603 INFORMER / WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
Each 4th of July, town children are invited to ring the bell at Mt. Caesar Union Library.
Let the Boys Ring the Bell Strange stipulations become a town tradition STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARSHALL HUDSON
“... as long as
the Country remains free and independent, the Boys in the neighborhood shall have the right to Ring the Bell on each succeeding Fourth of July,” requires the reverter clause in the deed I’m reading. The old deed also stipulates that the building can never be used for “the sale or use of any intoxicating liquors or drinks whatever; that it shall never be used for dancing, card playing, gambling, or skating” and that “It shall never be used for any immoral purpose whatever.” ... Skating? I presume the deed speaks of roller skating, and while I’m familiar with the concept of the sins of drinking, gambling, dancing, and other immoral purposes, I have to wonder what George Carpenter had against roller skating in 1885 when he deeded the property to the Mt. Caesar Union Library Association.
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Arguably, if a librarian were to allow a roller-skate-wearing patron into the building or fail to ring the bell on each succeeding 4th of July, the heirs of longgone George Carpenter could raise a claim of ownership in the building under the terms of this reverter clause. I’m wondering if sometime in the 136 years since this deed was executed, might not two patrons have discreetly knocked back a swig from a shared pocket flask during some celebration? Or does it constitute dancing if a patron spontaneously head jives to a tune on their earbuds while reading? Probably more of a theoretical question for legal scholars to debate than an actual concern for this library. I’m in Swanzey at the Mt. Caesar Union Library. The library was originally founded in 1843 as the Mt. Caesar Seminary, a Universalist denomination all-boys school. The
seminary’s founding trustees were searching Cheshire County for a suitable place to build their school when Swanzey landowner Amos Bailey offered them his property. Bailey proposed selling them four acres for $75, or just the front half for $50. The frugal trustees chose the second option and began selling off shares in their new school to raise money for the purchase of the land and construction of the necessary buildings. A Greek Revival-style school building was erected with a prominent bell tower front and center. Directly across the road, a dormitory was constructed for boarding students. The headmaster lived in residential quarters inside the school and rang the bell to awaken students in the dormitory and summon them to classes. The bell did not
