USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Needham > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 42
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Wellesley > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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During 1793 and 1794 a similar difficulty required jour- neys to Worcester and Boston, and the payment of £I, IOS. to "Esq. Ward", the town counsel. In addition to visiting other towns to obtain facts it was often necessary to re- move poor persons from one town to another.
As early as 1744 the selectmen occasionally secured a bond to protect, or indemnify, the town on account of a poor person, or family, within its borders, and for more than a century instances will be found in the Acts and Re- solves of reimbursement by the State, when it was legally
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
responsible for some one who had been assisted by the town.
The War of the Revolution brought upon the town the care of the soldiers, and of those they left at home; more- over, the years following the war were not prosperous, and Needham had many inhabitants who received aid between 1781 and 1800. The writer has before him the long list of the poor of our town from its incorporation to the close of 1851, and there were very respectable people among them, some of whom had themselves been overseers of the poor when in their prime. In our cemetery there are at least one handsome monument and several gravestones, placed by descendants or relatives, above the remains of persons who died at the Town Farm. In 1789 Robert Fuller was paid for "writing Seven Indentures to bind out poor Children". By these indentures girls remained in the control of the town until they were eighteen years of age. For many years the town had to pay money on account of its citizens who were prisoners in the "Goal" at Dedham, or in the House of Correction in Boston, especially when the im- prisonment was for debt, and the man's release was neces- sary to keep his family "off the town".
From 1803 to 1807 the town had an undesirable family occupying George Newell's house, and their foraging was expensive, as they did much damage to Philip Floyd and others, besides burning Nathaniel Bullard's posts and rails; for all of which the town paid.
THE POOR-FARM
On May 19, 1773, the town rejected a proposition to ob- tain "a work Houfe for the Poor of the Town", and in 1778 twice declined to have "a Houfe for Such of the poor as have no house to live in". Subsequent to 1800 the subject was repeatedly before the town, and on April 7, 1828, Moses Garfield, Major MoIntosh, General Rice, Benjamin Slack, Esq., Artemas Newell, Esq., Elisha Lyon, Esq., and Capt.
55I
THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
George Smith were appointed a committee "to see how they can purches a farm for a Poor house and report at the adjournment of this meeting". Later in the day the town voted to buy the Emily Kingsbury farm, then owned by John Welles of Boston, and directed Captain Gay, Aaron Smith, Esq., and Artemas Newell, Esq., to receive the deed from Mr. Welles. Thus fifty-five years after the first consideration of the matter, and after several committees had reported upon it, a poor-house was obtained, and the annual placing out of the poor to the lowest bidder ceased in Needham. A committee was named to prescribe rules and regulations for the government of the poor-house, and supplies were purchased for it, and for the farm, during the summer and autumn of 1828; Mrs. Kingsbury was paid $170 for carts and farm implements. At the annual meet- ing in 1830 a committee was appointed to consider buying four acres of land adjoining the poor-farm, and in April Artemas Newell, Esq., Amraphel Smith and Aaron Smith were to report on the cost of the "paupers" for two years. This was the first appearance of the annual committee, consisting of three men, appointed to investigate the condi- tion of affairs at the almshouse, and the committee reported in print from 1853 to 1858 inclusive.
In 1830 the town voted to insure its buildings, and Wil- liam Flagg as agent obtained a policy on the almshouse for which the town paid a premium of $38.38. At the annual meeting in 1832 the town voted to buy a bathing tub "for the use of the town". It was to be kept at the almshouse, and to be under the control of the selectmen, who in January, 1834, drew an order for $10 to pay for it. In 1830 "Alms- house Cells" had been constructed, and iron work was purchased for them. The house was damaged by lightning in 1833.
On April 3, 1838, a large committee was chosen to consider building a town house, and to estimate the cost, and on May 7 the town voted to proceed to build,
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
choosing Jabez Smith, Dexter Ware and Spencer Fuller a building committee with instructions to consult with the selectmen as to the plan and the location. On No- vember 12 the town met in its new hall, and appointed a large committee to take down the old house, and to remove the outbuildings. The town borrowed $500 to pay for a new piggery and other outbuildings, and the masons, Charles Wilson and Charles Underwood, as well as some of the carpenters, stayed at the house of John Kingsbury, whose bill amounted to $167.03. The new barn was built in 1857 by Timothy N. Smith, who was paid $1047, and in 1874 the town hall was much enlarged by Oliver Pickering, contractor, at a cost of upward of $9000. The first town hall was a part of the almshouse, and can hardly be consid- ered a separate building. When it was completed in 1838 it was placed in the custody of the keeper of the almshouse, subject to the authority of the selectmen, and it was voted that "it may be occupied for public political, and other Civil meetings, that the town provide lamps for the town hall, and those that appoint meetings in said hall are to furnish oil". A year or two later a charge was made for the use of the hall for certain purposes. As late as 1852 there were no settees, or clock, in this hall.
Large committees were chosen from time to time to con- sider the management of the poor-farm, and in 1842 there was an article in a warrant to see if the town would rent it, but the "noes" prevailed. The question of selling the town farm was referred to a committee in 1872, who were to consider having an asylum instead, but nothing came of their deliberations, unless it was the lock-up, which was built in 1873 at a cost of about $1000. There had been an attempt to establish lock-ups in the basements of some of the school-houses, but the town wisely declined to have them.
The town had early considered buying of Moses Garfield some woodland adjoining the town farm, but apparently purchased neither peat meadow nor woodland till 1845, when
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
William Pierce was paid upward of $108.41 for four acres of peat meadow. Later than 1870 peat was more or less used for fuel in Needham, and the peat, cut in long blocks and built up in piles or little towers to dry, was a familiar sight in the meadows.
Rates of interest were high, and until 1851 the town annually paid Mr. Welles $200, some years $300, without reducing the debt. The "Surplus Revenue" had been relied upon to pay for this property, and in 1837 a census was taken in order to show what sum the town might claim from the Federal Government, but there was much delay in getting the money.
At the division of the town in 1881 the average number of regular inmates of the poor-house was about twelve, some of whom lived to great age, and each spring their familiar forms appeared seated under a favorite tree. When a certain man went to the almshouse at the age of seventy- two years, he had an opportunity to associate with his father, who had been there for a long time. Many people remember both father and son, who bore the same name, and were the last representatives in Needham of one of its oldest families. Since 1881 a few individuals, entirely dependent on the town of Needham, have been boarded at this farm, which is the property of the Town of Wellesley.1 In 1899 the question of establishing a poor-farm was dis- missed by a town meeting, and the arrangement with Wellesley was approved. The average appropriations for the poor have been: -
1782-90 about £62, 1791-1800 $360, 1801-40 $505, 1841-60 $780, 1861-70 $1890, 1871-80 $3263.75, 1881-90 $2385, 1891-1900 $3060, 1901-IO $3750.
The selectmen have been annually elected as overseers of the poor the greater part of the time since 1712. On March II, 1750/1, three overseers were chosen, and took
1 In 1910 the Town Farm was discontinued, and the fine estate leased to the Wellesley Country Club.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
the money oath, which fact was carefully recorded for years, and applied to the town officers generally. There does not appear to have been any election of overseers of the poor from the spring of 1761 to March 9, 1778, when Timothy Newell, Samuel Ware and Capt. William Smith were chosen. In 1779 they were chosen by "Hand Votes". There had been five of these overseers in 1757 and in other years. On April 8, 1822, Captain Gay, Artemas Newell, Capt. Elisha Lyon, Calvin Gay and William W. Mann were elected overseers of the poor, and were the first for many years, as distinct from the selectmen. In September they were authorized to draw on the town treasurer "for pauper Expenses". The separate board was not continued, but was revived again in 1845 by the choice of Otis Sawyer, Capt. Reuben Ware and Daniel Hurd, who were to serve without pay. Mr. Sawyer declined and Alvin Fuller, 2d, was elected in his place, but this distinct board was short- lived, and no determined effort has been made to restore it. From 1761 to 1789, inclusive, with the exception of 1781, '82, and possibly other years, three wardens were chosen, whose duty it was to care for the poor.1
The title of Warden, which the managers or keepers of the poor-farm bore in later times, was probably derived from these now forgotten wardens of an earlier period.
The Wardens of the Town Farm have been: - Israel Whitney July, 1828-July, 1833, Joseph Newell July, 1833- April, 1834, Daniel Ware April, 1834-April, 1838, John Kingsbury April, 1838-April, 1841, and April, 1845-April, 1846, Jacob Hardon April, 1841-September 14, 1841, Alvin Fuller, 2d, September, 1841-April, 1845, James Smith April, 1846-April, 1851, E. G. Byington April, 1851-1852, Ezekiel Peabody April, 1852-April, 1859, and March, 1873 to the division of the town, Dexter Kingsbury April, 1859-
1 In 1769 Capt. Caleb Kingsbery had an order for seven shillings "that you Paid at Bofton to Git a Sitation for Lit Jonathan Day he not being willing to take the Oath of a Warden".
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
March, 1867, Benjamin Joy March, 1867-March, 1871, Daniel A. Warner March, 1871-March, 1872, Edward L. Ward March, 1872-March, 1873.
The wife of the warden was quite as important as he was, and the salary, which from 1828 to 1851 was $50 per quarter, was recorded as paid to "Israel Whitney and Wife", and invariably the efficiency of the wife was considered. For some years from 1840 a warden was advertised for when one was wanted.
FRENCH NEUTRALS
The dark chapter in New England history that tells the story of the forcible expulsion from their homes of the inoffensive French farmers, and their distribution in the British provinces, is reflected in the annals of Needham. The following is quoted from Vol. III., p. 1061 of the Province Laws: - "April 25, 1757. A Petition of Amos Fuller of Needham - Setting forth that there are Twelve of the French Inhabitants of Nova Scotia placed there, and as the Town is very small - Praying that they may be removed elsewhere". The petition recites that whereas there were five of the "Nova Scotia People placed there by the Government in 1756", "the sheriff had sent twelve and one since". In consequence of this petition of Selectman Fuller the General Court ordered five of the French to be removed to Wrentham at the expense of Needham. See General Court Records, Vol. 22, p. 185; also the Province Laws (printed), Vol. IV, p. 97.
The bill sent to the General Court by the selectmen shows that Needham had provided for "Thirteen of the Familie of the Leblands" from December 20, 1757 to February 13, 1758, but at the latter date seven of them were removed to Stoughton; the other six were in Needham to March 15, 1758, and in the care of the town. The account further states "we have Provided for Three a Old Man and his wife and One of his Dafters. Being in a poor State of health to the 20 day day of January 1759".
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
Needham Janauery . 20ª. 1759.
Amos Fuller
-
Thomas Metcalf
Select Men
Robert Fuller Junr
Eleazer Kingsbery Jun'
Jonathan Smith"
Archives, Vol. 24, p. 133.
An account dated March 20, 1760, and signed by all five of the selectmen, amounted to £21, Is., 7d., o., and included "To 36 Gallon of milk 19 4". "Six of the Family of the Leblanc Since the 20th Day of January 1759: To the 20th Day of March: 1760; of the Family There is an aged man and his wife near Seventy years of age; and has a Daughter Weekly not able to Labour But Little for her Mantainance". Archives, Vol. 24, p. 284.
On January 30, 1761, Samuel Watts of the Committee of the General Court "to alot to every Town in the County of Suffolk There proportion of the late Inhabitants of Nova Scotia Called French Neutures " directed an order to the selectmen of Needham "to take care of" "Francis Liblanc margreet his wife; Peter & Simeon their Sons. & you are hereby directed to Send Sibbel Liblanc to the Selectmen of the Town of Bofton, & Ann Lublanc to the Select men of the Town of Stoughton who are directed to Recive them". On page 459 is another account of the selectmen of Needham, signed by all of them, and dated March 4, 1761, for £20, 16s., 9d. expended for the French Neutrals including "Doc! William Deming accomp!" £3, 8s., 8d. On March 2, 1762, the selectmen granted Dea. Josiah Newell 6s., 5d. which he had paid "for the Support of the old French woman; And also 13 -4 for his Finding Ten Yards of Cloath for a Bed Tick for the old French woman in the year Paft". On June 28, 1762, the selectmen gave Alexander Shephard of Newton an order for £1, 6s., 8d. for his house "that our French Nutrals Live in for one Year Paft Ending April
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
ye I:, 1762", and on December 28, 1764, he was allowed £1, 2s., Iod. for the use of his house in 1763 "for the French Nutrals". "To Liut Robert Fuller for the Matiance of the French Nutrells & for paying Abiel Smith for Buring the Old French man June 29, 1761", £8, 16s., 6d., 2f. (town treasurer). On June 28, 1762, the selectmen had granted the sum named to Mr. Fuller "for his Paying for the Support and Maintainance of the French Nutralls in Said Town; For one Year Past which Said year Ended at March Meeting 1762 Exclufive of the houfe Rent for Said year; And alfo for his Paying Abiel Smith his Charge and Coft for his Buring the ded French Man who Deceaft June ye 29th, 1761". In 1763 Capt. Eleazer Kingsbery was reimbursed for money "Paid to Support ye French Neutralls" £6, 3s., 2}d., and Alexander Sheppard "for his House for the French to Live in" £2 (treasurer). In 1765 Mr. Shepard received £1, 8s., 1od. "for Rent of his Houfe".
INDIANS
The occasional residence of Maugus and his family at the Upper Falls has been referred to in the opening chapters of this book, but subsequent to the first settlement of the town there appear to have been no Indian inhabitants regularly living within its limits, although there was a colony of negroes, with more or less Indian blood, dwelling along the south shore of Bullard's Pond (Lake Waban), and on what is now the Pond Road. The scanty record of the Indians, who were found from time to time in Needham, is as follows: -
On March 5, 1765, the Widow Rachel Warren was granted £2 "for her providing and taking care of an Indian Squaw which happened to fall Sick and Lame in Said town; Named Deborah Jack". The next year Joseph Mackintier was allowed £4, 7s. for boarding this Deborah Brand alias Deborah Jack seventeen weeks and two days, William Brown 13s., 4d. for boarding her in March, 1766, and Josiah Newell,
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
Esq., twelve shillings for clothing for her "ye winter paft". Lieut. Amos Fuller was paid one shilling for a warrant to take her to Bridgewater, and Robert Smith, one of the con- stables, £2, 6s., 9d. "for Tranfporting Deborah Jack an Indian woman from Needham to Bridewater". Early in 1766 Capt. John Jones was granted Is., 6d. "for his Drawing a petition to the General Court on account of Deborah Brand", and in June, 1767, the town treasurer received £9, 18s., 8d. from Josiah Edson "one of the Guardians for ye Indians in Bridgewater", for expenses incurred by the town because of Deborah Brand alias Jack. On March 5, 1766, Joseph Daniell, Jr., was allowed 6s., 8d. "For the Coft and Charge of Buriering an Indian Child which Died at his Father Daniel's in the Year 1765".
In the Journal of the Massachusetts House of Repre- sentatives, p. 95, under date of January 5, 1768, is the following: "A Petition of William Deming of Needham, Physician, praying that he may be allowed for Attendance on William Frazer, an Indian, in his last Sickness; and also on his Widow and Children as per Account annexed. Read and committed to the Committee appointed to consider the State of the Indians in the Provence".
In July, 1776, Michael Bacon petitioned the General Court stating "That one Alexander Quapifh a Poor Indian Belonging to this State who was taken Sick in the Army Near Cambridge and was Difmifed Came to the Houfe of your Petitioner in Said Needham in a Suffering Condi- tion on the 15th Day of November 1775 And Remained there Sick untill the 23d Day of March 1776 and then Died, and your Petitioner was at Great Trouble & Charge in Boarding Nurfing, and Burying Said Indian". This petition was endorsed by three selectmen, and accompanied by a bill of £6, 8s. of which eight shillings were for a coffin, and three shillings for "Diging his Grave". Archives, Vol. 214, pp. 57 and 572.
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
WARNINGS OUT OF TOWN
Under the First Charter there was legislation as to the entertainment of strangers, and in 1692 to prevent people from gaining a settlement it was necessary for the selectmen to issue an order to a constable, whose duty it was to warn the intruder out of town within three months of the arrival of such a person, and the service of such warning was re- quired to be recorded with the clerk of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace. In 1701 the time was extended to twelve months, and it was the duty of every householder who harbored a stranger for forty days to notify the select- men of that fact under a penalty of £5, but in 1726 the time was reduced to twenty days, and the fine for failure to in- form the selectmen was made forty shillings. By the law of 1731 the exact date when the stranger arrived in town, and the name of the place from whence he or she came, were essential to a proper notice to the selectmen. On March 6, 1712/13, the town voted that no person should entertain any one not an inhabitant of the town without the advice of the selectmen, excepting only able-bodied persons, who were in no danger of becoming public charges.
Every individual locating in a new place expected to be warned out, and it was no personal reflection. When Dr. Joshua Wheat came to Needham in 1729 to practice medi- cine he was promptly warned out, and in his case the action of the officials was not as absurd as in some other instances, for the Doctor did not prosper. In 1753 Jacob Fullam, the well-known Indian agent, was warned out, and in 1765 Mrs. Eunice Bartlett of Newton, one of our teachers, had a similar experience because she brought her little daughter, Lois, to Needham. In 1766 Ensign Timothy Cheney, a substantial yeoman, who came from Newtown with his family, was warned, and this custom continued to the close of the century. The list of the individuals warned out of town has a value for those interested in family history, as
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
the names of whole families, sometimes their ages, together with other facts, are found in these warnings as recorded by our town clerks, who kept a fairly complete record of them to the time of the Revolution.
In 1743/4 Constable William Chub was allowed twenty- four shillings, old tenor, for "warning Divers perfons out of this town and for his Returning Sd to ye Clerk of ye Quarter Seffions", and four years later Dea. Eleazer Kings- bery and Henry Dewing were to have £2, 5s. for going to Boston "to git a warrant to Carry Nicholus Mutter out of Town". This expensive Mutter affair is referred to else- where in this book. In 1772 Constable Josiah Ware had £2 for twenty-eight warnings and recording them, in 1774 Constable Ebenezer Fuller charged eight pence each for thirteen warnings, and Lieutenant Alden at the same rate for forty-two warnings in 1776, or early in 1777.
The following is a copy of one of the selectmen's warrants: "Suffolk: fs To Either of the Conftables of the Town of Needham in Said County - - Greeting
You are in the Name of the Commonwealth of Mafsa- chufetts Directed to warn and Give Notice unto the Follow- ing perfons hereafter Mentioned in this warrant who has lately Come into Town for the purpofe of abiding therein not haveing obtained the Towns Confent Therefor, that they Depart the Limets thereof, with their Children or others under their Care if Such they have within fifteen Days, Viz."
Then follow the descriptions of eight families, giving the names of the wife and children in each, and stating when and from whence they came to Needham. One of these families was that of Zibeon Hooker, "Gentleman", who had been an officer in the War of the Revolution, and who was in his old age one of the last survivors of the Battle of Bunker Hill. It included his wife, Sarah, and five children, all of whom were from "Sherburn", and arrived in Needham in May, 1792. At the other extremity of the social scale
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THE HISTORY OF NEEDHAM
was Ceaser Cummings, Negro, his wife, "Pafince", and six children, all from Natick in 1789. There was one unattached woman, and four men, including Dr. Ebenezer Star, "Phyfi- tion"; the latter came from Weston in 1791. The warrant concludes: "And of this Precept with Your Doing thereon, you are to make return into the office of the Clerk of the Town within Twenty Days Next Coming, that Such further proceedings may be had in the Premifes as the Law Directs
Given under our hands and Seals at Needham aforefaid this Twenty ninth Day of April in the Year of our Lord Seventeen hundred and Ninety three
Aaron Smith Jur Silas Alden
Jofiah Newell Jonathan Kingsbery Ju! Robert Smith
Selectmen of
Needham"
The fact that so many persons were grouped in one war- rant, and that some were not recent arrivals, indicates the slackness then attending the enforcement of this law, which formerly had been taken more seriously.
SAN FRANCISCO RELIEF
Independent of the money raised by the Churches for the relief of the sufferers by the earthquake and fire in San Francisco in April, 1906, and of liberal private contribu- tions, there was a public, or town, subscription amounting to $761.50.
SMALLPOX AND HOSPITALS
On June 2, 1777, the town refused "to Provide a place or places for a Hofpital or Hofpitals for the Small Pox", and instructed their representative, Deacon Fisher, that he "Should Use his Intrft to put a Stop to all ye Hospitals" but on September 8, 1792, voted "to have a Hospital or Hospitals in said Town for the purpose of persons that are Inclined to have the Small pox to Repair to for that purpose
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