USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 13
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
At the annual meeting on March 31, 1873, Charles K. Kirby, Charles H. Drew and William Aspinwall were elected as the first board of water commissioners, and on October 28, 1873, the town passed an ordinance appropriating $400,000 for the construction of the works. Under this ordinance the plant was com- menced. Subsequently, "scrip" to the amount of $75,000 was issued to complete the waterworks, but even this addition was insufficient, and on April 21, 1876, it was voted to borrow $25,000 in addition to the $475.000 previously appropriated. By the act of November 8, 1888, the town was authorized "to issue notes, scrip or certificates of debt, to be denominated 'Brookline Water Scrip,' to an amount not exceeding $500,000, in addition to the $700,000 which said town has been heretofore authorized to issue." With the funds thus provided the capacity of the plant was increased to 3.000,000 gallons daily, giving Brookline one of the best waterworks systems in the state.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The first mention of anything in the nature of protection against fire to be found in the town records is in the minutes of the town meeting of March 17. 1788, when "Col. Aspinwall and Lieut. Croft were chosen Firewards." Some time after this (the records are not plain in the matter) an arrangement was made with the Town of Roxbury to establish jointly a system of fire protection. In the records of the town meeting of March 9, 1795, is the entry: "Voted to pay one-half the expences of the Repairs of the Fire Engine in futer." Two years later, May 18, 1797, it was "Voted that this Town will beare one-half the expences of the new Waggon for conveying the Fire Engine." This partnership arrangement with Roxbury continued for a number of years. In 1828 a new engine called the "Norfolk" was purchased for $475, of which Brookline paid $325 and Roxbury $150. On April 6, 1829, it was "Voted, That a committee be chosen to see what amount the Town of Roxbury have allowed for the purchase of Hose and Buckets for the New Engine Norfolk, and that this Town meet them in any expense not exceeding Fifty Dollars."
In 1842 the "Norfolk" was sold for $297.40 and the money was divided between the two towns in proportion to what each had paid fourteen years before. The Town of Brookline then established a department of its own. An engine and a supply of hose were purchased and on May 23, 1855, the sum of $1,500 was appropriated for the erection of a hook and ladder house. In the spring of 1864 the question of purchasing a steam fire engine was referred to the select- men, who reported that it was "inexpedient to purchase at present, owing to a scarcity of accommodations for obtaining a supply of water."
In 1871 the office of fireward was abolished and the selectmen authorized to appoint a board of fire engineers "in conformity with the General Statutes." The same year an appropriation of $14,000 was made for a new engine house on Washington Street, to take the place of the old one, and the pay of the depart- ment members was increased. Two years later A. Kenrick, Jr., Charles D. Head and J. T. Waterman were appointed a committee "to purchase and equip three steam fire engines." The committee reported in favor of purchasing but one engine, which was obtained and placed in commission at a cost of $6,950. Three new reservoirs, in addition to two previously constructed, were ordered built.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
After the waterworks were finished, Charles K. Kirby, Horace James, A. Kenrick, Jr., J. T. Waterman and Marshall Russell were appointed a committee "to see if the steam fire engine could be dispensed with," but it was finally decided to keep the engine ready for use in emergencies.
On the last day of April, 1877, the selectmen were instructed to "purchase and place a hose carriage at Longwood, if there is enough left of the appropria- tion for the Fire Department for that purpose." Longwood is a suburb in the northwesterly part of the town, where a hose company had been organized some time before the above action was taken by the town meeting. On March 20, 1882, an appropriation of $10,500 was made to purchase "a horse and chemical engine for Longwood." The development of the department since that time has been in keeping with the growth of the town, so that Brookline now is well provided with trained men and modern equipment for the extinguishment of fires.
PUNCH BOWL TAVERN
In the fall of 1640 a bridge was ordered to be built at Muddy River and for many years after that time the present Washington Street was one of the principal highways leading into Boston. A great many teams from the country west of the city passed over the road and a stopping place became a necessity. To supply this demand John Ellis built the "Punch Bowl Tavern." The original building was a two story frame, with hipped roof, to which additions were made from time to time by purchasing old houses in Boston and removing them to Brookline to form portions of the tavern. Harriet F. Woods, in her Historical Sketches of Brook- line, says the house was "a curious medley of old rooms of all sorts and sizes, connected together in a nondescript manner and presenting an architectural style, which, if we might apply a geological term to it, we should call a conglomerate."
The house was located near the corner of Pearl Street. Its sign-an oval board suspended from a high red post-depicted a large bowl and ladle under a lemon tree laden with fruit, some of which lay around the bowl as though fallen from the tree. A bench ran along the front under a porch, where the "sages" of Brookline met to settle the weighty problems of the day. The selectmen of the town used to have annual suppers in this old tavern. About 1833 the old house was purchased by Isaac Thayer and torn down.
An old house on the corner of Washington Street and Brookline Avenue, where the offices of the Brookline Gas Company were afterward located, was then opened as a tavern under the sign of the "Punch Bowl," but it had none of the patronage or prestige of its predecessor. Its patronage was local and inclined to be of the disreputable class. On March 25. 1844, the Brookline Town meeting adopted the following resolutions regarding this tavern :
"Whereas, The recent painful and distressing occurrence in the death of Robert Noyes from Ardent Spirits, and by the verdict of the jury his death was caused 'by liquor obtained at the Punch Bowl and elsewhere,' and
"Whereas, The location of the Punch Bowl Tavern renders it identified in the weal or woe of the Town of Brookline, and by its indiscriminate sale of Ardent Spirits is more clearly identified as injurious to the town, producing consequences that call loudly on the friends of good order and sobriety, therefore,
"Resolved. That this meeting view the untimely death of Robert Noyes from Vol. 1-7
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intoxication with pain and sorrow, and that as good citizens we will do all in our power to prevent a like disastrous occurrence.
"Resolved, That a committee of twenty be appointed to repair in a body to the Punch Bowl Tavern and under sanction and authority of the town remonstrate with Mr. J. Sprague, or whoever may have charge, against the indiscriminate sale of intoxicating liquors."
The committee was composed of Samuel A. Walker, A. H. Clapp, Daniel Sanderson, David Coolidge, Thomas Griggs, Otis Withington, Moses Jones, Samuel Goddard, Hugh M. Sanborn, James Bartlett, Caleb Craft, Jr., Joshua M. Blanchard, William Hardy, Charles Stearns, Jr., A. W. Goddard, Timothy Corey, James Leeds, Harrison Fay, Samuel Craft and Thomas Kendall. The crusade thus commenced resulted in the closing of the house a little later.
BROOKLINE OF THE PRESENT
Brookline is the wealthiest town in Norfolk County and second in population, being exceeded in the latter respect only by Quincy. In 1915 the assessed valua- tion of property was $158,297,618. The population in 1910 was 27,792, and by the state census of 1915 it was 33,490, a gain of 5,698 in five years. The town has three banks with aggregate deposits nearly ten millions of dollars, two weekly newspapers, gas and electric light, well paved streets, electric railway lines to Boston and the neighboring towns, two lines of steam railway (the Boston & Albany and the New York, New Haven & Hartford), a fine public library, an excellent public school system and a number of beautiful church edifices. But it is as a residential town that Brookline stands preeminent. It is related that many years ago a visiting preacher, in the course of his sermon, said: "I know not, my friends, how you can help being Christians, for you already live in paradise." The present inhabitants have kept up the reputation established by their ancestors. The broad, well kept lawns, the handsome homes and shade trees all combine to make Brookline one of the most pleasant towns in the Old Bay State.
CHAPTER XIII
THE TOWN OF CANTON
LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND DESCRIPTION-EARLY HISTORY-CANTON INCORPO- RATED-THE PETITION AND ITS SIGNERS-FIRST TOWN MEETING-TOWN HALL -WATERWORKS-FIRE DEPARTMENT-GAS WORKS-POSTOFFICE-THE DOTY TAVERN-EARLY ORDINANCES-CANTON IN 1917. .
A little southeast of the geographical center of Norfolk County is situated the Town of Canton. On the north and northwest it is bounded by the Neponset River, which separates it from the towns of Norwood, Westwood and Dedham; on the northeast by Milton and Randolph; southerly by Stoughton; and on the southwest by Sharon. The surface is rolling and in some places hilly, and evi- dences of glacial action are to be seen in the ponds, of which there are several in the town. Reservoir Pond is located near the center and a little southeast of it is a smaller body of water called Muddy Pond. Ponkapoag Pond is on the line between Canton and Randolph, while in the southern part are Ice, Ames, Forge, Factory and a few smaller ponds. The Pequin River flows into Reservoir Pond, Mill Brook into Ames Pond, and there are a number of smaller streams, so that all parts of the town are well watered.
EARLY HISTORY
The territory now comprising the Town of Canton was originally a part of Dorchester. When the latter town (at first called Mattapan) was created in 1630 it embraced only the little district between Boston and the Neponset River, extend- ing to the Massachusetts Bay on the east. In 1636 the General Court granted to the Dorchester Plantation some six thousand acres south of the Neponset. This was known as the "Unquety Grant" and is now included in the Town of Milton. The next year another grant was made to the town, "being all the territory not before granted between Dedham and the Plymouth Colony." In this "New Grant" were included the present towns of Canton, Stoughton and Sharon, and portions of Wrentham and Foxborough. On December 15, 1715, this territory was organized as Dorchester South Precinct. Its dismemberment began in 1724, when the southwest part was added to the Town of Wrentham, which had been incorporated in 1673. Stoughton was incorporated on December 22, 1726, and included what are now Stoughton, Canton, Sharon and a large part of Fox- borough. On July 2, 1740, the Dorchester Second Precinct was established, constituting what are now the towns of Sharon and Foxborough, leaving Stough- ton as the old Dorchester South Precinct. Canton then remained a part of Stoughton for fifty-seven years longer.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
CANTON INCORPORATED
On March 9, 1795, the inhabitants of the First Parish of Stoughton held a meeting at the parish church. The thirteenth article to come before the meeting was "to see if the parish will petition the General Court to be set off as a sepa- rate town." The vote was in the affirmative and Elijah Dunbar, Nathan Crane, Joseph Bemis, Benjamin Gill and Elijah Crane were appointed a committee to prepare the petition. It was further voted that Colonel Gill, Capt. Elijah Crane and Col. Nathan Crane be a committee to present the petition to the General Court. Following is the petition :
"To the Honourable Senate and House of Representatives of the Com'th of Mass'tts, in General Court asembled :
"The Petition of the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the first Parish in the Town of Stoughton, in the County of Norfolk in said Com'th, humbly showeth that the local situation of said Town of Stoughton is very singular, being near eleven miles in length & about four Miles in breadth, as may appear by a Plan thereof, and also that there is a large body of land laying upon and contiguous to the line between the North and South Parishes, which is and always will be incapable of any valuable improvement, which throws the bulk of the Inhabitants of said Parishes at a great distance from each other, which peculiar circumstance makes it always inconvenient & sometimes impracticable for the Inhabitants of either of said Parishes to attend Town Meeting as they have been usually held for some years past, by reason of the great distance of way & sometimes impassable roads.
"Therefore your Petitioners humbly pray that the lands within said first Parish & the Inhabitants thereof (except those persons and their property that wish to remain with the Town of Stoughton) may be incorporated into a Distinct and separate Town. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever pray."
The petition was dated April 17, 1795, and was signed by the following resi- dents of the first parish : Thomas Allen, Dudley Bailey, Henry Bailey, Israel Bailey, Moses Baker, Joseph Bemis, William Bent, Dan Billing, Isaac Billing, John Billing, Jonathan Billing, Nathan Billing, Nathaniel Billing, Peter Billing, Samuel Billing, Jacob Billings, Joseph Billings, Stephen Billings, Adam Blackman, Adam Blackman, Jr., George Blackman, John Blackman, Samuel Blackman, Stephen Blake, Benjamin Bussey, Samuel Canterbury, John Capen, Samuel Capen, Joseph Chandler, Calvin Crane, Elijah Crane, Elijah Crane, 2nd, Henry Crane, Jarathiel Crane, Nathan Crane, Silas Crane, William Crane, George Crossman, Lemuel Davenport, Enoch Dickerman, Edward Downs, Oliver Downs, Elijah Dunbar, John Dunlop, Elijah Endicott, James Endicott, Jonathan Farrington, Charles Fenno, Elijah Fenno, Abel Fisher, Ezekiel Fisher, Lemuel Fisher, Nathaniel Fisher, Thomas French, Benjamin Gill, Elijah Gill, John Gill, Samuel Gooch, Richard Gridley, David Hartwell, Elisha Hawes, Joseph Henry, Judah Henry, Joses Hill, Nathaniel Hill, Ebenezer Holmes, Comfort Hoyton, Ephraim Hunt, Ezekiel Johnson, Ephraim Jones, George Jordan, John Kenney, John Kenney, Jr., Nathaniel Kenney, Fisher Kingsbury, Rodolpis Kinsley, Silas Kinsley, Enoch Leonard, Uriah Leonard, Benjamin Lewis, James H. Lewis, Laban Lewis, Benjamin Lyon, Archibald McKendry, William McKendry, John Madden, Luther May, Henry Morse, Henry Morse, Jr., John Morse, Samuel Morse, Samuel Morse, Jr., Nathaniel Pitt, Abel Puffer, Elijah Puffer, John Puffer, James Reed,
.
PAUL REVERE HOUSE, CANTON
HIGH SCHOOL, CANTON
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
Michael Shaller, Nathaniel Shepard, Oliver Shepard, Thomas Shepard, William Shepard, Ephraim Smith, James Smith, Lemuel Smith, Redmon Spurr, Joseph Stearns, George Stone, Seth Strobridge, Samuel Strobridge, Benjamin Sylvester, David Talbot, John Tant, John Tant, Jr., Lemuel Tant, Peter Thayer, Jr., Josiah Tilden, Nahaniel Tilden, Benjamin Tucker, Daniel Tucker, James Tucker, John Tucker, Samuel Tucker, Samuel Tucker, Jr., Simeon Tucker, Amos Upham, Sam- uel Wales, Abel Wentworth, Arunah Wentworth, Benjamin Wentworth, Elijah Wentworth, Oliver Wentworth, Paul Wentworth, Seth Wentworth, John Wentworth, Nathaniel Wentworth, Samuel Wheeler, William Wheeler, Lemuel Whiting, Nathaniel Whiting, Philip Whiting, Richard Wild, Jonathan Withington.
The petition was presented to the General Court on June 11, 1795, by Benjamin Gill, Elijah Crane and Nathan Crane, the committee appointed for that purpose. Stoughton appointed a committee, consisting of James Pope, Samuel Talbot, Joseph Richards and Samuel Shepard, to oppose this petition. Among the argu- ments advanced by the Stoughton committee was the fact that the petition was signed by one hundred and forty-three persons, when there were but one hundred and forty legal voters in the parish. The whole question was postponed until the next session of the General Court. On January 20, 1796, Stoughton pre- sented a remonstrance signed by Lemuel Drake and one hundred and sixty-nine others. This gave the petitioners a chance to retaliate, by showing that the remon- strance contained fifteen more names than there were legal voters in the second parish, and that several of the names thereon were those of residents of the first parish, who had previously signed the petition. On June 10, 1796, the committee of the first parish and that of the Town of Stoughton agreed that the matter should be referred to a special committee, composed of Senator Seth Bullard, Representative Joseph Hewins of Sharon, and Judge Bullock of Rehoboth. Act- ing under instructions from the General Court, this committee visited Stoughton and spent several days in looking over the town, hearing arguments pro and con, and on September 3, 1796, made a report in favor of granting the prayer of the petitioners. The report was accepted and on February 23, 1797, the act incorpo- rating the Town of Canton was approved.
FIRST TOWN MEETING
Thomas Crane, a justice of the peace, issued his warrant on February 24, 1797, to Laban Lewis, requiring him to warn the legal voters to assemble at the meeting house in Canton on the 6th of March "at one of the clock P. M., then and there to choose all such officers as towns are required by law to elect." At the meeting held in pursuance of this warrant, Elijah Dunbar was chosen modera- tor ; Elijah Crane, Benjamin Tucker and Nathan Crane were chosen selectmen and assessors; Elijah Crane, clerk; Joseph Bemis, treasurer. No further business was transacted at this meeting.
TOWN HALL
For many years after the town was incorporated the town meetings were held in the First Parish meeting house and the different officials had their offices at their residences or places of business. Then the meeting place was changed to
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
the Baptist Church at Canton Center, and when that denomination erected a new house of worship at South Canton in 1837 the old one was purchased by the town for $650. It was a small building, but it was Canton's first town house and the public business was transacted there for more than forty years.
At the annual town meeting in April, 1878, a committee, consisting of one member from each of the school districts, was appointed to select a location and procure plans for the erection of a new town hall. The committee was composed of William Horton, Elisha Horton, Frank M. Ames, Ellis Tucker, George E. Downes, Thomas Lonergan and James S. Shepard. On June 17, 1878, the committee reported and after some discussion it was decided to locate the new hall on the corner of Washington and Depot streets, where Elijah A. Morse offered to donate the ground for a site. Frank M. Ames, James S. Shepard, Elisha Horton, Edward R. Eager and Joseph W. Wattles were appointed a committee to take a deed of the land in behalf of the town, and to select a plan from some of those submitted to that meeting. The design submitted by Stephen C. Earle, an architect of Boston, was selected and the same committee was continued to superintend the erection of the building, "to be known as Memorial Hall."
The structure is 62 by 101 feet in dimensions, two stories high, with base- ment under the entire building. The foundation walls and the steps at the main entrances are of Concord granite. The walls of the superstructure are of brick, laid in black mortar, and the trimmings are of Longmeadow freestone. On the first floor are the offices of the clerk, treasurer, selectmen, etc., and a large fireproof vault for the safekeeping of the public records. For about twenty years the public library also occupied quarters on this floor. In the main corridor are the memorial tablets, bearing the names of the Canton soldiers who sacrificed their lives upon their country's altar in the War of the Rebel- lion. These tablets were presented to the town by Elijah A. Morse. Over the door to the corridor is the inscription: "Erected to commemorate the patriotism of the soldiers of Canton, who fell in defence of the Union in the War of the Rebellion," and over the tablets is a transom running the full width, in the center of which are the dates "1861-1865," with the motto: "It is sweet and honorable to die for one's country." On the second floor is a public hall 58 by 67 feet, with a large stage at one end. The seating capacity of this hall-main floor and gallery-is about eight hundred, though on special occasions the doors between the anterooms and the stage can be opened, making room for over one thousand.
At the time it was voted to erect a new hall, an appropriation of $31,000 was made to pay for the erection of the building and the improvements of the grounds. The actual cost, including the expenses of the dedicatory ceremonies, was $30,961.12, leaving a balance of $38.88, which was turned back into the town treasury. On October 30, 1879, the people turned out in large numbers to be present at the dedication of their new hall. The address on that occasion was delivered by Charles Endicott and short speeches were made by a number of prominent men, among whom were Governor Talbot. Secretary of State Peirce, Charles Adams, ex-treasurer of state, and Elijah A. Morse, who donated the ground upon which the building is situated. In 1916 the selectmen awarded a contract to Martin F. Burke to install a new heating plant at a cost of $3.500.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
WATERWORKS
The Canton Waterworks were established in 1887 and were paid for by a bond issue, of which the sum of $59,000 was outstanding on January 1, 1917. In their twenty-ninth annual report, for the year ending on December 31, 1916, the board of water commissioners-Michael F. Ward, James A. O'Leary and Walter S. Draper-give the total cost of the works up to that time as $335,258.37. During the year 1916 a new standpipe was erected at Ponkapoag at a cost of $10.359, and $905.78 was expended in repairing and painting the old one. The sources of supply are Henry's Springs at Springdale, and the State Board of Health has pronounced the water to be of excellent quality. During the twenty-nine years since the works were first completed the mains have been extended, until at the close of 1916 there were over thirty miles in use. The number of gallons pumped in 1916 was 110, 198,000. The report for that year shows 251 hydrants and nearly twelve hundred customers.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
In the beginning Canton's fire department differed but little from that of the other towns of Norfolk County-a volunteer company and a hand fire engine that could cope with fires of moderate magnitude, but were powerless against great conflagrations. As the town grew in importance and the property valuation increased proportionately, the people were not slow to recognize the necessity of better means of extinguishing fires. After the waterworks were built in 1887, regular hose companies were organized and a number of men paid by the town were kept constantly on duty. In 1895 a fire alarm system was installed. At the annual meeting in 1915 it was voted to purchase two auto combination trucks and the selectmen were instructed to carry out the order. Ten companies submitted bids on the apparatus, but the board accepted that of the Kissel Kar Company, which offered to furnish the two trucks for $6,500. One of these trucks was installed at the Central Fire Station and the other at Ponkapoag. The latter answers all fire alarms at Canton Corner.
At the close of the year 1916 the board of fire engineers was composed of Frederic P. Drake, chief. Ralph C. Crowell and Owen Galligan. In their annual report they give the equipment as one steam fire engine, two motor com- bination trucks, and three hose companies, each stationed in a house of its own. All members of the department were placed under civil service by a vote of the annual town meeting on March 6, 1916. The appropriation for that year was $4,800, exclusive of the amount paid for the two new trucks ordered the preceding year. During the year 1916 the department answered sixteen calls, in which the value of property involved was over forty thousand dollars, but the loss was only $5,280, fully covered by insurance. No better evidence is necessary as to the efficiency of the department.
GAS WORKS
Early in the year 1916 a public meeting was held in Lower Memorial Hall to consider the question of granting a franchise to the Brockton Gas Light
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
Company to furnish the town with gas. It was the sense of the meeting that the franchise should be granted and the board of selectmen was instructed accordingly. The board then awarded the franchise on a basis of $1.40 per 1,000 cubic feet of gas for the term of four years, with a reduction of five cents every two years thereafter until a minimum price of $1.20 is reached, "or fifteen cents in excess of the then prevailing price in the City of Brockton."
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