USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 30
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PART OF BRAINTREE
For several years after the expulsion of Morton the territory now comprising Quincy was without a single white inhabitant. Not until the May session of the General Court in 1634 was it "ordered that Boston shall have convenient enlarge- ment at Mount Wollaston." On the 8th of December in the same year a grant of land at Mount Wollaston was made to Rev. John Wilson, pastor of the Boston Church, who was the first landowner in Quincy under the Massachusetts charter.
On January 4, 1636, the point of land which still bears his name was awarded to Atherton Hough, and at the same meeting a committee of five was appointed to make further individual allotments. Among those who received allotments under this arrangement were: William Hutchinson, husband of the noted Anne Hutchinson, William Coddington, Edmund Quincy, and Rev. John Wheelwright. The last named married a sister of William Hutchinson. He became minister at Mount Wollaston and as Anne Hutchinson was already engaged in a sort of feud with Rev. John Wilson when Wheelwright arrived in America in June, 1636, she made haste to enlist him on her side. The next few years were taken up with church dissensions on account of this feud, and little progress was made in developing the Quincy settlement. In March, 1638, Governor Winthrop ordered Mrs. Hutchinson to leave the Massachusetts jurisdiction and she crossed the Neponset to join Wheelwright's family, intending to go to Portsmouth, but the plans were changed and they went to Rhode Island, where some of their adherents followed.
After the expulsion of Mrs. Hutchinson and Wheelwright, more attention
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was paid to the settlement of the region and on May 13, 1640, the Town of Braintree, which included the present City of Quincy, was incorporated by act of the General Court. From this time until February, 1792, the reader is referred to the chapter on Braintree for the history of the events connected with Quincy. However, it may be well to state that the South Precinct-which included the present towns of Braintree, Randolph and Holbrook-was incorporated on November 5, 1708, and Quincy became the North Precinct of Braintree, remain- ing as such for more than half a century.
THE TOWN INCORPORATED
In the latter part of the year 1790 about one hundred and twenty inhabitants of the Braintree North Precinct, and a few of those living in Dorchester and Milton immediately south of the Neponset River, united in a petition to the General Court asking that they might be set off as a separate town. The petition came before the Senate in January, 1791, and about the same time a town meet- ing was called in Braintree to decide on some course of action regarding it.
In the meantime the original South Precinct had become the Middle Precinct and a new South Precinct, embracing the present towns of Randolph and Hol- brook, had been organized. These two precincts now combined against the peti- tioners. A committee of six was appointed "to appear before the General Court by counsel to oppose the division of the town, and its representative was instructed to the same end." The petition went over until the next session, and in Septem- ber, 1791, another town meeting was held "to make one more effort before the legislative committee to prevent the dismemberment of Braintree." The effort proved futile, for on February 22, 1792, Gov. John Hancock, who had been born and brought up in the territory, approved the act incorporating the Town of Quincy.
While the act of incorporation was pending in the Legislature Rev. Anthony Wibird was requested to suggest a name for the town, something the petitioners had failed to do. He declined the honor and then Richard Cranch was asked to supply a name. He suggested the name Quincy, "in honor of Col. John Quincy." Some of the inhabitants wanted the town called Hancock, after Gov. John Hancock, who was then at the height of his personal popularity, though members of the Quincy family had been identified with the town almost from the very beginning.
FIRST TOWN MEETING
This same Richard Cranch, who was a justice of the peace, was authorized by the organic act to issue his warrant for the first town meeting, which he did, calling the meeting for Thursday, March 8, 1792. The warrant was addressed to Lieut. Elijah Veazie, who notified the voters, and at the appointed time the citizens assembled and elected the following officers: Ebenezer Miller, John Hall and Benjamin Beale, Jr., selectmen and assessors; Eben Vesey (or Veazie), clerk ; Thomas B. Adams, treasurer ; Joseph N. Arnold, constable ; Peter Brackett and Jonathan Baxter, fence viewers; Peter Brackett, Ebenezer Nightingale, Jonathan Baxter, Samuel Bass and Jonathan Beale, surveyors of highways ;
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Peter Adams and John Sanders, hog reeves; William Adams and William Sanders, tithingmen; Thomas Pratt, surveyor of boards and stileworks; John Billings, surveyor of hemp; Ebenezer Adams, packer of beef; Samuel Brown, culler of fish; Jonathan Webb, bread weigher; Thomas Cleverly, Jr., sealer of leather; John Nightingale and Lemuel Billings, hay wards; Edward W. Baxter and Samuel Nightingale, fire wards.
From this formidable array of officials it would seem that Quincy started off on its career with an officer for every conceivable duty. Quite a number of the positions, such as bread weigher and culler of fish have long since passed out of existence.
AN EARLY CUSTOM
At the time Quincy was incorporated the custom prevailed in many of the New England towns, of warning undesirable inhabitants to leave within a given period, "or suffer the consequences." At a town meeting held on February 12, 1793, the selectmen were instructed to issue warning to the following persons that their presence in Quincy was no longer to be tolerated : Thomas Welsh and wife, Barnabas Swift, Thomas Swift, Seth Joice, James McDaniels, Jacob Fowle and family, Linke Herd and family, Joseph Dorren, - Copeland, John Paul and family, James Faxon and family, Gaius Thayer and family, William Jenkins and Patty Page. No reason is found in the records why these people were to be expelled so unceremoniously from the town, though it is evident that they were engaged in some questionable line of business, or in practices that affected the general moral welfare. No doubt the citizens of that day were more zealous in their efforts to exclude such people from their midst than are the people of modern Quincy.
TOWN HALL
Not long after the town was incorporated and the local government organized. a building was erected for a grammar school with a hall for holding town meet- ings. It was destroyed by fire on December 30, 1815, and at the annual meeting on March 4, 1816, a committee was appointed to recommend a plan for a new structure. The report of the committee was as follows:
"Your committee are unanimously of the opinion that it will be expedient for the town to cause to be erected a building of sufficient dimensions to allow two school rooms on the lower floor, the second story to be reserved and con- veniently arranged as a town hall for the inhabitants to meet in. Your committee were also requested to report on a site for said building, but not having had time to give this point suitable consideration, would have it referred to another committee and they be chosen by ballot."
The report was accepted and agreed to, and the second committee reported in favor of a building 30 by 55 feet, two stories high, "to be located on John Brinsler's lot next to the burying ground." They also reported that such a building would cost $2,200, if built of wood, or $3,600, if built of stone. Thomas Greenleaf, Benjamin Page, Thomas B. Adams, Edmund Billings and Josiah Adams were then appointed a committee to select a site on the training field. This
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action was reconsidered on June 24, 1816, and after several sites had been examined it was voted on the 16th of July to accept the Brinsler lot, which was accordingly purchased for $339. The building was completed on July 21, 1817, at a cost of $2,127.19.
In 1841 the question came before the annual meeting in March of building a new town house and it was voted to build it on land owned by Daniel French, provided the same could be purchased at a price not exceeding one thousand dollars. It seems that this was as far as the proposition went at that time, for on February 9, 1844, a movement was voted down in town meeting to purchase the Universalist Church and convert it into a town hall. At the same meeting a proposition to erect a stone building for town purposes was defeated. A com- mittee was then chosen to investigate the subject and recommend a course to be pursued at an adjourned meeting. The committee, consisting of Solomon Willard, John Savil, Gershom Clements, John A. Green and Noah Curtis, reported in favor of a frame structure, the estimated cost of which was $7,587, on a plan 50 by 85 feet, two stories in height.
The report was accepted and the treasurer was ordered to purchase the lots on the corner of Canal and Hancock streets, owned by Faxon & Willett, but the title was found to be defective. Daniel Baxter, Benjamin Page, James New- comb, John Souther and George Veazie were then appointed a building com- mittee, the proposition to erect a frame house was reconsidered and it was voted to build one of stone, on land to be bought of Daniel French. The build- ing was completed in 1844, at a cost of $19, 115.93. In 1871 it was remodeled at a cost of $6,478 and is now the Quincy City Hall. In his inaugural address in 1917, Mayor Joseph L. Whiton said :
"I find that there are seventeen department officials and boards, with their respective clerks, having offices in the basement of the City Hall. It seems incredible that a city of the size and importance of Quincy should require so many of its officials and boards to transact its business in a basement under such unhealthy conditions as exist in the basement of this hall. This condition of affairs should be remedied at once and other quarters provided for them. The reducing of the number of councilmen from twenty-three to nine will enable the council to transact its business in smaller quarters than formerly used. This will enable us to supply accommodations for some of these departments above the first floor of the hall. When these departments have been removed from the basement, the basement can be fitted up, made fireproof and equipped so as to be a very desirable place in which to preserve the records and archives of the city."
From this extract from the mayor's inaugural address it can be seen that the city has outgrown the capacity of its municipal building and it will be but a few years until the question of a new one, more in keeping with the progressive spirit of the city, will have to be affirmed.
Thomas Greenleaf, who was appointed chairman of the committee in 1816 to select a site for the town hall, was an important factor in the development of Quincy about that time. He was born in Boston and graduated at Harvard in 1790. In 1803 he took up his residence in Quincy and soon manifested an interest in town affairs. Besides his connection with the building of the town hall, he caused the first almshouse to be built, securing an appropriation of
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$2,000 for this purpose, and under his efficient business methods the cost of maintaining the town poor was reduced about one-half. He died in Quincy in 1854.
QUINCY GRANITE
Previous to the year 1825 little attention had been given to the value of the granite deposits of the town. In that year, on behalf of the Bunker Hill Monu- ment Association, Gridley Briant bought a quarry in West Quincy for the pur- pose of taking out stone for the monument. This stone had already been examined and approved by Solomon Willard, and the quarry is still known as the "Bunker Hill Quarry." Before the opening of this quarry, the rough, glacial bowlders which lay scattered about over the surface had alone been used for building purposes. King's Chapel in Boston was built of this kind of stone. Shortly after it was completed in 1852, a town meeting in Braintree voted to prohibit the removal of any more stone from the commons, because if the ship- ment of stone to Boston continued there would not be enough left for the town's own use. In 1803 Josiah Bemis, George Stearns and Michael Wild split a large stone with iron wedges. This opened the way for the working of the great granite deposits and Quincy granite is now known wherever stone is used for monumental or building purposes. The report of the Bureau of Statistics for 1915 gives returns from more than one hundred stone working concerns, having a combined capital of over two millions of dollars.
POSTOFFICES
The first postmaster in Quincy was Richard Cranch, whose commission was dated April 1, 1795. Mr. Cranch, it will be remembered, was the man who selected the name of Quincy for the town, and the justice of the peace who issued his warrant for the first town meeting. Several times he represented Braintree in the General Court and was afterward a judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas. At the time of his appointment as postmaster the rates of letter postage varied from six cents for carrying a letter thirty miles or less to twenty- four cents for carrying one 450 miles or more. He served as postmaster until his death in ISII, and on January 1, 1812, Dr. Benjamin Vinton was appointed as his successor. During the period of his service, eastern and southern mails arrived and departed three times a week.
The present handsome postoffice building in Quincy was completed early in the spring of 1909 and was occupied on the first of March of that year. Its cost, exclusive of the site, was a little over seventy thousand dollars. The office is now a station of Metropolitan Boston. Besides the postmaster and his assistant, the office employs twenty-six carriers and fifteen clerks. There is also one rural carrier.
At the beginning of the year 1917 the other offices within the city limits were located at Atlantic, Squantum and Wollaston, all of them being branches of the Boston postoffice. Some forty years ago there were postoffices at West Quincy and Quincy Point, but they have been discontinued.
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CITIZENS GAS COMPANY
Early in 1860 Daniel P. Nye, F. M. Johnson and Eleazer Frederick applied to the Legislature for a charter to manufacture and sell gas to the town and people of Quincy. They and their associates were incorporated as "The Citizens Gas Light Company of Quincy," with power to own and hold real estate, manu- facture gas and make contracts for the sale of the same to the municipality and its inhabitants. The next year the town agrees by vote to pay for gas for street lamps for any persons who would erect lamp posts at their own expense, the posts to be a certain distance apart. This plan was followed for a few years, but in 1874 it was decided that coal gas was too expensive for illuminating the town, and it was voted to use naphtha gas instead. In 1876 the gas company reduced its prices and the town returned to the use of coal gas. Several years later the gas lights were displaced by electricity and the gas is now used chiefly for cook- ing and lighting private buildings.
INCORPORATED AS A CITY
Quincy was incorporated as a city by the act of May 17, 1888, Section I of which provides that "The inhabitants of the Town of Quincy shall, in case of the acceptance of this act by the voters of said town, as hereinafter provided, continue to be a body politic and corporate under the name of the City of Quincy, and as such shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations now pertaining to and incumbent upon the said town as a municipal corporation."
The act authorized the division of the town into six wards and the election of members of a city council-five of the members to be elected as councilmen at large and one from each ward. The executive authority is vested in a mayor, and the management of the public schools in a school committee. It was also provided that the first city election should be held on the first Tuesday in December and that the municipal year should begin on the first Monday in Janu- ary. The voters accepted the provisions of the act and on January 7, 1889, the city government of Quincy went into effect.
Following is a list of the mayors since the incorporation of the city, together with the year when each assumed the duties of the office: Charles H. Porter, 1889; Henry O. Fairbanks, 1891 ; William A. Hodges, 1894; C. F. Adams (2nd), 1896; Russell A. Sears, 1898; Harrison A. Keith, 1899; John O. Hall, 1900; Charles M. Bryant, 1902; James Thompson, 1905; William T. Shea, 1908; Eugene R. Stone, 1912; John L. Miller, 1914 (died the same year and the unex- pired term filled by Joseph L. Whiton) ; Chester I. Campbell, 1915; Gustave B. Bates, 1916; Joseph L. Whiton, 1917.
WATERWORKS
The first move toward supplying the Town of Quincy with water was made on May 3, 1883, when the governor approved an act of the Legislature incor- porating William L. Faxon, John A. Gordon, John O. Holden, Charles H. Porter and their associates and successors as the "Quincy Water Company," with a
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capital stock not to exceed $250,000. By the provisions of the act the company was authorized to take the waters of Town Brook, with all the other rights and privileges to which such corporations are entitled under the laws of Massa- chusetts. It was also provided in the act of incorporation that the Town of Quincy might purchase the franchise and property of the company, at a price to be mutually agreed upon, when two-thirds of the legal voters of the town gave their assent.
In June, 1885, the company was given the right to supply the Town of Milton with water, and on June II, 1891, two years after the incorporation of Quincy as a city, the Legislature, conferred upon the municipality the right to take the waters of Blue Hill River and certain of its tributaries as a water supply, and to issue bonds in any sum not exceeding $400,000 for the purpose of purchasing and developing the plant of the Quincy Water Company. The works were then purchased by the city and on June 13, 1892, another act was passed by the Legislature authorizing the mayor to appoint a board of water commis- sioners of three members. The same act increased the borrowing power of the city to not more than $700,000, to be known as the "Quincy Water Loan."
At the close of the year 1916 the Quincy waterworks system embraced nearly one hundred and forty miles of mains, 1,119 hydrants, with 8,872 meters in use. The receipts from water rates for the year amounted to $155,624.67 and the expense of maintenance was $12,968.29. About three miles of additional mains were laid in 1916 and forty-one new hydrants installed, at a cost of nearly twenty-nine thousand dollars.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Almost immediately after the town was incorporated in 1792, the citizens met and organized a Fire Association. Buckets, ladders and fire hooks were pur- chased and for many years this was the only fire department of which Quincy could boast. In 1812 a fund was raised by subscription and a hand engine was purchased. It was one of the kind that had to be filled with buckets and at a fire a line would be formed, the buckets passed from hand to hand to keep the engine supplied with water, while the firemen worked the pump. In cases where the supply of water was some distance from the fire, the engine would be drawn to the pond or rivers for a supply and then back to the fire, repeating the process until the fire was extinguished or the building burned down -more frequently the latter. The engine was called the "Columbia" and was stationed on Hancock Street. A little later another engine of the same type was purchased and named the "Adams." It was kept on School Street.
In 1826 a law was passed exempting firemen from military duty. This stimu- lated interest in the fire companies of Quincy and a number offered their services as volunteers. The first suction engine-the "Niagara"-was purchased in 1840. Three more and a hook and ladder outfit were purchased in 1844. The new engines were named the "Vulture," which was located at the Point; the "Tiger," stationed at South Quincy ; and the "Granite," in West Quincy.
By the act of April 8, 1853, the town was authorized to establish a fire depart- ment, but little change was made for nearly twenty years. In 1874 a steam pump was bought, the town paying $350 and the balance being raised by sub- scription. Two years later a reservoir was built at Wollaston Heights in order
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to store a volume of water to be used in case of fire. From that time additions were made to the department at intervals, until it reached its present state of efficiency.
The Quincy fire department now has six stations, viz .: Central, Wollaston, Atlantic, West Quincy, Quincy Point and Hough's Neck. According to the report of Faxon Billings, chief of the department for the year 1916, the equip- ment of these stations was then as follows: Central, one steam fire engine and tractor, one auto combination ladder truck, two auto combination hose trucks, one chief's car, two spare hose wagons and one bobsled. Wollaston, one com- bination ladder truck and one combination hose wagon, both drawn by horses. Atlantic, one auto combination hose truck. West Quincy, one ladder truck and one hose wagon, both drawn by horses. Quincy Point, one combination hose wagon drawn by horses. Hough's Neck, one combination hose wagon, horse drawn. The value of all the apparatus, including horses, was estimated at $82,600.
The department consists of a chief, three assistant chiefs, one captain, one lieutenant, the superintendent of fire alarm system, and thirty-five permanent men. During the year 1916 the department responded to 376 alarms.
MODERN QUINCY
According to the United States census of 1910, the population of Quincy was then 32,642. In 1915 the state census reported 40,674, a gain of 8,032 in five years. The city has four banks, two daily newspapers (the Patriot-Ledger and the Telegram), twenty-five churches of different denominations, seventeen public school buildings, a number of well stocked stores, and more than one hundred and fifty prosperous manufacturing establishments. Quincy is located on the line of the Boston & Plymouth division of the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford railway system, only eight miles from Boston, and is connected with the adjoining towns by electric railway lines. The assessed valuation of property in 1916, as reported by the board of assessors, was $62,789,130, and in his annual report the city treasurer announced a municipal indebtedness of $1,570,521.15 -nearly forty dollars in assets for every dollar of liabilities.
CITY GOVERNMENT
Following-is a list of the principal city officials at the commencement of the year 1917: Joseph L. Whiton, mayor ; Emery L. Crane, clerk; Walter E. Piper, treasurer ; Charles A. Hadlock, collector of taxes; Moses L. Brown, commis- sioner of public works; William Campbell, overseer of the poor; Frederick E. Tupper, Charles A. McFarland and Michael T. Sullivan, assessors; James H. Slade, Philip R. Guinan and Alexander A. Robertson, Jr., park commis- sioners; Daniel R. McKay, chief of police; Faxon Billings, chief of the fire department ; Walter H. Buchan, Dr. Michael T. Sweeney and Tupper G. Miller, board of health.
The city council, the legislative branch of the government, was composed of Alfred H. Richards (president), Thomas Griffin, Thomas J. McGrath, Rus- sell A. Sears, John D. Smith, Lewis Bass, William A. Bradford, Alexander Falconer and Rodney P. Gallagher. Regular meetings of the council are held on the first and third Thursday evenings of each month.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE TOWN OF RANDOLPH
GENERAL DESCRIPTION-CIVIC HISTORY-PETITION FOR DIVISION OF BRAINTREE- THE REMONSTRANCE-ACT OF INCORPORATION-THE TOWN NAME-FIRST TOWN MEETINGS-DIVISION OF RANDOLPH-TOWN HALL-FIRE DEPARTMENT-WATER- WORKS-RANDOLPH TODAY-ROSTER OF TOWN OFFICERS IN 1917.
Randolph lies in the southeastern portion of Norfolk County. On the north it is bounded by the Town of Milton and the City of Quincy; on the east by Braintree ; on the southeast by Holbrook; and on the west by Canton and Stough ton. Great Pond lies on the line between Randolph and Braintree, and Ponka- poag Pond on the line between Randolph and Canton. The Blue Hill or Monatiquot River forms the northern boundary line, and there are several small streams flowing into Great Pond. The surface is generally rolling, but in the valleys are fertile farms and fine orchards, giving the town an air of thrift and prosperity.
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