History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

Tarbell's tavern and store buildings, in which the
fire originated. Tlie liouse had just been repaired,
and the basement finished into a convenient vestry,
which the congregation were expecting to use for
the first time on the ensuing Sabbath. Instead of
wliich, tiiey met, on that Sabbath, in tlie Unitarian
house, wb.ose use for the afternoons had been cor-
dially tendered, and listened to an impressive dis-
course by Mr. Smith, from the text (Isa. Ixiv. 11),
" Our holy and our beautiful house where our
fathers praised Thee is burned up with fire." Af-
ter considerable delay, occasioned by a want of
unanimity on the question of location, the present
commodious and well-arranged house was erected
on the site of the old one, and dedicated Jan-
uary 29, 1860.
The same council that concurred in the dismis-
sal of Mr. Smith ordained Eev. S. L. Blake, a
graduate of Middlebury and of Andover. Having
preached acceptably to the people four years, he
asked for a dismission December 28, 1868, in
order to accept a call from the Old South Church,
in Concord, N. H. His successor was Eev. Horace
Parker, a graduate of Amherst, who had previously
been settled in Ashby. He was installed March
17, 1870, and dismissed September 16, 1873, on
account of poor health. During his pastorate, and
through his active efforts, a debt of nearly § 1,000,
which had gradually accumulated, was wiped out,
and some §200 additional raised for repairs of the
meeting-house. A parsonage was also bought.
After a year and a half of unsatisfactory and
unsuccessful trial of candidates, Eev. George F.
Swain, the present incumbent, accepted a call, and
was ordained May 12, 1875.
The first serious endeavor to introduce the ser-
vices of Methodism in Pepperell appears to have
been made in the winter of 186-5-66, under the
labors of Eev. A. D. Merrill and Eev. M. M. Parkhurst,
at the N'orth Village school-house. The
following spring Parker's Hall, at the East Village,
was hired, and Eev. G. Adams was sent from the
New England Conference as the first pastor of
a cnurch which was organized May, 1866. The
succession of ministers has been as follows : Eev.
M. E. Barry, 1867; Eev. Asa Barnes, 1869; Eev.
A. W. Baird, 1871 ; Eev. J. H. Emerson, 1874 ;
Eev. J. E. Gushing, 1875 ; Eev. Alfred Noon,
1877.
In 1873, through the zealous and untiring la-
bors of Mr. Baird, a fund was raised sufficient to
build a commodious church edifice in Babbitasset
PEPPERELL. 267
Village, where has been gathered a large and flour-
ishing society.
About 1871 a Catholic chapel was built in the
Depot Village. Services are held there twice a
month by the priest from Ayer.
Educational History. — In 1741 the town of
Groton voted to have a school, kept a part of the
time at Nissitisset, which was probably the first
school on the west side of the river. In 1749 a
petition from the parish for means of supporting a
school was granted by the town of Groton, on con-
dition that a school-room be provided without ex-
pense to the town. This condition being fulfilled,
the town granted the sum of £13 Qs. 8//. In
1751 the parish voted to raise £7 lOy. for school-
ing, and that the school be kept at the nearest con-
venient place to the meeting-house; and that all
who lived more than two miles distant might draw
their proportion of the money, and use it for
schooling as they might see fit. In 1754 the dis-
trict voted that the school be kept in three places,
but afterwards changed the number to two. A
school-house in the Centre is first mentioned in
1764. It stood on the corner where the town-
house now is. In 1770, it was voted to have the
school successively in four difterent parts of the
district, in dwelling-houses. The school-house
is again mentioned in 1771, and a vote passed to
have a grammar master ; but the school-house
appears to have belonged to individuals; for in
1772 the district voted to pay £10 13-s. id. for it,
and also to build four more. About this time the
district was divided into six squadrons, as they were
called, — middle, west, southwest, north, south,
and east ; and a committee of three persons in each
squadron was annually chosen to see that the money
appropriated was properly expended. In 1809 the
name of squadron was changed to district, and the
districts designated by numbers.
In 1819, No. 7 was formed from the eastern
part of No. 1, and the following year No. 8 was
taken from the western part of No. 6. In 1849,
No. 9 was formed from parts of No. 3 and No. 5.
The territory east of Nashua Eiver, on its annexa-
tion to the town in 1857, became District No. 10.
In 1868 the town voted to abolish the district
system, and since then the scliools have been under
the entire control of the school committee ; although,
for convenience, the old numerical districts are still
retained.
The appropriations for support of schools in
various years have been as follows: 1758, £10;