USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > Fourth report of the Record Commissioners of the city of Boston, 1880 : Dorchester town records > Part 1
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M. L
GENEALOGY 974.402 B65BR v. 4 1137104
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01771 9979
GENEALOG 974.402 B65BR v. 4
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/fourthreportofre04bost
4
FOURTH REPORT
OF THE
RECORD COMMISSIONERS
OF THE
CITY OF BOSTON.
1880.
*
DORCHESTER TOWN RECORDS.
SECOND EDITION, 1883.
SIT DEUS
NOBIS
D.1822
BOSTONIA. CONDITA A.D.
SR
1630.
ATA
IMINE DO
BOSTON : ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL, CITY PRINTERS. No. 39 ARCH STREET. 1883.
[DOCUMENT 9-1880.]
CITY OF
BOSTON.
BOSTONIA.
D.1822.
CONDITA A.D.
1630.
FOURTH REPORT
OF THE
RECORD COMMISSIONERS.
1137104
BOSTON, Sept. 1, 1880.
The following report of the Committee on Printing ex- plains not only the form of this volume, but the length of time which has been needed for its preparation :-
CITY OF BOSTON, IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN, Nov. 2, 1879.
The Committee on Printing respectfully offer the following report upon printing the Town Records of Dorchester : -
In February last the following order was passed by the City Council : -
" Ordered, That the Record Commissioners be authorized to have transcribed and indexed the land records of the town of Dorchester, and to have the same printed and distributed in the same manner as their previous reports, at an expense not exceeding $1,000; to be charged to the appropriation for Printing."
Under this order the Record Commissioners have supplied about a hundred pages of copy, which have been put in type; but the work is now suspended, to await the further action of the City Council.
On the 25th of September the following petition was presented in the Common Council : -
" To the Honorable the City Council of the City of Boston: -
" The undersigned, citizens of Boston and others, respectfully repre- sent that, by an order passed Feb. 18, 1879, the Record Commissioners were authorized to print certain extracts from the Town Records of Dorchester.
"They further represent that, in their opinion, it would be unwise and inexpedient to neglect any portion of said records, and that the appear- ance in print of an incomplete and mutilated transcript thereof would be greatly to be deplored.
" They therefore pray that said order may be so amended as to author-
II
CITY DOCUMENT NO. 9.
ize said commissioners to include in their forthcoming report all the records contained in the first volume of the Records of the Town of Dorchester, or so many consecutive pages thereof as said commissioners may be able to print with the appropriation already made therefor.
MARSHALL P. WILDER. EDMUND J. BAKER.
JAMES H. MEANS.
S. J. BARROWS.
OLIVER HALL.
E. J. BISPHAM.
EBENEZER CLAPP.
EDWARD JARVIS.
JOHN H. ROBINSON.
BENJAMIN CUSHING.
ROSWELL GLEASON.
ROBERT VOSE.
F. W. LINCOLN.
ERASMUS D. MILLER.
HENRY HUMPHREYS.
JAMES H. UPHAM.
M. D. SPAULDING. THOMAS GROOM.
SAMUEL ATHERTON.
THOMAS F. TEMPLE.
WILLIAM E. COFFIN.
WILLIAM B. TRASK."
This petition was referred to the Committee on Printing, with direc- tions to hear the petitioners. The following order was also referred to the committee : -
" IN COMMON COUNCIL, Sept. 25, 1879.
" Ordered, That, under the order authorizing the transcribing and indexing of the land records of Dorchester, the Record Commissioners be authorized to have transcribed and indexed so much of the first vol- ume of the Town Records of the town of Dorchester as the appropria- tion made in said order will defray the expense of preparing and publishing. "
At a hearing of the petitioners and others interested, several gentle- men of the Dorchester Antiquarian Society and others appeared, and earnestly advocated the objects of the petition. Mr. Whitmore, the Record Commissioner, also appeared, and fully stated his views, in opposition to the petitioners.
The difference of opinion between the Record Commissioners and the petitioners relates mainly to the essential change involved in the plan of the commissioners, by adopting the views of the petitioners. The plan of the Record Commissioners, for Dorchester and other sec- tions of the city, is substantially to print a collation from the ancient records, and especially relating to lands; while the petitioners desire the complete reproduction in print of the ancient records, so far as the same limited expenditure will permit. The most ancient records are the most dilapidated; and it is considered more important to save the most ancient from destruction, than it is to present a collation of them down to a later time.
The statutes of the Commonwealth make very careful provisions for the proper production, care, and preservation of public records. It is further provided, that " when the records of a county, city, or town are becoming worn, mutilated, or illegible, the County Commissioners, City Goverment, or Selectmen, shall have fair, legible copies season- ably made." This requirement is imperative, and the committee have sought, in view of it, to give the whole subject before them the careful consideration its magnitude and importance require.
It being essential to preserve and renew the ancient records, accord- ing to law, the only question to consider is, what is the best method of accomplishing this object? The requirement of the law is met by transcribing the original, and substantially binding the copy. But this method, at considerable expense, produces but a single copy, to be pre- served in one place only, for reference in all future time. This isolates the book from the publie inspection, and renders it only a book of ref-
III
REPORT OF RECORD COMMISSIONERS.
erence to painstaking inquirers only. The volumes printed by the Record Commissioners are in editions of 1,500 copies, and are placed in the bound volumes of the City Documents for perpetual preservation, and in various libraries of the city, accessible to all the people, as well as in many private hands and libraries of those more especially inter- ested in their contents.
The committee consider the Record Commission entitled to public thanks for their valuable services to the city, gratuitously rendered, and the commendable cconomy of expenditure they seek to maintain. But the committee are convinced that the basis of operations planned by the commission does not sufficiently cover the legitimate work to be done on the ground they occupy. And the committee feel assured, from the expressed opinions of Commissioner Whitmore, that there is no difference of opinion as to the desirability of reproducing the ancient records in print, with the exception of the cost involved in the change of plan now pursued by the Record Commission.
The ordinance creating the office of the Record Commissioners defines their duties as follows : " To complete, as far as practicable, the record of births, deaths, and marriages in the town and city of Boston, prior to A.D. 1849."
The commissioners, in their first report (City Document No. 92, 1876), say, " A reasonable construction of the duties of the commissioners seems to include thercin all such investigations as will directly assist in perfecting the record of the vital statistics of Boston."
The second report of the commissioners (City Document No. 46, 1877) takes a new departure from the preceding limited sphere of operation, by special order of the City Council to print " a transcript of the first volume of the Town Records and of the Book of Possessions." This report of the commissioners presents in print " faithful transcripts of the two earliest volumes of the records of the town of Boston." The report further says, "The records of the town of Boston, now in the custody of the City Clerk, may be described as follows : -
"Ten volumes, of which the first is here printed, containing the acts of the town from 1634 to 1822. The first volume (1634-1660) contains also the acts of the Selectmen ; the second volume (1660-1728) contains the acts of the Selectmen from 1660 to 1701, and thenceforward it records only the proceedings of the town. In 1701 the system was established of recording the doings of the Selectmen separately, and twenty-three volumes contain their records until 1822."
These books, with a few miscellaneous volumes, comprise the old records of the city proper. By annexations are added Charlestown, Dorchester, Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Brighton.
The commissioners say, in their second report, "It is hoped that the City Government will anthorize the Record Commissioners to continue the work of publishing the records ; of course, not in full, but by means of such judicious selections as will afford valuable information about our predecessors."
The third report of the commissioners (City Document No. 39, 1878) is devoted to the Charlestown land records. This report says, " The com- missioners may perhaps anticipate that other portions of the city, as Roxbury and Dorchester, may call for a similar publication of their records of early grants and possessions of land. There has also been a feeling manifested in favor of printing the first volume of decds for Suffolk County, inasmuch as the expense would be but little greater than that of a manuscript copy. Certainly the old town of Boston ro- quires a second volume of extracts from its records, to complete the grants of lots and the laying out of strects. Whilst the commissioners will cheerfully discharge any duties of the above-named nature which may be assigned to them, they beg leave to repeat their previous notice that their main duty is still unfufilled. The transcripts of the church
IV
CITY DOCUMENT NO. 9.
records, to supplement and complete the records preserved by the City Registrar, are still to be made. They hope, therefore, to receive instruc- tions during the next year, to make a beginning upon their most neces- sary and long-delayed work."
The next report of the Record Commissioners will be the Dorchester records, provided for by the order at the beginning of this report. This order authorizes a collation of the land records only ; and the initiation of the work produces the remonstrance of the gentlemen interested in the records of Dorchester, who desire that the work shall be a reproduc- tion of the ancient records as far as the work progresses, on the same appropriation. It is evident to the committee that the petitioners are right in their position, and their views ought to be sustained. The records should be published complete. The cost at most will be small compared to the value of their preservation. It is also evident to the committee that the extensive work laid out by the Record Commission- ers is proceeding on a plan far too contracted properly to accomplish the objects intended and desirable to be attaincd.
The reports of the commissioners are based upon specific appropri- ations not exceeding one thousand dollars, respectively, and usually result in expenditures considerably less than the sum named. The committee arc of opinion that five thousand dollars ought to be annually appropriated, as an element of the appropriation for printing, for expen- diture under requisitions by the Record Commissioners, in accordance with special orders by the City Council. This would enable the com- missioners to carry out a judicious system of annual work, and meet the legal requirements for reproducing the ancient records complete. The result of the expenditure would probably be the best economy in the end, as well as largely aid the citizens in the knowledge of the ancient times and memorable historical events. It must be considered that we are now living in the third century of the city's existence ; and that our preservation of the ancient records is not for ourselves alone, but for the unknown centuries to come.
The committee recommend the passage of the following orders.
HUGH O'BRIEN, Chairman.
Ordered, That the order of February last, authorizing the Record Commissioners to have transcribed and indexed the land records of the town of Dorchester, be, and the same is, hereby rescinded.
Ordered, That the Record Commissioners be authorized to have transcribed and indexed the first volume of the records of the town of Dorchester ; and to have the same printed and distributed in the same manner as their previous reports, or so many consecutive pages of the sane as can be done at a cost not exceeding one thousand dollars ; to be charged to the appropriation for Printing.
This report was accepted, and the orders were duly passed. The commissioners, being thus relieved from the responsibility of using any discretion in the matter, have attempted only to print the requisite number of pages of the Dorchester Records as they stood in the original. The copying was entrusted to Miss Susan B. Kidder, whose skill in such matters is well known; and Mr. William B. Trask very kindly volunteered to compare her copy with the original. It is believed, therefore, that an accurate transcript has been obtained.
.
V
REPORT OF RECORD COMMISSIONERS.
In printing, the forms of the letters have been preserved, not their true meaning. Thus u is used for v, because the written v was of the shape of the printed u; but, of course, our ancestors did not transpose the sounds of the letters. The initial F has been employed, although the written form was more nearly ff; but the use of this form would have made the page more uncouth than it is. It was intended also to follow the abbreviations where possible, without having special types cut, but the forms ye, ye, etc., have been printed the, that, etc.
.It is a mistaken idea to suppose that those words had the y sound ; they were pronounced with the th, as at present.
Of the value of these records much may be said. The successive clerks of the town unfortunately kept all their records in one book, and a continuous transcript obliges us to print many matters of little value then, and of even less now. Still, as so little is known of the rise of our town system, it would be, perhaps, difficult to say of any part of this book, that it does not have some value to some student. Thus, on p. 289 of our pagination, will be found a document often referred to as " The Directory," which is a curious state- ment of the powers of the selectmen, and of the rise and progress of town government.
Great pains have been taken to obtain a good index ; but a thorough index of subjects, as well as names, would have been an additional expense, which the commissioners did not feel warranted in incurring.
In accordance with the suggestion of the Committee on Printing, the City Council this year has appropriated the sum of five thousand dollars for the publication of historical documents.
The following four volumes have been decided upon, and progress has been made on all of them, so that they may be completed during the present financial year : Fifth Report, the "Gleaner" articles on Boston land-titles, by the late N. I. Bowditch. Sixth Report, Roxbury Land Records. Seventh Report, Continuation of the Boston Town Records. Eighth Report, Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, chronologically arranged.
The commissioners hope to issue their fifth and sixth reports before December 31, 1880.
Respectfully submitted, WILLIAM H. WHITMORE,
WILLIAM S. APPLETON,
Record Commissioners.
vi
CITY DOCUMENT NO. 9.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
THE local demand for this volume, as has also been the case with the third and sixth reports, having very rapidly exhausted the first edition, the City Council instructed the Commissioners to reprint this report, and to have it stereo- typed, as the later volumes are.
In complying with this order the opportunity was availed of to have a thorough revision, by the renewed kindness of Mr. William B. Trask. Numerous small corrections have been made, but none calling for special mention.
WILLIAM H. WHITMORE, WILLIAM S. APPLETON, Record Commissioners.
BOSTON, Sept. 6, 1883.
DORCHESTER TOWN RECORDS.
[5.] Also Edward Ray [nsford] and John Grenway and John Goyte shall ha[ve each] of them a p'portionable quantity of Marish adjoyneing to their necke of L[and].
Jan : 21. All other the Planters in Dorchester not before named, shall have their p'portion of Marish ground by the river of Naponsett, according to the quan[tity] of their home lotts.
Also it is generally agreed that whosoever doth not mowe his owne lott shall not sell it to any for above Two pence an acre signed
JOHN : MAVERICKE [whosoever] ] JOHN : WARHAM.
WILL : GAYLARD. WILL : ROCKEWELL.
16 Jan : 1632. It is ordered that Edmond Hart, Roger. Clap, George. Phillips, John Hulls, Bray Wilkeins, William Hulbeard, Stephen ffrench, John Benham, and John Haydon, are to have their great lotts of 16 acres a peece, next the great lotts, that are all redy layde out towardes Naponsett. signed
JOHN. MAVERICKE.
JOHN. WARHAM. WILLIAM. GAYLARD. WILL. ROCKEWELL.
Anno. April. 3. 1633. It is agreed that a doble rayle with mortesses in the posts, of 10 foote distance one from the other, shall be set up in the Marish, from the corner of Richard Phelps, his pale Eastward to the Creeke, by the owners of the Cowes vnder named, p'portionally, 20 foote to every cowe.
Cowes
foote
mr Ludlowe.
2
40
m' Johnson.
1
20
Henry Woolcott,
3
60
mr Rosseter.
4
80
mr Terry.
2
40
mr Smith.
2
40
mr Gallope.
1
20
Thom ffoard.
2
40
mr Warham.
3
60
mr Mavericke.
2
40
mr Hull.
3
60
Mathew. Graunt.
2
40
1 This unconnected word is probably part of an unfinished entry. - W. H. W.
1
2
CITY DOCUMENT NO. 9.
Cowes
foote
Will. Rockewell.
2
40
John. Hoskeins.
3
60
Nicho : Denslowe.
Giles Gibbes.
1
20
William Phellps.
2
40
Symon. Hoite.
2
40
m' Stoughton.
4
80
Eltwid Pumery.
2
40
William Gaylard.
20
George Dyer
2
40
And this to be done by the 7th of May next ensuing, upon the payne of forfiture of 5 Shillings for every Cowe in cause it be not done by the tyme appoynted and for the tyme to come every other owner that shall have milch Cowes they shall pay 12 pence a peice for every cowe. towarde the maynetayneing of these rayles.
signed
JOHN : MAVERICKE.
JOHN : WARHAM.
[G.] 5 Aug: 1633. It is consented vnto, that John Witch- feild. and John Newton. shall have all that plott of Marish ground, that lyeth betweene Nicholas Denslowe and the brooke next to Rockesbury equally to be devided betweene them.
In the necke Southward of the plantation these lotts following are agreed to be set downe mr. John. Cogan. mr. Hill. mr. Duncan, mr. Ludlowe, m' Russell, m' Pinney, mr. Richards, m' Way 4 acres a peece adjoyning on to the other. And m' Williams 8 acres in the same at the poynt next m' Stoughtons lott.
In Naponset necke captin Lovell, m' Tilly, Elias Parkeman, John Rocket, Captin Lovell and his sonne 6 acres, the rest 4 a pecce ; Item. mr. Egelstone to have a lott on this side of the way going to Rockesbury.
In the end of the lotts next the great marish they are to set downe these following.
nicho : Vpsall, Bernard Capen, Phillip Randall, James Parker, 4 acres a peece. John Hoskeins, & the Widdow Purchase, betweene the 26 rackes John Hoskeins 3 acres, the Widdow Purchase 4
signed JOHN MAVERICKE. WILL. GAYLARD.
It is agreed betweene captin. William Lovells. m'. John Tilly. that the landing place in their lotts towardes Naponset, & the way to that and the well shall be common to them both, in whose of their lotts they fall.
signed. JOHN MAVERICKE. WILLIAM GAYLARD. WILL. ROCKEWELL.
1 See Savage's Dictionary for this name under Pomeroy. - W. II. W.
3
DORCHESTER TOWN RECORDS.
An agreement made by the whole consent and vote of the Plan- tation made Mooneday 8th of October, 1633.
Inprimus it is ordered that for the generall good and well order- ing of the affayres of the Plantation their shall be every Mooneday before the Court by eight of the Clocke in the morning, and p'sently upon the beating of the drum, a generall meeting of the inhabitants of the Plantation att the meeteing house, there to settle (and sett downe) such orders as may tend to the generall good as aforesayd ; and every man to be bound thereby without gayne- saying or resistance. It is also agreed that there shall be twelve men selected out of the Company that may or the greatest p't of them meete as aforesayd to determine as aforesayd, yet so as it is desired that the most of the Plantation will keepe the mecteing constantly and all that are there although none of the Twelve shall have a free voyce as any of the 12 and that the greate[r] vote both of the 12 and the other shall be of force and efficasy as aforesayd. And it is likewise ordered that all things concluded as aforesayd shall stand in force and be obeyed vntill the next monethly meete- ing and afterwardes if it be not contradicted and other wise ordered upon the sayd' monethly meete[ing] by the greatest p'te of those that are p'sent as aforesayd. Moreover, because the Court in Winter in the vacansy of the sayd . . . . this said meeting to continue till the first Mooneday in the moneth [.] m' Johnson, m" Eltwid Pummery [mr. Richards], John Pearce, George Hull, William Phelps, Thom. ffoard.
It is ordered that all the pale of the feilds now inclosed shall be still kept in severall, well and sufficiently fenced, and if that upon warning every man doth not keepe his ground fenced, then such as are appoynted for that purpose to see the Pale sufficient and find not sufficient shall fence the same, and such as are delinquent shall pay 3 shillings a goad and the same p'sently to be levied out of their goods by sale or otherwise according to the order in this booke formerly entered, and this to be done a fourteene nights or Three weekes at most.
The names to see to the fences aforesayde are these; for the South feild next M' Waram, Mr Smith & Goodman Grenway, for the Westfeild, Goodman Thorneton, Phillips, for the east feild Goodman. Hoskeins, Symon Hoyte, for the north feild Goodman Hosseford & David Wilton. |
Whereas there hath beene divers chardges and expences in former tymes layde out by the first planters for securing the necke of land and keepeing the Cowes & Goates in some campes :
It is ordered that every man for future tyme that put any Cattle in the necke be of what condition soever shall p'sently pay Two shillings an head towards the sayd chardges as also every cowe into the heard p'vided this doth not extend to any that hath formerly payde neither to any that shall pay after the first tyme.
signed.
JOHN MAVERICKE. | JOHN WARHAM. | WILL. GAYLARD. |
4
CITY DOCUMENT NO. 9.
Mooneday. 3. November 1633 It is now ordered that if the overseers aforesayde do upon vewe find any pales of the feilds aforesayde defective and give noticeto the p'tye that is to amend it and he doth not do it within Two days after he is to pay 58 for every 2 dayes vntill the next meeteing and then p'sently to be Jevied. |
It is ordered likewise that if any doe pull downe any pale or throwe downe he is p'sently to amend or elce to pay 5. shillings for so doing.
It is ordered that there shall be a generall Rate thorow out the Plantation to the making and maynetayneing gate & fences of the Plantation and bridges ; and that the Raters shall be m' Woolcott, m' Johnson, Geo. Hull Will. Phelps, Eltwid Pumry, and Giles Gibbes.
It is generally agreed that mr. Israel Stoughton shall build a water mill, if he see cause.
It is agreed that their shall be a decent burying place bounden in upon the knapp by Goodman Grenwayes. and that shall be done by the Raters aforesayde, and also a bare to carry the dead on.
[S.]-It is order[ed that a pound shall be] also made & set up upon the knapp of ground on [the right hand] of Walter Filers and Goodman Hoskeines out of the publique rate.
It is ordered that such as desire to have lotts shall upon the monethly meeteings manifest the same, and then the company D'sent are to approve of the same, and in what quarter, and then they are to repayre to William Phelps & Ancient Stoughton, and they to set out the same and such as desire lotts are to allow in prsent worke for their paynes. signed
JOHN MAVERICKE. JOHN WARHAM. WILLIAM GAYLARD.
2ยช December 1633. It is ordered that for such as have great lotts they shall joyne this yeere in paling and if they will not then such as are beyond if they will pale are to remoove to the last that will pale and he that will not to go without, every one that will pale to give in his name by to morrowe sevennight : and they that D'mise to pale it is agreed that there pales posts and Rayles are to be in place by the last of ffebruary next, or elce forfeited their lots to any one that the Plantation shall thinke fit to pale & enjoy it ;
Item, ordered that Rich : Rocket is to have an acre addition to his home lott in consideration of removing his pale in regard a publicke way is to be through his lott ;
Item. It is ordered that William Hosford shall have one of the Two great lotts that were captin Southcotts.
Item it is ordered that after the decease of Every p'son that have seates in the meeteing house the officers of the church in their dis- cretion to order who shall succeed in those seates and to be sould, and the mony expended for the reparations of the sayde meeteing house.
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