A History of the School
The History of the Seminary Hill Building
The Seminary Hill Elementary School has a long and proud history of serving the city of Lebanon and especially the youth of Lebanon, New Hampshire. It is a grand red brick building, bearing the original construction date of 1854. It is located on Seminary Hill in the West Lebanon portion of the city of Lebanon.
The building has been actively used for most of the past one hundred plus years as a center for educational purposes in many forms; from a female seminary, to not one, but two military schools, a high school, a junior high, and presently an elementary school.
In the following text, the history of the school will be presented for your enjoyment.
TILDEN FEMALE SEMINARY
In 1852, Mr. William Tilden, Esq., of New York City, came to West Lebanon for a visit and as a result of that visit he wanted to do something in remembrance of his family and his boyhood days spent in the West Lebanon area.
The next year, 1853, he was granted a charter from the state of New Hampshire. The main building was erected in 1854. The granite date block is located above the doors in the present gymnasium.
The school building contained a "pleasant parlor", library, schoolroom, accommodations for the principal and his family, and rooms for fifty boarding students.
The first principal, Mr. James Means, from Andover, Massachusetts, left the school to enlist as a chaplain in the Civil War and the school was closed for six months. Two more principals were such failures that at the end of ten years no pupil remained in the school.
In 1864 Dr. Hiram Orcutt from Glenwood took a lease on the property and made arrangements to open the school in the spring of 1865. Dr. Orcutt, with his wife, Miss Ellen L. Dana of Poughkeepsi, New York, moved to the seminary, which opened in April 1865 with seventy-five pupils, many from the Southern states.
The school was so successful it was necessary to build two new wings. Mr. Tilden, the original benefactor, made a gift of $20,000; $10,000 of which went toward the building of the two new wings. A steeple and bell were placed on the building, and some two hundred evergreens were transplanted on the grounds. In addition, $3,000 was donated by the Tilden family to refurbish and increase the size of the library and laboratory.
Dr. Perkins was followed by Major B.F. Hyatt, who established a successful military school, the New Hampshire Military Academy.
NEW HAMPSHIRE MILITARY ACADEMY
In the early 1880's, Major B. F. Hyatt took over the Tilden building. The building was about the same with room for one hundred cadets.
The building was heated throughout with steam. The school discipline was military. A few examples of the discipline were: no use of firearms, weapons, tobacco, or liquor in any form, or any "games of chance."
The library was always opened and contained 800 to 1,000 volumes.
The expenses for a school of that time were quite high. It cost $320 for a year, this included books, laundry, arms, and accouterments. The sum of $105 was due upon entrance and $80 each quarter.
The uniform, costing $25, was similar to the West Point fatigue pattern.
Each cadet was required to go to chapel every day and to attend church every Sunday.
Four courses of study were followed, the classical Latin, scientific, modern language, and commercial.
Special attention was given to the work preparing candidates for admission to West Point, Annapolis, or any other government military academy.
Poor health forced Major Hyatt to give up the school after a short period of time.
ROCKLAND MILITARY SCHOOL
The trustees of the Tilden building persuaded Mr. and Mrs. Elmer E. French to take over the school and it was named Rockland Military School.
The school campus consisted of four acres with excellent athletic grounds and fields for trapshooting, which totaled about twenty acres
Beautiful grounds were shaded by trees and shrubs. The lawns and walks were well kept.
The three story building was made of brick and trimmed with granite. It contained school rooms, parlors, offices, gymnasium and drill room, music room, dining hall, bath and toilet room, studio, library and reading room, chapel, laundry, and forty-eight rooms for the teachers and students.
A cottage, not far from the main building, housed the principal and his family and also the school infirmary.
The stable was also on the campus on the south side of the main building a few yards away.
During the summers the cadets went camping at Lake Ossipee. At the end of the season the boats, canoes, and tents were transferred to the bank of the Connecticut River
In 1904 a fire broke out in the south wing which destroyed the complete wing and damaging other buildings. The cadets were transferred to the hotel in Hartford, Vermont. About a year later the rebuilding was completed.
Ten years later, in 1913, the present day West Lebanon High School was moved from its Main St. location to Seminary Hill in the old Tilden building.
WEST LEBANON HIGH SCHOOL
Prior to 1890 there was no high school in West Lebanon. Students wanting to attend high school had to enroll in schools in White River, Jct., Vermont, Lebanon, Rockland Military School or Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire.
On March 1, 1890 a petition was sent to the State Legislature and was granted making West Lebanon a separate school district (District number one).
After several meetings a brick building costing not more than $10,000 was accepted and built on Main Street. In the fall of 1891, in one room and with one teacher, West Lebanon High School came into existence.
The Headmaster, Mr. Joseph Dunbar, taught all the classes on the second floor of this building. Those receiving instruction were in the front of the room. The other students studied in the back of the room.
Programs and socials were held on the third floor in a large unplastered room. It was customary before socials and programs to borrow kerosene lamps from the store keepers to light the hall for the evenings.
In the same hall in June, 1894 two students graduated, Ernest E. French, and Arthur S. Worthen.
For several years, around 1900, the school was criticized because the school was not approved by the state. Graduate students could not enter any college on their diplomas. A few people felt the school should be discontinued and a few students went to White River Jct., Vermont.
An article was voted in 1908 in the school warrant to authorize the Board of Education to unite with one or more town districts or special districts to form a supervisory district for the purpose of employing a superintendent. In a short time West Lebanon High School was approved as a class A high school. (It met the requirements of the State Board of Education in regard to teacher qualifications, subject matter, and equipment.)
By 1914 overcrowding became a serious problem. A proposal was made to enlarge the building or to discontinue it; however, the trustees of the Tilden Seminary offered the Seminary to the school district as a gift as long as it was used for educational purposes. After a committee investigated the building they estimated that it would cost $7,000 to remodel it.
The Seminary building was accepted and the old school building on Main Street was leased to a knitting factory.
In 1915 the new West Lebanon Public School was opened with an enrollment of thirty-nine students and three teachers. The high school was established on the second floor. At the front of the building facing the street was the main classroom and auditorium combined with a stage at one end of the room. In the center of the building there were two classrooms, the English and French room and the commercial room. At the back of the building was a room used as a gymnasium.
As the years went by the enrollment increased along with the faculty and the curriculum.
In 1924 two district schools were closed and the students were transported in a three seated, horse drawn "carryall" to the school in West Lebanon. The primary grades were moved back to the old building on Main Street.
On July 1, 1927 it was feared West Lebanon might once again lose its high school, but West Lebanon and Lebanon school districts were combined.
In 1929 the gymnasium was made into a large classroom. Basketball for girls was given up. The boys' team went to Lebanon High School to practice, but later practiced and played their games in the Opera House in White River Jct., Vermont. This situation prevailed for five years until, in 1934, Coach Hamel and Lee Batchelder, a sophomore, circulated a petition, for a new gymnasium, which was signed by more than five hundred voters. In April, at the annual school meeting it was voted to appropriate $30,000 to build an annex with both a gymnasium and auditorium. After the annex was constructed, it was dedicated on November 6, 1934. The sum of $15,000 was voted to equip this new annex.
During 1937 the high front steps were taken down and a new inside stairway was built. The large basement room was made into a manual arts room.
At 10:15 P.M. on February 19, 1940, during the mid-winter vacation the old high school so often renovated was no more. A fire broke out and destroyed the building except for the new gymnasium and auditorium which was just slightly damaged by smoke and water. Firemen from White River Jct, Lebanon and West Lebanon battled the blaze until 3:00 A.M.
Arrangements were made immediately at Lebanon High School for a one-session schedule. West Lebanon Junior High and High School went to school from 1 to 5 in the afternoon. Supplies were ordered and buses were chartered. The bus rides were not so pleasant after the first few trips.
After the settlement with the insurance company, an architect studied the situation, and construction was begun early in the summer. The building was completed by September and was newly equipped at a cost of $80,000 . The new building opened September 30, 1940. On Sunday afternoon, October 13 Open House was held.
The new building contained ten classrooms besides a commercial room and home economics room, science laboratory, two manual arts rooms, library, activities room, athletic room, storerooms, and the headmaster's office.
Grades five and six occupied two classrooms on the first floor. The 1940-41 enrollment totaled 128 high school students and 66 junior high school students.
n 1950 the local Civic Association planned and started to build a new athletic field which was finished in 1952. It was completed with a baseball diamond, a small hut where supplies were kept, and also other athletic equipment for the younger children.
In 1956 and 1957 a proposal was made in the annual school meeting to consolidate the West Lebanon and Lebanon High Schools but it was voted down both times.
HEADMASTERS
Joseph Dunbar - 1892-93
Samuel P. French - 1893-95
Henry W. Arnold - 1895-97
Henry Lull - 1897-99
George Gilman - 1902-03
Arthur B. Hayden - 1903-04
Guy E. Speare - 1904-07
Edward S. Baldwin - 1907-09
Walter L. May - 1909-11
John Howard - 1911-15
Charles T. Walker - 1915-18
Louis DeWitt Record - 1918-19
Thomas J. Gay - 1919-20
Paul T. Sellers - 1920-22
Harold J. Morse - 1922-28
George W. Currier - 1928-58
Jerome Damren - 1958-58
ADDENDUM
In the Spring of 1958, Mr. George Currier, the thirty year principal passed away. The West Lebanon and Lebanon High Schools were combined and moved to the present high school campus and the old Tilden Female Seminary building began housing the West Lebanon Junior High School.
The building was primarily for the junior high use, but also included some elementary classes over the years. Mr. Carl van de Bogart was hired in 1958 to be the principal.
Mr. van de Bogart, Mr. Van as he was known to students and staff, served the school for twenty-seven years, until his retirement in June, 1987.
Ms. Martha Langill was hired as a replacement for Mr. Van and has been the principal of Seminary Hill Elementary School since.
As you can see -- through a female seminary, military schools (2) , West Lebanon High School, two major fires, and West Lebanon Junior High School down to our beloved elementary school, we have had a varied past.
This history is based on a major research study done by Mrs. Fay Bruce of West Lebanon.
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