History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

CHAPTER VIII.
SCHOOL LANDS—SCHOOLS—MILL CONTROVERSY.
School Lands Sold. The land sequGstered for scliools in 1070,
had been rented to individnals on long time
leases. When these contracts expired in 1740, and the four
succeeding years, the town voted to sell the land and in-
vest the proceeds at interest. That portion of it lying between
Bartlett's mill and Danks' Pond (Easthampton), was
sold in 17|^. A part of it was bought at private sale, at
the appraisal of the committee, and the rest was sold at
public auction. One portion, the lower meadow, was purchased
by Joseph Wright Jr., for £62.16.8, and the other
by Josiah Clark, for £38.13.4. The upper meadow was
bought by Roger Clapp for his son Jonathan for £200.
Mr. Clapp afterwards desired to be released from his bar-
gain, and in 1742, it was sold to Jonathan Clapp for £187.
Within two years the land above the mill was sold to
Stephen Wright and Benjamin Lyman. ^ The money received
from these sales, amounting to £1923.10, became the
principal of a fund, the interest of which was expended
yearly in maintaining the schools. It varied in amount
with the fluctuations of the currency, and was loaned to
individuals on good security. In 1753, it amounted to
£2095, old tenor, equal to £297.6.8, in lawful money, the
interest of which amounted to £16.15.12.
Not Only was Considerable wood required to
The Miuister-s
Woodpile. keep the minister's pot boiling, but occa-
sional town action was equally necessary to
keep the woodpile replenished. So great had become the
delinquency in this respect that it l)ecame necessary, in
1740, to pass a vote limiting the time for bringing the pas-
1 The lot is still owued by his descendants.
9 1