Nunda

Historical

Society

 Nunda

Livingston Co

New York

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First School Meeting in Nunda 1822

 

The Town of Nunda was founded in 1808, but James Paine, the first permanent settler, didn't come to the Nunda Valley until 1817. Five years later, the local pioneers took a great step forward when they held the "Special School District Meeting" shown below.

The school house which resulted from the meeting was known as the McSweeney School. It was built of logs and stood at the foot of East Street. By 1826 the frontier community had progressed enough to sell the log school for $6.00 and build a "modern" frame school house on the property across from the modern Keshequa Central School parking lot.

The minutes of the Special Meeting and the first meeting in the log school house are reproduced below. We have tried to recreate the text as accurately as possible. Nundahistory.org thanks the Bell Memorial Library for allowing us to photograph the minute book. Incidently, the blank record book was "Sold at J.D. Bemis & Co Bookstore, Canandaigua." Bemis was the local publisher who printed James Seaver's work on Mary Jemison in 1824!

Sources

Record book "Property of School District No 2nd, Nunda" Bell Memorial Library

Frost, "From the Indian to the Airplane" p 7

Frost, Early Years p 20


 
Courtesy of Bell Memorial Library

Nunda December 3th 1822

Special School District Meeting

1st Voted to build a School house in Sd (said) District
2nd " to levy a tax of fifty dollars to build Sd District
3rd " to allow .75 per day for labour and Sd District
4th " that the Trustees allow what they think propper for the labour not done on Sd house
5th " that Sd house be completed the 1st Jan. 1823
6th " to allow, 50 per day for team work
7th " to have School three Months
8th " that School wood be got the 15th Jan. 1823
9th " to give Samuel Robinson, 68 per Cord for delinquints wood.

School District Meeting held at the School house

November 1st 1823 J.M. Heath Moderator

1st Voted that Aaron Thompson be District Clerk
2nd " John Waite David Baldwin & James H. Rawson Trustees
3rd " William Greenleaf Collector
Lot No 22 is taken from Dist. No 1 and annexed dist No 17 Jan 12 1823

 

 

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