USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III > Part 71
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
At the dedication of the splendid new church of the Germans on Shaw- mut Avenue, May 27 of this year, the venerable Father Weninger, S. J., preached the sermon. The present rector of the cathedral, the Rev. J. B. Smith, was appointed Sept. 23, 1876. The new convent at Jamaica Plain was dedicated March 8 of this year.
St. Mary's, Endicott Street, having been for many years too small for the congregation, was at length taken down and replaced by the present magnificent edifice, which was constructed after designs furnished by P. C. Keely, and under the supervision of his son. The principal part of the
545
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BOSTON.
work was done under the direction of the Rev. R. W. Brady, S. J. But he, having been made superior of his province, was obliged to transfer his resi- dence to Baltimore. The Rev. W. Duncan, S. J., took his place, and having brought the church to completion, had it dedicated by the archbishop, Dec. 16, 1877. The Rev. R. W. Brady, the former pastor, preached the sermon; the event stands among the most important in the history of the Catholic Church in Boston.
The Rev. Michael Lane, of St. Vincent's, South Boston, having died February 2 of this year, was succeeded by the Rev. W. J. Corcoran, the present pastor.
A grand requiem service for Pope Pius IX., who died Jan. 7, 1878, was conducted in the cathedral, January 14, in the presence of one of the largest audiences that ever assembled there. Quickly following this event came the death of the Very Rev. P. F. Lyndon, V. G., which occurred at the pastoral residence of St. Joseph's Church. He died April 18, and was buried at the cathedral, April 22. The archbishop officiated at the obsequies, and the Rev. James Fitton preached the funeral sermon. The funeral procession from St. Joseph's church to the cathedral was very large, and was witnessed by a great multitude of people, who lined the streets through which the funeral cortége passed.
The Rev. William J. Daly succeeded the vicar-general as pastor of St. Joseph's Church, and is now in the exercise of that office. The school question came up again for discussion this year, and the archbishop de- livered an address to his clergy on the subject.
July 15, 1878, the office of vicar-general was conferred on the Rev. Wil- liam Byrne, of St. Mary's church, Charlestown. The fiftieth anniversary of this church - the oldest in the diocese - was observed with becoming solemnity, May 10, 1879. The archbishop celebrated mass pontifically in the old church. Bishop O'Reilly preached an historical discourse on Sun- day, and the Rev. R. J. Barry, now of Hyde Park, preached on the following day, when the festival closed with a meeting of the parishioners in Monu- ment Hall, at which addresses were made by the Very Rev. J. J. Power, V. G., of Worcester, and several members of the congregation.
November 3, the new convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph, near the Church of the Gate of Heaven, in South Boston, was opened and dedicated. Feb. 20, 1880, the Ladies of the Sacred Heart -another order of teach- ers - were introduced into Boston, and located their school temporarily in a large house on Chester Park at the South End.
The most recent event of importance in the history of the Catholic Church in Boston is the purchase of a large estate in Brighton for the pur- pose of erecting thereon an ecclesiastical seminary in which the future priests of the diocese are to be educated. This institution will be con- ducted by certain priests of the congregation of St. Sulpice, Paris. This order has successfully conducted for many years similar institutions in Montreal and Baltimore.
VOL. 111. - 69.
546
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
The present condition of the Catholic Church in Boston may be summed up as follows: The probable Catholic population of the city in the year 1880 was about 150,000 souls. These worship in 30 churches, attended by 90 priests, under the guidance of their archbishop. There are 10 parochial schools, chiefly conducted by the Sisters of Notre Dame. They have 3 col- leges and academies in the city, 5 orphan asylums, 3 hospitals, and a home for their aged poor. The societies that flourish among them are religious sodalities and pious confraternities. They have also many temperance so- cieties and literary associations. Conferences1 of the charitable society of St. Vincent de Paul are established in every parish, and are continually at work among the poor, relieving their wants, and laboring for their in- provement.2
William
19
1 The first conference of this society was es- tablished in St. James's Parish, in 1862. In ad- dition to its labors among the very poor, this society, to some extent, continues the work of the Young Catholics' Friend Society, which for a quarter of a century did excellent service among the poorer children of Boston, providing them with proper clothing, bringing them into the Sun- day-schools, and teaching them Christian doctrine.
2 The material of this chapter is for the most part taken from the original records preserved in the archives of this diocese, and from the files of the Boston Pilot. [It. may be well to remember that Dr. J. G. Shea contributed to the American Catholic Quarterly Review, April, 1881, an important paper on "The Earliest Discus- sion of the Catholic Question in New England." -ED.]
CHAPTER XV.
CHARLESTOWN IN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
BY HENRY HERBERT EDES.
"THE one great event in the history of Charlestown, that which gave her not only a national, but a world-wide famc, - the Battle of Bunker Hill, - has been described in another chapter.1 The conflagration which attended that struggle reduced the town to ashes, and the inhabitants from affluence to poverty. During the siege of Boston, that part of Charlestown which was above the peninsula, or " without the Neck," was mostly occu- pied by the American troops; and it was not until after the cvacuation of Boston, in March, 1776, that a portion of the former inhabitants began to return, and to repair their waste places. The British Annual Register 2 for 1775 observed : -
" Charlestown was large, handsome, and well built, both in respect to its public and private edifices ; it contained about four hundred houses, and had the greatest trade of any port in the province, except Boston. It is said that the two ports cleared out a thousand vessels annually for a foreign trade, exclusive of an infinite number of coasters."
In his Historical Sketch of Charlestown,8 Dr. Josiah Bartlett 4 says con- cerning the rebuilding of the town: -
"A few ... were able to erect convenient dwellings, whilst others, like their hardy predecessors, were only covered with temporary shelters. . . . By a considera- tion of mutual sufferings, it was the endeavor of every individual to meliorate the
1 By Dr. Hale, on "The Siege of Boston."
2 Page #136.
8 Printed in 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., ii. 163-84 (1814). I would here acknowledge my indebt- edness to Dr. Bartlett's pages for some facts which appear to have been nowhere else pre- served. Dr. Bartlett wrote also a brief sketch of the town, which appeared in the first two num- bers of the American Recorder, December 9 and 13, 1785, the first newspaper printed in Charles- town, or in the county of Middlesex. It lived
only till May 25, 1787. There is another sketch in Barber's Historical Collections of Massachusetts, pp. 364-374. In 1838 Mr. William Sawyer (H. C. 1828) published large extracts from the town records in the Bunker Hill Aurora (newspaper), which had its early home in the "stone build- ing" erected about 1822 by William and Nathan- iel Austin at the junction of Main, Harvard, Bow, and Pleasant streets. The Aurora was published from July 12, 1827, till Sept. 24, 1870.
4 Cf. Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., i. 325.
548
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
condition of his neighbor; to cultivate harmony, and unite for the benefit of the whole. A block-house,' erected by the enemy at the place [Town Hill] originally fortified against the natives, was appropriated to the discharge of our civil duties, to the public services of religion, and to the education of youth. Here, un- influenced by political dissensions, we gave our first suffrages for a chief magistrate and legislators under the constitution of this Commonwealth. . .. The principal streets were widened, straightened, and improved, and the Market Square was regu- larly laid out soon after the opening of the town, in 1776 ; to facilitate which a lottery was granted, and the State taxes were remitted for seven years."
In October, 1796, President Dwight visited Charlestown, while on a journey through New England. His account of this place,2 presents a picture different from that drawn by Dr. Bartlett. He says: -
"The town is built on the southern and western sides of the peninsula. The streets are formed without the least regard to regularity. The middle of this penin- sula is a hill, extending almost the whole length, and crowned with two beautiful eminences, the south-eastern named Breed's Hill, and the other, Bunker's Hill. On the southern and western declivities of this hill stands Charlestown. After it was burnt, the proprietors had a fair opportunity of making it one of the most beautiful towns in the world. Had they thrown their property into a common stock ; had the whole been then surveyed ; had they laid out the streets with the full advantage fur- nished by the ground, which might have been done without lessening the quantity of enclosed ground ; had they then taken their house-lots, whenever they chose to do so, as near their former positions as the new location of the streets would have permitted, - Charlestown would have been only beautiful. Its present location is almost only preposterous. Such a plan was, indeed, sufficiently a subject of conversation ; but a miserable mass of prejudices prevented it from being executed. The houses in this town are all new, many of them good, and some handsome. The situations of some of them, also, are remarkably pleasant, particularly those in the southern declivity of Breed's Hill.3 ... After the town was burnt, a part only of its former inhabitants returned. Its additional population has been formed by strangers from many places,4 and of almost every description. The bonds by which they are united are, of course, feeble. ... The inhabitants of Charlestown are not a little divided in their parochial, town, and public concerns ; and this division prevents much of the pleasure of life which might otherwise be found on so charming a spot."
Between April 7, 1775, and Jan. 26, 1776, there is no record of any meet- ing of the inhabitants or the selectmen. At the selectmen's meeting, Jan. 26, 1776, routine business was transacted, and a warrant issued " in His
1 It occupied a part of the site of the present meeting-house of the First Parish.
2 Dwight, Travels in America (London ed., 1823), i. 426-37.
3 Cf. notes on pp. 552-53, 557, 562.
4 This fact is fully attested by the census
taken by Samuel Swan, Jr., and Benjamin Hurd, Jr., in February, 1789, and still in the town archives. June 19, 1786, Mr. [Eleazer ?] Wyer was ordered to take a census of the inhabitants ; but the result of his labors, if he obeyed the order, is not known to be now extant.
549
CHARLESTOWN IN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
Majesty's name," for the annual March meeting, which was appointed for March 6, at 9 o'clock A. M., at Mr. Jeremiah Snow's, innholder in Charles- town. It was also agreed that the sufferers by the burning of the town should be publicly requested to make out just estimates of their losses, and hand them, before March 6, to Seth Sweetser 1 at Medford, Nathaniel Frothingham at Malden, Stephen Miller at Woburn, or John Larkin at Cambridge. At the March meeting town officers were chosen, - Judge Gorham,2 the moderator, being placed at the head of the selectmen; but the principal business re- lated to the losses just re- Nathaniel Gorham ferred to. A committee of thirteen, consisting of the selectmen, Richard Devens,8 and five others, was appointed to estimate the loss sustained by the town and the inhabitants, " agrecable to the recommendations of the Continental Congress." This committee was in- creased (April 3) to nineteen, any seven to constitute a quorum. An advertisement in the public prints requested the inhabitants to hand in schedules of their losses to the committee, which was to "meet at the house of Mr. Cooper, innholder, in Menotomy [Arlington], on Tuesday, the 26th of this instant March, at nine o'clock A.M., and so from day to day till the business is completed." The estimates, as revised by the committee, aggregated £117,982 5s. 2d. sterling.4 Besides the meeting-house, a court house,5 county house, prison, work-house, and two school-houses, more than three hundred and eighty dwellings and other buildings were burned, June 17, 1775, rendering the whole population of the peninsula, about two thousand persons, homeless.
On May 4, 1776, the selectmen issued their warrant, " in the name of the government and people of the Massachusetts Bay," for a town-meet- ing on the sixteenth, when it was voted to send three representatives to the General Court, which was to convene at Watertown on the twenty- ninth; and to raise no money by taxation, the town's income being suf-
1 Cf. Ante, II. 320, 321.
2 The Hon. Nathaniel Gorham was the most distinguished man who ever made Charlestown his permanent home. His public services were various and important; and the matrimonial alliances of his children and grand-children were remarkable. His portrait is in possession of Mr. Brooks Adams (H. C. 1870). Cf. Thach- er's Funeral Sermon, June 19, 1796; Welch's Eulogy, June 29, 1796 ; and Wyman, Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, pp. 423-25.
3 Richard Devens was the founder of his family. Hle was born here in September, 1721. In early life he was a cooper ; but he became a highly prosperous merchant, and at his decease, Sept. 20, 1807, at the age of eighty-six, he left an estate valued at about $120,000, a part of which was bestowed in charity. (Cf. Panoplist,
iii. 239.) The cut on the next page follows his portrait by Henry Sargent, now in the Charles- town Branch of the Public Library, to which it was bequeathed by Miss Charlotte Harris. Cf. Wyman, Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, pp. 289-92; and Frothingham, History of Charles- town, chap. xxv .- xxix.
4 The purpose in making this estimate was to secure, if possible, partial or complete com- pensation for the damages suffered. Several persistent but fruitless efforts were made to that end. Cf. U. S. House of Rep. Doc. No. 55, Twenty-third Congress, First Session, 1833-34-
The original schedules of property destroyed fill two folio volumes. They afford an interest- ing glimpse of the social life of that period.
5 An unsuccessful attempt was made in 1812 to re-establish the courts of law in Charlestown.
550
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
Mich: Sevens Com ?. Yen. 0
ficient to defray " the charges that will unavoidably arise." On May 28 the town -
"Voted, unanimously, that it is the mind of the inhabitants that our represen- tatives be advised, that if the Continental Congress should (for the safety of the Colonies) declare them independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they will, in that case, solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in that measure."
551
CHARLESTOWN IN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
The town clerk I was instructed to communicate this vote to the town's representatives.
Of all who sought the protection of the British Crown, upon the evac- uation of Boston, only one, Thomas Danforth (H. C. 1762), was a resi- dent of Charlestown. He was the only lawyer in the town; had been an addresser of Hutchinson; went to Halifax; was proscribed and banished ; and died in London, March 6, 1820.2
In August, 1776, a committee was sent to represent to the Council that the quota of ten men called for by the General Court had been already furnished, the town claiming credit for John Larkin, enlisted at Cambridge, five negroes, belonging respectively to Thomas Russell, [the Rev. ? ] Mr. l'rentice, John Austin, Jr., Isaiah Edes, and Caleb Call, and for Ebenezer Frothingham, Thomas Orgain, Samuel Adams, and John Green, who had enlisted in neighboring towns; but the claim was not admitted, and Charlestown immediately responded to this and all subsequent calls, with alacrity.8
1 Seth Sweetser. (Cf. ante IT. 321.) His suc- cessors in office were : Walter Russell, who was of the Cambridge family, chosen March 2, 1778 ;
when he was unanimously elected first city clerk. Ile resigned Jan. 25, 1848. His long and faith-
David Lodge
Samuel Swan, March 1, 1779; Timothy Trumball ful services to town and city, and the accuracy, (H. C. 1774), March 6, 1780; Samuel Swan, Oct. precision, and elegance of his records were re- 23, 1782 ; Sam- Sam Swan Charles Devens uel Holbrook, the schoolmas- ter, March 3, 1783; Samuel Payson (11. C. 1782), March 5, 1787; Phillips Payson (H. C. 1778), Aug. 3,
Jam Holbrook
1801; John Kettell, at one time postmaster, March 3, 1806; Samuel Devens, March 2, 1812;
Phillips Payson
John Kettell, March 1, 1813; David Dodge, schoolmaster, March 7, 1814; John Kettell,
cognized by the city government in resolutions adopted when his resignation was accepted, March 15. His portrait, by Wetherbee, is in possession of Mr. Abraham B. Shedd, who was chosen his successor in office April 10, 1848. Mr. Shedd's successors were : Charles Poole, elected March 24, 185t ; Daniel Williams, Jan. 13, 1862; and John T. Priest, the present assistant city clerk of Boston, who was elected May 23, 1871.
JohnMetric Samt Devens
2 Cf. Columbian Cen- tinel for May 20, 1820; Sabine, Loyalists
March 2, 1818: Charles Devens, Sept. 30, of the American Revolution, i. 358, 359. 1822: and David Dodge, March 7, 1825. Mr. 8 In January, 1787, the town sent the Charles- Dodge was annually rechosen till April 26, 1847, town Artillery Company (organized June 17,
552
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
The attention of the people was at once given to rebuilding. A contro- versy early arose between the inhabitants and the former residents as to the finances and the right of the former inhabitants to vote in town-meet- ings upon questions involving their individual proprietary rights, which were to be affected by the proposed amending of the public highways. This trouble was not composed till the close of 1778.1 The next year the town voted to cover all the wells and vaults, which were then in a danger- ous condition. In 1780 (June 24) it was " Voted, that all the streets, lanes, cte. within the Neck shall be laid open from the first day of May next; " and a committee appointed to consider the alterations proper to be made in the streets reported (September 29), estimating the cost at £2,600.2
The alterations were to be confined principally to the main street and streets about the Square. The same year John Leach,3 a prominent sur- Foi Speach y veyor of Boston, made a plan4 of the proposed changes, which were sanctioned by an act of the General Court the next year. When the new lines were established, building proceeded rapidly. The oldest house5 now standing is the mansion of the late Captain Robert Ball Edes on Main Street. It was built by his great-grandfather, David Wood, Sr., soon after the reoccupation of the town, on the site6 of his former place of abode, which was burned, June 17, 1775. It is remarkable also as the birthplace of Samuel Finley Breese Morse
1786) to aid in suppressing Shays's Rebellion, and in consequence was excused from sending any of its militia. In 1804 were organized the Warren Phalanx, once commanded by Lieut .- Governor Samuel T. Armstrong, and the Charles- town Light Infantry, called "the Blues," for a time under the command of General Austin.
1 Cf. Town Records, viii. 321-23.
2 The actual cost was £4,595, 35. 7d. plus $So, the alterations being more extensive than was at first contemplated. The street commit- tee's accounts were not finally settled until Nov. 19, 1791. (Cf. Town Records ix. 299, 300, 377-) After the great fire of August, 1835, Charles River Avenue, Warren, Joiner, Chambers, and Water streets were widened or straightened, Gill Street discontinued, and Chelsea Street laid out. In advocating these improvements Dr. William J. Walker (H. C. 1810), the distinguished physi- cian and surgeon, then resident here, was ear- nest and foremost. Dr. Walker was a son of the Hon. Timothy Walker, and cousin to the Rev. Dr. James Walker. (Cf. Mr. Dillaway's
William Walker
chapter in Vol. IV. for an account of Dr. Walker's munificent bequests to various insti- tutions of learning.) In 1838 a board of street commissioners was established. Mr. Samuel Morse Felton (H. C. 1834), civil engineer, now of Philadelphia, was one of the original board.
8 Cf. N.E. Hist.and Geneal. Reg., xix, 255, 313.
4 Cf. Editor's Introduction to the present volume, under the years 1775, 1780, 1794, 1818, 1830, and 1848; and Admiral Preble's chapter. 5 Cf. note on p. 562.
6 This estate was in the possession of Robert Chalkley, prior to 1656. His widow, Elizabeth,
Josiah wood
sold the property to Josiah Wood in 1676, and it remained in the uninterrupted possession of
That Edes fun
his descendants for nearly two centuries. It was inherited, in 1818, by Thomas Edes, Jr., whose mother was a daughter of David Wood,
553
CHARLESTOWN IN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
THE EDES HOUSE.
THE FIRST DWELLING ERECTED AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TOWN, JUNE 17, 1775.
(Y. C. 1810), the inventor of the electric telegraph, who was born, April 27, 1791, in the front chamber of the second story, on the right of the front door of entrance. A few months previous to that time, his Samt J. B morte father, the Rev. Dr. Jedediah Morse, had accepted the hospital- ity of his friend and parishioner, Mr. Thomas Edes, Sr., while the parsonage, on Town Hill, was in building. Some delays occurring in the work, Dr. Morse's visit was prolonged until after the birth of his eldest and most distinguished child.1
In 1783 the roadway over Bunker Hill was opened. The barracks, built there by the British during their occupancy of the town, were sold and re- moved about the same time. In 1785 (February 7) the town chose Nathaniel
Sr. (Cf. note on p. 562.) The heirs of Captain Robert Ball Edes conveyed it, in 1864, to Leon- ard B. Hathon, who adapted the lower story of the house to purposes of trade. The cut rep- resents the building as it appeared early in the
VOL. III. - 70.
present century. Cf. Wyman, Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, pp. 197, 322, 323. 895. 1045-47.
I Cf. Belknap Papers (5 Mass. Hist. Coll.), ii 254. Professor Morse died April 2, 1872.
554
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
Gorham, Samuel Nicholson, Captain Joseph Cordis, David Wood, Jr., John og: Cordes Larkin, Dr. Josiah Bartlett, Isaac Mallett, John Austin, Samuel Swan, and Joseph Hurd1 a committee to petition the Gen- eral Court to grant the petition of Thomas Russell, Esq., and others for liberty to build a bridge across Charles River where the ferry was then established.2 An act was obtained the same year, the C " Joseph Hurd 07 corporators being Governor Hancock, Thomas Russell, Nathaniel Gorham, James Swan, and Eben Parsons. The bridge was com- pleted in 1786, and was opened June 17, amid "the greatest splendor
CHARLESTOWN IN 1789.
and festivity."3 It was 1,503 feet long and 43 fect wide. In 1791 the town actively opposed the building of a bridge from West Boston to Cam-
1 Mr. Hurd was representative in 1814. Cf. its unfinished spire. The bridge was built by Edes's History of the Harvard Church in Charles- Samuel Sewall. [In the manuscript note-book town, pp. 123, 124, 264, 265.
2 The same committee was instructed to op- pose the petition of John and Andrew Cabot for liberty to build a bridge from Lechmere Point to New Boston.
8 Cf. Bartlett's Historical Sketch of Charles- town, pp. 172, 173; American Recorder (news- paper) for June 20, 1786; and Massachusetts Magazine for September, 1789 (i. 533), which describes the structure and contains a view of it, reproduced in the woodcut in the text, showing also the Square and the new meeting-house with
Samt Sewal
of Robert Gilmor, of Baltimore, who was in Bos- ton about this time, there is a view of Charles- town from the west end of Cambridge bridge. It is in the Boston Public Library. A view of Boston, from Breed's Hill, is given in Mr. Stan- wood's chapter in Vol. IV., and follows an en- graving in the Massachusetts Magasine, June, 1791 (iii. 331). There is in the Gentleman's Magazine, February, 1790, a crude view of Bun-
555
CHARLESTOWN IN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
bridge; and in 1796 assumed a similar attitude toward a proposed bridge from Chelsea to Mottlton's Point.1 In 1804 a new bridge to Boston was proposed. The town voted, "unani- mously," to oppose the scheme. In March, 1828, however, an act creat- ing the Warren Bridge Corporation was passed by the Legislature, in which John Skinner, Isaac Warren, John Cofran, Nathaniel Austin, Eben- ezer Breed, and Nathan Tufts2 were Nathem Tufts named as corporators. This enter- prise, in which General Austin 3 was a prime mover, and which continued to enlist his zealous support for more than thirty years, was violently opposed4 by the Charles River Bridge Cor- poration, whose property was to be materially injured thereby.5 The Nath Austin fr. shares fell from $1,950 in 1823 to $825 in 1824, during the agitation of the project, even before the charter was granted.6 In November, 1835, the town voted to avail of the option offered by the Legislature to take one half of Warren Bridge and half the bridge fund, preparatory to open-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.