1828 Contract to Build the Schoolhouse at Oxford
Be it remembered that on this seventeenth day of March, A.D. 1828, it is agreed by and between John Taber, Bartlett Allen, Clement D. Nye and Nicholas Taber, a committee chosen by the inhabitants of School District No. 11 in Fairhaven for superintending the building of a schoolhouse in said district; on the one part, and Bartholomew Taber of Fairhaven aforesaid on the other part in manner and form following (to wit) the said Bartholomew Taber or his assigns shall and will within five months next after the date hereof in good and workmanlike manner well and substantially erect, build or cause to be built a schoolhouse for the use of said district according to plans hereunto annexed, of the dimensions following, viz: the building to be 36 feet by 20 ½ feet in the clear inside when finished; the walls to be of good faced unhewn stone laid in good mortar made of good lime and beach sand, to be 18 inches thick at the bottom and 15 inches thick at the top and 10 feet in height in the clear inside with one door in the wall for an outside door, to be a double or lined door to have good substantial hinges and lock suitable for the same with windows of 24 panes each of 7 x 9 glass; the frames and sashes of which to be made of good stuff clear of sap and well glazed with good Boston glass with shutters to all the windows outside hung with good hinges and suitable fastenings to fasten then outside and inside; the frame and flooring overhead to be of good timber, the plates and beams to be not less than 6 x 7 inches square and joist suitable for the same; the roof to be a hip roof framed with two good oak kings posts well braced into the rafters, and well fastened into the beams below them; the beams to be arched not less than two inches to be jets all around and on them gutters made of timber clear of sap and well fastened on; with four leadened pipes and trunks or leaders for the same either of tin or wood to lead the water down; the roof to be covered with good white pine boards and put together and well nailed, to be shingles with the best quality of eastern shingles well nailed, the flooring below to be of good oak timber, the floor to be laid with thick boards, matched together or inch boards laid double and square joints, but no floor to be laid overhead, an entry to be partitioned off across the south end 4 ½ or 5 feet in width with one door into the schoolroom and to be sealed up as high as the bottom of the windows against the partition which partition is to be of two inch plank, also some shelves and strips of boards put up in the entry, to lay clothes and hang hats on, the school room to be furred out with two inch plank against the stone walls, and to be sealed up as high as the bottom of the windows and the windows cased in neat and plain manner, there are to be 24 forms for desks to accommodate two scholars each, and 16 half do. for one scholar each, also a platform and desk for the master and some benches to accommodate small scholars to be provided with a large size stove and pipe to go up within two feet of the plastering overhead and then turn and extend to within four feet of the north end and then be turned up into a small chimney, built from the floor and well leaded on the roof; the walls from the bottom pf the windows and overhead to be well lathed and plastered with good mortar, also to build a convenient building for a necessary to be enclosed with good boards planed on both sides and matched together and the roof to be shingled with good shingles, there is to be a trench dug two feet deep and three feet wide for the foundation filled with large flat stones well laid together for the walls of the house to stand on. And the said Bartholomew Taber is to pay for the lot which is to contain 20 rods at one dollar per rod, and be at the expense of building the districts half of the fence round said lot, which is to be a good stone wall, the walls of said house are to be whitewashed; all the work to be done in plain, but neat and workmanlike manner.
In consideration whereof the said John Taber, Bartlett Allen, Clement D. Nye and Nicholas Taber for and in behalf of the inhabitants of said district No. 11 do covenant with and grant to said Bartholomew Taber his executors, administrators and assigns, the whole sum which has been assessed on the inhabitants of said district for the purpose of building a schoolhouse as aforesaid, amounting to five hundred and twenty dollars and one cent, the said Bartholomew Taber to take the trouble of collecting the same and pay all the necessary expenses that may accrue in consequence of building said house and that the inhabitants of said district are to be at no more expense whatever until the house is completely finished and furnished with every necessary article for the reception of a school. To the true and faithful performance of the several articles and agreements above mentioned, the said John Taber, Bartlett Allen, Clement D. Nye and Nicholas Taber, do for and in behalf of the inhabitants of said district: and to said Bartholomew Taber for himself, his heirs and executors and administrators, bind each to the other in the penal sum of fifty dollars.
And in testimony whereof they have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year above written.
Click on the following links to learn more:
