Hudson’s first school house was in the Center District. It is pictured here in about 1880.

Have you ever wondered about the history behind the H. O. Smith Elementary School and the family background of Dr. Smith?

During the dedication of the Hudson Junior High School on Nov. 5, 1939, longtime School Board Member Dr. H.O. Smith provided a brief educational history of Hudson. The first school in town dates to 1766 when 15 pounds was voted by the citizens of Nottingham West for education. Five years later, the sum was reduced to eight pounds, and during the Revolutionary War, no sum of money was allocated for that purpose. The town was divided into 10 districts, with each district responsible to provide a location for class and a salary for the teacher. Since, for the most part, pupils walked to school, and the districts divided the town by residential groupings, the school house wasconveniently located within each district. At first, private homes were used for classrooms.

The first school building was built in 1806 at or near the crest of Kimball Hill. This was District 5, known as the Center District. Other district buildings were built, and soon after 1810, there were 10 district houses located in town.

Not until 1847 was the number of pupils recorded. At that time, there were 346 pupils, and the education costs totaled $433; approximately $1.25 per pupil.

The teaching staff consisted of men and women. Men were typically hired for the winter months, and women for the summer months. Male teachers received between $16 and $18 per month, which was significantly more than the salary for a female teacher. There was a town-wide committee that reviewed the qualifications of and issued certificates for the teachers.

H.O. Smith

This concept of local management of the schools continued until 1885, when the town voted to operate as a single district and the first school board, consisting of Kimball Webster, Dr. David O. Smith and Daniel Gage, was selected.

Hudson was one of the few towns to adopt this system before it became a state requirement. Under the town system, use of the local schools was continued; they were phased out over time as new or expanded facilities were available.

By 1935, all Hudson pupils in grades 1-8 were educated at either Kimball Webster School at the bridge or at a school at Hudson Center. Webster was built as a four-room house in 1896, and later expanded to eight in 1921.

At the Center, the D.O. Smith School was built in 1896 as a two-room house on Windham Road.

This school was destroyed by fire in 1907 and replaced by the Hudson Center School on Kimball Hill Road. Pupils in grades 9-12 were educated in Nashua, with Hudson paying the tuition.

The completion of the Hudson Junior High School on School Street near First Street in 1939 provided six classrooms, an auditorium/gym, manual and domestic arts, an office and a large study room.

Upon graduation, pupils would be eligible to attend any high school in the state. Hudson contracted with Nashua High School.

At the final assembly of the Hudson Junior High School in June 1940, there occurred a special ceremony, which is remembered to this day by members of Dr. H.O. Smith’s family.

Dr. Smith was invited to come to this assembly and to bring his son and grandchildren with him so they might see the new school. The doctor was visibly overcome with emotion when his granddaughter, Elizabeth, unveiled a portrait of him at the climax of the program.

This portrait was a gift to the school from a group of Hudson citizens as a tribute to Dr. Smith’s interest and dedication to the education and well being of the people of Hudson.

The portrait was placed in a prominent place in the upper hallway of the school. It was attractively set in a walnut frame made by Bertram Tardif, manual arts teacher of the school.

The wood for the frame originated from a discarded piano from the Hudson Center School. Placed there in 1940, it remains to this day.

Accompanying Dr. Smith on that day was his son, Dr. Deering Smith of Nashua, and his granddaughter, Elizabeth Deering Smith, and grandson Robert Greeley Smith.

Dr. Henry Onslow Smith was born in Hudson in December 1864. After graduating Nashua High School, he attended Dartmouth College for two years and then entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York. After completing his studies and a year of residency, he returned to Hudson at the age of 24 in 1888 to begin his 57-year medical practice.

In 1940, he was granted a degree of bachelor of arts by the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth College.

In May 1945, after completing a house call for one of his patients, he passed suddenly.

Many knew him as Dr. Harry or as Dr. H.O. He was devoted to his medical profession and also to the education and affairs of the people of Hudson.

One tribute to him stated, “Dr. Smith himself was never old in spirit.”

He greeted all ages as if they were his friends. He welcomed new residents and kept in touch with his old friends. He had a respect for the past and found great pleasure in genealogy and town and state history.

I have a personal respect for Dr. H. O. when I reach for a book at the historical society which came from his personal library; oftentimes finding annotations in his own handwriting which offer corrections or updating of the material written in the book.

Dr. Harry came from a family of physicians and educators. His father, Dr. David O. Smith, was also a lifelong physician in Hudson, and he served on Hudson’s first school board. His brother, Dr. Herbert L. Smith, and his son, Dr. Deering G. Smith, practiced in Nashua. Two uncles from his mother’s family also were doctors. His father, Dr. David O., and his grandfather, Alvan Smith, served on the school committee. His parents were both school teachers in Hudson. In fact, David O. Smith earned most of his money for his medical expenses by teaching a private school.

In 1951, after the completion of Alvirne, the junior high building was repurposed and dedicated as H. O. Smith Elementary.

Hudson is unique in that two physicians, David O. and Henry O. Smith, father and son, each served on the school board and each had a school named in their honor. It has been said, and I will repeat it: Dr. Harry and the role he and his family played in Hudson cannot be matched.

Thank you, doctors! These photos are from the collection of the Hudson Historical Society.

Ruth Parker is a lifelong resident of Hudson with family ties that date back to the colonial days. Her work, shared via the Hudson Historical Society, will be featured bi-weekly in The Sunday Telegraph.