USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1858-1871, v. 2 > Part 7
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Fence Viewers : Clark L. Haynes (sworn), R. N. Weld (sworn), Nathan- iel Lyford (sworn).
Surveyors of Lumber and Measurers of Wood and Bark: Elisha Stone (sworn), Oliver Cousens (sworn), D. S. Coolidge.
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Brookline Town Records.
Sealers of Leather: Willard Onion (sworn), C. W. Tolman (sworn). Truant Officers : Reuben A. Chace, Charles E. Abbott, J. P. Sanborn (sworn by Town Clerk).
Fire Wards : A. H. Waterman, Oliver Cousens, R. N. Weld.
Auditors : Charles D. Head, Charles W. Scudder, Edward Atkinson.
Trustees of Public Library ; Thomas Parsons (accepted), B. F. Baker (accepted), James M. Howe (accepted), John N. Turner, Amos A. Law- rence (accepted), George F. Homer (accepted), T. P. Chandler, F. H. Hedge, William I. Bowditch (accepted), W. A. Wellman (accepted), William Aspinwall (accepted), E. C. Emerson (accepted).
Truant Justice : Charles Pope.
On motion of William Aspinwall, it was-
Voted, That the Trustees of the Public Library now elected shall hold their office as follows : The Trustees of the Public Library at their first regular meeting shall divide themselves by lot into three classes. The trustees of the first class shall cease to hold their office at the annual town meeting in the year 1861; the trustees of the second class shall cease to hold their office at the annual town meeting in the year 1862, and the trustees of the third class shall cease to hold their office at the annual town meeting in the year 1863 ; and in each year hereafter there shall be elected four trustees in the place of those whose office shall then expire.
The reports of the Selectmen, Town Treasurer, Trustees of the Public Library, and the list of taxes and the names of the tax payers, that had been printed and distributed to the inhabitants for their examination, were presented by James Bartlett, chairman of the former Board of Selectmen, for the action of the town.
Voted, To accept the reports.
F. W. Prescott, secretary of the School Committee, pre- sented the report of the School Committee for the action of the town.
Voted, To accept the report.
The report of the Selectmen that they had not purchased the parcel of land lying south from the Brookline Railroad station, and between said station and Washington street, owing to conflicting claims, was taken up, and on motion of Samuel A. Walker, it was-
Voted, That a special committee of three be appointed by the chair to confer with S. A. Walker and the Boston and
77
Annual Meeting, March 26, 1860.
Worcester Railroad Co., with full powers, to agree upon some terms of settlement by which the said Walker shall release to the town all his rights in the fee of the parcel of land south of the railroad track and north of Washington street, the same to be forever kept open and used only as a way to and from the station and other buildings abutting thereon, the committee to report at the adjourned meeting.
The Moderator appointed the following-named persons to constitute said committee, viz. : Moses B. Williams, James Bartlett, Eben Wright, Committee on purchasing land of S. . A. Walker.
So much of the report of the Trustees of the Public Library as related to the rules and regulations of the same, was then taken up, and on motion of E. Littell, it was-
Voted, That a committee of five persons be appointed by the chair to take into consideration the whole subject of the rules and regulations of the Public Library, and report there- on at the adjourned meeting.
The Moderator appointed the following-named gentleman to constitute said committee, viz. : E. Littell, Thomas Par- sons, and William Aspinwall, Committee on Rules and Reg- ulations of Public Library, and, on motion of Mr. Littell, William I. Bowditch was added to the committee.
Mr. James Bartlett, for the Selectmen, presented the fol- lowing report on guide posts and boards, which was accept- ed, viz. :
REPORT ON GUIDE POSTS AND BOARDS.
The Selectmen submit the following report of the places where guide posts and boards are erected and maintained by the town, as follows :
There is a guide post with a board thereon standing at the junction of Boylston street with Washington street, directing to Newton Upper Falls and Brighton.
One at the corner of Boylston and Heath streets, directing to Newton, Worcester, and Dedham.
One at 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 corner of Boylston and Cross streets, directing to Newton Upper Falls, Newton, and Brighton.
One at the corner of Heath and Warren streets, directing to Newton, Dedham, and Brighton.
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Brookline Town Records.
One at the corner of Clyde and Warren streets, directing to Brighton, Newton, and Dedham.
One at the corner of Clyde and Newton streets, directing to Dedham and Brighton.
One at the corner of Grove and Newton streets, directing to West Roxbury, Dedham, and Newton.
One at the corner of Grove and South streets, directing to Brighton. One at the corner of South and Newton streets, directing to Dedham, Brighton, and Newton.
One at the corner of Warren and Cottage streets, directing to Dedham and Jamaica Plain.
One at the corner of Warren and Walnut streets, directing to Jamaica Plain.
One at the corner of Washington and Harvard streets, directing to Brighton and Cambridge.
One at the corner of Sewall's avenue and Harvard street, directing to Cambridgeport and Cambridge.
One at the corner of Beacon and Washington streets, directing to Boston, Newton Centre, Roxbury, and Brighton.
One at the corner of Beacon and Harvard streets, directing to Boston, Newton Centre, Cambridge, and Cambridgeport.
One at the junction of the Mill Dam and Beacon street, directing to Newton Centre.
All of which is respectfully submitted for the Selectmen.
JAMES BARTLETT, Chairman.
BROOKLINE, March, 1860.
James Bartlett presented the following report of the town on the laying out of Tappan street, to wit :
REPORT ON LAYING OUT OF TAPPAN STREET.
We the subscribers, Selectmen of the town of Brookline, having given written notice to all persons interested known to them and by posting the said notice at the Brookline Railroad station in this town, of their intention to meet for the hearing of a petition to them to lay out a town- · way leading from Cypress street to Beacon street, by serving the said notices on the said parties and by posting the same at least seven days before the time of said meeting, that all persons interested might then and there appear and be heard in relation to said way.
Therefore, in pursuance of said notice, the Selectmen met at their office in the Town Hall, on Thursday, the twenty-second day of December, A. D. 1859, and heard all parties desiring to be heard in rela- tion to the laying out of said way, and then proceeded to examine and view the route of said proposed way, and again by adjournment of said meeting from said 22d day of December, 1859, to the fifth day of March, A. D. 1860; and all parties and interests known to the Selectmen having been examined, they proceeded and laid out said way, to be known by the name of Tappan street, as follows, to wit ;-
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Annual Meeting, March 26, 1860.
The middle line of the proposed street intersects the westerly line of Cypress street at a point which measures 23.97 feet at 25° 10' 27// E. from division line between land of Moses Jones and land of heirs of Robert S. Davis, taken by the New York and Boston Railroad Company for public use as a way where said line intersects the westerly line of Cypress street; thence running north 82° 51' 09" west 101.19 feet ; thence curving to the right with a radius of 365.25 feet 105.09 feet; thence north 66° 16' 38// west 1251.37 feet; thence curving to the left with a radius of 213.85 feet 198.05 feet; thence curving to the right with a radius of 405 feet 457.43 feet; thence north 54° 37' 35" west 334.04 feet; thence curving to the right with a radius of 1000 feet 86.87 feet; thence north 49° 38' 57" west 1031.96 feet; thence curving to the right with a radius of 680.44 feet 422.14 feet; thence north 14º 06' 13" west 700 feet to the southerly line of Beacon street, said point being 133 feet S. 74º 15' 35" west from the middle of the face of a large stone bound which makes the division line between land of Moses Withington and Howard S. Williams, and said street is to be of the full and equal width of forty feet throughout its entire length.
This location of said townway is in accordance with a plan of the same made by Messrs. Shedd and Edson, Civil Engineers, dated February 1st, 1860, and filed in the office of the Town Clerk March 5th, 1860, and approved and accepted by the Selectmen on the fifth day of March afore- said.
The areas taken for the making of said street is as follows :
Land of Moses Jones
3,490 sq. ft.
Davis heirs
108,160
יי Tappan heirs
50,105
66
66 William I Bowditch
9,280
66
Moses Withington
13,520 66
66 H. S. Williams
3,060
66
Total amount taken
187,619 66
The Selectmen have awarded to the following persons owning land on said way the sums set against their names in full for land taken, and any and all other damages they may sustain by the laying out and grading said way ; to wit :-
To Moses Jones .
$420 00 To Daniel H. Rogers, trustee of heirs of Robert S. Davis and Mrs. Lucy Corey
500 00
To Moses Withington
150 00
To Howard S. Williams .
100 00
Total amount of awards
$1,170 00
To the Tappan heirs, Augustus Aspinwall, trustee, and William I. Bow- ditch, no award is made, they having agreed to release the town from any and all damages sustained by them in consequence of the laying out of said way, and further, in consideration of the said townway being laid out by the Selectmen as a public townway of the width of forty feet the said William I. Bowditch and Augustus Aspinwall agree to build and
80
Brookline Town Records.
complete said townway ready for the public travel agreeable to and in accordance with said plan and specifications of the same, and under the direction and to the acceptance of the said Selectmen. And we have given the owners of land over which way is so laid out until the first day of September next to remove fences, walls and trees now standing on the land taken for said way.
And the said townway is hereby reported to the town for their accept- ance, and when so accepted, allowed and recorded, is forever to be known as a public townway, and is to be completed and ready for the public travel on or before the first day of December next.
BROOKLINE, March 26th, 1860.
JAMES BARTLETT,
MARSHALL STEARNS, HOWARD S. WILLIAMS, W. A. HUMPHREY, THOMAS PARSONS,
Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
On motion-
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report.
Voted, To raise and appropriate the sum of eleven hundred and seventy dollars for the objects proposed in said report.
The Fifth Article was then taken up, in relation to pur- chasing a set of new hay scales for the village.
Voted, That the Selectmen be and hereby are authorized to procure a set of new hay scales for the village, or to move those now there, as in their judgment is for the best interests of the town, and that the sum of two hundred dollars be raised and appropriated for that purpose.
Voted, To lay the Sixth Article on the table.
The Seventh Article was then taken up, to see if the town would enlarge the culvert on Park street near Wash- ington street.
Voted, That the Selectmen be instructed to enlarge the culvert on Park street in accordance with the petition of William Rice and others ; it being understood that the town shall have the right to drain into the brook at said culvert from Washington street through Park street, as at present.
Voted, That the sum of three hundred dollars be raised and appropriated for that purpose.
The Eighth Article was taken up :
To see if the town will pay A. W. Smith for land left by him in the street when he set his wall back.
Voted, To refer the whole matter to the Selectmen with full powers to settle with Mr. Smith.
81
Annual Meeting, March 26, 1860.
The Ninth Article taken up :
To see what action the town will take in relation to the water pipes illegally laid by the city of Boston in the streets of this town.
Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized and empowered to take such action as they shall think for the best protection of the rights and interests of the town of Brookline, either by removing the whole or any part of the water pipes illegally laid by the city of Boston through the town the past year, or by instituting suits for damages, or both.
Tenth Article taken up :
To see about purchasing a gravel pit adjoining the one owned by the town on Fairmount.
Voted, To refer the whole subject to the Selectmen, to report thereon at the adjourned meeting.
Voted, To indefinitely postpone the Eleventh Article. Twelfth Article taken up :
To hear and act upon the list of jurors as revised by the Selectmen.
Voted, To strike off the name of J. Elliot Cabot, he not being liable to serve in that capacity.
The following is the list as prepared by the Selectmen and adopted by the town :
List of Jurors for the Town of Brookline for the Year 1860.
Allen, Rufus S.
Goldsmith, George W.
Bancroft, Charles P.
Haynes, Clark L.
Bartlett, James
Heath, Charles H.
Bird, John A.
Humphrey, Willard J.
Blake, George B.
Kenrick, David F.
Brooks, George
Long, John D.
Chapin, N. G.
Philbrick, Edward S.
Churchill, William O.
Parsons, Thomas
.Coolidge, David S.
Pierce, Peter W.
Corey, Timothy Craft, Caleb, Jr.
Secomb, Edward R.
Davenport, Jerathmeel
Sheafe, Mark W.
Deaborn, Isaac
Stearns, Marshal Trowbridge, Charles P.
Dearborn, William
Weld, Ransom N.
Delano, Oliver B. Fay, Harrison
Williams, Moses B.
Goddard, Abijah W.
Withington, Moses
Griggs, William J.
Woodward, Royal
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
6
BROOKLINE, Mass., March 5th, 1860.
Russell, Marshall
82
Brookline Town Records.
The foregoing list having been posted as the law requires and legally presented to the town, it was-
Voted, To approve and accept the same.
March 26th, 1860.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
The Thirteenth Article was then taken up :
To see if the town will raise and appropriate money to make Clyde and Newton streets as widened and laid out by the County Commis- sioners.
Voted, That a committee of five be appointed by the chair to apply to the County Commissioners and ascertain what action; is necessary to be taken in order to have them reverse their order for the making of those streets fifty feet wide, or to have them reduce the width from said fifty feet.
The Moderator appointed the Board of Selectmen to con- stitute said committee.
Voted, To reconsider the vote whereby the indefinite post- ponement of the Eleventh Article was made.
Voted, That the sum of three hundred dollars be raised and appropriated for the purpose of erecting a flag staff.
Voted, That a committee of two be chosen to carry out the object of the foregoing vote.
The meeting nominated and chose as said committee Messrs. William O. Churchill and Nathaniel Lyford.
Voted, That the work be done under the direction of the Selectmen.
The Fourteenth Article taken up :
To see if the town will raise and appropriate money to defray the expense of relaying the abutment wall on Boylston street in front of the estate of John S. Wright.
Voted, That the sum of eight hundred dollars be raised and appropriated to defray the expense of laying the abut- ment wall on Boylston street in front of the estate of John S. Wright.
The Fifteenth Article was then taken up :
To raise and appropriate such sums of money as may be necessary to defray the expenses of the town for the ensuing year.
*
83
Annual Meeting, March 26, 1860.
The meeting then made and voted the following appropri- ations, to wit :-
For the support of schools
$17,700 00
66
" adult school
400 00
66
66 " poor . 800 00
66
66 " highways . 4,200 00
60
66 " fire department 700 00 8,500 00
county tax
state tax
collecting taxes
2,080 00 400 00
abatement of taxes 500 00
extinction of town debt
7,000 00
interest on town debt
3,600 00 700 00
town officers
1,600 00
sidewalks
1,000 00
paving gutters and relaying drains
1,000 00
lighting Town Hall and streets
1,800 00
ringing bell
100 00
cemetery
100 00
contingencies
2,000 00
police
600 00
increase and maintenance of library
537 00
making Cypress street between Washington and Boylston streets
30 00
making Pleasant street 200 00
making Tappan street (from page [80]) .
1,170 00
enlarging culvert on Park street (from page [80]). 300 00
erecting flag staff (page [82]) .
300 00
relaying abutment wall on Boylston street (page [82]) . 800 00
new hay scales (from page [80]) 200 00
teaching "calisthenics" in High school (page [88]). 150 00
purchasing gravel land on Fairmount (page [89]) . 2,500 00
ventilation in Town Hall (page [91]) 25 00
land of Samuel A. Walker (page [90])
500 00
making and grading Newton street and Clyde street (page [91]) .
1,500 00
Voted, That the various appropriations made by the town, including those for the purpose of making and repairing high- ways and townways, be assessed after deducting the amount now in the treasury and the probable recipts for the ensuing year, amounting to the sum of - dollars, upon the polls and estates, real and personal, of the inhabitants, resi- dent and non-resident, of the town, and collected as town charges are usually charged and collected.
repairs of town buildings
84
Brookline Town Records.
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 therefor, countersigned by the Selectmen, in such sums and at such times as may be called for by the Selectmen.
Voted, That so much of the report of the School Commit- tee as treats of the subject of physical education be referred to a committee of three, to be appointed by the chair, to report thereon at a future meeting.
The Moderator appointed the following gentlemen to con- stitute said committee, viz. : Moses B. Williams, Edward S. Philbrick ; and William I. Bowditch was nominated and chosen by the meeting to be a member of the committee.
Voted, That when this meeting adjourn it be to meet at this place in two weeks from Wednesday evening next, April the eleventh, inst., at seven and a half o'clock.
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 John Dustin, 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 respectively chosen.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
NORFOLK, SS. BROOKLINE, April 2d, 1860.
Then personally appeared the following-named persons and were sworn at the time set against their names, or sig-
85
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 11, 1860.
nified their acceptance or refusal of the office to which they had been respectively chosen, viz. :
Selectman. Overseer of Poor. Edward R. Secomb, sworn March 29, 1860.
Highway Surveyor.
Aaron Whitney, sworn March 28th, 1860.
Constables. { Eli D. Sanderson, sworn April 2d, 1860. S. C. Hopkins, sworn March 31st, 1860.
J. Davenport, sworn March 30th, 1860.
Assessors. T. B. Hall, sworn March 30th, 1860.
Field Drivers.
- John N. Turner, sworn March 29th, 1860. 1 P. S. Allen, did not appear. T. S. Pettingill, sworn March 28th, 1860. Silas H. Langley, sworn March 28th, 1860. N. Lyford, sworn April 2d, 1860. James Driscoll, did not appear. George Coolidge, sworn March 28th, 1860.
Surveyor of Lumber, Wood and Bark. D. S. Coolidge.
Pound Keeper. Silas H. Langley, sworn March 28th, 1860.
Truant Officer. Charles E. Abbott, sworn March 28th, 1860. Rev. John S. Stone.
School Committee. - T. E. Francis, accepted March 28th, 1860.
Stephen Salisbury, declined March 28th, 1860.
Public Library.
Trustees of John N. Turner, accepted March 27th, 1860. T. P. Chandler, accepted March 28th, 1860. Rev. F. H. Hedge, accepted April 2d, 1860.
Truant Justice. Charles Pope, accepted March 28th, 1860.
Fire Wards. L A. H. Waterman, accepted March 31st, 1860.
Oliver Cousens, accepted March 27th, 1860. R. N. Weld, declined March 29th, 1860.
Charles D. Head, accepted March 29th, 1860.
Auditors. - Charles W. Scudder, accepted April 2d, 1860. Edward Atkinson, accepted March 29th, 1860.
Cemetery Committee. John Dustin, accepted April 2d, 1860.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL 11, 1860.
Pursuant to adjournment, the inhabitants of the town of Brookline met at the Town Hall on Wednesday, April the eleventh, eighteen hundred and sixty, at half-past seven o'clock in the evening, and were called to order by the Mod- erator, William I. Bowditch.
The meeting then proceeded to fill the following vacancies in the list of town officers, to wit :-
Rev. William Lamson was unanimously chosen a member of the School Committee for three years.
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Brookline Town Records.
C. L. Palmer, Fire Ward.
William Dearborn, Cemetery Committee.
T. E. Lanman, Cornelius O'Hearn, Field Drivers.
William D. Coolidge, Surveyor of Lumber and Measurer of Wood and Bark.
Voted, To reconsider the vote passed at the preceding meeting, whereby the town voted to choose three Truant Officers, and that the two already chosen and qualified be the number.
The committee on the rules and regulations of the Public Library made a report, which was referred to the Trustees of the Public Library, to report thereon at a future meeting. The report was placed on file.
The committee on so much of the report of the School Committee as related to physical education, made the follow- ing report :
REPORT.
The committee to whom that part of the report of the School Com- mittee was referred relating to the subject of Physical Education, offer the following report :-
That the thanks of the town are due to the School Committee for their conscientious and efficient services during the past year. Also, as all mental labor on the part of the children in the different schools and their success in their studies depends upon their physical condition during school hours, the School Committee have been wise in drawing the attention of the town to this subject. All the efforts of the commit- tee are lost and all the labor of the teachers are wasted if this fact remain unacknowledged.
It is the opinion of your committee that the time has arrived when some description of physical exercise should be introduced into all the public schools.
The object of public education is that the pupils on leaving school be fitted for the duties of life on which they are about to enter in the best manner, and it is intended to send them forth prepared to enter upon the occupation to which their natural capacities best adapt them.
The knowledge which they gain in the public schools may be compared to the hammer of the blacksmith; once being furnished with this imple- ment, he can forge all the other tools which he needs, this education being the only capital with which many of the children start in life. the mind is educated at the expense of the body the system of education is greatly at fault, from the reason that the opening to all occupations requiring bodily strength are thus closed, and the pupil, in many cases, prevented from adopting that pursuit in life in which he would not only be the happiest himself, but the most useful to the community.
87
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 11, 1860.
It will undoubtedly be said that much attention to the health of the children should be given by the parents, but of these parents a part do not realize the necessity, and others are so much occupied in procuring a subsistence that they are absolutely incapable of such attention, and it is this class who are more particularly under the charge of the community, which is obliged to support all its members who are not able to support themselves.
It is also plain that where the requirements of the school are adapted not to the ability of the greater number, but to the capacity of the three or four best scholars, then a mental strain is brought to bear upon the majority of the pupils, which produces an evil out of the power of the parents to counteract. That this is the case in the greater number of schools in New England your committee honestly believe. Having decided that some change was necessary, and that some improvements might be com- menced, your committee proceeded to inform themselves as far as possi- ble upon this subject, with a full appreciation of the difficulties which attend all innovations upon established customs.
Gymnastic apparatus, like all articles which possess great advantages, has its drawbacks and from its great power arises corresponding danger. It can only be used in the early stages with safety, when every movement of the pupil is made under the eye of a competent teacher. The great num- ber of pupils in our schools, their different ages and strength, together with the limited time which could be given, present almost insuperable ob- jections to its introduction. Besides, while the bold and hardy portion of the pupils would eagerly avail themselves of the apparatus, the puny and timid children would keep in the background and content themselves with looking on; thus the class who most need the exercise would not be benefited.
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