Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Chapter 25: The Town of Norfolk, 1918

Chapter 25: The Town of Norfolk

Norfolk is situated in the westerly part of the county. On the north it is bounded by Medfield and Millis, being separated from the latter for a short distance by the Charles River ; on the east by Walpole ; on the south by Wrentham ; and on the west by Franklin. A little of the boundary line on the southeast is formed by the Town of Foxboro, and the Stop River forms a portion of the boundary line between Norfolk and Walpole. The general surface is quite similar to that of the surrounding towns - rolling, and in some places hilly. There are a few ponds and some small streams, tributaries of the Charles and Stop rivers.

Early History

The general history of Norfolk is uneventful. When the Town of Wrentham was incorporated in October, 1673, it included the greater part of the present Town of Norfolk, and the territory remained attached to Wrentham for nearly two centuries. The first settlements were made here while the town was still a part of Wrentham and the early history is therefore incorporated in the chapter relating to that town. Among the early settlers in this section were the Blakes, Days, Holbrooks, Manns, Ponds, Richardsons, Wares and several other families whose names have become intimately interwoven with the affairs of Norfolk County.

In 1 791 the warrant for a town meeting in Wrentham contained an article - "To see if the inhabitants are satisfied with the Rev. David Avery as a Gospel Minister," and "provided that if the major part of the town are satisfied with the Rev. David Avery, to see if the town will consent that any persons who are dissatisfied may go to any other society to do duty and receive privilege," etc.

Most of those who were dissatisfied with Mr. Avery as a minister lived in the northern part of Wrentham. Although no action was taken upon the above mentioned article at the town meeting, the fact that it was inserted in the warrant was an acknowledgment that the dissatisfaction existed. Mr. Avery continued to exercise the duties of pastor and early in the fall of 1795 a call was issued by some of the leaders in the northern part of the Town of Wrentham for the inhabitants of that section to meet on "Tuesday, September 29th next for the purpose of knowing the minds of our inhabitants for building a meeting house for public and social worship at the said north end."

'rne meeting was well attended and after considerable discussion it was decided to build a meeting house. A lengthy subscription paper was drawn up (probably in advance of the meeting), giving the reasons for such action, and this was signed by thirty-eight of the most influential men in that part of Wrentham, pledging the aggregate sum of $1,244 for the purpose of building a meeting house and employing a minister to their liking. It seems that the Town of Wrentham offered no objection and in this way the present Town of Norfolk became the North Parish of Wrentham.

Incorporation Of The Town

Norfolk continued as the Wrentham North Parish for about one and a quarter centuries. In 1869 a petition to the General Court was prepared and circulated among the inhabitants, asking that the North Parish, with portions of the towns of Franklin, Medway and Walpole, be incorporated as a town. The petition came before the next session of the General Court, and on February 23, 1870, the following act was approved :

"Section 1. All the territory now within the towns of Wrentham, Franklin, Medway and Walpole, in the County of Norfolk, comprised writhin the following limits, that is to say : Beginning at a point on Charles River, in the northwest angle of Wrentham, and following in an easterly course the present line of division between Wrentham and Medfield to Stop River; thence running southerly along said river, and separated by the thread of its stream from Walpole, to a point forty rods north of the mouth of the first brook running into said river below Campbell's Mills, on the easterly side ; thence from said point, by a straight line, running to the junction of Back and Bird streets in Walpole ; thence with the easterly side of said Bird Street to its junction with West Street ; thence westerly by the northerly side of West Street twenty-five rods ; thence southerly, and near to and westerly from the barn belonging to the home estate of Charles Bird, until said line strikes Stop River one hundred and twenty rods southerly from West Street ; thence along said river as far as Wrentham and Walpole are separated by the thread of its stream ; thence by a straight line, running westerly of the Walpole almshouse and easterly of the farm buildings of Patrick Reardon, and easterly of the Dupee Blake place, so called, to a point on the line between Walpole and Foxborough, one hundred and twenty-five rods northeasterly from Dedham Rock; thence from said point, following the present line of division between Wrentham and Foxborough, to Dedham Rock ; thence southerly from said rock along the present line of Wrentham and Foxborough to a point on said line on the southerly side of Pine Street : thence by a straight line to a point on the westerly side of Everett Street, northerly of the house of Edmund T. Everett and southerly of the Pondville Cemetery, to a point on the westerly side of North Street, five rods southerly of the farm buildings of Samuel J. Benn ; thence through the Stony Brook reservoir, near to the house of E. S. Nash, to a point on the line between Franklin and Wrentham, ninety rods southerly of the house of Eliphalet Lawrence ; thence running northerly by a straight line, near to and west of the farm buildings of the home estate of J. E. Pollard, near the Elliot Felting Mills, near to and thirty-five rods west of the present residence of Saul B. Scott, to the southern extremity of Populatic Pond; thence along the western shore of said pond, at low-water mark, to Charles River ; thence in an easterly course upon Charles River, and separated by the thread of its stream from Medway, to the center of the iron bridge over said river; thence upon the thread of said river to the bridge of the Medway branch railroad ; thence along the southerly side of said railroad twenty-eight rods to a point ; thence from said point by a straight line running in a northeasterly course, passing southeasterly of and near to the village of Deanville, near to and south of the old barn belonging to John Barber, to a point on Baltimore Street two rods from said barn ; thence by a straight line to the easterly side of the great bend in Charles River and near the old fording place ; thence upon said river and separated by the thread of its stream from Medway to the point of beginning - is hereby incorporated into a town by the name of Norfolk ; and said Town of Norfolk is hereby invested with all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and is subject to all the duties and requisitions to which the other towns are entitled and subjected by the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth."

Section 2 relates to arrears of taxes assessed upon the inhabitants of Norfolk by the towns from which territory was taken, which were to be paid to the said towns as if this act had not been passed.

Section 3 provides for the support of paupers, and Section 4 that "Norfolk shall retain the school houses within its limits and shall assume and pay its just and equitable proportions, according to its present assessed valuation, of any debt due or owing from the towns of Wrentham and Franklin, respectively, at the time of the passage of this act, and shall be entitled to receive from said towns, respectively, its just and equitable proportion, according to said assessed valuation, of all the corporate property then owned by the said towns of Wrentham and Franklin," etc.

"Section 6. Any justice of the peace within and for the County of Norfolk may issue his warrant, directed to any principal inhabitant of the Town of Norfolk, requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants thereof, qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at the time and place appointed for the purpose of choosing all such town officers as towns are by law authorized and required to choose at their annual meetings ; and said warrant shall be served by posting up copies thereof, attested by the person to whom the same is directed, in three public places in said town, seven days at least before such meeting. Such justice of the peace, or, in his absence, such principal inhabitant, shall preside until the choice of a moderator in said meeting. The selectmen of the towns of Wrentham, Franklin, Medway and Walpole, shall, before said meeting, prepare a list of voters from their respective towns within said Norfolk, qualified to vote at said meeting, and shall deliver the same to the person presiding at said meeting before the choice of a moderator thereof."

First Town Meeting

Under the provisions of Section 6, the first town meeting in Norfolk was held on Monday, March 7, 1870. It was called to order by Saul B. Scott, the justice who had issued the warrant, and during the voting for moderator, Rev. Daniel Round checked the lists of voters that had been furnished by the selectmen of Wrentham, Franklin, Medway and Walpole. Albert G. Hills was chosen moderator, after which the following town officers were elected : Saul B. Scott, Levi Mann and Erastus Dupee, selectmen ; Silas E. Fales, clerk ; James H. Haines, George E. Holbrook and Elisha Rockwood, assessors ; William E. Codding, treasurer ; George P. Cody and Albert E. Dupee, constables; J. K. Bragg, Lothrop C. Keith and Daniel J. Holbrook, school committee ; Charles Jordan and Darius Ware, fence viewers; Levi Mann and Oren C. Ware, surveyors of lumber. The meeting closed by a vote of thanks to Mr. Hills for his efficient and impartial services as moderator, and another to Silas E. Fales and William A. Jepson for the gift of a ballot-box.

Town Hall

When the Town of Norfolk was incorporated it came into possession of the old North Parish Church, which was erected in 1796, and which was used just as it was for several years as a town house. In 1879 the building was thoroughly remodeled and a tower erected, in which is a clock presented to the town by Josiah Ware. The building stands upon an eminence and its tower commands a fine view of the surrounding country.

About 1819, sixty-one years before the Town of Norfolk was incorporated, Eli Richardson built the stone store building at City Mills and secured an appointment as postmaster of the office established soon after the building was completed. This was the first postoffice within the present limits of the Town of Norfolk. Some years later an office was established at the "Centre" and was given the name of Norfolk. Deanville, in the northwestern part, and Pondville, in the southeastern part, were once postoffices, but they have been discontinued. The only postoffices in the town on July 1, 191 7, were those at Norfolk and City Mills.

The Present Norfolk

In 1910 the population of Norfolk, according to the United States census, was 960. The state census of 191 5 reported a population of 1,268, a gain of 308 in five years. There is some manufacturing done in the town, but the principal occupation is agriculture. The Boston & Willimantic division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway system passes through the town, with stations at Norfolk and City Mills, and the Boston & Providence division of the same system touches the southeast corner, with a station at Pondville. In 1915 the assessed valuation of property was $1,111,482. In that year Norfolk re- ported the smallest population of any town in the county except Dover, and the smallest property valuation except the towns of Bellingham and Plainville. The town has a good public school system, churches of different denominations, but is without either a bank or a newspaper. Norfolk, Deanville, City Mills and Pondville are all supplied with general stores and are trading centers for the surrounding agricultural districts.