USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1880 > Part 6
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20. Catherine Fogerty.
20. Edward Stewart Jordan.
21. William Alton Reid.
22. John Francis Fitzgerald.
23. Michael Thomas Swee- ney.
24. Richard Thomas Regan.
27. Randall Francis McDon- ald.
31. Francis Stodder Lovell. September.
3. Albert Edward Newn- ham, Jr.
4. Bridget Catherine Pow- ers.
9. Howard Alvah Thomp- son.
9. Henry Joseph Boyle.
9. Henrietta Josephine Boyle. Twins.
11. Esther Elizabeth Shaw.'
12. Harry Lincoln Bates.
13. Michael Henry Meara.
14. Annie Louisa Shea.
14 Edward Patrick McGro- ry.
15. John Rowe Mullen.
17 Mary Alice Delory.
18. Addie Louise Burgoyne.
21. Mary Maud Leavitt.
25. Albert Ernest Brown.
29. Burton Loud.
October.
2. Patrick Sullivan.
2. Mary Jane Manter.
5. Mary McDonald.
11. Mary Stowell Manuel.
12. Edwin Otis Smith.
14. Geneva Ella Spear.
22. Montvilla Alacelon Beals.
Date of Birth.
22. Johanna Teresa Dolan.
25. Charles Albra Torrey.
25. Euphemia Frances Bev- eridge.
25. Leo Heffernan.
26. Annie Maria Berry.
27. Mary Looney.
28. Mabel Newton Sherman.
29. Grace Walker Ames.
29. Walter Irving Burrell.
30. Laura May McDonald. November.
1. Emma Bowen French.
1. Margaret Teresa Dolan.
4. Alice Linwood May.
5. Louise Maria Agnes De- lory.
6. Mary Waldron Cooney.
7. Ella May Raymond.
8. Robert Bates Raymond.
8. Alice Donavan.
12. Charles Tupper Bleakney.
13. Charles Henry Smith.
14. Richard Francis Yourell.
15. Cora Belle Pratt. 15 Carrie Bradford Pratt. Twins.
18 John Rich Bouldry.
19. Edward Hall.
20. Calvin Freeman Veazie.
20. Marion Lucy Titus.
20. Florence Ethel Earle.
24. Ritchie Totman Howe.
26. John Yourell.
28. Ellen Maria Gallagher.
29. Male child of Charles and Elva A. Bosworth.
December.
1. Female child of John A. and Alice Cushman.
1. Morris Joseph Clerey.
105
Date of Birth.
1. Francis Henry Connor.
2. Lizzie Friary.
4. Charles William Childs.
6 Thrift Hamilton de Grēne.
7. Female child of Charles F. & Emma M. Lewis. 28. Laurence Ames Drew.
10. Harry Tirrell Merritt.
11. Edner Estelle Greene.
13. Margaret Fitzsimmons.
13. Mary Ellen Yourell.
14. Irene Logan Cushing.
Date of Birth.
14. Female child of Samuel S. and Abby S. Cushing.
16. Clara Louisa Sherman.
20. Mary Louisa Badger.
20. Emma Frances McCarthy.
25. Ureglia Fenochietti.
28. Margaret Flynn. 29. Duncan Charles McKen- zie.
30. Catherine Frances Burnes
31. Eva Louisa Pelran.
Whole number of births for 1880 :
Males
119
Females
. 99
- 218
Whole number of deaths for 1880 : .
Males
102
Females
90
192
Excess of births over deaths 26
Whole number of marriages registered for 1880 : - Where one or both parties reside in Weymouth 107
Non-residents .
18
125
Attest :
JOHN A. RAYMOND,
Town Clerk.
WEYMOUTH, January, 1881.
106
REPORT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON SUIT OF THE TOWN OF WEY- MOUTH v. BRIGHAM.
THE committee, consisting of the Board of Selectmen, and Messrs. James Humphrey, E. Atherton Hunt, and Amos S. White, appointed by the town at a meeting held for that purpose on the fifteenth day of May, A. D. 1877, and by vote of the town, at a meeting held the thirty-first day of July, A. D. 1877, "author- ized and fully empowered to institute in the name and behalf of the town, and to prosecute to final judgment any legal proceedings necessary and proper, in their judgment, to secure to the town the full benefit and enjoyment of the gift by Miss Susan Tufts of cer- tain real estate as a site for a public library," and also " empow- ered and instructed to defend in behalf of the town any suit or legal process commenced against the town by any party seeking to maintain any right, title, or interest in said real estate adverse to the interest and claim of the town," having completed that duty, respectfully submit the following report : -
Quincy Tufts, a long time resident of Boston, but a native of Weymouth, died at the old family residence in this town on the eighteenth day of April, A. D. 1872, at the age of eighty years, having never married, and leaving no near relative except his sis- ter Susan, who was also unmarried. By his will, which was duly admitted to probate, Mr. Tufts had bequeathed $10,000 in trust to the town for the purpose of aiding in the support of a free public library, a public reading-room, and free public lectures, to take effect upon the death of his sister Susan ; having given and devised to her nearly all his estate during her life. On the eighth day of October, 1874, Miss Tufts made and executed a deed with the usual covenants of warranty, of the estate called " Tufts' Corner," consisting of two stores, and the lot on which they stand, to Amos S. White and Milton H. Read, to hold in trust for the
107
use of herself during her life, and to be conveyed, upon her death, to said town, as a fund for the support of a public library. This deed was witnessed by Messrs. Nathaniel Blanchard and Francis Ambler, duly acknowledged, and entered on record. At the time of this conveyance, Miss Tufts was seized in fee of but one undi- vided half of the premises, and as tenant for life of the residue.
On the day of the execution of this deed she caused a deed of release to herself from those who, under the will of Quincy Tufts, were the devisees of the undivided half not held by her in fee, to be drawn ; and upon the next day it was delivered to one of these devisees, who volunteered to obtain the signatures of the parties in interest. One of these parties declined to sign it, and no further action was taken. Miss Tufts died on the 7th of March, 1877, at the age of 80 years, and the administrators, with the will annexed, advertised an undivided half of this estate, with other real estate of Quincy Tufts, to be sold at auction, on the first of August. The town, at its meeting, held on the thirty-first day of July, asserted its claim to the whole of the estate and protested against such sale, Messrs. White and Read having made a deed of quitclaim to the town in execution of their trust. At this meeting your com- mittee were elected by the town, with the full powers above recited. In consequence of this action of the town, and the resulting action of your committee, the administrators indefinitely postponed the sale of this estate.
This matter then rested until the 1st of February, 1878, when Margaret A. Brigham, one of the devisees under the will of Quincy Tufts, brought a writ of entry in the Superior Court of Norfolk County against the inhabitants of Weymouth, to recover a part of the land in controversy. A plea was filed in this action in behalf of the town, and, without trial, it remained upon the docket until the April term, A. D. 1880, when it was entered " neither party."
On the 1st of March, 1878, said administrators conveyed an un- divided half of the premises to Chapin Thayer, of Weymouth, for $4,550, he having consented to act as the agent of several inter- ested citizens for securing and holding the title for the benefit of the town, if it should elect to purchase it. On the 20th of March, 1878, Mr. Thayer brought his writ of entry in the Superior Court for Norfolk County against the town to assert his claim to the estate conveyed, and to disseize the town in respect to one half. Pleas were filed by the defendant, and the executor of the will of Susan Tufts was duly cited to defend against said action, on
108
account of the covenants of warranty contained in the deed of his testatrix. The executor failed to appear ; and, at a trial before the Court at the September term of the same year, judgment was entered for the claimant, and the town was thereafter duly evicted, Mr. Thayer becoming tenant in common with the town.
At the next succeeding term of the Supreme Judicial Court, February, 1879, an action was entered, under the direction of your committee, in favor of the inhabitants of Weymouth v. Wil- liam T. Brigham, executor of the will of Susan Tufts, to recover damages for the breach of the covenants to warrant and defend the premises described in her deed to said White and Read, and preparations were made for trial; owing to the absence of the justice who was assigned to hold the term, an adjournment was made until the 20th of May, when the necessary absence of both Messrs. A. S. White and M. H. Read, by reason of serious illness, compelled the continuance of the case until the February term of 1880, when the case was fully tried before a jury, Mr. Justice Colt presiding, and Hon. E. R. Hoar, and F. W. Lewis, Esq., represent- ing the town, and Hon. Henry W. Paine and Ellis Ames, Esq., representing the defendant. The trial lasted for nearly three days, and resulted in a verdict for the town of $5,924.68 as damages, and $151.27 taxed as costs.
The defendant claimed a single exception to the ruling of the presiding justice, and the case was carried up for a hearing before the full Court, which hearing would have occurred in order in Jan- uary of this year. But, through negotiations initiated by the de- fendant, in the latter part of December, the plaintiff accepted the full amount of the verdict, and costs, as stated above in settlement of its claim, and the defendant withdrew his exception. This result brought to a termination all that litigation in which the town had become involved from the assertion of its rights under the trust deed of Miss Susan Tufts, and triumphantly vindicated the posi- tion of the town, that it was entitled to hold the whole of the real estate described in the trust deed, or, in lieu of one half thereof, to recover its full equivalent in money. While nominally the town recov- ered, in its suit against the executor of the will of Miss Tufts, only the value of one half the real estate given, yet, as will clearly ap- pear from the pleadings, of which a copy is annexed, the validity of Miss Tufts' deed to convey any part of the estate was distinctly denied by the defendant, and a verdict against the town in that suit would probably have resulted in a loss to it of the whole prop- erty. The committee are pleased to record their high apprecia-
109
tion of the eminent ability and tact with which its senior counsel, the Hon. E. R. Hoar, conducted the case of the Town v. Brigham, executor, through all its stages, and to express their belief that this novel and important suit could not have been intrusted to better hands. Mr. Lewis also performed the duties of junior counsel in a highly intelligent and satisfactory manner.
Of the sum received as damages, $2,177.84 have been paid to Augustus J. Richards, Esq., for a conveyance of the undivided half part of said estate, which, at the request of the trustees of the library, he had purchased of Mr. Chapin Thayer ; but this half is still subject to a mortgage for $2,500, at six per cent interest, given by Mr. Thayer to Mr. Pinkerton, which is not due and payable until March 1, 1883. Prior to Mr. Pinkerton's recent death, efforts for an arrangement by which the mortgage might be paid presently were made, but failed.
The balance of $3,746.84 is on deposit in the Union National Bank of Weymouth, subject to the order of the town.
Your committee recommend that this sum be paid to the treas- urer of the trustees of the Tufts Library, to be expended for the uses of the library, but subject to the condition that he shall safely invest, at interest, so much of the same as may be needed for the payment of the Pinkerton mortgage, until such time as the same can be advantageously discharged. Of the sum received for costs, $50.00 was received by Judge Hoar for services rendered in preparing to argue the case before the full Court, and $20.00 was paid to J. Humphrey, Esq., as that part of the costs which had accrued to him as original counsel in the case.
We recommend that the balance of $81.27 be paid into the treasury of the town.
Thus will Miss Tufts's generous intentions be fully carried out, and a balance of between $1,100 and $1,200 be left for the increase of the library.
The expenses paid by the town in the several suits have been reported from time to time to the town by the selectmen, in the annual statement of expenditures.
By order, in behalf of the committee,
JAMES HUMPHREY, Chairman.
WEYMOUTH, Jan. 9, 1881.
110
Supreme Judicial Court, February Term, 1880.
THE INHABITANTS OF WEYMOUTH, Plaintiff, v. WILLIAM T. BRIGHAM, EXECUTOR, Defendant.
PLAINTIFFS' DECLARATION.
And the plaintiff says that said Susan Tufts, the defendant's tes- tatrix, during her lifetime, made and delivered to Amos S. White and Milton H. Reed, of said Weymouth, her deed, a copy whereof is hereto annexed, marked "A," and that upon the death of said Susan Tufts, her grantees aforesaid in execution of the trust set forth in her said deed to them, made and delivered to the plaintiff their deed, a copy whereof is hereto annexed, marked " B."
And the plaintiff further says that neither the defendant's tes- tatrix nor her executor aforesaid, since her death, has warranted and defended the premises against the legal claims and demands of all persons, but that one Chapin Thayer, of said Weymouth, being the owner in fee of one undivided half part of the land described in said deed of Susan Tufts, aforesaid, has lawfully evicted the plaintiff from the possession of said half part thereof.
THE INHABITANTS OF WEYMOUTH, By JAS. HUMPHREY, Attorney.
DEFENDANT'S ANSWER.
And now the defendant, answering, says that whether the said Susan Tufts made and delivered to the said Amos S. White and Milton H. Reed a deed, of which a copy is annexed to the plain- tiff's' declaration, marked "A," he, this defendant, hath no knowl- edge or information whatever, and this defendant can, therefore, neither admit nor deny that said Susan made such deed, but leaves the plaintiff's to their proofs.
And the defendant, further answering, says that whether said Amos S. White and said Milton H. Reed made and delivered to the plaintiff's their deed, of which a copy is annexed to the declara-
111
tion marked " B," the defendant hath no knowledge whatever, nor has the defendant any information except as he is informed in and by the plaintiffs' declaration, and therefore can neither admit nor deny that said White and Reed made and delivered such deed to the plaintiffs, but leaves the plaintiffs to their proofs.
And the defendant, further answering, says that if the plaintiff's shall prove the execution and delivery of the deed, a copy of which, marked " A," is annexed to and made part of the plaintiffs' declara- tion, that she, the said Susan Tufts, was seized in fee simple of one undivided half only of the land described in said deed, and that as to the other undivided half thereof, she, the said Susan Tufts, was not seized in fee simple, and that as respects said other undivided half thereof of which said Susan was not seized in fee simple, nothing passed to said Amos S. White and Milton H. Reed, and therefore the plaintiffs can maintain no action against the defend- ant, executor, for breach of the covenant to warrant and defend.
And the defendant, further answering, avers that neither the plaintiffs nor said White and said Reed, nor either of them, nor any other party whomsoever, ever paid any consideration whatever to said Susan Tufts for either of the deeds of which a copy is annexed to the declaration, marked " A " and " B"; but the defendant sets up and avers that both said deeds, marked " A " and "B," if ever such deeds were made and delivered, were utterly and wholly without any consideration given or paid therefor to said Susan Tufts by the plaintiffs, or by said White and Reed, or by either of them, or by any other person whomsoever.
And the defendant avers that the said Susan Tufts, by descent from her father, the late Cotton Tufts, was tenant in common with the late Quincy Tufts, her brother, of and in said lands or real es- tate described in the deeds, copies of which, marked "A" and " B," are annexed to and made part of the declaration, and that she, the said Susan Tufts, was never seized in fee simple or possessed of any more than one undivided half of said lands, and that long before the date of said deed, of which a copy is annexed to the declaration, marked " A," the plaintiffs, and said White and said Reed, well knew that said Susan Tufts was never seized in fee simple or pos- sessed of any part of said lands except one undivided half thereof.
And the defendant, further answering, sets up and says that on the eighth day of October, in the year 1874, when it is pretended by the plaintiff's that said Susan Tufts made, executed, acknowledged and delivered said deed, of which a copy is annexed to the declara- tion, marked " A," the said Susan Tufts was aged, sick, and weak
112
in body and mind, and unable to read, and that said Susan Tufts was deceived and defrauded by false representations by persons as- suming to act as agents of the plaintiff town, among which false re- presentations to the said Susan Tufts was the false representation to her, the said Susan, that she, the said Susan, was sole seized in fee simple of the whole of the tract of land described in the deed, a copy of which deed is annexed to the declaration, marked " A," and that the signature by said Susan Tufts, and the formal execution, if any, of said deed, of which a copy is annexed to the declaration, marked " A," was procured and brought about by undue influence and fraudulent representations to the said Susan Tufts, and by her being imposed upon by the agents of the said town of Weymouth.
By his attorney,
ELLIS AMES.
Filed Feb. 19, 1880.
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF WEYMOUTH
For the Year 1880.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
THE School Committee of Weymouth respectfully submit to the town their Annual Report, as follows : -
The additional appropriation of $2,000 made by the town at its last March meeting, to supplement the means previously furnished for that object, enabled the committee to extend the term of school sessions for the year ending in June last to thirty-eight weeks, and thus, substantially, to secure the completion of the course of study assigned for the several grades. In the high and grammar grades, however, the lack of the two weeks omitted from the term of the school year, as before established, was plainly recognized in the results obtained. The larger appropriations for the school expenses of the current year seemed to justify the committee in contracting for the full term of forty weeks of school session, and we expect to be able to bring the cost of schools, except the item of "repairs " of school buildings, within the limit of the means provided. This last item has been swelled by unusual expenditures for increasing the supply of water for our pupils, - the necessity as well as the opportunity for this increase being a result of the extraordinary drought which has prevailed. The rate of salaries of teachers has remained unchanged from last year, though we should have gladly added something to the small salaries of our primary teachers if we had been able to do so within our appropriation.
GENERAL STATEMENTS.
There have been sustained in our town, during the year, forty- seven schools, as follows : Fourteen primaries, twenty-one inter- mediates, eleven grammar, and two high, employing fifty-two teachers, of whom five are assistants, their salaries amounting to $2,298 per month.
The following-named teachers have terminated their connection with our schools during the year : -
116
Mr. James J. Prentiss, of the Athens Grammar ; Miss Nettie L. Poole, of the Athens Primary ; Miss Eliza French, of the Adams Grammar ; Miss Louie F. Briggs, of the Adams Primary ; Miss Hattie J. Farren, of the Middle Street Intermediate ; Miss Myra M. Holmes, of the Commercial Street upper Intermediate ; Mr. Frank M. Hathaway, of the Mt. Pleasant third Grammar; Miss Emma Hood, of the Mt. Pleasant second Grammar; Mr. L. A. Cook, of the Torrey Street Grammar. Four transfers and eight new appointments have been made, viz. : Miss Ella M. Burgess, from the Grant Street Primary to the Athens Primary ; Mr James E. Humphrey, from the position of assistant in the Franklin Gram- mar to the charge of the Athens Grammar; Miss Cora D'Arcy, from the Tremont Street middle Intermediate, Second Division, discontinued, to the Tremont Street third Primary ; Miss Hattie B. Baker, from the Mt. Pleasant upper Intermediate to the Mt. Pleasant third Grammar.
Miss Minnie E. Bodman was appointed to the Adams Grammar ; Miss Stella L. Tinell, to the Adams Primary ; Miss Mabel Lamson, to the Middle Street Intermediate ; Miss Alice A. Carter, assistant in Franklin Grammar; Miss Marion Lewis, to Commercial Street upper Intermediate ; Miss Susie E. Farren, to Grant Street Primary ; Miss May E. Sparrell, to Mt. Pleasant upper Intermediate ; Miss Mary L. Lewis, to Mt. Pleasant second Grammar ; Mr. Edgar R. Downs, to Torrey Street Grammar.
OTHER CHANGES.
In consequence of the large number promoted from the Tremont Street middle Intermediate to the next grade, it was found that the second division of that school, located during the past year in one of the recitation-rooms, could be discontinued without detriment to the grade, and it was accordingly done.
The Perkins lowest Primary having become overcrowded, there being more than one hundred pupils registered, it was thought best to divide the class at the commencement of the school year, and a portion of it is at present located in the Tremont Street room, for- merly occupied by the Intermediate school mentioned above. Owing to the fact that there were two male teachers in the Torrey Street house, it was thought best to transfer the Grammar school to the Central Street building, and the Central Street mixed Inter- mediate and Central Street Primary to the Torrey Street rooms. This change was brought about with trifling expense, and has
117
already proved beneficial in its results, especially noticeable in the improved deportment of the pupils of the Grammar school during intermissions.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
There are in town thirteen strictly primary schools. Of these, six have three grades, four have two grades, and four one grade. Of the six having three grades, four are located in the Second Ward, an arrangement which ought not to exist, as it has been demon- strated beyond a doubt in other sections of our town, as well as in other towns, that the best results are only obtained in well-graded schools. In a school of three or more grades much valuable time is wasted, because the youngest pupils, who have just entered school, need constant exercise and amusement to keep them from weariness, and from forming a distaste for school life, which they are sure to do when compelled to sit for a long time unoccupied, or engaged in undirected amusement. The upper grade also suf- fers from want of the constant attention of the teacher, which it is impossible for it to have, but which it so greatly needs, that it may secure the thorough drill desirable in all the branches taught.
A plan for grading the schools has been proposed by the com- mittee, and strongly urged by Mr. Walton, of the State Board of Education, who has, in a recent visit to our town, carefully consid- ered the location of the schools and the residences of the pupils, and which is somewhat as follows : To reorganize the Franklin and Middle Street schools by placing the lowest and middle grades of both schools in the Middle Street house, and the upper grade in the Franklin.
A similar change can be made at the High Street and Grant Street buildings, making the High Street school an upper primary, the other grades attending the Pleasant Street and Grant Street schools.
This change will probably take place at an early date.
Steady improvement has been noticed in most of our primaries. The reading is generally excellent, and would, we fear, draw un- favorable comparisons to some of our older pupils, in the clear enun- ciation and delightful expression heard in these grades.
Much improvement has also been made in writing, so that in the middle grade even large numbers of the little children write a legi- ble hand as well as compose short sentences and stories. More than the usual amount of work has been done in arithmetic, and in the best schools considerable has been accomplished by ora
118
instruction in geography. One need not spend more than a half- day in such schools to become convinced that the little children are forming excellent habits of thought and study which will be of lasting benefit, and are thus laying a strong foundation for a higher education.
We believe nearly all our primary teachers are earnest, conscien- tious ladies, devoting themselves faithfully to their work, but we regret that some consider this work well done when they have care- fully attended to the regular routine of the school-room, without devoting any time to their own culture.
The day has long since passed away when " anybody " can teach a primary school, and those teachers will surely retrograde who simply devote their time to the bare requirements of the course of study for their own class. Those who will can find some time for the review of all our common English studies at least ; and, to quote from an article in a recent number of the " Educational Journal," it will not do for the teacher who stands seventy or seventy-five per cent in arithmetic, grammar, or geography, if he expects to remain in the work, to cease studying. These figures mean but a pass, and one cannot stand long at the passing point, for the work will outgrow him.
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