five to ten .
20
fifty-five to sixty 14
ten to fifteen
26 sixty to sixty-five 28
" fifteen to twenty 6
sixty-five to seventy „
13
twenty to twenty-five 42
seventy to seventy-five 40
twenty-five to thirty 14
seventy-five to eighty . 23
thirty to thirty-five 31
" eighty to eighty-five . 34
thirty-five to forty .
10 eighty-five to ninety . 14
forty to forty-five
30
ninety to one hundred . 8
Whole number, five hundred and twenty ; average per year, sixteen and one-fourth.
The average population for the thirty-two years previous to 1852 was 1167; and, of course, the number of deaths per annum must have been one out of seventy-one and four-fifths, or one and thirty-nine hundredths per cent. The United States census makes the annual deaths per cent in the New England States, one and fifty-five hundredths, or one death out of sixty-four persons. In the Middle States, with Ohio, the annual per centage of deaths is the same as that of Dublin (1.39) ; nearly one death to every seventy- two of the population.
From 1820 to 1852, eighty-seven persons died of con- sumption. No other disease has proved so fatal. It has been supposed by some that it is more prevalent here than in other places ; but, by examining other bills of mortality, we find that an equally large proportion of deaths are ascribed to this disease in many towns of New England.
The number of deaths in Dublin, during the above period, from scarlet fever, was twenty-four; from dysentery, eigh- teen ; from typhoid fever, thirty ; and from croup, fifteen.
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