LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 13 



all the duties incumbent upon, or appertaining to, the town corporations 

 to which they succeed. ^ 



It is obvious from this provision of the law that a city succeeds a 

 town and is not a separate municipality within a town. 



The origin of town government^ in New Hampshire precedes 

 that of the county. John Mason, conceded to be the founder of New 

 Hampshire, obtained the first grant and began settlement. After the 

 death of Mason in 1639 his heirs and agents attempted to enforce their 

 claims but with little success. In 1749 a group of Portsmouth capital- 

 ists purchased the Masonian title and granted lands under the name 

 of the Masonian Proprietors. A specified period was set for the set- 

 tlement of a township not bestowed with corporate privileges. Terri- 

 tories otitside the Masonian limits were granted by the existing legis- 

 lature and were known as the New Hampshire grants. Before the 

 revolution the governor as well as the legislature could incorporate a 

 town and give a charter ; about 50 such towns were thus incorporated 

 at that time. After the revolution, however, towns could be incor- 

 porated only by act of the legislature. Petitioners would submit a 

 preamble citing the need of the petitioners for a new town. After the 

 boundaries were defined, an act of incorporation was passed which 

 created the town with corporate entity. In general the present 234 

 towns and cities are the result of a splitting-off process from these 

 early grants. 



Although the boundaries of school districts are as a rule cotermi- 

 nous with those of the towns, the former are civil corporations pos- 

 sessing legal entity distinct from the town. The school district has 

 its origin in a series of legislative acts. In 1858 towns were permitted 

 by majority vote to divide into school districts and define the boun- 

 daries of each. In 1867 towns were empowered to abolish these dis- 

 tricts, and in 1874 were again authorized to reestablish them. It was 

 not until 1885 that the school district system was abolished and the 

 town system established, each town area becoming a school district, 

 even though in many instances the dififerent one-room rural schools 

 are continued. With but a few exceptions made possible by special 

 legislation, the present school districts are generally coterminous 

 with town areas in accordance with the act of 1885. Some minor ir- 

 regularities in school district boundaries are made possible by the 

 statutes^ which provide that persons can petition the selectmen 

 of the towns concerned for a hearing to sever part of one town and 

 annex it to another for school purposes. 



The biennial report of the State Board of Education lists 241 

 school districts. One town has three, eight have two each, and in 

 one instance two towns have combined to form a union district. Two 

 organized towns are not school districts, and four organized towns 

 (also school districts) do not maintain a school. Each city consti- 



* Revised Laws, 1941, Chapter 62, Section 1. 



' This early history is summarized from "Town Government in Nevv FTampshire," prepared by 

 The New Hampshire Historical Records Survey Project. 



8 Revised Laws, 1941, Chapter 138. Sections 51 to 58. 



