Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 65, 1883 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 65

The Educational Interests of Taunton.1 - The first settlers of Taunton, as of other New England towns, erected not only the meeting-house, but the school-house. The two went everywhere together. If Messrs. Hooke and Street were the first ministers, the schoolmaster was here even before them, and his name was Bishop. Some have presumed to question whether there ever was such a man, or at least that we have any knowledge of him ; but I claim we know something, although we might wish it were more.

Thomas Lechford, " of Clement Inne, in the county of Middlesex," was a visitor to this country, and on his return to England he published a pamphlet, in which, under date of Jan. 17, 1641, he relates concerning Taunton, " Master Hooke received ordination from the hands of one Master Bishop, a school-master, etc." Then, as now, the " school-master" was a person of considerable consequence in the community. This Bishop, with others, was deemed worthy to " lay hands" on " Master Hooke."

Mr. Winsor, in his "History of Duxbury," p. 228, makes mention of" an ancient freeman of Taunton" bearing the name of " Mr. John Bushop," having that " honorable prefix." Mr. Baylies, in his " History of the Plymouth Colony," Part II., p. 277, alludes to a " Mr. Boshop, interested in the first purchase of Taunton, whose ' rights' in 1675 were owned by Lieut. George Macey."

settlers," although his name is not catalogued, as also the names of other proprietors appear not to have been. (Part II., p. 265.) The Bushop, Boshop, or Bishop above named, Mr. John Dean, of the New England Genealogical Society, in 1854 (see "Genealogical Register," April, 1854), considered one and the same man, and also the John Bishop, who afterward went to Stamford, Conn. Mr. Baylies was of the opinion "he went to New Haven," which was not far from Stamford. (Part II., pp. 265 and 282.) Mr. Savage, in his "Genealogical Dictionary of New England," vol. i. p. 185, asserts the John Bishop, of Stamford, " had been in Taunton as early as 1640," and thinks he was before that in Dorchester, as he seems to have known Richard Mather, writing a Latin epitaph on him, which maybe found in the "Magnolia," cap. xx. of III., p. 131, signing himself " J. Episcopius," which Savage calls a pun on his name. All this agrees very well with what we know of the "young man of promise," as the historian of Stamford (p. 119) calls the ministerial supply, whom the church of that place sought and found in this region about the time Bishop is supposed to have left. Trumbull, in his " History of Connecticut," vol. i. p. 299, gives an interesting account of it in these words : " The church sent two of their members to seek them a minister. They traveled on foot to the eastward of Boston, where they found Mr. John Bishop, who left England before he had finished his academical studies, and who had completed his education in this country. They engaged him to go with them to Stamford. He traveled with them on foot so great a distance. The people were united in him, and he labored with them in the ministry nearly fifty years."

Rev. J. W. Alvord, in a historical address at Stamford (p. 17), gives the names of the " members of the church" who " traveled on foot to the eastward of Boston," - George Slason, Francis Bell. He also states, " Mr. Bishop carried his Bible under his arm through the wilderness to Stamford," which Bible, in 1841, was in the possession of Noah Bishop, one of his descendants. If one will look at a map of New England he will see that this journey " on foot through the wilderness" was from the extreme west of Connecticut to wellnigh the extreme east of Massachusetts, no small undertaking for even such resolute souls, and when you remember that their regular "wilderness" path from New Haven to Boston or Plymouth would lead through Taunton, you need not wonder, if finding John Bishop at the latter place and recommended by Hooke and Street, they were willing, footsore and weary, to stop short of either Boston or Plymouth, to accept of " the Taunton schoolmaster," a " young man of promise," who was also a student in theology with these eminent divines, "completing," as Trumbull tells us, "in this country the education" which had been begun in the motherland. "Eastward of Boston" may sufficiently describe the place, although it be south as well as east.

We have dwelt thus long on this case to establish, if nothing more, the probability that the first Taunton schoolmaster was the first Stamford minister.

The name of another schoolmaster of the town in the same century has just come to light in an old account-book of Thomas Leonard, found in a box hid away in some part of a chimney in the house of a grandson, lately taken down in East Taunton, near the Forge. The schoolmaster as well as the minister of that early clay was paid at public expense, as a public benefactor and a public necessity, in the currency of the time, - iron. Thomas Leonard kept the account with him in this book from 1683 to 1687. His name was James Green. It would be interesting if we could give other names, but the record is not at hand.

We know the provision which our fathers made for the education of their children. The colonial laws were very strict on this subject, and made it certain every town should have not only a minister but a schoolmaster. The town was one school district, owned its school property, and controlled the schools through a superintending committee. This was the system of school management for more than two centuries. It was not till 1826 the district system was established dividing each town into smaller districts, which should own their school-houses and other school property, and through a prudential committeeman select and contract with the teacher, and attend to supplies for the school. There were still a town school committee, to examine and indorse the teachers and with a general supervision, but their authority, of course, was weakened and their guiding influence less felt. There could not be that unity of action and wise method of administering the schools, with so many varying and sometimes conflicting parties to be consulted and provided for. Thus, in 1864, when the town became a city, the people were probably glad to return to the primitive municipal system of caring for the schools through one general committee, who subsequently appointed a superintendent to give all his time to the work.

This superintendent, Dr. W. W. Waterman, has recently written and published an able paper on the duty of a commonwealth to educate its children, which shows him to be thoroughly acquainted with his business, and possessed of a suitable enthusiasm. His school report also in 1876 is stored with much historical matter, from which I gladly draw for my present use.

His remarks on the classification of studies and the grading of the schools are to the point. Until eighteen years ago, the studies adjudged requisite to a common school education were all taught in each separate elementary school. Pupils began and ended their education in the same grade of school, except when they resorted to the classical or high school for more thorough instruction or further advancement; but whenever a school occupied two or more schoolrooms, or was taught by more than one teacher, the sections into which such school was divided were arranged with reference to the relative attainments of the pupils and an economical classification of instruction. These sections, constituting progressive stages, were commonly known as lower and higher departments, sometimes as primary and grammar departments. With the large growth of population at the Centre, it was thought that the philosophical principle of division of labor and concentration of ability which had been applied with benefit to instruction in the larger schools might be embodied advantageously in a more comprehensive system of school as well as class gradation. Accordingly, in 1858, there was a consolidation of school districts contiguous to the Green, containing nearly one-half of the pupils in town. Next the schools were classified in grades. A graduated, consecutive course of study was systematically arranged, and an appropriate part of the course was assigned to each grade. The classes of the higher or grammar grade occupied a portion of the large central building, the Cohannet Street school-house. A part of that building and the smaller school-houses were appropriated to the lower classes. The high school was permanently established in 1849, although previous to that time a similar school had been kept temporarily in different sections of the town. The present system of graduated classification and study - was instituted in 1862, and in 1871 the high school became a part of the system of school gradation, thus making three grades, known as primary, grammar, and high. The larger portion of the primary schools are in separate buildings, containing from one to six school-rooms each. Pupils are admitted at five years of age, and the course of instruction is designed for five years. The grammar schools have no age qualification, although ten or twelve years would be the usual age. The course of instruction comprises four steps, each requiring about one year. The primary and grammar courses together comprise the complete course of elementary instruction designed for all the pupils.

The high school constitutes the third and last grade of- the system. The course of instruction comprises four steps, each designed for one year. The studies are: English Language, including Grammar, Rhetoric, English Literature, Reading, Writing, Orthography, Orthoepy, Composition, Declamation; Latin, French, Greek ; Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Surveying, Elementary Mechanics, Practical Problems in Arithmetic, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Physiology, Physical Geography, Geology, Botany, Zoology, Astronomy; Intellectual Philosophy, Political Economy, and Constitution of the United States, General History, Ancient Geography, and History ; Free-Hand Drawing ; Vocal Music.

Taunton

The good State of Massachusetts intends that its' citizens shall be educated, at least so as to read and write and master the common branches of education. Towards this end its legislation has tended, and every child between the ages of eight and fourteen must attend the free school provided at least twenty weeks of the year. This is considerably less than half the year, and it would seem, if their work was needed for the support of the family, thirty weeks should be enough for this purpose. So our legislators thought, and no employer of labor has the right to hire a child between these ages without a certificate of having attended school the year preceding such employment the specified time. This is called "compulsory education," and it is a credit to the commonwealth. The number of children in Taunton, according to the census of 1882, between the ages of eight and fourteen, was two thousand four hundred and forty-five. The number between those ages in the public schools for the school year ending Aug. 31. 1882, was 2387, showing that the law of the commonwealth is respected in the city of Taunton. The whole number of different pupils of every age in the public day schools for the same year was 4004, - 2112 males, 1892 females. The cost of the public schools for this year was $50,190.60.

The number of teachers employed iu the twentynine school-houses proper for the public day schools is seventy-six, with occasional temporary help. For the evening elementary school and evening drawing school in rooms hired for the purpose eight teachers are employed. In the Cohannet Street school, which is the largest grammar school, with a primary department, Mr. Clarence F. Boyden is employed as principal, at a salary of fourteen hundred dollars, with eleven assistants. At the Weir, Mr. Horatio D. Newton serves as principal, at a salary of twelve hundred dollars, with eight assistants. At Whittenton, Mr. Edward S. Hersey is principal; salary, eleven hundred dollars, with six assistants. The high school is in charge of Mr. Charles S. Moore ; salary, seventeen hundred dollars, with three assistants. The school is worthy of better school accommodations than are at present provided, but in the near future a high school building, which will be a credit to the city and a comfort to the scholars, is certain. The principals of the high school, running back from the present, have been as follows: John P. Svvinerton, Laban E. Warren, Charles P. Gorely, Silas D. Presbrey, William E. Fuller, John Ruggles, William L. Gage, Ozias C. Pitkin, Justin Field, Frederic Crafts.

The school could hardly be called a fixture, but rather a foot-ball under Messrs. Crafts and Field, for, as the writer well remembers, it was not only a movable institution, but much spoken against, as the records of the town-meetings from 1838 onward will show. Under the wise administration of Mr. Pitkin, however, from 1849 to LS54, who was an eminent educator, it grew in favor with the people, and they at length allowed it to locate and live.

No history of the educational interests of Taunton would be complete without the Bristol Academy, which had its beginning in the last century (in 1792). It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness for material to the careful research of my friend, Mr. Charles W. Hartshorn, a long time secretary of the board of trustees, from whose notes I am permitted to draw. The academy had its origin in an agreement to form the "Taunton School Society," to pay certain sums named, and to abide by some ten rules of agreement carefully set forth. There were fourteen subscribers to this agreement, men prominent in Taunton in the latter part of the last century, James Tisdale heading the list with a subscription of thirty pounds, and John Bowers closing it with a like sum, Samuel Leonard the same, and others less, in all amounting to seven hundred and ten pounds.

On the 30th of June, 1792, on petition of David Cobb and others, Walter Spooner, William Baylies, David Cobb, Elisha May, James Williams, Apollos Leonard, Seth Padelford, Samuel Fales, Samuel Leonard, Simeon Tisdale, James Tisdale, Joseph Tisdale, and Jonathan Cobb were appointed trustees of Bristol Academy and incorporated under that name, " for the purpose of promoting piety, morality, and patriotism, and for the education of youth, etc." The first meeting of the trustees was held at Josiah Crocker's, Sept. 21, 1792. James Williams was chosen secretary ; Walter Spooner, president; David Cobb, vice-president; Seth Padelford, treasurer. A committee was chosen to " form a coad of bye-laws," and another to provide or point out a suitable piece of ground to build upon, and each trustee directed to exert himself to obtain subscriptions.

From this date there were a number of meetings and votes, showing the work to be in progress, until March 7, 1796, when a committee was appointed " to enquire and procure an Instructor," and another " to make enquiry respecting boarding scholars." The following action was also taken: "Whereas Bristol Academy was promoted and established principally by the exertions of David Cobb, Esq., a late trustee of said academy ; therefore voted unanimously that the thanks of the trustees of said academy be presented to the said David Cobb, Esq., for his great and friendly exertions in favor of said academy, and that he be informed by the secretary that the trustees do consider him entitled to the honor of being the patron and the founder of the same."

The first meeting of the trustees held at the academy appears to have been July 4, 1796, when "Miss Sally Cady was chosen preceptress." The academy tvas formally opened July 18th, when an address was delivered by the preceptor, Mr. Doggett, which by request of the trustees was afterwards printed. No other mention is made of the opening in the records, but it is otherwise learned that Deacon Jeremiah Sumner, of Taunton, composed his famous "Ode 011 Science" for that occasion. The building then dedicated stood nearer the northwest corner of the academy lot than the present one, and fronting towards Summer Street. It answered a good educational purpose for more than half a century, when it was sold and removed to Broadway, just north of the Catholic Church, where it is still occupied as a tenementhouse.

At a meeting of the trustees, Feb. 1, 1849, a committee appointed "to suggest improvements" speak of the academy building as " not so well adapted to its uses as it ought to be." Aug. 14, 1850, the preceptor, in his report, urgently asks for a new building, stating the number of pupils to be " one hundred and eleven." George A. Crocker was appointed committee to procure subscriptions. Feb. 19, 1851, Mr. Crocker reported a list of subscriptions amounting to five thousand eight hundred and ninety-five dollars, a Tisdale again, this time Samuel T., standing at the head, with Mr. Crocker himself, for one thousand dollars each, and a committee was chosen to erect the new building. " 1852, August 25th, the board met at the new academy at 10 A.M. to witness the exercises of dedication. At 10.15 the exercises began. Rev. Mr. Maltby made a few introductory remarks. A hymn was sung by a select choir, led by William B. Crandell. Prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Maltby. The secretary, Rev. Mr. Bingham, read a short historical sketch of the institution. The ' Ode on Science,' written for the first dedication, was then sung. Next an address on classical education was delivered by Professor C. C. Felton, of Harvard University, and a hymn, written for the occasion by Mr. Hodges Reed, closed the performances."

At a special meeting of the trustees, Aug. 19, 1800, a committee was appointed "to inquire of Mr. Doggett the usual emolument of his office as preceptor." An old paper is found, in the handwriting of Mr. Doggett, which gives the number of pupils for four years, the amount received for tuition, etc. The average of pupils for the first year was 94 ; the second, 84; the third, 50; the fourth, 50. During the first year of Mr. Bellows' service as preceptor the number of pupils for the first term was 52; the second, 76; the third, 66; the fourth, 80. At the meeting of the trustees, Nov. 19, 1852, at the close of the first term in the new building, it is recorded "the whole number of names on the register of the fall term, 148."

1871, to July 3, 1874; Arthur Driver, from Aug. 12, 1874, to July 11, 1877; J. C. Barlett, from July 18, 1877, to June 25, 1880 ; Frederic Farnsworth, -from July 2, 1880, the present preceptor, under whose management the academy is in a flourishing condition. His assistants are George F. Chace, A.M., Miss Anna L. Bonney, Miss Julia A. Sampson, primary department.

" The present year," writes Preceptor Farnsworth, "is the most successful in point of numbers and income from tuition for the past quarter of a century. Average number attending, about ninety-three; receipts, about four thousand dollars. These figures include the primary department. About one-third of the pupils come from out of the city, representing some ten different towns. Nearly a quarter of the pupils are fitting for college. We expect to send six young men to college at the end of the present school year, besides several others who expect to take preliminary examination."

It would be an interesting list of names, could we find it, of those who have been the educators of the children and young people of Taunton during the two centuries and a half nearly of its history. To say that the generations of men and women have been largely fashioned by these hundreds and perhaps thousands of school-teachers is not speaking extravagantly. Teaching has taken its rank as it should among the " learned" professions. Normal schools educate the educators. Republics are sometimes charged with being " ungrateful," but faithful, life-long teachers are remembered with gratitude by their pupils of " long ago." I have heard the names of Taunton teachers spoken of with affection, and familiar as household words, - "Ma'am Wilbur, Mrs, Barney, Harriet Prentice, Mercy Crossnian, the Tillinghast sisters, - Fanny, Mary, and Joanna, - Frederick Crafts, Elias Morse." These represent the teachers of both sexes of a past generation, who have long since ceased from their labors. There are more recent names, some of them among the living, which represent an influence beginning with early childhood and entering into the warp and woof, the. texture of an endless being. Such names are George C. Wilson, A. A. Leach, Luthera H. Leach, Eliza Drake, May G. Reed, Ann D. Reed, Emma Payson, Ellen Lusconib.

Mr. Alvin B. Winch was the first teacher of vocal music in the public schools, commencing about 1870. His son, William I., and brother, John F., are eminent vocalists in Boston. Mr. Winch was distinguished in his profession. On his decease, in March, 1881, Mr. Milton R. French, of rare musical ability, was chosen his successor, and still teaches.

It was a felicitous thought of some of "the boys" of twenty years ago, including the names of the present mayor, city treasurer, register of deeds, and representative business men of this and other cities, to send to one of these teachers, Mr. A. A. Leach, a gold-headed cane, with an affectionate note, to which he thus responded:

" These words and the names of so many of my former scholars recall to mind the time when we, as teacherand pupils, sat together in the old school-room ; and if the room was not so spacious or the furniture so elegant, perhaps the lessons there learned were as good a preparation for the battle of life as those received under more favorable circumstances at the present day.

"It is very gratifying to me, I assure you, to know that after the lapse of so many years you have not forgotten your old schoolmaster. And, while I am well aware of my many imperfections as your teacher, I comfort myself with the reflection that it was always my earnest endeavor to do my duty faithfully and impartially.

" And now, my dear friends, I again tender to you, one and all, my most sincere thanks for your kind remembrance, and my best wishes for your present and future well-being.

"To Horatio L. Cu shin an, Henry W.Colby, Joseph E.Wilbar, Edward A. Presbiey, Bowers Wood, George H. Tanswell, Charles A. Morse, Henry B. Washburn, Daniel H.Mason, George A. Washburn, Baylies W 1, Gordon H. Godfrey."

" And this strong, burly chap of fourteen stone, Who romped in boyish sport upon 'the Green' In those old days, - didst ever think, I ween, Thy work should be the saddest task of all : To shroud and decorate the funeral pall Of friends and schoolmates thou so well hadst known?

That thou wouldst play the soldier o'er again With deadly anus and earnest battle cry '.' Didst ever think that on some hard-fought field, When either combatant disdained to yield, That thou wouldst bear away the cruel scar That marks the terrors of ' grim-visaged war'?

And did we know it, each of us might trace Even in childhood, the imperfect plan That in the years shall stare us in the face. Alas ! we learn the question quite too late To shape for better ends our earthly fate. One thing alone is taught us hard and faBt, We are but ' boys' and shall be to the last."

Water-Works.1 - The year 1875 was a fortunate one for Taunton. It was the birth-year of a project for supplying the city with an abundance of pure and wholesome water. The early history of the enterprise is but the history of all progressive movements in their beginning. The plan once seriously proposed, and the now familiar objections were at once put forward. The city did not need a public water supply, the people were not ready for it, the condition of the public treasury would not permit the outlay which would be required if water were introduced in unlimited quantities, the public health would be actually endangered because of the lack of any sufficient sewers and drains to carry away the flood, - these and other objections more or less fanciful were urged by the timid and conservative. And now, eight years later, the project of 1875 is an accomplished fact, a thing of seven years' growth, an indispensable department of the municipal economy. And what of those who opposed the scheme? With scarcely an exception they are now to be counted among the strongest friends of the water department, and would loudly protest against any curtailment or restriction of its beneficent operations.

The need of a supply of water more abundant and certain than that furnished by wells, public reservoirs, or private cisterns seems first to have been felt in' the fire department. In his report to the City Council for 1871, Chief Engineer Edward Mott says, "We have reason to feel thankful for the liberal appropriation made the past year for reservoirs, yet a large fire in some parts of our city would demonstrate the want of several more. As this is a matter of so much importance, I would respectfully call your attention to the expediency of introducing water into the city from some neighboring ponds, which would be a great benefit to the fire department. It could also be used for domestic and mechanical purposes." But this appeal brought no response. In October, 1872, the Albion Lead- Works, on Walnut Street, were wholly destroyed by fire. All the available public reservoirs and private cisterns were pumped dry, and as a last resort a line of hose three thousand five hundred feet in length was laid to the river in order to get water to protect surrounding property.

In his report for 1872, Chief Engineer Mott calls attention to this and other fires, renews his appeal for more water, and appears to be somewhat discouraged, for he says, " In the absence of any prospect of water being introduced into the city for a long time to come, it will be necessary to build several reservoirs each year."

Mayor Fox, in his inaugural for 1873, says that the greatest need of the fire department is a sufficient supply of water, but he makes no suggestion as to what should be done.

On the 7th of May, 1873, an extensive fire occurred on Broadway, in the building known as Jones' Athenaeum. The fire was bravely fought, but against the heavy odds resulting from the lack of sufficient water.

At last the attention of the city government seems to have been aroused, for on May 14th, seven days after this last conflagration, we find that in the board of aldermen it was "ordered that the committee on fire department be requested to consider and report whether any steps can be taken to provide a better supply of water in case of fire." This order was received from the Common Council and was adopted in concurrence. The members of this committee were Aldermen John Holland and Charles H. Atwood, Councilmen Benjamin L. Walker, Henry S. Harris, and Onias S. Paige, and they brought in their report July 2, 1873.

From this report it does not appear that the committee approached the subject with any boldness or with any intention of doing more than the immediate needs of the fire department seemed to demand. They admit in their report that a need of more water in time of fire exists, but confine themselves to two recommendations, namely : first, that openings -be made in the bridges at Winthrop Street and at Weir Street, for the use of the fire department ; and second, that such alterations be made upon the small reservoir on Winthrop Street as will afford a better supply ; the expense not to exceed two hundred dollars, the same to be paid from the appropriation for public improvements. These suggestions were adopted

That these measures were of no especial value is shown by the fact that in his report for 1873 Mr. Mott again brought the matter forward, and asked for a special committee to consider the subject. Apparently no attention was paid to the request, for we find no record that any such committee was appointed during the year 1874.

But even now, when it appeared that nothing had been done to secure to Taunton the many benefits belonging to a public water supply, the city had unwittingly taken a most fortunate step toward that end.

With the co-operation of other cities and towns in its district, this city sent, in 1874, Hon. William C. Lovering to the State Senate. Mr. Lovering was placed upon the Committee on Drainage and Water Supply, and from this vantage ground he could see clearly the city's need of pure and wholesome water.

No definite steps were taken during the year 1874, but subsequent events plainly show that Senator Lovering returned to his seat in 1875 with the firm conviction that the time had come when prompt and effective measures should be set on foot to secure to the city by charter the right to take and hold the waters either of Taunton River, or of some of the neighboring ponds.

We are now brought to the opening of the year 1875, and very soon we find the question of water or no water squarely before the public. Mayor Babbitt in his inaugural makes no mention of the need for water-works, either for fire or domestic purposes, but Engineer Mott, in his report for 1874, speaks of the subject at greater length than in any previous report, and intimates that he has received suggestions and encouragement from several citizens as to ways and means. For the first time the Municipal Board of Health seems to realize that the question has some interest from its point of view, and says in its report, " the expediency of introducing water for the purpose of flushing drains of the city is impressing its importance on the Board of Health from the frequency of the complaints of nuisances resulting from their filthy condition."

From this time on the history of the movement in its various stages is fairly told in the columns of the Daily Gazette. In this journal for Jan. 11, 1875, we find an anonymous1 article urging the adoption of a system of water-works, and outlining a plan which is evidently based upon the Holly system of direct pumping, and which selects the Middleborough ponds as the location for the pumping-station.

ator Lovering. In exact and forcible language he calls attention to the city's needs1, declares that the investigations made by other cities and towns have shown the uncertainty which exists as to the purity of well-water in thickly-settled communities, and pointedly asks if Taunton can suppose that it is any more fortunate in this respect than other places. He says further that the city should lose no time in securing the right to the Middleborough ponds or Taunton River, and believes that as posterity is to reap so large a share of the benefits of the plan, that it should share the expense, and therefore recommends the issuing of thirty-year bonds and the creation of a sinking fund to provide for their payment at maturity.

Public attention had now been called to the matter, and a petition for a preliminary survey, headed by Senator Lovering, was soon in circulation. Hon. Edmund Baylies gave evidence of his wise public spirit by his interest in the scheme, and wrote to Mr Lovering, expressing his readiness to bear his share of the expense of such a survey. The petition found ready signers among the leading manufacturers and property-owners, and was presented to the Common Council at its meeting, March 3, 1875, and on the same evening there was presented in the Board of Aldermen an order directing the appointment of a joint special committee, "with instructions to ascertain from what ponds or other sources in the city or vicinity a sufficient supply of pure water to meet the present and future wants of the city can be obtained, and that the committee be authorized to have such surveys and estimates made as will furnish full and reliable data relating to the sources of supply and the cost of constructing the necessary works, and report the same in print to the City Council."

Before its final passage, on March 17th, the order received two amendments, one authorizing the committee to expend the sum of five hundred dollars, the other fixing the number of the committee at eight, - three aldermen and five councilmen. By this arrangement each ward in the city secured a representative, and the committee consisted of Aldermen Henry S. Harris, Onias S. Paige, N. S. Williams, and Councilmen Everett D. Godfrey, George P. King, Charles P. White, Zephaniah Hodges, and Thomas Leach.

To get a committee appointed from the City Council is no difficult matter, but the attempt to secure an appropriation for a new scheme is generally considered a severe test of the strength of the movement.

The friends of water were jubilant, and proceeded at once to make the most of the opportunities given them. New names were added almost daily to the list of those who supported the scheme, hut from the time of his appointment no one was more active and earnest in the work of pushing forward the project than Henry S. Harris, the chairman of the joint special committee.

their appearance in the city. The following item in the Gazette of March 16th indicates the condition of the public mind: "The city is thoroughly waked up on the water supply question, and everywhere it is the topic of conversation. Advocates of river water and upholders of pond water meet in dire wordy battles on all possible occasions, and all the arguments that can be begged, borrowed, or stolen are duly ventilated in season and out of season. If the agitation brings us in the fluid no one will be sorry."

Chairman Harris and his committee found plenty to do. They prepared a series of questions, which was sent to a large number of cities and towns then supplied with water. It would seem that the committee were already favorably impressed with the idea of dispensing with a reservoir, for many of these questions bore directly upon the merits ami defects of the so-called Holly system of direct pumping. They began an examination by chemical analysis of the waters of Taunton River, of Elder's and other ponds in Lakeville, and of wells in various portions of the city. The banks of the river were examined to discover their value for the construction of filter-beds, levels were taken of the most important points in the city and vicinity, and the preparation of a water act, which the Legislature was to be asked to enact, was begun.

The chemical analyses were made by Professor William Ripley Nichols, the leveling was done by Engineers Montgomery and Blake, and in the preparation of the Water Act the services of Senator Lovering were invaluable.

At its meeting April 7th the City Council authorized the mayor to petition the General Court for the passage of the Water Act and for permission to issue twenty-year bonds to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. An act granting both of these requests was approved May 19, 1875. The right to the Middleborough ponds was not obtained without some opposition from Lakeville, Middleborough, and New Bedford, and an examination of sections 1 and 10 of the Water Act will show that certain conditions were affixed to the privileges accorded to Taunton

On the 7th of July the joint special committee made its report, which was received by the City Council in joint convention, and one thousand copies were afterwards ordered printed. This report is much too long to be quoted here, and its principal pointcan only he named. A- to the quantity of water required, the committee say that though the present actual need is nine hundred thousand gallons, they cannot "recommend any source which would not at any time supply twice that amount, or, in round numbers, say two million gallons in twenty-tour hours," and for a source of supply they are evidently, though cautiously, inclined to favor Taunton River. A report from Professor Nichols is included in the committee's report, giving the results of his examination of the samples of water submitted to him, and Percy M.

Blake, C.E., presents certain plans and estimates with an accompanying map. Did space permit, it would be interesting to compare the actual figures with the committee's table, showing the estimated receipts from water rates. We must content ourselves with quoting their estimate of the direct annual income of $16,529, and saying that these figures were realized in 1878. The following estimates for various plans were presented: Total cost of reservoir plan, $479,779.39; total cost of stand-pipe plan, $300,850.46; total cost of Holly plan, $249,730; and the report closes with a letter from the Bangor Water Committee giving their conclusions as to the best methods of supplying cities with water.

The recommendations of the joint special committee are in substance that the river scheme, by direct pumping, is the most advantageous for the city, that the present is a most favorable time to contract for the building of the work, owing to the low price of iron and of labor, and they " earnestly hope that the time is not far away when we shall all rejoice in its perfect consummation."

During the month of July, Engineer Blake had on exhibition at the City Hall and in a room in Jones' Block, Broadway, apparatus for filtering water taken from Taunton River. These exhibitions served to keep alive popular interest in the subject, and showed that good results might be obtained by artificial filtration of water taken directly from the river. At its meeting of Aug. 4, 1875, there was laid before the City Council a petition signed by Hon. Edmund H. Bennett and many others asking the Council to cause warrants for ward meetings to be issued, at which the citizens should, by their votes, accept or reject the water act passed by the Legislature. Warrants were accordingly issued for Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1875.

The friends of water made systematic efforts to secure a full vote. Two preliminary business meetings were held in Bank Hall September 10th and 14th. Rallying committees were appointed in each ward, and arrangements were made for a mass meeting in Music Hall on the evening preceding the day of election. This meeting was large and enthusiastic. Hon. Wm. C. Lovering presided, and the National Band, from its station in the gallery, enlivened the scene with strains of music. The speakers were Mr. J. A. Richardson, of the Holly Company, James Brown, Esq., Hon. E. H. Bennett, Dr. Joseph Murphy, Hon. Harrison Tweed, and T. T. Flagler, president of the Holly Company.

On the following day this question was answered by the citizens at the polls, " Shall the act to supply the city of Taunton with pure water be accepted?" and in this manner: measure. As was to be expected, the opposition came mainly from the outside wards, for the greatest benefits of the proposed scheme would not immediately be felt by residents in those wards.

In Board of Aldermen, October 6th, the joint special committee were instructed to continue their investigations, to make definite recommendations as to where and how the water was to be obtained, to decide upon the area over which the pipes should at first be laid, and to present estimates of the cost of construction, and in this order the Common Council concurred.

In a resolve authorizing a water loan of two. hundred thousand dollars, which was introduced at this meeting, the Common Council did not concur, and in the Board of Aldermen it was passed only by the casting vote of Mayor Babbitt. Upon this same evening, however, the City Council in joint convention elected Marcus M. Rhodes, Parley I. Perrin, and Henry S. Harris as water commissioners for periods of one, two, and three years, respectively, from January, 1876. To aid them in obtaining the information required by the City Council, certain members of the joint special committee visited, in company with Commissioners-elect Perrin and Rhodes, several cities and towns where water had been introduced, and in the month of December they made their final report. This report, though shorter than that of July 7th, is too long for quotation, but in it we find the following things recommended : a filter-bed at shallow water on the northerly side of Taunton River; a twenty-fourinch conduit leading therefrom to the pump-well at the pumping-station ; the pumping-station to be located on the lot belonging to Ebenezer Hall, on Dean Street, near the old wharf. A distributing system consisting of a twenty-inch force-main to City Square, with twelve-, ten-, and eight-inch branches at that point to different portions of the city, and enough smaller pipe to make a total length of about twenty-four miles, with one hundred and eighty hydrants and seventy-five gates. The standpipe and reservoir plans are put one side, and the direct-pumping system is emphatically declared to be the best suited to the city's needs and circumstances. The total cost is placed at two hundred and forty-five thousand dollars. The committee wish it distinctly understood that they do not advocate any particular kind of pumping-machinery, and name the Worthington, the Holly, or the Flanders pump as being then in use in direct-pumping systems.

Things so far had in the main gone well with the friends of the water-works project, but there was one serious obstacle which must be removed or conquered in some way. The public statutes regulating municipal indebtedness required a two-thirds vote of the City Council to authorize the issue of a water loan. The failure to get from the City Council of 1875 a two-thirds vote in favor of a resolution authorizing a water loan of two hundred thousand dollars showed that the task of conquering the opposition was to be a serious one ; the friends of the measure, therefore, set at work to remove the obstacle by direct application to the General Court.

So well did they succeed in their endeavors that by Feb. 28, 1876, they had secured the passage of an act which permits any city which has accepted a water act by a two-thirds popular vote to contract debts and issue bonds for the purposes named in said act by a vote of the majority of the members of each branch of the City Council. To the untiring efforts of Hon. William C. Lovering the prompt passage of this act was mainly due, and a most important step it was in the history of the project, for had the City Council of 1876 failed, as did that of 1875, to authorize a water loan, the success of the scheme would have been indeed doubtful. Happily for Taunton, however, a serious obstacle to its progress had been removed, and on March 1, 1876, the Board of Aldermen by a vote of five to three passed a resolution authorizing a two hundred thousand dollars loan, and two weeks later the same resolution received in the Common Council a vote of sixteen in its favor to seven against it.

It will be noted that this loan was not sufficient to permit the city to enter upon the construction of works as extensive as those suggested by the joint special committee in their report of December, 1875.

The work was now fairly in the hands of the Water Commissioners, and with the passage of the $200,000 appropriation by the City Council their duties really began. After some deliberation the services of Mr. George H. Bishop, of Middletown, Conn., were secured as consulting engineer. With his assistance the commissioners entered upon the work of preparing plans which could be executed for the sum placed at their disposal, and by April 24th they were prepared to advertise for proposals for furnishing and laying the main pipe and distribution and for the engines and pumping-machinery.

These plans included an open filter basin lying in the land of Alexander H. Williams, on the southerly side, of Taunton River, and separated therefrom by about one hundred feet of the natural bank. The length of this basin as finally constructed is four hundred feet, its width at the top one hundred feet, and at the bottom seventeen feet, and its depth twenty-three feet. It was expected that the river water would filter through the natural bank into this basin to the amount of 1,500,000 gallons per day. This basin or canal is connected with the pump-well located under the engine-house by a thirty-six-inch conduit, having the usual arrangement of screens and gates. In addition to this a thirty-inch wroughtiron pipe extends from the pump-well directly into the river, terminating in a double crib, built of twoinch plank. This end of the pipe is eight feet below mean low water in the river, and the space between the outer and inner crib is filled with small broken stone, but this pipe is for use in emergency only.

There are three boilers sixty inches in diameter and sixteen feel long, and each contains fifty-four flues three and three-quarter inches in diameter.

At the appointed time the proposals offered were opened and the several propositions examined. It was then decided to be for the interest of the city to divide the whole work into two contracts, the one to embrace the entire distributing system, including hydrants and gates laid and complete in the ground, the other to include the filter-basin, the engine- and boilerdiouse as described above, together with the engines and pumping-machinery, with all the necessary fixtures to make the same complete.

The proposition of R. D. Wood & Co., of Philadelphia, to construct the distributing system according to the specifications, and guaranteed to stand a tesl pressure of two hundred pounds to the square inch, for the sum of one hundred and twenty-four thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, was the lowest bid, and was accepted. The other contract, which included the pumping-station in all its details, was given to the Holly Manufacturing Company, of Lockport, N. Y., for the sum of sixty-two thousand dollars.

Ground was broken for the filter-basin May 15th, and immediately afterwards the excavations were begun for the foundations of the engine, boiler-house, and stack.

Pipe-laying was begun July 10th, on Alder Street, by Mr. Chappell, on the part of R. D. Wood & Co., and was completed on the 9th of October following. The engine and pumps, with all their appurtenances, were completed on the 30th of November, and a public trial was had on the 2d day of December.

As before stated, the appropriation of two hundred thousand dollars required a modification in the plans suggested by the committee in their report of December, 1875. The necessary reduction was effected by cutting down the amount of main pipe from twentyfour miles to sixteen, and by changing a portion of the twenty-inch main to sixtecn-inch. As completed October 9th the distributing system included the following territory : The twenty-inch force-main, starting from the pumping-station, followed the southerly bank of the river to a point opposite Dean's Wharf, here it crossed the river on the bottom to Dean Street, and continued in an unbroken line to the junction of Spring Street at the rear of the church green. At this point the main line was reduced to sixteen inches, and an eight-inch branch was carried along Spring Street. The sixteen-inch became twelve-inch at the corner of Weir Street and City Square, and the twelve-inch was reduced to ten-inch at the corner of Cohannet and High Streets.

From City Square eight-inch lines reached out north and south to Whittenton and the Weir, and sub-mains covered in large part the territory bounded on the north by Whittenton Street, on the east by Union and Summer Streets, on the south by Second Street, and on the west by Pine Street.

The public trial of the works, which was made December 2d, was an unqualified success, and the men who "had always said that a system of water-works would be a good thing for Taunton" were out in full force. During the forenoon three streams at the Weir and three at Whittenton were thrown simultaneously in order to show the ability of the works to cover -fires at two widely separated points at once. The principal display began at 1.30 p.m., when six one-inch streams were thrown from hydrants on City Square. The number of streams was afterwards increased in answer to signals given on the fire bell, until at two o'clock fifteen one-inch streams were deluging that part of the city extending along Main Street from Cedar Street to the junction of Winthrop and Cohannet Streets. Later in the afternoon a single threeinch stream was thrown from a special connection on the sixteen-inch main at the liberty pole. The day was a cold one, the mercury showing only eight degrees above zero early in the morning, and after the trial the streets looked as if there had been a heavy snow-fall, and the buildings on which the streams had been thrown as if they had passed through a second flood. The total cost of the works as they stood on this day of the public trial was $203,936.83.

The loan of $200,000 had been negotiated on such favorable terms as to command a premium of over $20,00(J, so that with the works completed there was a balance in the city treasury of $16,000. And now in conclusion let us state as briefly as possible the condition of the works after seven years of growth and extension. The original filter-basin or canal did not meet the expectations of its projectors in the amount of water which it could furnish, and in 1880 an additional source of supply was opened by the construction of an underground filter conduit. Engineer Bishop was recalled to give advice and superintendence in this work. This conduit, its form and construction, is fully described in the fifth annual report of the water commissioners. It is of brick, eggshaped in section, five feet two inches in height, and four feet in its largest transverse diameter. It enters the original filter-basin at the northeast corner, and follows the bank of the river up stream for a distance of eight hundred and sixty-three feet. The commissioners instructed Engineer Bishop to build this conduit as near the river as safety would permit, so that as large a supply as possible might be received from | this source, and accordingly the -bank separating the | river and conduit is nowhere more than thirty or forty feet in thickness. The cost of this extension was $15,512.23, and the supply, both in quality and quantity, gives abundant satisfaction. In the year 1877 I seven miles of pipe, mostly six- and four-inch, were laid. In 1880 a second force main of twelve-inch and ten-inch pipe was brought from the pumping station into the city by way of Williams and County Streets, crossing the river on the Neck o' Land Bridge, and in 1882 the village of Westville was supplied through an eight-inch main along the line of Cohannet Street. And finally from the seventh annual report of the commissioners we" learn that the original sixteen miles of pipe has increased to forty-two miles, that there are in the city 367 hydrants and 238 gates, that the number of private services taken from the mains is 2062, that there are in use 401 meters, and that the water rates for the year 1882 brought into the department $26,064.32, exclusive of hydrant service, which amounts to $9330 more, and that the total cost is set down as $422,224.66. The wildest enthusiast of 1875 did not dream of such a growth.

The officers of the water department have been changed to some extent since the beginning. Of the original commissioners, Parley I. Perrin is the only one now in office, April, 1883. At the conclusion of his term in 1879, Commissioner M. M. Rhodes declined a re-election, and was succeeded by Mr. Henry M. Lovering, who still holds the position. On the 16th of March, 1881, Commissioner Harris was removed by death, and his place was filled by the election of Silas D. Presbrey, M. D., whose term expires with the year 1884. In October, 1876, Mr. H. Frank Bassett was elected clerk of the board, and served with fidelity and ability in that capacity until July, 1879, when he resigned to engage in a manufacturing enterprise at Appleton, Wis. The office of clerk thus made vacant was filled by the election of William R. Billings. The water commissioners at a regular meeting held Feb. 24, 1883, voted to appoint Mr. Billings as superintendent of the works, and this choice was formally ratified by the Board, of Aldermen at its meeting March 7th, and by the Common Council at its meeting March 12th.

Taunton Lunatic Hospital, the second State hospital for the insane in the commonwealth, was built under an act of the Legislature approved May 24, 1851, the State appropriating for the purpose the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, and at subsequent periods before its occupation ninety thousand dollars. The commissioners appointed to carry out the intention of the Legislature were George N. Briggs, James D. Thompson, and John W. Graves. After a careful examination of several places it was decided to locate the hospital in what was then the town of Taunton. By a vote of the inhabitants of the town, and by voluntary contributions of its citizens, the sum of thirteen thousand dollars was placed in the hands of the commissioners for the purchase of the valuable and beautiful site upon which it was erected. Many of the leading citizens of Taunton took an active interest in its establishment and location, chief among whom were Governor Marcus Morton and the late Samuel

C. Crocker, the former being chairman of the first board of trustees, and the latter a trustee at the time of bis death. The tract of land on which the hospital stands contains ahout one hundred and thirty-four acres, and is exceedingly well adapted to the purposes of such an institution. The grounds extend in a southerly direction from the buildings. The site has many natural advantages. A beautiful grove of more than sixty acres lies in front of the hospital, through which the avenue approaches the buildings. Id adds much beauty to the landscape, and affords an agreeable shade to the patients through the warm season. In addition to«the natural advantages of the location. much has been done to improve and embellish it, and at the present time it is one of the most beautiful spots in Taunton. In July, 1853, the first board of trustees was appointed, and in October of that year the first superintendent, Dr. George S. C. Cboat. The buildings and property were delivered into the hands of the trustees by the commissioners Feb. 2, 1854, and in the month of April following the hospital was opened for the reception of patients. Since that time, during the twenty-nine years of its existence, more than eight thousand patients have been received and treated within its wards for their various mental diseases.

The hospital is situated on a gentle eminence at the extreme northerly part of the farm, and about one mile from the Green or business portion of the city. It is built of brick, three stories high. The building fronts south or a little west of south, and originally consisted of a central building and two wings on either side. The centre building is fifty-five feet in width, and projects in front about fifty feet from the wings. In this are the medical and business offices, receptionrooms, dispensary, apartments for the superintendent and his family and the other officers. It is surmounted by a dome which rises seventy feet above the roof, from which may be seen views of the surrounding country of great beauty. In the rear centre building on the first floor are the kitchen, bakery, store-rooms, and dining-rooms for the employes; on the second floor the chapel, library, work-rooms, and store-rooms for dry-goods ; third story containing dormitories for the employes.

In the years 1873 and 1874, during the superintendence- of Dr. W. W. Godding, the hospital was enlarged by building two new wings, extending one hundred and thirty-three feet east, and the same distance west from the extreme limit of the old building, making the whole extent of the completed building in a right line six hundred and thirty-eight feet. The new wards are very light, airy, and cheerful, with beautiful landscape view-- from the windows and verandas. Since the building of the new wings very material changes have been made in the older portions of the hospital, some of the wards having been almost entirely rebuilt, which have rendered them more cheerful and pleasant, more light having been introduced by increasing the number and size of the windows, and the ventilation has been much improved. As originally constructed the hospital was designed to accommodate two hundred and fifty patients, but by the addition of the new wings its capacity has been increased to five hundred and fifty.

There are at present nine wards for each sex, the patients being classified according to their mental state rather than social position, or the rate of board per week. Each ward or hall consists of a corridor with rooms on either side, which are occupied by the patients as sleeping-rooms, most of the patients being on the wards by day. The corridors are very light and pleasant, the light being admitted from one or both ends, while some of the halls have besides large bay windows. Connected with each ward is a dining-room, a wash-room with set wash-basins, a bath-room, and water-closet. The food is cooked in one centre kitchen, and taken in cars through the basement, and lifted to the several dining-rooms by elevators.

The out-buildings consist of a barn of ample capacity for twenty cows and six oxen, a piggery, a shed for storing farming utensils, a stable, a carriagehouse, a laundry building,. carpenter- and machine* shop, boiler-house, coal-house and bowling-alley. All except the piggery, shed, and bowling-alley are built of brick and in the most substantial manner, the carriage-house having been enlarged and coalhouse rebuilt in 1880. The present laundry building was erected in 1878, the State appropriating ten thousand dollars for the purpose, for which sum it was built and furnished. It is eighty feet by thirtyeight. It is fitted up with all the modern appliances for doing laundry-work, and is considered one of the best laundries in the State. The boiler-house, erected in 1874, contains five forty-horse boilers to generate steam for heating and other purposes, all the buildings being heated by steam, about twelve hundred tons of coal being consumed each year. A fortyhorse power Corliss engine drives the machinery in the carpenter-shop and laundry.

In 1882, for the purpose of securing more conveniences in the administrative part of the hospital, an extension was built to the rear centre, the State appropriating for the purpose twenty-seven thousand live hundred dollars. In this building the hospital has secured good store-rooms, work-rooms for the patients, and dormitories for the employes. Under it is an ample cellar. In the brick tower is placed an iron tank, with a capacity of eighteen thousand gallons of water, which seems a large amount, but is less than one-half what is used in one day. During the past ten years the capacity of the hospital has been nearly doubled by the erection of new buildings. All parts of the buildings are in good condition, the older portions having been repaired and reconstructed in a great degree. The hospital may now he called essentially completed, unless the State should decide to make further provision for patients by the erection of detached buildings. This it is to be hoped will not be done, as the institution is now sufficiently large to secure the best results in the cure and treatment of the inmates.

The hospital, although a State institution, has been entirely self-supporting since first opened for the reception of patients. It has not only paid its current expenses from the income derived from the board of patients, but it has expended during the twenty-nine years of its existence, over and above what it has cost to support the establishment, above two hundred thousand dollars in the erection of new buildings, and in general repairs and improvements, for which the State has received the benefit in the increased value of the property. The expense of building the brick barn, stable, piggery, coal-house, addition to the carpenter-shop, and the reconstruction and repairs of the old wings and centre building have been paid for from the current income of the hospital. The whole amount which the State has appropriated to the hospital for building and all other purposes since the act authorizing its erection down to the present time is the sum of four hundred and seventy-one thousand five hundred dollars, which is less than one-half the present value of the property, and less than one-third of what the State has recently expended in building either of the new hospitals for accommodations but little superior in extent or comfort for the patients.

The general direction of all the affairs of the hospital, subject to the approval of the board of trustees, in whom is invested by law the management of the institution, is intrusted to the superintendent, who is thus made the head of the institution, and is responsible to the trustees for the proper conduct of all its departments. To aid him in the medical care of the patients there are two assistant physicians, one having the care of the men and the other the women, the immediate oversight of the patients being confided to four superiors, two for the men and two for the women, who spend most of their time in the wards to nurse the sick, look after the general interests of all, and to see that the attendants are attentive to the wants of the patients, and treat them discreetly and kindly. The personal charge of patients is committed to the attendants, of whom there are two or more in each ward, the average number being pne attendant to thirteen patients. The duties of attendants are responsible and arduous, and can only be discharged properly by persons who have peculiar natural qualifications for the work. Besides those who are in immediate connection with the patients there are various persons employed in other departments of the hospital. A housekeeper, who has charge of the kitchen and stores and who superintends the cooking and distribution of the food; a baker; a laundrer; a seamstress, under whose direction a considerable number of female patients are employed daily in making up clothing for the inmates; an engineer, who has charge of the steam-boilers, the heating apparatus, and the water supply; and a farmer, who has charge of the farm and stock, which usually consist of about twenty cows and from four to six oxen, - the twenty cows furnishing about half of the milk used by the hospital.

The physicians of this hospital have kept abreast ot the most advanced ideas in the treatment of insanity, and while due prominence lias been given to the proper use of drugs and other medicines, and any new discovery which promises to be useful in the healing art is fully tested, no less attention has been given to the so-called moral treatment of the insane, of which mental occupation is made the leading feature, combined, when it can be, with physical labor, the purpose of which is to promote physical improvement, and to divert the morbid fancies and perverted ideas of the insane mind into healthy channels of thought. Any measure which will promote this becomes curative. All cannot be reached by the same means and method, hence the importance of a variety of employments and occupations to meet all cases. For most of the male patients nothing has been found more conducive to mental health than labor on the land, and to that end effort is made to have as many of them work on the farm as are in a suitable condition, many, of course, being unable, by reason of physical or mental disability, to perform any labor. Others, who prefer it, work in the laundry, the boiler-house, the carpenter-shop, and about the house or grounds. Many of the women find congenial employment in the large, pleasant, and airy sewing-room, while some, who are unfitted to go to the sewing-room, are employed in the halls in knitting and sewing under the direction of a special attendant. A considerable number of women work in the kitchen and laundry and in other general work about the hospital, while many of both sexes find employment on the halls and in the dining-rooms assisting the attendants. In these various ways thus indicated about one hundred and fifty are employed more or less constantly. Some others busy themselves in doing fancy work, and a goodly number while away their time in reading the newspapers which are furnished them, and books and magazines from the hospital library, about ninety-five books being taken from the library each week ; still others amuse themselves by playing various games. During the autumn and winter months a variety of entertainments is provided in the chapel each week, consisting of gymnastic exercises, with music, exhibitions of views of home and foreign scenes with the stereopticon, accompanied by descriptive lectures on the localities and objects represented, amateur theatricals, -musical concerts, readings, social dances, and other entertainments as they can be secured, make up the list of exercises which afford mental occupation and direct, the mind from self and morbid fancies. Every Sabbath afternoon religious services are held in the chapel by the different clergymen from the city.

Much attention is given to out-door exercise, and when the weather is suitable the patients walk out daily. During the warm season they spend much time in the open air and in the pleasant grove, which, besides being cool and shady, is made attractive by the songs of birds and the nimble activity of the numerous squirrels, red and gray, which inhabit the woods, and are protected in their rights of eminent domain by all residents of the hospital.

The institution is managed by a board of five trustees, appointed by the Governor and Council, who hold their office for a term of five years, one trustee being appointed each year. One or more members of the board visit the hospital each week, and make a thorough inspection of the wards and other departments, consider the discharge of patients, and any other business relating to the affairs or management of the hospital. The trustees serve without compensation, and give much valuable time to the careful oversight of the institution. There have been but three superintendents since the opening of the hospital. Dr. George S. C. Choate, the first superintendent, was appointed October, 1853, and resigned in April, 1870. Dr. W. W. Godding succeeded him, and continued in the position until July, 1877. Dr. Godding was succeeded by the present superintendent, Dr. John P. Brown.

More than eight thousand patients have been treated within its wards for their various forms of mental disease, of whom not less than thirty per cent. have recovered and returned to their families and society, while a still greater number have been much improved in their mental condition, and others, whose mental infirmities rendered them a burden to their friends, have found it a comfortable home.

The present trustees are Le Baron Russell, Boston ; Oakes A. Ames, Easton ; George How-land, Jr., New Bedford ; William C. Lovering, Taunton, and Simeon Borden, Fall River. Superintendent and Physician, John P. Brown, M.D. ; Assistant Physicians, William H. Gage and Marcello Hutchinson ; Treasurer, John Hittredge.

The Old Colony Historical Society ' received its act of incorporation May 4, 1853, Nathaniel Morton, Samuel Hopkins Emery, Hodges Reed, their associates and successors, being made such a corporation "for the purpose of preserving and perpetuating the history of the Old Colony in Massachusetts, and of collecting and holding documents, books, and memoirs relating to its history." Its first officers were: President, Nathaniel Morton, of Taunton ; Vice-Presidents, S. Hopkins Emery, of Taunton, John Daggett, of Attleborough ; Directors, Mortimer Blake, of Mansfield, Samuel L. Crocker, of Taunton, Ellis Ames, of Canton, Henry B. Wheelwright, of Taunton, William R. Deane, of Boston, Caleb Swan, of Easton ; Recording Secretary and Librarian, Edgar H. Reed, of Taunton ; Corresponding Secretary, John Ordronaux, of Taunton; Treasurer, Hodges Reed, of Taunton. Of these twelve original members and officers seven are still living, three only in Taunton. The meetings have always been held in Taunton, and its collections arc here, although its presenl resident membership of eighty arc distributed through all the towns of the Old Colony. Interesting historical papers are expected at the quarterly meetings, and already two publications have appeared giving the outside world the benefit of these papers.

Its present list of officers are: President, Hon. John Daggett, of Attleborough; Vice-Presidents, Rev. Mortimer Blake, D.D., of Taunton (vacancy by death of Hon. S. L. Crocker, of Taunton, not filled) ; Recording and Corresponding Secretary, Charles A. Reed, Esq., of Taunton ; Treasurer, E. U. Jones, M.D., of Taunton; Librarian, E. C. Arnold, Esq., of Taunton; Historiographer, William E. Fuller, Esq., of Taunton ; Directors, Hon. E. H. Bennett, of Taunton, Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, of Taunton, Hon. John S. Brayton, of Fall River, Gen. E. W. Pierce, of Freetown, James H. Dean, Esq., of Taunton.

Public Library.2 - The Taunton Social Library, Young Men's Library, and the Agricultural Library, numbering respectively four thousand and sixty, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and one hundred and seventy-three volumes, besides five hundred and seventeen volumes of public documents which had been donated to these libraries, all of which were transferred to the city, formed the nucleus of the collection now known as the Public Library of the city of Taunton. A city ordinance and an appropriation gave the library a formal existence in 1866. It will thus be seen that two years alter the incorporation of Taunton as a city a public library free to all inhabitants had been established.

The Taunton Social Library, the oldest of the institutions which were merged in the Public Library, was started in 1825. Among the names of prominent original shareholders we observe that of Theophilus Parsons, afterwards Dane Professor of Law in the Harvard Law School. The proprietors were principal Independent for additions to the shelves to May-day festivals, and to that unfailing resource of young proprietary libraries, courses of lectures. The Young Men's Library Association was also aided in its enterprise by lecture courses, as well as by fairs and levees undertaken by the ladies, and by the subscriptions of public-spirited citizens, the late Samuel 1'-. King, Esq., leading in this direction with several gifts of one hundred dollars each, and ending with the creation of the " King Fund" of one thousand dollars, the income of which was to be expended in the purchase of standard works. Since the transfer this endowment accrues for a like purpose to the benefit of the Public Library.

The sources of income of the library since it became a city institution have been annual appropriations and the dog tax from the city, the interest of the King fund, and the miscellaneous receipts of the library itself. It has been the regular recipient of publications from the Department of the Interior and other departments of the general government, from the Smithsonian Institution, from the district representative and other members of Congress, from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Cobden Club of London, and from various institutions and individuals throughout the country. The largest donations of books from private individuals were those made by the Hon. Edmund H. Bennett, LL.D., S. O. Dunbar, Esq., and the late Mrs. Harriet Baylies Morton. Among early donors were the late Rev. Charles H. Brigham, who during his residence in Taunton and after his removal always manifested an interest in the prosperity of the library, the late Hon. Charles Sumner, J. A. Garfield, M.C., and also the late David Paul Brown, the eminent Philadelphia lawyer, who spent one year of his school life in Taunton.

A catalogue of the combined libraries was pub-" lished at the opening in 1866, and two supplements were issued in 1873 and 1874, each arranged alphabetically under authors and titles. In 1876 a new catalogue, embracing an alphabetical arrangement of authors, with a classified index under thirteen general heads and two hundred and forty-six sub-heads, was undertaken, and was published early in 1878. To this a supplementary catalogue was added in 1881.

The library at the present time numbers nearly twenty thousand volumes. A careful examination of the catalogue we think will show a much smaller proportion of ephemeral literature than usual in such collections. Indeed, it has been the persistent aim of the officers not only to keep out books of an objectionable character, but to provide those which afford the healthiest stimulus to the reader both in his studious and recreative moods. The annual circulation reaches nearly sixty thousand volumes, besides a large number of books which are consulted in the library building. The reading-room, which is supplied with files of the principal newspapers and periodicals of the day, is largely frequented.

The present officers of the library are: Trustees, ex officio, H. L. Cushman, mayor, president; ex officio, George H. Rhodes, president of the Common Council ; Timothy Gordon, Esq., Charles W. Hartshorn, Esq., secretary; Hon. William H. Fox, Charles H. Carver, Esq., Edmund H. Bennett, LL.D., Mortimer Blake, D.D.; Librarian, E. C. Arnold; Assistants, Miss Hattie B. French, Miss Etta Shannon.

The Bristol County Bible Society,1 although not existing now, was for many years active in raising money for the American Bible Society, and supplying destitute families in the county. Its meetings were generally held in Taunton, but its record book has disappeared with the society, and no full account can be given of its origin or its doings.

In an issue of the Bristol Cowity Democrat, " Friday, September 6, 1839," on file among the papers of that enthusiastic antiquarian, Capt. J. W. D. Hall, I find a printed " report of the Taunton and vicinity Bible Society," at what is called its " first annual meeting," presented by " S. Hopkins Emery, Secretary." The receipts of the society for the preceding year had been $570.78. Its officers appointed for the ensuing year were Rev. Erastus Maltby, president; Rev. Edward Neville, Rev. E. B. Bradford, Silas Shepard, Esq., Rev. Alvan Cobb, Wm. A. Crocker, Esq., vice-presidents ; Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, secretary; William Reed, Esq., treasurer; Rev. S. H. Emery, William Reed, Solomon Woodward, Jr., John R. Hixon, Hodges Reed, executive committee. The organization, as it was called, "Oct. 22, 1838," was really a reorganization, as there was a society in existence quite early in the century.

The Good Templars,2 as they are called, belonging to the secret order with the initials I. O. G. T., are organized for the promotion of temperance, and exist in two lodges, the Taunton and the Elizabeth Pool, the former, the oldest, with its headquarters on Main Street, nearly opposite Trescott Street, the latter, not long in existence but flourishing, owning the building which it occupies in Hopewell, on Maple Avenue, out of Bay Street.

The Taunton Reform Club is a temperance organization of several years' standing, which aims at the reformation of the intemperate, and endeavors to protect reformed men. It meets in Cedar Street Chapel.

The Taunton Women's Christian Temperance Union, auxiliary to the State society of the same name, gives its attention particularly to the young, holding monthly meetings with them. These meetings are in Cedar Street Chapel.

The Taunton Humane Society- was organized in 1871, and has for its object the prevention of cruelty to dumb animals and little children. Its president, Hon. Samuel L. Crocker, recently died, and the vacancy has not yet been filled.- Wilbur F. Allen, Esq., is its vice-president ; Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, secretary ; Mr. N. H. Skinner, treasurer ; Mr. Joseph Dean, auditor. Directors, the above named and Mortimer Blake, D.D., Rev. A. B. Hervey, Messrs. J. V. Livingstone, Alden F. Sprague (and one vacancy by death of Charles R. Vickery, Esq.).

Mr. William E. Peck has been for some years the efficient agent of the society. The very existence of the society is a terror and a restraint to those who are inclined to be cruel.

ton as Hon. Samuel White to the profession of law. He leads the list, in the order of time, so far as the record has come down to us. He died July 1, 1737, according to an old registry found in t lie Dan forth family. He was a sou - the eldest - of Ezra, t lie second son of Walter Deane, and was horn Oct. 14, 1680. His mother was daughter of Deacon Samuel Edson, of Bridgewater. He was the lather of the family remarkable for its longevity, eleven of his children living more than a thousand years. Whether the medical skill of the doctor had anything to do witli prolonging these lives we are not informed. Theodora, who married Maj. Richard Godfrey, "died Jan. 14, 1813, aged 100 years, 14 days." She lived to see her children to the fifth generation, and was the mother of Dr. Job Godfrey.

Dr. Job Godfrey, the son of Richard and Theodora (Deane) Godfrey, inherited through his mother a taste for the profession of medicine. It had so conduced, apparently, to the long life of her father's family that it had attractions for her son, and a very eminent member of the profession he became, so monopolizing the business that he might well have been called the " town's physician." He acquired so much of a reputation that the fame thereof has come down to the present time. The inscription on his monument at "the Plain" is trustworthy: "A man of great worth, whose physical, intellectual, and moral powers were remarkably adapted to his sphere of action. Fifty years of unexampled labor and success were testimonials of his excellencies in the healing art, while his zeal to promote the general good was a proof of his benevolence. His heart was alive in all the relations of life. Honor, punctuality, and justice marked his steps. The voice of pain and disease from the obscurest penury reached his ear and commanded his skill. He was justly entitled to the distinguished appellation of the disinterested physician, - a father to the poor. He died Aug. 26, 1813, aged 70 years." His death was sudden, being found dead in his bed. His wife, Abigail Jones, of Raynham, died Nov. 28, 1814, in her seventieth year. They had six children, two sons and four daughters, - Abby, married Abiathar Codding; Betsey, married Elisha Padelford; Sally, married Gilbert Winslow, of Freetown ; Hannah, died single and bequeathed one thousand dollars to the noble object of suitably inclosing the burial-place on the Plain ; John, the eldest son of the doctor, lived to be very old, and was for more than sixty years proprietors' clerk, better conversant with the early history of the town than any other man of his time. His predecessors in office had been Brig.-Gen. George Godfrey, Benjamin Williams, judge of probate and judge of the Court of Common Pleas; Seth Williams, son of Samuel, the eldest son of Richard Williams, also a judge of the Court of Common Pleas; Thomas Leonard, also a judge, and whom William R. Deane, in his genealogical account of the family, calls a " physician," and if so, must have shared the practice with Dr. Ezra Deane - our list of proprietors' clerks, so far as discovered by us, beginning with that model town clerk, Shadrach Wilbore.

Contemporary with Dr. Job Godfrey, in the earlier period of his practice, were two distinguished nanus in the history of Taunton, - Hon. David Cobb, M.D., and Hon. William Baylies, M.D. But Dr. Cobb is better known to the world as " major-general, judge of the courts, president of the Senate, Speaker of the House, member of the Executive Council, and Lieutenant-Governor of the State," filling almost every office in the gift of the people during his eventful life, the story of which is familiar to every Taunton in n as a twice-told tale. The probability is Dr. Cobb was so busily engaged in public affairs that he little interfered with the practice of Dr. Godfrey. Gen. Cobb, of whom we write, the son of Thomas Cobb, married Lydia, the eldest daughter of the Hon. James Leonard. He graduated at Cambridge in 1766.

The Hon. William Baylies was also a man of affairs, - a judge, when doctors of medicine as well as of law were called to the bench as " common-sense judges." Dighton has a joint claim to the reputation of Dr. Baylies, as his residence the latter part of his life was there. The son of Nicholas Baylies, who married Elizabeth Park, of Newton, Mass. William graduated at Harvard University in 1760, and studied medicine with Dr. Tobey, of New Bedford. His wife was Bathsheba, daughter of the Hon. Samuel White, of Taunton. Their daughter Elizabeth married Hon. Samuel Crocker, of Taunton. Their son, Samuel White, studied law with Governor Sullivan, and followed his profession in Dighton, and died single. Hon. William Baylies, of West Bridgewater, also led a single life, and was eminent in the profession of law.

Their only remaining son, Hon. Francis Baylies, achieved a great reputation as a man of culture ami learning, and his only child, Mrs. Nathaniel Morton, has recently died without issue. Thus the family once so prominent may be said to have become extinct.

We visit the burial-places of Taunton to learn the names of other physicians who were in practice in the last century. On the Dighton road, half a mile south of the Weir, may be found the following inscriptions:

These inscriptions prove, we think, there were two physicians by the name of Micah Pratt, father and son, who practiced medicine in Taunton during the lasl century.

The woman " murthered" was Dr. McKinstry's sister, the details of which tragic event the aged people of the last generation were in the habit of narrating, as also how Dr. McKinstry, the Scotchman and Tory, was forced to leave town, never to return.

In addition to the names of McKinstry, Caswel, Pratt, we have heard those of Ephraim Otis, a graduate of Harvard University in 175G, who practiced in Scituate as well as Taunton, and of Dr. Macomber.

Dr. Charles Howe, in a notice of Taunton physicians, published in the Bristol County Republican in 1868, makes mention of Dr. Philip Padelford, son of John and Jemima Padelford, born in Taunton, 1753, graduated from Brown University, 1773, who studied with Dr. Tobey, of New Bedford, and who died Aug. 27, 1815, in the sixty-second year of his age; married, first, to Mary Drown, who died in 1780; second, to Elizabeth, daughter of Elijah Macomber, to whom were -born eight children. The doctor practiced in East Taunton and the vicinity, living on the Middleborough road, just beyond the Congregational Church near the brook. He is buried in a private yard not far from where he lived. His son, Elijah M., was also a physician, born in 1785, and married to Mary Goodwin. They had one child. Dr. Elijah died Feb. 13, 1824, aged thirty-eight years, one month, two days. He is supposed to have succeeded to his father's practice. His house was two miles beyond his father's, on the Middleborough' road, at its junction with the Richmondtown road, near Chase's Station on the Taunton and Middleborough Railroad.

Dr. Howe also gives an account of Dr. Amos Allen, born in Providence, Nov. 7, 1783, the son of Amos and Mary (Macomber) Allen, graduated from Brown University in 1805, and who studied with Dr. Miller, of Franklin, Mass., practicing first in Franklin and Berkley, and afterwards removing to East Taunton in 1824. He died in 1836, April 23d, in his fifty-fourth year. He occupied the house of Dr. Elijah M. Padelford, and succeeded to his practice.

Dr. Foster Swift practiced as a physician in Taunton the earlier part of the present century. He was the son of a lawyer in Boston, and was gifted with much wit and good humor. He served for a time in the renowned apothecary establishment of Dr. Joseph Gardner in Boston. He married a Delano of Nantucket, and first settled in Dartmouth. On coming to Taunton, late in the last century, he opened an apothecary-shop opposite the northwest corner of the Green, not far from the present police headquarters.

Mr. Daniel Brewer had an earlier drug-store, coming to Taunton in 1785. Dr. Swift was one time very intimate with the eccentric and somewhat erratic John Foster, but losing confidence in him, preferred charges against his ministerial character, seventeen in all. His wily antagonist escaped out of his hands. The doctor left for Boston, where he received the appointment of United States Hospital surgeon, which he retained until he died in 1835, at the age of seventyfive.

Dr. Jones Godfrey was the son of Dr. Job Godfrey, so long the leading physician of the place. Graduated at Brown University in 1793. The son studied with his father, and was associated with him in practice for some twenty years, succeeding him another score of years nearly, when he died Dec. 11, 1831, aged sixty-one. He occupied the house of his father, still standing, venerable for age, the second on the right beyond the Neck o' Land Bridge. Unlike his father, he never married, and had a contempt for riches, collecting no bills, and not troubling himself to keep any accounts with his patients. He had the reputation of a skillful physician and a most humane man.

Dr. George Leonard, the son of Samuel Leonard, Esq., of Taunton, was of patrician descent. His father was one of Taunton's most eminent citizens. He was an " enterprising merchant." The " Leonard house," at the " Four Corners" in Hopewell, was and still is one of the landmarks of the place. The father died in 1807. One of his daughters, Mary B., married Thomas Bush, Esq. One of his sons, Ezekiel B., was also a " merchant" in Taunton. Dr. George, who studied with Dr. Thatcher, of Plymouth, succeeded to the practice of Dr. Foster Swift in 1806. He married Eliza, daughter of Judge Fales. Their home was at the corner of Broadway and Leonard Streets. Dr. Leonard was long in the profession, and had a large practice. He was considered a skillful physician. Born Feb. 12, 1783, he died Feb. 28, 1865. His wife died March 27, 1854. They had four children. The doctor lies buried on "the Plain," by the side of many other Leonards, thus rendering true the rhyme of olden time, found in the North burying-ground, -

(Bailey) Dawes. The father was pastor of the Unitarian Church in Scituate, a native of Bridgewater, the son of Samuel Dawes. Born in 175(5, he graduated at Harvard College in 1785, and studied theology with Dr. Wigglesworth, of Cambridge. He was ordained at Scituate in 1787, and married to Elizabeth, daughter of Col. John Bailey, of Hanover, Mass., in 1789. Their children were William and Ebenezer, the father dying the same year Ebenezer was born, and a little more than two years after marriage. He was amiable and of excellent Christian character, but of delicate constitution. His widow was afterwards twice married, - first to John Lucas, of Brookline, Mass. ; second, to Dr. Williams, of Deerfield, Mass., whom she survived.

Ebenezer attended school at Hingham, Mass., Portland, Me., and elsewhere. He chose medicine as his profession, and attended medical lectures in Boston in 1811.

The distinguished Usher Parsons', M.D., of Providence, who was with him in the medical college, writes, "He was a diligent student and much esteemed by the class for his close application and gentlemanly deportment, and highly respected by the professors." He opened his office in Taunton in 1813. He secured a large practice, which he retained for half a century. Dr. Dawes was married, March 7, 1822, to the widow of Oliver Shepard, merchant, of Wrentham, and brother of Hon. Silas Shepard, of Taunton. Her maiden name was Sarah Whitehorn Cooke, daughter of Daniel Cooke, who was the sixth son and tenth child of Nicholas Cooke, Governor of Rhode Island, 1774-77. Her mother was Sarah Whitehorn, of Newport, R. I. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Dawes were: (1) Sarah Elizabeth, wife of N. M. Childs, Esq., of Syracuse, N. Y.; (2) Ebenezer, present pastor of the Congregational Church in Lakeville, Mass., who married Anna Maria Bosworth ; (3) James Lincoln, residing in Englewood, N. J., who married Eliza Franklin, of Providence ; (4) Daniel Cooke, who married Emily Matilda, daughter of Judge Morton, and resided in Brooklyn, N. Y., but is not living; (5) Charles Edward, who died in infancy. The family homestead was on Washington Street, not far from Pleasant. Mrs. Dawes died of consumption Sept. 29, 1838, aged forty-nine.

The doctor died April 20, 1861, about seven weeks after he had completed his seventieth year. Dyspepsia and lung troubles had required strict attention to diet, and the utmost prudence for many years. But he was devoted to his patients, much trusted and beloved by them. Dr. Parsons, an eminent practitioner, said of him, " I often met Dr. Dawes in consultation. He was faithful, laborious and successful, and strictly fair, in his intercourse with professional brethren by whom he was greatly esteemed."

Writes his son, Rev. Ebenezer Dawes, " .My father was very benevolent and kind-hearted. He visited poor families from whom he could not expect compensation. In manner- he was a gentleman of the old school. He was very polite, according to the best definition of politeness, ' benevolence in trifles.' He always possessed and evinced in all his language and deportment a delicate regard to the feelings of others. It seemed impossible for him to do a rude, ungentlemanly act, at least he was never known to commit one. In the sick-room especially his natural kindliness and gentleness, with the confidence reposed in his skill, made him most welcome. Seldom has a physician been equally loved by his patients." This son continues, "My father had always a great respeel for religion, and contributed regularly and freely for the support of preaching, and so far as he could, attended divine service. He seemed to be greatly sustained and comforted in his last years by trust in God. Among his last words were these, ' God be merciful to me a sinner.' "

On the occasion of his funeral at the Congrega-, tional Church, Rev. Mr. Maltby preached, and the physicians of the city acted as bearers. Thus the beloved physician was laid down to rest in the family tomb in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Dr. Alfred Baylies, of whom a notice is prepared by another hand, filled a large space in the medical practice of Taunton for many years. The writer of this has a distinct and tender remembrance of him as his own family physician. He wishes to put these few lines on record as a slight tribute of respect to his memory, a token of affectionate remembrance of one who for generations was a familiar and most welcome attendant on the sick and the dying in so many Taunton homes. His house was the simple, unpretending cottage on Spring Street, not far from the bridge, toward High Street.

Dr. William Gordon was in practice in Taunton eight or nine years, and died in 1851, at the age of sixty-eight. He was buried in Hingham. Dr. Gordon had seven children, two of whom were physicians, Charles, in Boston, a graduate of Brown University, and William A., in Taunton and New Bedford, a graduate of Harvard University. His daughter Helen was the wife of George Augustus Crocker, of Taunton, and his son, Capt. Timothy Gordon, has long been connected with the house of Crocker Brothers.

Dr. Henry Babcock Hubbard has been noticed in the narrative of the members of the Massachusetts Medical Society, by Dr. Presbrey, and is' named here as prominent in the practice of Taunton in a preceding generation, and who is worthily succeeded in practice by his son, Charles Thatcher.

Dr. Charles Howe, in the notice of the profession to which I have already referred, writes of Dr. Dan. King, son of John and .lane (Knight) King, of Mansfield, Conn., born Jan. '27, 1791, and who, after practicing in Preston and < rroton, ( 'mm., and Charlestown and Woonsocket, R. I., came to Taunton in 1848, remaining till 1S5'I, when he continued practice in Greenville, R, I., where he died Nov. 13, 1864.

Dr. George Barrows was long in practice in Taunton, the father and founder, you might say, of the j homoeopathic school in the place, and he is worthily noticed by another hand in another place. We would record our high esteem for the man, and recall the j " loud lamentation" of the people, as they accompanied all that was mortal of the man they loved to his last resting-place in Mount Pleasant.

Besides these deceased members of the profession, there are at present in active practice Stephen A. Allen, John S. Andrews, Elton J. Bassett, George W. Bourne, A. Sumner Deane, Dautajne Desnoyes, Byron L. Dwinell, E. R. Eaton, Eugene T. Galligan', Michael Charles Golden, Joseph W. Hayward, Charles Howe, Charles Thatcher Hubbard, Frank A. Hubbard, Simeon P. Hubbard, Elijah U. Jones, Joseph Murphy, Nomus Paige, Emma A. Phillips, Silas D. Presbrey, N. M. Ransom, James A. Robinsen, Walter S. Robinson, Augusta A. Steadman, Waldo Stone, Caleb Swan, Frederic D. Tripp, Alfred W. Wilmarth, Alfred Wood. The following gentlemen are connected with the State Lunatic Asylum : John P. Brown, William H. Gage, Marcello Hutchinson.

The Mount Pleasant Cemetery.1 - This history has to do with the dead as well as the living. Comparatively few of Taunton's inhabitants are above the sod. The thousands of the half a score of generations who have come and gone since Taunton had a being lie entombed in her many consecrated yards, of some of which a fitting account has been given elsewhere. It is proposed in this brief paper to make special mention of only one of them, Mount Pleasant Cemetery.