Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-02-16
OLD SCHOOL DISTRICT mo. SIX
ONFORD. MAINE.

OLD SCHOOL DISTRICT mo. SlN,'
OXFORD. MAINE.
Editor u Democrat;
To save from oblivioa sorns matters OF
history connected with ,hA, part OF o.
ford originally known a. mo. Six Is
the objse, Of this communication.
II was In ,hi, locality | 'Pen, my boy
hood days. and foi Is rugged hills, 'un.
ny Geld, and ~inding brooks. ! still retain
a Kind remsmsSrAnec. The old settlers
iha, made up the community whsn was
a boy. ate all gone-,hs rans may BE-
,ruihfally .Aii Of a large majority Of those
Of nearly my " age ;-one by one they
have gone 10 the spirit world.
The pioneers q "No. Sit,' mAny-if
20, al Of ,hcm-cAme from MAssAehu.
sets. They vefe = sturdy, heroic ela',
u men and women. and he bcs, blool
Of the pai,Ans eouised through their
veins
John Caldwell. my grandfather on my
moiher's sdc. fir, cans 20 Otfod then
lIebroa) through the wilderness by a
spotted liae from New Gloucester, and
was among The frs, TO Cell the forest trees
Of EAs, Okfoni and clear An opening. A
man by the name Of Ci,hm1n-''Job,'
ihink-preesdsd him-Eho. l be-
lieve, was the ancestor Of ihs CushmAns
who were Among the early settlers
No history Of Hebron o. Otford has ever
been written. consequently much OF VIA,
| may say. comes from traditions. many
OF which but family lingef in the mind'
Of the living OF the present LAY. IL Is
true. | have a fAin, personal recollection
Of quite a number Of the orgiaAl settlers
among them James Holms', samuel
Robinsoa. Isaac ThAyer. James Soule.
Eliab Richmond. Deacon Dole, AbrAm
Dean, Zsbedee CsshmAn, Nathaniel Full
Ter. Joseph Perkins. Bsnljah Pratt, Eo-
eaerer Holmes. Jacob Tewk,bary. VII.
liam c. Whitney, John and William
Caldwell. Nathan Nelson and Daniel
Ballen. Thi'. presume, dos no, con-
tain the entire list.
One thing perhaps IL little remark.
able a. connected with the pioneer SET
tiers Of "No. Six" which goes very Ear
10 show the true character Of the msa.
Mos, Of them were Ia deb; f5f their farms
and had little II any means outside. Es-
cry one Of their number--iriA1ui a nngl,
ercg,ioa-N some time, after ssi,lins
here. became Independent, financially,
and "well.io.do' In property matters.
ia, they attained ,hi, degree II financial
prosperity oaly by the severes, toll And
labor ;-prAe,ieing almost all kinds OF
sslf.deniAl.-And a. the old saying has
ii-"ea,iing their garments according to
their cloth" A. for Injuries, they had
none and ys, after all. they had many
Of the solid comforts Of life,-,he pro-
duet, Of the Virgin soil they cultivated.
They were no, troubled with dyspepsia,
had good appe,i,es, slel,soandly a, night,
wore good ,ioa, homespan cloth and had
pleasant. delightful homes. Such IN
brief, were the fathers Aad mothers who
turned the wild forests Of "Oi No. Six
into fruitful field, and beautiful gardens,
and caused the "wildernes, 10 bud and
blossom as the rose"
Another ,hing-aearly all Of these old
pioneers had large healthy families oI
children; and they used every means in
their power TO give them a good eduea.
ton. To this end they often ''boardtd
their teachers round each family tAkine
iis turn aud In addition TO all this. tie
District, by families frequenily furnish
the wood. and thu, saved taking IL Out
Of the school money. And then th'
"boys" who attend school, would each
take their turns in cutting the wood and
making the fires. All this Was done OF
the part Of the parents and scholars with
out grumbling or complaining. The
original School Dis,rie, "No. Six had
school house on the Hill near EliAb Rich
mond's. the District extending nearl,
two miles each way. North and Sou,i
from the school house and Early in th'
History Of the neighboIhood was divides
into what was known as No. 6 and Z
In what | have to say, ! Include bo,i
Di.tr.cts-,he same as II no, divided
Before the division the school was laugh
by many men who Afterwards became
more or less distinguished among ,heil
number-ElJah l.. Hamlin and JairuI
s. Keith. Among the subsequent teach
ers were Ezra +. Bsal OF Norway. Joe
b. Thayer Of Paris. Lyman Raw.on o
Rumford, Zsnas Caldwell Of Oxford
William A. Pidgin Of Paris. Appleton
Bearce Of Hebron and FRANKLIN PIrRcl
-anerward Presiden, Of the Units'
States. Mr.. Pierce was thea 10 year
Of sge--in Bowdoin College. and rAthet
than 20 home to N. H., during the winte
vacation. taught this school. He wal
hired by Mr.. William Caldwell-agsn
the father Of ZenAs. who WAS Pierce
college ehum. lie kept q grand school
and wa, greatly respected both by the in
habitants Of the district and the scholar
who were under HE tuition. lie was en-
rollei as q private in the Old Mliti
Company In Oxford and strained At on
election OF officers. during bis stay In Or
ford. Deacon Giles Shur,led. that vel
eran among teachers, taught more tina
. dozen winters in ak and seven 40