High School Renovation Project
The school board met in a special meeting on Monday to review the recommendations of the High School Renovation Committee regarding the bids for the track and field site work.
The board discussed the status of the project and the budget implications of the bids that were higher than expected. Tom Hurley (Committee Chair) updated the board on all the discussions that had gone on at the building committee meeting and the background on all the issues. After all the discussions, the board held two votes.
The board voted 5-0 to award the site work project to Leighton White as per his bid. It is expected that Leighton will start work soon after labor day. Mike Trojano and Bill Cooper will look into the feasibility of doing something with the visitor bleachers (such as moving them to the soccer field), and if it seems viable, to act on the option. If it doesn't appear viable, then they will just be torn down as per the specifications.
The board voted 4-1 (Peter Bragdon in opposition) to authorize the building committee to not hire a Clerk of the Works if the Committee decided not to. This vote allows the building committee to make the decision without having to come back to the School Board for further approval. The vote does not obligate the Committee to not hire a Clerk, but the votes gives it the option to do so.
The board did not act on the award of the track surface bid to Maine Tennis and Track as had been approved by the building committee. The documentation of the bid was not presented at the meeting, and it was felt that it would be better to have the paperwork in front of everyone prior to a vote. This was not a time-critical item like the site-work bid since the track work will not be done until next May or so in any case. The bid information will be summarized and brought to a future meeting for approval.
The cost increase was discussed at length, with the basic consensus being that while it was a problem, it seemed to be of a manageable level given the context of the overall project. We will need to be careful moving forward that we make the proper decisions to keep the project within the overall budget and still have a quality result.
Superintendent Suprenant Contract
The board went into non-public session once the track and field discussion was complete. At the end of the non-public session, it was announced that Superintendent Suprenant and the board had reached agreement on a new three-year contract that is a follow-on to his initial three-year contract that recently ended.
I'd like to publicly thank Superintendent Suprenant for his performance during his first three years with Milford. We have made great progress in that time period, and the Milford School District is in great shape and getting better all the time.
While we don't use these terms to describe it, we have instituted processes that are essentially continuous improvement programs. Continuous improvement as a management philosophy is a prime foundation of quality systems, and we do it well in Milford. An example is our curriculum improvement process that is well entrenched in the district now. Every year we look at portions of the curriculum to plan future changes, we test the options for the changes, and we implement the changes. Each subject area flows thought this process on a regular schedule. This allows us to keep our spending relatively uniform from year to year while at the same time insuring that all aspects of the curriculum are refreshed on a regular planned basis.
We set goals each year, and we measure our progress towards meeting the goals. This closed-loop process helps to insure that we are working on the proper items, that we are coordinating our efforts towards meeting common goals, and that we are communicating our efforts to all interested parties.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Bales Mystery Solved
The mystery of what was behind the Bales Elementary School sign has been solved. The District took down the sign early this week, and this is what they found:
The sign says:
The newly-visible old granite sign is very nice, but I don't think that it will work for us going forward. The building is currently used as a combination middle/high alternative school, and there is a good chance that it will be a multipurpose building at some point in the future.
The school has some nice "bones" to it, and I think that it deserves to have a long future.
We are going to put on a new roof and replace the soffits as a side project of the current High School renovation project that was approved last year. The building needs a lot more to get it usable for a potential long term function. There will be a study committee starting up this fall that will investigate the potential uses for the building, and to guide us in figuring out what should be done with the building.
The sign says:
* MILFORD HIGH SCHOOL *
** 1894 **
** 1894 **
The newly-visible old granite sign is very nice, but I don't think that it will work for us going forward. The building is currently used as a combination middle/high alternative school, and there is a good chance that it will be a multipurpose building at some point in the future.
The school has some nice "bones" to it, and I think that it deserves to have a long future.
We are going to put on a new roof and replace the soffits as a side project of the current High School renovation project that was approved last year. The building needs a lot more to get it usable for a potential long term function. There will be a study committee starting up this fall that will investigate the potential uses for the building, and to guide us in figuring out what should be done with the building.
Friday, August 24, 2007
High School Renovation Project
We held another meeting last night of the High School Renovation Committee. The purpose of the meeting was to review the bids that came in for "Phase 1" of the track portion of the project. Phase 1 is primarily for the site work and field aspects of the project.
In summary, the budget for the track and field portion of the overall project is $945k, not including any contingency funds or other soft costs. Our current best estimate for this portion of the project (including items that were bid and place holders for items that were not bid) is $1,274k, or $328k higher than budgeted.
This was based on awarding the site work contract to Leighton White, who bid roughly $619k for the site work, while the next lowest bid of the five received was roughly $697k for the same work.
It was disappointing to get such bad news right at the start of the project, but I don't think that it is a killer to the overall project. There are some things that we can do to ease the pain.
While we don't really have a good explanation as to why the bids were so much higher than our planning budget that was used for the budget, our best guess is that the drainage portion of the project ended up being much more complicated than originally envisioned. The final design included a new separate retention area for the water overflow whereas the original thought was that we could just use the retention pond just below the Middle School. The elevations were such that the existing area was too high to make it work, so a new retention area closer to West street was needed.
We made a couple of changes to the project during the meeting to help solve this cost problem. We decided to eliminate the Clerk of the Works position to save $54k. (We did not actually vote to do this at the meeting, but it is highly likely that we will do so at a future meeting.) The position is not really required since we decided to go with a Construction Manager arrangement instead of strictly using a general contractor. The Construction Manager and our own on-site personnel will keep tabs on the project instead. Having a Clerk of the Works might be marginally better than not having one, but it doesn't seem like it is worth the $54k that it would cost.
We spent a lot of time talking about track surfaces. The original plan was for a urethane based surface, and that is what was included in the estimate. We decided to change to a red-colored latex surface instead of going with the urethane surface. The information that we had was that the latex surface would probably need more frequent maintenance actions than the urethane, but the maintenance would be less expensive each time. The urethane might last longer than the latex, but no one could give us any hard numbers as to how long either surface would last. Both surfaces come with a five-year warranty, so from that perspective, they are about equal. Changing to red-colored latex saves $52k in installation cost as compared to the urethane. Latex seems to be the surface of choice for high schools in this area, with Bedford and Pinkerton both planning on installing latex for their recent projects.
We talked about using a blue surface instead of red just to get it to match our school colors, but supposedly the blue color fades fairly quickly while the red seems to be relatively color-fast. We were given a list of 11 schools that had a latex track, and 9 were red and 2 were blue. We decided that color-fastness was more important than matching the school colors.
Eliminating the Clerk of the Works, and changing the track to latex saved a total of $106k, bringing our cost problem down to $223k. The contingency on the project is budgeted at 15% of the construction costs. The 15% contingency associated with the $945k is $141k. If we apply all of that contingency to this portion of the project, then that decreases the cost problem down to $82k. One hates to tap into contingency so early in the process, but that is what it is for so we might as well go for it now since it is needed.
There are still a number of items that are in the cost build-up with a place-holder number that is an estimate and not an actual bid. One of the bigger items is the bleachers, with a place-holder number of $150k for a 680 seat bleacher on the home side and a 320 seat bleacher on the visitor side. This compares to the roughly 400 home/200 visitor set-up we have today. This $150k figure may be more or less once the bids come in. If we really needed the savings, then would could downsize the bleachers a bit to save cost. For example, it was estimated that changing to a 560 home/200 visitor set-up would save about $35k.
The committee voted to award the bid to Leighton White and to therefore move ahead with the project using the current designs. We will have to deal with the remaining $82k cost problem in some manner on the project, but we left that task to a later date once we get better figures for the other items.
The School Board will review this on Monday, and make a final decision on whether to award the contract to Leighton White. Assuming they do, then it is likely that Leighton will start work soon after Labor Day, We are going to have one final home football game at home on August 31st, so he can't start before then. There may be other issues that delay him a bit, but the work should begin soon.
In summary, the budget for the track and field portion of the overall project is $945k, not including any contingency funds or other soft costs. Our current best estimate for this portion of the project (including items that were bid and place holders for items that were not bid) is $1,274k, or $328k higher than budgeted.
This was based on awarding the site work contract to Leighton White, who bid roughly $619k for the site work, while the next lowest bid of the five received was roughly $697k for the same work.
It was disappointing to get such bad news right at the start of the project, but I don't think that it is a killer to the overall project. There are some things that we can do to ease the pain.
While we don't really have a good explanation as to why the bids were so much higher than our planning budget that was used for the budget, our best guess is that the drainage portion of the project ended up being much more complicated than originally envisioned. The final design included a new separate retention area for the water overflow whereas the original thought was that we could just use the retention pond just below the Middle School. The elevations were such that the existing area was too high to make it work, so a new retention area closer to West street was needed.
We made a couple of changes to the project during the meeting to help solve this cost problem. We decided to eliminate the Clerk of the Works position to save $54k. (We did not actually vote to do this at the meeting, but it is highly likely that we will do so at a future meeting.) The position is not really required since we decided to go with a Construction Manager arrangement instead of strictly using a general contractor. The Construction Manager and our own on-site personnel will keep tabs on the project instead. Having a Clerk of the Works might be marginally better than not having one, but it doesn't seem like it is worth the $54k that it would cost.
We spent a lot of time talking about track surfaces. The original plan was for a urethane based surface, and that is what was included in the estimate. We decided to change to a red-colored latex surface instead of going with the urethane surface. The information that we had was that the latex surface would probably need more frequent maintenance actions than the urethane, but the maintenance would be less expensive each time. The urethane might last longer than the latex, but no one could give us any hard numbers as to how long either surface would last. Both surfaces come with a five-year warranty, so from that perspective, they are about equal. Changing to red-colored latex saves $52k in installation cost as compared to the urethane. Latex seems to be the surface of choice for high schools in this area, with Bedford and Pinkerton both planning on installing latex for their recent projects.
We talked about using a blue surface instead of red just to get it to match our school colors, but supposedly the blue color fades fairly quickly while the red seems to be relatively color-fast. We were given a list of 11 schools that had a latex track, and 9 were red and 2 were blue. We decided that color-fastness was more important than matching the school colors.
Eliminating the Clerk of the Works, and changing the track to latex saved a total of $106k, bringing our cost problem down to $223k. The contingency on the project is budgeted at 15% of the construction costs. The 15% contingency associated with the $945k is $141k. If we apply all of that contingency to this portion of the project, then that decreases the cost problem down to $82k. One hates to tap into contingency so early in the process, but that is what it is for so we might as well go for it now since it is needed.
There are still a number of items that are in the cost build-up with a place-holder number that is an estimate and not an actual bid. One of the bigger items is the bleachers, with a place-holder number of $150k for a 680 seat bleacher on the home side and a 320 seat bleacher on the visitor side. This compares to the roughly 400 home/200 visitor set-up we have today. This $150k figure may be more or less once the bids come in. If we really needed the savings, then would could downsize the bleachers a bit to save cost. For example, it was estimated that changing to a 560 home/200 visitor set-up would save about $35k.
The committee voted to award the bid to Leighton White and to therefore move ahead with the project using the current designs. We will have to deal with the remaining $82k cost problem in some manner on the project, but we left that task to a later date once we get better figures for the other items.
The School Board will review this on Monday, and make a final decision on whether to award the contract to Leighton White. Assuming they do, then it is likely that Leighton will start work soon after Labor Day, We are going to have one final home football game at home on August 31st, so he can't start before then. There may be other issues that delay him a bit, but the work should begin soon.
Milford one of 10 Coolest Small Towns
Budget Travel Magazine named Milford one of the 10 Coolest Small Towns in America! Go Milford!
Too bad it was Milford, PA.
Milford, PA is a small resort town that seems nice from the write up in their story, but I'll take Milford, NH any day.
I ran across the story because I saw an article that mentioned that Peterborough was also named one of the ten coolest small towns in America. The Budget Travel article talks about how the town is cool because it is kind of artsy. Although I hardly ever go there, I am impressed with Peterborough, and I agree that it is a cool little town.
My grandmother grew up in Peterborough, and I remember some of the stories she told me 40 years ago about her life in Peterborough during the first decades of the 20th century. She was there when cars were rare, roads weren't paved, and you were well off if you were able to go to school up to the eighth grade. People routinely worked long hours for low pay, and struggled to make ends meet. Life is so much easier today, in so many ways, and we don't appreciate how well off we really are now.
Too bad it was Milford, PA.
Milford, PA is a small resort town that seems nice from the write up in their story, but I'll take Milford, NH any day.
I ran across the story because I saw an article that mentioned that Peterborough was also named one of the ten coolest small towns in America. The Budget Travel article talks about how the town is cool because it is kind of artsy. Although I hardly ever go there, I am impressed with Peterborough, and I agree that it is a cool little town.
My grandmother grew up in Peterborough, and I remember some of the stories she told me 40 years ago about her life in Peterborough during the first decades of the 20th century. She was there when cars were rare, roads weren't paved, and you were well off if you were able to go to school up to the eighth grade. People routinely worked long hours for low pay, and struggled to make ends meet. Life is so much easier today, in so many ways, and we don't appreciate how well off we really are now.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Milford School Board 8/20/07
Superintendent's Report
Superintendent Suprenant reviewed some of the activities that occurred during the summer including:
* 339 students attending some sort of summer school program,
* Lots of training was held for various staff members,
* The schools were all cleaned and prepped for the new year,
* Some asbestos at the high school was abated in preparation for the upcoming renovations.
He announced that the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores would be released by the State Dept of Education on Tuesday August 28th.
He issued some press releases to highlight various items. One item in particular that he is trying to promote are the new Evening Community Education programs that will be offered this fall. In summary, there are several courses that will be offered on a tuition basis this fall in the evening at the High School. The courses are:
* Conversational Spanish
* We the People...the Citizen and the Constitution
* Digital Scrap Booking with Photoshop
* Microsoft Word 2003
* Microsoft Excel
More information on these offerings can be found on the school web site.There is a link on that page to a description of the courses, and another link to the registration forms. Most of the courses start on Tuesday October 2nd.
Superintendent Suprenant invited the School Board members to attend the opening session for the staff on Tuesday the 28th. I was able to attend the session last year, and I thought that it was very helpful to hear the messages that were given to everyone. The session is used to try to get everyone on the same page for the year, working towards common goals.
PEG Access
David Kirsch is the new PEG Access Director. PEG is Public, Educational, and Government Cable TV Access. Milford has improved the channel 21 access over the past couple of years, and we are making more progress all the time. Dave has some good ideas on how to improve things, and he will be working to add to the program over time.
Some of the things that we discussed were:
* He is hoping to add sports coverage, but there are a bunch of details that need to be worked out. There is just one true home football game this year, and he is hoping to tape the game and broadcast it on channel 21. One issue is that while it is usually fairly easy to get someone to operate the camera, it is usually very difficult to get a commentator/announcer for the game. Dave is hoping to get someone from the Radio club to act as a commentator during the game.
* Dave talked about some of his previous experiences with other schools, such as in Concord. He said that one of the keys to gaining content is to provide a camera/computer/editing software setup to each school to enable them to create presentations on a regular basis.
* He thought that it might be good to create an overview film for each of the ATC programs. These videos could be shown on CATV, and they could also be shown to prospective students from other districts.
* We discussed how we can try to improve the audio quality of the School Board tapings. There are a few choices: do nothing, get a new microphone/mixer setup (about $5K), move to the Selectmen's Meeting Room where they have set up a decent system, or fix up a place in the school that has an improved setup. I am in favor of fixing up Room 4 in the High School as the designated meeting room, instead of just using the Selectman's Room. The main advantage is that Room 4 seats about 100 people, and the Selectmen's Room only seats about 20. Having seating for 20 people is fine for most meetings, but there are usually several meetings a year where 20 is just not enough.
* Dave mentioned that there are satellite feeds of educational programs that are popular in other Districts. He mentioned Annenberg and NASA as being two that were very good. He is going to look to see if we can add them to Milford.
* The Selectmen's meetings are going to be broadcast live in a month or two. We may be able to do the School Board meetings live also, but that would be for a later date and would require some sort of infrastructure to make it happen.
Policy Review
The Staff Protection policy was postponed pending further review of the implications of paying additional compensation on top of Workers' Compensation payments.
The Daily Physical Activity policy was approved. This policy was required by the state standards that were updated last fall. The basic premise of the policy is that the District will encourage all members of the District community to engage in some sort of daily exercise.
I brought up an issue that had come to light during our discussions last meeting on the Daily Physical Activity Policy. The State mandates minimum expectations for this policy, and we used the State guidelines for our policy. The New Hampshire School Boards Association has a sample policy that is more emphatic on a couple of points. For example, in one spot they use the phrase "Commit adequate resources..." and our policy uses the phrase "Support adequate resources..." for the same section. The policy review committee had mentioned this discrepancy at the last meeting when they were discussing the proposed policy.
I thought that it was a good practice for the policy review committee to bring to light any discrepancies like that, and I thank them for doing so on this policy. I asked that in the future, they continue to bring up any discrepancies that are identified between the proposed policy and the NHSBA sample policy. Also, I asked them to identify any NHSBA sample policies that were reviewed, but the committee decided to not implement. My concern on this is that there are some sample policies that have a political philosophy associated with them that might have varying support by the board as a whole. I would prefer that anything that is controversial be dealt with at the board level, and not be decided by a sub-committee without having an open discussion.
The policy committee is systematically going through our existing policies and updating them as required. I would encourage them to change their process to instead of starting with our policy book, that they use the sample policies from the NHSBA as the starting point to try to find the areas where we are deficient.
The policy review committee has been doing a good job, and they have updated quite a few policies. Sometimes just changing the wording in a very slight manner can have a big effect on on the outcome, so they have had to be very careful as they go through the policies.
Bales School
We decided to remove the "Bales Elementary School" sign from the front of the building. This will eliminate the word Elementary from a sign on a school that is no longer an elementary school. It will also allow us to see what is under the sign, since we don't know for sure what the exact wording is that is there. The best guess is that there is a sign under there that says "Centennial School", but there is a chance that it says "Centennial High School".
We did not rename the building at this time, but we may do that at a future meeting.
High School Renovations
Phase one of the bid items have come back in, and they will be presented to the building committee on Thursday 8/23. According to Mike Trojano, the bids on several of the items came in much higher than originally estimated. We are going to have to deal with this in some manner.
The School Board will have a quick meeting on Monday August 27th to review the Building Committee's recommendation about the bids. The objective is to award the grounds work as soon as possible so construction on the field can be started quickly. We'll have to see where the bids are before we do this, since we need to make sure that the overall renovation project stays on track.
World Language Curriculum
The new curriculum was approved.
Superintendent/District Goals
These were approved. Bob Willette asked (and we approved) that a goal to investigate lengthening the school day be added to the list.
Superintendent Suprenant reviewed some of the activities that occurred during the summer including:
* 339 students attending some sort of summer school program,
* Lots of training was held for various staff members,
* The schools were all cleaned and prepped for the new year,
* Some asbestos at the high school was abated in preparation for the upcoming renovations.
He announced that the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores would be released by the State Dept of Education on Tuesday August 28th.
He issued some press releases to highlight various items. One item in particular that he is trying to promote are the new Evening Community Education programs that will be offered this fall. In summary, there are several courses that will be offered on a tuition basis this fall in the evening at the High School. The courses are:
* Conversational Spanish
* We the People...the Citizen and the Constitution
* Digital Scrap Booking with Photoshop
* Microsoft Word 2003
* Microsoft Excel
More information on these offerings can be found on the school web site.There is a link on that page to a description of the courses, and another link to the registration forms. Most of the courses start on Tuesday October 2nd.
Superintendent Suprenant invited the School Board members to attend the opening session for the staff on Tuesday the 28th. I was able to attend the session last year, and I thought that it was very helpful to hear the messages that were given to everyone. The session is used to try to get everyone on the same page for the year, working towards common goals.
PEG Access
David Kirsch is the new PEG Access Director. PEG is Public, Educational, and Government Cable TV Access. Milford has improved the channel 21 access over the past couple of years, and we are making more progress all the time. Dave has some good ideas on how to improve things, and he will be working to add to the program over time.
Some of the things that we discussed were:
* He is hoping to add sports coverage, but there are a bunch of details that need to be worked out. There is just one true home football game this year, and he is hoping to tape the game and broadcast it on channel 21. One issue is that while it is usually fairly easy to get someone to operate the camera, it is usually very difficult to get a commentator/announcer for the game. Dave is hoping to get someone from the Radio club to act as a commentator during the game.
* Dave talked about some of his previous experiences with other schools, such as in Concord. He said that one of the keys to gaining content is to provide a camera/computer/editing software setup to each school to enable them to create presentations on a regular basis.
* He thought that it might be good to create an overview film for each of the ATC programs. These videos could be shown on CATV, and they could also be shown to prospective students from other districts.
* We discussed how we can try to improve the audio quality of the School Board tapings. There are a few choices: do nothing, get a new microphone/mixer setup (about $5K), move to the Selectmen's Meeting Room where they have set up a decent system, or fix up a place in the school that has an improved setup. I am in favor of fixing up Room 4 in the High School as the designated meeting room, instead of just using the Selectman's Room. The main advantage is that Room 4 seats about 100 people, and the Selectmen's Room only seats about 20. Having seating for 20 people is fine for most meetings, but there are usually several meetings a year where 20 is just not enough.
* Dave mentioned that there are satellite feeds of educational programs that are popular in other Districts. He mentioned Annenberg and NASA as being two that were very good. He is going to look to see if we can add them to Milford.
* The Selectmen's meetings are going to be broadcast live in a month or two. We may be able to do the School Board meetings live also, but that would be for a later date and would require some sort of infrastructure to make it happen.
Policy Review
The Staff Protection policy was postponed pending further review of the implications of paying additional compensation on top of Workers' Compensation payments.
The Daily Physical Activity policy was approved. This policy was required by the state standards that were updated last fall. The basic premise of the policy is that the District will encourage all members of the District community to engage in some sort of daily exercise.
I brought up an issue that had come to light during our discussions last meeting on the Daily Physical Activity Policy. The State mandates minimum expectations for this policy, and we used the State guidelines for our policy. The New Hampshire School Boards Association has a sample policy that is more emphatic on a couple of points. For example, in one spot they use the phrase "Commit adequate resources..." and our policy uses the phrase "Support adequate resources..." for the same section. The policy review committee had mentioned this discrepancy at the last meeting when they were discussing the proposed policy.
I thought that it was a good practice for the policy review committee to bring to light any discrepancies like that, and I thank them for doing so on this policy. I asked that in the future, they continue to bring up any discrepancies that are identified between the proposed policy and the NHSBA sample policy. Also, I asked them to identify any NHSBA sample policies that were reviewed, but the committee decided to not implement. My concern on this is that there are some sample policies that have a political philosophy associated with them that might have varying support by the board as a whole. I would prefer that anything that is controversial be dealt with at the board level, and not be decided by a sub-committee without having an open discussion.
The policy committee is systematically going through our existing policies and updating them as required. I would encourage them to change their process to instead of starting with our policy book, that they use the sample policies from the NHSBA as the starting point to try to find the areas where we are deficient.
The policy review committee has been doing a good job, and they have updated quite a few policies. Sometimes just changing the wording in a very slight manner can have a big effect on on the outcome, so they have had to be very careful as they go through the policies.
Bales School
We decided to remove the "Bales Elementary School" sign from the front of the building. This will eliminate the word Elementary from a sign on a school that is no longer an elementary school. It will also allow us to see what is under the sign, since we don't know for sure what the exact wording is that is there. The best guess is that there is a sign under there that says "Centennial School", but there is a chance that it says "Centennial High School".
We did not rename the building at this time, but we may do that at a future meeting.
High School Renovations
Phase one of the bid items have come back in, and they will be presented to the building committee on Thursday 8/23. According to Mike Trojano, the bids on several of the items came in much higher than originally estimated. We are going to have to deal with this in some manner.
The School Board will have a quick meeting on Monday August 27th to review the Building Committee's recommendation about the bids. The objective is to award the grounds work as soon as possible so construction on the field can be started quickly. We'll have to see where the bids are before we do this, since we need to make sure that the overall renovation project stays on track.
World Language Curriculum
The new curriculum was approved.
Superintendent/District Goals
These were approved. Bob Willette asked (and we approved) that a goal to investigate lengthening the school day be added to the list.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
A Day in the Life of a Milford Firefighter
I came across a very nice slideshow set to music that shows a day in the life of a Milford Firefighter. It is 3:42 in length, and worth watching. There are lots of interesting pictures showing various events that the Milford Fire Department has encountered, from floods to fires.
The credits at the end of the video give photo credits to Chief (ret.) Richard Tortorelli, Ed Stella, and the Milford Fire Department. It then suggests that if you have any interest in joining the Department, then you should contact Chief Fraitzl at mfd@milford.nh.gov.
The video is on youtube, and also on the town fire department website.
Our safety personnel in town do a great job, and they don't get the recognition that they deserve. Kudos to all of them, and thanks for serving.
The credits at the end of the video give photo credits to Chief (ret.) Richard Tortorelli, Ed Stella, and the Milford Fire Department. It then suggests that if you have any interest in joining the Department, then you should contact Chief Fraitzl at mfd@milford.nh.gov.
The video is on youtube, and also on the town fire department website.
Our safety personnel in town do a great job, and they don't get the recognition that they deserve. Kudos to all of them, and thanks for serving.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Bales Elementary School
The Bales Elementary School has a long history. This is the brief summary of it as posted on the MilfordNH web site:
In 1894 the town of Milford celebrated its centennial and the new Centennial High School was opened. The cost of the whole project was $47,000 of which $10,000 was for the land. The new school contained the latest in equipment and building features. Because of its excellence, students from surrounding communities were attracted to it and the tuition was welcomed by the town. Eleven graduates were in the first graduating class in 1896 and the last class to graduate was in 1961 with eighty graduates. In 1961 high school students were housed in the new AREA high school on West Street and the old high school was given over entirely to Junior High students. The building was remodeled In 1969 and became the elementary school. It was renamed the Bales Elementary School In honor of Harold C. Bales who served as superintendent from 1919 to 1939.
The building is no longer used as an elementary school, and is instead used mainly to house the Sage School program and the Special Education staff. This is a brief summary of the Sage School, as shown on the Sage School web site:
The Milford Alternative School, known as the Sage School, provides educational and therapeutic programming for students in grades six through twelve identified as "high risk" or with a serious emotional disability.
The mission of the Milford Alternative School is to provide an alternative, safe, and supportive environment in which students can achieve their academic potential and develop the skills and competencies necessary for employment, further education, and daily life.
I'd like to rename the building, with the primary motivation to get rid of the word "Elementary" since it is no longer appropriate. I think that calling it the "Bales Building" would be fine, but other names would be OK also. There is a good chance that the building will end up being a mixed use building, with a combination of school uses and town uses. Calling it a building instead of a school matches up better for a mixed use structure.
The District will be setting up a Bales Use Study Committee this fall, with the objective being the development of long term plans for the building. Everything will be on the table for review by the committee, from selling the building (giving it away), to doing nothing, to full renovations for various uses. Contact the SAU office if you have any interest in serving on the committee.As part of the bond that passed last year, we will be putting a new roof on the building and fixing the soffits. We will hold off on doing other major work until there is a long-term plan in place for the building that seems to make sense. The next larger bond probably won't be proposed until sometime after the existing Middle School bond expires in the 2012 time frame, so there is plenty of time to figure out what we want to do with the building.
Monday, August 13, 2007
JerriAnne Boggis Wins Award
The Milford Observer had a front page article this week that announced that JerriAnne Boggis was named the 2007 winner of the Women's Recognition Award by the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women.Ms. Boggis won the award for her tenacious efforts to raise awareness of Milford resident Harriet Wilson (1825-1900). Wilson was the first black woman to publish a novel in the United States. Her semi-autobiographical novel "Our Nig; or Sketches From the Life of A Free Black" was published in 1859.
Ms. Boggis was the driving force behind the Harriet Wilson Project which was initially set up to simply promote the study of Harriet Wilson, but morphed into much more. The group decided to commission an ambitious statue of Harriet Wilson for display in Milford. They did extensive fund-raising and promotion for the project, and they held a very moving dedication ceremony on November 6, 2006.
This award couldn't go to nicer person. I don't know her myself, but I did attend a talk that she gave to the Milford Historical Society, and I attended the dedication ceremony. I was very impressed by her at both events, and it is obvious that she is committed to making a positive difference in New Hampshire.
She is scheduled to receive the award from the Governor and the Executive Council on September 19th.
Thank you JerriAnne for being such a dedicated and noble soul. You have helped to improve the heritage of Milford. It is people like you that make this such a wonderful community.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
History of Humphrey Moore, Part 2
This is a continuation of the previous post about Reverend Humphrey Moore. This posting is from Ramsdell's 1901 History of Milford, N.H. on pages 370-375, Chapter XXIII. Biographical Sketches., Rev. Humphrey Moore, D. D.
Humphrey Moore, the youngest child of Humphrey, and Mary Sweetser Moore, who for more than a generation was the minister of the town and who lived among its people for nearly seventy years, was born in Princeton, Mass., Oct. 19, 1778.
His grandfather was Paul Moore; his great-grandfather was John Moore; his great-great-grandfather was Jacob Moore, natives of Sudbury, Mass.; his great-great-great-grandfather was John Moore who emigrated from England and settled in Cambridge but removed to Sudbury in 1643.
His parents, according to the testimony of the son, “were industrious, economical, exemplary in their lives, and respected by all their acquaintances.” From them he obtained all the instruction he received previous to his ninth year, when he became for the first time a pupil in the district school. Robert B. Thomas, his first teacher in school, taught him to write, and under his instruction the pupil became a good penman, and at the age of ninety-two years his manuscripts were not only legible but good specimens of handwriting for any age. He was also thoroughly grounded in elementary mathematics by his first public instructor. His father died when he was twelve years old. From this time he depended upon his own exertions for a livelihood. The four years preceding his admission to Harvard College in 1795, were spent in alternate study and manual labor. He was obliged to practice the strictest economy in order to meet the expenses of his preparatory course and to put himself in respectable condition to appear before
the faculty of Harvard college for examination. The coat which he wore on important occasions for the first two years of college life was made from one which was given to his father at the age of twenty-one years as a freedom coat and by him worn as a best garment until his death or for a period of thirty-one years. He maintained a good position in college and graduated with the class of 1799. There was a vacation of four weeks preceding commencement and not wishing to lose this time he engaged a school in Bath, Maine, to continue six months. Not being present at commencement in 1799, he did not receive the degree of A. B. until the following year.
After closing his school in Bath in December, 1799, he became a student in theology with Dr. Backus, of Somers, Connecticut, who was accustomed to train young men for the ministry, there being
at that time no theological school in the country. After the usual course in divinity he was licensed to preach by the association of which Dr. Backus was a member. He was settled as pastor of the church in Milford, Oct. 13, 1802, and sustained that relation one third of a century. April 5, 1803, he was united in marriage with Hannah Peabody, third daughter of the late William Peabody. Of this marriage there were three daughters and one son. Two daughters survived him. He remained in Mr. Peabody’s family one year, looking for a good farm upon which to settle, it having been his purpose from boyhood to till the soil with his own hands.
In April, 1801, he was successful in negotiating for the farm upon which he moved that year and which he occupied the remainder of his life. His choice was wisely made. It had an ample acreage, was made up of a variety of soil, with wood lots and pasturage and an interval area of twenty acres. It was situated in the immediate vicinity of the village and a considerable portion of it is now covered with dwelling houses, having been sold from time to time for house lots to meet the demands of the increasing business of his adopted town. The elms in front of the mansion, which he lived to occupy so long, and above and below it, were planted by him, as well as the central tree upon the public square.
In the winter of 1803 and 1804, he taught the school in his own district in addition to his other duties, and until the close of his life maintained the deepest interest in the schools of the town. He fitted many young men for college during the earlier years of his ministry. Most of his students gave some portion of their time to the cultivation of the soil, some of them to recompense him for board and tuition and some for the health and pleasure it brought.
At the distance of ninety years it is difficult to understand how the young clergyman could perform so much labor in so many departments. He gave his personal attention to all his farming operations, working in the field nearly as constantly as any man he hired, occasionally taking a day for a parochial visit, generally at some season of the year other than the busiest. The larger part of his sermons were thought out while he was engaged with some tool of agriculture in his hand and written out, with rare exceptions, at night after the companions of his day’s labor were asleep. As a consequence, his discourses were practical and easily understood by the masses who listened to him. His illustrations were never brought from far but came out of the ordinary experience of an average human life. He was a good writer; could say in a few words what he desired to express; was logical in argument and pointed in application; was ready at repartee and a formidable opponent in skimish or protracted controversy. During his pastorate of a third of a century he was held in the highest estimation by his professional brethren and by general consent was counted a very strong preacher. He had a slight lisp in his speech but it was so slight that it did not impair his force as a public speaker as he uniformly spoke with deliberation. He possessed a commanding presence, his height was something more than six feet and his body seemed to have been framed for the performance of the best possible work. His physical and mental equipment was fortunately dominated by a gentle and devout spirit. It is the testimony of those nearest to him that in his protracted life he was never betrayed into the utterance of a hasty or unkind word. He was generously endowed with wit, but used this gift in such manner as to leave no sting behind.
In 1808 he purchased a second farm adjoining the first. Subsequently he made other purchases until he had, at one time, more than three hundred acres of improved land under his control. In the year 1820, he built the brick house which he lived to occupy fifty-one years. The house cost, exclusive of what was done by himself and his team, four thousand dollars, and was at that time one of the best residences in the county. The same year the legislature constituted a State Board of Agriculture, for the purpose of making an annual publication in the interest of agriculture. He was one of the committee of publication. In the report of 1822, 
which was the first report made, he was the author of one hundred and fourteen out of one hundred and twenty-eight pages. Fifty years later, James O. Adams, secretary of our State Board of Agriculture, reproduced a large part of Dr. Moore’s work, saying: “The author from whom I quote discusses with so much good sense the very questions which interest the farmer of today, that I copy freely.” But farming was not, in his own language, his primary object, and in 1824, he published a volume of four hundred pages, entitled, “A Treatise on the Divine Nature, Exhibiting the Distinction of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Previous to this time he had published a pamphlet of eighty-four pages in fine type entitled, “A Reply to a series of letters on the Mode and subject of Baptism addressed to the public by Stephen Chapin.” The same year he espoused the cause of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks, and never after used any spirituous liquor. He entered into this reform, as into everything he undertook, with his whole heart, writing and speaking much upon the subject. He had ten temperance lectures, one of which he delivered in twelve towns in the state. A barn which he raised in 1827, was the first building raised in Milford without the aid of some kind of intoxicating liquor. In the year 1829, he was appointed by the governor to preach the election sermon before the legislature, and performed the duty at the meeting of the body in June. In 1830 he buried his wife, with whom he had lived nearly twenty-seven years. Of her he wrote: “She was a faithful and affectionate wife. She was a kind and watchful mother. She brought up her children to diligence in business and to correct habits. She taught them morality and religion, and accompanied her instructions with a corresponding example. She was remarkable for industry and frugality, and was successful in whatever she undertook.”
He subsequently married Mary J. French, the daughter of the late Stephen French, of Bedford. She died Nov. 23, 1898, at the advanced age of 90 years. (A biographical sketch of this noble woman appears elsewhere.)
He closed his labors as pastor of the church January 10, 1836, but continued to preach as occasion offered, until he reached the age of nearly fourscore years. He was a good pastor; large additions were made to the membership of the church during his pastorate and he left the office he had so long filled at a time when the church was united and strong. After the close of his pastorate his active mind found employment in scientific experiments upon his farm. He never fed his ground highly, but all the material he put upon it was perfectly prepared to assist nature in the perfection of a crop. He received one or more first premiums for the most profitably cultivated farm. He interspersed these labors with the mental exercise of lecture-writing, preparing and delivering in Milford and adjoining towns between thirty and forty addresses upon popular subjects. He lectured twenty-eight times before the Milford lyceum. Thirteen of his occasional sermons were published, and eight addresses.
Although in no sense a politician, never having attended a caucus or convention in his life, the anti-slavery party insisted that he should allow his name to be used as a candidate for the House of Representatives in 1840, and again as a candidate for the State Senate in 1841. To his surprise he was elected to both positions by the joint action of the Whigs and the anti-slavery men of all parties.
During his service in the House there were referred to that body by our governor copies of resolutions passed by the legislature of the state of South Carolina. These resolutions mere sent to the judiciary committee and a report was made to the House in the form of resolutions setting forth the duty of the several states to return fugitive slaves. Upon this report the struggle in the legislature of New Hampshire between the friends and opponents of human slavery began, and in the protracted debate Dr. Moore was a leader, crossing swords with the ablest lawyers in the state.
The same subject came up in the Senate the following year, and he again stood four square for human freedom. Of him it can be truthfully said that “he never concealed his opinions or took counsel of his fears.”
Dr. Moore left an auto-biographical sketch of one hundred and thirty closely written pages of manuscript. The following is the record of his experience in the House of Representatives in 1840, at the time the slavery resolutions were under discussion:
“I was requested by several to speak. It required but a few words to persuade me to comply. No sooner had I begun than there was great excitement and confusion in the House. A majority of the members had no sympathy with the remarks I made. They used every imaginable effort to put me down. They shuffled and stamped with their feet. Some kicked the spit boxes which were near them. There was a roar of confusion. But I was neither intimidated nor embarrassed. I raised my voice to its highest pitch and to its greatest strength, but it was overwhelmed by a flood of mixed noises. When I could not be heard on account of the tumultuous confusion in different parts of the house, I appealed to the speaker by expressive looks. He commanded order. But no sooner was it restored, and I began to speak than the same farce was acted over again. At length an enraged opponent, to sweep me from the floor, called me to order. The speaker decided that I was in order, and that I might go on. I went on till I had finished my speech amidst the clamor of the opposition.”
The resolutions passed the House by a decided majority, and went to the Senate where they were referred to the next session. In 1841 while Mr. Moore was a member of the Senate, resolutions of the same character passed the House but were indefinitely postponed by the Senate.
In 1845, contrary to his inclination, but yielding to a stern sense of duty and to the repeated suggestion that in a cause so unpopular the names of the candidates upon the ticket must be men well known throughout the state as the tried friends of the cause of human freedom, he allowed his name to be used by the Free-soil party as a candidate for Congress. The state was then entitled to four members, and they were elected upon a general ticket. His associates were Reuben Porter, Joseph Cilley, and Jared Perkins. This ticket received a little less than five thousand votes.
John P. Hale at the time ran as an independent Democrat, his nomination by the regular Democratic party having been revoked. Mr. Hale received more votes than anyone on the regular Free-soil ticket, defeating one of the Democratic nominees without being elected himself, a majority of votes at that time being required to secure an election.
In the year 1845, he received the honorary degree of D. D. For the last twenty years of his life, which ended April 8, 1871, he gradually withdrew from active public work. He continued, however, to write sermons, lectures, and essays, and to attend the meetings of his ministerial and agricultural associations until the infirmities of age prevented. Few men have found their latter years so pleasant, or reaped so much satisfaction in a field usually so barren. Few have found their last their best days, but it was so with him. He never found fault with anything. To him, the divine order of events was satisfactory. His purpose from the beginning was to fill a man’s place in the world. This gave character to all his actions. When the late rebellion came upon the country, he hired a substitute to represent him for three years in the war saying, “I desire to have a part in this conflict.”
Dr. Moore was orthodox in sentiment and preached the doctrines usually held by the churches of his denomination at the time he was a settled pastor, but he held these doctrines in a most catholic spirit.
The creed of the church in Milford, written by him soon after his settlement, has never been altered.
His sermon preached at the ordination of Rev. Abel Conant at Leominster, Mass., some twenty years after his own ordination, and which was printed, reads well today notwithstanding the theological changes of the last three-quarters of a century.
At the Centennial celebration in June, 1894, the speakers, without exception, assigned to the beloved pastor a large share in placing Milford, where the town has stood, upon all the great questions which have agitated the public mind for the past seventy-five years.
Humphrey Moore, the youngest child of Humphrey, and Mary Sweetser Moore, who for more than a generation was the minister of the town and who lived among its people for nearly seventy years, was born in Princeton, Mass., Oct. 19, 1778.
His grandfather was Paul Moore; his great-grandfather was John Moore; his great-great-grandfather was Jacob Moore, natives of Sudbury, Mass.; his great-great-great-grandfather was John Moore who emigrated from England and settled in Cambridge but removed to Sudbury in 1643.
His parents, according to the testimony of the son, “were industrious, economical, exemplary in their lives, and respected by all their acquaintances.” From them he obtained all the instruction he received previous to his ninth year, when he became for the first time a pupil in the district school. Robert B. Thomas, his first teacher in school, taught him to write, and under his instruction the pupil became a good penman, and at the age of ninety-two years his manuscripts were not only legible but good specimens of handwriting for any age. He was also thoroughly grounded in elementary mathematics by his first public instructor. His father died when he was twelve years old. From this time he depended upon his own exertions for a livelihood. The four years preceding his admission to Harvard College in 1795, were spent in alternate study and manual labor. He was obliged to practice the strictest economy in order to meet the expenses of his preparatory course and to put himself in respectable condition to appear before
the faculty of Harvard college for examination. The coat which he wore on important occasions for the first two years of college life was made from one which was given to his father at the age of twenty-one years as a freedom coat and by him worn as a best garment until his death or for a period of thirty-one years. He maintained a good position in college and graduated with the class of 1799. There was a vacation of four weeks preceding commencement and not wishing to lose this time he engaged a school in Bath, Maine, to continue six months. Not being present at commencement in 1799, he did not receive the degree of A. B. until the following year.After closing his school in Bath in December, 1799, he became a student in theology with Dr. Backus, of Somers, Connecticut, who was accustomed to train young men for the ministry, there being
at that time no theological school in the country. After the usual course in divinity he was licensed to preach by the association of which Dr. Backus was a member. He was settled as pastor of the church in Milford, Oct. 13, 1802, and sustained that relation one third of a century. April 5, 1803, he was united in marriage with Hannah Peabody, third daughter of the late William Peabody. Of this marriage there were three daughters and one son. Two daughters survived him. He remained in Mr. Peabody’s family one year, looking for a good farm upon which to settle, it having been his purpose from boyhood to till the soil with his own hands.In April, 1801, he was successful in negotiating for the farm upon which he moved that year and which he occupied the remainder of his life. His choice was wisely made. It had an ample acreage, was made up of a variety of soil, with wood lots and pasturage and an interval area of twenty acres. It was situated in the immediate vicinity of the village and a considerable portion of it is now covered with dwelling houses, having been sold from time to time for house lots to meet the demands of the increasing business of his adopted town. The elms in front of the mansion, which he lived to occupy so long, and above and below it, were planted by him, as well as the central tree upon the public square.
In the winter of 1803 and 1804, he taught the school in his own district in addition to his other duties, and until the close of his life maintained the deepest interest in the schools of the town. He fitted many young men for college during the earlier years of his ministry. Most of his students gave some portion of their time to the cultivation of the soil, some of them to recompense him for board and tuition and some for the health and pleasure it brought.
At the distance of ninety years it is difficult to understand how the young clergyman could perform so much labor in so many departments. He gave his personal attention to all his farming operations, working in the field nearly as constantly as any man he hired, occasionally taking a day for a parochial visit, generally at some season of the year other than the busiest. The larger part of his sermons were thought out while he was engaged with some tool of agriculture in his hand and written out, with rare exceptions, at night after the companions of his day’s labor were asleep. As a consequence, his discourses were practical and easily understood by the masses who listened to him. His illustrations were never brought from far but came out of the ordinary experience of an average human life. He was a good writer; could say in a few words what he desired to express; was logical in argument and pointed in application; was ready at repartee and a formidable opponent in skimish or protracted controversy. During his pastorate of a third of a century he was held in the highest estimation by his professional brethren and by general consent was counted a very strong preacher. He had a slight lisp in his speech but it was so slight that it did not impair his force as a public speaker as he uniformly spoke with deliberation. He possessed a commanding presence, his height was something more than six feet and his body seemed to have been framed for the performance of the best possible work. His physical and mental equipment was fortunately dominated by a gentle and devout spirit. It is the testimony of those nearest to him that in his protracted life he was never betrayed into the utterance of a hasty or unkind word. He was generously endowed with wit, but used this gift in such manner as to leave no sting behind.
In 1808 he purchased a second farm adjoining the first. Subsequently he made other purchases until he had, at one time, more than three hundred acres of improved land under his control. In the year 1820, he built the brick house which he lived to occupy fifty-one years. The house cost, exclusive of what was done by himself and his team, four thousand dollars, and was at that time one of the best residences in the county. The same year the legislature constituted a State Board of Agriculture, for the purpose of making an annual publication in the interest of agriculture. He was one of the committee of publication. In the report of 1822, 
which was the first report made, he was the author of one hundred and fourteen out of one hundred and twenty-eight pages. Fifty years later, James O. Adams, secretary of our State Board of Agriculture, reproduced a large part of Dr. Moore’s work, saying: “The author from whom I quote discusses with so much good sense the very questions which interest the farmer of today, that I copy freely.” But farming was not, in his own language, his primary object, and in 1824, he published a volume of four hundred pages, entitled, “A Treatise on the Divine Nature, Exhibiting the Distinction of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Previous to this time he had published a pamphlet of eighty-four pages in fine type entitled, “A Reply to a series of letters on the Mode and subject of Baptism addressed to the public by Stephen Chapin.” The same year he espoused the cause of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks, and never after used any spirituous liquor. He entered into this reform, as into everything he undertook, with his whole heart, writing and speaking much upon the subject. He had ten temperance lectures, one of which he delivered in twelve towns in the state. A barn which he raised in 1827, was the first building raised in Milford without the aid of some kind of intoxicating liquor. In the year 1829, he was appointed by the governor to preach the election sermon before the legislature, and performed the duty at the meeting of the body in June. In 1830 he buried his wife, with whom he had lived nearly twenty-seven years. Of her he wrote: “She was a faithful and affectionate wife. She was a kind and watchful mother. She brought up her children to diligence in business and to correct habits. She taught them morality and religion, and accompanied her instructions with a corresponding example. She was remarkable for industry and frugality, and was successful in whatever she undertook.”He subsequently married Mary J. French, the daughter of the late Stephen French, of Bedford. She died Nov. 23, 1898, at the advanced age of 90 years. (A biographical sketch of this noble woman appears elsewhere.)
He closed his labors as pastor of the church January 10, 1836, but continued to preach as occasion offered, until he reached the age of nearly fourscore years. He was a good pastor; large additions were made to the membership of the church during his pastorate and he left the office he had so long filled at a time when the church was united and strong. After the close of his pastorate his active mind found employment in scientific experiments upon his farm. He never fed his ground highly, but all the material he put upon it was perfectly prepared to assist nature in the perfection of a crop. He received one or more first premiums for the most profitably cultivated farm. He interspersed these labors with the mental exercise of lecture-writing, preparing and delivering in Milford and adjoining towns between thirty and forty addresses upon popular subjects. He lectured twenty-eight times before the Milford lyceum. Thirteen of his occasional sermons were published, and eight addresses.
Although in no sense a politician, never having attended a caucus or convention in his life, the anti-slavery party insisted that he should allow his name to be used as a candidate for the House of Representatives in 1840, and again as a candidate for the State Senate in 1841. To his surprise he was elected to both positions by the joint action of the Whigs and the anti-slavery men of all parties.
During his service in the House there were referred to that body by our governor copies of resolutions passed by the legislature of the state of South Carolina. These resolutions mere sent to the judiciary committee and a report was made to the House in the form of resolutions setting forth the duty of the several states to return fugitive slaves. Upon this report the struggle in the legislature of New Hampshire between the friends and opponents of human slavery began, and in the protracted debate Dr. Moore was a leader, crossing swords with the ablest lawyers in the state.
The same subject came up in the Senate the following year, and he again stood four square for human freedom. Of him it can be truthfully said that “he never concealed his opinions or took counsel of his fears.”
Dr. Moore left an auto-biographical sketch of one hundred and thirty closely written pages of manuscript. The following is the record of his experience in the House of Representatives in 1840, at the time the slavery resolutions were under discussion:
“I was requested by several to speak. It required but a few words to persuade me to comply. No sooner had I begun than there was great excitement and confusion in the House. A majority of the members had no sympathy with the remarks I made. They used every imaginable effort to put me down. They shuffled and stamped with their feet. Some kicked the spit boxes which were near them. There was a roar of confusion. But I was neither intimidated nor embarrassed. I raised my voice to its highest pitch and to its greatest strength, but it was overwhelmed by a flood of mixed noises. When I could not be heard on account of the tumultuous confusion in different parts of the house, I appealed to the speaker by expressive looks. He commanded order. But no sooner was it restored, and I began to speak than the same farce was acted over again. At length an enraged opponent, to sweep me from the floor, called me to order. The speaker decided that I was in order, and that I might go on. I went on till I had finished my speech amidst the clamor of the opposition.”
The resolutions passed the House by a decided majority, and went to the Senate where they were referred to the next session. In 1841 while Mr. Moore was a member of the Senate, resolutions of the same character passed the House but were indefinitely postponed by the Senate.
In 1845, contrary to his inclination, but yielding to a stern sense of duty and to the repeated suggestion that in a cause so unpopular the names of the candidates upon the ticket must be men well known throughout the state as the tried friends of the cause of human freedom, he allowed his name to be used by the Free-soil party as a candidate for Congress. The state was then entitled to four members, and they were elected upon a general ticket. His associates were Reuben Porter, Joseph Cilley, and Jared Perkins. This ticket received a little less than five thousand votes.
John P. Hale at the time ran as an independent Democrat, his nomination by the regular Democratic party having been revoked. Mr. Hale received more votes than anyone on the regular Free-soil ticket, defeating one of the Democratic nominees without being elected himself, a majority of votes at that time being required to secure an election.
In the year 1845, he received the honorary degree of D. D. For the last twenty years of his life, which ended April 8, 1871, he gradually withdrew from active public work. He continued, however, to write sermons, lectures, and essays, and to attend the meetings of his ministerial and agricultural associations until the infirmities of age prevented. Few men have found their latter years so pleasant, or reaped so much satisfaction in a field usually so barren. Few have found their last their best days, but it was so with him. He never found fault with anything. To him, the divine order of events was satisfactory. His purpose from the beginning was to fill a man’s place in the world. This gave character to all his actions. When the late rebellion came upon the country, he hired a substitute to represent him for three years in the war saying, “I desire to have a part in this conflict.”
Dr. Moore was orthodox in sentiment and preached the doctrines usually held by the churches of his denomination at the time he was a settled pastor, but he held these doctrines in a most catholic spirit.
The creed of the church in Milford, written by him soon after his settlement, has never been altered.
His sermon preached at the ordination of Rev. Abel Conant at Leominster, Mass., some twenty years after his own ordination, and which was printed, reads well today notwithstanding the theological changes of the last three-quarters of a century.
At the Centennial celebration in June, 1894, the speakers, without exception, assigned to the beloved pastor a large share in placing Milford, where the town has stood, upon all the great questions which have agitated the public mind for the past seventy-five years.
History of Humphrey Moore, Part 1
One of the historical plaques on the Colonel John Shepard Bridge commemorates the life of Humphrey Moore, 1778-1871, Clergyman.Reverend Moore was perhaps the most significant resident of Milford during the first part of the nineteenth century. He was the first minister in town, at a time when a minister played a central roll in the governance of a town.
He served for years, and presided over the construction and expansion of the Congregational
Church.This is his brief biography as found in Ramsdell's 1901 History of Milford, N.H.. This is found on page 856, Family Registers.
Rev. Humphrey Moore, son of Humphrey and Mary (Sweetser) Moore, born in Princeton, Mass., Oct. 19, 1778. Came to Milford in 1802, and was the first settled clergyman in the town. Resided on his farm, a short distance from the village on the road to Wilton, where he died Apr. 8, 1871. Married (1) Apr. 5, 1803, Hannah, daughter of William and Abigail (Wilkins) Peabody, born in Milford, March 11, 1779, and died March 2, 1830. Married (2) March 28, 1831, Mary J., daughter of Stephen and Hannah (Swett) French, born in Bedford, July 12, 1808, and died in Milford, Nov. 23, 1898.
CHILDREN, BORN IN MILFORD.
1. Maria Antoinette, b. Feb. 24, 1804; m. Nov. 6, 1826, William, Jr., son of William and Mary (Southward) Ramsdell; res. in Milford, and d. Feb. 4, 1878.
2. Josephine, b. Feb. 4, 1808; m. Rev. John M. Ellis of Jaffrey, and d. in Milford, July 28, 1872.
3. Taseah Theresa, b. Jan. 7, 1810; m. Dec. 29, 1829, John, son of William and Mary (Southward) Ramsdell; res. in Milford until 1853, when they rem. to Iowa; she d. in Richland, Apr. 14, 1864.
4. Euclid, b. Apr. 2, 1812.
George Ramsdell was the son of Maria (Moore) Ramsdell and the grandson of Humphrey Moore. Ramsdell obviously knew the Reverend quite well, and he was able to cover Moore's life in detail in his history of Milford.
One section that discusses Moore is on page 540, Chapter XXIV, Centennial Celebration. These are part of the comments that Ramsdell himself made during the 1894 celebration.
"...The year 1802 saw the settlement of Humphrey Moore, and the year 1809, brought to town the young lawyer, Solomon K. Livermore.
They were men of large minds and warm hearts, graduates of Harvard College and lifelong friends. I doubt not that these men, during the earlier days of their active manhood, had many good and true helpers, but to us who knew them well, they stand out with commanding prominence, when we think of the first half of the century. The town had the best they had to give. They were servants of the public, and every man their neighbor. None was too poor or ignorant to cross the threshold of their dwellings. The impress of their lives appears in many another life, and your streets and public places continue to tell of them. While in the early history of many towns social distinctions, founded on the unequal distribution of wealth, have existed, and some houses have been counted too good for common people to enter, there was not and never has been any of it here. The only aristocracy I have ever heard of in Milford has been and is the aristocracy to which we all aspire to belong--the aristocracy of noble souls."
I like that phrase a lot - "the aristocracy of noble souls." You don't hear language like that anymore.
Another section that discusses Moore is found on page 520, Chapter XXIV Centennial Celebration, comments of Charles Burns at the same 1894 event:
"...The town was more than fortunate in the selection of its first permanent pastor, the Rev. Humphrey Moore. He was a splendid man, --frugal, industrious, a farmer and minister, a patriot, a gentleman and a devout Christian. His master spirit was a vital force in this community for more than fifty years. The early New England pastors were, for the most part, strong and grand characters. They were leaders among men. Their sturdy advice and rugged examples were safe guides. They did a great work. Mr. Moore was at the head of other strong religious teachers in Milford. Abner Warner, a very noble and eloquent man, left a lasting mark on this community. He valiantly espoused the cause of freedom, while he held aloft the banner of the cross. Many other good ministers have wrought here manfully, doing a work which has had large influence in moulding the character of the people."
Ramsdell's history has a chapter of biographical sketches of the key town residents, and there is a long section devoted to Moore. I'll post that in part 2 of his life.
Monday, August 6, 2007
History of Carrie Cutter
One of the historical plaques on the Colonel John Shepard Bridge commemorates the life of Carrie Cutter, 1842-1863, Nurse & Heroine.
This is her story, as briefly noted in Ramsdell’s 1901 History of Milford N.H. on page 227, Chapter XV, The Year 1862:
"March 24, died, Miss Carrie E. Cutter, daughter of Calvin Cutter, M. D. She was born in Milford July 28, 1842. Her mother was the daughter of Nathan Hall. She was educated at Professor Russell’s school at Lancaster, Mass., at Mt. Holyoke seminary, and at a private German school in Pennsylvania. Dr. Cutter was surgeon of the Twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteers. In October, 1861, at her earnest, repeated request, she was permitted to join her father at Annapolis, and when the Burnside expedition sailed she was allowed to continue on the steamship Northerner, on board which vessel she was during the action at Roanoke Island, caring for the wounded. After the action she went ashore and labored untiringly in the care of the sick and wounded. Being able to speak German, she took charge of three young German soldiers, who in their delirium had forgotten the English language."
"The severity of this experience brought on fever of which she died in the cabin of the Northerner, before she had reached her twentieth birthday. By order of General Burnside she was buried with military honors, usually observed at the burial of a colonel. When the National cemetery was established at New Berne, by order of the secretary of war, her remains were removed to that place. Her name is inscribed in enduring bronze on the soldiers’ monument in Warren, Mass., the residence of her father. The United States has furnished her with a soldier’s headstone."
I did some additional google searching on her history, and found that she was part of the abolitionist movement that had a very strong element in Milford in the mid part of the nineteenth century. Her father was a noted doctor, medical author, and abolitionist. Her boyfriend Charles Plummer Tidd was an active abolitionist who was a Lieutenant in John Brown's ill-fated army. He was with John Brown during the attack on Harpers Ferry, but he was about a mile away and was able to escape capture.This is an excerpt from a posting about him on Genealogy.com.
1. CHARLES PLUMMER TIDD was born 1834 in Palermo, Waldo Co, ME, and died February 8, 1862 in "Northerner" near Roanoke Island, NC.
Notes for CHARLES PLUMMER TIDD:
Ancestry: Am CW Soldiers:
State served: Mass Enlisted: under Plummer 19 July 1861 Rank: Pvt Age: 27
There are copies of his siblings' letters to him in, "Calendar of VA Papers," vol. 11, p. 293 and others.
1856 moved to MA. From "Origin of the town of Clinton [MA] 1653-1865," p. 538 "Although other members of his family settled in Clinton, he could not have stopped here long as he joined Dr. Cutler's party of emigrants for Kansas. In 1857, we find his name in the letters of John Brown, by whom he was sent as a trusted agent for securing funds."...."October 16, 1859, when Brown led his eighteen followers to Harper's Ferry, Tidd and Cook were at the head of the line. After the place was taken, Tidd, as his most trusted officer, was put on duty at the school-house about a mile from Harper's Ferry to receive recruits and supplies. Thus, he was not present when his leader was captured, and he escaped."
Dropped last name in order to enlist in Civil War. Died in Civil War in MA unit
This MA unit apparently from Warren as there is a Civil War monument there with the name Charles P. Tidd and also Surg. Calvin Cutter who was the father of Carrie Cutter.
"Calendar of State Papers for VA," vol 11, p. 293, 294, 90-101, 289-349, 347, 294, 344 and "VA Magazine of History and Biography," vol 10, p. 24, 274, 276, 277:
His brothers Alanson and William P. and his sisters Elizabeth, Julia, and Susan all wrote to him, worried about his involvement with John Brown and his cause.
Carrie Cutter/Cutler was his romance and served as a nurse on the same ship, dying of typhoid 24 March and was buried next to him. Her father was a leader in the abolitionist movement.
More About CHARLES PLUMMER TIDD:
Occupation: Maine woodsman;
Personality/Intrst: good singer and loved family; Loyalist ancestry
Endnotes
1. histories of John Brown of Harper's Ferry
2. Buried grave #40 in the New Berne, NC National Cemetery
Here is another bit of information about Tidd as found on The University of Virgina web site.
Charles Plummer Tidd, known as Charles Plummer, was a captain in Brown's army. He was born in Palermo, Maine, in 1834, and changed his name after the raid in order to avoid possible arrest and trial as a Harper's Ferry raider--a precaution of greater importance when he entered the army in 1861. He emigrated to Kansas with the party of Dr. Calvin Cutter, of Worcester, in 1856. He joined John Brown's party at Tabor, in 1857, and thereafter, in Canada and elsewhere, was one of Brown's closest associates, returning to Kansas in 1858 as a follower of "Shubel Morgan." He took part in the raid into Missouri. He and Cook were particularly warm friends. Tidd opposed the attack on Harper's Ferry. After his escape from Virginia, he visited Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Canada, and was freely consulted in the plans for rescue of Stevens and Hazlett. "Tidd," wrote Mrs. Annie Brown Adams, "had not much education, but good common sense. After the raid he began to study, and tried to repair his deficiencies. He was by no means handsome. He had a quick temper, but was kind-hearted. His rages soon passed and then he tried all he could to repair damages. He was a fine singer and of strong family affections." He died of fever, on the transport Northerner, as a first sergeant of the Twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteers, on February 8, 1862, with the roar of the battle of Roanoke Island in his ears. This he had particularly wished to take part in, for ex-Governor Henry A. Wise was in com- mand of the Confederates, his son, O. Jennings Wise, being killed in the engagement. Tidd had enlisted July 19, 1861, as a private. His grave is No. 40 in the New Berne, N. C., National Cemetery.
Here is a brief bio of her father, Calvin Cutter, as found on the Famous Americans web site.
CUTTER, Calvin, physician, born in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in 1807; died in Greene, Maine, 25 March 1872. He was a pupil at the New Ipswich academy, and afterward taught in Wilton, New Hampshire, and Ashby, Massachusetts. In 1829 he studied medicine, and practiced his profession in Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1831 till 1833. in Nashua from 1834 till 1837, and in Dover from 1838 till 1841. Between 1842 and 1856 Dr. Cutter visited twenty-nine states of the Union, delivering medical lectures. In 1847 he began the compilation of "Cutter's Physiology," a Textbook for schools and Colleges, of which, prior to 1871, about 500,000 copies had been sold. It has been translated into several oriental languages. In 1856 Dr. Cutter was chosen to convey a supply of Sharpe's rifles to Kansas, a hazardous task, which was successfully performed. Later in the same year he led into Kansas the Worcester armed company of sixty men and also the force known as "Jim Lane's army," which he commanded for nearly a year. He was president of the military council in Kansas, and instrumental in the capture of Colonel Titus. In 1861 Dr. Cutter became surgeon of the 21st Massachusetts infantry, and served in the national army nearly three years. He was twice wounded, and made prisoner at Bull Run. During most of his term of service he had charge of the medical depot of the 9th army corps as surgeon-in-chief.
Shown to the left is an image from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Civil War Image Portfolio. This image shows Dare County, Roanoke Island, N.C. "Landing of troops on Roanoke Island. Burnside Expedition, 1862." William Momberger Del., George E. Perine, Engraver. Hurlbut, Williams, & Co. Neg. 83-654. P1-28-R62-C582w. You can see paddlewheel steamboats in the picture - perhaps one of them is the Northerner that carried Charles Tidd and Carrie Cutter.Finally, here is a link to Wikipedia's article on the battle of Roanoke Island on February 7th and 8th, 1862.
Friday, August 3, 2007
History of Colonel John Shepard
The “Stone Bridge” in Milford is officially named the Colonel John Shepard Bridge because according to page 23 of Ramsdell’s 1901 History of Milford N.H.:
“The highways in town were without exception laid out over paths already trod, and no land damages seem to have been paid. John Shepard had built a bridge across the Souhegan at the point where the stone bridge now stands, for the accommodation of the patrons of his mill, and in 1758 the town of Monson repaid Mr. Shepard some portion of the expense, and became the owner of the south half. Ten years later the selectmen laid out two highways, or streets, from the middle of the bridge to the then existing highway through the town, one passing east of Union square and the other to the west. The bridge was an inexpensive structure, and the amount paid Shepard small, but it was the largest item of expense to which the town was subjected during its existence.”
Colonel John Shepard was one of the first settlers in Milford. Here are a few excerpts from Ramsdell about him. (Ramsdell lists him as Shepherd in several places in error, and I have corrected all the errors for consistency).
Chapter IV, page 29, Early Settlers
John Shepard, a prominent citizen of Concord, Mass., in 1741, induced by an offer on the part of the proprietors of Souhegan West, settled on the north side of the river, erecting mills upon the present location of Gilson’s saw-mill, near the present granite bridge. He built a cabin a little north of the Methodist church, and afterwards a house upon the spot where now stands the residence of Fred J. Kendall, and still later erected a more pretentious dwelling upon the site now occupied by the residence of Henry H. Barber.
The following is a copy of the vote of the proprietors of Souhegan West, passed April 30, 1741:
Voted, That the proprietors will give to Mr. John Shepard one hundred and twenty acres of land to begin at William Peabody line and run down the river to the bottom of the falls and so wide as to make the one hundred and twenty acres . . . he building a good Grist Mill and a good saw mill on said Souhegan river against the aforesaid land, and to finish them by the last of November next, and keep them in good repair for the use of said proprietors, he giving a bond to our treasurer to comply with the same forthwith, he having the liberty to cut such white oak timber for the mill as he wants and has not of his own.
Mr. Shepard was an honored citizen of the town and did much to establish business at the falls, as Milford village was called in those early days. He was succeeded by his son, John Jr., who was also prominent in public affairs, serving as colonel of the state militia and as one of the judges of the inferior court of common pleas for the county of Hillsborough. His granddaughter Sarah married William Crosby, many of whose descendants are at present occupying positions of responsibility in town. Andrew N. Shepard, or East Milford, is a great-great-grandson of the original settler.
Chapter II, page 19, Origin of the name of Milford
Before the coming of the white man there were several ford-ways by which the Indians crossed the Souhegan on foot; one much used was located at the foot of the falls below the factory of Morse, Kaley & Co. Parties using this ford as they were traveling in a northeasterly direction entered the shallow water near what is now the western terminus of the foot bridge, and came out upon the river bank near the shop of the late S. D. Knowlton. The building of the stone dam of the Souhegan Manufacturing company has caused the water to flow back and cover the old shallow ford-way to such a degree that it is not now easy to conceive of this place as a passageway through which the red man for generations, and the white man afterwards, crossed the river whenever the water was not unusually high. After the building of Shepard’s mills upon these falls in 1741, this ford was known as the Mill ford by way of distinction. At the date of the incorporation of the town the settlement in the vicinity had been for half a century known as the Mill-Ford village. Hence the name of the town.
Chapter VI, page 51, The War for Independence
During the winter and spring of 1775, a company of minute men had been formed and drilled, in anticipation of the coming conflict. The collision at Lexington, April 19, aroused the country, and the Amherst company in command of Captain Josiah Crosby, at once started for Cambridge. His first lieutenant was Daniel Wilkins, Jr., son of Pastor Wilkins. His second lieutenant was Thompson Maxwell, already alluded to.
Colonel John Shepard, who was in his seventieth year, and too old to take the field, went to Cambridge with the men, and received from Captain Crosby the following, at a later day:
“This certifies that Esq. Shepard, in April 1775, went with a detachment of Militia of about one hundred men from Amherst to Cambridge, aided, assisted, and comforted them and at Cambridge left with them two Spanish milled dollars.
“Josiah Crosby.”
On the back of this certificate is a list of other articles left, as follows:
“Pork 57 ½ lbs., ½ bushel beans, 1 ½ bushel to Sargent, some bread and 1 ½ bushel meal.”
Chapter XV, page 167, Important Events, Year 1801
During this year a highway was laid out and constructed from Shepard’s bridge through the mill-yard towards Amherst. When Shepard built his mill nearly sixty years before, he laid out with bounds more or less definite, a mill-yard for the accommodation of the logs which were from time to time drawn in to be manufactured into boards and other lumber. During these years the travel from the bridge to Amherst was obliged to pass north of the mill-yard, except as it crossed it at some seasons of the year by sufferance. The new road was laid out two rods wide, and many are now living who remember the appearance of the logs as they were piled very high upon the north side of the road through the mill-yard; in fact, it was a matter of some danger to pass through this narrow road in the spring when the snow and ice were melting. The selectmen licensed this year eight individuals to retail spirituous liquors, all good and prominent men; this was the number usually licensed by the town during its first half century.
Chapter XXIV, page 529, Centennial Celebration (Remarks by Ramsdell at 1894 meeting)
In imagination let me roll back the wheels of time one hundred and fifty years, and what do we here behold? Peabody established on his farm--John Shepard with his grist and sawmill erected on the Gilson privilege, given to him by the town of Amherst, on condition that he build a mill, the machinery of which was to be dragged part of the way by hand through the forests; Benjamin Hopkins, with his friend and hired man, Caleb Jones, laying the foundations of his bullet-proof dwelling a little north of the residence of the late Luke Smith, on his magnificent farm of over eleven hundred acres; John Burns hoeing his corn on the George W. Duncklee farm, about a mile and a half from where we stand. These five men, with their families (excepting, of course, the Nevins settlement), made up the entire population of our territory one hundred and fifty years ago. It is not certain that Hopkins and Burns had completed their dwellings so as to be counted actual settlers in 1744, but they were here a part of the year, at least, at work upon the land.
This is his listing on page 921 in the Family Registers section of Ramsdell:
Col. John Shepard, born in Concord, Mass., in 1706, and died in Amherst, Nov. 29, 1785. Married (1) a Miss Hartwell; (2) Sarah French, born in 1722, and died in Milford, Oct. 31, 1802. He was a farmer, residing on place on road to Amherst, his house standing on the lot now occupied by the dwelling-house of Fred J. Kendall, settling there in 1741. He also built and operated a grist-mill on the site now occupied by the saw- and grist-mill of Smith Berry.
CHILDREN, THREE BORN IN CONCORD, MASS., SEVEN IN AMHERST.
1. John, Jr., b. 1732.
2. Lydia, b. 1735; m. a Mr. Howe, and d. June 14, 1791.
3. Abigail, b. Apr. 6, 1738; m. a Mr. Stevenson, and d. in Lyndeborough, Aug. 23, 1822.
4. Benjamin, b. March 18, 1744; m. Lucy Lund, and d. March 26, 1810.
5. Samuel, b. 1746; d. Jan. 12, 1835.
6. Mary, b. Sept. 21, 1749; m. Jacob Hildreth of Amherst; res. there, and d. Jan. 22, 1823.
7. Sarah, b. Oct. 17, 1757; m. Stephen, Son of Benjamin and Sarah (Harris) Kendrick of Amherst; res. there, and d. Sept. 5, 1840.
8. Jotham, b. June 22, 1761; d. young.
9. Rachel, b. Apr. 5, 1762; m. July 4, 1781, Samuel Dodge, Jr.; d. July 23, 1785.
10. Daniel, b. Sept. 25, 1764; m. May 25, 1793, Fanny Wentworth; d. Sept. 22, 1794.
Col. John Shepard, Jr., son of Col. John and (-----) (Hartwell) Shepard, born in Concord, Mass., in 1732. Came to Milford with his father in 1741. Was a farmer, residing in the house on the Mont Vernon road next north of the Methodist church, on east side of the highway, where he died Dec. 1, 1802. Married, Oct. 21, 1757, Mercy Wilkins, born in Middleton, Mass., in 1732, and died in Mason, Aug. 11, 1825.
CHILDREN, BORN IN MILFORD.
1. Elizabeth, b. Apr. 16, 1759.
2. Mary, b. Oct. 5, 1760; m. James Gilman; d. in Milford, Oct. 8, 1841.
3. Jonathan, b. Oct. 31, 1762.
4. Sarah, b. Nov. 28, 1767; m. Nov. 16, 1790, William, son of Josiah and Sarah (Fitch) Crosby of Milford; res. there, and d. Dec. 15, 1845.
5. Lydia, b. June 12, 1770; m. May 24, 1795, Daniel Staniford, and d. in Boston, Mass., June 1, 1796.
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