USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1858-1871, v. 2 > Part 10
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Voted, To adjourn sine die,
Dissolved.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
2
113
Annual Meeting, March 25, 1861.
ANNUAL MEETING, MARCH 25, 1861.
SEAL.
WARRANT.
SEAL.
SEAL.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
SEAL.
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 twenty-fifth day of March, current, at one of the 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 hear and act upon the acceptance of the jury list as revised by the Selectmen, and posted as required by law.
Fifth. To determine whether the town will purchase the site of the " Brookline Fort " as a location for a primary school-house.
Sixth. To determine whether the town will widen the easterly end of Beacon street, on the south side, to the line of the street.
Seventh. To see if the town will take any action in relation to pur- chasing a lot of land on Walnut street, adjoining the stone school-house, for a yard to the same.
Eighth. To see if the town will take any action in relation to provid- ing a suitable building for the Public Library.
Ninth. To see if the town will pass any additional by-laws in relation to playing ball in the streets.
Tenth. To see if the town will accept of Chestnut street as laid out by the Selectmen.
Eleventh. To see if the town will authorize the purchase of gravel banks for the westerly and northerly parts of the town; also, to pur- chase land for a way from Warren street to the gravel bank by the res- ervoir.
Twelfth. To see what action the town will take in relation to ordering the filling up of Pearl and Davis places, in order to protect the public health.
8
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114
Brookline Town Records.
Thirteenth. To consider and act upon the subject of purchasing a lot of land for a playground for the scholars of the Pearl place school.
Fourteenth. To consider and act upon the subject of draining the low lands usually known as Pearl place, and laying out, grading and accept- ing the same.
Fifteenth. To consider and act upon the proposition of the Back Bay Commissioners to take away the fund of one hundred thousand dollars pledged by the State to keep in repair the Mill Dam and other roads, as it is bound by contract to do, and to keep up the tolls on said roads for the purpose of raising another fund therefor.
Sixteenth. To consider and act upon the expediency of providing a house for the hose-carriage in the village.
Seventeenth. To raise and appropriate such sums of money as will be necessary to defray the current expenses of the town for the ensuing year.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant with your doings thereon, on or before the day and time of said meeting.
Given under our hands and seals at Brookline aforesaid, this
eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord eighteen . hundred and sixty-one.
JAMES BARTLETT, MARSHAL STEARNS, THOMAS PARSONS, E. R. SECOMB, N. G. CHAPIN, Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
NORFOLK, SS.
BROOKLINE, March 20th, 1861.
Pursuant to 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 named, by leaving a printed copy of the same at their last and usual place of residence.
S. C. HOPKINS, Constable of Brookline.
A true copy of the warrant and return thereon.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
Pursuant to the foregoing warrant, the citizens of the town of Brookline assembled in the Town Hall in said town, on Monday, the twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and were called to
115
Annual Meeting, March 25, 1861.
order at one of the clock in the afternoon, by the Town Clerk, B. F. Baker, who proceeded to read the warrant call- ing said meeting and the return thereon made by the consta- ble notifying the same.
In pursuance of the First Article in the warrant, the Town Clerk declared the polls open for the reception of votes for a Moderator, and called upon the meeting to bring in their votes accordingly. The polls were kept open fifteen min- utes, and an opportunity having been given to all persons present entitled to vote, and had not voted, to do so, the polls were declared closed.
The Clerk then proceeded to sort and count the votes given, and the whole number so given in was sixty-four. James Murray Howe had fifty-eight, and was declared elect- ed and took the chair.
The Moderator called the meeting to order, and prayer was offered by the Rev. Wm. Lamson, D. D.
The Second Article in the warrant was taken up, viz. :
To choose the necessary town officers for the ensuing year.
On motion of W. A. Wellman, it was-
Voted, To proceed to the choice of the following town officers for the ensuing year, all to be voted for on one ticket, viz. : A Town Clerk, five Selectmen, who shall be Overseers of the Poor and Surveyors of Highways, three Assessors, a Town Treasurer, who shall also be Collector of Taxes, eleven Constables, three School Committee to serve for three years, and four Trustees of the Public Library to serve for three years.
Voted, That the polls be kept open until three o'clock for the reception of votes for the above-named officers, and that they be closed at that time.
The polls were then opened for the reception of votes, and were kept open until three o'clock, when they were declared closed, by the Moderator.
The Moderator and the Town Clerk then proceeded to sort and count the votes cast, and the whole number of votes
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Brookline Town Records.
cast was one hundred and sixty-five, and the following per- sons were found to have a large majority, and were declared elected to the several offices, viz. :
Town Clerk : B. F. Baker (sworn by the Moderator).
Selectmen, Overseers of Poor, Surveyors of Highways : James Bartlett (sworn by the Moderator), Marshal Stearns (sworn by the Moderator), Thomas Parsons (sworn by the Moderator), Edward R. Secomb (sworn by the Moderator), Nathaniel G. Chapin (sworn by the Moderator).
Assessors : John N. Turner, Jerathmecl Davenport, Thomas B. Hall. Treasurer and Collector : Moses Withington (sworn by Moderator).
Constables : James M. Alger (sworn), Reuben A. Chace (sworn), S. C. Hopkins (sworn), John Dustin, F. Henry Corey (sworn), Eli D. Sander- son (sworn), J. F. Drew, William B. Chaplin, Thomas S. Pettengill (sworn), B. W. Neal (sworn), Eben W. Reed.
School Committee : Thomas Parsons, F. W. Prescott, J. Lewis Diman. Trustees of Public Library : F. H. Hedge, E. C. Emerson, J. N. Turner, W. A. Wellman.
The Third Article in the warrant was then taken up, viz. :
To hear and act upon the reports of town officers and committees.
James Bartlett, Chairman of the Selectmen, presented the reports of the Treasurer, Selectmen, Trustees of the Public Library, and the list of taxes assessed and the persons against whom the taxes were assessed, the foregoing reports having been printed and distributed among the inhabitants.
Voted, To accept the foregoing reports and place them on file.
Thomas Parsons, Chairman of the School Committee, pre- sented the report of the School Committee, the report hav- ing been printed and circulated among the inhabitants.
Voted, To accept the report and place it on file.
Article Fourth taken up :
To see if the town will accept of the jury list as revised by the Select- men, and posted according to law.
At the request of Charles Heath, the name of Charles H. Heath was struck from the list, and the name of Charles Heath substituted therefor.
The name of Moses B. Williams was struck from the list at his own request.
117
Annual Meeting, March 25, 1861.
The list was then accepted, as follows, viz. :
List of Jurors of the Town of Brookline for the year 1861.
Allen, Rufus S.
Haynes, Clark L.
Bancroft, Charles P.
Heath, Charles
Bartlett, James
Humphrey, Willard J.
Bird, John A.
Kenrick, David T.
Brooks, George
Long, J. D.
Chapin, Nathaniel G.
Maynard, Waldo
Churchill, William O.
Parsons, Thomas
Codman, James M.
Philbrick, Edward S.
Coolidge, David S.
Pierce, Peter W.
Corey, Timothy
Russell, Marshall
Craft, Caleb
Secomb, Edward R.
Dearborn, Isaac
Sheafe, William
Dearborn, William
Stearns, Marshal
Delano, Oliver B.
Stoddard, George
Fay, Harrison
Trowbridge, Charles P.
Goddard, Abijah W.
Weld, Ransom N.
Griggs, William J.
Williams, Moses B. (Erased.)
Goldsmith, George W.
Withington, Otis
Woodward, Royal
BROOKLINE, March 4th, 1861.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
The meeting then nominated and elected the following officers, viz. :
Voted, To choose seven Field Drivers.
Field Drivers : C. Albert Brackett, Peter W. Pierce, George H. Cool- idge, Robert S. Littell, Phillip S. Allen, Charles H. Stearns, G. D. Guild. Pound Keeper : Silas H. Langley.
Fence Viewers : C. L. Haynes, N. Lyford, R. N. Weld.
Surveyors of Lumber and Measurers of Wood and Bark : Elisha Stone, Oliver Cousens, William D. Coolidge.
Sealers of Leather; Willard Onion, C. W. Tolman.
Truant Officers : Reuben A. Chace (accepted), F. C. Sherman (ac- cepted), J. P. Sanborn.
Fire Wards: A. H. Waterman, Henry Orcutt, Jr., Oliver B. Delano. Auditors : Charles D. Head, C. W. Scudder, Edward Atkinson.
Voted, To have a Cemetery Committee of one.
Cemetery Committee : John Dustin.
Truant Justice : Charles E. Abbott (accepted).
Voted, That the Selectmen be and hereby are authorized to appoint Sealers of Weights and Measures.
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Brookline Town Records.
Voted, To lay the Fifth Article on the table. Voted, To lay the Sixth Article on the table.
Seventh Article taken up :
To see if the town will take any action in relation to purchasing a lot of land on Walnut street adjoining the stone school-house, for a yard for the same.
Voted, To refer the same to a committee to consist of the five Selectmen and Messrs. J. Murray Howe and William I. Bowditch, to report thereon at the adjourned meeting.
Eighth Article taken up :
To see if the town will take any action in relation to providing a suit- able building for the Public Library.
Voted, To refer the Eighth Article to the Selectmen, to report thereon at the adjourned meeting.
Ninth Article taken up :
To see if the town will pass any additional by-laws in relation to play- ing ball in the streets.
Voted, To refer the Ninth Article to the Selectmen, to report thereon at the adjourned meeting.
Tenth Article taken up :
To see if the town will accept of Chestnut street as laid out by the Selectmen.
The Selectmen presented the following report on the lay- ing out of Chestnut street as a townway, viz. :
REPORT.
The Selectmen of the town of Brookline, after giving legal notice to all persons and parties interested known to them of their intention to lay out as a town way the private way known as Chestnut street, leading from Walnut street in Brookline to Perkins street, near Jamaica Pond, in West Roxbury, met at their office in the Town Hall in Brookline, on Tuesday, the eighth day of May, A. D. 1860, to hear all parties interested therein, and again by adjournment, on Monday, the twenty-fifth day of February last, A. D. 1861, and again, on Saturday, the sixteenth day of March, 1861, and all parties and all interests known to the Selectmen having been examined, they proceeded and laid out said private street as a townway, to be known by the name of Chestnut street, to wit :
119
Annual Meeting, March. 25, 1861.
The easterly and northerly line of said street is described and bounded as follows : Commencing at a monument in Walnut street marked A placed at the northeasterly corner of land of the heirs of Caleb Clark; thence running southerly one hundred and ninety-five (195) feet to a monument B ; thence again southerly 248.2 feet to a monument C; thence again southeasterly (by a curve of 40 feet radius) 38 feet to a monument D; thence by the same curve (372 feet) to a monument E; thence (by a curve of 526 feet radius) 174 feet to a monument F; thence (by a curve of 462 feet radius) 139 feet to a monument G; thence 192 feet to a mon- ument H; thence 85 feet to a monument I; thence (by a curve of 304 feet radius) 77 feet to a monument K; thence 40 feet to a monument L ; thence (by a curve of 304 feet radius) 67 feet to a monument M; thence 126 feet to a monument N; thence 184 feet to a monument O; thence 245.5 feet to a monument P; thence 215 feet to a monument Q; and the whole length of said way from Walnut street to the town line is 2397.7 feet, and said townway shall be of the full and equal width of (40 feet) forty feet, measuring westerly from said described line.
The angles on the westerly side, opposite B, shall be rounded by a curve of 366 feet radius, and the angles on the southerly side of said street, opposite monument P, shall be rounded by a curve of 430 feet radius, both of which curves are shown on a plan of said way.
This location of said townway is in accordance with a plan of the same made by Amos R. Binney, surveyor, dated March 14th, 1861, and filed in the office of the Town Clerk, March 14th, A. D. 1861, and approved and adopted by the Selectmen, on Saturday, the sixteenth day of March aforesaid.
The Selectmen have made no award for damages in the laying out of said way, the abutters, in consideration of the benefit to be derived in making the same a public way, having agreed, in writing, to relinquish all claims on the town for damages.
And we have given the owners of the land over which said way is so laid out thirty-six days from this date in which to remove all fences, walls and trees standing on land taken for said way. And the townway so laid out is hereby reported to the town for their acceptance, and when so accepted, allowed and recorded, is forever to be known as a public way.
The Selectmen further report that the expense to the town for the making and grading said way to be safe and suitable for the public travel, will cost the estimated sum of one thousand dollars.
JAMES BARTLETT, MARSHAL STEARNS, THOMAS PARSONS, N. G. CHAPIN, E. R. SECOMB,
BROOKLINE, March .25, 1861.
Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report.
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Brookline Town Records.
Voted, That the Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Four- teenth Articles in the warrant be referred to the Selectmen, to report thereon at an adjourned meeting.
The Fifteenth Article was then taken up :
To consider and act upon the proposition of the Back Bay Commis- sioners to take away the fund of one hundred thousand dollars pledged by the State to keep in repair the Mill Dam and other roads, as it is bound by contract to do, and to keep up the tolls on said roads for the purpose of raising another fund therefor.
Voted, That the Selectmen be and hereby are instructed to oppose the keeping the tolls on the Mill Dam as recom- mended by the Commissioners on the Back Bay lands, as by existing contracts said tolls are abolished in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and the recommendations of the Commissioners involve a breach of faith. Said Selectmen shall have full powers to take such action in the premises as they may deem expedient.
The Sixteenth Article was referred to the Selectmen.
The Seventeenth Article was then taken up :
To raise and appropriate such sums of money as will be necessary to defray the current expenses of the town for the ensuing year.
The meeting then made and voted the following appropri- ations, to wit :
For schools
$19,000 00
adult schools
500 00
physical education in schools
150 00
poor
900 00
highways and Chestnut street ($1000 for Chestnut st.) . fire department
700 00
. county tax
state tax (see page [123])
3,186 00
collecting taxes
400 00
abatement of taxes
500 00
town debt
5,000 00
interest on town debt
3,200 00
repairing town buildings .
1,100 00
town officers ($150 for a librarian) sidewalks
1,750 00
1,000 00
paving gutters and making drains
1,000 00
lighting streets and Town Hall
2,000 00
6,500 00
11,500 00
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Annual Meeting, March 25, 1861.
For ringing bell
125 00
cemetery
100 00
police
800 00
library
565 00
making Clyde and Newton streets, (altered from $3,500 to) 2,000 00
contingencies
2,000 00
making Essex street
100 00
purchasing gravel on Winchester street
900 00
purchasing gravel on Heath street .
300 00
land of John Howe, for a townway
500 00
use of Board of Health
300 00
military purposes
7,500 00
.
Voted, That the librarian be paid the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars from the appropriation for town officers.
Voted, That the various appropriations made by the town, including those for the purpose of making and repairing highways and townways, be assessed, after deducting the amount now in the treasury and the probable receipts for the ensuing year, amounting to the sum of · dollars, upon the polls and estates, real and personal, of the inhabitants, resident and non-resident, of the town, and collected as town charges are usually charged and collected.
Voted, That the Town Treasurer be and hereby is author- ized to borrow a sum not exceeding twelve thousand dollars, in anticipation of taxes, and to give the note or notes of the town therefor, countersigned by the Selectmen, in such sums and at such times as may be called for by the Selectmen.
On motion of S. A. Walker, it was-
Voted, To choose one additional Constable.
The polls were then opened, and the meeting proceeded to cast their votes for said officer. After being open fifteen minutes, the polls were declared closed by the Moderator.
The Moderator and Town Clerk proceeded to sort and count the votes, and the whole number given in was twenty- three. A. B. Smyth received twenty-two, and was declared elected.
In voting for all officers chosen by ballot, the check-list was used, and no person was allowed to deposit his vote until his name was found and checked on the list.
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Brookline Town Records.
Voted, To adjourn to meet at the Town Hall on Monday evening, the twenty-second day of April next.
Adjourned. Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
In conformity with the laws of this Commonwealth, the Town Clerk forthwith made out his warrant and delivered it to Constable S. C. Hopkins, requiring him to summon within three days all officers chosen and not qualified, to appear before the Town Clerk within seven days from this date and be qualified for their respective offices, to be sworn where an oath is required by law, or to signify their acceptance or refusal of the office to which they have been chosen, where an oath is not required.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
NORFOLK, SS. BROOKLINE, April 1st, 1861.
Then personally appeared the following-named persons and were sworn at the time set against their names, or signi- fied their acceptance or refusal of the office to which they had been respectively chosen, viz. :
John N. Turner.
Assessors. 3 J. Davenport (sworn March 29th, 1861). Thomas B. Hall.
John Dustin (sworn March 29th, 1861).
Constables. Eben W. Reed (sworn April 1st, 1861). Abiel B. Smyth (sworn March 28th, 1861).
Fence Viewer. R. A. Weld (sworn March 30th, 1861).
Surveyors of Lumber and § Elisha Stone (sworn March 26th, 1861). Measurers of Wood and Bark. \ Oliver Cousens (sworn April 1st, 1861).
Thomas Parsons (accepted March 26th, 1861).
School Committee for three years. F. W. Prescott (accepted March 26th, 1861). - Rev. J. Lewis Diman (accepted March 29th, 1861).
Trustees Rev. F. H. Hedge (accepted April 1st, 1861). of E. C. Emerson (accepted March 29th, 1861).
Public Library J. N. Turner (accepted March 29th, 1861). for next 3 years. [ Wm. A. Wellman (accepted March 27th, 1861). Fire Ward. Henry Orcutt (accepted April 1st, 1861).
Charles D. Head (accepted March 28th, 1861).
Auditors. Charles W. Scudder (accepted March 27th, 1861). Edw. Atkinson (accepted March 27th, 1861).
Cemetery Committee. John Dustin (accepted March 29th, 1861).
Truant Officer. J. P. Sanborn (accepted March 26th, 1861).
Attest : B. F. BAKER,
Town Clerk.
123
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 22, 1861.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL 22, 1861.
Pursuant to adjournment, the inhabitants of the town of Brookline met in the Town Hall, on Monday evening, April the twenty-second, eighteen hundred sixty-one, and were called to order at seven and one-half of the clock, by the Moderator, James Murray Howe.
Voted, That the vote whereby the town at its last meeting voted to have seven Field Drivers be and hereby is recon- sidered.
Voted, To choose three Field Drivers for the ensuing year,
-and the meeting nominated and chose the following-named gentlemen :
Field Drivers : Charles H. Stearns, Eben W. Reed (sworn April 22d, 1861), Thomas S. Pettengill (sworn April 26th, 1861).
Pound Keeper : Eben W. Reed (sworn) .
Fence Viewers (re-chosen) : C. L. Haynes (sworn April 24th, 1861), John O. Libby.
Measurers and Sealers of Leather (re-chosen) : Willard Onion, Jr., (sworn April 25th, 1861), Charles W. Tolman.
Fire Wards (re-chosen) : A. H. Waterman (accepted), C. L. Palmer.
Voted, That after this year all fines for officers chosen and liable to serve in the office to which they may be called, and neglecting or refusing to serve, be collected.
On motion of George F. Homer, it was-
Voted, That the vote of the town passed at the last meet- ing whereby they voted to raise and appropriate the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars for making and widening Clyde and Newton streets, be and hereby is reconsidered.
Voted, That the sum of two thousand dollars be raised and appropriated for the purpose of making and widening Clyde and Newton streets.
Voted, That the sum of ($3,186) three thousand one hun- dred and eighty-six dollars be raised and appropriated for the state tax.
The Selectmen and several committees to whom various articles in the warrant were referred at the last meeting, pre- sented the following reports, to wit :
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Brookline Town Records.
The committee to whom was referred the several articles in the warrant calling the annual town meeting, held March 25, 1861, have attended to the duties assigned to them and would report as follows, to wit : -
Article Fifth. To determine whether the town will purchase the site of the " Brookline Fort " as a location for a primary school-house.
After examining into the subject in all its bearings, we have arrived at the following conclusions : That there appears to be a necessity for a primary school in the neighborhood of Brookline Fort. They do not deem it judicious to purchase that particular lot at the price asked for it, and they believe that a better one may be obtained therefor. They therefore request that the subject may be postponed, and that the com- mittee have furtlier time to select a site which they can recommend to the town to purchase.
Article Sixth. To determine whether the town will widen the casterly end of Beacon street, on the south side, to the line of the street.
Your committee would recommend that the town so widen out said street, and that the sum of one thousand dollars be raised and appropri- ated for that purpose.
Article Seventh. To see if the town will take any action in relation to purchasing a lot of land on Walnut street, adjoining the stone school- house, for a yard to the same.
Your committee, after due deliberation upon the subject, do not think that the said lot is the most suitable one for the use of the school nor the present school-house in the most desirable situation in that neighbor- hood. A lot can be obtained on Chestnut street, but a short distance from the present school-house, that is every way more desirable and better suited for a school than the present one. It can also be obtained for one-half the price per foot asked for the lot named in the above Article. With this statement, they submit it to the town, for them to decide, it being evident that more land is needed with the present school- house, or a larger and better lot in the immediate neighborhood.
Article Eighth. To see if the town will take any action in relation to providing a suitable building for the Public Library.
Your committee deem it advisable to refer the subject of this Article to a future town meeting.
Article Ninth. To see if the town will pass any additional by-laws in relation to playing ball in the streets.
This matter was carefully considered by your committee, and in con- clusion they would recommend that the town pass the following by-law, to wit :
" No person shall play at foot-ball, cricket, base-ball, or any other game of ball, or throw stones or snowballs, within any of the public streets or roads of the town, under a penalty for each offence of not less than one dollar nor more than twenty dollars, to be paid, on recovery, into the town treasury to the use of the town."
125
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 22, 1861.
Article Eleventh. To see if the town will authorize the purchase of gravel banks for the westerly and northerly parts of the town; also, to purchase land for a way from Warren street to the gravel bank near the reservoir.
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