New Ipswich Academy
New Ipswich Academy (also known as New Ipswich Appleton Academy) was a historic private academy in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, which operated from 1789 to 1968, then re-opened privately from 1969 to 1974.
History
The New Ipswich Academy was chartered in 1789 and was later renamed Appleton Academy after benefactor Samuel Appleton, the largest early donor to the school. It was the second oldest academy chartered in New Hampshire after Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter. New Ipswich Academy had a close relationship with Dartmouth College in Hanover. It would also serve as high school for the nearby communities of Mason and Greenville. The academy closed in 1968. In 1969, construction of Mascenic Regional High School was completed in New Ipswich.[1][2] In 2012 the Academy was provided to The Center for Information, Technology & Society(CITS), an educational nonprofit, to help further the Center's mission to provide Internships and experiences under two programs oriented to Mascenic students: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related learning centered on historical artifacts contrasted to modern techniques, under W. Curtiss Priest; and book discussion and writing/reading groups with local librarians of the Region under Cathryn M. Mercier.[3]
In 1969, Appleton Academy became a college-preparatory private school for boys, run by Charles Markham, formerly a football coach at Brown University and educator at The Winchendon School. Several students came from the local community, and the remainder came from throughout the United States and as far away as Jamaica. Appleton consisted of grades 9-12 and postgraduate students. Appleton was known for its fine preparatory education as well as its sports programs. Their 1970 football team was undefeated, un-tied and un-scored upon, scoring no less than 50 points per game and only fielding 15 players. Appleton played other prep schools like (Philips Exeter Academy, Mt Hermon, Deerfield, Vermont Academy as well as others) throughout New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. Appleton remained open from 1969 until 1974 when economic times caused its closure.[4]
Notable alumni
- Jesse Appleton (1772–1819), first president of Bowdoin College
- Nathan Appleton, congressman, philanthropist
- Samuel Bell, governor, U.S. senator
- Abijah Bigelow, congressman from Massachusetts
- Henry Ames Blood, poet, playwright
- Jonas Chickering (1798–1853), founder of Chickering Piano Company
- Augustus Addison Gould (1805–1866), Harvard professor, collaborator with Louis Agassiz
- John Taylor Jones, early Christian missionary to Thailand
- Henry W. Merriam, industrialist
- Amasa Norcross, congressman from Massachusetts
- Robert Smith, congressman from Illinois
- John J. Taylor, congressman
- James Wilson II, congressman
- Levi Woodbury (1789–1851), governor of New Hampshire
References
- ↑ http://www.townofnewipswich.org/TownHistory/TownHistory.htm (accessed January 21, 2009)
- ↑ Frederic Kidder, Augustus Addison Gould, The history of New Ipswich: from its first grant in MDCCXXXVI, to the present time: with genealogical notices of the principal families, and also the proceedings of the centennial celebration, September 11, 1850 , (Gould and Lincoln, 1852) pg. 199 http://books.google.com/books?id=gvL65A83C1wC&vq=academy&source=gbs_navlinks_s
- ↑ Center for Information, Technology & Society news releases of proposed programs, 2015.
- ↑ Concord Savings Bank made a $250,000 to Appleton which they defaulted on in 1976, resulting in foreclosure, CITS library research