USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Town records of Brookline, Massachusetts, 1872-1884, v. 3 > Part 8
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Treasurer's report of receipts and expenditures of the town of Brookline, also report of the Selectmen, and reports of the Town Hall Building Committee, the Trustees of the Public Library, and the Board of School Committee, with a
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Brookline Town Records.
list of taxes and the names of the tax-payers for the year ending February 1, 1873.
The following report on Guide Boards was presented and accepted ; to wit, -
One junction of Warren and Walnut streets, to Jamaica Plain.
One junction of Warren and Walnut streets, to Reservoir.
One junction of Warren and Cottage streets, to Jamaica Plain.
One junction of Boylston and Brighton streets, to Chestnut Hill Reser- voir.
One junction of Boylston and Cypress streets, to Newton street.
One junction of Newton and Clyde streets, to Dedham.
One junction of Newton and Grove streets, to Dedham and West Rox- bury.
One junction of Newton and South streets, to Dedham and West Rox- bury.
One junction of Harvard and Boylston streets, to Dedham and West Roxbury and Oak Hill.
One junction of Harvard and Beacon streets, to Cambridge and Cam- bridgeport.
One junction of Harvard and Beacon streets, to Chestnut Hill Reser- voir.
One junction of Harvard street and Longwood avenue, to Boston High- lands.
One junction of Brighton avenue and Essex street, to Brighton and Cambridge.
One junction of Washington and Beacon streets, to Boston Highlands and Brighton.
The subject of widening the bridge on Washington street over the railroad, as recommended in the report of the Select- men, was taken up and considered.
Voted, That the Selectmen be, and are hereby instructed, in behalf of the town, to petition the County Commissioners to relocate and widen Washington street from Panter's building (in Harvard square) to the southerly end of the bridge, with the least possible delay.
Mr. Alfred Kenrick, Jr., for the Committee on Steam Fire Engines, reported verbally, -
That the committee had examined into the subject of steam fire- engines, and had given the preference to the Amoskeag engines, and that two engines were in process of construction, but the town was not com- mitted to take them.
Voted, That the vote passed on the 6th of February last, whereby the town voted to purchase and equip two steam fire-engines, be and hereby is reconsidered.
85
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 1, 1873.
The subject of procuring steam fire-engines was then laid on the table.
The School Committee having recommended in their re- port that the ungraded school be discontinued, it was -
Voted, That the town authorize the School Committee to discontinue the ungraded school, in accordance with the recommendation contained in their annual report of the schools for the past year.
The Selectmen reported the decision of the referees in the case of Philip Duffey, that the said referees had awarded said Duffey damages in the sum of sixteen hundred dollars.
Accepted and placed on file.
The Selectmen reported in relation to the suit of Marcus B. McCarty against the town, that in their opinion he had not any legal claim upon the town.
Voted, That the town employ counsel to defend the inter- ests of the town in said case.
The subject of the public conveyances between Brookline and the surrounding cities and towns which was treated of in the Selectmen's report was taken up and considered.
Voted, That a committee of five be appointed by the Mod- erator to examine and report upon the whole matter of the travelling accommodations between Brookline and Boston and adjacent places.
The Moderator appointed the following gentlemen to con- stitute said committee ; viz., -
Committee on Travelling Accommodations : William A. Wellman, James W. Edgerly, Edward I. Thomas, Charles Dwight, Horace N. Fisher.
Fourth Article taken up :
To see if the town will accept the list of jurors as revised by the Selectmen and posted according to law ; to wit, -
List of Jurors for the Town of Brookline for the year 1873.
Allen, Samuel S.
Humphrey, Willard A.
Allyn, A. H.
Lawrence, Francis W.
Atkinson, Edward
Long, Jonathan D.
Bachelder, Josiah G.
Lovell, John W.
Bancroft, Charles P.
Lincoln, William
Bartlett, James Lowell, Augustus
Baxter, Sidney S. Lyford, Nathaniel
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Boookline Town Records.
Bennett, Stephen D.
Mann, N. P., Jr.
Bishop, Robert
Mason, Henry
Brooks, George
Merrill, Silas W.
Burdett, Horatio S.
Nash, Francis J.
Cabot, Follen Clark, Edwin Clark, Samuel
Pierce, Henry E.
Codman, James M.
Roberts, Joseph D.
Coolidge, David S.
Rodman, Francis
Coolidge, George H.
Rooney, James
Coolidge, Henry S.
Russell, Marshall
Cooley, William H.
Sabin, Charles W.
Cousens, Oliver
Sargent, Charles S.
Crane, Lewis M.
Searle, Frederick A.
Crowninshield, Caspar
Seaverns, Henry G.
Curtis, J. Gardner
Shurtleff, Augustine
Dana, Dennison D.
Stearns, Charles H.
Dana, Henry F.
Stone, Enos J.
Darricott, Franklin
Stone, Milton J.
Dupee, John
Soule, Richard
Edgerly, James W.
Taylor, John
Fisher, George J.
Von Arnim, Theodore F.
Floyd, Edward E.
Wason, Elbridge
Goddard, Abijah W.
Wells, Henry B.
Griggs, William J.
Whiting, Charles A.
Hall, William
Wise, Daniel W.
Haynes, Clark L.
Wood, Amos L.
Heath, Sidney
Woodward, Isaac
Howard, Alonzo P.
Young, Edward
Howard, John A.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing list of jurors as prepared.
Fifth Article taken up :
To see if the town will authorize the School Committee to employ a Superintendent of Schools for the ensuing year.
Voted, That the Fifth Article be indefinitely postponed. Sixth Article taken up :
To see if the town will authorize repairs and alterations on the Long- wood and Harvard-street schoolhouses.
Voted, That the matter of an addition to the Harvard- street schoolhouse be referred to the School Committee, to report upon the advisability of buying a new lot of land and
Perrin, Lewis
Plimpton, Charles T.
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 1, 1873.
the erecting of a new schoolhouse adapted to the future wants of the town, the committee to report at the adjourned meeting.
Voted, That three thousand dollars be appropriated for the purpose of raising, repairing, and grading the lot at Long- wood, the work to be done by the Selectmen and School Committee.
Seventh Article taken up :
To see if the town will apply to the County Commissioners to locate anew the highway called Harvard street.
Voted, That the town hereby makes application to the County Commissioners to locate anew the highway in Brook- line called Harvard street, for the purpose of establishing its boundaries, and making alterations in its width so that it shall not be less than fifty-five feet wide at any point ; and the Selectmen are instructed to present this application and urge the same before the County Commissioners.
Eighth Article taken up :
To see if the town will accept and allow a town way or ways as laid out and located by the Selectmen, leading from Harvard street to the Brookline Branch Railroad, and from the Brookline Branch Railroad to Brookline avenue.
The Selectmen presented the following report on the lay- ing out of said way ; to wit, -
The Selectmen of the town of Brookline, after giving legal notice to all persons, interests, and corporations known to them of their intention to lay out a town way leading from Harvard street to Brookline avenue, for the purpose of widening Aspinwall avenue, did, in pursuance of said notice, meet at the Town Hall on Friday, the seventh day of June, 1872, at five o'clock in the afternoon, and proceeded to hear all parties and interests there represented, and to view and examine said route, and again, by adjournment to the twentieth day of January, 1873 ; and all par- ties and interests which had appeared having been heard and examined in relation thereto, they proceeded to lay out said way as follows; to wit, -
Commencing at a stone post on the easterly side of Harvard street, and running W. 46° 57' E., 299.5 feet; thence curving to the right with a radius of 642 feet, 260.13 feet; thence curving to the right with a radius of 918.16 feet, 549.4 feet ; thence S. 75° 32' E., 171.5 feet ; thence curving right with a radius of 265 feet, 136.41 feet; thence curving left with a radius of 16.54 feet, 469.20 feet; thence S. 62º 18' E., 316.7 feet; thence curving right with a radius of 15.63 feet, 14.5 feet, to the easterly side of the Brookline Branch Railroad; and commencing again on the easterly
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Brookline Town Records.
side of said railroad, 82.5 fcet west of the last-mentioned point, and still curving right with the same radius of 15.63 feet, 180.3 fcct; thence S. 52º 8' E., 226.6 feet, to the westerly line of Brookline avenue, taking equal widths of 25 fect on each side the whole length, except at points hercin- after described ; to wit, -
Commencing at the southerly corner of the land of J. T. Waterman and Charles B. Maccausland, and running northcasterly to the south- cast corner of land of William K. Melcher on St. Paul street, 261 feet ; also another commencing at the junction of St. Paul street with Aspin- wall avenue opposite station, 495.4 on plan, and 25 feet distant from the above-described centre line, and running northwesterly on the south- easterly side of St. Paul street 230.44 feet; thence turning and running southwesterly 95.5 feet; thencc curving left with a radius of 17 fcet, 35.82 feet; thence curving right with a radius of 604.53 feet, 189 fect; thence straight, and tangent to the last-described line, 182.81 feet; thence S. 75° 32' E., 111 feet, to the northeasterly side of Aspinwall avenue as described above: meaning thereby to take all the land between the bounds of Aspinwall avenue as located by the County Commissioners, and the road lines herein described, and the plan herein referred to, and also the vacant lot or park in front of the St. Paul's Episcopal Church and belonging to said church, and lying between St. Paul street and Aspinwall avenue at their junction.
And the Selectmen have considered and estimated the damages sus- tained by the proprietors of lands and property, rights and interests, caused by the laying out of said way, whether by taking property or injuring it in any manner, and have allowed by way of set-off the benefit, if any, to the property of said party in the premises, and do determine said awards to be paid to said parties, respectively, in sums as follows : -
To Col. Thomas Aspinwall . $6,509 40
George E. Stedman
2,050 00
William K. Melcher ."
200 00
William Aspinwall and others .
134 00
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
850 50
The location of said way is in accordance with a plan and profile of the same as drawn by George Tyler, civil engineer, dated March 24, 1873, and accepted and allowed by the Selectmen, and filed into the office of the Town Clerk the same day.
And the Selectmen have given the owners of the land over which said way is laid out, sixty days from the date of the acceptance of this report by the town in which to remove structures, buildings, trees, fences, walls, and hedges now standing on the land over which said way is laid out.
And said way as 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 town way.
Brookline, Mass., March 24, 1873.
CHARLES D. HEAD,
HORACE JAMES, JAMES W. EDGERLY, CHARLES K. KIRBY,
Selectmen of the Town of Brookline.
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 1, 1873.
BROOKLINE, Mass., March 24, 1873. - Received and filed in the office of the Town Clerk.
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
Voted, To accept and allow the foregoing report.
Voted, That when said way is finished the Selectmen apply to the County Commissioners to lay it out and accept it as a county road.
Voted, That the sum of ten thousand dollars be raised and appropriated for the construction of said way.
Voted, That the sum of nine thousand seven hundred and forty-four dollars be raised and appropriated to pay the land damages on said way.
Ninth Article taken up :
To act upon the subject of watering streets, and cleaning snow and ice from sidewalks.
Voted, That the Selectmen be instructed to make such arrangement with the abbutters in watering the streets as they shall deem is for the interests of the town.
Voted, That hereafter the Superintendent of Streets be authorized to keep the sidewalks where the town has made plank walks or concrete walks, or has placed curbstones, free from ice and snow, and to keep other sidewalks as clear as circumstances will admit.
Tenth Article taken up :
To act upon the subject of lighting streets.
Voted, That hereafter the Selectmen be authorized to place lamp posts at the town's expense in such places as in their opinion are required by the public convenience.
Voted, That the sum of three thousand dollars be raised and appropriated to pay for lamp posts.
Eleventh Article taken up :
To see if the town will act upon the subject of rules or by-laws for the conduct of town meetings.
Voted, That a committee of three be appointed by the Moderator to consider the subject of rules and by-laws for the conduct of town meetings.
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Brookline Town Records.
The Moderator appointed the following gentlemen to act as said committee ; viz., -
Committee on Rules and By-Laws for conduct of Town Meetings : William Aspinwall, George F. Homer, Austin W. Benton.
Twelfth Article taken up :
To act upon the claim of James Driscoll for damages by reason of lay- ing out and making Pearl and Emerald streets.
Voted, That the subject matter of the Twelfth Article be referred to the Selectmen, with full powers to settle as they deem best.
Thirteenth Article taken up :
To see if the town will pass a vote giving the Selectmen powers to increase awards for damages in laying out town ways after their accept- ance by the town.
Voted, That a committee of three be appointed by the chair to consider the subject of the Thirteenth Article, and report at the adjourned meeting.
The Moderator appointed for said committee the following gentlemen : -
Committee on increasing Awards on Town Ways after Acceptance by Town : Howard Stockton, George M. Towle, Moses Williams, Jr.
Fourteenth Article taken up :
To see if the town will appropriate money for the purchase of land for a stable and the erection of buildings thereon.
Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized to purchase eight horses and carts, and to provide by purchase or such other arrangements as may be for the best interests of the town, stabling for twenty horses and storing the implements and tools required for the use of the highway department without purchasing land.
Fifteenth Article taken up :
To see what action the town will take in providing a building for a police station.
Voted, That that subject of the Fifteenth Article be referred to the Selectmen, to examine into the subject of using the old Town Hall building for police purposes, a room for the trial justice, and for evening-school purposes.
91
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 1, 1873.
Sixteenth Article taken up :
To raise and appropriate such sums of money as may be required to defray the expenses of the town for the ensuing year, or for supplying the town with water, or for any other purpose.
The meeting then voted the following appropriations ; to wit, -
For support of schools . . $40,000 00
evening schools
600 00
Superintendent of Schools
3,000 00
Secretary and Finance Committee of School Committee
300 00
support of poor
1,500 00
support of highways
· 30,000 00
Superintendent of Streets and Engineering
5,000 00
sidewalks
10,000 00
making Newton street .
. 4,500 00
making Park street
3,000 00 350 00
making Pearl and Emerald streets
1,500 00
extension of Hammond street
800 00
purchasing horses and carts, and stable purposes
12,000 00
watering streets
6,000 00
purchasing land for public grounds
. 8,056 20
purchasing stone crusher
2,800 00
Fire Department
7,500 00
purchasing and equipping one steam fire-engine
· 6,950 00
purchasing new hose
1,000 00
sewers
extinction of town debt
17,000 00
interest on town debt
· 38,000 00
collecting taxes
1,500 00
discount on taxes
· 15,000 00
abatement of taxes
5,000 00
State tax
County tax
· 11,000 00
repairs of town buildings
4,000 00
ringing bell
150 00
Cemetery
200 00
Library
5,000 00
Decoration day
300 00
watering places for cattle
150 00
lighting town buildings and streets
15,000 00
State aid
800 00
topographical and linear survey of the town sinking fund .
10,500 00
furnishing offices in new Town Hall
4,500 00
new Town Hall and furnishing
· 18,000 00
use of the Board of Health
3,000 00
·
·
.
·
.
.
1
1,000 00
town officers .
2,000 00
making Harvard avenue
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Brookline Town Records.
For Police . $15,000 00
contingencies .
. 8,000 00
award to Philip Duffey .
· 1,600 00
firemen's parade
350 00
*raising, repairing buildings, and grading lot, Longwood schoolhouse
3,000 00
*making Aspinwall avenue
. 10,000 00
*paying land damages on Aspinwall avenue 9,744 00
*lamp posts . · 3,000 00
Hon. William Aspinwall made the following motion ; to wit, -
Voted, That there be appropriated four hundred thousand dollars to supply the town with water, under an Act to authorize the town of Brook- line to take water from Charles river, to be raised in accordance with the votes of the town.
Laid on the table.
Voted, That when this meeting adjourns it adjourn to meet on Monday, April 14, at four o'clock P.M., and that the vote on the question of appropriating money to supply the town with water be taken at seven o'clock P.M., each voter depositing his ballot upon the question with the word " yes " or "no " upon it, the check list being used, and the polls being kept open till nine o'clock P.M., and closed at that hour.
Voted, That a discount of five per cent be allowed upon all taxes paid on or before the tenth day of October next.
Voted, That the various appropriations made by the town at this meeting and heretofore (except the sum for making Washington street, amounting to forty-nine thousand dol- lars), including those for the purpose of making and repair- ing highways and town ways, be assessed after deducting the amount in the treasury and the probable receipts for the com- ing year, amounting to the sum of forty thousand dollars, upon the polls and estates, real and personal, of the inhabit- ants resident and non-resident of the town, and collected as the town rates are usually charged and collected.
Adjourned.
Attest : B. F. BAKER,
Town Clerk.
* Appropriated under special votes. See previous pages.
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Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 1, 1873.
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 have been elected where an oath is not required. Attest : B. F. BAKER,
Town Clerk.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS,
NORFOLK, SS. BROOKLINE, April 7, 1873.
Personally appeared the persons below named, and were sworn at the times set against their names, or signified their acceptance or refusal of the office to which they had been chosen ; to wit, -
Fence Viewers : Clark L. Haynes [sworn April 3], William K. Melcher [sworn April 7].
Constables : Eben Morse [sworn April 7], Daniel C. Murray [sworn April 7], Eben W. Reed [sworn April 5], Burnham C. Clark [sworn April 5].
Truant Officer : Fergus B. Turner [sworn April 5].
Surveyors of Lumber and Measurers of Wood and Bark : J. Anson Guild [sworn April 5], William K. Melcher [sworn April 7], John E. Cousens [sworn April 7].
Sealer of Leather : Samuel A. Robinson [sworn April 4].
Sealer of Weights and Measures : Alfred Kenrick, Jr. [sworn April 7]. Pound Keeper : Eben W. Reed [sworn April 5].
Field Drivers : Eben W. Reed [sworn April 5], Daniel C. Murray [sworn April 7].
School Committee 3 years : William H. Lincoln [accepted].
Trustee Public Library 3 years : E. C. Cabot [accepted].
Auditors : Edward I. Thomas [accepted], Daniel H. Rogers [ac- cepted], Henry B. Eager [accepted].
Commissioners Sinking Fund : William A. Wellman [accepted], John C. Abbott [accepted], Charles D. Head [accepted].
Water Commissioner 3 years : Charles K. Kirby [accepted].
Water Commissioner 2 years : Charles H. Drew [accepted].
Water Commissioner 1 year : William Aspinwall [accepted].
Attest : B. F. BAKER, Town Clerk.
.
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Brookline Town Records.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL 14, 1873.
Pursuant to adjournment, the inhabitants of the town of Brookline, qualified to vote in elections, met at the Town Hall in said town, on Monday, the fourteenth day of April, 1873, and were called to order at four of the clock in the afternoon by the Moderator, Charles H. Drew.
The meeting then proceeded to choose the following offi- cers to fill vacancies ; to wit, -
Mr. R. G. F. Candage, who was chosen an Assessor at the meeting held on the thirty-first day of March last, hav- ing resigned the office, -
Voted, To proceed to fill the vacancy, and that the polls be kept open until five o'clock.
The polls were then declared open for the reception of votes for one Assessor for the ensuing year, and were kept open until five o'clock, when they were declared closed.
The Moderator and Town Clerk then proceeded to sort and count the votes given, and the whole number was two hundred and eighteen, as follows ; to wit, -
N. C. Towle had sixty-four.
Thomas B. Hall had one hundred and fifty-four, and was declared elected. [Sworn by the Town Clerk. ]
In voting, the check list was used, and no person was allowed to deposit his vote until his name was found on the list and checked.
Voted, That the three Field Drivers already qualified be the number for the year ensuing.
Willard Warren was chosen Sealer of Leather. [Sworn by the Town Clerk. ]
The committee, consisting of the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen, to whom was referred the subject of the Sixth Article, in relation to the repairs and alterations of the Longwood and Harvard-street schoolhouses, reported that they had examined into the matter, and that in their opinion the Longwood schoolhouse should be moved on to a new site and receive a portion of the scholars from the
ti
95
Adjourned Annual Meeting, April 14, 1873.
Harvard-street school, and the Harvard-street schoolhouse remain as it is at present.
Voted, To refer the whole subject back to the School Committee, to report at a future meeting.
The Selectmen, to whom was referred the subject of the Fifteenth Article, so far as it related to the altering of the old Town Hall, and providing therein for a police station, a room for the trial justice, and an evening school, reported as follows ; to wit, -
Report of the Selectmen of the Town of Brookline on alterations of the old Town Hall for a Police Station.
BROOKLINE, Mass., April 14, 1873.
The Selectmen, who were instructed by the town to ascertain the ex- pediency of making such alterations in the old Town Hall as would fit it for a police station, a court room for the trial justice, and provid- ing accommodations for an evening school, would report that they have carefully attended to this duty, and find that suitable rooms for a police station, a commodious court room, four cells for persons detained by order of court or under arrest for alleged violation of law, and two rooms for lodgers, can be made on the lower floor of the old Town Hall build- ing, at an estimated expense of thirty-five hundred dollars.
This will leave the large hall as it now is for the use of an evening school, or for any other purpose to which it may be thought proper to apply it, having, however, a separate and distinct entrance upon the eastern side or corner of the building.
They therefore recommend that they be authorized to make the altera- tions suggested in this report, and that an appropriation of thirty-five hundred dollars be made for this purpose.
Respectfully submitted by the Selectmen of Brookline by
CHARLES D. HEAD, Chairman.
Voted, To accept the foregoing report.
Voted, That the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars be raised and appropriated for making the alterations recom- mended in the foregoing report.
The committee to whom was referred the matter of public conveyances between Brookline and the surrounding cities and towns asked for further time.
Voted, To grant the committee on public conveyances between Brookline and surrounding cities and towns further time.
The Committee on the Thirteenth Article, in relation to
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Brookline Town Records.
increasing awards for damages after town ways have been laid out and accepted by the town, reported as follows ; viz., -
BROOKLINE, April 14, 1873.
The committee appointed at the adjourned town meeting April 1, 1873, to consider the subject of the 13th Article in the warrant, and report at the adjourned meeting, the 13th Article being, " To see if the town will pass a vote giving the Selectmen power to increase awards for damages in laying out town ways after their acceptance by the town," respectfully submit the following
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