USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dover > Narrative history : a history of Dover, Massachusetts, as a precinct, parish, district, and town > Part 15
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We find women teachers in the East and West Dis- tricts in the summer term soon after their organization. Mrs. Paul Whiting was paid £2, 8s. in 1790, for teach- ing the East School during the summer.
The present schoolhouse was built in 1850. The district did a noble work in adorning the grounds with a variety of native trees, and in their growth and beauty there is an object-lesson for all.
The West School was established and an appropria- tion made for building the schoolhouse at the same meeting, April 6, 1785, and by the same vote as that which created the East School.
The first school was built near the residence of Warren Blackman, and was twenty feet long and six- teen feet wide. This was a typical eighteenth century schoolhouse with its huge fireplace and " back seat," which was built against the wall of the room on three sides, with a slanting shelf. In front on another lower bench were seated the younger pupils who did not write.
21 7
SCHOOLS
In the center of the hollow square the classes stood for recitation. The teacher's desk was placed on the side with the door and fireplace.
In 1841 the town voted to build a new schoolhouse at an expense of three hundred and fifty dollars. The site selected was on Farm Street, not far from the present schoolhouse. The committee chosen to report on the matter of building this schoolhouse said of the old one : "The ceiling of the schoolhouse is so low where the seats and writing-desks are located that middling-sized persons cannot stand erect." This school was attended for many years by children from the easterly part of Sherborn and Natick.
We find that Miss Sally Fiske taught this school in summer for seventy-five cents a week and her board.
The present convenient and pleasant schoolhouse was built in 1870 at an expense of two thousand dollars.
The South District was organized in 1766, but no schoolhouse was ever built, the children attending the school at Walpole Corner from the first.
The consolidation of schools has been several times attempted, the earliest effort being made in 1870, when a committee was chosen "to consider the subject of uniting the schools, and to look over the whole ground, take into consideration the present and prospective wants of the different sections of the town, and present a plan which shall embrace the number and location of the schools to be supported, and the style and character of the schoolhouses to be provided, either by repairing the old or erecting new ones, and the probable cost of each, having regard in each case to the convenience of the neighborhood and the good of the whole town."
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HISTORY OF DOVER
Although the time of the committee for the consider- ation of the matter was extended, no plan was matured ; and in 1871 the committee was excused from further service. The plan of closing the outside schools and transferring the pupils to the Sanger School was advo- cated in 1888, but was not fully carried out. The town refused in 1892 to close the North and West Schools, and' since that time there has been no discussion of the subject.
In 1789 the South District received its proportional part of the money appropriated for schools, and in 1790 the residents were paid what they had contrib- uted towards building a schoolhouse and purchasing the land where their children attended school.
In 1807 the inhabitants of Dover undertook to define the limits of their school districts ; but, as all the resi- dents were not included in those districts, the Supreme Court decided that they were illegally formed.
The South District was formed by a vote of the town in 18.38. In 1864 the district voted to unite with Dis- trict No. 10 in Dedham and Bubbling Brook District in Walpole for a union school. This union was ac- cepted by the town of Dover in 1865, and continued until the burning of the schoolhouse in the fall of 1893.
In 1841, the Center District being much crowded, it was voted to organize the West Center School.
The residents of this new district immediately voted to build a schoolhouse, and appropriated five hundred dollars. There was much difficulty in locating the schoolhouse; and, after rejecting several sites, one of which was chosen by the selectmen, the district voted to accept a gift of land from George Cleveland, and the schoolhouse was built thereon.
NORTH SCHOOLHOUSE.
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SCHOOLS
About 1850 the schools were all supplied with maps and charts, the town having voted " to pay each school district eight dollars which should raise a like amount for the purchase of maps and charts and apparatus."
The name of this school was changed to North Dis- trict in 1846. The schoolhouse was repaired in 1861 and furnished with modern seats in place of benches. The grounds were enlarged in 1865 to nine rods square by gift of land by Eugene Batchelder, on condition that the district build a new fence on the west and north sides of the lot six feet high, and paint the front part of the schoolhouse, the cost of the same to be the consid- eration in the deed. In 1891 the schoolhouses were all thoroughly repaired, and are now in excellent condition. The several rooms have been adorned and beautified with a reproduction of Stuart's Washington. " We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great man without gaining something by him." How can patriot- ism be better taught than in studying the life and character of the " Father of his country " ? Flags have been presented to all the school buildings.
School libraries were established through the efforts of the Hon. Horace Mann, secretary of the State Board of Education, in 1837. The legislature authorized dis- tricts to raise thirty dollars for the first year and ten dollars for each subsequent year in organizing and main- taining school libraries.
The State Board of Education recommended a list of books divided into two classes, one for young people and the other for adults, from which school committees were authorized to select. The books were named " The District School Library." These libraries were
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HISTORY OF DOVER
sometimes kept at the schoolhouse, and again at private residences. Dover was among the early towns to avail itself of this privilege. In 1842 a resolution was passed by the General Court appropriating to each school dis- trict, which should raise an equal sum, fifteen dollars for library purposes. Under this act the North School library was organized in 1842.
School libraries were revived in 1890, and all the schools now have little libraries at hand of carefully selected books, numbering several hundred in the aggregate.
The following list contains the names of all persons who have received a college education or been mem- bers of some college since the organization of the First Parish in 1749 :-
Nathaniel Battle,
Harvard, 1765
Jabez Chickering,
66
1774
Joseph Haven,
66 I774
John Haven, .
1776
George Caryl,
1788
Morrill Allen,
Hezekiah Allen,
Brown, 1797 Harvard, 1800
William Draper,
1803
Jesse Fisher, .
1803
Samuel Fisher,
1810
Joseph Haven,
1810
Daniel Whiting, .
Brown, 1812
Thaddeus Allen,
1812
Hezekiah Battle,
1814
Mason Fisher,
Harvard, 1814
Jesse Chickering,
1818
Fisher Ames Harding,
66 1833
George Partridge Sanger,
1840
Simon Greenleaf Sanger,
1848
SCHOOLS
22I
Anna McGill,
Ripon, 1884
Eleanor Whiting,
Wellesley, 1887
Wallace Rodman Colcord,
Massachusetts Agricultural, 1887
Martha Elizabeth Everett,
. Smith, 1888
Alice Gertrude Coombs,
Wellesley, 1893 1894
Grace Irving Coombs,
Charles Herbert Higgins,
Massachusetts Agricultural, 1894
Margaret McGill, Mount Holyoke, 1894
Robert Sharp Jones,
Mabel Colcord, .
George Freeman Parmenter, I
Massachusetts Agricultural, 1895 . Radcliffe, 1895
Massachusetts Agricultural.
I Entered 1896.
CHAPTER XVII.
' CIVIL HISTORY.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE TOWN -VOTE OF DEDHAM TOWN- MEETING - ACT OF INCORPORATION - BOARD OF DIS- TRICT OFFICERS - ANNUAL TOWN-MEETINGS - POST- OFFICE.
Old events have modern meanings : only that survives Of past history which finds kindred in all hearts and lives.
- LOWELL.
The history of the First Parish must forever remain as the early history of Dover. Through its develop- ment we trace the evolution of the town.
The inhabitants of the westerly part of Dedham pre- vious to 1780 had taken the successive steps which ultimately led to the incorporation of the town, in having gained through the action of the General Court, in 1729, the establishment of bounds ; in being freed from the minister tax in Dedham, and being allowed to worship in neighboring towns, whose churches were more accessible to some of the Dover inhabitants ; and in having been made a distinct precinct by the General Court in 1748.
For some years previous to the Revolution the inhab- itants had chafed under heavy taxation and a small representation at the Dedham town-meeting, but the great struggle for independence held them together and stilled all murmurings.
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CIVIL HISTORY
With the prospect of peace, however, the old longing for separation appeared. At a precinct-meeting held October 10, 1780, it was voted "that we desire to be incorporated into a town." Nevertheless, no active steps were taken towards separation until the next year. Col. John Jones, Capt. Hezekiah Allen, Capt. Hezekiah Battle, John Reed, and Thomas Burridge were chosen a committee, February 16, 1781, to prepare and sign a petition to the town of Dedham asking to be set off from that town.
The request was at first refused ; but at a subsequent meeting held June 4, 1781, it was granted by the town of Dedham upon the following conditions : -
The question was put whether the town will consent that the Fourth Precinct in said town may be incorporated into a town- ship, the said town relinquishing their right or share in the work- house, school money, all donations, and other public privileges in said town. Passed in the affirmative.
On the 17th of September, 1781, the precinct voted, provided they were incorporated into a town by the General Court, to relinquish all rights in the property of the town. To carry out this plan the precinct ap- pointed Col. John Jones, Dea. Joseph Haven, and John Reed to petition the General Court for an act of incor- poration. This petition was presented January 16, 1782.
The bill passed the House, but was unexpectedly rejected in the Senate April 23, 1782. Not daunted by their failure, the precinct on the 17th of March, 1784, voted to make another attempt to be incorporated into a town. Their earnest desire is set forth in the following extract from their petition :-
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HISTORY OF DOVER
Those of our members that have attended town-meetings in Dedham have been obliged to travel between four and ten miles out and as far home, to attend in the First Precinct, the constant place of town-meetings in said town; and, by reason of the extra distance, the badness of the ways, and sometimes deep snow and stormy seasons, there hath not been more than two or three of said Fourth Precinct at their town-meetings, when matters of great weight are transacted. And a considerable part of said pre- cinct are wearied with such unreasonable toil and travel, and determined several years ago never to attend another town-meet- ing in said place again, and still adhere to their determination, whereby the interest of the said Fourth Precinct has frequently suffered, and probably sometimes not from any unreasonable de- sire in the other precincts to infringe on the interest of the said Fourth Precinct, saving that the said Fourth Precinct has never been able to obtain a town-meeting in rotation within their limit. That the extra expense and charges that would be incurred by their being incorporated into a town would be fully compensated by their negotiating their affairs within themselves, and without much travel; and, although the said precinct are not many in number or opulent and wealthy, they are considerably filled with inhabitants and are increasing. But, if they were fewer in num- ber, and of less ability, they are under an absolute necessity of being incorporated into a town by reason of their irregular form and distance from the other precincts.
The committee of the General Court took this matter under consideration, but, in view of the smallness of the population, decided that the request ought not to be granted. The matter having taken this shape, the pre- cinct unanimously voted, June 28, 1784, to ask to be incorporated into a district, as they could be united with another town in the election of a representative to the General Court. This matter of the choice of a repre- sentative was of importance, as all the inhabitants of the State had to be included in representative districts,
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CIVIL HISTORY
and only towns of a given population could send a representative to the legislature. The request of the petitioners was granted July 7, 1784, in the following act of incorporation : -
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-four.
An Act for erecting a District within the County of Suffolk by the Name of Dover.
Whereas the inhabitants of the Fourth Precinct in the town of Dedham in said county have repeatedly and earnestly peti- tioned this Court that they may be incorporated into a district, and it appears that they labor under great difficulties in their present situation.
Be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives in the General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the said Fourth Precinct in Dedham be and it hereby is incorporated into a district by the name of Dover, with all the powers, privileges, and immunities of incorporated dis- tricts [the bounds having been given in a previous chapter are here omitted], provided that the freeholders and inhabitants of the said district of Dover shall pay their proportion of all taxes now assessed by and debts due from the said town of Dedham, and that the said district of Dover relinquish all their rights, title, and interest in and to the workhouse, school money, and all dona- tions and other public privileges in said town of Dedham.
And be it ... enacted by the authority aforesaid that the polls and estates in said district of Dover that were returned by the assessors for the said town of Dedham on the last valuation, which then belonged to said town of Dedham, be deducted from the return made by the said assessors, and be placed to the said district of Dover until another valuation shall be taken.
And be it further enacted that Stephen Metcalf, Esq., be and is hereby empowered to issue his warrant, directed to some principal ' inhabitant within the said district of Dover, requiring him to
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HISTORY OF DOVER
warn the freeholders and other inhabitants within the said district of Dover qualified to vote in district affairs to assemble at some suitable time and place in the said district, to choose such officers as shall be necessary to manage the affairs of said district.
And be it further enacted that the selectmen of the town of Dedham, fifteen days at least before the time of choosing a repre- sentative for the said town, shall give notice of the time and place by them ordered for that purpose in writing, under their hands, to the selectmen of said district of Dover, to the intent the select- men of said district may issue their warrant to the constable or constables of the said district, to warn the inhabitants thereof to meet with the said town of Dedham at time and place so ap- pointed for the choice of a representative.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 6, 1784.
This bill, having had three several readings, passed to be enacted.
SAMUEL A. OTIS, Speaker.
IN SENATE, July 7, 1784.
This bill, having had two several readings, passed to be enacted. SAMUEL ADAMS, President.
Approved, JOHN HANCOCK ..
A true copy.
Attested : JOHN AVERY, Jr., Secretary.
A district, with the exception of having a representa- tive, exercised all the functions of a town, with a full board of officers ; and maintained highways, took care of the poor, and supported schools.
The first district-meeting was held in the meeting- house August 9, 1784, and the following officers were elected : Col. John Jones, district clerk ; Col. John Jones, Dea. Joseph Haven, Lieut. Ebenezer Newell,
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CIVIL HISTORY
selectmen ; William Whiting, treasurer ; Theodore Newell, constable and collector. The district made liberal appropriations for the support of schools, the poor, highways, and for other purposes. May 9, 1785, the district united with the town of Dedham in electing two representatives to the General Court, both of whom were residents of Dedham. In 1789 Dover was united with Medfield in electing a representative to the General Court, and for forty-seven years the voters annually went to Medfield to vote for a representative. At the time of its incorporation the district of Dover contained a population of four hundred and fifty-three.
In the early settlement of the parish, cattle, swine, and sheep ran at large and were a constant annoyance. The selectmen took early action to abate this nuisance ; and June 8, 1785, Ebenezer Newell, who lived at the center of the district, was appointed pound-keeper, with his barnyard for a pound. In 1794 the district provided a pound, which was built twenty-four feet square within the wall, and cost £16, 15s.
The public pound can now be seen on the grounds of the First Parish. Cattle and swine were allowed to run at large as late as 1794.
It was voted in 1818 "to restrain all cattle and hogs from going at large the year ensuing, but such as the selectmen shall see fit to license to run on the common with a certain mark upon them, that they may be dis- tinguished from others."
The laws of Massachusetts have always been very strict in reference to the maintenance of guide-posts. They were of vital importance before the introduction of railroads, when all travel was either by carriage or horse-
228
HISTORY OF DOVER
back ; and the advent of the bicycle has awakened new interest in them. In 1795 the district erected guide- posts, or "directing-boards," as they were sometimes called, at the junction of the principal streets. These guide-posts directed the traveller not only to Boston and adjoining towns, but also to Worcester, Cambridge, Providence, and Concord, as there was much travel to these points.
Dover's proportion of the debt of Dedham was ad- justed by a joint committee of the two towns, December 31, 1792. It was found that the whole debt of the town at the time of the separation was £1,346, IIS., 7d. Dover paid as her part of the indebtedness £285, 85.
The district provided itself with a powder-house in 1800, which was located on Walpole Street. The powder-house was built upon a rock fifteen feet square, which was presented to the district by Capt. Samuel Fisher. The building was used for the storage of ammunition during the second war with Great Britain and for some years after, but was removed in 1845.
There was a discussion in 1816 in reference to apply- ing to the General Court to be incorporated into a town, but no definite action was taken. The question was not again considered until February 8, 1836, when it was voted "that the selectmen petition the General Court to be incorporated into a town with the rights and privileges of other towns of the Commonwealth." The following is taken from their petition : --
Your petitioners confidently believe that your. honorable body will readily perceive the inconvenience to which they are subjected annually in transferring their records and travelling
SCHOOLHOUSE. 0 C
11
WEST SCHOOLHOUSE.
229
CIVIL HISTORY
themselves to a distant town to accomplish those objects which might be performed in the center of their own population if they were incorporated into a town by themselves.
Having ascertained that they possessed the requisite number of polls - one hundred and fifty -to entitle them to a representation in the General Court, at the March meeting held in Medfield in 1836 it was voted that the town request the prayer of their petitioners be granted. The General Court acceded to their request, and passed an act of incorporation March 26, 1836. Thus, one hundred and seven years after defining the original bounds, eighty-seven years after establishing the parish, and fifty-two years after the incorporation of the district, Dover took its place among the towns of the Commonwealth.
The people in Massachusetts represented the oldest civilization, and were the most distinctively English of all the colonies. The government of townships was vested in the people ; and once a year from its settle- ment to the present time, in the month of March, they came together to discuss the affairs of the town, every male citizen having a vote and voice in the meeting.
The town-meeting is an ideal institution, and one that we, and our fathers before us, have enjoyed from the first settlement of New England.
At first town-meetings were held monthly ; but as early as 1635 these monthly meetings were abandoned, and selectmen chosen to represent the town. Special town-meetings for the consideration of important ques- tions have always been held. It is interesting to go back to the early records of the town-meeting, where our fathers discussed and voted on those questions which
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HISTORY OF DOVER
led to the Revolutionary War. The town-meetings became of special interest when the British governor attempted to impose duties. In Boston, James Otis, Samuel Adams, and John Adams became powerful leaders ; and it was at these meetings " the child Inde- pendence was born."
In Dedham these matters were also considered, and the vote of the town is significant.
The annual March meeting for the election of officers and the transaction of other business has been held in Dover every year since 1749. At first it was but a parish-meeting, and its action pertained only to the affairs of the parish ; but it went right on as a district- meeting after the formation of the district of Dover in 1784, and was taken up as a town-meeting in 1837. These annual meetings have always been largely attended, and adjourned whenever necessary, although it has been customary to hold an annual April meeting. While the Church and State were one the town-meeting was opened with prayer by the town minister, and the custom was continued as long as the Rev. Dr. Sanger remained a resident of the town. The practice was carried to the schools, and the visit of the minister always included a prayer. The town-meeting is the strength of the town government, and woe to the town official who cannot give in open town-meeting, when questioned by the voters, an account of his stewardship. The March meeting remains as a re- minder of the old-style year, which commenced at the vernal equinox in March. The year was changed to January I in Great Britain and her colonies by an act of Parliament in 1752. Annual printed reports are
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CIVIL HISTORY
of comparatively recent issue, the first printed town report having been made by the selectmen to the citi- zens in 1846.
There was a property qualification in Massachusetts until within recent years. At first the town warrants were issued to "the freeholders and other inhabitants of the said Dover that are twenty-one years of age and have an annual income of three pounds or an estate of the value of sixty pounds." Later the poll-tax was made a prerequisite for voting. Within a few years all property qualifications have been abolished. The town adopted the Australian ballot system in 1891, governing the election of all town officers.
The early records are not without warnings for to-day. For instance, we wonder if the owners of high buildings in our cities or the authorities who allow their erection have ever investigated the subject of earthquakes here- abouts. The following extracts from Col. John Jones's " Book of Minits," published by his grandson, Amos Perry, show that five earthquakes occurred here within a period of less than twenty-five years : -
A great Earth Quake October 29, 1729. A great Earth Quake Sabbath Day June 3, 1744. An Earth Quake February 4. 1745-6. August 14 1747 Earthquake Sabbath Morning. July 10, 1751 Earthquake in the morning.
Farmers will be interested nowadays to note the frequency of droughts, as recorded in these quaint early records, by Colonel Jones : -
1746 a great drout in June and July and frost in August, a cold fall, Snow October 18.
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HISTORY OF DOVER
1748 Very dry Summer, 9th of June a fast thro' ye province on account of ye drout.
1749 June 15, A general fast a very great drout.
June 23, As hot as ever was known - the ground glowed with heat - Many fish died insomuch that ye River Stank - Charles River almost Dry.
Hay not to be bought in hay time in ye country for 40s. per hundred.
Later record : -
After ye Summer season was in a measure over, the Rains came and God's Blessing therewith - produced a considerable cropp of hay and grass and the creatures were unaccountably supported.
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