USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1858-1871, v. 2 > Part 5
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We would offer the following votes :
Voted, That the sum of twenty-one hundred dollars be raised and appropriated for the purpose of grading and draining Washington street.
Voted, That the sum of thirteen hundred dollars be raised and appro- priated for the purpose of grading and fencing the Town House lot and altering the wall in front of the same.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
JAMES BARTLETT, MARSHALL STEARNS, HOWARD S. WILLIAMS, Selectmen.
BROOKLINE, April 5, 1859.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report.
The Selectmen, to whom was referred the Fifteenth Article in the warrant, viz. :
To see what action the town will take in relation to purchasing the whole or a part of the lot of land formerly occupied by the Baptist society,"
-presented the following report, to wit :
REPORT.
The Selectmen, to whom was referred the Fifteenth Article in the warrant calling the annual meeting held March the 28th, 1859, to wit : " To see if the town will take any action in relation to purchasing the whole or a part of the lot of land formerly occupied by the Baptist
51
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 19, 1859.
society, at the junction of Washington and Harvard streets." The Selectmen have attended to that matter, and would report as follows, viz. :
That in their opinion the streets need to be widened at that point, so as to accommodate the fast increasing travel on those streets. We have therefore caused plans to be made showing how the object could be best accomplished, and we would recommend to the town to purchase so much of said estate as is contained in the point of land lying in front of the meeting-house, provided it can be purchased for the sum of fourteen hundred dollars.
MARSHALL STEARNS HOWARD S. WILLIAMS.
Voted, To accept the foregoing report.
Voted, That the whole subject of the Fifteenth Article be referred to the committee on the Tenth Article, to report thereon at a future meeting.
Voted, That when this meeting adjourn it be to two weeks from this evening, at seven and one-half of the clock. Motion to adjourn was made, and lost. Voted, To add one thousand dollars ($1,000) to the appropriation for highways.
Voted, To adjourn.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL 19, 1859.
Pursuant to adjournment, the inhabitants of the town of Brookline met at the Town Hall in said town, on Monday evening, April the nineteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty- nine, the Moderator, William I. Bowditch, in the chair.
Voted, To reconsider the vote whereby the town voted to have four Fire Wards.
Voted, That two Fire Wards be the number for the ensu- ing year.
Charles Pope was chosen Truant Justice, in place of Wil- liam Aspinwall, who declined serving.
52
Brookline Town Records.
The Sixteenth Article was then taken from the table, and the meeting voted the following appropriations, to wit :
[For several appropriations see pages [42, 44, and 49].
For fire department
$700 00
county tax
5,556 00
state tax
2,500 00
collecting taxes
400 00
extinction of town debt
6,000 00
interest on town debt
3,500 00
repairs of town buildings
500 00
town officers
1,300 00
sidewalks
1,000 00
paving gutters and relaying drains
1,000 00
lighting streets and Town Hall
1,600 00
ringing bell
100 00
cemetery
100 00
police
600 00
increase and maintenance of library
480 00
adult schools
400 00
widening Cypress street between Walnut and Boylston streets
1,000 00
making Essex street
100 00
grading Aspinwall avenue
800 00
contingencies
2,000 00
abatement of taxes
500 00
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 in- habitants, resident and non-resident, of the town, and col- lected as the town charges are usually charged and collected.
On motion of Edward Atkinson,-
Voted, That the sum of ($750) seven hundred and fifty dollars be added to the appropriation for highways, and that the Surveyors of Highways be recommended to expend said sum, or as much thereof as may be needed, in repairing Boylston street, in making gutters and sidewalks at such points upon said street as they may think best.
On motion of Thomas Parsons, the meeting passed the following two votes, to wit :
53
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 19, 1859.
Voted, That the Selectmen be instructed to communicate with the Mayor and Aldermen of the city of Boston, request- ing of said board information in regard to what authority exists by virtue of which said city takes the right to enter upon and dig up streets in the town of Brookline for the purpose of laying a new main of water-pipes, the Act (Chap- ter 222) giving said city such power, under restrictions, not yet having been accepted, agreeable to Section 5th of said Act.
Voted, If the city of Boston has not, or refuses to accept said Act within four days after such request from the Select- men, said Selectmen shall oppose all doings of said city in said town which, in their opinion, or the opinion of counsel, are trespassers, in any manner they may deem expedient.
Mr. Parsons then moved that the sum of eight thousand dollars be raised and appropriated for lowering the grade of Bradley's hill, making and repairing Boylston street, accord- ing to a plan of the same made by A. R. Binney.
Upon which, on motion of William Aspinwall, it was-
Voted, That the subject be referred to the Selectmen, to report thereon at the next town meeting.
The committee to whom was referred the Tenth and Fifteenth articles in the warrant, in relation to building a new school-house and purchasing land of the Baptist Society, made the following report, to wit :
REPORT.
The committee to which was referred the whole subject of Article Tenth of the warrant, "to see if the town will make any appropriation for building a school-house to accommodate the Pierce primary school," and also the Fifteenth Article, "to see if the town will take any action in relation to purchasing the whole or any part of the lot of land formerly occupied by the Baptist society at the junction of Washington and Harvard streets," respectfully report : In regard to the subject-matter of the Tenth Article, the committee remark that the number of scholars for whom the town must provide school room now in addition to that already provided is fifty, and this additional room must be provided in the early part of the present year. Unless compelled by motives of economy, no one who examines the subject would advise the town to provide the school room now required in connection with existing school-houses, for except on economical grounds it is not desirable that our school-houses should be more than two stories ligh, because the danger incurred by the children in case of fire or panic is greater the more the houses are crowded,
54
Brookline Town Records.
and because the occupants of three stories in the same building interfere more with each other than the occupants of two stories. Further, it is not desirable, except on economical grounds, such as saving the purchase of land, that our present school-houses should be disfigured by additions built on them not contemplated when they were planned. Moreover, the committee are of the opinion that the school room now required can be provided as economically in a separate building as by raising the roof of one of the present school houses or by building an addition to one of them.
The committee also find that the town owns land already graded and land soon to be graded, to wit: The Gibbs lot, so called, in rear of the Town Hall, the Fay lot and the Horton lot, so called, amply sufficient and entirely suitable for all the school-houses it will be called upon to erect within the limits of this district for years to come. There is no reason therefore, in the opinion of the committee, either on the score of economy in building or saving in the purchase of land, which should induce the town to provide the school room now required in connection with the existing school-houses.
It is necessary, before the committee submit the plan it would recom- mend the town to adopt, to state that, according to the best judgment the committee can form, the town will be called upon to provide room in this district during the present year and the next year for one hundred scholars, and in the course of the next five years for a greater number of scholars. Under those circumstances the committee are of opinion that the policy that will commend itself to the town will be this: To spend such a sum of money now as will provide the school room required for the next one or two years, but to spend it in such a manner that it will not be thrown away when in the future the town shall be called upon to provide additional school accommodations. To ac- complish the object stated, the committee recommend to the town to erect on the Gibbs lot during the present season a building of two stories which will accommodate about one hundred primary school scholars and will form part of a building of six rooms to be hereafter erected and completed as the wants of the town may require. In order, ; therefore, to satisfy themselves that their views in this regard may be successfully and economically carried out, the committee caused a plan . of a school-house of six rooms to be made, to be erected upon the Gibbs .ot, and an estimate to be made of the cost of completing the part thereof which they would propose to complete during the present summer. The committee submit the plans and estimates to the town, not for the pur- pose of asking the town to adopt the plan nor for the purpose of controll- ing the discretion and judgment of any building committee the town may appoint, but simply to illustrate and justify the views of the com- mittec.
In regard to the subject of the Fifteenth Article of the warrant, "To see whether the town will purchase the whole or any part of the lot formerly occupied by the Baptist society," the committee are of the opin- ion that neither the lot nor the buildings thereon are required by the town for school purposes, nor are they suitable therefor. The committee are also of opinion that the lot is not required by the town for the purpose of building a Town Hall, as the town owns land already amply sufficient
55
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 19, 1859.
and entirely suitable for that purpose when the town shall require a new Town Hall, and the building on the lot is entirely unsuitable there- for. For highway purposes, the committee are of opinion that the town requires part of the lot, and they recommend that the Selectmen be authorized to purchase so much of the land in front of the church on the lot in question as may be needed to widen the adjoining highways and to relieve the sharpness of the corner at the junction of Washington and Harvard streets.
To carry out the views of this report the committee submit two votes, and recommend that they be adopted by the town :
Voted, That a building committee be appointed to erect, during the coming summer, a building on the Gibbs lot, of two stories, which will accommodate about one hundred scholars of the Primary school, said building to form part of a larger building to be hereafter erected, and that six thousand dollars be appropriated therefor.
Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized to purchase from the Baptist society nineteen hundred and sixty feet of land to improve Harvard and Washington streeets at their junction, and that seven hundred and eighty- four dollars be appropriated therefor.
Voted, That the sum of seven hundred and eighty-four dollars be raised and appropriated to purchase land of the Baptist society, at the junction of Harvard and Washington streets, as recommended by the committee.
Voted, That the plans submitted be referred to a building committee consisting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee, to act upon as they think best, and that the sum of ($8,500) eight thousand five hundred dollars be raised and appropriated therefor, to erect a building of brick on the town's land, of such a model as will best accommodate the schools.
Voted, That the money for the foregoing purpose be bor- rowed by the Town Treasurer, in such sums and at such times as may be called for by said committee.
Voted, That the sum of seven hundred dollars ($700) be raised and appropriated for the purpose of furnishing the rooms in said school-house.
Voted, That the Town Treasurer be and hereby is author- ized to borrow the sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars, in anticipation of taxes, and to give the note or notes of the town, countersigned by the Selectmen, in such sums and at such times as may be called for by the Selectmen.
Dissolved.
Attest : B. F. BAKER,
Town Clerk.
56
Brookline Town Records.
MEETING ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, AND SPECIAL TOWN MEETING, MAY 9, 1859.
WARRANT.
SEAL.
سلـ
SEAL.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
SEAL.
SEAL.
SEAL. Į
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 ninth day of May next, at two o'clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of bringing in their votes to the Selectmen on the proposed Article of Amendment to the Constitution, to wit :
" No person of foreign birth shall be entitled to vote or be eligible to office unless he shall have resided within the jurisdiction of the United States for two years subsequent to his naturalization, and shall be other- wise qualified according to the Constitution and laws of this Common- wealth, provided that this amendment shall not affect the rights which any person of foreign birth possessed at the time of the adoption there- of; and provided, further, that it shall not affect the rights of any child of a citizen of the United States born during the temporary absence of the parent therefrom."
The form and style of said vote shall be as follows : "Amendment to the Constitution, Yes, or No."
The polls to be kept open not less than two hours.
You are also hereby required to notify and warn the said inhabitants, voters of the said town, to meet in the Town Hall in said town, on the same day, at five of the clock in the afternoon, or immediately on the adjournment of the meeting first called, for the following purposes, to wit :
First. To choose a Moderator.
Second. To hear and act upon the report of the Selectmen in relation to the drainage of Boylston, Walnut, and Washington streets, at the southerly end of the railroad bridge.
Third. To raise and appropriate such sums of money as may be neces- sary for the foregoing purpose.
57
Constitutional Amendment, May 9, 1859.
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-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES BARTLETT, MARSHALL STEARNS, HOWARD S. WILLIAMS, W. A. HUMPHREY, THOMAS PARSONS, Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
NORFOLK, SS.
BROOKLINE, May 5th, 1859.
In conformity with the foregoing warrant, I have notified and warned the inhabitants, legal voters in the town of Brookline, to meet at the time and place and for the purposes within named, by leaving a printed notice of the same at their last and usual place of residence.
ELISHA STONE, 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 at the Town Hall in said town, on the afternoon of Monday, May the ninth, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, and were called to order by James Bartlett, Chairman of the Selectmen, at two o'clock precisely.
The Town Clerk then read the warrant calling said meet- ing and the return thereon.
The polls were then declared open, by the Chairman of the Selectmen, who requested those present to deposit their votes.
Before proceeding to vote, on motion-
Voted, That the polls be kept open until twenty-five min- utes past five o'clock.
The meeting then proceeded to vote on the Constitutional Amendment, and the polls were kept open until twenty-five minutes past five o'clock, when they were declared closed, agreeable to the vote of the meeting.
58
Brookline Town Records.
The Selectmen and the Town Clerk then proceeded to sort and count the votes, and the whole number given was one hundred and fifty, and the whole number of votes were sorted, counted, recorded, and declaration thereof made in open town meeting, and were as follows, viz. :
One hundred and sixteen Yes (116).
Thirty-four No (34).
The business being all transacted, the returns were filled up and signed by the Selectmen and Town Clerk, and decla- ration thereof made in open town meeting. They were then sealed up and delivered to the Town Clerk to forward to the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
During the voting the check-list was used, and no person was allowed to vote until his name was found and checked on said list.
The meeting was dissolved, by the Chairman of the Select- men.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
Immediately at the close of the meeting assembled to vote on the amendment to the Constitution, the citizens of Brook- line assembled in the Town Hall in said town, on Monday, May the ninth, eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, and were called to order at fifteen minutes to six of the clock in the afternoon, by the Town Clerk, who proceeded to read the warrant and return thereon (recorded on the [55th] page of this book), and presided during the choice of a Moderator, according to the First Article in said warrant.
Voted, That the Moderator be chosen by nomination- -and Hon. William Aspinwall was chosen, and took the chair.
Article Second :
To hear and act upon the report of the Selectmen in relation to the drainage of Boylston, Walnut, and Washington streets, at the southerly end of the railroad bridge.
The Selectmen made a verbal report that the town does require the right of drainage into the brook at that point,
59
Special Meeting, May 9, 1859.
and recommend to the town to purchase so much land, or otherwise, as they shall deem best for that purpose, and that the land can be purchased for the sum of six hundred dollars.
Voted, That the subject of the drainage of Boylston, Wal- nut, and Washington streets, at the railroad bridge, be recommitted to the Selectmen, with instructions to exam- ine further into the rights of the town, and with authority, if they deem it expedient, to settle the whole matter by the purchase of land of Mr. Walker upon the terms proposed by them in their verbal report, and that the sum of six hun- dred dollars be appropriated therefor, and that they report their doings thereon at the next town meeting.
Voted, That the above sum of six hundred dollars be raised by taxation upon the polls and estates as other taxes are raised the present year.
Voted, To adjourn sine die.
Adjourned.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
MAY 31, 1859.
Know all men by these presents, that we, the Selectmen of Brookline, in the County of Norfolk, hereby appoint William Aspinwall, of Brookline aforesaid, Clerk of said town, to perform the duties of that office during the absence of Benjamin F. Baker, Clerk of said town, duly chosen and sworn at the annual meeting of the inhabitants of said town, in March, A. D. 1859, and now absent from said town on a journey.
Witness our hands and seals at Brookline aforesaid, this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES BARTLETT. [L.s.]
HOWARD S. WILLIAMS. [L.s.]
MARSHALL STEARNS. [L.S.]
60
Brookline Town Records.
SUFFOLK, SS.
BOSTON, June 1st, 1859.
Then personally appeared William Aspinwall, of Brookline, in the County of Norfolk, appointed Clerk of said town during the absence of Benjamin F. Baker, and made oath that he would truly and faithfully perform and discharge the duties of the office aforesaid according to the within appointment.
GEORGE F. HOMER, Justice of the Peace.
List of Soldiers in the Town of Brookline for the year 1859, as taken by the Assessors.
Joseph T. Chandler
Charles U. Cotting
`Thomas W. Coffran
Michael Lemmist
James Miley
Samuel Page
Rufus H. Blood
William H. Lincoln
John P. Drew
S. Henry Howe
John H. W. Page
William A. Howe
John A. Burnham
John W. Bowers
Amos A. Lawrence
John Mitchell
Thomas B. Hall Wm. A. Banks
John Doyle Edward D. Sohier
Frederick Almy
Alonzo Farrar
Edward Blake
Edward Richmond
Frederick Stone
Edward G. Parker
Francis G. Faxon
John W. Griggs
Gorham Gray
Edward J. Thomas
Albert J. Size
Charles Soule, Jr.
Carl Siedhoff
Richard Soule, Jr.
Thomas J. Dee
Isaiah L. Brackett
Augustus B. Whittemore
Frederick W. Prescott
Michael Maloney
J. B. Tosier
Richard Briggs
Sidney S. Alcott
John K. Rogers
Charles Wilder
Daniel W. Rogers
Willoughby Wilder
Andrew Marsh
Charles H. Stearns
Henry Blaney
William Stearns
Granvill T. Braman
Isaac Dearborn
William B. Chaplin
William I. Bowditch
David S. Coolidge
Patrick Riley
William H. Watson
Patrick Hogan
Henry Upham Franklin Z. Brett John Sheperd Elijah Woodbury
George Griggs
Charles W. Scudder
Isaac Rich
William D. Coolidge
Charles H. Jord
Daniel Keefe
61
Militia List, 1859.
William Bramhall
Thomas Bramhall Robert Bramhall
Isaiah Gooding Elbridge Wason William J. Griggs John H. Dane
Richard L. Saville
Robert S. Littell
William J. Swift
Edward C. Wilson
Nehemiah Washburn
George Brooks
Charles E. Abbott
Thomas S. Pettengill William Pope
F. Henry Corey
David Wilder, 3d
Theodore F. Corey
George F. Homer
Daniel H. Rogers
Charles Burrell
Willard Onion
George Stoddard
Samuel A. Robinson
Albert Lincoln
Thomas B. Griggs
George L. Richardson
James Dumphrey
William H. Jameson
Thomas F. Allard
Charles Tirrell
Stanton Blake
Thomas G. Wells
Ambrose Willard
William B. Craft
John Bliss
Charles W. Tolman
John A. Fairbanks Alvin A. Rice
John Gibbs
George W. Bird
Bradford Kingman
John H. Webber
Ansel H. Waterman
Charles W. Dyer
Charles L. Palmer
Sylvester Burleigh
Jonathan P. Sanborn
Benjamin F. Tyler Charles Pine Benjamin Goddard
Edwin Clark Michael Mahan James Cusick
Charles Loker
Edward A. Wild
Nathaniel W. Brackett
Robert S. Davis
Charles Kimball
John D. Long
William K. Melcher
Charles Bullaugh
Richard H. Taylor
T. Eustis Francis Cornelius Murphy Walter Scott Fittz
E. R. Butler Benjamin Wells, Jr. Larkin Lynd A. W. Boardman Joshua H. Putnam
William Nichols Abner B. Hardy A. L. Wood James W. Edgerly Lucius K. Miles
Lowell M. Miles
D. Augustus Griggs Edward R. Seccomb Nathan Hale, Jr. William A. Wyman
Horace James Frederick A. Corey
Timothy Corey
Michael McDonnell James Bartlett
James Rooney
Albert W. Smith
George Baldwin Edwin Field
Thomas Merriman George W. Funk Thomas J. O'Neal James W. Sinclair John Dustin Alexander H. Clapp Charles T. Brackett
62
Brookline Town Records.
E. C. Emerson
Oliver B. Delano
James M. Seamans
Henry Orcutt
John E. Cousens James A. Dupee
Joseph Thomas
John Ford
Reuben A. Chace
George F. Whiting
Benj. W. Hobart, Jr.
Sylvester Kimball
Isaac Getchell
William H. Barnard
Charles Thompson
John Park
James R. Burditt
Daniel W. Phelps
Abel B. Shedd
Julius A. Phelps
Walter Lawton
John Keenan
Moses Withington
Russell Hubbard
Edward H. Chamberlin
Joseph Madden
George B. Chamberlin
Horatio Whiffield
Charles H. Gilman
- Sampson
Harrison Gilman
George Johnson
John P. Gibson
William H. Bosworth
William Aspinwall
Osavius Verney
Oliver Cousens
Ebenezer Morse
Alonzo Bowman
John Cram
William O. Churchill
Arthur Kemp
Phillip S. Allen
Dennis Driscoll
Asa Mathews
Thomas Dillon
John Cook
Patrick Dillon
David S. Dutton
James Murphy
Peter W. Pierce
Phillip Duffey
D. W. Atkinson
Thomas Duffey
Henry B. Eager
John E. Horr
Charles P. Trowbridge
Ransom N. Weld
Charles W. Rice
Henry B. Weld
Benjamin Bruce
Charles T. Seaverns
Hugh Cunningham
David T. Kenrick
William B. Town
Charles B. Dana
Richard Hills
Moses C. Warren
Alfred Kenrick, Jr.
Augustus A. Batcheldor
Burton W. Neal
Albert A. Cobb
Benjamin F. Baker
Frederick Sweetser
Stephen Libby
George Osgood
George Drawbridge
Nathaniel Lyford
Patrick Brawley
John H. Wakefield
Thomas Crotty
John W. Washburn
James A. Laughton Seth Gage
George A. Slack
Daniel S. Kendall
George E. Bogman
George N. Dana
Charles T. Plimpton
Augustine Shurtleff
Charles Houghton
Charles A. Brackett John Parkhurst
Frank Seamans John McCormack John Murray Michael Gleason
Henry Gallup
Militia List, 1859.
63
Albert Haven George G. Stoddard Howard S. Williams Andrew J. Harrington Charles Pope Abijah Learnard Josiah Learnard
Charles F. Huntington
Thomas H. Bacon
James Clark
Aaron Whitney
J. S. Page Albert Whitney
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