Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 27, 1883

Miscellaneous

The Fall River Monitor - The Moral Envoy - The Village Recorder - The Patriot - The Archetype - The Gazette - The Argus - The Flint and Steel - The Mechanic - The Wampanoag - All Sorts - Journal - People's Press - The Labor Journal - L'Echo du Canada - The Spark - The Fall River News - The Daily Evening News - The Fall Daily Herald - The Advance - The Daily Record - The Daily Sun - The First Stage Line Between Fall River and Providence - The Fall River Line of Steamers - The Clyde Line - Voters in 1830 - The Fire of 1S43 - List of Buildings Destroyed - Custom-House and Post-Office - The City Hall - Educational - Schools in 1703 - Present Conditiou of Schools - Mrs. Mary B. Young's Gift - The Public Library! - The Skeleton in Armor - Water-Works - Fire Department - Oak Grove Cemetery - The North Cemetery - Civil History - Incorporation of Town - Name Changed to Troy - Subsequently to Fall River - Incorporation of the City - First Officers - Mayors from 1854 to 1884 - Members of Congress Residents of Fall River - State Sunatois - Representatives from 1803 to 1884 - Town Clerks from 1803 to 1854 - City Clerks from 1854 to 1884 - Present City Officers - Valuation from 1854 to 1882 - Population from 1810 to 1882.

The Fall River Monitor. - The pioneer in Fall River journalism was the Monitor, first issued Jan. 6, 1826, by Nathan Hall. The office of publication was on Bedford Street, in a brick building which stood where is situated the block now occupied by Messrs. Allen, Slade & Co., for their wholesale grocery business. The size of the paper was nineteen by twentyfour inches, four pages, and four columns to a page.

The paper was printed on a Bamage press, similar to the one used by Franklin. The ink was distributed upon the type by balls, the very ancient style of the art.

The number of advertisements, though quite limited, was respectable for this early period of our history as a town. Among these we note that John S. Cotton offers a variety of goods at his store, at the old stand at the corner formerly occupied by the Fall River Manufactory, viz., dry-goods, groceries, crockery, glassware, and hardware. John Southwick was also a dealer in the same articles. J. & D. Leonard supplied the people with paints and oil, but as no- thing is said about paper hangings, we infer that Fall River people had not attained to the style necessary to make them a profitable commodity. Bennett & Jacobs were prominent dealers in West India goods and groceries, as also did Hiram Bliss. Enoch French & Sons supplied the people with boots, shoes, and leather, which, by the way, is the only store which has remained till this day, the same being continued by one of the sons and a grandson under the firm-name of Job B. French & Son, at or near the old stand, but with greatly increased facilities. Samuel Shove & Son were engaged in the dry-goods business, and also including in his stock crockery, earthen- and glassware. Blake & Nichols were dealers in staple goods. Peleg H. Earl was the merchant tailor. James Ford dispensed the law. Joseph Luther and J. Ames taught private schools. Benjamin Anthony and John Southwick were the auctioneers. James G. Bowen was the postmaster. .Matthew C. Durfee was the only bank cashier. Susan Jennings was the tailoress, and Mrs. Hannah Allen the mantuamaker. David Anthony was agent for a Boston insurance company. John C. Borden and David Anthony were among the principal owners of real estate, and the former as justice of the peace, his name appearing occasionally lodge was in being here at this early day, of which Rt. W. Leander P. Lovell was Master, and John C. Borden was Secretary and Tyler, with Rev. A. B. Read as Chaplain.

B. Earl entered the office of the Monitor as an apprentice late in the fall of 1826. After serving three years, and continuing labor in the office some six months longer, he purchased the office with all its materials, the good-will, and list of subscribers to the Monitor, and commenced its publication on the 1st of July, 1829, continuing its publication until 1838, when it was sold out to Tripp & Pearce. During the last year or two of Mr. Earl's connection with the office, J. S. Hammond was associated with him in that and other business.

During the publication of the Monitor by Mr. Earl, the Morgan excitement on Masonry and anti-Masonry sprung up, and waxed hot and bitter between the - -(intending adherents on either side; and also the " great Hodges and Ruggles' contest," as it was afterwards called, for Congressional appointment, which finally terminated in the election of Hodges on the seventh ballot. The Monitor took the Masonic side of question in controversy, and this gave to its publisher the cognomen of "Jack-mason."

In March, 1838, Earl & Hammond sold out their interest in the paper to Mr. N. A. Tripp and Alfred Pearce. Their partnership continued but three months, when Mr. Henry Pratt assumed the obligations which Mr. Pearce had thrown off. Thus for many years the publishers were Messrs. Tripp iVPratt. In 1850, Mr. Tripp went out of the firm, and in 1857 engaged in the publication of the Daily Star, which soon after came into existence.

The senior publisher, Mr. Noel A. Tripp, still survives, and is an attache, of this office. He is probably the oldest printer in the county, and still wears his honors bravely, receiving to himself, very justly, the credit of establishing the first daily newspaper which became a permanent institution. Mr. Alfred Pearce died in Providence, March 12, 1871.

For many years previous to the fire of 1843 the paper was published in the Exchange Building which stood where the City Hall building is now located. After the fire it sought temporary quarters in the rear of Mrs. Young's residence, on North Main Street, until the Borden block, which stood where the new one is now erected, was finished, when it was removed thither. When the Pocasset House was rebuilt the office was removed to its present quarters, where it has remained ever since.

In 1841 the present proprietor entered the office to serve an apprenticeship, after concluding which he continued in the employ of Mr. Henry Pratt, the publisher, most of the time till about 1855, when he engaged in business himself. In December, 1868, he assumed the publication of the Monitor, which had been suspended for some months. For two years it was run as a free paper. Jan. 1, 1871, it was enlarged to its present dimensions and issued at one dollar per annum. It continued at this price one year, and Jan. 1, 1872, the subscription was raised to one dollar and fifty cents per annum. Its subscription is larger, and it has, undoubtedly, now a far wider circulation than at any period in its history.

The names of those who at various times previous to Mr. Robertson's connection with the Monitor wielded the editorial pen in its columns are in their order as follows: Joseph Hathaway, Esq., Charles F. Townsend, Matthew C. Durfee, James Ford, Esq., and Hon. Joseph E. Dawley. Mr. Dawley is the only one now living.

The first editor, Mr. Hathaway, was a native of Fall River, which then embraced Freetown, where Mr. Hathaway was born. He was probably one of the most brilliant members of the Bristol County bar. As a platform speaker he had few equals, and as an incisive writer he could wield a lance which cut to the quick.

Charles F. Townsend, Esq., of "Townsend Hill" notoriety, became an early contributor to the columns of the Monitor, more especially in its poetical department, and continued in that capacity many years.

Matthew C. Durfee was its editor from 1828 to 1830. He was a man of fine talents, a cashier of the first bank ever started here, and possessed good business abilities. He was a good writer, a person of conscientious principles, and wielded a trenchant pen. He died in December, 1841.

James Ford, Esq., assumed the editorial chair in 1830 and continued till 1858. As a writer, he was honest in statement and an ardent advocate of his political party, - the Whigs. Daring a good portion of this time the Democracy were in the ascendant in the nation, hut Fall River usually was carried hy the Whigs, and it was generally conceded that the paper was a powerful motor in the accomplishment of this work. Political controversy raged high in those days, much hotter thau in modern times. The editor was not peculiarly mild in his denunciation of the policy of the Democratic party, whom he generally styled " Locofocos," a term quite commonly applied to them in those clays. Various attempts were made to sustain a newspaper again by the Democratic party, but with indifferent success. Failure after failure followed until the Weekly News got a foothold. In the mean time the editor of the Monitor was continually pouring hot shot, metaphorically speaking, into the enemy's camp. Generally the opposition papers were edited by various persons, hence arose a term of " forty fathers," which Judge Ford applied to the authors of their editorials. The first objective point seemed to be the demolition of the theories of the Monitor, against which they battled long and earnestly. The controversy was long continued, the excitement ran high, and epithets of a harmless nature were freely applied on both sides. Though for a while these afforded considerable amusement to the patrons of the papers, yet they were carried to such an extent as to become tedious to the readers and unprofitable to the publishers. In those days newspaper controversy was more popular than it is now, but as they generally degenerate into personal abuse, they detract from the character and profitableness of the paper, and please few but those whose belligerent propensities are superior to the mental. Mr. Ford lived to a ripe old age, being only a few days short of eighty-nine years at his death, retaining his mental faculties till the last.

Hon. Joseph E. Dawley became a contributor to the Monitor as early as 1847, and upon the retirement of Mr. Ford, in 1858, he assumed the sole editorial charge, and continued to discharge those duties until about 1861, when, in consequence of the war of the Rebellion, the paper was suspended for several months.

The Moral Envoy (anti-Masonic J was started in 1830 by George Wheaton Allen, a native of Batavia, N. Y. This journal continued to be published about a year, when in 1831 it was succeeded by the Village Recorder, Noel A. Tripp publisher. This was issued once a fortnight from the same office as the Monitor for a short time until 1832, when it came out weekly. After running nearly three years, the Recorder was merged in the Monitor.

In 1836 there was started the first Democratic paper, a weekly, called the Patriot. The publisher was William N. Canfield. It was edited a few months by B. Ellery Hale, after which the editorial work was mostly performed by a coterie of writers, among whom were the late Dr. P. W. Leland, Dr. Foster Hooper, Jonathan Slade, and Louis Lapham, Esq. These were the " forty fathers," so termed by James Ford, Esq., who at this time edited the Monitor. The Patriot was a journal of considerable ability, and did good service for the Democracy. It lived four or five years, and was succeeded by the Archetype, which was started in 1841 under the management of Messrs. Thomas Almy and Louis Lapham. After one year it was discontinued, and was followed by the Gazette, published by Abraham Bowen, and edited by Stephen Hart. This was also short-lived, when the Argus sprung up under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Slade, with Thomas Almy as publisher. The office being destroyed in the great fire of 1843, the paper was suspended. About this time was issued the Flint nnil Steel, a small weekly sheet edited by the late Dr. P. W. Leland. It was in the interest of the Democracy, and gave full scope to the talent possessed by the doctor in making the sparks of criticism and sarcasm fly thick and last.

At its demise various ventures in journalism were made, among them The Mechanic, by Mr. Thomas Almy, assisted by Mr. John C. Milne, the Wdmpanoag, and some others. Since 1845 there have been the All Sorts, by Abraham Bowen, published occasionally ; Journal, weekly, by George Robertson ; People's Press, tri-weekly, by Noel A. Tripp. The All Sorts and Journal lived for a season. The Press was published five years, and then in 1865 was merged into the Monitor.

The Labor Journal, published by Henry Seavey, was started in 1873, now discontinued. The V Echo du Canada, an organ of the French Canadians, was started in 1873, and lived about two years.

The Fall River Weekly News was established April 3, 1845, by Thomas Almy and John C. Milne, as a Democratic paper, and continued as such till 1853, when it espoused the principles of the Republican party, which it has continued to advocate ever since. In June, 1859, the publication of the Daily Evening News was commenced, in connection with the Weekly. In 1864, Mr. Frank L. Almy, who had entered the office as an apprentice during the first year of the Weekly News, was admitted as a partner.

In 1882 the firm of Almy, Milne & Co. was dissolved by the death of the senior partner, Mr. Thomas Almy, after a business connection with Mr. Milne of more than thirty-seven years, and the publication of the two papers has been continued since that time by Mr. John C. Milne and Mr. Frank L. Almy, under the original firm-name of Almy & Milne.

Fall River

largest papers in the State, each containing thirty-six columns. The Evening News is the largest daily published in the city, and it has a large and increasing circulation, and its value as an advertising medium is well understood by business men. It is an able, hightoned, and influential journal, and in the days of the anti-slavery agitation was noted for its zeal and efficiency in the cause of human freedom. It occupies a bold and fearless position on the great moral questions of the day, is a prominent advocate of the temperance cause, allows no liquor advertisements in its columns, and gives its aid to advance in every way the best interests of the community.

Fall River Herald. - In 1872 a conference of leading Democrats of Fall River was held to consider the advisability of establishing a daily paper to represent the interests of the party and the workingmen of the city. Accordingly, a subscription-paper was circulated chiefly among the Irish Democrats of means, and in a short time stock to the amount of six thousand dollars was taken and paid for. An office in Nichols building on Pocasset Street was secured, and the necessary materials purchased. On July 2d the first copy of the paper was issued, under the name of The Border City Herald, with Mr. William Hovey, later editor of the Boston Transcript, and now editor of the Sunday Budget, in charge of the editorial department. The paper sprang into immediate favor both among readers and business men, and its success was assured from the first issue. Instead of confining itself to the narrow channels of partisanship, an independent position was assumed, and Democratic proclivities set aside whenever any false course was perceptible in that party. With success came that negligence so characteristic of people who have not much on their minds, and the result was that the monetary affairs of the concern were improperly managed. Several times was the project of dissolving the company broached in the meetings of the stockholders, but the wisdom of the clear-sighted members prevailed, and the question effectually disposed of forever. A debt of over five thousand dollars was incurred by the directors, which no one could see a way of lifting. A new and more energetic board of directors was chosen, who personally managed the affairs and applied for articles of incorporation in 1877, which were granted, and the name changed to Fall River Daily Herald. A good system of economy was at once inaugurated, money raised to meet the outstanding obligations, and the company placed on a sounder footing. The new lease of life infused into the Herald at that time has brought it to its present excellent standing ; so that the stock, which sold for forty dollars per share in 1876-77, cannot now be had for one hundred and fifty dollars.

Mr. Hovey was succeeded as editor by the late Judge Lapham, whose ponderous editorial articles afforded great pleasure to the old-line Democrats, among whom he was the leading light. He continued in charge until his duties as justice of the Police Court became so onerous that he was compelled to resign. Mr. Walter Scott was the third editor, followed soon by a New Jersey journalist named Trellease, whose stay was exceedingly brief, because of his irregular habits. George Salisbury, now editor and publisher of the Fall River Weekly Advance, was appointed his successor, but receiving a more advantageous offer, he shortly afterward resigned to accept a similar position from Henry Sevey, who at that time was running a one-cent paper on Pleasant Street called the Daily Journal and Democrat. Mr. Ernest King, an associate at one time of Horace Greeley, and publisher of a paper in Connecticut, was next called in as editor, and filled the position acceptably, when he asked to be released, on account of a difficulty with the directors, who held that the paper was amenable to the laws under the copyright act for publishing an article on the Irish question written by Charles S. Parnell for the North American Review. The seventh editor was William B. Wright, a young Boston journalist, who caused the paper to assume a new and more vigorous tone. He stayed two years, when he, too, January, 1882, resigned. The vacancy remained unfilled for a few weeks, until Mr. Joseph E. Chamberlain, at that time editor of the Newport Daily News, and former managing editor of the Chicago Times, assumed charge at the invitation of the directors. The paper has made a great gain in circulation and influence within the past year. It is Democratic in politics, and independent and fearless in its manner of discussing public topics.

The Advance was started as a licensed victuallers' organ in March, 1879, by a person named Trellease, and soon afterwards fell into the hands of Salisbury & Newell, who continued to run it until August, 1881, when Mr. Salisbury purchased his partner's interest in the concern, and has since run it as its sole proprietor and editor, entirely changing its character and tone, and making it an independent, chatty, and amusing family and news paper. Starting as a small six-column, patent outside sheet, it has gradually developed into a nine-column paper, all filled with bright, fresh, and interesting reading-matter. It is a paragraphic and witty paper, which is quoted far and near, and its jokes and stories are reproduced as largely in the old country as at home. Mr. Salisbury, the editor, is an Englishman, who has only been in this country about nine years. He has built up a big and a jolly paper, and is a prime favorite with the paragraphic fraternity all over the country. The Advance is a weekly paper, published every Saturday, and has a large and steadily-increasing circulation and a good advertising patronage. The Advance is illustrated by humorous cuts, and makes a specialty of racy and laughable stories.

The Fall River Daily Sun was first issued May 11, 1880, by the Fall River Sun Publishing Company, with Earnest King as editor, and was published until March 24, 1882.

The First Stage Line between Fall River and Providence and Fall River and New Bedford was established in 1825, Mr. Isaac Fish being proprietor of the former, and I. H. Bartlett of the latter. The terminus of each line being at Slade's Ferry, which was crossed by a horse ferry-boat. This primitive craft was succeeded in 1847 by the steam ferry-boat " Faitt," and this by the " Weetamoe" in 1859. This ferry continued in use until the completion of the bridge in 1875.

Fall River and Providence Steamboat Company. - The Fall River and Providence line of steamers was established by the Iron-Works Company in 1828, and was owned and operated by that corporation until 1880, when it was organized as a separate company, with a capital of one hundred and ninetytwo thousand dollars.

The first steamer on this line was the " Hancock," put on in 1828; she measured ninety-eight tons, eighty-nine feet long, eighteen feet beam, and about six feet depth of hold, and was commanded by Capt. Thomas Borden. The " Hancock" was succeeded by the " King Philip" in 1832. The " Bradford Durfee" was placed upon the route in 1845, the "Canonicua" in 1849, the " Metacomet" in 1854, and the " Richard Borden" in 1874. Two steamers, the "Richard Borden" and "Bradford Durfee," ply regularly between this city and Providence. The steamer " Canonicus" is used for the summer season. The present officers are as follows : President, Jefferson Borden ; Clerk and Treasurer, Robert C. Brown; Directors, Jefferson Borden, John S. Brayton, R. B. Borden, Nathaniel Lindsey, David A. Brayton, Jr., and H. M. Barnes.

The Fall River Line. - The first steamboat communication between this city and New York was inaugurated in 1847 by the organization of the Bay State Steamboat Company with a capital of $300,000. The first steamer commenced her trips in May of that year. This was the " Bay State," three hundred and twenty feet long, with a tonnage of sixteen hundred, commanded by Capt. Joseph I. Comstock. The alternate boat was the steamer " Massachusetts," which was chartered until the completion of the " Metropolis" in 1854. This steamer was three hundred and fifty feet in length, with a capacity of two thousand two hundred tons.

The conception of the organization of this favorite through route of travel between Boston and New York, via Fall River, was largely due to Col. Richard Borden, by whom also the railroad was projected and mainly constructed. Other business men were interested in this latter movement and aided in its development, among whom were Andrew Robeson, Sr., who was its first president, his successor, Hon. Nathaniel

B. Borden, and David Anthony, who was treasurer. Jefferson Borden was also most prominent in the management, and shared with his brother Richard in the organization of the steamboat line. Until 1846, there had been no communication direct from Fall River by steam or rail with either Boston or New York.

The Bay State Steamboat Company in course of time passed into the control of the Boston, Newport and New York Steamboat Company, and, the Old Colony Railroad Company having in the mean time extended their road from Fall River to' Newport, that city (1864) was made the eastern terminus for the boats of the line. Soon came another change, the steamers becoming the property of the Narragansett Steamship Company, then under the control of James Fisk, Jr., and Jay Gould, of New York, and the eastern terminus was re-established (1869) at Fall River.

About two years later this line passed into the possession of the Old Colony Steamboat Company, which was controlled by the Old Colony Railroad Company, thus forming the now famous " Fall River Line," between Boston and New York. Among the older boats operated by this company were the "Senator," the "Governor," the " Katahdin," and the "State of Maine." The present steamers are the "Old Colony" and " Newport" for winter service, and the palatial steamers " Bristol" and " Providence" for summer travel. A new palatial steamer has just been added to this line, bearing the appropriate name of " Pilgrim." This is one of the finest and largest steamers plying on the Sound.

The present officers of the company are as follows: President, Charles F. Choate ; Clerk, George Marston ; Treasurer, John M. Washburn ; Directors, Charles F. Choate, F. B. Hayes, Uriel Crocker, Samuel C. Cobb, Fred. L. Ames, Samuel L. Crocker, John J. Russell, John S. Brayton, T. J. Borden, R. W. Turner, George Marston, William J. Rotch, and Elisha W. Willard.

Clyde's Philadelphia and New England Steamship Line. - This project was inaugurated in 1876, when a line of steam propellers was started plying between this city and Philadelphia, thus opening a new and direct route between Philadelphia and Boston.

Voters in 1830. - In the years of 1830 and 1832, when Fall River was a village of three thousand inhabitants or thereabouts, the following-named citizens were legal voters in the town, who are yet residing here, and perhaps others :

The Fire of 1843. - The year 1843 marks a memorable epoch in the history of Fall River. On the afternoon of July 2d of that year the town was visited by a most devastating conflagration, which in a few hours laid nearly the entire village in ruins. The fire originated in a small carpenter-shop on Borden Street, near Main, which when discovered was enveloped in flames, and the fiery element was already threatening adjacent buildings. A moment more the surrounding buildings were on fire, and the strong wind blowing from the south was hurling the crackling flames and burning cinders into the very heart of the village. The flames leaped from building to building with such amazing rapidity that all attempts of the hand-engines and " bucket brigade" to subdue them were unavailing, and for seven hours the fire raged and was only checked when the wind suddenly changed and blew in an opposite direction. Twenty acres were burned over in the heart of the village, extending from Borden Street on the south to Franklin on the north, embracing the following property:

Custom-House. - The district of Fall River - embracing, besides this town, the other towns adjacent to Taunton River - up to April 1, 1837, was called the District of Dighton, with Dighton as the port of entry. In 1834 the custom-house was removed to Fall River, and the name of the district changed to Fall River.

In 1840 there were belonging to this district one hundred and thirteen registered, enrolled, and licensed vessels, and the tonnage was eight thousand eight hundred and nine.

The customs-office was in several different places after its removal to Fall River, always in rented rooms, until June 29, 18S1, it was removed to the new government building, temporarily occupying the southeast room of the second story. The building not being completed made very uncomfortable work for several months, or until the office was removed to the north rooms, which were assigned as those for the public business.

Custom-House and Post-Office Building. - In 1873 Congress appropriated $200,000 for the erecting of a custom-house and post-office building in this

1879, $85,000 ; in 1880, $50,000 ; and in 1881, $28,000, making a total appropriation of $518,000, of which $132,856.65 was expended for the purchase of land. The building was designed and the plans completed in 1875 by Mr. William A. Potter, supervising architect, to whose professional ability it is certainly very creditable. The building was begun in September, 1875, and was occupied by the custom-house in June,

The government structure has a frontage on Bedford Street of one hundred and twenty-five feet, and on Second Street of eighty-four feet. It is three stories elevation, with a steep, high roof, the total height from street curb to line of roof being ninety-two feet. At the two flanks, and facing on Bedford Street, are circular pavilions, which project from the body of the building, and between these, on the ground-floor, are the entrances to the post-office, through five broad archways. The main features here are the large monoliths of polished red granite, each in one block, five feet by three feet six inches, finished by elaborately-carved capitals of gray granite. A noticeable amount of carved work of a high order is displayed upon the Bedford Street front, in red and some in gray granite.

On the Second Street frontage the entrance to the custom-house is the prominent feature of the design. This entrance-way, with its arches, polished columns, massive buttresses, corbels, crockets, copings, etc., is a masterpiece of architecture, occupying a space twenty-nine feet in breadth, and two stories in height. The main body of the building is gray rock-faced ashlar, laid in regular courses. The mullions and reveals of the windows, the interior of the arcade entrances to the post-office, and other prominent points are of gray granite finely dressed. The band courses, sills, lintels, cornices, water-tables, etc., are of red granite, similarly face-finished.

The entire ground-floor is occupied by the postoffice, the second floor by the custom-house, while the third floor can be used for the United States courts whenever required. This is one of the most complete and elegant government buildings in the United States.

The City Hall. - The first town-house was established at Steep Brook, the then centre of business in 1805. In 1825 a new town house was erected on land now occupied by the North Cemetery. In 1836 this building was removed to Town Avenue, and occupied until the completion of the new town hall and market building, erected after the great fire on Main Street. In 1845-46 the present City Hall building, built of Fall River granite, was erected in Market Square, at an expense of sixty-five thousand dollars, including lot, foundation, sidewalks, furniture, etc.

It was considered a model public building for the time, solid and substantial in its construction, and judiciously arranged with a lock-up or town prison in the basement, a market on the first floor, and a large town hall, with offices in front, upon the second floor. The hall was one of the best in the State, and more commodious even than the far-famed Faneu-il Hall of Boston. With the growth of the city, however, more office accommodation was required, and in 1872-73 the building was entirely remodeled and rebuilt, with the addition of a mansard roof, tower, clock, bell, etc., at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars.

Educational. - The first church edifice in ancient Freetown was erected within the present limits of Fall River, and was used for religious purposes about ninety-eight years. Adjacent to this church edifice, and upon the same lot of land, stood a school-house where the children of former generations were taught to read, write, and spell. So long has that house been gone that all traditions concerning it have been silenced, and have passed from the minds and memories of men. Secular knowledge and divine instruction were doubtless for a time imparted under the same roof, as some of Freetown's earliest ministers were also employed to officiate in the capacity of town school-master.

"At a legal town meeting in freetown, Voted, - To set up a school to learn children to read and right, and made a choyce of Jacob hath away agent, to seek for a schoolmaster.

"October, the 8th day, - Voted, to allow thomas roberts 3G pounds for one years service, to keep the school at three several places, the public meeting-house, Walter Chase's, also at or near John howlands.

" february, the 14th day, 1720-21, - Voted and agreed, to seek out for a school-master for the present year, inasmuch as tho last year's schoolmaster, Roberts and the town did not agree.

"freetown, May, 17th day, 1721. - Voted, to leave it in the prudence of the Select Men to agree with William Gaige or with Win. Caswell to serve the town as a school-master for the term of one year."

" freetown, July ye Kith day 1722. - then at a legal town meeting, voted, William Caswell 30 pounds in consideration of his serving the town, to keep school in the town one whole year, the said Caswell to be at all cost of boarding or dieting himself: Said Caswell being present did agree to serve. Voted, the school to be removed three times in the year, the first remove to be at the meeting house, the second remove to be at the lower part of the town, thirdly to be removed to the upper part of the town. Voted, the school-houses to be set at the middle of each half of the town from the meeting-house or centre.

William Caswell served as school-master for the years 1726-28 for thirty-eight pounds per year, and boarded himself, and in 1729 his wages were raised to forty pounds. -

"Voted, the sum of 50 pounds to Mr. Israel nichols, to keep school in said town, always excepting Saturday every week." In 1738, " Voted Mr. James Ward 06 pounds to keep school one year.

Shadrach Hathaway was a graduate of Yale College. His gravestone bears the following inscription : " In memory of Shadrach Hathaway, M.A., died December ye 3d, 1749, in ye 33d year of his age."

Up to this date, all that was done about schools in Freetown, that part now Fall River received about one-half the benefits of, as it constituted about one-half of the town. East or New Freetown was annexed in 1747, and then Fall River was considered about onethird of the entire township.

1 " In the pulpit of that meeting-house in what had been the centre of Freetown, now just within the most northerly limits of Fall River, the gospel was preached for nearly a century by the following divines, several remaining but a short period, as it was found to be an exceedingly difficult matter to 'dispense the gospel to the town's exceptance,' and taking exceptions to anything and, in fact, to almost everything that a minister could do or say seemed to be the darling project of many of the people, instead of accepting or submitting to anything whatever. Jargon and contention was the rule, peace and quiet the exception.

"The patience of one of these preachers having become exhausted, tradition asserts that he with warmth once proclaimed from the pulpit that he never before in all his life saw such a set of heathen and such incorrigible sinners, when, suddenly recollecting some others of the same sort, he checked himself with the words, 'God forgive me, for I must and will except Taretown,' meaning Tiverton.

" One preacher who had failed to edify in the morning effort, told the audience that he should improve upon the same text in the afternoon, when one of his hearers blurted out, ' Well, preach from it again in the afternoon, but I shall not come to listen to you, and the man in the next pew says he won't.'

" Rev. William Way, from Feb. 14, 1704, to January, 1707 ; Rev. Joseph Avery, Mr. Joseph Haile, Jonathan Dodson, Eev. Thomas Craighead, Rev. James McSparrow, Mr. Israel Nichols, and Rev. Silas Brett. Of was in the town records of 1748 called an old schoolhouse, and a vote passed to supply its place by a new school-house, twenty-four by twenty. The school-house then built must have been the second that stood on the meeting-house lot.

These extracts, meagre as the same are, furnish nearly all that can now possibly be learned of what was done for the education of children in Fall River from 1704 to 1748.

In the early history of the town but feeble efforts were put forth in the promotion of the common schools. As the population of the town increased, however, much praiseworthy interest seemed to be manifested, and in 1826 the town voted to raise six hundred dollars for the support of the common schools, and appointed a general school committee to examine teachers and superintend the school. This committee consisted of Joseph Hathaway, James Ford, Jason H. Archer, John Lindsey, and William B. Canedy. In the following year the amount voted was more than doubled, being twelve hundred and eighty-eight dollars. In 1840 the committee consisted of Rev. Orin Finley, Asa Bronson, James Ford, Eliab Williams, Joseph F. Lindsey, Jonathan S. Thomson, and George M. Randall, and the amount voted was four thousand five hundred dollars. With the incorporation of the city and the rapid increase in population increased educational facilities were demanded, and from that time to the present the citizens of Fall River have manifested a lively interest in educational matters, and their public schools to-day are among the best in the commonwealth.

Statistical

" The old church edifice, the first erected in what is now Fall River, was demolished in or about 1808. It was a very modest-looking, unpretending Structure, without a bell-tower or steeple, and innocent of the adornment- of paint.

"No church-bell was used in town during the ninety-eight years this old church stood, nor for quite a number of years afterwards." - Gen. E. W. Peirce.

School Census. - The truant officers on the first day of May, 1881, took the census of the school children between five and fifteen years of age, with the following results. Whole number in the city 10,252, which is 489 more than for the previous year. There were on that day, in the public schools, 6897 children between the ages above named, being 459 in excess of the previous year. An enrollment of 852 was found in the parochial and private schools, which is 21 more than was found the year before. There were 1420 children employed in the mills on the above days against 1331 the year previous. Of those children neither at work nor in the schools, 1083 were found, which is 80 less than the preceding year.

The number of children between five and eight years of age was found to be 3363, the number between eight and fourteen, 5899; and the number over fourteen but less than fifteen, 990. The following

The present school committee is as follows : Louisa G. Aldrich, January, 1883 ; Harriet T. Healy, January, 1883; Leontine Lincoln, January, 1883 ; William G. Bennett, January, 1884; Marcus G. B.Swift, January, 1884; John A. Tourtellot, January, 1884; Thomas L. Ramsbottom, January, 1885; A. M. Jackson, January, 1885 ; E. W. Hunt, January, 1885. William Connell, superintendent of schools. A. M. Jackson, chairman; William Connell, secretary.

The Munificent Gift of Mrs. Mary B. Young to the city of Fall River for the purposes of a high school is best explained by the following documents :

"Sir, - Ton will please find inclosed herewith a written proposition of Mrs. Mary B. Young, which I would thank you to present to the City Council for its consideration.

" ' As soon as the proper plans can be prepared, she will erect and furnish, at her own expense, in memory of her son, Bradford Matthew Chaloner Durfee, on the lot bounded on the north by Locust Street, east by High Street, south by Cherry Street, and west by Bock Street (which lot contains about two hundred and forty square rods of land), a building suitable for the purposes of a high school, and upon its completion, will convey the same with the lot to the city of Fall River.

"'She will also provide mechanical, philosophical, and chemical apparatus, and give to the city of Fall River, in trust, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, the income of which shall be devoted to instruction in the branches of study illustrated by the use of said apparatus.

"'Shemake8 tnis proposition upon the condition that the selection and continuance of the teachers for said high school, and the departments connected with it, shall be subject to the approval of certain persons to be named by her in said deed of gift, and their successors.

" The special committee to whom was referred the proposition of Mrs. Mary B. Young, to give a lot of land, to erect thereon, equip, endow, and present to the city of Fall River a high school edifice, as a memorial to her son, Bradford Matthew Chaloner Durfee, and for the benefit of the higher education of the youth of said city, would report that they recommend the adoption of the accompanying order and resolutions.

" Ordered, That the proposition of Mrs. Mary B. Young to erect and convey to the city of Fall River, in memory of her son, Bradford Matthew Ohaloner Durfee, a building for the uses and purposes of a high school, as contained in the written proposal submitted by her, bearing date Feb. 5, a.d. 1883, be and the same is hereby accepted, and a form of deed substantially like that annexed hereto is hereby approved and adopted, and the mayor is authorized to petition the Legislature for the passage of such act or acts as may be necessary, if any, to make valid the contemplated action.

" Resolved, That in its acceptance of the munificent offer of Mrs. Mary B. Young, to give a lot of land, unsurpassed in location for the purpose, to build thereon, equip, endow, and present to the city of Fall River a high school edifice in memory of her son, Bradford Matthew Chaloner Durfee, and for the advanced education of the youth of the city of Fall River, the City Council desire to express and place on record its grateful acknowledgment of the gift and the spirit which prompts it. Coming at a time when the subject of a new high school building, after repeated delays, had forced its importance upon the attention and careful consideration of the city government for immediate action, this noble and generous proposition to honor the memory of a beloved and only son in such a form as to adorn the city and benefit its inhabitants, and by an expenditure so far in advance of what prudence, on our part, would dictate as judicious for the city to make with due regard to other wants and necessities, excites our warm appreciation, and relieves us by its happy solution of a most important and trying question.

"Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the records of both branches of the City Council, and a copy thereof be forwarded to Mrs. Marjr B. Young, signed by his honor the mayor, the president of the council, and duly certified by the respective recording officers thereof."

" Know all men by these presents, that I, Mary B. Young, of Fall River, in the Stale of Massachusetts, in consideration of one dollar to me paiil by the city of Fall River, a municipal corporation situate in said State, do hereby give, grant, bargain, sell, and convey unto the said city of Fall River, a certain lot of land, with all the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in said Fall River, and bounded on the west by Rock Street, on the north by Locust Street, on the east by High Street, and on the south by Cherry Street, and containing two hundred and forty square rods of land, more or less.

"To have and to hold the same for the uses and purposes of a high school, in memory of my son, Bradford Matthew Chuloner Durfee, to the said city of Fall River, its successors and assigns, with all the privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging, to its and their use and behoof forever as aforesaid.

"Provided that, and this conveyance is made upon the express condition that the selection, employment, and continuance by the school committee of Fall River, or such other body, or person or persons as are or may be charged with that duty, of the teachers for and in said high school and the departments connected therewith, shall be subject to the written approval of , and of such persons as, in case of the nonacceptance, disability, death, removal, or resignation of any of them or of their successors, shall be chosen by a majority o( those then remaining and acting to fill the vacancy or vacancies caused by such death, non-acceptance, removal, resignation, or disability ; and in case any teacher or teachers shall be selected, employed, or continued in said school, or any of the departments connected therewith, without such written approval, then said premises, and the buildings and improvements thereon shall revert to the grantor, her heirs and executors, admin istrators and assigns, and she and they may enter and repossess themselves thereof.

" And I do hereby, lor myself and my heirs, executors, and administrators, covenant witli the grantee, its successors and assigns, that I am lawfully seized in fee-simple of the granted premises, that they are free from all incumbrances, -xcept the condition aforesaid, that I have good right to sell and convey the same as aforesaid, and tfiat I will and my heirs, executors, and administrators shall warrant and defend the same t>> the said grantee, its successors and assigns ag linst the lawful claims ami demands of all persons, except those arising from a breach of the condition aforesaid.

When Longfellow wrote "The Skeleton in Armor," he commemorated forever the curious and mysterious remains that were found in Fall River in the year 1832, and destroyed in the great fire of 1843. Few persons of general reading are entirely unacquainted with the conjectures of antiquarian and archaeological societies in relation to the origin of this skeleton. The Society of Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen, Denmark, which, a few years after the finding of the skeleton, had the subject under consideration, raised the query whether it might not have been the remains of one of the Northmen, who are now very generally supposed to have visited our coast, and to have spent a winter here, or near here, about the eight or ninth century. Probably the best account now extant of the finding of the skeleton, and a description of its appearance at the time, was written by the late Dr. Phineas W. Leland in the records of the old Fall River Athenaeum soon after the fire of 1843, and is as follows :

" Among the curiosities of peculiar interest (in the cabinets of the Fall River Athenaeum) was the entire skeleton of a man, about which antiquarians in the old as well as the new world had speculated much. The skeleton was found in the year 1832 in a sand- or gravel-bank a little east of the Unitarian meetinghouse2 by some persons while digging away and removing a portion of the bank. The skeleton was found near the surface in a sitting posture, the legbones doubled upon the thigh-bones, and the thighs brought up nearly parallel with the body. It was quite perfect, and stood remarkably well the test of exposure. Covering the sternum was a triangular plate of brass somewhat corroded by time, and around the body was a broad belt made of small brass tubes four or five inches in length about the size of a pipestem placed parallel and close to each other. Arrowheads made of copper or brass were also found in the grave with the skeleton. That these were the remains of an Indian seemed to be very generally conceded ; the configuration of the skull, the position in which the skeleton was found, and the additional fact that parts of other skeletons were found near the same place renders it nearly certain that these were the bones of an Indian. Whose frame it was will not likely ever be permitted us to know. Whether it belonged to some chief still celebrated in song and story, or to an obscure child of the forest, whose bones and deeds slept in the same undistinguished grave, we have no means of knowing. Tradition and history are alike silent when interrogated. We would fain believe that these were the remains of some noble old chief, once master of the beautiful and rich valley through which the dark waters of the Titicut (Indian name of Taunton River) still roll. We would believe so, for we love to think that humanity once warmed the heart of him whose bones have excited so much our wonder and curiosity. Whoever he was, peace be to his ashes."

In the American Monthly Magazine for January, 1836, is a short article on the skeleton, then in the Fall River Athenaeum, portions of which we shall extract, not because the description is faultless, but because it is the account of one J. Stark who examined the remains for the purpose of describing them to the public. With Mr. Stark's speculations accompanying his description we have little concern. More facts and greater reflection would probably have led him to very different conclusions. He describes the skeleton as "the remains of a human body, armed with a breastplate, a species of mail and arrows of brass, which remains he supposes to have belonged either to one of the race who inhabited this country for a time anterior to the so-called aborigines, and afterwards settled in Mexico or Guatemala, or to one of the crew of some Phoenician vessel that, blown out of her course, thus discovered the Western world long before the Christian era.

" These remains were found in the town of Fall River, in Bristol County, Mass., about eighteen months since. In digging down a hill near the village, a large mass of earth slid off, leaving in the bank and partially uncovered a human skull, which, on examination, was found to belong to a body buried in a sitting posture, the head being about one foot below what had been for many years the surface of the ground. The surrounding earth was carefully removed and the body found to be enwrapped in a covering of coarse bark of a dark color. Within this envelope were found the remains of another of coarse cloth, made of fine bark and about the texture of a Manilla coffee-bag. On the breast was a plate of brass, thirteen inches long, six broad at the upper end and five at the lower. This plate appears to have been cast, and is from one-eighth to three thirty-seconds of an inch in thickness. It is so much corroded that whether or not anything was ever engraved upon it has not yet been ascertained. It is oval in form, the edges being irregular, apparently made so by corrosion.

the body, was a belt composed of brass tubes, each four and a half inches in length and three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, arranged longitudinally and close together, the length of the tube being the width of the belt. The tubes are of thin brass, cast upon hollow reeds, and were fastened together by pieces of sinew. This belt was so placed as to protect the lower parts of the body below the breastplate. The arrows are of brass, thin, flat, and triangular in shape, with a round hole cut through near the base. The shaft was fastened to the head by inserting the latter in an opening at the end of the wood, and then tying it with a sinew through the round hole, a mode of constructing the Aveapon never practiced by the Indians, not even with their arrows of thin shell. Parts of the shaft still remain attached to some of them. When first discovered the arrows were in a sort of quiver of bark, which fell in pieces when exposed to the air.

"The skull is much decayed, but the teeth are sound and apparently of a young man. The pelvis is much decayed and the smaller bones of the lower extremities are gone.

"The integuments of the right knee, for four or five inches above and below, are in good preservation, apparently the size and shape of life, although quite black.

"Considerable flesh is still preserved on the hands and arms, but more on the shoulders and elbows. On the back under the belt, and for two inches above and below, the skin and flesh are in good preservation, and have the appearance of being tanned. The chest is much compressed, but the upper viscera are probably entire. The arms are bent up, not crossed, so that the hands turned inwards touch the shoulders. The stature is about five and a half feet. Much of the exterior envelope was decayed, and the inner one appeared to be preserved only where it had been in contact with the brass.

"The preservation of this body may be the result of some embalming process, and this hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that the skin has the appearance of having been tanned, or it may be the accidental result of the action of the salts of the brass during oxidation, and this latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that the skin and flesh have been preserved only where they have been iu contact with or quite near the brass, or we may account for the preservation of the whole by supposing the presence of saltpetre in the soil at the time of the deposit. In either way, the preservation of the remains is fully accounted for* and upon known chemical principles.

" That the body was not one of the Indians we think needs no argument. We have seen some of the drawings taken from the sculptures found at Palenque, and in those the figures are represented with the breastplates, although smaller than the plate found at Fall River. On the figures at Palenque the bracelets and anklets seem to be of a manufacture precisely similar to the belt of tubes just described.

"If the body found at Fall River be one of the Asiatic race, who transiently settled in Central America, and afterwards went to Mexico and founded those cities, in exploring the ruins of which such astonishing discoveries have recently been made, then we may well suppose also that it is one of the race whose exploits have, although without a date and almost without a certain name, been immortalized by Homer. Of the great race who founded cities and empires in their eastward march, and are finally lost in South America, the Romans seem to have had a glimmering tradition in the story of Evander.

"But we rather incline to the belief that the remains found at Fall River belonged to the crew of a Phoenician vessel. The spot where they were found is on the sea-coast, and in the immediate neighborhood of Dighton Rock, famed for its hieroglyphic inscriptions, of which no sufficient explanation has yet been given, and near which rock brazen vessels have been found. If this latter hypothesis be adopted, a part of it is that these mariners, the unwilling and unfortunate discoverers of a new world, lived some time after they landed, and having written their names, perhaps their epitaphs, upon the rock at Dighton, died, and were buried by the natives."

Water-Works. - " The system of public waterworks, regarded by engineers as one of the most perfect, both in design and construction, in the Union, is justly a constant cause of self-congratulation to the residents of Fall River. The natural resources of the district in which the city has grown up, almost unique in the wealth and purity of their treasure, hardly need be suggested to the reader who has formed his own conception of the eastern plateau, extending parallel with the community of mills and residences, and bearing in its bosom the long chain of spring-fed lakes. Farther on will be given a comparative view of the enormous volume of water which this unequaled natural reservoir contains. The value of Watuppa to the city, regarded simply as an element in its industrial progress, is very great, but when its more recent service, as a sure and powerful antagonist of fire, and a never-failing purveyor of health, cleanliness, and comfort in every household is considered, its worth is really beyond our powers of estimate.

" Fall River is fortunate in the possession of a beautiful lake of fresh water within two miles of the centre of the city, whose purity is unsurpassed by any other public water-supply equally extensive and so easily attainable.

"Watuppa Lake, the source of supply for the water-works, and also for eight mills that run by water-power on the lower part of Quequechan River, - the outlet of the lake, - is seven and two-thirds miles in length, with an average width of about three-quarters of a mile. It is fed principally by springs and small streams, which collect the water from the surrounding hills. The drainage area is sparsely settled, and covered principally by a young growth of oak, interspersed with pine and chestnut, and the soil is exceedingly favorable for the collection of a pure and abundant water supply, being composed principally of sand, gravel, and gravelly loam, interspersed with numerous bowlders, and resting generally on a solid stratum of granite rock.

" The whole area included by the water-shed contains about 20,000 acres, or 31.25 square miles, and is capable of furnishing a daily supply equal to half the amount of water used by the city of Paris, or about double the quantity used by the city of Boston.

"In fact, the lake is capable of furnishing a daily supply of about 35,000,000 gallons, and of this the water-works took less than 1,000,000 gallons per day during the year 1875, and about 1,500,000 gallons per day during the excessively dry season in the summer of 1876. The daily average for the year 1876 will undoubtedly be less than one and a quarter millions.

" According to the analysis made by Professor John H. Appleton in 1870, the water of Watuppa Lake is remarkably pure, there being but 1.80 grains of solid matter per gallon.

" In the spring of 1871 the first board of water commissioners was appointed by the City Council, and in the fall of the same year work was begun upon a road which it was necessary to construct for a distance of nearly a mile and a half to give access to the place selected for a pumping-station.

" During the year 1872 the foundations of the engine-house, boiler-house, and coal-house were built, and the superstructure was completed the following year, being constructed of granite quarried in the immediate neighborhood, on the lot bought by the city for the pumping-station and reservoir."

Cost Of Maintenance And Revenue For 1882

1 The appropriation for water for city uses was 816,000 less this year than last, but the revenue from privato individuals and corporations was «4713.65 more than last year.

Distribution Of Water During 1882

From that time to the present the improvement and enlargement of the water-works has kept abreast with the rapid increase in population, and is now one of the best systems in the State.

The Fire Department of Fall River, one of the most efficient in the commonwealth, has been for many years a conspicuous feature of municipal organization. It is well managed, and the services of the officers and men prompt and efficient. It consists of five steamers, eight hose-reels, three hook-andladder trucks, and one supply-wagon, and two steamers and two hose-reels fully equipped held in reserve. The present chief of the department is John A. Macfarlane. William C. Davol, Jr., and Holder B. Durfee, have also held this position. Col. Thomas J. Borden was chief several terms, and his active interest in the department will not soon be forgotten.

Oak Grove Cemetery. - This burial-place occupies an elevated location in the northeasterly section of the city. The original purchase of forty-seven acres was made in 1855, and by several additional purchases now embraces eighty acres. The original young forest was retained, and on three sides it is quite nearly surrounded by a high stone wall. It has cost an immense amount of labor to clear away the rocks and fit the land for a burial-place, but so much has been done that there are now seven miles of paths and avenues. Up to 1869, or fourteen years from the beginning, 1348 interments had taken place, but since that date, and for the second fourteen years, 4108 have been added, making a total of 5456. In 1869 the present superintendent, Jonathan E. Morrill, Esq., came into office, and during his term the cemetery has become a point of great interest both for the elegant monuments that have been multiplied very much the last ten years, and the floral decorations in summer and autumn. During last year 352 interments were made, of which 296 died in this city, and 56 in other places, or were brought from other cemeteries. Of the 296 which died in this city last year, 128 were children under five years of age.

The citizens of Fall River manifest a just pride in Oak Grove Cemetery, which is one of the most beautiful burial-places in the commonwealth.

The North Cemetery, upon North Main road, was for many years the principal burial-place of the city. There are also various Roman Catholic cemeteries in the city. The superintendent of the North Cemetery is Stephen White.

Civil History. - The town of Fall River1 was set off from Freetown, Feb. 26, 1803, during the administration of Governor Caleb Strong, May 8, 1804; by a vote of the town the name was changed to Troy. Tradition reports that this action was induced by a prominent citizen who had recently visited Troy, N. Y., and who became so enamored of its name that upon his return he induced his fellow-townsmen to give up the suggestive and appropriate name received from the red man and assume that derived from the ancient

1 The Indian name of Fall River was " Qnequeteaut," signifying the " place of falling water," and that of the river "Quequechan," which signifies "falling water" or "quick running water," hence its appropriate name of Fall River. " Watuppa," the Indian name of the ponds on the east and by which they are sti'l called, signifies "boats," or the "place of boats."

The town was known as "Troy" until 1833, when at a town-meeting held on the 18th of March of that year, it was voted " that it is expedient to have the name of the town of Troy altered to that of Fall River," and " that the selectmen be directed to petition the Legislature now in session for an act to alter the name of the town of Troy to that of Fall River." The act passed Feb. 12, 1834.

Incorporation of the City. - Fall River was incorporated as a city April 12, 1854, and the first city election was held on the 6th of the following month, when the following officers were chosen : Mayor, James Buffinton ; Aldermen, James Henry, Edward P. Buffinton, Oliver H. Hathaway, Alvin S. Ballard, Edwin Shaw, Julius P. Champney ; Common Council, Robert C. Brown, Henry Wilbur, Oliver Grinnell, Chris. W. Tillinghast, John Mason, Jr., Smith Winslow, William Goodman, Obadiah Chace, Gardner Groves, Nathaniel Bonney, David S. Brigham, Sheffield Brightman, Peter J. Dennise, Henry Diman, Jr., Howard B. Allen. Wm. M. Almy, Thomas T. Potter, Albert Winslow.

At a session of the mayor- and aldermen-elect May 15, 1854, previous to the administering of the oath of office, the members of this board and board of Common Council made choice of Alvan S. Ballard, clerk pro tern.

Voted, That a committee of two, consisting of Aldermen Shaw and Henry, notify the Common Council that this board is now ready to meet them in convention for such business as may legally come before the City Council.

The officers present were then marshaled into the City Hall by Col. William Sisson, accompanied by the selectmen, where a large number ot the citizens were in attendance to witness the ceremonies, and to hear the inaugural address of Mayor Buffinton.

The meeting was called to order by Chester W. Greene, chairman of the board of selectmen, and the throne of grace was addressed by Rev. Benjamin J. Relyea.

The names of the city officers-elect were called by the clerk, and the oath of office administered by James Ford, Esq., justice of the peace.

The following members of Congress were residents of Fall River : Nathaniel B. Borden, 1837-40, 1843- 44; Rev. Orin Fowler, 1849-52; James Buffinton,

Fall River was first honored, in 1838, by the choice of one of her citizens to the position of State senator of Massachusetts. Since that date she has had the following representative in this branch of the Legislature, viz.: 1838, Hon. John Eddy; 1840-42, Dr. Foster Hooper; 1843, Dr. Phineas W. Leland ; 1845 -47, Hon. Nathaniel B. Borden; 1848, Rev. Orin Fowler; 1854, Col. Richard Borden; 1855-56, Hon. Joseph E. Dawley ; 1857, Hon. Jeremiah S. Young; 1859-61, Dr. Robert T. Davis; 1865, Hon. Josiah C. Blaisdell ; 1867-68, Hon. Samuel Angier Chace; 1869 -70, Hon. John B. Hathaway ; 1871-74, Hon. Charles P. Stickney ; 1877-78, Hon. Charles J. Holmes; 1879, Hon. Weaver Osborn ; 1880, Hon. Thomas Webb ; 1881, Hon. Milton Reed ; 1882, Hon. Andrew J. Jennings; 1883, Hon. John W. Cummings.

1853. - James Buffinton, Chester W. Greene, Thomas T. Potter, George 0. Fairbanks, Azariah Shove, selectmen ; three trials, and no choice for representatives.

The town clerks from 1803 to 1854 have been as follows: 1803, Walter Chaloner; 1804-14, Benjamin Brightman ; 1814-16, William B. Canedy ; 1816, March to November 2, Nathaniel Luther; when at a townmeeting was made the following record : " Nathaniel Luther, the town clerk, being absent, made choice of Joseph E. Read to act as town clerk the remainder of the year (at all town-meetiugs and all other other business pertaining to the town clerk's duty) in the absence of Mr. Luther." 1816, November 2, to 1821, Joseph E. Read; 1821-25, John C. Borden; 1825, Nathaniel B. Borden ; 1826-31, Benjamin Anthony ; 1831-36, Stephen K. Crary; 1836-46, Benjamin Earl-; 1846-48, George S. Baker; 1848-53, Samuel B. Hussey ; 1853, John R. Hodges.

The city clerks from 1854 to 1884 have been : John R. Hodges, 1854; Alvin S. Ballard, 1855 to 1864; George A. Ballard from 1864 to present time, nearly twenty years.