USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > Town annual report of Ipswich 1856-1880 > Part 25
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
4.00
C. Damon, 66 66 66 14.23
Wm. G. Brown, hauling engine to fire, 4.00
Wm P. Ross, " Hook & Ladder to fire, 5.00
Webster Smith, new Hook and repairing, 8.75
George Barker, repairs, 3.05
Amos Bray, 10.40
Eben Kimball, of reservoirs, 7.50
Maik Newman, lantern, lamp, repairs, &c., 7.67
M. C. Warren & Co., Lock & Keys. 4.32
A. S. Hilis. Oil, pails, &c., 1878 & 1879, 3.57
Asa Lord, sundries, 1878 & 1879,
9.43
Benj. Newman, Paint and varnish,
1.45
Geo. C. Lord, care of engine, cleaning and ciling hose, 22.00
Geo. W. Sherburne, care of engine, cleaning and oiling hose,
18.50
Moses Spiller Jr., cleaning hose,
3.00
Hale Wait,
2.85
James H. Hull,
2.50
O. M. Gracy, . watching fire,
2.25
S. Brown,
1.80
Alfred Norman.
2.25
Stephen M. Ross,
66
1.50
W. B. Clark,
1.50
Luther Lord,
1.80
L. Brocklebank,
66
2.25
Geo. Bancroft,
2.50
John Rhodes,
1.25
Wm. Brocklebank,
66
1.25
L. M. Blaisdell,
2.50
Geo. W. Stone,
66
1.00
14
Bills allowed :
Fred Fall,
watching fire, 1.60
Charles W. Lord,
1.25
WVm. F Wait,
66
1.25
John Lane,
66
1.50
Hale Wait,
watchman,
54.05
Geo. C. Lord,
49.75
Stephen R. Harris, 66
$1.50
Arthur W. Dow, 66
14.00
Daniel B. Blake,
74.75
Belt and Leather Stuffing Co., Oil,
1.56
Geo. H. Lord, tools,
2.50
S. N. Baker, repairing fence,
4.40
W. Smith, travelling expenses,
1.50
W. B Copp, gravel at engine house,
1.25
John W. Russell, teaming,
1,75
H. P. Willcomb, express,
2.05
Wm. G. Brown, rent of land for engine house, 1879, 12.00
6.25
James Damon, wood,
5.53
J. S. Glover, coal,
11.82
Wm. G. Brown, coal,
2.45
Miscellaneous,
$503.81
$2789.97
HIGHWAYS.
$3500.00
Appropriation,
$85.09
E. Cogswell & Son, drain pipe,
17.81
D. L. Hodgkins, Lumber, Hull & Fall, 66
51.79
Rockport Granite Co., for stone, .
126.00
S. F. Canney, planing railing,
3.50
Moses Spiller Jr.,
22 00
Lyman H. Daniels, printing,
13.50
15
Bills allowed :
E. M. Burnham, Gravel, 56.76
Wm. Garrette,
10.00
Clarence Coburn, 66
4.20
James H. Wiley, 66
2.56
Thomas R. Lord,
66
12,18
E. Dole,
66
3.55
M. Nolan, blacksmith work,
2.99
W Smith, 60
4.00
Foster Russell, work on bridges & railings,
10.09
Foster Russell Jr., " " 66 23.90
P. Condon, painting bridge and railing,
14,10
J. W. Bond, work on bridge and fence,
7.50
F. Willcomb, nails, .45
3.50
Wm. G. Brown, teaming stone,
25.00
Aaron Cogswell, paving stones,
6.50
surveying Scotts' Hill,
2.50
Miscellaneous, 2.35
$476.32
For clearing snow,
1287.85
For labor,
1444.07
$3207.74
Property owned by the town, to be used for the High- ways: 1 Plough, 5 Pickaxes, 6 Snow Ploughs, and about 100 tons of Covering and other stone.
POOR DEPARTMENT.
Dr.
Estate of J. L. Ross,
rent,
$50.00
William Stevens,
66
35.75
Mary A. Potter,
66
30.00
Ruth Baker,
5.00
- C. M. Jones,
66
32.00
Thomas H. Lord,
.
66
25.00
James H Lakeman, making snow plow,
1
16
Bills allowed :
F. Mitchell,
rent, - 6.00
L. Choate,
" of woodhouse, 12.00
$195.75
J. S. Glover,
coal,
$91.01
W. G. Brown,
66
4.25
D. G. Chapman,
wood,
12.00
Est. of A. H. Wildes,
12.00
Geo. E. Lord,
66
9.00
Wood from Farm,
66
28.00
.
PARTIAL SUPPLIES.
E. Cogswell & Son, groceries,
$43.00
Asa Lord,
100.00
Geo. H. Dixson,
8.00
C. Damon,
66
94.00
A. S. Hills,
20.00
I. K. Jewett,
4.00
F. Willcomb,
27.00
T. E. Condon,
60
4.00
$300.00
Eastern Rail Road poor travellers, S. E. Fewkes, board of J. Fewkes,
37.50
S. L. Foster, of Rufus Langley, 10.00
J. A. Blake, medicine for J. Mason,
8.70
P. Spinney, meals for travellers,
1.50
E. Bailey, supplies,
8.50
Luther Wait, shoes,
3.10
Moses G. Lord, sawing wood,
.50
Wm. P. Ross, delivering wood,
9.18
E. T. Pike, travelling expenses,
4.63
N. R. Farley, "
2.60
Miscellaneous,
1.25
$94.96
21.10
J. H. Wiley,
$177.36
$7.50
17
Bills allowed :
POOR IN OTHER TOWNS.
City of Lynn, supplies to Sarah Wade, $1.50
" " Newburyport, supplies to Fuller and Pickard, 89.00
City of Gloucester, supplies to Anna Chap-
man, 30.00
City of Salem, supplies to Durgin, Barker & Carr, 240.15
City of Boston, supplies, 91.31
Town of Malden, supplies to C. H. Robbins, 162.00
Town of Quincy, expense returning W. Leonard, 6.63
$620.59
T. E. Condon, supplies for tramps,
$25.20
T. C. Tilton, care of tramps,
78.50
$103.76
$1492.42
Number of tramps provided for, 516.
CR.
Received from North Andover,
$9.62
66
66 New Bedford,
6.00
Lowell,
5.00
66
66 Salem,
13.80
Commonwealth,
32.00
Due from Commonwealth,
14.70
Wood on hand,
40.00
$121.12
Balance,
1371.30
$1492,42
18
INVENTORY OF PROPERTY AT THE FARM, STOCK, ETC.
1879.
1880.
- Value.
No. Value.
Inc.
Dec.
Oxen,
6
$675
6
$675
Cows,
14
560
12
480
$80
Heifers,
17
59
10
350
245
Steers,
4
140
6
210
$70
Calves,
4
48
12
144
96
Yearlings,
2
40
4
80
40
Bulls,
1
40
1
40
Horses,
2
430
2
430
Fat Hogs,
1
20
2
40
20
Shoats,
13
130
7
70
60
Fowls,
33
16
30
I5
1
Ducks,
11
6
11
6
Turkeys,
3
6
1
2
4
Horse wagon,
1
190
1
190
Sleigh,
1
40
1
40
Ox wagons,
3
340
3
340
Ox carts,
2
100
2
100
Mowing machine & harn's 1
124
1
124
Ploughs,
8
96
9
108
12
Cultivators,
2
18
-2
18
Harrows,
3
51
3
51
Ox sled.
1
15
2
20
5
Wood,
30
210
30
210
Tons of coal,
11
88
16 1-2
112
24
Groceries,
90
90
Cloth,
18
25
7
Futniture and bedding,
300
300
Cooking range and fixtures,
100
100
Stoves,
110
110
Sewing machines,
1
40
1
40
Washing
1
14
1
14
Winnowing mills,
1
8
1
8
Wheel Rakes
1
35
1
35
Tools,
150
160
10
Hay Tedder,
1
75
1
75
-
$4918
$4812
$284
$390
No.
19
INVENTORY OF PROPERTY AT THE FARM, PRODUCE, ETC. 1879. 1880.
No. Value.
No. Value.
Inc.
Dec.
Corn,
bushels,
290
290
250
250
40
Barley,
66
80
68
42
36
32
Rye,
17
14
13
11
3
Beans,
66
21-2
5
3
6
1
Peas,
1
2
1-2
· 1
1
Potatoes,
120
84
140
98
14
Roots,
66
220
66
200
60
6
Beef,
bbls.,
3
45
1-2
8
37
Pork,
2
.50
2
50
Cider,
6
24
31-2
12
12
Apples,
2
2
6
12
10
Soap,
66
2
8
11-2
6
2
Ham,
pounds,
216
28
300
39
11
Beef,
..
300
30
450
45
15
Fish,
180
9
200
10
1
Candles,
27
3.40
35
5
1.60
Lard.
100
15
75
13
2
Tallow,
30
4
22
3
1
Butter,
55
16
125
38
22
English hay, market tons, 16
224
19
28
61
English hay,
6.
14
210
15
225
15
Salt hay and black grass.
25
250
45
450
200
Salt hay, market
tons,
40
320
40
320
Thatch,
27
216
30
240
24
Corn fodder
8
80
8
80
Straw,
2
30
11-2
20
Rowen,
2
32.50
2
32.50
Grass seed,
2.50 -
1.50
1
Pickles, gallons,
4
1.50
1.50
Vinegar,
35
7
7
Dried apples. lbs.,
25
3
3
$2128.40
$2368.50
$387.10
$147.00
4918.00
4812.00
284.00
390.00
$7046.40
$7180.00
$671.10
$538.00
7046.40
537.00
$134.10
$134.10
-
10
20
TOWN FARM.
Bills allowed :
Chas. W. Dodge, repairing wagon,
.
33.75
Eben Kimball, 66
4.00
E. W. Choate, use of moving gear,
10.90
William Stone, ink for trees,
18.46
George Barker, repairs,
3.80
S. F. Canney, sawing stock for blinds,
$98.26
M. Nolan, blacksmith work,
$45.66
Benj. H. Smith, 66
41.06
Webster Smith, 66 36
$99.45
D. L. Hodgkins, lumber,
$5.35
Hull & Fall,
47.20
A. Staniford, painting blinds,
37.21
J. A. Newman, hinges, fastenings, &c.,
9.41
Geo. H. Lord, nails and tools,
10.56
Benj. Newman, paint and oil,
$229.72
S. N. Baker, clothing,
$68.72
R. Jordan,
Geo. W. Ellis, boots and shoes,
2.30
Jos: Johnson, 66
66
3.75
Luther Wait, 66
66
35.50
Wm. I. Johnson, “
22.60
W. S. Russell,
dry goods, .
66
11.82
E. Cogswell & Son,
66
4.94
Asa Lord,
66 66
30.87
C. Damon,
$12.35
Robert Stone, labor, repairing,
15.00
12.73
119.99
34.83
22.45
$287.78
21
W. E. Tucker, medical attendance,
$30.00
J. A. Blake, medicine, 42.10
E. F. Brown, 13.15
$85.25
William White, bread,
$2.92
M. B. Shattuck, fish,
49.06
J. Cleaves,
.45
Geo. H. Green, meat,
42.44
M. Whittier, 66
141.57
J. Stackpole, soap,
4.00
D. T. Perley, oxen,
125.00
M. Newman, stoves, castings, &c.,
21.91
J. S. Glover, coal,
77.97
Wm. G. Brown, “
50.43
Philip Clark, two coffins,
33.00
Whittemore Bros., plough,
17.75
J. A. Newman, tools.
6.30
H. A. Lord,
10.00
E. Cogswell & Son, drain pipe,
19.76
E. Cogswell & Son, grass seed and tools,
23.35
C. Damon, oil carpet,
12.50
C. Damon, grass seeds and tools,
10.55
$648.96
Asa Lord,
groceries,
$119.80
E. Cogswell & Son, "
168.90
Geo. H. Dixson,
21.94
A. S. Hills,
43.86
C. Damon,
66
345.74
Allen & Woodworth, groceries,
54.47
T. E. Condon, groceries,
13.80
Eastern Rail Road, freight,
1.44
$769.95
A. S. Hills,
meal,
$16.50
Asa Lord,
28.45
E. Cogswell & Son,
and oats,
50.64
$95.59
22
Bills allowed :
$70.00
M. Warner, labor.
78.00
C. Warner, «
423.11
D. A. Warner, Superintendent,
11.25
Luther Nourse, labor,
89.00
David Low,
671.36
$2936.32
671.10
Bills paid by the Superintendent,
$3607.42
GR.
By sales from Farm.
English hay,
$249.22
Salt hay and thatch,
128.98
Straw and mulch,
8.65
Barley,
45.00
Butter,
41.00
Eggs,
[12 10
Oxen and Steer,
215.00
Cows,
20.50
Calves,
27.00
Pigs,
10.87
Hides,
2.00
Wood,
28.00
Labor off the Farm,
38.50
Rec'd from Est. of J. Leatherland, 302.92
$1479.94
Increase of personal property,
134.10
$1614.04
Balance, being expense,
1993.38
$3607.42
Milk,
11.20
344.00
Keeping horse,
23
OVERSEERS' DEPARTMENT. DR.
To bills in their hands at last settle- ment, $48.63
Of that amount there is uncollec- table, 3.02
Balance left,
$45.61
To sales from Farm,
505.92
Rec'd from estate of J. Leatherland,
302.92
$854.45
CR.
By Cash paid Town Treasurer,
$528.32
By Cash paid Town Treas., bills of 1878,
40.11
By bills in their hands,
286.02
$854.45
Expense and Income Acc't for year ending Feb. 1, 1880. EXPENSE.
For Schools,
$6059.17
Current expenses,
3704.34
Lighting streets,
460.67
Fees and salaries,
2031.95
Fire Department,
2789.97
Poor, balance of account,
1371.30
Farm,
1993.38
Highways,
3207.74
Interest on town notes,
1392.87
Discount on taxes,
530.86
Abatements.
245.57
$23,787.82
INCOME.
Amount raised for town purposes,
$18,652.84
Received of State, Corporation Tax,
933.82
Received of State, Bank Tax,
689.70
Received of State, School Fund,
204.77
Received of County, dog licenses, 211.76
Received interest on taxes,
27.62
Received interest on deposits,
25.66
Rec'd income of town property, licenses &c., 577.81 Balance, being expense beyond income, 2463.84
$23,787.82
24
JONATHAN SARGENT, Treasurer & Collector. DR.
To cash on hand Feb. 1, 1879, Uncollected taxes,
$4674.93
Cash rec'd from State, Corporation tax,
933.82
Bank tax,
689.70
State Aid,
2217.00
School Fund,
204.77
66
Poor account,
32.00
66
66 66 other towns, poor acc't,
State tax committed to him,
County tax
1975.74
Town tax, 66
17811.90
Overlayings, . 66
840.94
Money hired on town notes,
Cash received for interest on deposits,
25.66
66 66
" taxes,
27.62
Auctioneer's license,
2.00
liquor licenses,
100.00
66
66
dog licenses,
211.70
66
Overseers' sales from Farm, 265.51
66
Est. of J. Leatherland,
302.92
Income of Town House,
402.81
66
of Town Scales, 75.00
66
grass on the South Common,
3.00
for Stone,
2.22
66
66
teaming Loam,
2.40
$42,283.94
66
34.42
605.00
9500.00
יי
66
1342.82
25
CR.
By cash paid on order, drawn by Selectmen, 1878, $185.35 16
Whole amount orders drawn 1879,
$22682.59 126.44
Less unpaid,
By cash paid on orders drawn in 1879,
22,556.14
Whole amount orders drawn for State
· Aid, 1879, $2012.50
Less unpaid,
48 00
By cash paid on orders drawn for State Aid, 1879, 1964.50 " for relief rendered under State Aid Act of 1879, 8.00
By cash paid principal on town notes,
10656.00
6 4
66 interest on town notes,
1392.87
66 .6 Commonwealth State tax, 605.00
6. 66 liquor licenses, 25.00
66
66 County of Essex, County tax,
1975.74
66
66 Discount on taxes,
530.86
66
66
Abatement of taxes, 245.57
66
66
uncollected taxes,
1160.46
on hand, 928.45
$42,283.94
State Aid, 1878, 52.00
26
Town in balance of all Accounts.
DR.
To notes payable,
$22,635.00
Orders drawn and not paid, 1878,
12.95
66
1879,
126.44
State Aid allowed and not paid,
48.00
Balance,
41,710.08
CR.
64,532.47
By balance in the treasurer's hands, $2088.91
Amount due from State, for State Aid allowed, 2025.50 " from Overseers, farm bills in their
hands,
286.52
$4400,93
By personal property :
At the Farm,
$7182.54
Engine apparatus and houses,
5000.00
Hearse,
600.00
Furniture and Scales in Town House,
500.00
Hay Scales,
800.00
Safes for Treasurer and Clerk,
429.00
$14,511.54
By Real Estate :
Farm,
$16,000.00
Town House,
16,000.00
Woodland in Linebrook,
100.00
at Common Fields,
65.00
Turkey Shore Pasture,
100.00
Thatch bank at Great Flats,
200.00
75:00
School Houses, at Third Creek,
12,500.00
27
Gravel pit near Peatfield's
80.00
Grammar School House, 100.00
66
66 J. C. Carlisle's, 150.00
on Mount Pleasant,
100.00
in Candlewood.
50.00
Pounds,
100.00
$45,620.00
$64,532.47
The amount of debt against the town February 1, 1879, was $23,791.00. The present amount is $22,635.00, a de- crease of $1,156.00
The whole number of inmates at the farm the past year was twenty; the average number nineteen. The present number is seventeen. The cost of support, by the usual mode of computation, was two dollars and ninety cents per week.
Although we have placed the value of the Farm in the inventory at the same price it has been for a great number of years, yet we think that the improvements in the build- ings, and Farm generally, made within the last two or three years, would justify a higher valuation.
Respectfully submitted,
NATHANIEL R. FARLEY,) Selectmen EDWARD P. KIMBALL, of
EDWARD G. HULL, Ipswich.
.
28
ESSEX, SS. TO EITHER OF THE CONSTABLES OF THE TOWN OF IPS- WICH, IN SAID COUNTY : GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby required to notify and warn the legal voters of said town to meet at the town house in said town, on Monday, the first day of March, next, at nine o'clock A. M., then and there to act on the following articles, viz :
ARTICLE 1. To choose a moderator.
ART. 2. To choose the necessary town officers, and grant them such pay for their services as the town may think proper.
ART. 3. To raise money for the support of the High and Commnon schools.
ART. 4. To raise money for the Highways, and determine the man- ner of apportioning the same.
ART. 5. To raise such sums of money as may be necessary to defray . all town charges for the ensuing year.
ART. 6. To see what compensation shall be allowed the Enginemen the ensuing year.
ART. 7. To see if the town will authorize the Treasurer to renew notes now due.
ART. 8. To see what Discount, if any, shall be allowed to those per- sons who pay their taxes before the prescribed time of payment.
ART. 9. To see if the town will authorize the Treasurer to hire mon- ey in anticipation of the taxes.
Art. 10. To see if the town will direct the Treasurer to collect inter- est on all taxes remaining unpaid after they are due.
ART. 11. To see if the town will accept the list of Jurors as pre- pared and posted by the Selectmen.
ART. 12. To hear and act on the report of Committees.
ART. 13. To hear and act on an order of notice from the County Com- missioners in relation to a road and bridge from the foot of Green street across Ipswich river to Turkey Shore and thence to the Essex road.
ART. 14. To see what action the town will take in regard to esrab- lishing evening schools and appropriating money for the same.
ART. 15. To see if the town will vote to instruct the Selectmen to enforce the license law, and appropriate money for that purpose.
ART. 16. To see if the town will authorize the Selectmen to let the public Temperance societies have the use use of the lower town hall for their weekly meetings free of expense.
ART. 17. To see what action the town will take in regard to provid- ing a suitable building for the Warren Engine and the new Hose Car- riage.
And you are hereby directed to serve this warrant by publishing the same once in the Ipswich Chronicle, and posting up attested copies of the same at each of the Meeting Houses, Town House, and at the School House in the North North district, three days at least before the time of said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of said meeting.
Given under our hands this nineteenth day of February, A. D. 1880.
NATHANIEL R. FARLEY, ) EDWARD P. KIMBALL,
-
Selectmen of Ipswich.
EDWARD G. HULL,
REPORT
OF A
COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF IPSWICH,
IN RELATION TO
CLAM FLATS AND OTHER TOWN PROPERTY.
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TOWN.
BOSTON : PRINTED BY SAMUEL N. DICKINSON. 1843.
DEED TO WINTHROP AND OTHERS.
" I Masconnomet, Sagamore of Agawam, do by these presents ac- knowledge to have received of Mr. John Winthrop the sum of £20, in full satisfaction of all the right, property, and claim I have, or ought to have, unto all the land, lying and being in the Bay of Agawam, alias Ipswich, being so called now by the English, as well as such land, as I formerly reserved unto my own use at Chebacco, as also all other land, belonging to me in these parts, Mr. Dummer's farm excepted only; and I hereby relinquish all the right and interest I have unto all the havens, rivers, creeks, islands, huntings, and fishings, with all the woods, swamps, timber, and whatever else is, or may be, in or upon the said ground to me belonging : and I do hereby acknowledge to have received full satisfaction from the said John Winthrop for all for- mer agreements, touching the premises and parts of them; and I do hereby bind myself to make good the aforesaid bargain and sale unto the said John Winthrop, his heirs and assigns forever, and to secure him against the title and claim of all other Indians and natives what- soever. Witness my hand.
28th of June, 1638.
Witness hereunto, JOHN JOYLIFFE, JAMES DOWNING, THOMAS CAYTIMORE, ROBERT HARDING.
MASCONNOMET,
his
mark."
1639, Nov. 5th. Ipswich is required to pay John Winthrop, Jr. the £20 which he paid the Sagamore for his right to their land.
TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF IPSWICH, IN LEGAL TOWN MEETING ASSEMBLED :
The Committee appointed by the Town, at a Meeting held April 28, 1840, in relation to a suit against several citizens of the Town, then pending, touching the Clam Flats, and the Committee appointed at a Town Meeting, March 15, 1841, to look up Town Property, being the same, have attended to the duties of both appointments, and now submit the following
REPORT:
THE committee have viewed, at the request of Edward Harris, a piece of land on the lane from the Rowley road to his house, and ad- joining land of Nathaniel Lord, as described by a committee of the town, in their report April 9, 1824, and claimed by the town, containing about sixty-three rods ; also, a piece of land, northerly of his barn, standing on the corner of his land, by said lane and road, and bounded by said road and his land, formerly a gravel pit belonging to the town, and containing, as is supposed, about forty rods,-and would recom- mend the sale of said land to said Harris, for the sum of twenty-seven dollars, fifty cents, by a deed of quitclaim.
The committee visited in June, 1841, the gravel pit on Back lane, so called, and found by the deed and plan that the town had, by digging, trespassed on land of William Conant and George Chadwick, and also that the barn of Robert Kimball stood partly on land of the town ; but as the town afterward referred the whole subject to the selectmen, the committee took no further action thereon. The committee would re- commend the sale of the old gravel pit at the northerly end of said lane, and bounded by land of Nathaniel Lord, junior, esquire, and Aaron Jewett, it being of no use to the town : provided a reasonable offer should be made for the same, containing, as by plan, two acres and four rods.
On the same day the committee visited the gravel pit on School street, and found by a deed from Samuel Wade, and a plan accom- panying the same, the town possessed of a good title, with the boundary lines fully marked and defined. Mr. Wade was of opinion that he had a right to claim all the soil, or in other words, all that was not gravel, as belonging to him; but, according to the terms of the deed and the bargain made with him, as understood at the time by Messrs. John Baker, jr. and Joseph Kinsman, who marked out and appraised the same, by mutual agreement of parties, when the town made their pur- chase, it does not appear that any such right was reserved to him.
The committee find by examination in relation to the gravel pit near the dwelling house formerly of Michael Brown, and now owned
4
by Ira Worcester, that the gravel pit pasture is named in the will of Jonathan Wade, in 1749; and again in his inventory it is said to con- tain about twenty-five acres, being valued at £281 5s; again, in two deeds from the heirs of Elizabeth Farley to Aaron Smith and Asa Baker, book 152, leaf 252, May 7, 1790-one acre being expressly reserved as belonging to the town ; and again in a deed from Aaron Smith to Asa Baker, book 154, leaf 185, April 20, 1792. This last deed places the whole estate at the disposal of Asa Baker, with the reservation of one acre thereof belonging to the town. In the division of Mr. Baker's real estate among his heirs, made at their request by Daniel Noyes, Jabez Farley, and Joshua Giddings, esquires, a commit- tee appointed for the purpose, and assented to by said heirs, and ac- cepted 1814, April 6, the gravel pit belonging to the town is reserved, as appears by the following extract from the return of said committee. " No. 2. We have set to number two the northerly part of the gravel pit lot, containing ten and a half acres, bounded as follows, viz: be- ginning at the northwesterly corner thereof at the county road, and from thence running easterly, northerly, easterly and southeasterly, by land of Nathaniel Wade, esquire, and Aaron Burnham, to land of Asa Andrews, esquire, thence running southeasterly by land of said An- drews to an ash tree, from thence running westerly on a straight line to the county road, and from thence running northerly by the county road nineteen rods and twenty-one links ; within the above bounds is included a gravel pit containing one acre, which belongs to the town of Ipswich; and have appraised this division at $570." The above described estate was assigned to Mr. Baker's daughter, Dorcas Brown, wife of William Brown, who conveyed the same by deed to George Baker, reserving the town's acre, as above, book 203, leaf 100, April 20, 1814. George Baker conveyed it, April 30, 1830, with the same reser- vation, to Michael Brown and wife, book 257, leaf 54. But in the next deed of conveyance of the same premises, given by Polly Brown, widow of Michael Brown, to Ira Worcester, book 324, leaf 95, the committee find a material variation ; it is in these words, “ reserving, however, all rights of the inhabitants of said Ipswich to dig and take gravel from said lot, and reserving also all the rights of said inhabi- tants, as secured and granted by the deed of Asa Baker aforesaid to them, book 160, leaf 232."
The committee proposed to Mr. Worcester to mark out and define the lines of the acre belonging to the town; the proposition was ac- cepted, and Mr. Cogswell was employed to survey the same, put down stakes and take a plan of the estate, which is herewith submitted. Mr. Worcester subsequently withdrew his assent, intimating that he would do nothing further in regard to the same.
The committee would respectfully recommend that an application be made by the town to the proper authority for the appointment of a committee to set off, by metes and bounds, the acre belonging to the town, unless the matter can be speedily settled by mutual agreement of the parties interested. Any difficulty that may seem to be growing out of Mr. Worcester's deed would then be at once and forever put at rest.
The committee have visited the gravel pit on the Topsfield road, and find a grant of two rods square to Robert Cross, (now Hobbs's,) May 3, 1735 ; also a grant to Francis Foster, of 30 feet square, near
5
the above, March 3, 1746, (now Miss Wait's ;) also a grant to Rebekah Wait, 40 feet front and rear, 24 feet west end, 20 feet east end, April 3, 1786, (now Mrs. Treadwell's.) No other grants are believed to exist in this vicinity. As the above estates respectively improve more than their grants, together with John Kimball, junior, the committee would recommend that the town allot to each of the granted estates such proportion of the land as may seem expedient, leaving the neces- sary gang-ways to each and to the gravel pit, free of cost ; and require of Mr. Kimball payment of a reasonable consideration for a valuable spring which is cut off from the citizens; and further, that the gravel pit be sold to Jacob Brown, as it would be of advantage to his land adjoining-all by quit-claim. This arrangement would enable the several owners to defend their respective estates, whereas it is be- lieved they could not defend under any existing title.
The committee have viewed the marsh and thatch ground of Joshua Giddings, at the north part of Treadwell's island and east of Deep hole, so called, and find by a deed from Thomas Boardman to Solomon Giddings, April 29, 1783, book 114, leaf 69, and by a deed from Thomas Burnham to Joshua Giddings, November 24, 1803, book 197, leaf 67, that the said Giddings holds estate bounded south and west on Tread- well's island, north, east and south on Ipswich river to Kill creek, so called. The above deeds convey the marsh and thatch banks, no mention being made of clams or sand. As the commoners held pos- session of the clam flats east of Deep hole (as appears by their prose- cuting Thomas Spiller, a living witness, for digging there without a permit,) as long as they remained a corporation, and then conveyed them to the town, it is to be presumed they now belong to the town.
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.