USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Historical sketch of the town of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1622-1884 > Part 7
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1 Private papers of Dr. James Lovell, who was an active participant in the movement. The petition and remonstrance are preserved among his papers, also an act of incorporation for the new town as proposed. The following statistics were also prepared to accompany these: -
29 MARCH, 1802.
Inhabitants of the Town of Weymouth
1,803
Ratable Polls . 412
Length of the Town 9 to 10 Miles, breadth 23 Miles.
Inhabitants of the North Parish
965
Ratable Polls .
211
Money at Interest by last Valuation
$20,133
Including 2 of the number of acres of Land.
838
Inhabitants of the South Parish . Ratable Polls
201
Money, at Interest by last Valuation
· $22,950
Including 3 of the number of acres of Land.
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SKETCH OF WEYMOUTHI.
BUSINESS ENTERPRISES. - With the increase of pop- ulation and wealth there came also a revival of business enterprises, and soon after the beginning of the nine- teenth eentury a new era of prosperity dawned upon the town, commencing at Weymouth Landing, at the head of tide-water on Fore River, and gradually extending over other parts of the town. In 1805 a turnpike was built through Weymouth, opening a more direet communication between Boston and Plymouth, by which the village at the Landing was largely the gainer. Under the lead of Capt. Samuel Arnold, Levi Bates and others, various branches of mechanical industry were started, and a new life infused into the community. Within a few years a large number of buildings were erected within a radius of half a mile. Many of them, in magnitude and value, have hardly been surpassed to the present day. Navigation was resumed, and quite a brisk trade. carried on between the town and Boston by means of sailing packets, which ran regularly; and it was in these days that shoe man- ufaeturing commenced, which has since grown into such vast proportions.
In 1800, March 10, there is found for the first time upon the records the warrant for the town meeting entered in full, a eustom that has been continued ever sinee; and under date of May 11, 1801, are found the qualifications of voters at that time, who were to be twenty-one years of age, and to possess a freehold valued at sixty pounds, or one yielding an income of three pounds (free suffrage had not yet become the law of the land).
The town, which was always conservative, did not look altogether with favor upon the new enterprises, but viewed with jealous eyes the proposition to open new roads through its borders and construct bridges across the rivers, and went so far (Feb. 3, 1803) as
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to choose a committee to oppose them before the com- mittee of the General Court, which had the matter under consideration, - such men as Cotton Tufts, Eliphalet Loud and Major John White being fore- most in the opposition, - but the roads and the bridges were built, and the town was the better for them.
POST-OFFICE. - In 1804, Feb. 6, the town instructed the selectmen to petition the Postmaster-General to establish a post-office at or near the head of navi- gation at Fore River. This village, although the youngest in town, was already the most important. The answer to this petition was the establishment of the first post-office in Weymouth. In 1809 the new work-house at the Landing was completed, costing about sixteen hundred dollars, and was used for the accommodation of the town's poor until the purchase of the present town farm, in 1839. March 12, 1810, the selectmen and the physicians of the town were appointed a committee to superintend the inoculation with cow-pox.
WAR WITH ENGLAND. - During the war with Great Britain, in 1812-15, many of the young men of the town engaged in the service by land and sea, but the action of the town shows very little movement in con- nection with the subject, there being but four votes standing upon its records relating to the matter. May 21, 1812, the town voted to each enlisted soldier a bounty of five dollars, and ten dollars per month pay while in actual service; and June 30, 1814, it was voted to make the pay of non-commissioned officers and pri- vates, now or hereafter in the service, equal to fifteen dollars per month, and the same to those called out upon the alarm at Cohasset, and who remained there
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until legally dismissed. A committee of safety was also chosen, to consist of the selectmen (three) and six others. On the 7th of November the town voted twelve hundred dollars to pay the soldiers and build a maga- zine.
ALARM AT COHASSET. - The nearest approach to actual hostilities that the town experieneed during that war was upon the oeeasion of this " alarm at Cohasset," which occurred on a Sunday, Adjt. Cushing notifying the militia in the meeting-houses while the people were attending divine serviee. It was reported that a land- ing had been effeeted from an English ship-of-war that was cruising along the coast, committing many petty depredations, and that there was necessity for imme- diate assistance. The infantry and artillery companies from Weymouth responded at onec, but the alarm was a false one and there was no need of troops.
Mechanical industry being then in its infancy, and needing the serviees of only a part of the men, numbers of these had entered the mereantile marine, and at the opening of the war, this braneh of service being paralyzed, many of them found employment in the navy and upon privateers.
A change appears upon the records in May, 1818, with respect to the qualification of voters, -an ineome from freehold estate of ten dollars, or such an estate valued at two hundred dollars, being required, and an age of twenty-one years.
TOWN LINES. - In the beginning of the third vol- ume of the town general records there is a full de- scription of the town lines, as measured by James Humphrey, Esq.,1 in 1794, probably the most eorreet
1 Appendix D.
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SKETCH OF WEYMOUTH.
and reliable of any to be found upon any record.1 Aug. 21, 1820, a committee was appointed to oppose the petition of the Hingham and Quincy turnpike to the General Court to have the allowance paid to vessels passing through their draw-bridges removed.
MANUFACTURING COMPANIES DISCOURAGED. - In the years 1822 and 1824 committees of manufacturing companies were looking over the State in search of the most desirable water privileges, with a view of select- ing a location, and Weymouth Back River appears to have been preferred. In the former year, Aug. 12, Samuel Hubbard and others had so far decided in favor of this locality, that they requested of the town the
1 The following is a copy of the township lines taken from the record of James Humphrey, Esq., from measurements made by him in 1794: --
Line between Hingham & Weymouth, Beginning on the line at the south corner of Weymouth.
1. N. 13, E. 188 Rods. Spruce Tree W. H.
2. N. 14, E. 132 Rods. Road by Smith's.
NOTE. - After running 32 Rods North, 14 East, marked a spruce W. H .; also marked another spruce.
3. North 11}, E. 80 Rods.
66 14, E. 26 Rods. Meeting house N. 81 W. 4.
5. North 143, E. 100 Rods. 6. 13}, E. 988 “ Road beyond Binney's.
7. 131, E. 17 66 then turning and following a river called Fresh River to the sea. Distance 4 miles 251 rods from Abington (on the line) to Fresh River.
Line between Weymouth & Abington, Beginning at the south corner of Weymouth.
S. 74, W. 46 rods to the road.
S. 72, W. 110 " S. 75, W. 20 rods, S. 692 W. 49 rods.
S. 68, W. 70 " S. 66, WV. 20 " S. 70, W. 45 “
S. 70, W. 72 " S. 772, W. 14 " S. 69, W. 320
S. 77, W. 36 " S. 72, W. 18 “ S. 69, W. 180 Abington Line 1000 rods (3 miles & 40 rods).
Line between Weymouth & Braintree & Randolph, Beginning at the Smelt Brook near the Bridge.
Course S. 14, W. to the southwest corner of Weymouth.
Line against Braintree 3 miles 182 rods.
66 Randolph 2 " 118
5 300
*
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privilege of purchasing the alewife fishery, the only serious difficulty; but the town, valuing a small present income more highly than a large one in prospect, refused. Again, April 5, 1824, Gen. W. H. Sumner and others, impressed with the value of the water privilege, offered the town two hundred dollars per year for ten years, agreeing to make a sufficient fishway by which the fish could ascend into the pond above, to employ a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, and pay a parish tax to be divided between the three parishes. But the town, with strange short-sightedness, again refused. Had better counsels prevailed, Weymouth might now be what Lowell is. On May 2, 1825, Gen. Sumner again renewed his request, with a still more favorable propo- sition, but the town would not consent.1
In 1831 the report of the expenses of the town was printed for the first time.
SURPLUS REVENUE. - In 1836 the general govern- ment found itself in the anomalous condition of an overflowing treasury, and a large sum amounting to many millions was distributed among the States for their use as a loan. Massachusetts distributed its share among the several towns, and Weymouth, in 1837, after one of the most hotly contested struggles in its history, having called no fewer than eight meet- ings upon the matter, divided its share among the
1 This proposition was: --
1. To pay the town $1,000 for the fish right.
2. To leave to a mutual reference to say what the fish right is worth, and to abide its decision.
3. To erect a proper fishway, satisfactory to a commissioner appointed by the governor and council, or the Court of Common Pleas, who shall have authority to settle all difficulties that may arise between the town and the proprietors of the water privilege.
The town voted to accept the third proposition, but difficulties were thrown in the way and it was never carried out.
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inhabitants, pro rata, taking notes therefor, which was in reality a perpetual loan without interest, for on March 16, 1868, the town voted to destroy the notes, amounting to $6,146.40, they being outlawed and worthless.
ANTI-SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS. - Soon after this time the anti-slavery agitation commenced, and an earnest, determined body of its friends were found among the citizens, and so vigorous and successful were their efforts, that a strong sentiment was created in the town in favor of the movement, so strong that when, in 1842, George Latimer, a fugitive slave, lay in Boston jail, at the instance of his alleged master, James B. Gray, of Virginia, a series of indignant resolutions were passed at the meeting held Nov. 14, protesting against the act.
In 1837 another movement was made by Jacob Perkins and others toward the improvement of the water privi- lege at East Weymouth, in the interest of iron manu- facturers, which, after long and tedious negotiations and litigations, resulted in the establishment of the Wey- mouth Iron Company, which has proved one of the most important business enterprises of the town.
PAY OF TOWN OFFICERS. - At the March meeting, in 1843, it was voted to pay town officers one dollar per day for their services, the clerk to have no pay for town- meeting days. This seems to have been the beginning of regular payments for this purpose, but an advance from time to time has increased the sum to three times its original amount.
In 1847 a strong effort was again made for a division of the town, but like that of fifty years previous, it proved unsuccessful, the vote on the question being taken by a committee going from house to house, with the following
6
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SKETCH OF WEYMOUTHI.
result: 460 in favor and 465 against, 72 not voting and 56 not found; of the nays, 359 were in the South Parish. This agitation was renewed again in 1850 with a similar result.
On Nov. 12, 1850, strong, denunciatory resolutions against the fugitive-slave law were passed, and on March 10, succeeding, the town voted that they be expunged from the record, which was accordingly done by writing across their face. Thus the record stood until March, 1880, when the latter vote was rescinded, and the record stands as originally made in favor of the resolutions and as the voice of the town.
TOWN RECORDS. - The original town records being badly worn and in a very dilapidated condition, the selectmen were instructed to have them transcribed, also to look up the books belonging to the town, have them catalogued, and to procure a safe in which to keep them. The first and last clauses of the vote were carried into effect, but that relating to the catalogue remained unat- tended to.1
And again on March 13, 1854, a series of strong anti-slavery resolutions stand upon the records as the expression of the town.
TOWN HALL. - In 1852, in view of the want of a proper place for holding town meetings, and for quarters for town offices, the town hall was built on the westerly side of Washington Street, at the corner of Middle Street, and very near the geographical centre of the
1 The date of the earliest book of records now in possession of the town is not known with certainty, but is probably that ordered to be purchased March 7, 1669-70. Its records, however, date back to 1642, and perhaps earlier, as some of the entries arc not datcd. The town records are probably as full as those of other towns, and in a fair state of preservation.
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town; a plain, inexpensive structure, but which has answered the actual necessities of the town in that respect for over thirty years.
WAR OF THE REBELLION. - As will be seen, the records are very bare of interest, other than that which attaches to the ordinary but necessary business of the town, until the stirring days of 1861. The long-con- tinued quarrels in Congress upon the slavery question, each year growing more intense and bitter, had culmi- nated in a marshalling of the contending parties and the election of a Republican President. The crisis was brought about by accident, each party believing, until the actual collision, that the other would give way and not force matters to an extremity. But the attack upon Sumter, and the call of President Lincoln for volunteers, decided the question in favor of war. The spirit of the people was aroused to the highest pitch and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed.
A public meeting of the citizens was called at once, and the organization of a military company for actual service commenced. Volunteers for what was after- wards Company H, Twelfth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, were enlisted; the company was soon filled, and made choice of James L. Bates for captain, whose after-record was the brightest in the town's military history.1 He passed through the various grades of service, and at the close of the war wore worthily the honorable title of brevet brigadier-general. His regi- ment saw the hardest service, and fought in twenty-eight battles.
On the 29th of April a special town meeting was called, at which five thousand dollars was voted to equip this company and for other necessary expenses connected
1 Appendix D.
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therewith. Each married man was to receive fifteen dollars per month and each single man ten dollars, while in actual service under command of its officers; the same to be paid to others who should hereafter enlist. June 11, 1861, the selectmen were directed to furnish necessary aid, not exceeding fifteen dollars per month, to the wife, and children under sixteen years of age, of men enlisted by the town in the service; also to other near relatives who might be dependent upon them at the time of enlistment.
On the 10th March, 1862, ten thousand dollars was appropriated for aid to the families of volunteers in the field, and the poll-tax of last year's volunteers was also remitted.
MILITARY RECORDS. - The selectmen were instructed "to cause a record to be prepared and kept of all the Weymouth soldiers engaged in the service of the gov- ernment, with such details as may be obtained with respect to them and their service, names, ages, residence, and such particulars as may be necessary to a full knowl- edge of them and their service in the war."
Within the first year of the Rebellion, Weymouth had put out for aid to families of soldiers over fifteen thou- sand dollars, something over one third of which was to be reimbursed by the State; and in order to guard against unforeseen and sudden emergency "Union Guards " were formed, for whose supplies and necessary expense the town also paid in the same time nearly a thousand dollars more.
BOUNTIES. - During the summer of 1862, the urgency for soldiers became so great and the call so persistent that the town, upon the report of a committee appointed for the purpose, voted to pay a bounty of one hundred and fifty dollars to each inhabitant who should enlist
.
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within ten days (July 25) as a volunteer in the United States service for three years, unless sooner discharged, under the call of the governor, as per general order No. 26, to be paid on being mustered in, volunteers for one year to be paid one hundred dollars; and nineteen thousand dollars was appropriated for the purpose.
Upon the spur of this incentive, a second company was speedily raised, which was mustered into the service Aug. 12, 1862, as Company H, Thirty-fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. Benjamin F. Pratt was chosen captain, who was promoted through the several grades of the service, and at the close of the war was brevetted as brigadier-general. This regiment and the Twelfth saw very hard service in the Army of the Poto- mac, and their losses were very severe. On the 19th of August the town extended this offer to all who should enlist in the town's quota, whether inhabitants or not.
TOWN BONDS AND SEAL. - On the 4th of November fifteen thousand dollars was appropriated for aid to the families of soldiers who were inhabitants of the town when enlisted. At the same time it was voted to issue town bonds not exceeding thirty thousand dollars, at five per cent, and March 24, 1863, the selectmen were instructed to procure a corporate seal, with the legend, "Town of Weymouth, Mass., Incorporated 1635," for the use of the town upon its bonds and other documents, which was accordingly done.
In the fall of that year a company of nine-monthis' men were enlisted, and mustered into the service Sept. 13, as Company A, Forty-second Regiment Massachu- setts Volunteers, under the command of Col. Burrill. Hiram S. Coburn was chosen its captain.
On the 21st of July, 1863, the town voted three dollars per week for aid to the families of volunteers for one year, to fill up the town's quota, in addition to
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the sum paid by the State, and the same amount for a second year, provided they continue in the service so long; and on Nov. 23, one thousand dollars was placed at the disposal of the recruiting committee, who were to receive no pay for their services.
CONTRIBUTIONS. - At the annual meeting, March 21, 1864, the town voted to raise twenty-five thousand dol- lars for State aid, and subsequently, April 9, it was voted to refund the contributions made by citizens for filling the town's quota of men under the calls of the President, Oct. 14 and Feb. 1, provided the contributors agree in writing to apply the same towards furnishing the men called for March 14, 1864; and six thousand five hundred dollars was appropriated for the purpose. The recruiting committee was also instructed to solicit subscriptions of money, to be used in raising men to fill the present quota. On the 20th of May ten thou- sand dollars was voted for recruiting under the last call.
DIFFICULTIES. - On the 8th of June the town voted to pay one hundred and twenty-five dollars to each volunteer recruited under any call of the President this year, or in anticipation of any future call, this enlistment to be made under the direction of the chair- man of the board of selectmen. There seemed at this time to be great difficulty in answering the calls of the President, and so serious was the emergency that the selectmen resigned in a body, but were afterwards per- suaded to withdraw their resignations. It appeared, also, that the town was justified in making serious complaint of the manner in which the enrolment of those liable to military duty was made, as appears by the following resolves: "That the enrolment of this town is fully twenty per cent larger than the average
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towns in the district, large numbers of whom are unfit to be enrolled, and that the town request an equitable enrolment. That the town believes thcir selectmen and assessors to compare favorably with those of neigh- boring towns, and feels aggrieved that they should have been entirely ignored in the matter of enrolment, while those of other towns have been appointed to that duty."
As the time approached for the expiration of the term of service of the Twelfth Regiment, the selectmen were directed to proceed to Boston and receive Com- pany H of that regiment, and to invite those members of the Eleventh Regiment who enlisted from this town to assist in this duty. In the summer and autumn of this year, a fourth company was enlisted for one year, and mustered in as Company G, Fourth Heavy Artil- lery; Andrew J. Garey, captain. Many of these were re-enlistments of members of the Twelfth, Thirty-fifth and other regiments whose terms of service had expired. This company was stationed upon the fortifications near Washington, and saw but little active service.
On the 8th of November the town appropriated twelve thousand dollars for bounties, not to exceed one hun- dred and twenty-five dollars to each man counted in Weymouth's quota under the next call. March 20, 1865, the town voted to borrow thirty thousand dollars on its bonds at six per cent, to be sold as required; and on the 22d of May the town voted to refund the money con- tributed by individuals to aid in filling the quota of the town in accordance with the law of April 25 of this year; a list to be prepared and payment to be made in town notes, due Sept. 1, 1866. On the 21st of Decem- ber a committee was chosen to consider the subject of a soldiers' monument and report. A vote was also passed to pay two years' aid to all who had not received it; also, to pay each man drafted July, 1863, who fur-
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nished a substitute, whether the latter remained in the service or not, payable in town notes in three years with interest.
This completes the record in brief of Weymouth dur- ing the war, as far as it appears upon its books; but before a correct judgment can be formed as to what the town actually did in the great struggle for cxistence that the country carried on during the four years from 1861 to 1865, it will be necessary to go somewhat more into detail, and to ascertain more nearly the number of men sent into the field and what became of them. It is well known that the town answered all of the calls made upon it, but what was their measure? As before noticed, there were enlisted four full companies; these were sent into the service and performed all the duties required of them, which in many instances were neither few nor light; besides these, enlistments were made for all the various branches of the service, infantry, artil- lery and cavalry, in more than fifty different organiza- tions, as well as many in the navy. The whole number actually contributed by the town probably will never be accurately known, but upon its records are the names of nearly eight hundred; without question enough have been omitted to carry the total above that number, or nearly one in ten of its population.
Of these, ninety-eight have their names upon the soldiers' monument as having been killed in battle or died in the service. Beside these, and this list is by no means complete, more than a hundred are reported as wounded, and nearly forty taken prisoners, many of whom died in rebel prisons. And of the whole num- ber, only eight, less than one in a hundred, are re- ported as deserters, and some of these returned to their regiments. This certainly is an honorable record and one of which the town may well be proud; and when the history of Weymouth in the Rebellion is written,
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which will some day be a fact, it will be made sure that this town is entitled to a high place among the thou- sands that contributed cheerfully and liberally towards the accomplishment of the same noble purpose.
FINAL ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE THE TOWN. - Several attempts were made to revive the question of a division of the town, and March 19, 1866, a vote was actually passed to do this (two hundred and sixty-nine to two hundred and thirty-nine) upon the northerly line of the fifth and sixthi school districts, and a committee of one appointed from each district to carry the vote into effect; but the matter appears to have been dropped, to be again called up March 4, 1878, when the selectmen and three from each ward, twenty in all, were consti- tuted a committee to take the whole matter into consid- eration and report. This report was made at the next annual meeting, held March 3, 1879, and was unanimous that it was inexpedient to divide the town at that time, and the report was accepted.1
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