Joseph Woodman, who, being a prosperous merchant in Boston, gave liberally for its building and endowment, but suddenly died in little more than a month after the Act of its incorporation was approved at Concord, New Hampshire, June 27, 1826.
It was made obligatory on the teachers "to open and close the school with prayer; have some portion of the sacred Scriptures read each day by the pupils; also to regulate the tempers, enlarge the minds, and form the morals of the youth committed to their charge; also, to look after the health of the scholars, and urge the importance of habits of industry and application.
The teachers must also inculcate the fundamental principles of the Christian religion, and the great and important Christian doctrines [which are stated at some length in the Constitution], as found in the creeds of the evangelical churches.” The By-Laws were some of them strict in their nature, the "students not being allowed to indulge in profane swearing, any species of gambling, or intemperance, and being forbidden to associate with any persons of bad morals, or to frequent grog-shops or taverns."
Available funds of the institution, November 1830, reported at US$802, and then being slowly increased by annuities paid by the trustees and others, usually US$3 each, - none being more constant in such payments than Rev.
The bell, still heard in 1881 from the Congregational meeting-house, was procured in 1830, succeeding a smaller one, of 200 pounds weight, previously used, Holbrook's "apparatus", purchased in 1831 for US$10.
Anonymous letters, received by Josiah Webster, keeper of the boarding-house, 1840, were at last fastened upon two of the students, and resulted in their suspension.
A. Bodwell chosen secretary for the nineteenth time, Nov. 1, 1843: from which date, though the meeting stood adjourned to the first Wednesday of November, 1844.
[2] The Catalogue for the year ending November 24, 1840, was, for those times, a creditable pamphlet of 18 pages, printed in Sanbornton, by J. C. Wilson.
The executive committee of the trustees announced their prospects for the coming year, winter term to commence Wednesday, December 2, with undiminished confidence in their preceptor, Dyer H. Sanborn, A. M..
The price of board was to be eight shillings a week, including washing, and exclusive of wood and lights; with tuition, US$3.50 a quarter.
The Analytical Grammar, prepared by the principal, having already passed through three editions, was favored with a long advertising card.
In 1865, the building had been left in quite a forlorn condition, no one apparently interested in its welfare, clapboards loose; glass broken; occasionally used for dancing.
But early in 1867, the school district at the Square obtained the control of the building, for a nominal sum, from the few remaining shareholders then living or accessible, repaired the whole outside, and converted the lower story into a commodious school-room, which was first occupied by a dedicatory religious meeting, Sabbath evening, May 19, the first district school commencing under Miss Sarah Taylor the following day.
The upper room, being finished and furnished with settees by a subscription of the citizens, became a public hall for the parish and townspeople generally, the ladies of the Congregational society having prior claim to its occasional use for their social gatherings, by virtue of a small rent paid to the district.