Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Chapter 19: The Town of Holbrook, 1918

Chapter 19: The Town of Holbrook

GENERAL DESCRIPTION - POLITICAL HISTORY - RANDOLPH OPPOSED TO THE ORGANIZATION OF A NEW TOWN* - THE ORGANIC ACT - EARLY TOWN MEETINGS - TOWN

Holbrook is one of the small towns of Norfolk County. It is situated in the southeastern part and is bounded on the north by Braintree; on the east by Weymouth ; on the south by Plymouth County ; and on the west by the towns of Randolph and Avon. The Cochato River forms the boundary line between Holbrook and Randolph and there are a few small streams in the town, part of which are tributary to the Cochato and the others flow southwardly into Plymouth County. The general surface of the town is undulating, though the hills here are not so well defined as in some other sections of the county.

Political History

Holbrook was originally a part of Braintree. When the Town of Randolph was set off from Braintree on March 9, 1793, it included the present Town of Holbrook, which remained a part of Randolph for nearly eighty years. The early history of the town is therefore embraced in the chapters on Braintree and Randolph. For many years the people living east of the Old Colony (now the New York, New Haven & Hartford) Railroad discussed in a desultory sort of way the advisability of dividing Randolph and establishing a new town east of the railroad or the Cochato River. Two meetings to consider this subject were held in January, 1867, but there was such a diversity of opinion that the matter was dropped for the time being. One thing, however, was demonstrated, and that was that the majority of the citizens of East Randolph, as that portion of the town was called, were in favor of the erection of a new town, the lack of unanimity occurring mainly on matters of minor detail.

Early in the fall of 1871 those who most earnestly desired the separation of Randolph and the establishment of a new town, began work in earnest. Their efforts culminated in a citizens' meeting, which was largely attended, on Tuesday evening, December 5, 1871. L. S. Whitcomb was called to the chair and E. F. Lincoln was elected secretary. As soon as the meeting was organized by the election of these officers, Frank W. Lewis offered the following: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that it is expedient that the portion of Randolph lying east of the Old Colony & Newport Railroad be set off from the main town and incorporated as a new town."

After some discussion the resolution was adopted with only one dissenting vote. The next day a petition, signed by Elisha N. Holbrook and thirteen other residents of the territory it was proposed to include in the new town, was filed in the office of the secretary of state, and on the 8th a copy of the petition was served upon the Town of Randolph by a deputy sheriff. Another meeting was held on Saturday evening, December 9, 1871, at which Elisha N. Hoibrook offered to give to the new town, in the event of its incorporation, the sum of $50,000, of which $25,000 should be used for the purpose of erecting a town hall and establishing a public library, and the remainder for the payment of the town debt which it might be necessary to assume if set off from Randolph.

At the meeting of December 9, 1 871, it was voted that the Legislature be petitioned to establish a new town, to be called Holbrook, and that E. W. Morton of Boston be engaged to look after the interests, as counsel, of the advocates of division. The petition was presented in the state senate early in January, 1872, by Senator Carpenter of Foxboro. Up to this time the people of the western portion of Randolph had not given serious thought to the project. Now they began to bestir themselves. A meeting was held in Stetson Hall on January 18, 1872, "to take action on the petition of E. N. Holbrook and others." At that meeting it was voted to appoint a committee to oppose the division of the town, and to instruct the representative in the Legislature, Ludovicus F. Wild of East Randolph, "to carry out the expressed wish of the town, or resign." Many citizens of the eastern part of the town were present at the meeting and voiced their protest, but they were outvoted, as had often occurred before. Hearings before the Legislative committee on towns began on the 24th of January, Mr. Morton appearing in behalf of the petitioners, and B. W. Harris for the remonstrants. Before the hearings were concluded Elisha N. Holbrook died on February 5, 1872.

Mr. Holbrooks' death cast a gloom over the people of East Randolph, but they went on with the fight. On February 8, 1872, the senate committee reported a bill for the incorporation of the Town of Holbrook, which was finally passed by that body on the 13th, by a vote of twenty-five to ten. Then began the contest in the house, where the most serious opposition was encountered. After hearing both petitioners and remonstrants in the committee rooms, the bill was reported for passage, though both sides were indefatigable in trying to secure enough votes to enact or defeat the bill, as the case might be. On the 19th, after being debated for the greater part of two days, the bill passed its first reading by a vote of 113 to 91. The bill was finally passed and was approved on February 29, 1872, by the governor.

The Organic Act

a straight line to a point six feet westerly from the northwesterly corner in range of the northerly side of the so-called East Randolph station-house of the Old Colony & Newport Railroad Company ; thence the same or other southwesterly course to a point on the town line dividing Randolph and Stoughton, one hundred and fourteen rods southeasterly from the town stone monument in said lastmentioned dividing line, at the southerly terminus of Main Street in said Randolph ; thence southeasterly, northeasterly, northerly and westerly as the present dividing line between said Randolph and Stoughton, North Bridgewater, Abington, Weymouth and Braintree runs, to the first-mentioned bound, is hereby incorporated into a town by the name of Holbrook ; and said Town of Holbrook is hereby invested with all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and is subject to all the duties and requisitions to which other towns are entitled and subjected by the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth.

"Section 2. The inhabitants of said Town of Holbrook shall be holden to pay all arrears of taxes which have been legally assessed upon them by the Town of Randolph, and all taxes heretofore assessed and not collected shall be collected and paid to the treasurer of the Town of Randolph in the same manner as if this act had not been passed ; and also their proportion of all County and State taxes that may be assessed upon them previously to the taking of the next State valuation, said proportion to be ascertained and determined by the last valuation in the said Randolph.

"Section 3. Said towns of Randolph and Holbrook shall be respectively liable for the support of all persons who now do or shall hereafter stand in need of relief as paupers, whose settlement was gained by or derived from a settlement gained or derived within their respective limits ; and the Town of Holbrook shall also pay annually to the Town of Randolph one-third part of all costs of the support or relief of those persons who now do or shall hereafter stand in need of relief of support as paupers, and have gained a settlement in said Town of Randolph in consequence of the military services of themselves or those through whom they derive their settlement.

"Section 4. The corporate property belonging to the Town of Randolph at the date of this act, and the public debt of the said town existing at said date, shall be divided between the towns of Randolph and Holbrook according to the valuation of the property within their respective limits as assessed May 1, 1871 ; and said Town of Holbrook shall receive from said Town of Randolph a proportionate part of whatever amount may hereafter be refunded to the Town of Randolph from the State or United States to reimburse said Town of Randolph for bounties to soldiers, or State aid paid to soldiers' families after deducting all reasonable expenses ; and said Town of Holbrook shall bear the expense of making the survey and establishing the line between said towns of Randolph and Holbrook."

Early Town Meetings

The first town meeting in Holbrook was held in the East Parish meeting house on March 11, 1872. Lemuel S. Whitcomb was chosen moderator, after which the meeting proceeded to the election of town officers, with the following result : John Adams, E. W. Thayer and Lemuel S. Whitcomb, selectmen, assessors and overseers of the poor ; Frank W. Lewis, clerk and treasurer ; Jacob Whitcomb, collector of taxes ; Ludovicus Wild, Newton White and Nathaniel E. Hobart, auditors ; Hiram Belcher, Thomas West and Royal Thayer, fence viewers; Samuel L. White, S. R. Hodge and Z. P. Jordan, constables ; Warren Thayer, sealer of weights and measures ; Edward Belcher and Samuel D. Chase, engineers of the fire department ; Frank W. Lewis, Barton Howard and Charles H. Paine, school committee. One of the early business transactions to come before the Holbrook town meetings for consideration was the adjustment of the town's proportion of the Randolph debt, in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the act of incorporation. After the subject had been discussed in several town meetings, an arrangement was made with Randolph by which the selectmen of the two towns were appointed to adjust the indebtedness and divide the town property. The joint committee met several times and finally presented to the citizens of the two towns for their approval a report of the manner in which the town property had been divided and an itemized statement of the public debt. The documents were signed by all the selectmen and the one relating to the division of the debt bore the following indorsement: "Randolph, March 19, 1873. It is hereby agreed and certified that there has been paid by the Town of Holbrook to the Town of Randolph the balance of indebtedness as within stated, amounting to $14,988.94, with interest on the same from February 1 to March 1, 1873, °f $74-94. making $15,063.88." This sum was paid out of the fund left by Elisha N. Holbrook.

Town Hall

In 1873 tne town erected a town hall on Franklin Street, just south of Linfield, adjoining the Winthrop Church. It was a frame building, with brick basement, forty-eight by ninety feet in dimensions, and two stories high. On the main floor at the rear were provided quarters for the public library. Early on Christmas morning in 1877, fire broke out in the building and both it and the church were totally destroyed.

Immediately after the fire, the citizens took the preliminary steps for the erection of a new town hall, which was completed and dedicated on March 26, 1879. It is a brick edifice, the main portion of which is fifty-three by one hundred feet, with forty-four feet wings on either side. On the main floor are two rooms used for mercantile purposes,, rooms for the town officers and quarters for the public library. The main hall on the second floor is fifty by ninety feet. A stone tablet in the front wall of the building bears the inscription :

On the last day of February, 1898, the town hall was again seriously damaged by fire, but was immediately repaired, a few changes being made in the original design. The building was once more brought into use on June 11, 1898.

About half past five o'clock on the morning of March 2, 1916, fire was discovered in the town hall. A general alarm was sounded, the fire department and many of the citizens promptly responded and the building was saved without serious damage. The cause of the fire was defective electric wiring. As the struc- ture had to be repaired, the town took advantage of the occasion to make a number of changes and altogether the sum of $11,138.89 was expended in the repairs and alterations, giving Holbrook a town house that is modern in every respect and ample for the needs of the town for years to come.

How The Town Was Named

A. E. Sproul, writing in 1884, concerning the manner in which the town received its name, says : "The idea which still remains current to a considerable extent, particularly outside the borders of the present town, that Mr. Holbrook made his munificent gift conditional upon the proposed town being named for him, deserves emphatic contradiction at the hands of the present writer, based upon the most reliable contemporary testimony. At the meeting where the generous proposal was made, the citizens assembled at once brought forward the name 'Holbrook' for the new town, and it received almost unanimous approval by the townspeople. The name was adopted not so much in honor of any one man as in recognition of a family of old residents, who had become wealthy in the prosecution of legitimate business, and who had always shown themselves enterprising and public spirited, and alive to the interests of the community with which they were for so many years identified. At the meeting of December 9th, therefore, it was immediately voted that the Legislature be petitioned to name the new town Holbrook, if incorporated, and three cheers were given for the name, and three more and a vote of thanks for Mr. Holbrook."

The Town Seal

The corporate seal of Holbrook, which was adopted soon after the town government was organized, is of neat and appropriate design. In the center of a circular field is a shield bearing a portrait of Elisha N. Holbrook, and above the portrait are the words "Cochato, 1634." To the right of the shield are a plow and scythe, and to the left an anvil and hammer, typifying the agricultural and manufacturing interests of the town. Above the shield is an arm brandishing a drawn sword, signifying that Holbrook can be relied on to do her part in war as well as in peace. In the upper left of the circular field is the legend: "Braintree - 1640" and in the upper right, "Randolph - T793." showing Holbrook's civic connections before it was organized as a separate town. In a circle around the margin of the seal is the inscription : "Town of Holbrook, Mass., Incorporated 1872."

By the act of May 8, 1885, the towns of Braintree, Randolph and Holbrook were severally or jointly authorized to supply themselves with water from Great Pond, to construct buildings, lay pipes, etc., and for the construction of such waterworks, buildings and pipes, each town was authorized to issue bonds in any sum not exceeding $100,000. The act was to become effective when it was accepted by a two-thirds vote of any or all the towns.

Braintree made other arrangements about a water supply, but the towns of Holbrook and Randolph accepted the provisions of the act and jointly constructed a system of waterworks to supply the citizens with water for domestic purposes and provide better protection against loss by fire. Subsequently Holbrook was authorized to issue additional bonds to the amount of $35,000 to complete her portion of the works. A pumping station was built at Great Pond and standpipes erected in each of the towns, and the water was turned into the mains in the summer of 1886. (See also the chapter on Randolph.)

During the year 1916 the board of water commissioners laid 6,122 feet of new main, most of it of six inch pipe. In his report of the condition of the works, Herbert S. Child, the town auditor, says : "The receipts of this year show a marked increase over last year, the uncollected accounts are about $600.00 more and the surplus of revenue is $2,129.56. These figures certainly prove that the year 19 16 was a prosperous year, which is due to the able and efficient management of the commissioners."

Fire Department

Holbrook has two fire stations - one adjoining the town hall and the other at Brookville, in the southern part of the town. Each station is equipped with hook and ladder truck and hose wagon, and the hydrant service of the waterworks is extended to all parts of the town. According to the report of the board of engineers for the year 1916, the expense of maintaining the department was $1,863.57, and twenty-two calls were answered, two of which were false alarms. The members of the department receive pay only for the time actually employed at fires, or in work connected with the department.

Holbrook had no corporate existence at the time of the Civil war, being then a part of Randolph. However, a number of men living within the borders of the present town enlisted in some of the Massachusetts volunteer regiments and served their country throughout the war. At the annual town meeting on March 1, 1916, a communication was received from E. E. Holbrook offering to pay one half the cost of a soldiers' monument, to commemorate the valor of those who sacrificed their lives in defense of the Union. The meeting extended a vote of thanks to Mr. Holbrook for his generous offer and referred the matter to a committee composed of the following citizens : Charles E. Brown, W. B. Emery, George E. Kent, John King, Charles S. Ludden, Patrick A. Mack, Charles H. McCarter, Arthur W. Paine and E. N. Thayer.

At a special meeting on October 11, 1916, the committee reported in favor of erecting a monument, the cost of which should not exceed three thousand dollars, to be located in the park near the town hall, and that Mr. Holbrook would contribute $1,500 of the amount. The meeting then voted to appropriate $1,500, to be taken from the tax levy of 191 7, and that Louis E. Flye, Philip H. Fraher, J. F. Megley, John W. Porter, H. H. Sampson and Ellis A. White be added to the committee, which should have full charge of the fund and the construction of the monument. The design selected was that of Thomas Carrigg & Son of Holbrook. It consists of a pedestal of Westerly granite, upon which is the figure of an infantry soldier in bronze, seven feet high, marching with his musket at a "right shoulder shift." Upon the front of the pedestal in neat raised letters is the inscription : "This memorial is erected to honor those who offered their lives to gain and preserve the liberty of this nation." The monument was dedicated on May 30, 1917.

Holbrook Today

Holbrook is what might be termed an average town. In 1915 eleven of the twenty-eight towns in Norfolk County reported a smaller population, and seven showed a lower valuation of property. The population at that time was 2,948, a gain over the United States census of 1910 of 132, and the valuation of property was $1,990,337. The Boston & Middleboro division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad passes through the town, and the transportation facilities are augmented by the electric line that runs from Quincy to Brockton. Holbrook has six public school buildings, churches of different denominations, some of the fraternal organizations are represented by lodges, there is a good public library, the streets are well kept and lighted by electricity, parks and playgrounds have been provided for recreation and the accommodation of the children, and there are postoffices at Holbrook and Brookville. Formerly there were several shoe factories in the town, but only one concern of this character remains, the others having either been discontinued or removed to other locations.

Following is a list of the principal town officers at the beginning of the year 1917: George W. Porter, John King and Ira W. Paine, selectmen and overseers of the poor; Zenas A. French, clerk; Eugene Snell, treasurer; Frank W. Holbrook, tax collector ; George W. Porter, Charles H. McCarter and A. C. Belcher, assessors ; Frank L. Hayden, W. F. Bourbeau and Arthur W. Paine, water' commissioners ; Philip H. Fraher, George E. White and James A. Windle, park commissioners ; Melvin Coulter, Ellis A. White and George A. Nason, fire engineers ; Herbert S. Child, auditor; S. B. Field, Frank T. White and Mrs. Sibyl Niles, school committee.