Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1838-1857, v. 1, Part 21

Author: Brookline (Mass.)
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Brookline, Mass. : Published by vote of the town
Number of Pages: 680


USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1838-1857, v. 1 > Part 21


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SPECIAL MEETING.


Agreeably to the foregoing warrant, the inhabitants of the Town of Brookline assembled at the Town Hall, April 12, 1847.


Marshal Stearns was chosen Moderator.


The second article in the warrant came up for considera- tion, relative to the purchase of land.


Daniel Sanderson, on behalf of the Selectmen, stated that - the Selectmen had received of Mr. Fay the refusal of the piece of land offered to the committee referred to in the warrant upon the same terms, viz., six cents per foot.


The following vote was then passed after some discussion :


Voted, That the Selectmen be hereby authorized to pur- chase the Two Lots of land offered to the Town by Harrison Fay, containing, according to the plan, 68,450 feet, at six cents per foot, and the Treasurer is hereby authorized to give his note on behalf of the Town for the amount of said land.


The subject of making an appropriation for the repairs of Newton Street, under the Third Article in the warrant, next was taken up, and after some discussion it was-


Voted, That a further sum of not exceeding One Hundred Dollars be placed at the disposal of the Selectmen for the purpose of repairing Newton Street, the same to be granted and appropriated hereby.


Voted, That the sum of Seventy-five dollars be hereby granted and appropriated for the purpose of building a Lock-up under the Town Hall, and that the Selectmen be hereby instructed to carry the same into effect.


Voted, That the sum of One Hundred Dollars from the amount appropriated at the Annual Meeting for repairs of highways, be placed at the disposal of the Selectmen, to be by them appropriated for that purpose in such parts of the Town as they may deem expedient.


Adjourned without day.


Attest : ARTEMAS NEWELL, Town Clerk.


239


Militia List, 1847.


Militia Roll for 1847.


Fernald Butler


Joseph L. Stackpole


James Morse


Isaac Dearborn


Freeman R. Howe


Ab'm C. Small


Henry Warren


John Gustin


Ed'd Wakefield


Francis Wilbur


Henry Foale


Charles L. Palmer


Franklin Morse


William Stook


Horace Cousens


David A. Griggs


David Young Charles J. Morrill


Thomas Rankin


Calvin Smith


Dennis Colburn


Daniel Hyde


Reuben Wyman


James Sanford


Daniel Sanderson, Jun. Thos. Wentworth


Nathan Sanford


Albert Sanderson


Benj'n Young


Peter W. Pierce


George Murdock


Amos R. Binney


James M. Edwards James Roach


David S. Coolidge


Sylvester Kimball


Charles W. Tolman


Charles Coolidge


Hazen Bradbury


James Edmond


Frederick Harryman


Alfred Wansor John Webb


John Kenrick


William J. Griggs


Wm. C. Cunningham


Edward A. Wild Willard Sears


John B. Libby


Joseph Huff


George Colburn


Morril S. Bean


Watson Saunders


Samuel Barker


Charles Whittemore


Nath. Sawyer John Frazer


A. B. Allard Thomas Allard


Charles Pope


Augustus Allen


James Hobbs


John A. Bailey


Isaac Allard


Simon Herson


William Hardy


Henry Poor


Ransom N. Weld


James M. Ingalls


Thomas B. Griggs


Alfred Page


Joseph Silver John C. Piper


Samuel A. Robinson


Charles D. Perry


A. H. Lambert


Moses Withington


Ivory . Ross


Joshua F. Pray Hiram Jones


Francis H. Corey


Isaac R. Atwood


W. K. Melcher


Charles Bartlett


Benj. F. Baker


Charles P. Trowbridge Lafayette Follett James M. Seamans Mark Piper


Jon'n D. Long


Samuel Carpenter


Jason H. Bickford


Geo. F. Bartlett


Geo. F. Homer D. H. Rogers


Woodbury Kennister


David Wilder, Jun.


Timothy Corey


Thomas Seaverns


Charles Staples


William A. Willard


Francis Ward


Hezekiah Shailer George Stoddard William Snell


G. C. George G. B. George George Atkinson


F. A. Heath


E. C. Emerson


Stephen Blanchard


Charles Heath


Edward Atkinson


Aaron D. Fairbank


E. R. Secomb Lewis Colburn Stephen R. Griggs


John Carmody Charles J. Higginson


Charles Smith


William Douglass


James H. Parks


Homer Binney


Ellis Austin


Willard Jackson


John Mills


Luther Seaverns


Joseph Parsons


Orange Buck


Henry Hills


Chandler


William H. Dow


Oliver Cousens


John Park


A. W. Seamans Charles Lord John Dustin Marshal Glagier Ansel Waterman


Amos Whittemore


Geo. W. Patten


240


Brookline Town Records.


Charles W. Scudder


John A. Higginson


Samuel Pulsifer


John N. Turner


John H. Webber


Thadeus J. Townsend


Francis A. Fabins


Joseph Little


Thomas C. Quimby


Benj. Bradley (Lin'n pl.) Theodore Lovett


David Barry


Isaac Rich


Andrew H. Newell


Joseph L. White


Thomas II. Bacon


Henry Mann


William White


Joseph S. Bacon


Oliver Whyte


Joseph Gutterson


Charles B. Dana


Daniel S. Kendall


William Sanderson


David Bryant


Timothy Conant


John W. Warren


Nathaniel Lyford


Augustine Shurtleff


Charles Warren


Geo. S. Cushing


Clark L. Haynes


Daniel Butters


William W. Clement


Isaac Brown


James S. Amory


J. Branford P. T. Gillett Charles Truc


Edwin Page


Edward N. Perkins


Franklin Tukey


Benj. N. Jewett


George Perry


Oliver B. Delano


David Whitney Aaron Whitney


Charles D. Head


Mark F. Wiggin


Moses R. Brown


Uriah Blaisdell


Elkana Foss


Madison McIntosh


Samuel G. Snelling


Stephen Foss


Henry Whitney


Henry Weeks


Daniel Roberts


Thomas Pettengill


Samuel Eliot


James Tuttle


Geo. W. Stearns


James Henry Parks


Miron Lewis


Samuel Townsend, Jun. Janthus I. Rolfe Alfred Robie


Jothn. Pray


John E. Brown


Willard A. Humphrey


James Sanderson


Francis McKenny


Samuel K. Philbrick


John Carleton


Harry Taber


Russel T. Bean


Hiram Waldron


Samuel Clark


Willard P. Brewer


William J. Hyde


John A. Bird


Parker Ellis


Joseph Allen


Jer'h Veazie


John Maloon


Nathaniel Wormell


Hiram Cushman


E. T. Penniman


Stephen Wing


Daniel A. Oliver


Eli D. Sanderson


Hiram R. Bean


William A. Morse


Eben'r Reed


Simon W. Clifford


Henry W. Carr


Lorenzo Willis


Charles Colbath


Geo. Griggs


Charles A. Rice W. W. Field


Joseph Aket


George D. Austin


Simon Warren


George Craft


Charles Craft


Nathaniel Haley


Thomas Townsend


Thomas N. Woodward


Thaxter Prouty


George Hancock


Chauncy Woodward


George W. Goodnough 264


Attest : A. NEWELL, Town Clerk.


Caleb Kenrick


Ephraim Church


Ozias M. Page


N. W. Brackett


R. McIntosh, 2d


William Bell


Geo. A. Hall


Nathaniel Brown


William Bird


241


By-Laws of the Town of Brookline.


BY-LAWS OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE,


As adopted by said town on the 8th day of April [March], 1847, as will appear on these records, page [228], and ap- proved by the Court of Common Pleas, April 26, 1847, and published in a newspaper called the Norfolk County American, printed in said County, three weeks successively, to wit : June 5th, 12th & 19th, 1847 :


FINANCIAL CONCERNS OF THE TOWN.


SECTION 1. The financial year shall begin on the first day of Febru- ary and end on the thirty-first day of January, and it shall be observed in all cases by all persons in making and settling contracts for the Town.


SECTION 2. No bills of any kind shall be paid by the Town Treasurer, unless contracted in pursuance of a vote of the Town, or unless the same shall have been previously approved by the Selectmen, the School Committee, or some other committee duly authorized by a vote of the Town to contract on behalf of the Town.


SECTION 3. All bills for the support of schools, and all claims for the support of Paupers, shall be presented to the Treasurer and paid quar- terly, viz. : on the first Monday of May, August, November & February.


NOTIFICATION OF TOWN MEETINGS.


SECTION 1. Printed notifications of all Town Meetings shall be left at the place of residence of every legal voter in the Town, at least four days before the day upon which the meeting is to be held; except in cases of receipt by the Selectmen of orders of notices from the Legisla- ture, or other bodies, when, in the judgment of the Selectmen, a shorter notice will be sufficient.


SECTION 2. The notifications shall in all cases contain an ennumeration of all the subjects specified in the warrant.


CONVEYANCES OF TOWN PROPERTY.


SECTION 1. The Town Clerk, under the direction of the Selectmen, is forthwith to cause to be prepared a common seal for the use of the Town.


SECTION 2. All conveyances under seal which may hereafter be executed on behalf of the Town, or otherwise, shall be sealed with such common seal and subscribed by the whole board of Selectmen for the time being.


SECTION 3. The Town Clerk shall keep a true copy (in a Book to be kept for such purpose alone,) of all deeds, or other instruments executed by the Selectmen, in accordance with the provisions of this By-Law.


TAXES.


SECTION 1. All taxes shall be assessed in the month of May in each year, and the tax bills shall be delivered as soon as the assessment is completed.


16


242


Brookline Town Records.


SECTION 2. The taxes of all persons upon whom a poll tax only is as- sessed, shall be paid on or before the Twentieth of June, in each year. All other taxes shall be paid on or before the first day of October, in each year.


SECTION 3. The Assessors shall keep a record of all abatements of taxes, the names of parties taxed, and the reasons for, and amount of abatement.


SECTION 4. In all cases where tax bills are not paid at the time speci- fied in the second section, it shall be the duty of the collector forthwith to issue a sunnnons to each delinquent, and if such delinquent do not pay the amount of his tax within ten days after the issuing of the summons, with twenty cents more for the summons, the collector shall issue his warrant to an officer, who shall forthwith proceed to collect the amount due, in manner provided by law. Six per cent interest shall be charged on all tax bills from the time they respectively become due until paid.


THE ENGINE COMPANY.


SECTION 1. Until otherwise provided, there shall be one engine com- pany, which shall have not exceeding forty-five members, including officers ; such members to be appointed by the Selectmen, and to be removable at the pleasure of the Selectmen. No person shall be so appointed except he is eighteen years of age, and a resident in the Town, nor shall any one be appointed for a less term than six months.


SECTION 2. The company shall have a Foreman, an assistant Foreman, and a Clerk, who shall all be chosen by the company annually, at a meet- ing to be held in May, subject to the approval of the Selectmen.


SECTION 3. It shall be the duty of the Foreman to see that the Engine and apparatus, and Engine House are all kept neat, clean and in order for immediate use, and to preserve order and discipline at all times in the company.


SECTION 4. It shall be the duty of the Clerk to keep a record (in a book to be provided by the Selectmen) of the names of all the officers and members of the company, specifying the times of appointment, discharge, and age of each member, and the absence of each from all fires in this Town, and from the monthly meetings provided for in the Sixth Section, and also a full account of the Town property in charge of the company -this book to be always subject to the control and inspection of the Selectmen, and to be actually submitted to their inspection sometime in the months of July and January in each year. In the course of the same months, the clerk is to deliver to the Town Treasurer a certified list of the officers and members of the company, specifying the number of times (if any) each officer or member has absented himself as aforesaid.


SECTION 5. The company shall perform all duties by law required to be performed by engine men, and shall use their best endeavors, in as orderly and quiet a manner as possible, to extinguish all fires which may break out in this town. And in no instance shall the engine leave the Town without the consent of one or more of the fire-wards of the Town.


SECTION 6. On the return of the engine from the fire, the same shall be well and securely taken care of; and once a month the company shall meet for the purpose of examining the state of the engine and apparatus, and see that the same is in good repair and ready for use.


243


By-Laws of the Town of Brookline.


SECTION 7. The officers and members shall semi-annually receive from the Town Treasurer, on the first day of August and February, in full for their services, such compensation as the Selectmen may from time to time by vote determine. Provided that no member not appointed as pro- vided in the first section, and no officer not approved as provided in the second section, shall receive any portion of such compensation.


SECTION 8. No claims whatever on account of said company, its mem- bers or officers, shall be paid by the Town Treasurer, except the compen- sation provided by the Seventh Section.


SECTION 9. The members of the company are not to meet in the Engine House for any purposes except those properly and reasonably connected with their duty as firemen, and no distilled or fermented liquors shall be used at any meeting whatever which shall be held in the Engine House. At any time when in the judgment of the Selectmen, the public good will be advanced thereby, all or any portion of the Company, its officers or members, may be dismissed from the service, or the Company disbanded.


HIGHWAYS.


SECTION 1. All persons intending to erect, repair, or take down any building, on land abutting on any way which this Town is obliged to keep in repair, and who desire to make use of any portion of said way for the purpose of placing thereon building materials or rubbish, shall, ten days at least before so placing any building materials or rubbish, give notice in writing to the Selectmen of such wish. And thereupon the Selectmen are to cause to be staked out such portion of said way to be used for such purpose, as in their judgment the necessity of the case demands, and the security of the public allows, and to grant a permit accordingly -such permit in no case to be in force longer than ninety days.


SECTION 2. It shall be the duty of every person to whom such permit may be granted, to place all his building materials and rubbish on the place designated by the Selectmen, and during the whole of every night, from twilight in the evening until the next morning, to keep lighted lanterns so placed as effectually to secure all travellers from liability to come in contact with such materials or rubbish.


SECTION 3. In case any person shall use any portion of such way for the purposes mentioned in the first section without the permit in writing of the Selectmen, as therein provided, or for a longer time than so per mitted, or shall fail to comply with the requisitions of the second section, the party so in default shall forfeit and pay into the Town Treasury ten dollars for each offence, and shall also reimburse the Town all expenses by way of damages, or otherwise, which the Town may be compelled to pay by reason of the way being incumbered.


SECTION 4. No wooden building more than ten feet high shall be moved over any way in this Town, which this Town is obliged to keep in repair, without the written permit of the Selectmen being first obtained; and any person so moving, or assisting in moving any such building, without such permit being first obtained, or any such person who shall not comply with the restrictions and provisions which the Selectmen may think the public security demands, shall forfeit and pay into the Town


244


Brookline Town Records.


Treasury for every such offence twenty dollars, provided such restric- tions and provisions are set forth in the permit. Provided, also, that the Selectmen shall in no case grant a permit for the removal of any building whatsoever which in the course of its removal will be likely to damage any trees, the property of individuals, whether standing in the road or in the field, unless the consent of such individuals is first had and obtained.


SECTION 5. In case any building shall be moved contrary to the provis- ions of the fourthi section, the owner of the building shall reimburse the Town all expenses by way of damages, or otherwise, which the Town may be compelled to pay by reason of the way being incumbered.


SECTION 6. Whoever shall coast upon sleds in any of the streets or upon any of the sidewalks in this Town, shall forfeit and pay into the Town Treasury, for each offence, a sum not less than one dollar and not more than five dollars, to be paid by each offender or his or her parents or guardian respectively.


HAY SCALES.


SECTION 1. The Selectmen shall appoint for a term of time, not exceeding one year, one person who shall have superintendence of the Hay Scales belonging to the Town, and such person may at any time be removed from office by the Selectmen.


SECTION 2. In all cases of temporary absence, or inability from any cause, properly to perform the duties of his office, the Superintendent shall procure, at his own expense, a substitute to perform such duties ; such substitute in all cases to be approved by the Selectmen, and to be removable at their pleasure.


SECTION 3. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent to weigh all hay and other articles which may be offered to be weighed, and to conform to all such rules and regulations as shall be established by the Selectmen, concerning the scales and fees for weighing.


VACCINATION OF CHILDREN ATTENDING THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.


From and after the first day of May, 1847, no child shall be admitted into any public school in this town, unless he or she shall present to the instructor or instructress, a certificate from some physician, that he or she has been properly vaccinated; or unless the parents or guardians of such child shall certify in writing that such vaccination has been prop- erly performed.


ANIMALS RUNNING AT LARGE.


No horses or other grazing cattle or swine shall be suffered to run at large in this Town, or to feed by the roadside either with or without a keeper ; and for every such animal so suffered to run at large not having a keeper, or to feed by the roadside either with or without a keeper, the owner shall forfeit and pay into the Town Treasury five dollars for every such offence.


ENFORCEMENT OF BY-LAWS.


Until otherwise provided, all penalties which shall be recovered by reason of the breach of any of the foregoing By-Laws, shall be paid into


245


Special Meeting, November 1, 1847.


the Town Treasury for the use of the Town; and it shall be the duty of the Town Treasurer to prosecute for all such breaches, in the manner provided by Law.


March 8, 1847. Attest : ARTEMAS NEWELL, Town Clerk.


And now the Petitioners appear and enter their petition, and the court, after a full examination of the By-Laws aforenamed, approve of the same and order that they be recorded.


A true copy as appears of record.


Attest : EZRA W. SAMPSON, Clerk.


A true copy.


See file E, No. 28. Attest : ARTEMAS NEWELL, Town Clerk.


WARRANT FOR SPECIAL TOWN MEETING.


COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.


NORFOLK, SS.


BROOKLINE. S To the Constables of the Town of Brookline, GREETING :


You are hereby required to notify the Inhabitants of the Town of Brookline qualified to vote in elections, to meet at the Town Hall in said Town, on Monday, the first day of November next, at two o'clock in the afternoon, for the fol- lowing purposes, to wit :


1. To choose a Moderator.


2. To act. upon an order of notice which has been served upon the Town Clerk by the County Commissioners, upon the petition of Alvin Loker & 36 others for a new road from a point near the School House in Newton Street, Brookline, through lands of Hills, Humphrey, Hyde, Loker, and others, to the junction of Lowder's Lane with Centre Street in Roxbury; the Commissioners appointing Thursday, the 4th day of November next, to proceed to view said route.


3. To hear the report of the Committee on Ventilation, & to take such further action upon the subject of Ventilation as the Town may think proper.


4. To see if the Town will make an appropriation for repairs of the School House in School Street.


5th. To act upon an order of notice upon the petition of the "Grand Junction Railroad and Depot Company " to the Legislature for branch


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Brookline Town Records.


Railroads from Chelsea, through Malden, Somerville, Charlestown, Cam- bridge, across Charles River to the Boston & Worcester Railroad near the Ship Yard bridge in Brookline.


6. To see if the Town will make some arrangement with the owners of land in the rear of of the Town House for mutual accommodation.


Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant with your doings thereon at the time and place of the said meet- ing.


Given under our hands and seals, at Brookline aforesaid, this Twenty-second day of October, A. D. One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Seven.


JAMES BARTLETT, Selectmen DANIEL SANDERSON, of


H. M. SANBORN, Brookline.


NORFOLK, SS. - OCTOBER 26, 1847. In pursuance of the foregoing war- BROOKLINE. | rant, I have notified the inhabitants therein named to meet at the time and place and for the purposes therein expressed, by . leaving a notification at the residence of each voter.


ELISHA STONE, Constable of Brookline.


See file E, No. 29. A true copy. Attest : A. NEWELL, Town Clerk.


In pursuance of the foregoing warrant, the inhabitants of the Town of Brookline assembled at the Town Hall, on Mon- day, the first day of November, 1847.


Marshal Stearns was chosen Moderator.


The second article in the Warrant, in relation to the peti- tion of Alvin Loker & others for a new road, came up for consideration, and it was- (See file E, No. 30.)


Voted, That the Selectmen be a committee to appear before the County Commissioners, and oppose, in behalf of the Town, the laying out of the new road as petitioned for by Alvin Loker & 36 others, on the ground that it will be of no public benefit either to the Town or County.


The Third Article in the warrant, to hear the report of the Ventilating Committee, &c., was taken up, and after some remarks by George Griggs, Esq., Chairman of the Commit- tee, he presented the following report :


247


Special Meeting, November 1, 1847.


The Chairman of the Committee on Ventilation begs leave to report, that of the $500 appropriated by the Town to defray the expense of ven- tilation, there has been expended about $350 in ventilating the Town Hall, the High School, & the School House in Newton Street; that owing to a division of opinion in the committee, further progress cannot now. be made in the subject of ventilation without some further action on the part of the Town. GEORGE GRIGGS, Chairman.


Nov. 1, 1847. See file No. 31.


After some debate, Mr. John F. Edwards, in behalf of himself and Mr. Willard Sears, other members of the com- mittee, offered the following report :


The undersigned, members of the Committee for Ventilating the Public Buildings of Brookline, respectfully present the following state- ment of their doings : That in August last they put a ventaduct on the High School House, and also introduced cold air to the room, at an expense of $63.46. That they also ventilated the School House at Putter- ham, so called, at an expense of $30.60. They then postponed all further action until they should learn the success of the plans adopted at the above-named buildings.


All of which is respectfully submitted,


by JOHN F. EDWARDS, WILLARD SEARS. See file E, No. 31.


After a long explanation by Mr. Griggs, which had been reduced to writing by him, and which was responded to by the other members of the committee, and the whole subject having undergone quite a lengthy and animated discussion, in which it was shown that there existed quite a diversity of opinion among the members of the committee, which, dur- ing such a state of things, might be an obstacle to the com- plete accomplishment of the objects of the Town in regard to ventilation, it was-


Voted, That the reports of the Majority and Minority of the Committee be accepted, and that the Committee be dis- charged ; that a committee of three be chosen to examine the bills that have been incurred both by the Minority and Majority of the Committee, and all bills that shall be approved by said Committee shall be paid by the Treasurer.


The following named gentlemen were chosen a committee to attend to said duty : William I. Bowditch, Samuel Phil- brick, & George Stoddard.


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Brookline Town Records.


Voted, That the same Committee have authority to com- plete the ventilation of the public school rooms in the Town which have not already been ventilated, if it can be done within the appropriation of $500, already made. See file No. 31.


Voted, That the 4th article in the warrant, in relation to repairs of the School House in School Street, be indefinitely postponed.


Voted, That the consideration of the 5th Article in the warrant, relating to branch Railroads, be indefinitely post- poned. See file No. 32.


The 6th Article was taken up for consideration, in regard to lands in rear of the Town House.


Dr. Wild made some remarks in explanation of the objects for which the article was introduced into the warrant, and as one of the proprietors of land in the rear of the Town House, his object was to make a proposition to the town to grade and finish off the gravel bank, in a proper manner, without any expense to the Town other than the relinquish- ment to the said proprietors of all the gravel that it might be necessary to move to effect the object.


The subject was disposed of by the following vote :


Voted, That a committee of two persons be appointed to act in conjunction with the board of Selectmen, with plenary powers to make any equitable arrangement with the propri- etors of the land adjoining the Town's land in the rear of the Town Hall, in regard to removing gravel and making banks as they shall deem expedient. See file E, No. 33.




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