Library – Sweden Historical Society

Cemeteries

April 11, 2023May 4, 2023 Chris Mathers Library

The Town of Sweden, with the help of volunteers, maintains 13 cemeteries. This includes the Nevers Tomb, where Col. Samuel Nevers and his wife were buried across the road from their home. Col. Nevers was an early settler of the town, coming to the area in 1791.

On 19th century maps of Sweden, the Goshen Cemetery is shown in the northeast corner of the town. There is uncertainty about who might be buried there as there are no inscribed markers. Rather, there are unmarked field stones apparently marking the graves.

There are about 100 veterans memorialized in Sweden’s cemeteries representing all services and most conflicts.

The 1975 Sweden Annual Report

April 11, 2023May 4, 2023 Chris Mathers Library

The 1975 Annual Report

In commemoration of the nation’s bicentennial, a special Annual Report was issued. This Report was full of historical and annotated photos that are shown below.

Center School

April 11, 2023May 4, 2023 Chris Mathers Library

The Center School was built by Samuel Nevers (1766-1857) in 1854 on ground donated by his son, Benjamin Nevers (1807-1883).

Several generations of Sweden families attended this school from 1854 to 1964. It was closed between 1935 and 1942 when the few neighborhood children attended the school in the Haskell District.

The school was reopened in 1942 and gradually modernized until 1960. The school was closed permanently in 1964.

The school sat on land still owned by the Nevers and some of their Bennett descendants. In 1960, the families transferred the title to the Sweden Community Church. In 1973, the Church

deeded the property to the Town of Sweden for as long as they continued to use the building.

The building was used as a Selectman’s office until the new Town Office was completed in 2006. At that time the deed reverted to the Community Church, who then gave title to the Center School to the Sweden Historical Society.

Slowly, the Society has been preparing the building for use as an office, meeting place, and a repository for its collections.

The series of photographs below show the gradual evolution of the Schoolhouse to date. There is still a lot of work to be done.

2017 — The kitchen was added on in the early 1960s. Its construction, use, and abandonment caused some structural damage to the building.

1900 — The Center School around the turn of the century. Note that the door is on the gable end of the building. We hope to return to that original configuration.

2018 — The rear of the building was lifted and a new foundation poured and the original foundation stones were aligned and replaced. This allowed for a repair of the hole in the north wall.

2016 — The abandoned schoolhouse before renovations.

Transformation of the Congregational Church

March 31, 2023May 4, 2023 Chris Mathers Library

Sweden’s Congregational Church was built between 1817 and 1823 with the aid of parishioners including those of the Maxwell, Stevens, Webber, and Woodbury families. The first pastor was the Rev. Valentine Little, who served from 1825 to 1834.

The membership in the church declined over the years and in 1884, services were terminated. In 1927, the church was leased to the town for the storage of town property. In the early photos of the church, you can see a large door cut into the east wall and an even larger opening in the front. Those spaces were used to house the town tractor and a town truck.

In 1975, Bob Vile, a frequent visitor to Sweden, took title to the building and spent the next 18 years renovating it. The renovations were extensive as shown in the following photos. He reproduced all the early 19th century windows and doors and converted the front third of the building into living quarters. Vile spent his summers and other vacation time working on the building and lived here full time for almost two years before his death in 1996. The building continues as a beautiful private residence.

The church in 1974, when purchased by Robert Viles

New doors installed and clapboarding going up.

July 1977. Plummer Road (now Webber Pond Road) on right.

On the Move

March 31, 2023May 4, 2023 Chris Mathers Library

Throughout Sweden’s history, moving buildings when you needed to was not an uncommon practice. Barns were moved in to and out of town. Like a house, but not its location? Move it. Don’t need that workshop anymore? Sell it and move it. Does it make more sense to have the church in a more central location? Take it apart and move it across town. All of these things have happened in Sweden.

The following photos illustrate the moving of one of the more historic farms in Sweden. The house, located on the corner of what is now the southeast corner of Tapawingo and Lovell Roads, was built around1818 by Nathan Holden. Before 1843, it experienced its first move diagonally across the intersection to the northwest corner, where it is shown in the period photo below.

The property had several owners over time, including longtime postmaster Benjamin Webber (1803-1886) and later, Cleora Saunders, who lived there in the early 1900s.

In the 1960’s, the farm was purchased and moved around the corner and down Webber Pond Road. These photos document the journey.

You can read more about this property in our book: Living, Learning, and Worshiping.