Long Plain School

From 1664 to 1787 nearly all of Acushnet that now is was a part of old Dartmouth; from 1787 to 1812 it was a part of New Bedford ; and from 1812 to 1860 it was included in Fairhaven. The subject of dividing the town of Fairhaven was agitated a long while before the act occurred. The people in the north part of the town felt that as that section was sparsely populated they did not get their share of the appropriation, especially for schools. Then after the old Presbyterian meeting-house was torn down, the question came where to build a new one. The people in the village of Fairhaven wanted it nearer them, and finally succeeded in having it built on an acre-lot just north of Woodside Cemetery, on the Fairhaven road. This building was subsequently burned by an incendiary fire. The meetings were then held down in Fairhaven village; this was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the " northenders" renewed their purpose for a division. Among the zealous advocates of the division and one of the leaders of the movement was Rev. Israel Washburn, who owned the farm on which he resided, situated next north of the present Laura Keene farm in Acushnet. Mr. Washburn was a man of firmness, of i a strong, positive nature, with a good intellect and : readiness of speech, and was well calculated to be chosen as leader in such a movement. He was born in this town in 1796, in the last house on the north side of the road leading eastward from White's factory. He was for many years in the Methodist ministry, before and after his residence in Acushnet at the time of the division, a part of which time he was in the grocery business at Parting Ways, as I. Washburn & Son (William H. Washburn). His name heads a petition made to the General Court of the winter of 1858-59, praying for a division of the town. The petition was before the legislative committee, but no other action was taken than to refer the subject to the next General Court. The petitioners at once set about procuring all that was necessary to aid them to success at the following session.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

Acushnet being in the district with other towns, it is entitled to a representation to the General Court but occasionally. It has sent four since its incorporation. The first representative was William H. Washburn, Esq. Mr. Washburn was a son of Rev. Israel Washburn, and for many years a resident of the town, being engaged in the grocery and wheelwright business. Always interested in the welfare of the town, he was especially so during the war, when he had charge of enlisting, drafting, and filling quotas, and served two years in the Legislature to the great satisfaction of his constituents. The next was Walter Spooner, Esq., who has faithfully served the town in many capacities. He was in the House two years. Mr. Spooner, who is the son of Dr. Rounsevel Spooner, is from " honorable" stock, his great-grandfather being Hon. Walter Spooner, and his grandfather was Hon. Alden Spooner, who was an uncle of the Hon. Nathaniel Spooner, all of .this town.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Acushnet Town - 22,761 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.