USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1838-1857, v. 1 > Part 20
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4. John W. Warren Warren 66 66
5. Charles Smith, Heath
6. George W. Goldsmith, Clyde 66
7. Simon W. Clifford, Newton 66
8. Simon Warren, Boylston
Western District.
9. Daniel Sanderson, Brighton 66
66
10. Hugh M. Sanborn, Boylston 66 Eastern
Voted, To choose three Fire Wards.
Made choice of George Stoddard, Seth T. Thayer, Jerath- mael Davenport, Fire Wards.
15
Charles Stearns, Jun'r, for North District )
66
226
Brookline Town Records.
Voted, To choose two Fence Viewers.
Caleb Clark & Clark L. Haynes were chosen Fence Viewers.
Pound Keeper-Charles Smith.
Voted, To choose four Constables for the ensuing year.
Elisha Stone, A. H. Clapp, Charles Smith (declined), Willard A. Humphrey (declined), were chosen Constables. Elisha Stone was forthwith sworn by the Town Clerk.
Voted, To choose Twelve Field Drivers.
The following named persons were chosen :
s. George F. Homer, George Griggs,
s. Samuel A. Walker, S. Capt. Benj. Bradley,
Thomas C. Quimby, s. Simon Warren,
Samuel Philbrick, S. Otis Withington,
William Perry
. Hiram R. Bean, Declined.
s. Clark L. Haynes,
A. H. Clapp. s.
Committee on Town Accounts, three-Dr. Charles Wild, Elijah Corey & Abijah W. Goddard.
Voted, To choose a Cemetery Committee of three, by nomination.
Jesse Bird, Augustus Aspinwall & Harrrion Fay.
Surveyors of Wood & Lumber-Elisha Stone & Jeremiah Lyon.
NORFOLK, SS. March 9, 1847.
The Town Clerk issued his Warrant forthwith to Consta- ble Clapp, requiring him to notify the above named persons, who are required by law to take an oath of office, to appear within Seven days before the Town Clerk for that purpose.
Attest : A. NEWELL, Town Clerk.
Samuel Philbrick, in behalf of the Committee, or a Major- ity of the Committee, upon the claims of Samuel A. Walker, made a report as follows, to wit :
The Committee appointed by the Town of Brookline, at their meeting in January last, to hear and consider the petition of Samuel A. Walker and report thereon, have given him a full hearing on the subject of said petition. From which it appears that said Walker is desirous of pre- paring for building lots a parcel of meadow land recently purchased from the White estate, situated on the corner of Boylston & Washington
227
Adjourned Annual Meeting, March 8, 1847.
Streets; and in aid of this object, said Walker requests the Town to remove the bank wall on Boylston Street, and to the line of said Walker's land, & to fill up and raise the intervening strip of land to a level with the present travelled part of said street. Also to widen the present travelled part of Washington Street by building a new wall on the line of said Walker's meadow, and laying a bridge over the water course or brook now running between the front line of said meadow & the brook wall supporting the present elevation of the travelled part of said street. After a full consideration of the subject & a particular examination of the street opposite the s'd meadow land, your committee have not been able to discover any deficiency in the width of the travelled part of s'd street for affording ample accommodations & convenience to the public travel.
The present width of Boylston Street from the railing on s'd bank wall to the fence on the other side being in the narrowest place about 50 feet, of which 38 feet have been graded for travelling and a water course, while the same street between Cypress St. & Walley's hill, for a distance of two hundred paces, is only twenty-eight feet in width between the railings.
The width of Washington Street opposite s'd Walker's Meadow, between the bank wall on the western side and the fence on the eastern side, is 56 feet, and the length of the present water course or brook run- ning on said street, between the bank wall & the line of said meadow to the stone bridge, is about 95 feet, over which a stone bridge will be required if said petition be granted.
Your committee are therefore unable to perceive either the necessity or expediency of granting said petition, which would require an expenditure of several hundred dollars without any adequate public benefit.
BROOKLINE, March 1, 1847. Signed, BENJ. GODDARD, SAMUEL PHILBRICK.
Voted, To accept the foregoing report.
William I. Bowditch, Esq., from the committee to examine into the claims of Mr. S. A. Walker, made a minority report, in which he dissented entirely from opinions expressed in the foregoing report by the majority, and urged upon the Town the justice of granting Mr. Walker's petition.
The minority report was accepted, but the principles and opinions therein contained were not adopted. The report will be found on file E, No. 10.
After considerable debate upon the subject matter of the two reports, it was settled by the passage of the following vote :
Voted, That the opinions expressed in the report of the majority of the committee on the petition of Samuel A. Walker be adopted.
228
Brookline Town Records.
The report will be found on file E, No. 9; also entered on [226] page.
William I. Bowditch, Esq., for the committee on By-Laws reported as follows :
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BY-LAWS.
The committee appointed to draft a code of By-Laws respectfully submit the following as the result of their deliberations :
Our aim has been to prepare every by-law which we thought would be considered important by any considerable number of the inhabitants, leaving it with the Town, in the exercise of its deliberate judgment, to adopt the report, or to reject such part of it, or to make addition to or alteration in it, as might seem best.
We recommend the appropriation of $11 to meet the expense of copy- ing the report and of printing three hundred copies of it for distribution.
Respectfully, in behalf of the Committee,
WILLIAM I. BOWDITCH.
It was Voted, That the report of the committee on By-Laws be accepted, and the sum of eleven dollars, as recommended to defray the expense of printing, &c., be appropriated for that purpose. File E, No. 11.
Voted, That the code of By-Laws, as prepared by the committee, be now taken up by sections and acted upon separately, accepting, rejecting or amending them, as may be deemed expedient.
The By-laws were accordingly subjected to a careful and critical examination, section by section, by the whole town, accepting some sections, rejecting some, and amending others, and were finally adopted as a whole as amended, and it was-
Voted, That the By-laws as amended be recommitted to the committee, that they may be laid before the Court of Common Pleas, and published in a newspaper according to law, and, when completed, that a sufficient number be printed, that each family in the Town may have a copy.
The By-laws as approved by the court are recorded on page [241].
The 5th Article in the warrant was taken up, in relation to macadamizing Washington Street.
On Motion of Samuel Goddard, Esq., it was-
Voted, That a sum of not exceeding Three Hundred Dol-
229
Adjourned Annual Meeting, March 8, 1847.
lars be appropriated & placed in the hands of the Selectmen for the purpose of Macadamizing and draining Washington Street, through the village, in a proper manner, commenc- ing at the bridge near the residence of Mrs. Morril and end- ing at Roxbury line. See file E, No. 14.
The 6th Article came up for consideration, in relation to the School House in Newton Street. Mr. Charles G. Col- bath made some remarks in relation to the state of repair in which the School House is in, &c., and it was-
Voted, The Selectmen be a committee to examine the whole matter, & report at the adjourned Meeting on first Monday in April next. See file E, No. 17.
The 7th Article in the warrant was taken up and disposed of by the following vote :
Voted, That a committee of three be chosen to examine into the subject of purchasing land & grading the banks, &c., about Town House, and report at the adjourned meeting on first Monday of April next.
Samuel Philbrick, Seth T. Thayer & Abijah W. Goddard were chosen to attend to that duty.
Voted, That the sum of One Hundred & Fifty Dollars be appropriated and placed at the disposal of the Selectmen for the purpose of digging a well & providing a pump for the High School.
Article 9 of Warrant, in relation to ventilation of Town Hall, &c.
Samuel Philbrick, in behalf of the committee for venti- lating the Town Hall, &c., reported as follows. See file E, No. 12.
The committee appointed by the Town at their last annual meeting in March last, with instructions to provide desks and seats for two school rooms in the Town House, have attended to that service, and accordingly both rooms were in readiness for opening schools at the beginning of the school term in May following. Your committee were also requested to take such measures for ventilating the Town Hall as they might deem expedient. But hitherto the subject of ventilation having been attended with so many practical difficulties, your committee fearing they might do more injury than benefit to the Hall by introducing the usual modes of ventilation, have omitted the attempt, and now respectfully ask a discharge.
BROOKLINE, March 1, 1847.
SAM'L PHILBRICK,
For the Com.
230
Brookline Town Records.
Voted, To accept the report and discharge the committee.
Voted, That a committee be appointed, to consist of three, to take measures to ventilate the Town Hall and all the School Rooms in the Town in such a manner as may be deemed expedient that will effect the object, and that five hundred dollars be appropriated for that purpose.
George Griggs, John F. Edwards & Willard Sears were chosen to carry the object of ventilation into effect.
Voted, That one hundred dollars be appropriated for the purpose of introducing music into the two intermediate schools.
Voted, That the sum of Nine Thousand Dollars be raised by Taxes, to be lawfully assessed, for defraying the expenses of the town the present year, to be applied to the several purposes named in the following estimate, to wit :
For the support of Poor
$1000
County Taxes .
600
Support of Schools
2900
Music in Schools
100
Repairs of Highways
1200
Expenses of Fire Engine
500
Assessing & Collecting Taxes .
350
Abatement of Taxes
250
Town Officers .
250
Repairs of buildings & fuel
200
Well for High School
150
New Road
1000
Interest on debt
150
For Ventilating Town Halls & Schools
500
Macadamizing. Wash. Street
300
" Contingencies
500
To be deducted : Balance on hand
$814 58
Income from Scales, &c. . 135 42
950
To be raised by Tax, as above . .
$9000
Addition : April 5. Repairs on South School House 200 )
66 Widening Heath Street 100
475
April 12. Repairs of Newton Street 100
66 To build a Lock-up 75
To be raised by Taxes
$9475
On Motion of Samuel A. Walker it was-
Voted, That the Selectmen be and are hereby instructed to prosecute all violations of the License Laws in the Town of Brookline. See file E, No. 15.
$9950
231
Adjourned Annual Meeting, March 8, 1847.
Article 10 in the warrant was taken up and disposed of by the following vote :
Voted, That for the future the Auditors' report be printed each year for distribution before the Annual Town Meeting, and that an appropriation be made of a sufficient sum to defray the expense of preparing, printing & circulating such documents as are or may be printed the present year, to be taken from any unappropriated funds in the Treasury.
Voted, That the sum appropriated for repair of highways the present year be assessed in same manner as all other appropriations are assessed in this Town, & collected into the Town Treasury with other taxes ; and that each highway surveyor be allowed to draw from the Treasury the propor- tion heretofore allowed the district over which he is appoint- ed, whenever the Selectmen shall approve his bill of expend- itures. See file E, No. 16.
Voted, That the Treasurer be hereby authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars, if necessary, to pay the expenses of the Town until the Taxes are paid.
The residents and owners of land on Heath Street made a written request that the town would take some effectual measures to widen and thoroughly repair said Street. Re- quest will be found on file E, No. 13.
It was Voted, That a committee of three be chosen to examine into the matter and report at the adjourned meet- ing, April 5, 1847.
Royal McIntosh, D. Sanderson & A. W. Goddard were chosen to attend to that duty.
Voted, To adjourn to the first Monday in April, at 4 o'clock P. M.
Attest : A. NEWELL, T. C.
232
Brookline Toum Records.
SECOND ADJOURNMENT OF THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1847.
APRIL 5, 1847. Agreeably to the adjournment of An- nual Meeting, the inhabitants met for the purpose of filling any vacancies that might exist in Town Officers, and to hear the reports of committees that were appointed to examine into sundry matters and report thereon, and to attend to any other business that might come legally before the meeting.
The meeting was called to order by the moderator, Mr. Marshal Stearns.
The Town Clerk reported the names of all those who had been elected to office that had not been qualified by taking the oath required by law, and of those who had declined to serve in the office to which they had been chosen.
Thomas C. Quimby, Samuel Philbrick, William Perry and George Griggs were excused by the passage of the following vote-they had not been sworn :
Voted, That the vote passed at the meeting on the 8th March " to choose Twelve Field Drivers " be reconsidered, and that the number of Field Drivers for the ensuing year should be eight, and that those who had not been sworn be excused from serving.
Hiram R. Bean declined to serve as Field Driver and was excused, and Chauncy Woodward was chosen in his stead as Field Driver.
Charles Smith and Willard A. Humphrey declined to serve as constables, and were excused. It was-
Voted, To add two constables to the number already chosen, making the whole number for the ensuing year six.
Made choice of Charles D. Perry, Franklin Tukey, John W. Warren, Thadeus J. Townsend, Constables.
The following report of the Selectmen was made by Mr. Bartlett :
REPORT OF THE SELECTMEN.
At the last Town Meeting, on the 8th of March, the Selectmen were appointed a committee to examine into the proposition of Mr. Charles G. Colbath, and all matters connected therewith, in relation to the Newton
1
233
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 5, 1847.
Street School House, and to report at the adjourned meeting on the first Monday in April. The Selectmen having giyen the subject their atten- tion, would now report :
That the proposition of Mr. Colbath was in substance as follows : That he would convey to the Town a small piece of land in the rear of the School House, provided the Town would move the School House back, turn it around side to the road, fence the land, and otherwise fit up the house and grounds as he might direct. It was deemed by the Selectmen, after due consideration, that it would not be for the best interest of the Town to accept of the said proposal of Mr. Colbath.
The Selectmen, after an examination of the premises, would however reccommend that said School House should be repaired. Some portion of the roof requires to be shingled immediately, the floor requires to be new laid, seats and benches to be altered and repaired, a new outside door made, a small shed built for the fuel, the grounds about the house levelled off, and the whole enclosed with a fence, and such other repairs and alterations made as may be found necessary to put it in good repair, and make it comfortable and convenient for the School; and would rec- ommend that the sum of Two Hundred Dollars be granted and appro- . priated for that purpose.
For the Selectmen,
BROOKLINE, April 5, 1847.
JAMES BARTLETT, Chairman.
Voted, To accept the above report, and to grant and appropriate the said sum of Two Hundred Dollars to carry into effect the objects therein recommended. See file E, No. 21.
Attest : A. NEWELL, Town Clerk.
Royal McIntosh, for the committee chosen to examine and report in relation to widening Heath Street, made the follow- ing report :
The Committee appointed by the Town to act on the request of Mark W. Sheafe and others, proprietors of lands on Heath Street, have attended to that duty, and respectfully ask leave to report :
On examining and measuring some parts of the road, the committee found it to be less than one rod and a half wide, it being altogether too narrow for the convenience of carriages to pass safely, and the commit- tee unanimously recommend that this part of the road be widened by taking so much of the land belonging to the heirs of the late Benj. White as to make the road two rods wide for a distance of about fifteen rods, being that part of the road lying east of the residence of Samuel Towns- end, on the northerly side of said road, commencing at a stake near the bars and running westerly as staked by the committee.
The committee would recommend that the sum of One Hundred Dol- lars be raised by the Town to defray the expenses of the proposed improvement.
All of which is respectfully submitted,
See file E, No. 22.
ROYAL MCINTOSH, In behalf of the Committee.
234
Brookline Town Records.
Voted, To accept the report of the committee as above, and to grant and appropriate One Hundred Dollars, to be placed in the hands of the committee for the purpose named in the report.
Attest : A. NEWELL, Town Clerk.
George W. Stearns declined to serve as Prudential School Committee in the Middle District.
Mark W. Sheafe was chosen Prudential Committee in room of G. W. Stearns, declined.
S. Philbrick, chairman of the committee on purchasing land about the Town House, reported as follows, to wit :
The committee appointed by the Town of Brookline at the adjourn- ment of their annual meeting in March to consider and report upon the subject of purchasing, for the use of the town, a piece of land in the rear of the Town House, have attended to that business and have ob- tained of Harrison Fay the refusal at six cents per square foot of a lot . of land lying between the Town's land on School Street and a court running back from Harvard Street, bounding southwesterly on land of the late Mrs. Dana, and southerly in part on lands of the heirs of James Leeds, Esq., and in part on said court, containing 68450 feet,-being two lots as laid down on the plan of Alexander Wadsworth, & numbered 23 & 27 on said plan, which at price above named will amount to 4107 Dolls. The land adjoining the Town House lot in the rear cannot be purchased short of eleven cents per foot, which was deemed too unreasonably high to claim their consideration.
When the land on which the Town House stands was purchased of James Bartlett there was an explicit & distinct understanding between the contracting parties that the Town, after having possession of said land intended to cause the removal of the gravel from its whole surface down to a convenient level for the accommodation of a Town House, and James Bartlett who owned the land adjoining in the rear offered no objection to having the gravel so removed back to the line of division and down to a level surface. Your committee therefore are of opinion that in justice, law and equity the town have a right to remove said gravel back to the rear line of their land and down to a level with the present grade of the yard around the Town House; and they accordingly recommend the passing of the annexed resolution authorizing its removal by the board of Selectmen.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
For the committee,
SAMUEL PHILBRICK, Chairman.
BROOKLINEE, April 5, 1847.
The Resolution was not passed, and is not matter of record, but may be found on File E, No. 23.
Attest : A. NEWELL, Town Cl'k.
235
Special Meeting, April 5, 1847.
The question upon the acceptance of the report of the committee upon the subject of the purchase of land was acted upon, and it was voted to accept it.
The passage of the resolution to instruct the Selectmen to remove the gravel from the Town Bank came up for con- sideration, and after a long debate it was voted, 18 to 16, not to pass it.
Voted, That the Treasurer be hereby authorized to borrow a further sum of not exceeding Fifteen Hundred Dollars in anticipation of the payment of the Taxes, if necessary to meet the demands upon the Treasury for the expenditures of the Town.
Voted, on motion of S. Philbrick, That the Selectmen be hereby instructed to forthwith see Mr. H. Fay, and if they can get the refusal of his land (described in the report of the committee, on page [234],) at the same price at which it was offered to the committee, to immediately call a Town Meeting to act thereon.
Adjourned without day.
Attest : ARTEMAS NEWELL, Town Clerk.
APRIL MEETING FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
بيا
SEAL. ] NORFOLK, SS. ) To the Constables of the Town of SEAL. ] SEAL. ] BROOKLINE. Brookline, GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Brookline, qualified to vote in elections, to bring in to the Selectmen, at the Town Hall in said town, on the first Monday of April next, it being the fifth day of said month, at two o'clock in the afternoon, at which time and place the Polls will be opened, their votes for three County Commissioners and two special Commissioners for the County of Norfolk, being all inhabitants of different towns within said county, to serve for the term of three years and until others shall be chosen in their stead.
236
Brookline Town Records.
Given under our Hands and Seals this Twenty-Fifth day of March, Anno Domini One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Seven. File E, 25.
JAMES BARTLETT, Selectmen
DANIEL SANDERSON, of
H. M. SANBORN, Brookline.
NORFOLK, SS. ) APRIL 1, 1847. Pursuant to the within warrant I have BROOKLINE. notified the Inhabitants of the Town of Brookline herein described to meet at such time and place and for the purposes within mentioned, by leaving a printed notice to each and every house in said Town.
A. H. CLAPP, Constable.
A true copy of the Warrant and return.
Attest : ARTEMAS NEWELL, Town Clerk.
Agreeably to the above warrant the Polls were opened by the Selectmen for the purposes therein expressed, and remained open about two hours and a quarter when the polls were closed and the results found to be as follows :-
Whole number of Ballots for County Commissioners, Fifty One.
Samuel P. Lord of Dorchester had Thirty Eight. 38.
James C. Doane of Cohasset Thirty Eight. 38.
Nathan Jones of Medway Forty Two. 42.
Aaron Prescott
" Randolph
Thirteen. 13.
Fisher A. Kingsbury
" Weymouth
Thirteen. 13.
Joseph Hawes
" Walpole 66 Nine. 9.
Whole number of ballots for Special Commissioners, Fifty One.
Timothy P. Whitney of Wrentham Thirty Eight. 38.
John J. Lowe
" Roxbury
Thirty Two. 32.
Laban Souther
Cohasset Thirteen. 13.
Michael Whittemore, Jun. Roxbury Thirteen. 13.
Abraham F. Howe
Roxbury
Four. 4.
Artemas Newell 66 Brookline Two.
2.
The votes were sorted and counted by the Selectmen and Town Clerk, the returns were signed by the Selectmen and Town Clerk, and sealed up with the Town seal in open Town Meeting.
Adjourned Sine die.
Attest : ARTEMAS NEWELL, Town Clerk.
237
Special Meeting, April 12, 1847.
SPECIAL MEETING, APRIL 12, 1847.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
NORFOLK, SS.
BROOKLINE. S To the Constables of the Town of Brookline, GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Brookline, qualified to vote in Elections, to meet at the Town Hall in said Town, on Monday the 12th day of April inst., at three o'clock in the afternoon, for the following purposes, viz. :
First. To choose a Moderator.
Second. To see if the Town will purchase a piece of land of Mr. Har- rison Fay, for the purpose of obtaining gravel for the use of the Town, upon the same terms at which it was offered to a committee of the town who were chosen to investigate and report upon the subject of purchas- ing land about the Town House.
Third. To see if the Town will grant and appropriate a sum of money not exceeding One Hundred Dollars for the purpose of filling up and widening the travelled part of a portion of Newton Street between Clyde Street and Roxbury line.
Fourth. To see if the Town will grant and appropriate Seventy-Five dollars to finish a room under the Town Hall for a lock-up for prisoners that may be taken by the constables.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant with your doings thereon, at the time and place of the above notified meeting.
Given under our hands and seals this fifth day of April, A. D. One Thousand Eight Hundred and forty-seven. See file E, No. 26.
JAMES BARTLETT, Selectmen DANIEL SANDERSON, of
H. M. SANBORN, Brookline.
NORFOLK, SS. BROOKLINE. APRIL 7, 1847. In pursuance of the foregoing warrant, I have notified the inhabitants of the Town of Brookline qualified to vote in elections, to meet at the time and place and 'for the purposes therein expressed.
FRANKLIN TUKEY, Constable of Brookline.
238
Brookline Town Records.
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