Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1838-1857, v. 1, Part 43

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 43


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


Given under our hands and seals at Brookline aforesaid, this twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-five.


JAMES BARTLETT, MARSHALL STEARNS, Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.


517


General Election, November 6, 1855.


NORFOLK, SS.


BROOKLINE, Oct. 31, 1855.


By virtue of the within warrant, I have notified the inhabitants of the town of Brookline, qualified to vote in elections, to meet at the Town Hall in said town, at the time and for the purposes within mentioned, by leaving a printed notice at their last and usual place of residence.


JOHN DUSTIN,


(File G, No. 78.) Constable of Brookline.


In pursuance of the foregoing warrant, the legal voters of the town of Brookline assembled at the Town Hall, on Tues- day afternoon, November the sixth, A. D. 1855, at one o'clock, and were called to order by James Bartlett, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen.


The warrant and return thereon was then read by the Town Clerk.


The First Article in the warrant, viz. :


To determine whether the town will send a Representative to the next General Court,


- was then taken up, when it was-


Voted, That the town send a Representative to the next General Court.


The polls were then declared opened for the reception of votes for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Attorney-General, Secretary of State, Treasurer and Receiver-General, and Auditor of Accounts of this Commonwealth ; for three Sen- ators, one County Commissioner, Treasurer, and Register of Deeds, for this county, and a Representative from this town to the next General Court-all to be voted for on one ballot. The polls were kept open until fifteen minutes past four o'clock, when, on motion, it was voted that the polls be now closed, and the chairman of the Selectmen accord- ingly declared them closed. The Selectmen sorted and counted the ballots, and the whole number was four hundred and four. And the whole number of votes were sorted, counted and recorded, and declaration thereof made in open town meeting, as by the Constitution is required, and said votes were for the following persons, to wit :


518


Brookline Town Records.


The whole number of votes for Governor of this Commonwealth was three hundred and ninety-five.


Julius Rockwell, of Pittsfield, had forty-nine.


Erasmus D. Beach, of Springfield, had seventy-three.


Samuel H. Walley, of Roxbury, had ninety-four.


Henry J. Gardner, of Boston, had one hundred and seventy-nine.


The whole number of votes for Lieutenant-Governor of this Common- wealth was three hundred and ninety-four.


Simon Brown, of Concord, had forty-eight.


Caleb Stetson, of Braintree, had seventy-one.


Moses Davenport, of Newburyport, had ninety-eight,


Henry W. Benchley, of Worcester, had one hundred and seventy-five.


The whole number of votes for Attorney-General for this Commonwealth was three hundred and ninety-six.


E. Rockwood Hoar, of Concord, had fifty-three.


Nathaniel J. Lord, of Salem, had seventy-two.


Reuben A. Chapman, of Springfield, had ninety-eight.


Albert H. Nelson, of Woburn, had one hundred and seventy-three.


The whole number of votes for Secretary of State was three hundred and ninety-five.


George F. Williams, of Boston, had forty-six.


Jonathan E. Field, of Stockbridge, had seventy-two.


Wendall T. Davis, of Greenfield, had one hundred.


Francis DeWitt, of Ware, had one hundred and seventy-seven.


The whole number of votes for Treasurer and Receiver-General was three hundred and ninety-four.


Thomas J. Marsh, of Waltham, had forty-two.


Stedman Buttrick, of Concord, had seventy-two.


John Sargent, of Cambridge, had one hundred.


Moses Tenney, Jr., of Georgetown, had one hundred and seventy-five.


The whole number of votes for Auditor was three hundred and ninety- three.


Stephen N. Gifford, of Duxbury, had forty-eight.


Giles H. Whitney, of Winchendon, had seventy-two.


Joseph Mitchell, of Boston, had ninety-nine.


Chandler R. Ransom, of Roxbury, had one hundred and seventy-three.


The whole number of votes for County Treasurer was three hundred and ninety-two.


William Whiting, of Dedham, had one hundred and sixty-nine.


Chauncy C. Churchill, of Dedham, had two hundred and twenty-three.


The whole number of votes for County Commissioner was three hundred and ninety-two.


Joseph Mckean Churchill, of Dedham, had one hundred and seventy-four. Nathaniel F. Safford, of Dorchester, had two hundred and eighteen.


519


General Election, November 6, 1855.


The whole number of votes for Register of Deeds was two hundred and twenty-two, and-


Enos Foord, of Dedham, had two hundred and twenty-two.


The whole number of votes for Senators for the County of Norfolk was three hundred and ninety-six.


James E. Carpenter, of Foxboro, had one hundred and seventy-two.


Benjamin F. White, of Weymouth, had one hundred and seventy-two.


Bradford K. Pierce, of Roxbury, had one hundred and seventy-two.


Walter Jane, of Medfield, had one hundred and seventy.


Edward Potter, of Braintree, had one hundred and seventy-four.


Charles J. Hendee, of Roxbury, had one hundred and seventy-three.


George E. Russell, of West Roxbury, had fifty.


John W. Loud, of Weymouth, had forty-eight.


James M. Freeman, of Franklin, had fifty.


The whole number of votes for Representative to the General Court was three hundred and ninety-four.


William Bramhall had one hundred and fifty-nine.


John N. Turner had two hundred and thirty-five, and was declared elected to represent the town in the next General Court.


In the voting the check-list was used, and no person was allowed to vote until his name was found and checked on the list. (File G, No. 79.)


The business of the meeting being completed, the returns were filled up, signed by the Selectmen and Town Clerk, and sealed up in open town meeting and delivered to the Town Clerk to forward to the Secretary of the Common- wealth and to the County Commissioners, and Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Norfolk.


The meeting was then declared dissolved, by the chair- man of the Selectmen.


Dissolved.


1


Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.


520


Brookline Town Records.


ANNUAL MEETING, MARCH 17, 1856.


WARRANT.


SEAL.


SEAL.


COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.


SEAL.]


NORFOLK, SS.


To either of the Constables of the Town of Brookline, GREETING :


In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby 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 seventeenth day of March, current, at one o'clock in the afternoon, for the following purposes, to wit :


First. To choose a Moderator.


Second. To choose the necessary town officers for the ensuing year.


Third. To hear and act upon the reports of town officers and com- mittees.


Fourth. To revise the Jury List prepared by the Selectmen.


Fifth. To see if the town will purchase a lot of land and erect a High school-house thereon.


Sixth. To see what action the town will take in relation to a suit brought against it by Tampkin & Shaw for a horse killed on Beacon street at the Boston and Worcester Railroad crossing.


Seventh. To act upon a proposition from the Brookline Gas Light Company, relating to lighting the streets of the town, and make such appropriations therefor as may be needed.


Eighth. To see if the town will cause to be laid out as a public high- way Goddard avenue and a part of Avon street.


Ninth. To see if the town will authorize the Selectmen to dispose of the remainder of the old school-house lot on School street,


Tenth. To select a Justice of the Peace to attend to the cases of truant children, agreeable to a by-law adopted by the town September 18, 1854. Eleventh. To see if the town will make an alteration or amendment in the by-law of the town relating to time of payment of the poll-taxes.


Twelfth. To grant and appropriate such sums of money as may be deemed necessary to meet the expenditures of the town for the ensuing year.


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


521


Annual Meeting, March 17, 1856.


Given under our hands and seals at Brookline, this third day of March, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-six.


JAMES BARTLETT, MARSHALL STEARNS, HOWARD S. WILLIAMS, Selectinen of Brookline.


NORFOLK, SS.


BROOKLINE, March 13th, 1856.


In pursuance of the within warrant, I have notified and warned the legal voters of the town of Brookline to meet at the time and place and for the purposes within mentioned, by leaving a printed copy of the same at their last and usual place of residence.


ELISHA STONE,


(File G, No. 80.) Constable of Brookline.


A true copy of the warrant and return thereon.


Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.


In pursuance of the foregoing warrant, the legal voters of the town assembled at the Town Hall on the afternoon of Monday, March 17th, 1856, and were called to order by the Town Clerk, B. F. Baker, at five minutes past one o'clock, and the warrant and return thereon was then read as above given.


Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.


The meeting then proceeded to the choice of a Moderator by ballot, the Town Clerk presiding. The whole number of ballots given in was forty-three, and were all for George F. Homer, and he was declared elected and took the chair.


Prayer was then made by the Rev. Matson M. Smith.


The Second Article in the warrant was then taken up :


To choose the necessary town officers for the ensuing year,


-and the vote for Town Clerk was called for.


The whole number of votes for Town Clerk was one hun- dred and seventy-five. B. F. Baker had one hundred and seventy-four, and was declared elected, and was sworn to the faithful discharge of the duties of the office, by the Moderator.


522


Brookline Town Records.


Voted, To lay the Second Article on the table. Voted, To take up the Third Article :


To hear and act upon the reports of town officers and committees.


The reports of the Treasurer, Selectmen, Building Com- mittee on the Grammar school-house, and the report of the School Committee, all of which had been printed and circu- lated through the town, were then presented and accepted. (File G, No. 81.)


The Selectmen then presented the following report on guide posts and boards :


REPORT ON GUIDE POSTS AND BOARDS.


According to the laws of the Commonwealth, the Selectmen submit the following report of the places where guide posts and boards are erected and maintained by the town, to wit :


There is a guide post and a board thereon standing at the junction of Boylston street with Washington street, directing to Newton Upper Falls and Brighton.


One on the corner of Boylston and Heath streets, directing to Newton, Worcester, and Dedham.


One at the corner of Brighton street, directing to Brighton.


One at the junction of Boylston and Cross streets, directing to Newton Upper Falls, Newton, and Brighton.


One at Heath and Warren streets, to Newton, Dedham, and Brighton.


One at Clyde and Warren streets, to Brighton and Dedham.


One at Clyde and Newton streets, to Brighton, Newton, and Dedham.


One at Grove and Newton streets, to West Roxbury and Dedham.


One at Grove and South streets, to Brighton.


One at Grove and Newton streets, to Dedham, Brighton, and Newton.


One at Warren and Cottage streets, to Dedham and Jamaica Plain.


One at Warren and Walnut streets, to Jamaica Plain.


One at Washington and Harvard streets, to Brighton and Cambridge.


One at Sewell's avenne and Harvard street, to Cambridge and Cam- bridgeport.


One at Beacon and Washington streets, to Boston, Newton Centre, Roxbury, and Brighton.


One at Beacon and Harvard streets, to Boston, Newton Centre, Cam- bridge, and Cambridgeport.


One at the junction of Beacon street with the Mill Dam, to Newton Centre.


All of which is respectfully submitted for the Selectmen.


BROOKLINE, March, 1856. (Signed) JAMES BARTLETT,


(File G, No. 82.)


Chairman.


523


Annual Meeting, March 17, 1856.


Voted, To lay the Third Article on the table.


Voted, To take the Second Article from the table, and to proceed to the choice of three Selectmen and Overseers of the Poor.


The whole number of ballots given in was one hundred and fifty-nine, and were all for Messrs. James Bartlett, Mar- shall Stearns, and Howard S. Williams, for Selectmen and Overseers of the Poor for the ensuing year, and they were sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties, by the Mod- erator.


The meeting then proceeded to the choice of Treasurer, and the whole number of votes given in was one hundred and fifteen, and were all for Moses Withington, and he was de- clared elected, and was sworn into office by the Moderator.


Voted, That the Treasurer be Collector of Taxes.


Voted, To choose three Principal and three Assistant Assessors for the ensuing year, all on one ticket.


The whole number of votes given in was eighty-two, and the following persons had eighty, and were chosen Principal Assessors : Messrs. Willard A. Humphrey, Jerathmael Dav- enport, and Frederick J. Williams ; and Messrs. William H. Jameson, George Craft and Thomas B. Hall were chosen Assistant Assessors, and they and the Principal Assessors were sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties, by the Moderator.


- Voted, To choose a School Committee of seven for the ensuing year.


The whole number of votes given in was ninety-eight. Rev. John S. Stone had 98, 7


" Matson M. Smith had 98,


" T. B. Hayward had 98,


N. M. Perkins had 98,


School Committee,


Mr. Wm. A. Wellman had 98,


Thomas Parson had 98,


Stephen Salisbury had 64,


-and they were declared duly elected to the office for the ensuing year.


Voted, To choose three Highway Surveyors for the ensu- ing year.


524


Brookline Town Records.


The whole number of votes was sixty-four, and- Messrs. Wm. J. Griggs had 64, Thomas C. Quimby had 64, ? Highway Surveyors, John W. Warren had 64,


-and they were declared elected.


Voted, To choose seven Constables for the ensuing year.


The whole number of votes was one hundred and seven- teen.


Messrs. Augustus Allen had 117, ) Elisha Stone had 117, John Dustin had 117, Aaron Whitney had 86, Lewis B. Doe had 86, Joseph Bradley had 86, F. H. Corey had 117,


Constables,


-and they were declared elected, and were all sworn to the duties of the office, by the Moderator, except Mr. Jos. Bradley ; he signified his acceptance of the same, but did not take the oath.


Voted, Not to choose a Tythingman.


Voted, To choose eight Field Drivers,


-and the meeting nominated and chose Messrs. Burton W. Neal, Hiram G. Cutting, F. W. Prescott, Silas Langley, George N. Dana, William D. Coolidge, F. M. Lyford, David T. Kenrick, Field Drivers.


The meeting then nominated and chose the following officers for the ensuing year :


Messrs. C. L. Haynes and Thos. C. Quimby, Fence Viewers.


J. Anson Guild, David S. Coolidge, and Elisha Stone, Measurers of Wood and Bark and Surveyors of Lumber.


Jesse Bird, Harrison Fay, and Sam'l Philbrick, Cemetery Committee.


Chas. D. Head, Chas. W. Scudder, and Edw. Atkinson, Auditors.


Augustus Allen, Wm. J. Griggs, and Charles L. Palmer, Fire Wards.


Voted, To take the Third Article from the table,


-and George Griggs presented the following report, which was read and accepted :


225


Annual Meeting, March 17, 1856.


REPORT.


The Committee on the Surveys and Map of Brookline ask leave to report that as soon as the weather allowed of working in the field to advantage last spring, they made inquiries of various surveyors and engineers as to the terms on which the survey of the town could be completed and the previous survey incorporated into a 'map, and decided to engage T. & J. Doane, who accordingly completed the surveys and made a map on a scale of 400 feet to the inch, which they afterwards reduced to a scale of 800 feet to the inch for the use of the lithographer, by whom the maps were engraved and printed. They also procured a large, thick portfolio to preserve the plans of the streets made the year previous on a scale of thirty feet to the inch.


The money expended by the committee, as appears by the receipts in the files of the Town Treasurer, were :


T. & J. Doane's bill . $425 00


L. H. Bradford's bill, lithographing and printing.


125 00


Cotton's bill, for portfolio


6 00


Hanson's bill, for tin case for large map


1 50


Total


$557 50


A part of the changes suggested by the surveyors' plans of 1854 appear to have met the approbation of the town, and have been adopted, with slight modification in improving Washington street grade between the railroad bridge and Washington place, and in widening School street throughout and changing its grade to its present improved state. Other suggestions made by the engineer in his plans and profiles of the streets will doubtless meet the approbation and be carried into effect from time to time as the public convenience and exigencies may require.


The price fixed by the Board of Selectmen for the map is $1.00 each, and under their direction copies were left at the stores of Coolidge & Brother and Mr. Bird, for the convenience of such persons as wish to purchase. Signed for the committee,


BROOKLINE, March 17th, 1856. GEORGE GRIGGS,


(File G, No. 82.) Chairman.


Voted, That the new maps of the town be sold for the price of (25 cts.) twenty-five cents each.


Voted, To lay the Third Article on the table.


Voted, To take up the Fifth Article :


To see if the town will purchase a lot of land and erect a High school- house thereon.


On motion of Wm. A. Wellman, it was-


Voted, That a committee of seven persons be appointed to consider the expediency of purchasing a lot of land upon


526


Brookline Town Records.


which to place a suitable building for a High school, and to procure estimates and plans of said building, and to report to the town at the adjourned meeting, and that said com- mittee also report the best mode of disposing of the present High school building and land.


Voted, That said committee be chosen by nomination at large.


The meeting then nominated and elected the following gentlemen : Messrs. Samuel Philbrick, Abijah W. Goddard, John S. Stone, Amos A. Lawrence, John N. Turner, John C. Abbott, Thomas Parsons, J. M. Howe, George F. Homer, and John Howe, committee on erection of a High school- house.


Voted, To take the Fourth Article from the table :


To revise the Jury List prepared by the Selectmen.


The following list of Jurors for the town was then read and approved :


LIST OF JURORS.


Abbott, John C.


Davis, Robert S.


Lyford, Nathaniel


Barnard, William


Dana, Charles B.


Parsons, Thomas


Bartlett, James


Dane, John H.


Robinson, Samuel A.


Babcock, George


Goddard, A. W.


Seaverns, Thomas


Bass, Stephen G.


Griggs, Thos. B.


Smith, Albert W.


Barnett, Robt.


Haynes, Clark L.


Scudder, Chas. W.


Bird, William


Hersey, Elijah C.


Seccomb, Edw. R.


Bramhall, Wm.


Hills, Samuel D.


Stearns, Marshall .


Brackett, Nath'iel W.


Humphrey, W. A.


Vinal, Otis


Carr, Henry W.


Huntington, C. H.


Warren, Simon


Chapin, N. G.


Jameson, W. H.


White, Joseph L.


Churchill, Wm.


Kenrick, Alfred, Jr.


Williams, Howard S.


Coolidge, David S.


Dated BROOKLINE, March 3d, 1856.


Per order Selectmen,


B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.


The above list of Jurors was made up on the third day of March, A. D. 1856, by the Selectmen, and posted on the fourth at four public places in the town.


Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk of Brookline.


527


Annual Meeting, March 17, 1856.


The Sixth Article was then taken up :


To see what action the town will take in relation to a suit brought against it by Tamplin & Shaw for a horse killed on Beacon street, at the Boston and Worcester Railroad crossing.


Voted, That the whole subject.be referred to the Select- men, and that they are hereby instructed to defend the same.


The Seventh Article was then taken up, to wit :


To act upon a proposition from the Brookline Gas Light Co., relating to lighting the streets of the town, and make such appropriation as may be necessary therefor.


Mr. George F. Homer, the clerk of the Gas Company, pre- sented the following statement and proposition :


BROOKLINE, March 5th, 1856.


To the Selectmen of Brookline :


Gentlemen,-The Directors of the Brookline Gas Light Company have long felt that the terms on which they have supplied the town with gas for the street lamps were not favorable to the company, and that the company have been losers to a considerable amount. The contract was made. upon the starting of the company liere, and when the directors were ignorant of its practical operation. The company are disposed to supply the town with gas for the street lamps on terms similar to terms employed by other companies in the neighboring cities and towns. The mode universally adopted, as we believe, is for the cities and towns to furnish and maintain the posts, lanterns, and fixtures, and to light and extinguish tlie lamps, and pay the company for what gas is used at a stipulated rate per hour for each burner of a given capacity. The com- pany cannot supply gas on the present terms after the first day of April next, and they annex a proposition which they consider reasonable.


The Brookline Gas Light Company propose to sell to the town of Brookline the twenty lamp-posts now erected in the streets of the town for the sum of twenty-five dollars each, the same to be put in complete order by said company. This sum is at least thirty per cent less than cost, and twenty per cent less than they could now be replaced for. The company propose further, to supply the town with gas for the street lamps at the rate of one and a quarter cents per hour for each burner of four feet capacity per hour. The town is to keep the lamps and posts in repair, and pay for lighting, extinguishing, and cleaning the same. The town is to direct at what hours the lamps shall be lighted and when to be extinguished, and daily record is to be kept thereof at the company's office, open to the inspection of the town authorities. In this proposal the company include in the general term lamp-posts, not only the posts


528


Brookline Town Records.


and lanterns but all the fixtures and service-pipe from the street mains, and they are now ready to furnish and erect lamp-posts complete for thirty dollars each.


By order of the Directors of the Brookline Gas Light Company.


(File G, No. 83.)


GEO. F. HOMER, Clerk of Co.


Voted, That the subject be referred to the Selectmen of the town, to report thereon at the adjourned meeting ; also the cost of lighting the streets with gas and fluid, separately.


The Eighth Article was then taken up :


To see if the town will cause to be laid out as a public highway God- dard avenue and a part of Avon street.


It was- Voted, That the Eighth Article be indefinitely postponed.


Article Ninth taken up :


To see if the town will authorize the Selectmen to dispose of the remainder of the old school-house lot on School street.


Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized to dispose of the remainder of the old school-house lot on School street by a quit-claim deed.


Article Tenth taken up :


To select a Justice of the Peace to attend to the cases of truant chil- dren, agreeable to a by-law of the town adopted Sept. the 18th, 1854.


Mr. Charles Pope was nominated and chosen Truant Jus- tice, and Messrs J. Davenport and Augustus Allen were nominated and chosen Truant Officers.


Voted, To lay the Eleventh Article on the table.


The Twelfth Article was then taken up :


To grant and appropriate such sums of money as may be deemed nec- essary to meet the expenditures of the town for the ensuing year.


The meeting then voted the following appropriations, to wit :


Annual Meeting, March 17, 1856.


529


For the support of schools


$10,700 00


66 poor .


800 00


" highways


2,000 00


county tax


6,000 00


state tax


4,000 00


collecting taxes


300 00


abatement of taxes


500 00


fire department


700 00


town officers


1,200 00


repairs of town buildings


300 00


interest on town debt


5,000 00


extinction of town debt


2,300 00


cemetery


100 00


sidewalks .


400 00


paving gutters and relaying drains .


300 00


ringing bell


100 00


contingencies


1.200 00


fencing town's land .


500 00


prosecuting violations of liquor law


200 00


reservoir


1,000 00


addition to contingent fund


500 00


lighting town


1,200 00


$39,500 00


Voted, That Moses Withington, Town Treasurer, be and hereby is authorized to borrow a sum of money not exceed- ing the sum of five thousand dollars, in anticipation of taxes.


Voted, That when this meeting adjourn it be to meet at this place three weeks from to-day, at half-past seven o'clock in the evening, April 7th, 1856.


Voted, To adjourn.


Attest :


B. F. BAKER,


Town Clerk.


In conformity with the laws of the Commonwealth, the Town Clerk forthwith made out his warrant and delivered it to Constable Elisha Stone, requiring him to summon all officers chosen to appear before the Town Clerk within seven


34


land damages, widening and grading streets 200 00


530


Brookline Town Records.


days from this date and be sworn to their respective offices, where an oath is required by law, or to signify their accept- ance or refusal of the office to which they are respectively chosen.




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