USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, vol 1 > Part 7
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This proposition met with some opposition. A remonstrance, signed by about forty representative citizens of the county, was sent in to the commissioners and published in the Dedham Gazette, but it was ignored by the commissioners, who on April 26, 1860, voted "to erect a fire-proof structure for the custody of the public records, and additional apartments for the accommodation of citizens in attendance upon the business of the court, by extending this building to meet the existing wants of the county."
The contract for the alterations and additions was awarded to Nelson Curtis and William Huston, who began on June 12, 1860. The corner-stone was relaid on September 13, 1860, without disturbing in any way the deposit placed in the corner-stone laid on July 4, 1825. By the side of the former deposit were placed the following articles: A photograph of the court-house of 1825; a drawing of the court-house showing the alterations of 1860; a list of the officers of the Court of Probate and Insolvency; a list of the county officers; the Boston Almanac, all of 1860; copies of the county newspapers ; a copy of the annual report of the Town of Dedham for 1860; newspapers containing the history of the previous court-houses ; a document containing the names of the architects, contractors and others concerned in the alterations then being made, and a steel pen. The first session of the Probate Court in the new office in the north wing was held on November 4, 1861, but the building was not fully completed until the following year. The cost of the alterations was about seventy-five thousand dollars.
THE PRESENT COURT-HOUSE
During the year 1890 the board of county commissioners authorized the expenditure of over five thousand dollars in making repairs upon the court- house. The board was then composed of George W. Wiggin, of Franklin; John Q. A. Lothrop, of Cohasset ; and Melville P. Morrell, of Hyde Park, which was then one of the towns of Norfolk County. Mr. Morrell advocated another addi- tion to the building, rather than spend any more of the county's money in what he considered "temporary makeshifts." In the fall of 1891 the question of another addition to the court-house became, in a way, a political issue. Mr. Mor-
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THE COURTHOUSE, DEDHAM
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
rell, whose attitude on the subject was well known, was reelected by a large majority, indicating that his views had the approbation of the citizens.
Shortly after the election, the commissioners employed the firm of Wait & Cutter, architects of Boston, to make plans for the proposed addition. On April 28, 1892, a contract was made with Lyman D. Willcutt, of Dedham, for the first stone work, and on the 25th of the following July Mr. Willcutt was awarded the contract "for the superstructure of the addition on the rear of the old court- house and changes of the court-room portions." The next day a contract was entered into with B. D. Whitcomb & Company, carpenters and builders, of Boston, to do the finishing on the new addition. Later contracts were made with Keeler & Company, of Boston, for new furniture, and with Hollings & Com- pany, of Boston, for the gas and electric fixtures. On February 6, 1894, another contract was made with Lyman D. Willcutt & Son "for the complete alteration of the front portion of the old court-house and the dome."
The walls of the new addition were constructed of granite from the same quarry as that used in the former building and addition, that no lack of uni- formity might appear. The halls, corridors and lavatories are wainscoted with marble from Tennessee and Italy, and the same kind of marble is used in the stairways. The main floor in the corridors is also of Tennessee marble. Through- out the woodwork, door and window casings, etc., is of polished quartered oak, and the furniture is of the same material. The roof of the building is of slate and that of the dome is of copper. In 1894 the Legislature authorized the county to borrow $125,000, which sum represents approximately the cost of the new addition and the alterations in the old part of the court-house.
THE DEDICATION
O.1 June 20, 1895, just one hundred and two years after Norfolk County was first organized, the remodeled court-house was dedicated with appropriate cere- monies. The first exercises were conducted in the court-room, beginning at 10:30 A. M. Mellville P. Morrell, chairman of the board of county commis- sioners, called the meeting to order and, after prayer by Rev. Mark B. Taylor of Canton, made a short introductory address. He was followed by Hon. Fred- erick D. Ely, who delivered the historical address, in which he reviewed the progress of Norfolk County for one hundred and two years and gave a brief history of each of its court-houses. Judge Ely was followed by Chief Justice Albert Mason, of the Superior Court of the Commonwealth, who delivered the dedicatory address. The exercises at the court-house were followed by a banquet in Memorial Hall, which was attended by some four hundred persons. Thomas E. Grover acted as toastmaster, and among the responses were the following :
"The County of Norfolk," Hon. Roger Wolcott, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts.
"Our Revolutionary Patriots," Charles Francis Adams.
"Political History of Norfolk County." Alfred D. Chandler.
"The Norfolk Bar, Past and Present," Edward Avery.
"The Superior Court," Hon. James R. Dunbar.
"Norfolk County in the Civil War." John D. Billings.
"Manufacturing Industries of Norfolk County," Elijah A. Morse.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
"The Clergy, in Their Relation to Civil Government," Rev. Reuben Thomas of Brookline.
COURT-HOUSE AT QUINCY
Chapter 477 of the Acts of 1910 conferred upon the commissioners of Norfolk County the necessary authority "to purchase land in Quincy and construct a building for the District Court of East Norfolk." The site for the building was purchased at a cost of $19,000, and the Legislature of 1911 passed an act "to provide for completing and furnishing the building," etc.
William Chapman, an architect of Boston, was employed to make plans, and on July 8, 1911, the contract for the erection of the court-house was awarded to William Crane of Cambridge, the contractor who built the new wing of the state house. His bid was $59,471, but these figures did not include the heating plant, plumbing, electric wiring and some minor features. On January 10, 1912, the commissioners reported that the cost of the building up to that time was $71,797.07. The grounds were graded and a few "finishing touches" were added after that report, so that the total cost of court-house and furnishings was about seventy-five thousand dollars.
The Quincy court-house has a granite foundation and the walls of the super- structure are of light-colored brick. At the main entrance are two large granite columns that reach nearly to the top of the second story windows, supporting a pediment of simple yet graceful design. The construction of the building is fireproof throughout and its capacity is ample for the needs of the District Court of East Norfolk for years to come.
THE COUNTY JAIL
On August 25, 1794, the Court of General Sessions, at a session held at Gay's Tavern in Dedham, ordered: "That the committee on buildings proceed as soon as may be in collecting materials for building the jail, with the necessary irons for plating one room of the same for the security of prisoners, without being restricted to contract by the job, as for the court-house, but according to their best discretion for the benefit of the county."
On the last day of September following this order, the court accepted from Timothy Gay the gift of a lot "Bounding southerly on the Post Road from Boston to Providence, beginning ten feet west of the southwest corner of said Gay's garden near his dwelling house, thence measuring fifty-four feet south- westerly, on said Gay's land 88 feet, two sides in said Gay's land similar, so as to make a parallelogram."
In other words, the jail lot thus donated was situated on what is now High- land Street, not far from the Episcopal Church. The jail erected on that lot was a frame building and the first prisoner was incarcerated within its walls in Feb- ruary, 1795. It served the county as a jail until 1817, when a stone jail thirty- three feet square and two stories in height was erected upon the lot occupied by the present jail. The old wooden jail was then used until 1833 as a house of correction. It was torn down in 1833, the year after a brick house of correction was completed on the jail lot on Village Avenue.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
The jail built in 1817 was of hammered stone, with walls so massive that, after deducting the space for the rooms assigned to the jailer, there was but little space left for cells and stairways. The cost of this jail was $15,000-not a profitable investment for the county, owing to the defects in arrangement mentioned above. In 1851 part of the jail and the brick house of correction were torn down to make way for the main portion of the present structure, which includes the octagon central portion and the east and west wings, in which cells were constructed. The workshop was added to the west wing in 1875, and the sheriff's residence, on the south side of the central portion, facing Village Avenue, was built in 1880.
Around the walls of the octagonal central portion are iron galleries level with the floor of each tier of cells in the wings. The total number of cells is 108. By this arrangement the turnkey, from his desk in the center, commands a view of all the corridors and can detect any mutiny or insubordination on the part of the prisoners. In this high central part two men have been executed. George C. Hersey was hanged here on August 8, 1862, and James H. Costley on June 25, 1875. An account of the crimes for which these men suffered capital punishment is given in another chapter. In scraping off the old paint on the interior of the central portion in May, 1917, preparatory to repainting, the date "1832" was exposed on the wall of the north wing, showing it to be a part of Norfolk County's second jail.
The jail kitchen in the basement is equipped with modern cooking and bread-making apparatus, the oven having a capacity of 500 pounds of bread at one baking. In the basement are also the store room and a large bathroom provided with a dozen porcelain lined bathtubs. Every prisoner is required to take a bath upon entering and at regular stated intervals during his imprisonment. The entire building is heated by steam and special attention is given to the sanitary conditions. In the county treasurer's report for the year 1916 the value of the jail building and lot is given at $333,500.
THE REGISTRY BUILDING
Opposite the court-house on High Street stands the Registry Building, which was erected under the provisions of the act of May 12, 1903, authorizing the county commissioners to expend the sum of $280,000 for that purpose. A previous act had authorized the expenditure of $200,000. After the passage of the supplementary act, adding $80,000 to the building fund, the firm of Pea- body & Stearns, architects of Boston, were employed to make plans and speci- fications. Three bids were opened on July 7, 1903, and on the 14th the contract was awarded to McNeil Brothers of Boston, their bid being $256,506.
The main section of the building is 52 by 186 feet, two stories high, and in the rear there is a one-story projection 68 by 80 feet. There is a basement under the entire building, in which is located the heating plant, etc. The front and end walls of the main portion are faced with Deer Isle granite, and the rear part is of gray Pompeian brick. The main entrance is marked by two granite columns of the Corinthian order, extending to the top of the second story windows, surmounted by a pediment of classic proportions. The floors are mosaic, the roof of copper, and the furniture of steel, so that the entire structure Vol. I -~ 4
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
is as nearly fireproof as human ingenuity can devise. The building was completed and occupied on September 1, 1905. Its total cost was $278,197.97.
VALUE OF COUNTY BUILDINGS
On page 34 of the county commissioners' report for the year 1916, the value of the public buildings of Norfolk County, including the grounds is given as follows :
Court-House
$ 402,000
Jail
333,500
Registry Building
298,000
District Court-House at Quincy
100,000
Training School at Walpole.
21,500
Agricultural School
75,000
Total
$1,230,000
In this table there is a small cash balance included in the value of the Agri- cultural School. That institution and the Training School at Walpole are educa- tional in their nature and their history is therefore given in the chapter on Education.
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REGISTRY OF DEEDS BUILDING, DEDHAM
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CHAPTER VIII
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP
TWO KINDS OF TOWNSHIPS IN THE UNITED STATES-THE DIFFERENCE-THE ANGLO- SAXON TUNSCIPE-ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP-PATENTS ISSUED BY THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY- FIRST TOWN MEETINGS IN NEW ENGLAND-THEIR INFLUENCE IN THE REVOLUTION-JEFFERSON ON THE TOWNSHIP FORM OF GOV- ERNMENT-TOWNSHIPS OF THE SOUTH AND WEST COMPARED WITH NEW ENG- LAND-IN STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS.
Townships in the United States are of two kinds-civil and congressional. The congressional township did not come into existence until after the passage of the "land ordinance" by Congress in 1785, and is therefore unknown in New England. It is always six miles square, bounded by township and range lines, and is divided into thirty-six sections, each one mile square, for convenience in measuring, describing and conveying land. In the western states, where the public domain was surveyed under the new system, the civil and congressional township are often identical. In the older states the civil townships vary in size and shape, their boundaries in many instances being formed by natural features, such as streams, ranges of hills, etc., or by "direct lines" between two given points. The civil township also differs from the congressional in that it is a politi- cal subdivision, possessing officers and powers for local government.
In England, during the reign of King Alfred, a minor political division called the "tunscipe" was established. It equaled as an ecclesiastical unit the parish, and as a political unit was governed by a popular assembly called the "tun moot," a term which in later English was developed into "town meeting," the oldest form of government known to man. Far back in the history of the human race, a few families, usually related to each other, would form a "clan" and in a mass meeting make rules for the regulation of their affairs. The principle was carried down to Rome in the meetings held in the forum, and in Greece the assemblages of the populace in the agora for the discussion and settlement of questions per- taining to the general welfare. Among the Germans and Scandinavians, the same principle is seen in the government of the minor political division called the "mark."
Under the Great Patent to the Plymouth Company, November 3, 1620. pro- vision was made for issuing two kinds of patents to occupants of lands. First, for private proprietors of small plantations, who were to have certain lands at a specified annual rental, which lands they were not to abandon without permis- sion, and who obligated themselves to settle a given number of persons within a stipulated time. Second, for "such parties as proposed to build towns, with large numbers of people, having a government of their own, with magistrates who
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
were to have power to frame such laws and constitutions as the majority should think fit, subordinate to the state which was to be established, until other order shall be taken."
The first settlers of Massachusetts were dissenters from the Church of Eng- land, whose greatest desire was to bring about a reform in church affairs so that the congregation should have more power in church government, and the minister should be more independent than formerly of the bishop. It was therefore natural that they should come in congregations, led or accompanied by their pastors, and that they should settle in a body. These church congregations obtained grants or patents, according to the second plan above mentioned, and set up a local government similar to that of the "tunscipe" of King Alfred's time, with the "town" and the "parish" practically the same. Says Forman: "Their town meetings were at first religious assemblages acting as pure democracies, except in Rhode Island, where the civil authority did not interfere in matters of conscience. The meetings in the colonies where the theocratic principle pre- vailed were usually held in a church, and all the male church members of the town who were of age could attend, take part in the discussions, and vote upon any question that might arise."
Thus the early settlers of New England came to live in compact communities, which later took the name of townships or towns. They were generally people of a high degree of intelligence, almost equal in social rank and worldly goods, hence they were democratic in their ideas of government and unanimous in the belief that "authority in spiritual and temporal matters should flow from the same source."
For some time after the first settlements were established town meetings were held frequently. The records show that the Town of Boston held ten town meet- ings in the year 1635. As the number of farms increased and the settlement spread over a wider territory, officers were elected to manage the town's business between meetings, until many of the townships came to hold meetings but once a year, unless some unexpected occasion arose which might require a special meeting. The principal officers are the board of selectmen, clerk, treasurer and board of assessors. In early days there was a tithing-man, a sort of "Sunday con- stable," whose business it was to see that everybody attended church, and to keep them awake during the services; a hog reeve, who was required to see that all hogs running at large had rings in their noses; a field driver, who impounded stray animals ; and overseers of the poor. Some of these offices are still in exist- ence, but the duties of their incumbents are not so arduous as in the old colonial days. The early town meeting overlooked nothing. It prescribed how the school- master should use the rod upon unruly pupils, fixed the rate of taxation, desig- nated the hours that men should labor, appropriated funds for schools and high- ways, etc. Most of this business is now transacted by the board of selectmen.
Beginning with the first settlements, the town system grew with New England and the town meeting soon became deeply rooted in the minds of the citizens. During the Revolution and the years immediately preceding it, the town meeting was the distinguishing feature of New England life. When the war began these little democratic communities proved to be the most powerful aids to the cause of liberty. In the town meeting it was easy to determine who was the patriot and who was the tory. Through their work military stores were provided, the cele-
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
brated "minute men" were organized, and the resolutions of many of the town meetings expressed in no uncertain language the sentiment of the people that afterward found utterance in the Declaration of Independence.
And their influence did not end with the Revolution. On December 22, 1807, Congress passed what was known as the "Embargo Act," to prohibit trade with England. Town meeting after town meeting in New England passed resolutions denouncing the act, which led President Jefferson to say afterward: "How powerfully did we feel the energy of this organization (the town) in the case of the Embargo. I felt the foundations of government shaken under my feet by the New England townships. There was not an individual in their states, whose body was not thrown with all its momentum into action, and although the whole of the other states was known to be in favor of the measure, yet the organization of this selfish community enabled it to overrule the Union."
While this may sound like a criticism of the town meeting and the manner in which New England defeated the purposes of the Embargo Act, it does not express Mr. Jefferson's real sentiments as to the value and importance of the New England form of government. When his own State of Virginia adopted the county as the chief political unit, Mr. Jefferson advocated the division of the counties into townships, and in referring to the New England system said: "Those wards, called townships in New England, are the vital principle of their governments and have proved themselves the wisest invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government and for its preservation."
Most of the southern states followed the example of Virginia and adopted the county system, with the result that in those states the civil township is little more than a name. In the West the two systems are combined. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and those counties in Nebraska and Illinois that have adopted township organization, hold town meetings very similar to those of New England. In other states of the Middle West questions of incurring indebtedness for public improvements are submitted to the voters of the township at a general election instead of at a town meeting, though the principle is the same in general effect.
When the first grants were made to church congregations or companies of immigrants, the thickly settled portion of the grant was known as the "town" and the outlying, uninhabited portion as the "township." In time, as settlement was extended to these outlying lands, the last syllable was dropped and the name "town" was adopted for the entire district. The towns were incorporated by the colonial legislature, which was the only authority with power to create new towns, and this system has been in operation in Massachusetts for nearly three centuries. As a matter of experience, local government in New England has undergone some changes with the constantly changing conditions. Thickly settled parts of the towns in some of the New England states have in many cases been incor- porated as villages or boroughs, the people surrendering a portion of the business to municipal authorities or agents, though in Massachusetts the town meeting is still the chief source of power in the adjustment of local public affairs.
Not only has the township been the dominant force in local government, but it has also been an important factor in shaping the destinies of the state and nation. In the old Anglo-Saxon "tunscipe" the principal officer-the "tun reeve" -the parish priest and "four discreet laymen" were delegates to the "shire moot" or county meeting, at which the views of the people regarding county affairs were
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
ascertained through their chosen representatives. This system was extended by the Parliaments of 1265 and 1295, concerning which Fiske says: "These dates have as much interest for Americans as for Englishmen, because they mark the first definitive establishment of that grand system of representative government which we are still carrying on at our various state capitals and at Washington. For its humble beginnings we have to look back to the 'reeve and four' of the ancient townships to the county meetings."
In the early history of New England the township was not only the dominant force in questions of a local nature, as a self-governing body politic, but it was also the unit of representation in the colonial legislature or General Court. In modern times the unit of representation has been modified to some extent, but in many localities the township forms the basis of representation in the conventions of political parties, thus the township, besides managing its own affairs, wields an influence upon state and national politics.
In Norfolk County there are twenty-eight towns, to wit: Avon, Bellingham, Braintree, Brookline, Canton, Cohasset, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Franklin, Holbrook, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Milton, Needham, Norfolk, Norwood, Plainville, Quincy, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Wellesley, Westwood, Weymouth and Wrentham. A history of each of these towns is given in the suc- ceeding chapters.
CHAPTER IX
THE TOWN OF AVON
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES-PETITION FOR INCORPORATION-IN THE LEGISLA- TURE-EXTENDING THE BOUNDARIES-WATERWORKS-TOWN HALL-MISCEL- LANEOUS FACTS ABOUT AVON.
The territory comprising the Town of Avon was originally included in that part of Dorchester known as the "New Grant." When Stoughton was incor- porated on December 22, 1726, it embraced the present Town of Avon and exer- cised jurisdiction over it for nearly one hundred and sixty-two years, hence the early history of Avon is given in the chapter on Stoughton. The town is located in the southern part of the county, being bounded on the north and west by Stoughton : on the east by Randolph and Holbrook, and on the south by Plymouth County.
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