Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Chapter 29: The Town of Randolph, 1918

Chapter 29: The Town of Randolph

Randolph lies in the southeastern portion of Norfolk County. On the north it is bounded by the Town of Milton and the City of Quincy; on the east by Braintree ; on the southeast by Holbrook ; and on the west by Canton and Stough ton. Great Pond lies on the line between Randolph and Braintree, and Ponkapoag Pond on the line between Randolph and Canton. The Blue Hill or Monatiquot River forms the northern boundary line, and there are several small streams flowing into Great Pond. The surface is generally rolling, but in the valleys are fertile farms and fine orchards, giving the town an air of thrift and prosperity.

Civic History

Randolph has been called the daughter of Braintree and the mother of Holbrook. When Braintree was incorporated in 1640 it embraced the present towns of Braintree, Quincy, Randolph and Holbrook. Fifty years later the population numbered nearly three thousand. The town was then divided into three precincts. - North, South and Middle. The North Precinct included practically what is now the City of Quincy ; the Middle Precinct, the present Town of Braintree; and the South Precinct, the present towns of Randolph and Holbrook. Quincy was set off as a town on February 22, 1792, and immediately afterward the inhabitants of the South Precinct began to insist upon a similar privilege. At a meeting held at the South Precinct meeting house on March 15, 1792, Dr. Ephraim Wales, Nathaniel Niles, Joseph White, Samuel Bass, Seth Turner and Samuel Niles were appointed a committee, "with discretionary power," to take the necessary steps to effect a separation between the precinct and the Town of Braintree, and to "sustain the claims of the South Parish for a division before the General Court, or doing anything they may think proper for the purpose aforesaid."

At another meeting on June 15, 1792, for which the inhabitants of the precinct had been specially warned, it was voted that, "Whereas a Petition has been presented to the Generall Court for a division of the Town of Braintree, by a large number of Signers Hon. Samuel Niles, Dr. Ephraim Wales, Samuel Bass, Col. Seth Turner, Seth Mann, Joseph White and Lieut. Nathaniel Niles be

The Town of Braintree - or rather the Middle Precinct - opposed the division of the town, and a counter petition was presented to the General Court. As these petitions throw considerable light upon the situation as it then existed, they are reproduced in full.

Petition For Division

"The Petition of the Inhabitants of the South Precinct of Braintree respectfully shews That your Petitioners from long Experience have found the inconvenience of being Connected with the other parts of the Town of Braintree, As the town is very long and narrow - the Centre of said South Precinct is more than five miles distant from the Middle Precinct meeting house, which is the usual and most convenient place of holding Town Meetings while the town is in its present form which makes it necessary that nearly one half of your Petitioners should travel five miles and Upwards to attend every Town Meeting, or otherwise which is frequently the case: They are obliged to submit to the Centre of the Town's transacting the whole of the Business which they do as your Petitioners think with a very Partial Eye to their own Interests.

"And as Travelling is often very bad at March and April meetings it is difficult & Many times impossible for Elderly & Infirm people to improve the Privileges they might otherwise do & which every free man wishes to Enjoy. Many other Disadvantages peculiar to your Petitioners extreem situation in the Town will be made more fully to appear should your Honors grant them a hearing

"And your Petitioners wish further to sugest that the South Precinct aforesaid in its present form is very incommodious & Irregular and was owing originaly to a Cause which now ceases to exist, Viz. When the Division of the Middle and South Precinct was first Proposed the Revd Mr Niles was Minister of Both in One & owned a large farm which incircled several other farms that lay within the Bounds of the proposed South Precinct. But the Revd Mr Niles being willing his own farm should lye within the limits of his own parish opposed the South Parish going off unless he might be thus Gratified and as he was then a man of much Influence your Petitioners were obliged to relinquish said farms or continue very much to their Disadvantage a part of his parish & the former of the two evils they submitted to - Now circumstances relative to said farms are far different. A considerable part of Mr Nile's farm is now owned by Residents of the South Precinct & the Proprietors of the other farms aforesaid are desirous of improving the advantages they ought long since to have enjoyed by joining the South Precinct as they are much nearer to that meeting than their own. Your petitioners wish therefore to be set off from the other Parts of the Town of Braintree in connection with the proprietors of the aforesaid farms as a separate town : and they as in duty bound shall ever pray."

The petition was signed by Ephraim Wales, Seth Turner, Levi Thayer, Ebenezer Alden. John Stetson, Richard Belcher, Nathaniel Niles, Benjamin Man,

Seth Man, Joseph White, "and one hundred and ten others,'' and on the back of the original in the state archives is the indorsement: "In the House of Representatives Janr 17111 1792. Read & Committed to the Standing Committee on Incorporations to consider report. Sent up for concurrence." Signed by D. Cobb, speaker. Then follows a similar indorsement, signed by Samuel Phillips as president of the senate, showing the concurrence by that body on January 18, 1792.

The Remonstrance

"We the Subscribers Inhabitants of the now North Precinct in Braintree being Deeply imprest with the Disagreeable Situation of this once Respectable Town of Braintree A Town which has Produced some of the First characters among man kind and even those who have arisen to Exalted Stations amongst the Rulers of our Country. The old North Precinct are Already got off from us and Incorporated into a Town by the Name of Quincy and our Breathren of the South Precinct are now Petitioning the General Court to be set off and incorporated into a Town by Some other Name should the Prayer of their Petition be Granted there will be but a small Part of their old Town of Braintree left to bare up the Name it appears to us that the Reasons Why our Breathren in the South Precinct are aiming to git off from us is that they Suppose the Number of Inhabitants in this Now North Precinct will be Greater than in the South Precinct & by that means they will be Exposed to have Voted from them those Privilege which they have a Just right to. Now to Ease the minds of our Breathren in that Respect We the Subscribers do hereby upon our Words and Honour Which in the Nature of the thing is the Strongest Obligation that we can lay our Selves' under Engage that we Will at All times as far as we are Able prevent their having Just Cause of Complaint in that Respect & We do hereby Declare that if they will Withdraw their Petition Which we think will be to their Advatage as Well as ours and Equally so that We are Willing that the meetings Shall be held Alternately & that our Breathren of the said South Precinct shall have Every advantage from the Suffrages of the People at Large if we Continue together Without Seperation Which they Shall have any just reason to Expect & at the same time that We May Experience the same benevolence from then & that We may Continue together in Brotherly Love & Unity is the Sincear and Hearty Wish of Us the Subscribers."

This remonstrance was signed by James Faxon, Elisha French, Adam Hobart, Jonathan Thayer, Abraham Thayer, William Allen, Nehemiah Hayden, Samuel Holbrook, and "sixty-three other residents of the North Precinct," but it bears no evidence that it was ever seriously considered by the General Court. The advocates of division were well organized and presented their cause with such force that they finally won their object through the passage of the following

Act Of Incorporation

"An Act for incorporating the South Precinct of the Town of Braintree, in the County of Suffolk, into a separate Town by the name of Randolph.

General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the lands comprised within the South Precinct in Braintree, as the same is now bounded, with the inhabitants dwelling thereon, be, and 'they hereby are,, incorporated into a town by the name of Randolph; and the said Town of Randolph is hereby invested with all the powers, privileges and immunities to which towns within this Commonwealth are, or may be, entitled, agreeably to the Constitution and Laws of the said Commonwealth."

"Section 2. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of the said Town of Randolph shall pay all the arrears of taxes which have been assessed upon them by the Town of Braintree, and shall support any poor person or persons who have heretofore, been, or now are, inhabitants of that part of Braintree which is hereby incorporated and are or may become chargeable, and who shall not have obtained a settlement elsewhere when they may become chargeable ; and such poor person or persons may be returned to the Town of Randolph, in the same way and manner that paupers may, by law, be returned to the town or district to which they belong. And the inhabitants of the said Town of Randolph shall pay their proportion of all debts now due from the Town of Braintree, and shall be entitled to receive their proportion of all debts due to the said Town of Braintree; and also their proportionable part of all other property of the said Town of Braintree, of what kind and description soever : Provided always, That the lands belonging to the said Town of Braintree, for the purpose of maintaining schools, shall be divided between the said Town of Braintree and the said Town of Randolph, in the same proportion as they were respectively assessed for the payment of the last state tax.

"Section 3. And be it further enacted, That any of the inhabitants now dwelling within the bounds of the said Town of Randolph, who have remonstrated against the division of the Town of Braintree, and who may be desirous of belonging to said Town of Braintree, shall, at any time within six months from the passing of this act, by returning their names to the Secretary's Office, and signifying their desire of belonging to said Braintree, have that privilege, and shall, with their polls and estates, belong to and be a part of said Braintree, by paying their proportion of all taxes which shall have been laid on said town of Randolph, previously to their thus returning their names, as they would by law have been holden to pay had they continued to be a part of the Town of Randolph.

"Section 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Samuel Xiles, Esq., be and he is hereby authorized to issue his warrant, directed to some principal inhabitant of the said town of Randolph, requiring him to warn and give notice to the inhabitants of the said town, to assemble and meet at some suitable time and place in the said Town of Randolph, as soon as conveniently may be, to choose all such officers as towns are required to choose at their annual town meeting in the month of March or April annually."

This bill passed the House on March 5, 1793, and was sent to the Senate, which passed it the next day. On the 9th it was approved by Gov. John Hancock, and from that day the Town of Randolph dates its corporate existence. An indorsement attached to the original copy of the act in the state archives shows that Levi and Timothy Thayer, Abraham Jones, Noah and Samuel Chees-

The Town Name

The town was named for Peyton Randolph, who was born in Virginia in j 723, the second son of Sir John Randolph. After graduating at William and Mary's College he studied law in London and at the age of twenty-five was appointed royal attorney for Virginia. Soon after this he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and was appointed chairman of a committee to revise the laws of the colony. In 1764 he framed the remonstrance of the House of Burgesses against the passage of the Stamp Act. He was the president of the First Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, and was again chosen for that position when Congress reassembled at Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. Mr. Randolph died of apoplexy at Philadelphia on October 22, 1775. The naming of this Norfolk County town in his honor was a fitting tribute to one who devoted his life to the interests of the American colonists.

First Town Meetings

Pursuant to the authority conferred by Section 4 of the organic act, Samuel Niles issued his warrant for a town meeting to be held on Monday, April 1, 1793. Dr. Ephraim Wales was chosen moderator, after which the meeting proceeded to elect the following town officers : Micah White, Jr., Dr. Ebenezer Alden and Joseph White, Jr., selectmen ; Samuel Bass, clerk and treasurer. Samuel Bass, Nathaniel Niles and Seth Turner were appointed a committee to settle with the Town of Braintree.

At a second meeting held on Thursday, May 16, 1793, Samuel Bass was elected representative to the General Court, and at the annual meeting in 1794 all the town officers chosen the preceding year were reelected. At the same time it was voted "That the committee appointed to settle with Braintree shall apply for a division of powder and balls, and in case there is a deficiency the selectmen are requested to procure more." The selectmen were also requested to ''build a powder house in some suitable place, according to their discretion."

Division Of Randolph

When the town was first established in 1793, it extended southward to the county line. Through a narrow valley running north and south ran a narrow riverbed, in which flowed the Cochato River. Two villages grew up on roads about a mile apart, the one on the east side of the Cochato being known as East Randolph, and the other as West Randolph. When the railroad now known as the Boston & Middleboro division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford system was built, the station on the east side was given the name of "Randolph." A few years later the railroad from Boston to Taunton was built down the west side of the valley, passing through West Randolph. Some of the citizens entertained a hope that the two villages would grow together, but the hope was never realized. In 1872 East Randolph was set off as the Town of Holbrook (see Chapter XIX) and the name of the railroad station was changed to correspond to that of the new town. The word "West" was then dropped from the other village, which has since been merely known as "Randolph."

Town Hall

Randolph's town hall, which was the gift of Amasa Stetson, was dedicated in 1842. It is a substantial frame structure, the cost of which was about ten thousand dollars, and is centrally located. Amasa Stetson was born in Randolph in March, 1769, while the town was still a part of Braintree. He learned the trade of shoemaker, went to Boston, where he became associated with his brother Samuel in the shoe business and thus laid the foundation of a large fortune. He died on August 2, 1844, leaving a fortune of over half a million dollars and no children. The lower story of the town hall was used for some time for high school purposes. A few years ago the building, called "Stetson Hall," in honor of the donor, was thoroughly remodeled. Mr. Stetson also left the town a fund of ten thousand dollars for educational purposes. It is known as the "Stetson School Fund," and the income is used for the support of the public schools. In 1916 the trustees of the fund reported the amount of the fund as being $19,488.63, invested in interest bearing bonds and bank stock.

Fire Department

Soon after the town was incorporated a fire company was organized and for many years the old hand engines - "Fire-King," "Independence" and "Fearless" - responded to fire alarms with as much "pomp and circumstance" as the more efficient fire departments of modern days. When Holbrook was set off in 1872, the question of a better fire department came up in the town meetings, and during the next decade great improvements in the service were made by the purchase of two steam fire engines, a hook and ladder truck and two hose wagons.

In 191 5 a new combination auto fire truck was purchased by the town and placed in commission by the board of fire engineers. On July 30, 1916, the old department was disbanded and two days later was reorganized on the basis of sixteen men to be known as "Combination Company No. 1"; nine men as "Hose Company No. 1"; six men as "Hose Company No. 2"; eight men as "Hook and Ladder Company No. 1"; and an engineer and stoker for "Steamer No. t." The cost of the department for the year 1916 was $1,860. The board of engineers was then composed of Richard F. Forrest, James H. Meany, George Stetson and M. F. Sullivan.

By an act of the Legislature, approved May 8, 1885, the towns of Braintree, Randolph and Holbrook were authorized to supply themselves with water from Great Pond, severally or jointly, and to be united in the construction of buildings, etc. Braintree did not accept the provisions of the act, but Randolph and

Holbrook each issued bonds to the amount of $100,000 (the maximum authorized by the act) and established a joint system of waterworks, which were completed in the summer of 1886. During the year 191 6, according to the report of the water commissioners, the cost of maintenance was $9,898.91, which included $1,232 for interest on outstanding bonds and $2,303.49 for extension of the mains to new districts. The receipts for the year amounted to $12,953. The amount of water consumed during the year was 146,720,000 gallons.

After the first issue of bonds other issues were authorized by the Legislature, with the stipulation that a sinking fund should be established for their redemption when due. At the close of the year 1916 the amount of bonds outstanding was $107,200, and there was then in the sinking fund $74,286.28 and $2,385.14 in cash in the hands of the town treasurer, leaving a net indebtedness of $30,528.58. As the last of the bonds do not fall due until July 1, 1926, it is evident that Randolph's waterworks will be paid for according to the original plan.

Randolph Today

Of the twenty-eight towns in Norfolk County, Randolph in 19 15 stood fourteenth in population and eighteeth in the assessed valuation of property. The number of inhabitants, according to the state census, was then 4,734, a gain of 433 since the United States census of 1910. The assessed valuation of property was $3,252,912. In 1916 the assessors reduced the valuation to $2,879,100, merely as a matter of equalization.

The town has two banks, five public school buildings, eighteen teachers in the public schools, churches of various denominations, electric light, some manufacturing concerns, though this line of business is not as great as in the years immediately following the Civil war, a fine public library, lodges of the leading fraternal orders, mercantile establishments in keeping with the demands of the town, steam and electric railway transportation, a weekly newspaper (the News), and a money order postoffice which has one rural route that supplies daily mail to the surrounding country. The visitor to Randolph cannot fail to be impressed with the air of neatness that attaches to the many cozy homes - the chief charm of the town.

Town Officers, I917

Following is a list of the principal town officials at the beginning of the year 1917: James Ff. Dunphy, Michael E. Clark and Jeremiah J. Desmond, selectmen and overseers of the poor; Arthur W. Alden, Michael E. Clark and James H. Dunphy, assessors ; Patrick H. McLaughlin, clerk and treasurer; Richard F. Forrest, William F. Barrett and John B. McNeil, water commissioners; Michael F. Cunningham, John B. Wren and John K. Willard, auditors ; Jeremiah J. Desmond, tax collector; Edward Long, George V. Higgins and Edmund K. Belcher, school committee ; Joseph Belcher, representative to the General Court ; Frank J. Donahue, Michael F. Sullivan, John J. Madigan, Frank W. Harris, Fred O. Evans and Fred Vye, constables ; Frank M. Condon, Patrick H. McLaughlin, H. F. Howard and John H. Field, registrars of voters.