In 1856, Harvard University-educated physician and Boston Brahmin George Cheyne Shattuck, inspired by the educational theories of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, turned his country home in the hamlet of Millville, New Hampshire, into a school for boys. Shattuck wanted his boys educated in the austere, bucolic countryside. A newly appointed board of trustees chose Henry Coit, a 24-year-old clergyman, to preside over the school for its first 39 years. In addition to Shattuck's two boys and Coit and his wife, there was one other student. The original location was 50 acres, but over the years surrounding lands were acquired.