USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > The record of the town meetings, and abstract of births, marriages, and deaths, in the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1887-1896 > Part 24
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After the declaration of the vote, all the ballots cast at said election were sealed up in an envelope, and endorsed thereon by the Moderator, and the check lists used were also sealed up, and also being endorsed thereon by the Moderator and Ballot Clerks, . respectively, were all placed in the custody of the Town Clerk.
And on motion, at 11.15 o'clock p. m., the meeting was ad- . journed to the first Monday of April next, at 7 o'clock, p. m., as - aforesaid, at this place.
Attest :
DON GLEASON HILL, Town Clerk.
The following officers elected as above were sworn into their - respective offices by the Town Clerk, all in 1893, viz : as Town Treasurer, Edwin A. Brooks, March 7; as Collector of Taxes, Thomas J. Baker, March 15; as Selectmen, J. Everett Smith, March 7; Ferdinand F. Favor, Henry E. French, Thomas P. Murray, and George W. Weatherbee, March 8 ; as Overseers of the Poor, Howard Colburn and Henry Smith, March 7 ; George W. Weatherbee, March 8 ; as Assessors, with statute oath, Henry E. French, Thomas P. Murray, and Horatio G. Turner, March 29 ; as Auditors, Edward C. Paul, March 7; Daniel A. Lynch, March 9; . Frank M. Bailey, March 21 ; as Constables, Martin J. Barrett. John Dean, Irving Donley, William F. Drugan, March 6 ; Charles O. Haynes, George E. Morse, March 7; James R. Finn, March 17 ; Seth W. Corbett, March 20. Henry B. Endicott having declined to act on the Committee of Twenty-one, the Moderator appointed William C. Williams in his place.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
Norfolk, ss.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the Town of Dedham, .. qualified to vote in town affairs, held in Memorial Hall, in said
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Dedham, on the first Monday of April, (being the third day of said month) A. D. 1893 ; by adjournment from the sixth day of March, 1893, the meeting was called to order at half past seven o'clock in the afternoon, by Alonzo B. Wentworth, the moderator, and the business of the meeting proceeded as follows, viz :
The committee of twenty-one, through the chairman thereof, Frederick D. Ely, Esq., presented their report in print, and it was voted that said report be accepted and placed on file. (See re- port on file.)
Article Three-Voted to accept the report of the Auditors of the Treasurer's and Collector's accounts.
Article Four-Voted to accept the list of Jurors, as prepared by the Selectmen, and posted according to law, and the following is the list : J. Varnum Abbott, Frank M. Bailey, Aaron W. Baker, Edwin W. Baker, James B. Baker. Jr., Henry C. Bigelow, E. W. Bonnemort. Alonzo W. Cheever, John D. Clifton, Allen Colburn, John Crowley, Daniel Conlan, Charles H. Crane, Wil- liam Conrick, Frank E. Draper, Charles B. Danforth, James M. Ellis, Edward E. Ellis, Arthur B. Farrington, John B. Fisher, Joseph L. Fisher, John L. Fisher, William H. French, Samuel C. French, Willis C.Fuller, Peter B.Gaffney, George P.Goding, William B. Goding, John J. Giles. Abner C. Hibbard, William Heffernan, Edward M. Johnson, Silas Johnson, Edward P. Kelly, Thomas W. Killikelly, Jacob Lorio, Michael J. Moloney, Bernard J. McCaffrey, William A. Morrell, Nathaniel Morse, Elmer P. Morse, Thomas Murphy, Edward J. McManus, Joseph McDon- ald, Lester A. Newcomb, David Neal. Patrick A. Nolan, Patrick O'Sullivan, John W. Perry, Ebenezer T. Paul, Henry L. Pettee, Gardner Perry, Rufus Richardson, Fred. E. Robinson, Matthias Ridley, John M. Schuler, Fred E. Smith, John J. Spalding, Jerry Sweeney, Fred S. Soule, William T. Tapley, Andrew Tracy, Charles B. Trefrey, Charles W. Tucker, Horatio G. Turner, . George E. Wilson, Isaac W. White, George W. Weatherbee, Warren Withington, Joseph H. Walley, John Wardle, Jr., Charles S. Woods.
Article Five-Voted to accept the report of the committee on the distribution of the interest of the Damon and Draper dona- tions, which was presented, showing the sum of $53.36, received
..
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and disbursed during the year, and it was voted that said report be accepted, and the town chose Dr. John W. Chase and Willie W. Baker, as the committee to distribute the interest of said funds the ensuing year.
Article Six-Voted to authorize the Collector of Taxes to use the same means as Town Treasurer may use when acting as -collector.
Article Seven-Voted to raise and appropriate, to defray the incidental and other necessary expenses, not. otherwise provided for, of the Town, for the ensuing year, the sum of forty-five thousand three hundred and thirty-five dollars, as follows :-
Town Clerk,
$150
Town Treasurer,
450
Board of Health,
150
Registrars of Voters, 200
Cemetery Commissioners,
100
Selectmen,
800
Overseers of the Poor,
400
Assessors,
1000
Superintendent of Streets,
1400
Abatement of Taxes,
1500
Police, 3000 .
Printing, stationery and advertising, ·
1000
Poor in and out of Almshouse,
. 7000
Insane and Reform School,
. 2300
Lock-up,
700
Fire Department,
4000
Lighting Streets,
7500
Water. 5235
. High School note and interest, 3300
Memorial Hall,
3000
Tax Collector,
950
Miscellaneous,
1200
Total,
$45,335
.
Article Eight-Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of two hundred dollars for the decoration of soldiers' graves.
Article Nine-Voted to appropriate for the Dedham Public Library, the sum of two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars,
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one thousand and twenty-four dollars of which sum is to be taken from the money in the treasury received last year from the dog tax, the balance of one thousand two hundred and twenty-six dollars to be raised by taxation.
Article Ten-Voted to raise and appropriate, to keep the cemeteries in repair, as follows : - Five hundred dollars for Brookdale cemetery, four hundred dollars for cemetery in Ded- ham Village, and one hundred and fifty dollars for cemetery in West Dedham.
Article Eleven-Voted to authorize the Collector of Taxes to charge six per cent. on all taxes not paid November 1, 1893.
Article Twelve-Voted to raise and appropriate for the support of the public schools and the payment of the salary of the Superintendent of Schools for the ensuing year, and for instruc -- tion in the elementary use of hand tools, and in sewing in the public schools, the sum of thirty-eight thousand five hundred and fifty dollars, five hundred dollars of said amount to be- used for sanitary improvements at Ames School.
Article Thirteen-Voted to appropriate the amount received from other towns for scholars attending the public schools in Dedham, for contingent expenses of the public schools.
Article Fourteen- Voted that the subject matter of this. article be referred to the School Committee, to report at a future- town meeting.
Voted to take up Articles 15, 16, 17 and 18 together.
Articles Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen and Eighteen-Voted that the subject matter of these four articles be indefinitely postponed.
Article Nineteen- Voted that the subject matter of this. article be indefinitely postponed.
· Article Twenty-Voted to raise and appropriate, for repairs. of highways, sidewalks, and lumber for bridges and railings, the sum of eleven thousand five hundred dollars, and for removing snow, the sum of two thousand dollars.
Article Twenty-one-Voted to raise and appropriate, to re- build bridge on Mill Lane, one thousand two hundred dollars,. and to rebuild bridge on Needham street, four hundred and fifty dollars.
Article Twenty-two-Voted to drain that part of Whiting
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avenue between Goding Brothers' mill and the Old Colony freight house, and raise the grade of the same ; also to construct a sidewalk on said Whiting avenue.
Article Twenty-three-Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of five hundred dollars, to drain Village Avenue and Court street, through Highland street.
Article Twenty-four-Voted that the subject matter of this article be indefinitely postponed.
Article Twenty-five-Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of two thousand three hundred dollars to purchase two horses for the hose carriage, located. at the steamer house, and to build such addition to said steamer house as may be necessary to accommo- date the same.
Article Twenty-six-Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of six hundred and fifty dollars to purchase 1000 feet of hose for the use of the Fire Department.
Article Twenty-seven-Voted that further time be given to the Committee appointed by the town in relation to building a Town' Almshouse and other necessary buildings, said committee having presented no report in writing.
Article Twenty-eight-Voted that this article also be referred to the same committee.
And.it appearing that J. A. Laforme, a member of said committee, had resigned, on motion it was voted that the vacancy be filled by the Moderator, and the Moderator appointed J. Everett Smith in place of said Laforme on said committee.
And at 10 o'clock p. m., on motion, the meeting was ad- journed to next Saturday evening, at this place, at 7.30 o'clock.
: 'Attest : DON GLEASON HILL, Town Clerk.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
Norfolk, ss.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the Town of Dedham qualified to vote in town affairs, held in Memorial Hall, in said Dedham, on Saturday, the eighth day of April, 1893, by adjourn- ment from the third day of said month. The meeting was called to order by Alonzo B. Wentworth, the Moderator, at half past
298
seven o'clock in the afternoon, and the business proceeded as follows :
Article Twenty-nine-Voted to adopt a proposition of the Dedham Electric Company, to locate an arc light on the pole at the corner of High street and Church street, near the Historical Building ; and an arc light on High street, near the front of the house of Mr. Chaplin ; and to transfer the incandescent light, now near the house of the late William Ames on High street, to Highland street, on the south side, between the houses of Mr. Ivers and Miss Carpenter ; and the incandescent light, now on High street, between River place. and Maple place, to the centre of Pearl street, and raise and appropriate for the same the sum of one hundred and forty dollars.
Article Thirty-Voted that the subject matter of this article be indefinitely postponed.
Article Thirty-one-Voted to.place an electric light on Lowder. street, near its junction with Highland street, and, raise, and appropriate for the same the sum of sixteen dollars.
Article Thirty-two -- Voted that the subject matter of this article be indefinitely postponed.
.: Article Thirty-three-Voted to extend the electric light system, now in operation from Dedham to the Baptist Church, West Dedham, by placing twenty-three lights along High street from said Baptist Church to the Dedham and Walpole line, and to raise and appropriate the sum of three hundred and sixty-eight dollars therefor.
Article Thirty-four-Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of one hundred and eight dollars and fifty cents, to reimburse Officer William F. Drugan for costs and expenses of the action of John Caffrey against said Drugan.
Article Thirty-five-Voted that a committee of three be appointed by the Moderator to make an effort to secure legisla- tion as speedily as possible, to include Dedham in the metropoli- tan system of drainage, and the Moderator appointed as that committee John R. Bullard, Thomas H. Wakefield and Heman W. Chaplin.
Article Thirty-six-Voted that a committee of five be appointed by the Moderator to consider the subject matter of this article ( relating to public play grounds, parks, etc., ) to
299
report in print on or before February 1, 1894 ; and the Moderator appointed as that committee Charles H. Shriver, Howard Colburn, Henry B. Endicott, John H. Burdakin, and John Crowley.
Article Thirty-seven-Voted that the By-laws of the Town be amended by adding after Section 15 of Article 7 the following ·sections, viz :
Sect. 16. Whoever shall keep or maintain any swine within the limits of the Town of Dedham, except in accordance with a permit from the Board of Health, shall forfeit and pay a . .sum not exceeding $20 for each offence.
Sect. 17. Whoever shall keep or maintain, within the limits -of the town of Dedham, a slaughter house, piggery, or any other .structure which is dangerous to the public health of the inhabi- tants, or injurious to their comfort or the enjoyment of their estates, except in accordance with a permit from the Board of Health, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding $20 for each ·offence.
These By-laws were approved by the Superior Court, May 15, 1893, and published in ihe Dedham Transcript, May 20, 1893.
Article Thirty-eight-Voted to appropriate the sum of five. thousand dollars, to be taken from the treasury, to be expended under the direction of the Selectmen, for permanent improve- ment of sidewalks
Article Thirty-nine-Voted that the subject matter of this article be indefinitely postponed.
Article Forty-Voted that the compensation of the Collector -of Taxes be one per cent. on the amount committed to him, but not to exceed $950, and also that the collector give on the back .of each tax-bill the items of the estate taxed, as given in the Assessors' valuation.
Article Forty-one-Voted that the report of the committee on drainage of High and Common streets be accepted ; and the report was as follows :
Report of the Committee on Drainage of junction of High and Common streets, and street improvement loan, printed in accordance with the vote of the town :
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300
"To the citizens of Dedham :-
The Committee appointed at the town meeting held July 12, 1892, to consider the question of the drainage of the junction of High and Common streets, desire to submit the following report. · Mr. Warren, the third member of the committee, having formally declined to act, the two remaining members present the following : The junction of High and Common streets can be drained in four ways. Naturally the slope of the ground is either through the land of Mr. Joseph Guild or Mr. Joseph A. Laforme. The street junction is the summit of a depression running at nearly "right angles to the street at this point.
Any disposition through the private lands above mentioned must be by a suitable pipe laid below the surface of the ground, #and to a sufficient depth. For removing all the water collecting at this point a 12-inch pipe should be provided.
Through Mr. Joseph Guild's land the total distance it would be necessary to lay pipe, with a discharge into the culvert under Village avenue, is 695 feet. The expense of laying this pipe will be about $542 ..*
Through Mr. Laforme's land the distance is 526 feet to carry the pipe to the edge of the meadow below his residence. This . pipe would require a covering as provided in the case of running through the land of Mr. Guild. The cost of this pipe. and laying through the land of Mr. Laforme would be about $410.
By both above plans the drainage would be through private property, and this requires either the consent of the parties own- ing this land to such drain, or else the town must lay out a main drain through such land in the manner and method provided in the public statutes. In event of either course the question of .. damages must be considered as largely increasing the cost of such work over the amount required for actual materials and labor, as given above. To drain the point in question through the high- way without interfering with private property, necessitates going either down Bridge street towards the pumping station of the · Dedham Water Company, or down High street. The surface of Common street rises from its junction with High street to Bridge street about 3 3-10 feet, and extends nearly level for a consider- able distance towards the river on Bridge street. To suitably drain the point in question would require a cut of from six to
301
seven feet, for about 400 feet. The total distance that would be required to extend the pipe from the point in question up Com- mon street to Bridge street, and down Bridge street, would be 1035 feet before a surface discharge could be made at the side of the road. This would cost for materials and labor about $828.
To carry the drainage down High street to the Town Land- ing, in the rear of the Bullard estate, requires a total length of 2167 feet of piping, and would cost for a pipe laid solely for this. purpose about $1500. Such a pipe,however, laid down High street when suitably graded and increased in size at its lower end, would not only relieve the junction of High and Common streets, but could take drainage from the corner of Chestnut and High streets, providing for the drainage of High street from Mr. Laforme's to Chestnut street, and for a portion of Chestnut street, while at the junction of Bullard street, branch pipes could be led in draining Bullard and County streets, and the corner of High and Court streets, conveying all such drainage to the river by the lane to the Town Landing.
That these portions of the town need draining is a self-evident fact, and that the present method of drainage is unsatisfactory is also undeniable. Should each of these localities be drained sep- arately from time to time with drains suited to their accommoda- tion alone, the united expense would be far in excess of that re. quired to combine them all into one effective system. Consider- ing the drain from Chestnut street down, as providing for other purposes besides the relief of the junction of High and Common streets, then the total cost directly chargeable to the drainage of the above point is the cost of the piping on High street, between Chestnut street and Common street, with the proportional cost that it should bear in the expense of all piping below Chestnut street to the river. This total amount chargeable may be esti- mated at about $825.
Your committee, considering the above facts and costs, are therefore of the opinion that the town should drain the junction of High and Common streets down High street to the Charles river, at the Town Landing. That such pipe or drain should be so laid and enlarged at the various points as to allow of future admission of water at Chestnut street and Bullard street, and thus provide for the drainage of High street from the Common to
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Court street, for a portion of Chestnut street, for Bullard and County streets, and for a portion of Court street, making the whole territory as may be easily and naturally drained to this point, and that suitable brick catch basins be provided at the- various intersections.
The town has already on hand a considerable amount of 12 inch pipe. Such a drain as has been described, with suitable in- crease in size in its lower sections, is estimated to cost $2500, us- ing the 12-inch pipe already owned by the town for such portion of the drain as calls for this size of pipe. In no other way can the above-mentioned section be drained as cheaply or as well as by this method. 'To attempt to build only for the junction of High and Common streets through to the Town Landing, will event- ually entail much larger expense by reason of duplicate piping.
Your committee therefore recommend that the sum of $2500 be appropriated and be used for such a drain.
Your committee were further instructed by the vote of the town, "To consider the question of authorizing the selectmen to make a loan on the bonds or notes of the town, for the term of 10 years, for permanent improvements, to examine especially into the. probable needs of the town in the matter of permanent street im- provements and drainage, and report at the March meeting what amount, if any, they recommend be such permanent loan." Con- cerning the question of permanent improvements and a loan for such purpose, your committee desire to present the following :
Ail permanent improvements undertaken by the town should be in accordance with a well devised and clearly defined plan of action. This is essential in order that all improvements should form a part and portion of a complete system embracing the- whole town, so that finally the improvements would form one har- monious whole instead of a disjointed conglomeration of frag- · ments. Such a plan is especially necessary in all matters relating to street drainage, grades, alignments, permanent surfaces and sewers.
In many towns it has been found that a devotion of a certain proportion of the annual appropriation to permanent improve- ments has resulted in very satisfactory work, the general repairs. being well cared for by the smaller amount applied. This division.
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of the annual appropriation has been fully discussed on these lines by the State Highway Commission.
Your[committee recommend that the town procure a care- fully prepared and comprehensive plan for permanent improve- ments, either through its authorities or by special committee, especially in relation to its street work as touching alignments, grades, drains, sewers and permanent surfacing. And your com- mittee further recommend that the town borrow no moneys for such improvements until such a plan has been presented to and approved by the town. It is considered by your committee that with such a plan adopted by the town, a portion of the annual ap- „ propriation can be applied to permanent improvements without resource to borrowing.
Respectfully submitted,
E. WORTHINGTON, JR. PHILIP PUTNAM.
Article Forty-two-Voted that the report of the Town Clerk be accepted, and the recommendations thereof be adopted. The report was as follows :-
Town Clerk's Report on Printing the Records.
To the Inhabitants of Dedham :-
I submit herewith my fifth Report relating to printing the Town Records.
By virtue of a vote and appropriation made at the last Annual Town Meeting, the third printed volume of Town Records was published about the first of January. It contains the first volume of general records of the town, 1636-1659, to- gether with a book called the Selectmen's Day Book, covering a portion of the same period. The printed volume, including in- troduction and index, contains 254 large pages, handsomely printed and bound in cloth, and in addition to the records a sketch of Eleazer Lusher, an important character in the early days, written for this volume by Erastus Worthington, Esq., and fac-similes of the handwriting of the four clerks who held office during the period covered, and also of the autographs of fifty of the early settlers, furnished principally by Julius H. Tuttle.
The cost of this works has been as follows :-
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Amount paid Miss Martha A. Smith for making copy for printer, work on index, etc., . $92 00
Amount paid Heliotype Co. for fac-similes, 18 14
Amount patd H. H. McQuillen, printer, for
composition, press work and paper, in- cluding circulars, ·
542 91
Amount paid Bindery, 75 84 .
" for Postage on Circulars, and on
Books mailed,
₱
·
:
Total,
$744 59
There was on hand when last Report
was made
$36 39
Received from sales of former publi- cations,
45 95
1.
$82 34
Appropriation, .
500 00 ·
Received for sales of Volume 3,
198 50
780 84
And there is now a balance of $36 25
And I would recommend (as in former reports) that the balance on hand, together with the amount which may be here- after received from sales of the books already published by the Town, be used by the Town Clerk to prepare a fourth volume, which shall be a continuation of the general records of the Town. I do not recommend its publication this year, but I am confident that enough will be received during the current year to prepare the copy for the next volume ; and as each volume helps sell the prior ones, I believe another volume can be published next year with a smaller appropriation than any of those already published.
The first book published, included the Births, Marriages and Deaths from 1635 to 1845. I find there is a desire that the publication of these records be continued to the present time. The present population of the town would be much interested in these modern records, and I think it would be wise to publish them in the Town Reports,-not all in one year, but the Births might be published the first year, the Marriages the next, and then the Deaths. I should not reproduce the records in table form, as they appear in the record books, but make abstracts of each entry in alphabetical order, similar to the methods adopted in
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Providence, R. I:, and in Woburn, where they were published in the Annual Reports. There is another important matter in con- nection with these records. Many blanks occur, mostly in the birth records, the name of the child in .many instances not being given. By a statute passed by the Legislature in 1892, provision is made for supplying these blanks and correcting errors in records by means of depositions filed with and recorded by the Town Clerk in a book for that purpose.
I am willing to do anything in my power to make our records as nearly complete as possible. My plan would be to make first, a card index of the births, marriages and deaths, since 1845, which should hereafter be continued, putting on each card the abstract from the record, as it would be printed. This would make a very valuable index, and would save the record books, as in most cases it would be used instead of the record books them- .selves. After these cards are made, the cost of copy for the printer would be small. Perhaps before this index is actually printed, proof sheets might be posted in public places, or some other means adopted, so that parties interested might detect errors in the records and have them corrected, and also furnish information from which names left blank on the records could be supplied. I would recommend that such a card index of these records be [made, and that a copy of the index of births for forty-five years, from 1845 to 1890, be printed in the next annual Town Report, as a part of the Town Clerk's Report, and that at least 300 copies extra of this index be printed at the same time for sale, the proceeds to be used towards the expense of publication, and the balance of the cost be paid from the treasury.
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