USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1858-1871, v. 2 > Part 34
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Howard, John H.
Young, Edward D.
Humphrey, Willard A.
Attest :
B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
BROOKLINE, March 12th, 1870.
Fifth Article taken up :
To consider and act upon the subject of making and grading Boylston street from Cypress street to Walnut street near the gate-house.
Voted, That the whole subject of making and grading said street be referred to the Selectmen.
Voted, That the sum of seven thousand dollars be raised and appropriated for the purpose of making and grading Boylston street from Cypress street to Walnut street near the gate-house.
Sixth Article taken up :
To consider and act upon the subject of placing a memorial tablet in the library building.
d
m
as
Chaplin, William B.
Warren, Moses C.
432
Brookline Town Records.
Voted, That action on the Sixth Article be postponed. Seventh Article taken up :
To see what action the town will take in relation to erecting a new Town Hall.
Voted, That the following committee of nine, viz. : Wil- liam A. Wellman, Charles U. Cotting, John C. Abbott, Charles W. Scudder, Augustine Shurtleff, Wm. A'spinwall, Wm. K. Melcher, William Lincoln, and M. P. Kennard, be appointed to consider the subject of building a new Town Hall, and report in regard to the same at the adjourned town meeting.
Eighth Article taken up :
To consider and act upon the request of the County Commissioners to have the town bear a part of the expense of the land damages in widen- ing Harvard and Brighton streets.
Voted, That the subject of the Eighth Article be referred to the Selectmen, to consult with the County Commissioners in relation to the subject and ascertain what they propose to do in the widening of said streets, and the probable cost of the same, and report at the adjourned meeting.
Ninth Article taken up :
To see if the town will make Beacon street to its full width across the marsh.
Voted, That the Ninth Article be laid on the table.
Tenth Article taken up :
To see if the town will accept and allow a new townway leading from High street to Pond avenue, as laid out and located by the Selectmen.
The Selectmen presented the following report on the laying out of said way, to wit :
REPORT.
The Selectmen of the town of Brookline, after giving legal notice to all persons, corporations and interests known to them of their intention to lay out a new townway leading from High street to Pond avenue, did, in pursuance of said notice, meet at their office in the Town Hall, on
433
Annual Meeting, March 28, 1870.
Thursday, the twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy, at three of the clock in the afternoon, and proceeded to hear all parties and interests there represented, and to examine said route, and again, by adjournment, on the ninth day of Feb- ruary of said year, and all parties and interests represented having been heard and examined in relation thereto, they proceeded to lay out said way as follows, described by the southerly side, to wit :
Beginning on the northerly side of High street marked A on the accom- panying plan opposite a point on the southerly side of said High street, which is distant 197.39 feet from the angle of said High street at the corner of land of John W. Candler; thence curving to the north and right from said side of High street on a radius of 30.77 feet along land belonging to the High Street Church for a distance of 68.23 feet to a point marked B on said plan ; thence easterly tangent to said curve for a distance of 150 feet, passing the land of said church to a point marked C in the new street laid out in March, A. D. 1869, leading from High street to Walnut street; thence curving to the left on a radius 456.5 feet for a further dis- tance of 156.96 feet to the point marked D; thence curving to the right on a radius of 130.08 feet for a further distance of 153.28 feet to the point marked E; thence southerly tangent to said curve for a further distance of 179.31 feet to a point marked F; thence curving to the left on a radius of 142.42 feet for a further distance of 175.74 feet crossing the end of a private way called " Glen street" to the point marked G; thence curving to the right on a radius of 365.67 feet for a further distance of 103.86 feet to the point marked H; thence connecting with Pond avenue at the point marked N by a curve to the right on a radius of 20 feet. The above line, as also the northerly line, connects with the lines of the afore- said new street leading from High street to Walnut street by curves of seven feet radius.
The northerly side of said way is everywhere parallel with and forty feet distant from the above-described southerly line except where con- necting with other streets. At the eastern end this northerly line connects in a curve of 405.67 feet radius past the end of the south side and curves with the western side of Pond avenue by a curve of 20 feet radius at the point marked M; at the westerly end this northerly line of said way con- tinues in a direction parallel with the straight line on the northerly side of the church lot for a distance of 220.85 feet in all to the point marked J and connects with the northerly line of High street by a curve of 40 feet radius at a point marked K.
The lands taken for the making of said way are as follows, to wit :
Of the land of John S. Wright
791 square feet.
High Street Church
20
66
66
66 Agustine Shurtleff
20
60
66 Beck and Sayles
20
66
66
M. W. Quinlan
20
66 66
And the Selectmen have made the following awards for damages in full by the laying out and making of said way, to wit: To John S. Wright the sum of one hundred ninety-seven 7% dollars ($197.75), and to set back his fence on the line of said street.
28
1
to On id,
434
Brookline Town Records.
In consideration of the benefits to the other owners of lands over which said way is so laid out, no awards have been made by the Select- men. And the Selectmen have given the owners of lands over which said way is so laid out sixty days in which to remove their fences, walls, trees, buildings or structures on land over which said way is laid.
The location of said way is in accordance with a plan and profile of the same as made by Edward S. Philbrick, civil engineer, dated February 9th, A. D. 1870, and accepted and allowed by the Selectmen, and filed in the office of the Town Clerk the same day.
And said way, so laid out and located and described, is hereby reported to the town for acceptance and allowance, and when so accepted, allowed and recorded, is forever to be known as a public townway by the name of Irving street.
THOMAS PARSONS, WILLIAM J. GRIGGS, HORACE JAMES, Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
BROOKLINE, Mass., March 28, 1870.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report of the Selectmen on said townway.
Voted, That the name of Irving street be applied to the way leading from Walnut street to Pond avenue.
Voted, That the sum of one thousand dollars be raised and appropriated to defray the expenses of land damages and making and grading said way.
Voted, That the name of High street be applied to the street leading from Walnut street by the estate of M. W. Quinlan to Chestnut street.
Eleventh Article taken up :
To consider what action the town will take upon the subject of a new town-map.
Voted, That a committee be appointed by the Moderator to take the subject into consideration, and report at the adjourned meeting.
The Moderator appointed the following gentlemen to con- stitute said committee, viz. : George Griggs, William Aspin- wall, Edward S. Philbrick, and Augustine Shurtleff, com- mittee on new town-map.
Twelfth Article taken up :
To see if the town will make an appropriation for the purpose of dec- orating the graves of the soldiers on the thirtieth day of May next.
435
Annual Meeting March 28, 1870.
Voted, To postpone said article. Thirteenth Article taken up :
To see if the town will accept and allow a new townway leading from Harvard street to St. Paul street, as laid out and located by the Selectmen.
The Selectmen presented the following report on laying out of said way, to wit :
REPORT.
The Selectmen of the town of Brookline, after giving legal notice to all persons, corporations and interests known to them, of their intention to lay out a townway leading from Harvard street to St. Paul street, did, in pursuance of said notice, meet at their office in the Town Hall, on Thursday, the tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy, at four of the clock in the afternoon, and pro- ceeded to hear all parties and interests there represented, and to examine said route, and again, by adjournment, on the nineteenth day of March of said year, and all parties and interests represented having been heard and examined in relation thereto, they proceeded to lay out said way, described by the southerly line, to wit :
Beginning on Harvard street at the northwesterly corner of land of Mortimer C. Ferris, thence running along the northerly side of lands of said Ferris and land of George W. Carnes in a straight line for a distance of seven hundred and seventy-five feet to the westerly side of St. Paul street. The northerly side of said way is everywhere parallel with and forty feet distant from the above described southerly line. The connec- tion with Harvard street is with curves of seven feet radius as shown in said plan.
The location of said way is in accordance with a plan and profile of the same as made by Edward S. Philbrick, civil engineer, dated March 19th, A. D. 1870, and accepted and allowed by the Selectmen, and filed in the office of the Town Clerk the same day.
In consideration of the benefits to the abutters by the laying out of said way, no awards for damages have been made by the Selectmen.
And said Selectmen recommend that said way be made, graded and finished within the period of two years from the date of its acceptance and allowance by the town.
The Selectmen have given the owners of lands over which said way is so laid out eighteen months in which to remove their walls, fences, trees, buildings and structures standing on land taken for said way.
And said land, so laid out, located and described, is hereby reported to the town for their acceptance, and when so accepted, allowed and recorded, is forever to be known as a public townway by the name of Alton place.
THOMAS PARSONS, WILLIAM J. GRIGGS, HORACE JAMES, Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report.
436
Brookline Town Records.
Voted, That the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars be raised and appropriated to make and grade said way.
Fourteenth Article taken up :
To raise and appropriate such sums of money as may be needed to defray the expenses of the town for the ensuing year.
The meeting then voted the following appropriations :-
For support of schools
· $30,000 00
support of poor
900 00
support of highways
17,000 00
sidewalks
10,000 00
extension of Hammond street .
4,000 00
new road from Walnut to High street
3,000 00
fire department
1,500 00
new hose-carriage house and new hose
9,000 00
county tax
11,000 00
state tax .
1,000 00
abatement of taxes
2,500 00
discount on taxes
7,000 00
extinction of town debt
12,605 96
interest on town debt
9,200 00
repairs of town buildings ringing bell
150 00
lighting town buildings and streets
6,000 00
cemetery and fencing
400 00
library
4,000 00
town officers
7,000 00
use of the Board of Health
200 00
state aid
1,500 00
police
10,000 00
contingencies
5,000 00
widening Washington street, as ordered, incl. land dam- ages .
3,000 00
fencing Beacon and Pond streets ,
2,000 00
new hydrant
1,000 00
carrying out contracts on sewers now begun . ·
10,000 00
other sewers in the streets (borrowed) .
24,000 00
making and grading Boylston street from Cypress street to gate-house [see page 431]
7,000 00
making and grading Irving street, including land dam- ages [see page 434] 1,000 00
making and grading Alton place [see above] .
.
1,200 00
lighting Boylston street [see page 437] . 1,000 00
highways and additional for underdraining [see page 443] 4,000 0(
· ungraded schools [see page 443] 2,000 0(
making and grading highway over Corey's hill [see page 443] 3,500 00
3,000 00
collecting taxes
437
Annual Meeting, March 28, 1870.
Voted, That two thousand five hundred dollars of the appropriation for sidewalks be expended on the streets south of Cypress street.
Voted, That the sum of one thousand dollars be raised and appropriated to light Boylston street, subject to the vote of the town in relation to lighting the streets.
Voted, That writing be taught in the Grammar and High schools under a competent teacher.
Voted, That the Selectmen call town meetings on order of notice from the County Commissioners.
Voted, That all money which shall be paid into the treas- ury during the current year on account of sidewalks, is hereby appropriated for making sidewalks and subject to the order of the Selectmen.
Voted, That the Treasurer be and hereby is authorized to borrow money to an amount not exceeding the sum of twenty-four thousand dollars, and to give the notes of the town, approved by the Selectmen, for the same, and said amount is hereby appropriated to be expended in the con- struction of drains and sewers and work now begun.
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 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 col- lected as the town charges are usually charged and collected.
Voted, That a discount of five per cent be allowed on all taxes paid on or before the first day of October, provided that no discount shall be allowed upon a fractional part of a dollar.
Adjourned to meet on Monday, the eleventh day of April next, at four o'clock P. M.
Attest : B. F. BAKER,
Town Clerk.
200 000 00)
500
438
Brookline Town Records.
In pursuance of the laws of this Commonwealth, the Town Clerk forthwith made out his warrant and delivered it to Constable J. P. Sanborn, requiring him, within three days from the date thereof, to summon all officers chosen and not qualified, to appear before the Town Clerk within seven days from the date of said warrant to be qualified for their several offices, to be sworn where an oath is required, or to signify their refusal of said office ; also, to signify their acceptance or refusal of the office to which they had been elected where an oath is not required by law.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
NORFOLK, SS. BROOKLINE, April 4th, 1870.
Personally appeared the persons below named and were sworn at the time set against their names, or signified their acceptance or refusal of the office to which they had been chosen, viz. :
Truant Officers. J. P. Sanborn, sworn March 28th. Eben W. Reed, sworn April 1st.
Surveyor of Lumber and Measurer J. Anson Guild, sworn April 1st.
of Wood and Bark.
[ Asa W. Armington, declined. Thomas P. Ritchie, declined. John C. Taylor, declined.
Field Drivers. Henry C. Bixby, declined. Daniel C. Murray, sworn April 1st. Eben W. Reed, sworn April 1st. [ Thomas S. Pettengill, sworn March 30th.
Thomas B. Hall, sworn March 31st.
Assessors. Austin W. Benton, sworn April 1st. Constable. Daniel C. Murray, sworn April 1st.
Samuel A. Robinson, sworn April 1st.
Sealers of Leather. Willard Warren, sworn April 2d.
Pound Keeper. Eben W. Reed, sworn April 1st.
Sealer of Weights and Measures. Alfred Kenrick, sworn April 2d.
Clark L. Haynes, sworn April 1st. Fence Viewers. William K. Melcher, sworn April 4th.
439
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 11, 1870.
Thomas Parsons, accepted March 28th.
School Committee for three years. Rev. William Lamson, accepted March 30th. E. W. Sanford, accepted March 30th.
School Committee for one year.
Austin W. Benton,
accepted March 30th.
Trustees of Public Library for - three years. -
Rev. Wm. Lamson, accepted March 30th.
E. C. Cabot, accepted March 30th.
John W. Candler, accepted March 30th. Charles D. Head, accepted March 30th.
- Robert S. Littell, accepted April 1st.
Auditors. - Edward I. Thomas, accepted April 1st. Daniel H. Rogers, accepted April 2d.
Willard Y. Gross, accepted March 28th.
Thomas S. Pettengill, accepted March 30th.
Fire Wards.
Patrick H. Cusick, accepted April 1st. Henry M. Hall, accepted April 2d. Charles Chase, declined. 1
Cemetery Committee. Thomas S. Pettengill, accepted March 30th.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL 11, 1870.
Pursuant to adjournment, the citizens of the town of Brookline met at the Town Hall in said town, on Monday, the eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and seventy, and were called to order at four of the clock in the afternoon, the Moderator, William I. Bowditch, in the chair.
The meeting then proceeded to elect the following officers to fill vacancies.
The Moderator then called upon the meeting to bring in their votes for one Assessor, and declared the polls open for said votes, and to be kept open fifteen minutes.
At the expiration of the time specified, the polls were declared closed, and the Moderator and Town Clerk pro- ceeded to sort and count the votes, and the whole number of votes so given in was sixty-seven. William Aspinwall had sixty, and was declared elected, and was sworn to the duties of said office by the Moderator.
In voting the check-list was used, and no person was allowed to deposit his vote until his name had been found and checked on the list.
440
Brookline Town Records.
The meeting nominated and chose the following officers, viz. :
Truant Officer : Willard Y. Gross.
Surveyors of Lumber and Measurers of Wood aud Bark: William D. Coolidge, Frank F. Seamans.
Voted, That the number of Field Drivers for the ensuing year be three, the number qualified.
Voted, That the number of Fire Wards for the ensuing year be the number who have already accepted.
The Sixth Article was then taken up :
To consider and act upon the subject of placing a memorial tablet in the library building.
Voted, To postpone the Sixth Article.
Seventh Article taken up :
To see what action the town will take in relation to erecting a new Town Hall.
The committee to whom was referred the subject of the seventh article at the last town meeting, presented the following report, to wit :-
REPORT.
The committee to whom was referred the question as to the require- ments of Brookline for a new Town Hall, and the feasibility of erecting such, have attended to that duty and submit their report, as follows :
Your committee are pleased to say that, appointed as they were with- out previous conference or special knowledge of each other's sentiments, they found themselves a unit, upon their first meeting, in favor of the immediate erection of a tasteful, commodious and substantial edifice for this purpose, worthy of the town which claims in all its natural features no superiors in this Commonwealth. They say tasteful, feeling that the intelligence and culture of such a community as ours would not wish to transmit to others an enduring memento void of architectural beauty, and because the elevated situation recommended would admirably render it a conspicuous object in our landscape. Commodious, because the increasing demands of the town must be anticipated, and those who do not recognize such growth in matters of public policy in a community like ours, are always deficient in true economy. Substantial, because it is not the part of sound judgment for an abiding public structure of this character to be otherwise.
Your committee do not deem it wholly a question of outlay, as they feel assured that returns for rentals of such a hall would very much reduce the interest on the expenditure.
441
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 11, 1870.
This committee are also impressed with the fact that hitherto this town has been eminently and seriously deficient in all those social advantages which it must be manifest to all would be derived from the possession of such a building, in a central and convenient position, adapted to all our needs; say, with two halls, the larger seating one thousand to twelve hundred persons, and a smaller one for concert-room and lecture-room, and seating four hundred to five hundred; and, also, with ample accommodations for such town officers as the Town Clerk, Treasurer, Magistrates, and Police, together with Lock-ups, Trial- Justice room, and wayfares, lodgings, etc., etc.
And therefore your committee unanimously recommend that the town appropriate one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting a new Town Hall upon the site of the present one, and that a committee be appointed, with full powers, to adopt plans, after public advertise- ment for the same, and to proceed to make contracts, and to erect such hall as soon as the present building can be removed, and also that the Town Treasurer be instructed to pay out said appropriation upon the order of not less than three members of the committee.
WILLIAM A. WELLMAN. CHAS. U. COTTING. JOHN C. ABBOTT. CHAS. W. SCUDDER. AUGUSTINE SHURTLEFF. WILL. ASPINWALL. WM. K. MELCHER. WILLIAM LINCOLN. M. P. KENNARD.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report, and that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars be appropri- ated for the objects therein named.
On motion of John W. Candler, Esq., it was-
Voted, That William A. Wellman, John C. Abbott, Charles U. Cotting, William Aspinwall, Augustine Shurt- leff, William Lincoln, William K. Melcher, Charles W. Scudder, and Martin P. Kennard, be appointed a committee to obtain plans and specifications for a new Town Hall, to make contracts to have the same built on the lot owned by the town, upon which the present Town Hall is located ; that they have authority, in connection with the Treasurer of the town, to borrow one hundred thousand dollars to pay for building the same ; also, that the Town Treasurer be instruct- ed to pay out said appropriation upon the order of not less than three members of the committee.
Voted, That the building committee on the new Town Hall be authorized to move the present Town Hall onto the town's land on the westerly side of Prospect street.
ET
442
Brookline Town Records.
Eighth Article taken up :
To consider and act upon the request of the County Commissioners to have the town bear a part of the land-damages in widening Harvard and Brighton streets.
The Selectmen, to whom was referred the subject of said article, made a verbal report, to wit :
REPORT.
That the Selectmen had conferred with the County Commissioners in relation to the widening of Harvard and Brighton streets; that the Commissioners propose to widen Harvard street to a width of fifty-five feet, and Brighton street to a width of fifty feet, and that the amount of land damages will not exceed sixteen thousand dollars; and that the Commissioners propose widening said streets if the town will pay one half of said land damages. '
Voted, To accept the report of the Selectmen.
On motion of D. S. Coolidge, it was-
Voted, That the sum of ten thousand dollars be appropri- ated to pay land damages and make Harvard street, and that the County Commissioners pay one-half of the land damages on said street.
Voted, That the Treasurer be authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding eighteen thousand dollars to pay land dam- ages and make Harvard and Brighton streets ; the above amount to include the ten thousand dollars voted for Harvard street.
Ninth Article taken up :
To see if the town will make Beacon street to its full width across the marsh.
Voted, To indefinitely postpone the Ninth Article.
Eleventh Article taken up :
To consider what action the town will take upon the subject of a new town map.
George Griggs, Esq., chairman of the committee to whom was referred the subject of said article, reported that the committee had had several meetings upon the subject, and
a to
01 aft in
443
Special Meeting, April 11, 1870.
had considered several ways of making said map and the costs of the same, but had not settled upon any particular plan.
Voted, To accept said report, and that the subject be recommitted to the same committee, to report at a future meeting.
Voted, That the sum of two thousand dollars be appropri- ated for the support of ungraded schools.
Voted, That the sum of three thousand five hundred dol- lars be appropriated to make and grade the road over Corey's Hill, as laid out and located by the County Com- missioners.
Voted, That the sum of four thousand dollars be added to the appropriation for highways, for the purpose of under- draining streets and highways.
Adjourned.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
SPECIAL MEETING, APRIL 11, 1870.
WARRANT.
SEAL. SEAL. SEAL.
SEAL.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
SEAL. ]
NORFOLK, SS.
To either of the Constables of the Town of Brookline,
GREETING :
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