USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Amherst > The history of the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 48
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One-eighth part of the income of the fund was to be used for the benefit of indigent young women. The trustees might pay out to young women in indigent or moderate circumstances a marriage portion not exceeding $50, to be expended for the purchase of household furniture. The beneficiary must be of good moral character, not less than 18 years of age, and the man she married must also be of good character, sober and industrious. Applications for this portion should be made either before or within three months after the marriage. The remaining one-eighth of the interest from the fund was to be used for the benefit of indigent widows. The trustees, at their discretion, should pay to widows in indigent or moderate circumstances, having a child or children dependent upon them for support, who should make application, not more than $50 in any one year. The applicant should be of good moral character.
In distributing these funds, no distinction should be made or preference given to any religious sect or political or other party whatever. The will was admitted to probate after a long and expensive contest before the courts. The leader of the legal forces in behalf of the will was Hon. Osmyn Baker, who had recently removed his residence from Amherst to Northampton. In 1849, the following persons were incorporated as the trustees of the Smith Charities: Osmyn Baker of Northampton, John Dickinson, Jr. of Amherst, Austin Smith of Hatfield. The first president of the board of trustees was Osmyn Baker. Amherst has furnished the following members of the board of trustees since 1849 : John Dickinson, Jr., A. P. Howe, Simeon Clark, Ithamar Conkey, Ezra Ingram, Horace Ward, D. W. Palmer, H. M. McCloud. Mr. Palmer served as president of
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THE OLD CEMETERY.
the board for six years. During the year ending April 1, 1896. the follow- ing payments were made to beneficiaries under the will, residing in Amherst : To indigent boys, $1,500 ; indigent girls, $400 ; indigent widows, $1,200 ; indigent young women, $700 ; total $3,800. During the same year, five boys and two girls residing in Amherst were apprenticed under the terms of the will.
The will of Whiting Street of Northampton gave to the town of Amherst $6,000 as a permanent fund, the income of which is used "for the relief and comfort of the worthy poor, who shall not be in the alms- house, or be town or city paupers."
CHAPTER XLVII.
TOWN CEMETERIES .- THE OLD WEST CEMETERY .- CEMETERIES AT NORTH AND SOUTH AMHERST .- WILDWOOD CEMETERY .-- VIL- LAGE IMPROVEMENT .- THE COMMONS. -- THE ORNAMENTAL TREE ASSOCIATION .-- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES AT THE CEN- TER, AT EAST AMHERST, SOUTH AMHERST, NORTH AMHERST AND THE "CITY."
The "burying place," laid out in 1730 by Hadley's town committee for the "east inhabitants," is still in use as a burial-ground, additions having been made to it from time to time. There is interred all that was mortal of many of the earliest settlers and their descendants through five generations. For nearly ninety years it was the only cemetery in the town, and for 160 years the only one located near the town center. If the progress of civilization is marked by veneration paid to the departed and the care taken of their last resting-places, the earlier inhabitants of New England were but little removed from primitive barbarism. They buried their dead with all solemnity, but the place of burial was regarded with aversion rather than with reverence. Little pains was taken in the selection of the burial-places ; some bleak and barren hillside, waste-land that could not be used to advantage for other purposes, these were the plots selected for "God's acre." Who that in later years has traveled through the rural districts of New England has not chanced upon some old-time burying- · ground, neglected and forlorn, with the weeds growing rank and hiding from sight the dilapidated tombstones? It was not until well along into
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
the Nineteenth century that any systematic effort was made to beautify the resting-places of the dead.
In the care of its burial-places Amherst was no better and no worse than its neighboring communities. They were town property, and any money expended upon them was raised by the town and expended under its supervision. At a town-meeting held in March, 1770, the selectmen were appointed a committee to lay out and fix boundaries to the burying-ground ; these bounds were fixed, and accepted by the town at a meeting held May 24. Dec. 8, 1817, a committee was appointed to consider and report on the expediency of establishing one or more new burying-grounds in the town, and enlarging and fencing the old burying-ground. The report of this committee was presented and accepted at a meeting held May 13, 1818. The committee had purchased one acre of land of David Moody and one acre of Martin Baker, paying $80 for each, and reserving to each original owner and his heirs the right of pasturing sheep on the premises. These lands furnished the sites for the North and South burying-grounds. March 4, 1833, the town appropriated $770 to purchase land to add to the center burying-ground and fence the same.
March 2, 1846, the town voted to raise $200 to pay the expense of setting out shade and ornamental trees in the burying-grounds at the center, at North and South Amherst. This work was left in the hands of a committee ; in the Express issued May 6, 1846, the following notice appears : "The committee appointed to put out trees in the center burying-ground invite their neighbors and all who feel interested to turn out with them to procure and transplant evergeen trees on Friday morning. Suitable pines are found in abundance near Dickinson's mills in Hadley, and Mr. Cook the owner has kindly offered us gratuitously as many as we desire." In 1850, the town paid Elijah Boltwood $18.23 for setting out trees in the West cemetery. March 4, 1850, the town instructed its selectmen to erect a receiving tomb of suitable size at the center burying-ground for the free use of the town ; this tomb was erected in 1850, and the North burying-ground was fenced the same year.
In 1852, the old-time hearse was sold for $5, being put up at auction at the same time the grass upon the common was sold. In December, 1854, the selectmen were authorized to lay out a road in the center burying- ground, which they did the following year. In 1857, $175 was paid for land for the South burying-ground, $60 for land for the North burying ground and $30 for stone used on the grounds. In 1858, the cost to the town of burying-grounds, fences, stone, etc. was $228. 70, in 1859, 5237.05. In 1865, the town paid $4.38 for cemetery gates. For many years a hearse was rented at an annual expense of $28, but in 1868 a new hearse was purchased costing $320. At the annual town meeting in March, 1869, H.
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THE OLDEST STONE IN WEST CEMETERY.
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CARE OF CEMETERIES.
Cobb, J. R. Cushman and W. S. Clark were appointed a committee to consider the matter of securing land for a new cemetery. The committee · reported at a special meeting, held May 29, that the farm of Joseph Dick- inson could be bought for $9,000, and that they had taken a bond for the same. The farm contained about So acres. The report was accepted, and the selectmen were authorized to buy the farm on the terms mentioned, provided individuals would furnish the money, or give a bond to take the land without expense to the town, the town to have any portion of it that it might need for a cemetery at a fair valuation. The selectmen were unable to complete the bargain, as Mrs. Joseph Dickinson refused to release her right of dower.
In 1870, the old or, as it was commonly called, the West cemetery was enlarged by the purchase of land adjoining ; 57 rods of roadway were built and graveled and 36 rods of drain-tile laid six feet below the surface. By these measures many new lots were made available. A new fence was built about the cemetery and the tool-house removed to the rear of the lot. The total expense was $1,098.66. In 1873, the North cemetery was enlarged on the south and east sides and a well dug. The South cemetery was supplied with 30 hitching-posts. The selectmen in their report for 1874 recommended that steps should be taken at once to provide more land for burial purposes at the center. In 1876, over $200 was subscribed by citizens for keeping the West cemetery in repair ; the sum was expended under direction of a committee of ladies, with satisfactory results. The selectmen in their annual report for the year ending in March, 1877, urged all persons occupying lots in the cemeteries to pay for them and take deeds of the same. - If this was done, there would be no need of a town appro- priation for cemeteries for years to come. As town property, the cemeteries were used for burial purposes by citizens for many years at no expense to themselves. It was not until sometime in the 'zos that the practice of buying and taking deeds of particular lots came into general use. For many years the sums received from sales of lots have furnished an ample fund for defraying the expense of caring for the cemeteries. In 1881, a new tomb was built at the South Amherst cemetery at an expense of nearly $350. For several years, two superintendents were chosen for each of the town cemeteries. At the annual March meeting in 1880, the town appointed a committee to select a site for a new cemetery. This committee reported at the annual meeting in 1881 ; their report was not accepted, and the selectmen were joined with them as a committee, to select such grounds as they should think best and purchase the same. No money was appro- priated for the purchase, and the committee, having examined several locations, decided it inadvisable to purchase.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
April 20, 1887, a meeting was held of persons desirous of establishing a cemetery on the estate known as the Joseph Dickinson farm. At an adjourned meeting, held April 27, Prof. B. K. Emerson reported that he had examined the land, and found about 20 acres suitable for buria! purposes, while the remainder could be utilized for landscape gardening. April 29, a committee appointed to draw up a plan of organization and by- laws submitted its report, and the following officers were elected : President, H. F. Hills ; clerk and treasurer, O. I). Hunt ; directors, W. A. Dickinson, B. K. Emerson, J. H. Seelye, H. H. Neill, E. D. Marsh, George Cutler. The clerk and treasurer was authorized to take a deed of the farm for and in the name of the association. The name adopted was the "Wildwood Cemetery Association."
At the annual town meeting in March, 1887, a committee of three had been chosen to consider the matter of purchasing land for a new cemetery. This committee submitted its report at the annual March meeting in 1888. The lands selected by the committee appointed in 18So, to secure lands for cemetery purposes, had been sold in 1887 to persons who intended to cut off the wood and timber. Desiring to secure these lands and preserve them for the town's use, an association was formed and the property pur- chased, the price paid being $5,400. The committee accordingly recom- mended that the town purchase the property from the association. The town voted to raise and appropriate not over $6,000 to secure the Dickin- son farm. Two of the selectmen, not members of the cemetery association, were appointed agents of the town to negotiate the purchase and take a deed of the property. A committee of five was appointed to lay out the grounds and $2,000 was appropriated for their use. The farm contained about 74 acres. The selectmen took a deed of the property April 4.
The residents of the town were far from unanimous in favor of making this purchase. The actions of the association, the cemetery committee and the selectmen were subjected to severe criticism, and public sentiment was aroused to such a pitch that a special town-meeting was held April 17, at which it was voted to sell the Dickinson farm at auction. At a meeting held May 19, a committee was appointed to examine lands for a new cemetery near the center of the town, to ascertain prices and report to the town. This committee reported at a meeting held June 2. Their report favored the purchase of the homestead formerly owned by the late Col. W. S. Clark, at a cost of $15,000. The town voted down this proposition. Henry F. Hills announced that he had purchased the Dickinson farm and it was not for sale. The town then voted to give the sum of $1, 000 to the cemetery association. Mr. Hills afterwards reconveyed the property to the cemetery association. At the annual meeting in March, 1889, the town voted to raise and appropriate $1,000 to be used by the selectmen in
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