Of  these  seven  schoolhouses  there  are  remaining  at  the  present  time
(1914)  only  two;  i.  e.,  that  in  the  Pond  district,  which  has  been  trans-
formed into  a  dwelling  house;  and  the  schoolhouse  in  the  village,  which
at  the  present  time  is  in  use  for  the  Grammar  schools.  The  bell  which
hangs  in  the  tower  of  this  house  was  a  gift  from  the  late  Ensign  Bailey
to  the  district  in  the  fifties,  soon  after  the  house  was  built.
At  the  date  of  the  building  of  the  seven  schoolhouses  the  number  of
the  town's  school  children  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  (250),  divided
among  the  districts  as  follows:  number  one,  49;  number  two,  16;  num-
ber three,  33;  number  four,  61;  number  five,  34;  number  six,  30;  number
seven,  27.
The  division  of  the  town  into  seven  school  districts  continued  for  a
period  of  thirty-five  years  or  until  1884.  In  the  meantime,  however,
several  attempts  to  abolish  the  system  were  made.
The  first  of  these  attempts  occurred  in  1880,  when  there  was  an
article  in  the  warrant  for  the  annual  March  meeting— "To  see  if  the  town
will  divide  into  five  districts";  and  a  committee  of  seven,  one  from  each
school  district,  was  appointed  to  consider  the  matter.
At  a  subsequent  meeting,  in  the  same  year,  this  committee,  which
consisted  of  Jedidiah  L.  Wilbur,  dist.  1,  Eli  S.  Cleveland,  dist.  2,  Joseph
Sawtelle,  dist.  4,  Franklin  Gilman,  dist.  5,  William  H.  Hall,  dist.  6,  and
Ichabod  Lund,  dist.  7,  reported  in  favor  of  the  division  into  five  districts.
The  report  was  accepted,  and  the  selectmen  and  superintending  school
committee  were  instructed  to  make  the  division.  But  at  a  subsequent
meeting  in  April  of  the  same  year  this  vote  was  rescinded.
