School Committee Records of the Town/City of Manchester, NH, 1824-1876

Mosquito Pond School

Introduction

The records of the Town and City of Manchester School Committee consist of ten volumes of minutes dating from 1824 to 1876. Restoration and microfilming of these records was made possible through a grant by the New Hampshire Conservation License Plate Fund and the New Hampshire State Library.

Agency Information

The Manchester School Committee was comprised of school districts, governed by committees. Each school committee was elected by the male residents living with its confines. Of primary importance to each committee was the location of schoolhouses within the confines each school district. There was no public transportation so the ability of each child to walk to school was of paramount importance. The School Committee carefully planned the school year to accommodate the needs of a growing town. It combined the needs of an agrarian population with those of a burgeoning manufacturing economy. There were two cycles. Summer School began the first of May and Winter School began on the first of December.

The records of the School Committee also document the political careers of some of Manchester and New Hampshire's prominent politicians, many of whom began their political careers as members of either a Prudential or School Committee. One such individual was Frederick Smyth, future mayor of Manchester and later governor of New Hampshire. He first served as the Chairman of the School Committee for District. No. 2.

Scope and Content

Each school district journal describes the physical location of the district in terms of its proximity to individual landholdings, natural boundaries (i.e. Merrimack River) and to other towns. School district configurations would change as Manchester grew. In 1840, the district (with one school) began at the northwest corner of John Ray's farm on the Merrimack River to the old ferry road and then on to the southwest corner of the Amoskeag Company's land, ending at the town of Chester's original boundary line. By 1856, the district was so large that it included a high school, two grammar schools and two intermediate schools.

The importance of obtaining an education is clear from the earliest journal onward. In the 1820s, the population of Manchester was under 1,000 but by then, the inhabitants of School District #3 had an elected Prudential Committee who, in turn, hired a schoolmaster to teach the children.

Education was also for both boys and girls. The records of School District No. 2 indicate that a new brick schoolhouse was built in 1842. The school was used for advanced pupils of both sexes. One hundred seventy (170) children were enrolled. Mr. David P. Perkins was the SchoolMaster and Miss E.P. Wheeler was the SchoolMistress. The District No. 2 School Committee also addressed the need for a school to accommodate the youngest scholars on the "cheap plan".

The Amoskeag Company, Manchester's largest landowner, has always had a major role in the establishment of schools. They still own the land on which many of Manchester's schools are built today. In the 1840s, the Amoskeag Company was a relatively new enterprise so there are entries which indicate land being sold and land being donated to the Town and City of Manchester. In 1842, Amoskeag Manufacturing sold land for $540 to the Town so a school could be built on the corner of Beach and Concord Street. During that same year, they also donated land and the cost to build a schoolhouse at the corner of Chestnut and Manchester Streets.

One of the journals is labeled Record Book of School District 14, Town of Bedford, NH. It is included in this record series because School District No. 14 became part of the City of Manchester in 1853 when the City acquired an area of Bedford known as the Piscataquog Village.

Arrangement

Each volume represents a school district and date range of activities.

Administrative Information

The collection was processed and described by archivist Sally Fellows in 2008.

Access

The records are open for research without restrictions under the conditions of the Archives' access policy. Records may be copied for use in administrative, scholarly or personal research. Researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use the material from the Archivist.

Microfilm copies of these records can be found at the New Hampshire State Library, Manchester City Library, New Hampshire State Archives and the Manchester Historic Association. A microfilm copy of the Record Book of School District No. 14, Town of Bedford, can be found at the Bedford Historical Society.

Citation

The School Committee records of the Town and City of Manchester, New Hampshire.

Old High School