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 4
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For Selectmen, Assessors and Surveyors of Highways :- John R. Bullard had one ; Thomas P. Murray had one; Andrew J. Norris had one ; Horatio G. Turner had one ; Willis C. Fuller had one.
The ballots from which the foregoing count was made con- tained the names of different persons for the offices of Selectmen, Assessors and Overseers of the Poor, and were held for that rea- son by the Moderator not to be in conformity with the vote of the town, and so were rejected as to said offices.
For Selectmen, Assessors, Surveyors of Highways and Over- seers of the Poor :- Alonzo B. Wentworth had four hundred and one ; Michael Smith had four hundred and forty-six ; Isaac Wal- lace White had four hundred and fifty-four ; Willis C. Fuller had two hundred and ninety ; Andrew J. Norris had three hundred and forty-two; Thomas P. Murray had one hundred and ten ; Howard Colburn had five ; Henry Smith had ten; John R. Bul- lard had forty ; Horatio G. Turner had forty-five; Benjamin F. White had fifty-seven ; Willie W. Baker had one; Benjamin Weatherbee had one.
And the ballots for said four offices combined being in ac- cordance with said vote of the town and the ruling of the Modera- tor, the five persons having the highest number of votes, viz : Alonzo B. Wentworth, Michael Smith, Isaac Wallace White, Wil- lis C. Fuller and Andrew J. Norris, were declared elected to said four offices, as aforesaid.
For Board of Health :- John W. Chase had 884; Andrew
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H. Hodgdon had 914 ; Preston R. Mansfield had 912; Dr. May- nard had 1; Charles Kelley had 1; Peter J. Conlan had 1 ; John Moran had 1.
For Auditors :- Henry G. Guild had 407 ; Frank M. Bailey had 879 ; Edward C. Paul had 883 ; Daniel A. Lynch had 522; Erastus Worthington had 36; George F. Williams had 1; Big Jim had 1.
For Town Clerk :- Don Gleason Hill had 936 ; scattering 6.
For Town Treasurer :- Lewis H. Kingsbury had 944; John R. Bullard had 1.
For Collector of Taxes :- Thomas J. Baker had 944; scat- tering 3.
For School Committee for three years :- George W. Cooke had 843 ; Robert J. Johnson had 826; Willie W. Baker had 90; Ellen H. Crehore had 3 ; W. F. Cheney had 2; Henry Smith had 1; Michael Smith had 1; Seth C. Beach had 1; Susan G. B. Nichols had 1; Alonzo B. Wentworth had 2; H. L. T. Wolcott had 1; John R. Bullard had 2 ; J. Walley had 1; J. J. Walley had 1; Samuel C. French had 1.
For Constables :- William F. Drugan had 911; Martin J. Barrett had 926 ; Charles O. Haynes had 892 ; Daniel W. Bonney had 820 ; James J. Gaffney had 889 ; Eustis Baker had 920; J. Varnum Abbott had 480 ; John Dean had 466 ; John J. O'Reilley had 467 ; Patrick A. Nolan had 412 ; John Wardle, Jr., had 414 ; George E. Morse had 406 ; Peter J. Conlan had 158 ; James R. Finn had 45 ; Larry Fagin had 1; Thomas P. Murray had 1.
Voted that when this meeting adjourn, it be to the first Mon- day of April next, at seven o'clock in the afternoon, at said Memorial Hall ; and at 9.45 P. M., after the ballots cast for town officers had been sealed up and endorsed by the Moderator, and placed in the custody of the Town Clerk, the meeting adjourned.
Attest : DON GLEASON HILL, Town Clerk.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
Norfolk, ss.
At a meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Dedham, in said County, qualified to vote in town affairs, held on the fourth
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day of April, A. D., 1887, by adjournment from the seventh day of March, A. D., 1887, at Memorial Hall, in said Dedham, the meeting was called to order at seven o'clock P. M., by Alonzo B. Wentworth, the Moderator, and the business of the meeting pro- ceeded as follows :
Article 4 .- At the opening of said adjourned meeting, and while this article was under consideration, the Moderator directed the tellers previously appointed and sworn, viz :- Howard Col- burn, Fred. J. Baker, E. Scott Morse, Edwin A. Chase and Charles J. Hurley (F. F. Favor not being present), to canvass the votes cast on the first day of said meeting for Alonzo B. Wentworth and Thomas P. Murray, and also to count the votes cast on the first day of said meeting for Assessors and Overseers of the Poor upon the ballots where more than five candidates appeared in the aggregate for all of said offices of Selectmen, Assessors, and Overseers of the Poor, and which before the declaration previ- ously made had not been counted, and the result as found by the tellers was read to the meeting by the Moderator as follows :
For Selectmen and Surveyors :- A. B. Wentworth had forty- three ; T. P. Murray had three hundred and forty.
For Selectmen, Assessors and Surveyors : T. P. Murray had one.
For Assessors :- Allen Colburn had four hundred and nine ; A. J. Norris had four hundred and six ; T. P. Murray had three hundred and seventy-two ; D. A. Lynch had three hundred and ninety-one ; H. Smith had four hundred and eleven ; A. B. Went- worth had six.
For Overseers :- H. Colburn had four hundred and nine ; A. J. Norris had four hundred and six ; T. P. Murray had three hun- dred and seventy-three ; Susan G. Nichols had three hundred and eighty-eight ; Ellen H. Crehore had three hundred and ninety-nine ; A. B. Wentworth had five.
All of said ballots were held not to be in conformity with the aforesaid vote of the town, and were for that reason rejected by the Moderator as to said offices.
For Selectmen, Overseers, Assessors, and Surveyors :- A. B. Wentworth had three hundred and ninety-one ; T. P. Murray had one hundred and eleven.
The ballots cast at said election, after the said report of the
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tellers had been announced, were again sealed up in open town meeting, and the envelope containing the same endorsed by the Moderator and placed in the custody of the Town Clerk.
The remaining town officers were chosen by the meeting as follows :
Field Drivers :- William Connelly, John E. Kelly, William Eagan, B. F. Copeland, John F. Dolan, Michael Kelly, Dennis Haley.
Fence Viewers :- Eben P. Paul, Thomas Murphy, Ebenezer Gay.
Surveyors of Lumber :- Hiram Hinckley, Francis Turner.
Measurers of Wood and Bark :- Thomas J. Baker, Benjamin Boyden, Charles H. Ellis, P. O'Sullivan, Frederick Page, B. S. Wood, George P. Goding, E. W. Bonnemort.
Weighers of Hay and Coal :- Charles Russell, Frederick Page, George A. French, Benjamin Boyden, George F. Curtis, C. W. Wolcott, Franklin Kimball.
Sealer of Weights and Measures :- John Bestwick.
The committee of twenty-one appointed March 7, 1887, un- der the by-laws, to whom was referred the remaining articles of the warrant, presented the following report, which was accepted, namely :
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF TWENTY-ONE ON APPROPRIA- TIONS.
Articles 5, 6 and 7. Recommend town to accept.
Article 8. Recommend town to pay Tax Collector 1 per cent. for collecting.
Article 9. Recommend report to be accepted and same committee as last year appointed.
Article 10. Recommend the town to raise and appropriate the sum of $22,500 to defray the incidental and other necessary expenses not otherwise provided for, as follows : Selectmen, As- sessors, Overseers of the Poor and Highway Surveyors, $1600; Town Clerk, $100; Town Treasurer, $200; Superintendent of Streets, $1000; Removing Snow, $1000; Stationery and Adver- tising, $600 ; Poor in Almshouse, $1400; Poor out Almshouse, $4000; Insane and Reform School, $1400; Lockup, $700; Col- lector, $750 ; Abatement of Taxes, $750 ; Fire Department, $3000 ;
£
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Lighting Streets, $3000; Police Department, $2000 ; Miscellaneous Expenses, $1000. .
Article 11. Recommend for decorating Soldiers' graves, $200.
Article 12. Recommend for Public Library, the dog tax, which amounts to $1040.96, and $159.04 to be raised by taxation, mak- ing the sum of $1200.
Article 13. Recommend for Brookdale Cemetery, $500; Old Cemetery, Dedham Village, $350; West Dedham Cemetery, $125, making $975.
Article 14. Recommend the Collector to charge 6 per cent. on all taxes not paid Nov. 1, 1887.
Article 15. Recommend for salaries of School Teachers and Superintendent of Schools for the ensuing year, $22,053.
Article 16. Recommend for repairs and care of school- houses, fuel and supplies for same, $4100.
Article 17. Recommend for School Stationery and Text Books, $1300.
Article 18. Recommend the amount received from other towns for scholars attending the public schools in Dedham, for contingent expenses of the public schools in Dedham.
Article 19. Recommend for furnishing High School house, $3000.
Article 20. Recommend for Water for Hydrants and Public Buildings, $4500.
Article 21. Recommend for repairs of Highways and Side- walks, and lumber for Bridges and Railings, as follows: High- ways, $6500; Sidewalks, $2500; Lumber, $250; miscellaneous expenses, $750.
Article 22. Recommend to accept the laying out of Ash street and so much of Carroll avenue as lies between Ash street and East street, and raise and appropriate $300 for build- ing same.
Article 23. Recommend to purchase land of James Shine for gravel pit, $200.
Article 24. Recommend to build culvert across High street to drain Linden Place, $200.
Article 25. Recommend to raise road-bed adjoining land of A. Fisher and Capen heirs, $600.
Article 26. Recommend the acceptance of this article.
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Article 27. Recommend for filling mud-hole adjoining land of A. W. Nickerson, and raise $300 for same, Superintendent of Streets to award contract to lowest bidder.
Article 28. Recommend a committee of three be appointed to take into consideration the matter of grading and establishing the boundaries of the streets, drainage and sewerage of the town, and that John R. Bullard, Thomas F. Welch and C. C. Sanderson constitute the committee ; that they be authorized to employ an engineer to assist them in their investigations, if necessary.
Article 29. Recommend the sum of $450.25 be raised by taxation, together with the sum of $387.50 now in the treasury of the town, making $837.75, being a balance claimed as due the Assessors of 1885.
Article 30. Recommend the sum of $1090.29 to cover ex- penses of committee on 250th anniversary of Dedham.
Article 31. Recommend to pay Moses Kingsbury, 2d, $100, taxes overpaid.
Article 32. Recommend report.
Article 34. Recommend that a committee, consisting of John R. Bullard, H. O. Hildreth, Julius H. Tuttle, Don Gleason Hill, Erastus Worthington and Winslow Warren, to see what action the town will take in regard to printing the proceedings of its 250th anniversary, and report what sums of money will be required therefor.
A. B. ENDICOTT, Chairman.
T. W. KILLIKELLY, Secretary.
Article 5. Voted to accept the report of the Auditors of the Treasurer's and Collector's accounts. (See reports on file. )
Article 6. Voted to accept the List of Jurors, as prepared by the Selectmen and posted according to law, the names of Ed- ward T. Baker and Edwin A. Chase being first stricken from the list. (See list on file.)
Article 7. Voted to authorize the Collector of Taxes to use the same means as Town Treasurer may use, when acting as Col- lector.
Article 8. Voted that the compensation of the Collector of Taxes be one per cent. on all taxes committed to him for collection.
Article 9. The committee on the distribution of the interest of the Damon and Draper donations reported that they had received from said fund the sum of fifty-nine and- Fog dollars, and
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that they had distributed the same. Voted that this report be ac- cepted. (See report on file.) Voted to choose John W. Chase and Eustis Baker a committee to distribute the interest of said funds the ensuing year.
Article 10. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of twenty- two thousand five hundred dollars, to defray the incidental and other necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, of the town, for the ensuing year, according to said report of the Committee of Twenty-one.
Article 11. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of two hundred dollars for the decoration of the soldiers' graves.
Article 12. Voted to appropriate the sum of twelve hundred and fifty dollars to aid the Dedham Public Library ; the sum of ten hundred and forty and 10% dollars to be taken from the amount in the treasury, received last year from the dog tax, and the bal- ance of two hundred and nine and Tog dollars to be raised by tax- ation.
Article 13. Voted to raise and appropriate the following sums to keep the cemeteries in Dedham Village and West Ded- ham in repair, viz : - For Brookdale Cemetery, five hundred dollars ; for the old Cemetery in Dedham Village, three hundred and fifty dollars ; and for West Dedham Cemetery, one hundred and twenty-five dollars.
Article 14. Voted to authorize the Collector to charge six per cent. on all taxes not paid November 1, 1887.
Article 15. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of twenty-three thousand and fifty-three dollars, for the salaries of the school teachers and Superintendent of Schools, the ensuing year, and the further sum of three hundred dollars for evening school.
Article 16. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of four thousand one hundred dollars for the repairs and care of school- houses, and for fuel and supplies for the same.
Article 17. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of thir- teen hundred dollars for school stationery and text books,
Article 18. 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 19. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of three thousand dollars for furnishing the new High Schoolhouse.
£
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Article 20. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of forty- five hundred dollars to pay for water for Hydrants and Public Buildings, required by the contract with the Dedham Water Com- pany.
Article 21. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of seven thousand dollars for repairs of highways, of which sum four hun- dred dollars is to be used on Gay street ; the sum of three thou- sand dollars for the repairs of sidewalks ; two hundred and fifty dol- lars for lumber for repairs of bridges and railings, and seven hundred and fifty dollars for miscellaneous expenses.
Article 22. Voted to accept Ash street, and so much of Carroll avenue as lies between said Ash street and East street, as laid out by the Selectmen (see report of the laying out in Highway Book, page 112), and to raise and appropriate three hun- dred dollars for the same.
Article 23. Voted to purchase land, not exceeding two acres, of James Shine, for a gravel pit, adjoining the town pit on East street, at a cost not to exceed two hundred dollars per acre, the same to be paid from money in the treasury.
Article 24. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of two hundred dollars to build a drain across High street, to drain Lin- den Place.
Article 25. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of six hundred dollars, for the purpose of filling and raising the road- bed in the hollow adjoining the land of Amory Fisher and heirs of C. Capen, in Dedham woods.
Article 26. Voted to authorize the Superintendent of Streets · to pay the men employed upon the Highways as much as two dollars per day of nine hours.
Article 27. Voted to authorize the Superintendent of Streets to fill or drain the mud-hole on Bridge street adjacent to land of A. W. Nickerson, and to raise and appropriate the sum of three hundred dollars therefor. Voted that notice for proposals for said work be published in the local papers, and that the same be let to the lowest bidder.
Article 28. Voted that a committee of three be appointed to take into consideration the matter of grading and establishing the boundaries of the streets, drainage and sewerage of the town, and that John R. Bullard, Thomas F. Welch and C. C. Sanderson
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constitute the committee, and that they be authorized to employ an engineer to assist them in their investigations if necessary, and to report at a future meeting.
Article 29. Voted that the sum of four hundred fifty 12% dol- lars be raised by taxation, together with the sum of three hun- dred eighty-seven 15% dollars now in the treasury of the town, making eight hundred thirty-seven 75% dollars, being the balance claimed as due the Assessors of 1885.
Article 30. Voted to raise and appropriate the sum of ten hundred ninety 7% dollars to cover expenditures made under the direction of the committee in celebrating the 250th anniversary.
Article 31. Voted to pay Moses Kingsbury, 2d, the sum of one hundred dollars for taxes overpaid by him.
Article 32: The committee appointed to revise the By-Laws of the town, consisting of Erastus Worthington, Alonzo B. Went- worth and Don Gleason Hill, presented in a printed report, a set of By-Laws, and recommended their adoption by the town. Amendments to the report were made as follows : Art. 2, Sec. 10, the word "April" was substituted for " March," in the second line. In Art. 7, Sec. 12, the words "or bicycle" were stricken out, and in Sec. 14 of said Article, in the fourth line, the words. "twenty- fours after" were amended so as to read "twenty-four hours after," and with said amendments the By-Laws as presented by said committee were adopted and are as follows :
[These By-Laws having been printed in pamphlet form for distribution, are omitted here.]
Voted that after said By-Laws have received the approval of. the Court, the Town Clerk cause the same, together with the gen- eral laws which have been accepted or adopted by the town, to be printed in pamphlet form.
[These By-Laws were approved by the Superior Court April 27, 1887. and an attested copy thereof published in the Dedham Transcript, May 28. 1887.]
At the time of the adoption of Article Four of the By-Laws, relating to the " Shuttleworth Fund," Don Gleason Hill, the ex- ecutor of the will of Hannah Shuttleworth, made a formal an- nouncement to the town of the bequest in said will, the provisions of which were read by him, as follows :
"All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate I give, de- vise and bequeath to the inhabitants of the town of Dedham, the
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same to be known as the "Shuttleworth Fund," and to be kept separate and apart from all other public funds of said town, and to be carefully invested in the name of said town, in sound secur- ities, by the Overseers of the Poor of the said town of Dedham, and the interest and income thereof to be expended by a com- mittee who shall be appointed annually by said Overseers of the Poor, consisting of such suitable persons, either men or women, as may be interested in giving both aid and employment to the worthy poor, and said interest and income shall be expended by such committee in furnishing pecuniary aid to such persons living in the town of Dedham as they shall deem worthy to receive the same, and also in providing materials for domestic work for the purpose of giving employment to those who, in the judgment of said committee, can be best aided in this manner."
And on motion of Mr. Hill it was unanimously voted that the town heartily accepts the legacy bequeathed to it by the will of the late Hannah Shuttleworth, according to the terms thereof.
Article 33. Under this article the Town Clerk presented the following report :
REPORT OF THE TOWN CLERK ON PRINTED RECORDS.
At the April Town Meeting an appropriation of $500 was made for printing the early records, under the direction of the Town Clerk. The portions selected for the first printed volume were the first two books of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635 to 1845. During the year 1885 the transcript of these books for the printer was made. At the April Town Meeting, 1886, an additional appropriation of $350 was made, making a total of $850 appro- priated. A book of nearly 300 pages, with classified index, has been printed, and the total cost of an edition of 1000 copies is as follows : For making copy for printer, making index and reading proof with original record, and editing same, $275 ; for printing, including paper and folding, and also circular to send to non- residents announcing the publication, $681; and for binding 500 copies in cloth, $80; total, $1036. The price fixed per copy to residents is less than cost,-75 cents,-and to non-residents $2.10, or if sent by mail postpaid, $2.25. The book-trade fur- nished at $1.75. The book was ready a little past the middle of January, and since that time about 200 copies have already been
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sold, and from the receipts the balance of the cost above the amount appropriated has been paid, and there remains in my hands about $60. The work has been well received, and a num- ber of very complimentary notices have appeared in the city newspapers. The books have been sent to California, Kansas and Wisconsin, and other remote parts of the country, and numer- ous letters have been received, attesting the great interest taken in the work abroad. Although the first settlers seemed to have taken considerable pains with these records, yet names were in many instances omitted which should have appeared, though prob- ably but few towns have as complete records as Dedham. Most of the omissions occur from the beginning of the Revolution to the year 1843, when the Legislature passed more stringent regis- tration laws. Since that date, 1843, careful and more nearly com- plete records have been made, and copies thereof annually returned to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. But fortunately many of the omissions in the early records can be supplied from the official records in the different Parishes, but it is cause for much regret that the church records in the Third Parish were wholly destroyed by fire a few years ago. The town should have the benefit of these records, and should take steps to obtain the public information they contain before any more are destroyed. It seems to me the next volume of printed records should be sup- plementary to the one already printed.
I would, therefore, respectfully recommend that the Town Clerk be permitted to use the money received from the sale of the volume of Town Records just printed, to prepare a second vol- ume, to consist of such records in the various parishes of the town as may be of public interest, or may supplement the volume just printed.
I would also recommend that one hundred copies of the vol- ume just printed be divided between the Public Library and His- torical Society, to be used by them as exchanges, for the benefit of their respective libraries. This is the practice in other towns, and I heartily recommend it here.
Voted that this report be accepted and its recommendations adopted.
Article 34. Voted that a committee consisting of John R. Bullard, Henry O. Hildreth, Julius H. Tuttle, Erastus Worthing-
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ton, Winslow Warren and Don Gleason Hill, be appointed to take charge of the printing of the proceedings of the 250th Anniver- sary, with instructions to print an edition of 1000 copies, to be sold at cost, and that the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars be raised and appropriated therefor.
On motion the meeting was dissolved.
DON GLEASON HILL, Town Clerk.
TOWN MEETING WARRANT.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
[ TOWN SEAL.]
NORFOLK, SS. To either of the Constables of the Town of Dedham, in said County, Greeting :
You are hereby required, in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to notify and warn the inhabitants of said Town of Dedham, qualified to vote for State officers, to assemble at Memorial Hall, in said town, on Tuesday, the eighth day of No- vember next, at seven o'clock in the forenoon, then and there to give in their votes for-
Governor of the Commonwealth ;
Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth ;
Treasurer and Receiver-General of the Commonwealth ;
Secretary of the Commonwealth ;
Auditor of the Commonwealth ; Councillor for the Second Councillor District ;
Attorney General of the Commonwealth ;
Senator for the Second Norfolk District ;
One Representative to the next General Court for the First Norfolk Representative District ;
One County Commissioner for the County of Norfolk.
All of said votes to be on one ballot. And the polls may be closed as early as four o'clock in the afternoon of said day.
Hereof fail not, but make return of this warrant, with your doings thereon, unto the Selectmen, on or before said day and time.
Given under our hands, and the seal of said Town, at Ded-
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ham, aforesaid, this twenty-seventh day of October, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven.
ANDREW J. NORRIS,
THOMAS P. MURRAY, Selectmen
MICHAEL SMITH, of Dedham.
WILLIS C. FULLER,
I. WALLACE WHITE,
On the foregoing warrant the following return was made : Norfolk, ss. DEDHAM, Nov. 7, 1887.
By virtue of this warrant, I have notified and warned the le- gal voters of the town of Dedham, aforesaid, to meet at the time and place, and for the purposes specified in said warrant, by posting attested copies thereof in each of the postoffices in said town and in twenty other public places in said town, seven days at least before the day of said meeting, and by causing a copy thereof to be published twice before the time of said meeting in the Dedham Transcript, a newspaper published in said town of Dedham.
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