Nunda Historical Society

Nunda Livingston Co New York

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