Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Chapter 47: Libraries and Historical Societies, 1918

Chapter 47: Libraries and Historical Societies

LAWS RELATING TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES - A FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN EVERY TOWN IN NORFOLK COUNTY - BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH - HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND THEIH

For more than a century the State of Massachusetts, by liberal and appropriate legislation, has sought to encourage the establishment of free public libraries. The act of March 3, 1798, provided "That any seven or more persons capable of contracting, in any towns or districts in this Commonwealth, who have or shall become Proprietors in common of any Library, may form themselves into a Society or Body Politic for the express purposes of holding, increasing, preserving and using such Library," etc.

Since that time a number of laws relating to public libraries have been enacted. By the act of May 28, 1890, the governor was authorized to appoint a board of library commissioners, to consist of five residents of the Commonwealth, whose duty it should be to advise the librarian or trustees of any public library in regard to the selection of books, and any other matters pertaining to the maintenance or management of the library. The board was also "authorized and directed to expend, upon the application of the board of trustees of any town having no free public library owned and controlled by the town, a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars for books for any such town entitled to the benefits of this act; such books to be used by the trustees for the purpose of establishing a free public library, and said comnrissioners shall select and purchase all books to be provided as aforesaid."

Under the provisions of this act free public libraries have multiplied in the State of Massachusetts until nearly every town in the state has an institution of this nature. Every town in Norfolk County has a public library, a majority of them having been established before the passage of the act of 1890. On May 6, 1892, an act was approved giving one hundred dollars' worth of books to any town whose valuation does not exceed $600,000, which maintained a free public library prior to the passage of the act of 1890, "and which has fully complied or hereafter fully complies with the provisions of said act." A few of the towns in Norfolk County have received state aid under the provisions of this act. In this chapter are given brief histories of the free public libraries in the several towns of the county. For the convenience of the reader these histories have been arranged in the alphabetical order of the towns.

At the town meeting held in March, 1892, the citizens of Avon voted to accept the provisions of the act of 1890, and the following June the town received $100 worth of books from the state for the purpose of founding a free public library. Subsequently Lucius Clapp, of Randolph, gave the library $500 for the purchase of books that "shall be instructive and of good moral tone," on the condition that the library establish a reading room open to the public on certain evenings each week. The library is kept in the town hall. In 19 16 it numbered 3,710 volumes and had an income of $465.77. During the year 13,899 books were taken from the library by the people of the town for home reading.

In 1894 this town accepted the provisions of the act of 1890 and received $100 worth of books from the state as a nucleus of a free public library. That year the town appropriated twenty-five dollars for the library, but the next year, and for several years thereafter, the appropriation was seventy-five dollars. Nearly one hundred volumes were donated by the Bellingham United Library Association. The report of the state library commission for 1916 gives the number of volumes as 3.075 and the income as $350.41. The trustees for 1916 were : Laurence Mason, A. Evelyn Sackett, Susie C. Fairbanks, Alice A. Burr, Olive C. Cook and Bertha Franklin, the last named being the librarian.

"Gentlemen - To establish a free public library in the town, I propose to erect a fire-proof building, suitable for the purpose, towards the cost of which the town shall contribute the sum of ten thousand dollars, the amount needed to complete the building to be paid by me. And I will loan to the town the said sum of ten thousand dollars, for such time as it shall require it, to comply with this offer, at six per cent interest. Upon the acceptance of this proposition by the town, I will give the further sum of ten thousand dollars, as a permanent fund, the income of which shall annually be devoted to the maintenance of said library. Should the town take favorable action upon this matter, I shall be happy to confer with a committee with reference to the immediate consummation of the project.

The acceptance of the offer was by an almost unanimous vote, and Asa French, Edward Avery, Francis A. Hobart, Charles H. Dow and Alva Morrison were appointed the committee to confer with General Thayer, and were given full power to act in the premises. General Thayer did not live to see the library building completed, but the executors of his will carried out his generous offer by setting apart the sum of twenty thousand dollars for the erection of the building and the support of the library. The cost of the building was $32,500. It was opened to the public on September I, 1874. According to the library commission's report for 1916, the library had 16,822 volumes on the shelves and an income of $3,088.76, of which $1,550 was appropriated by the town and the remainder came from the endowment fund of General Thayer.

As early as 1825 a library association was organized in Brookline, with Rev. John Pierce as president. Membership fees were fixed at five dollars a year for the first two years and two dollars a year after that time. The library was kept in the house of the librarian and was open on the first and third Saturdays of each month, from three to four o'clock in the afternoon for the exchange of books. In 1827 a catalogue was issued showing nearly three hundred volumes. After a few years of comparative success, the library gradually declined and finally ceased to exist.

The question of establishing a free public library came before the town meeting on March 16, 1857, and a committee was appointed to report at an adjourned meeting on the 30th of the same month. The committee was composed of Edward A. Dana, Samuel Philbrick, George F. Homer, Charles Follen and Abijah W. Goddard. At the adjourned meeting this committee reported in favor of the project and upon its recommendation the town voted for the support of the library the highest sum that could be raised by taxation. The income the first year was $934. A room was provided in the town hall and the library was opened for the delivery of books on December 2, 1857. Three additional rooms in the town building were occupied as the library grew and it became necessary to procure larger and more suitable quarters. In 1867 the town voted to purchase a tract of ground on Washington street and plans for a library building were soon afterward approved. This building was completed at a cost of about forty-five thousand dollars and was opened to the public on October 13, 1869. In 1888 a wing was added at a cost of $16,500 and the reading room was added in 1892 at a cost of $15,840. Besides the liberal appropriations made from time to time by the town, the library has been aided by the donations and bequests of public spirited citizens, amounting in the aggregate to nearly twenty thousand dollars. The reading room is called "Gardner Hall," in honor of John L. Gardner, who gave the library $10,000 in January, 1871. At the close of the year 1916 the Brookline library numbered 89,663 volumes and the income for the year was $34,862.40. During the year 230,913 volumes were circulated for home use.

Canton

Through the efforts of the Grand Army of the Republic, a free public library was established in Canton in 1874. A small agricultural library in the town was absorbed by the new institution. George E. Downes left a bequest of $5,000, that portion of the income not used in caring for his burial lot in the cemetery to be given to the public library. In 1898 Miss Caroline Tucker Downes left by will a fund of $2,000, the income of which is devoted to the purchase of books. For many years the library was kept in rooms upon the first floor of the memorial hall, but in 1901 Augustus Hemenway erected and furnished a neat and substantial building, which, together with the site, he donated to the town for library purposes. At the close of the year 1916 the Canton library contained 18,619 volumes and the income for the year was $5,024.86. Lucy D. Downes was at that time the librarian.

The Cohasset Free Public Library dates its beginning from March, 1878, when Rev. Joseph Osgood, in his report as superintendent of schools, urged the establishment of such an institution, and induced the town to vote an appropriation of $300 for that purpose, payable when a like sum had been raised by private subscription. The teachers of the town went to work and in a short time the needed sum of $300 was obtained. The library was then organized and was further aided by the citizens by the donation of books and money. Dr. David W. Cheever, of Boston, a summer resident of Cohasset, gave a fund of $300, called the "Marion Cheever Fund," as a memorial to his deceased daughter, to be invested in books of a scientific character at the rate of thirty dollars annually. For about twenty years the library was kept in rooms upon the first floor of the town hall, when it was consolidated with the Paul Pratt Memorial Library, the history of which is as follows :

Paul Pratt was born in Cohasset on May 17, 1788, and died there on August 31, 1853. He left considerable property to his two daughters - Harriot E. and Sarah S. The latter was one of the trustees of the Cohasset Public Library from the time of its organization until her death in 1896. Harriot E. Pratt died on April 19, 1898, and in her will provided that one-half of her estate, except certain real estate, should be paid to the chairman of the board of selectmen of the Town of Cohasset, the pastor of the First Parish Church, the pastor of the Second Congregational Church, Randolph Knapp and James Longley, and two others to be selected by these five, the fund to be used for the establishment of a free public library to be known as the "Paul Pratt Memorial Library." The first meeting of the trustees was held on February 3, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel T. Snow gave a site on Main street and the building was finished in December, 1902. Then the trustees of the Paul Pratt Memorial and the Cohasset Public libraries came to an agreement to work together and the old library was moved out of the town hall into the new building.

In August, 1916, the trustees leased quarters in the building of the Beechwood Improvement Association and established a branch of the library at Beechwood. The library has the income from $14,500 invested in interest bearing securities, and the town appropriation in 1916 was $2,150. At the close of that year the librarian, Miss Sarah B. Collier, reported 15,575 volumes.

A social library was organized in Dedham on November 24, 1854, under the general laws of the state in force at that time. Carlos Slafter and Dr. Joseph P.

Paine raised about thirteen hundred dollars by subscription; by payment of five dollars any one could become a shareholder and each member of the association paid a varying sum annually toward the library's support. A circulating library belonging to Elbridge G. Robinson, editor of the Norfolk Democrat, was purchased for $200, and the institution was opened on February 1, 1855, in a house next to the insurance building and Dr. Samuel Adams, a dentist who lived in the house, was the first librarian. After a time persons who were not members were admitted upon the payment of a certain sum annually. Interest in the library increased and about 1870 a movement was started for the establishment of a public library which should be free to all the inhabitants. Lack of funds was the principal obstacle to the project. The women of the town held a successful "fair," from which was realized the sum of $4,000 to be used for the support of the new library.

On March 24, 1871, the Dedham Public Library and Reading Room was incorporated by an act of the Legislature. In the act Waldo Coburn, Thomas L. Wakefield, Edward Stimson, Edmund Quincy, William Chickering, Erastus Wrorthington, Alfred Hewins, Henry O. Hildreth "and their associates and successors," were given power to hold in trust real and personal property not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars in value, exclusive of books, papers and works of art. It was also provided in the act that "so long as said corporation shall allow the inhabitants of Dedham free access to its library and reading room, under reasonable regulations, said town may annually appropriate and pay said corporation a sum not exceeding one dollar on each of its ratable polls."

On November 17, 1871, the old Dedham Library Association voted unanimously to transfer the books and other property of that organization to the new corporation and the 2,977 volumes of the old social library became the nucleus of the new public library, which was opened on February 24, 1872, in a room on the corner of High and Court streets. Charles Bullard in his will gave $3,000 to the library, the income to be used in the purchase of books. Henry O. Hildreth, Ebenezer Wright, George E. Hatton, William Ames, John Bullard, Dr. Henry P. Quincy and several other citizens gave books, amounting in the aggregate to nearly two thousand volumes.

Miss Hannah Shuttleworth died on February 22, 1886, and left a legacy of $10,000 for the erection of a library building. To this were added the following gifts: Albert W. Nickerson, $5,000; George A. Nickerson, $1,000; Joseph W. Clark, $1,000; Stephen M. Weld, $500; Henry P. Quincy, $200; A. W. Lamson, $100; John R. Bullard, $469.49, and the legacy of $10,000 left by John Bullard, making a total of $28,269.49. Later the trustees voted to add $4,000 from the general fund. The lot on the corner of Church and Norfolk streets was purchased in April, 1886, and the building was opened to the public on November 22, 1888. The total cost of building and grounds was $35,385.75.

By an act of the Legislature, approved on April 1, 1889, the trustees transferred the entire library to the town, on condition that "the town will forever maintain the same as a free public library." The condition was accepted by the town and since that time Dedham has been the owner of the institution. The number of volumes at the close of the year 1916 was nearly twenty-six thousand, and the circulation during the year was over seventy-one thousand volumes.

Dover

In March, 1894, the Dover town meeting voted $200 for the purchase of books for the purpose of founding a free public library, and a similar sum was raised by subscription. Later in the year the state library commission added $100 worth of books under the act of 1890 and at a special town meeting the sum of $350 was appropriated to furnish a suitable room' in the town hall. The library was opened to the public on December 22, 1894, with 498 volumes on the shelves. According to the report of the state library commission for 1916, the Dover Library then numbered 5,718 volumes and reported an income of $805.

On March 20, 1871, the citizens of Foxboro voted to establish a free public library, to be known as the "Boyden Public Library," in honor of Uriah A. Boyden, a native of the town, who gave $1,000 toward the enterprise. Mr. Boyden also provided for an annuity of $100 for the support of the library, which also receives annually the income of $500 known as the "Carpenter Fund." The building occupied by the library was erected in 1868 as a memorial hall at a cost of $13,000. In 1897 two wings were added, each with accommodations for 1,500 volumes. The cost of these improvements was about two thousand dollars. At the close of the year 1916 the library numbered about forty-five hundred volumes and during the year circulated nearly twelve thousand. The town appropriation for the year was $900.

Franklin

To the Town of Franklin belongs the honor of having the oldest library in Norfolk County. In March, 1785, the Congregational Church there was erecting a new house of worship and wrote to Benjamin Franklin, after whom the town was named and who was then United States minister to France, asking him to donate a bell for the church. The letter was written by Jonathan Williams, a nephew of Dr. Franklin. Under date of March 18, 1785, Doctor Franklin wrote as follows to his friend, Rev. Richard Price of London :

"Passy, France, 18 March, 1785. "Dear Friend : - My nephew, Mr. Williams, will have the honor of delivering you this line. It is to request from you a list of books, to the value of about twenty-five pounds, such as are most proper to inculcate principles of sound religion and just government. A new town in the State of Massachusetts having done me the honor of naming itself after me, and proposing to build a steeple to their meeting house if I would give then a bell, I have advised the sparing themselves the expense of a steeple for the present, and that they would accept of books instead of a bell, sense being preferable to sound. These are, therefore, intended as the commencement of a little parochial library, for the use of a society of intelligent, respectable farmers, such as our country people generally consist of. Besides your own works, I would only mention, on the recommendation of my sister, Stennett's 'Discourses on Personal Religion,'' which may be one book of the number if you know and approve it.

The collection of books selected by Mr. Price and paid for by Doctor Franklin number 116 volumes, not one of which was fiction and scarcely any of less solidity than "Blackstone's Commentaries," so the people of Franklin certainly got "sense instead of sound." The receipt of the books was a memorable event in the town. Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, pastor of the church that had asked for a bell, preached a sermon entitled "The Dignity of Man," which was afterward printed and dedicated "To His Excellency, Benjamin Franklin, President of the State of Pennsylvania, the ornament of genius, the patron of science and the best of men."

Several years after the Franklin collection was received, a social library was founded in connection with it. In the course of time the books supplied through the generosity of Doctor Franklin became obsolete and were rarely read. For a long time both the Franklin and the social libraries remained practically uncared for and became almost unknown. About 1869 two of the citizens of the town offered to give $100 each toward the establishment of a new library. Natives of the town who had become non-residents, were appealed to for subscriptions to the fund and several of them responded, about four hundred dollars being thus received. The Franklin Library Association (a stock company) was then organized and the books remaining of the Franklin collection were turned over to the new association for preservation.

Not long after this the entire library was given to and accepted by the town, since which time it has been supported by the town appropriation and an income of $350 annually from a fund. The library building is the gift of Mrs. A. W. Peirce and Mrs. A. D. Thayer, daughters of the late Joseph G. Ray. In 1916 the library numbered 9,723 volumes and reported to the state library commission an income of $1,757. It is now known as the Ray Memorial Library.

On December 9, 1871, more than two months before the Town of Llolbrook was created by act of the Legislature, Elisha N. Holbrook made a proposition at a meeting of citizens that, in the event the Town of Randolph was divided and a new town established, he would give to the said new town $50,000, one-half of which was to be used in the erection of a town hall and library building, $10,000 for a public library, and the remainder for the liquidation of the town debt. The Town of Holbrook was incorporated on February 29, 1872, Mr. Holbrook having died on the 5th of that month, though he made provision in his will for carrying out his proposal of the preceding December.

In 1873 a town hall was built on Franklin street, at a cost of $35,000, and the following year the public library was established in rooms upon the first floor of the building. Early on the morning of December 25, 1877, fire broke out in the town hall and the library, which was in the rear part of the building, was destroyed. Insurance to the amount of $3,500 was received, an entire new collection of books bought, and when the new town hall, on the site of the former one, was opened in 1879 the library was again ready for the public patronage.

On February 28, 1898, the town hall and library were again seriously damaged by fire and an insurance of $5,000 was recovered. At that time the library numbered about eight thousand volumes. Again the work of rebuilding was undertaken and on June 11, 1898, the library was once more opened to the public. At the beginning of the year 1917 the Ffolbrook library numbered about nine thousand volumes. The town appropriation for 1916 was $324.85 and the income from other sources was $1,182.83.

As early as 1786 a social library was established in Medfield, the shares being four dollars each. It accumulated about seven hundred volumes, but after some years it was disbanded and the books distributed among the members. Another stockholders' library was started in 1828, and it acquired about one thousand volumes, when, like its predecessor, it passed out of existence.

The present free public library dates back to 1873. Early in that year George Cummings offered to give $800 for the purpose of starting a library whenever the citizens of the town would obligate themselves to give a like sum. On March 29, 1873, it was announced that the desired sum had been subscribed and the library was opened in the town hall. Most of the books were destroyed in the fire of January 8, 1874, but the loss was made good by the gifts of public spirited citizens, and before the close of the year the library was reopened in the new town hall building. In 1892 the town granted the use of an additional room for a reading room. At his death George Cummings bequeathed $1,000 to the library and since then George M. Smith left it a legacy of $500, the income of both gifts being expended for its support.

In 191 6 the town accepted the gift of a new building from Granville F. Dailey of New York, to be erected on the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, and a trust fund of $500 was received from John M. Richardson. At the beginning of the year 191 7 the library numbered nearly seven thousand volumes. In the preceding year the town appropriation and dog tax amounted to $206.53 and the income from other sources was $428.21.

Med Way

The Medway Public Library had its origin in the Dean Library Association, which was incorporated on March 3, i860, the incorporators being Luther Metcalf, William H. Cary, John Cole, Dr. A. B. L. Monroe and Clark Partridge. It took its name from Dr. Oliver Dean of Franklin, who offered to give $400, on condition that a like sum was raised by popular subscription. Life memberships cost ten dollars and the annual fees of those who did not hold life memberships were $1.50. Upon the death of Doctor Dean the association received a number of shares of Boston & Albany Railroad stock, which afterward reached a value of about five thousand dollars, the income of which was to be used for the purchase of books.

From the time of its organization until 1872 the library was kept in Fisher's Hall, but upon the completion of Sanford's Hall in Medway Village the library was removed there, as being a more central location. In 1892 the town voted to conform to the requirements of the library law of 1890, and received $100 worth of books from the state as the basis of a free public library, which was opened to the public on the 18th of June of that year. The town then made an appropriation of $125 and the dog tax - aggregating $424 - one-fourth of which went to. the Dean Public Library and the balance to the town library, which was for several years kept in the same room as the postoffice. William T. Adams, who wrote a large number of juvenile stories under the pseudonym of "Oliver Optic," and who was a native of Medway, presented the library with a complete set of his works. Recently a building has been erected and presented to the town by the heirs of the late Addison and Lydia Thayer, and the two libraries have been united in the new building under one management. In 1916 the town reported 4,753 volumes and an income of $435.87.

The public library of Millis was organized in 1878 as the "East Medway Circulating Library." When the Town of Millis was set off from Medway and incorporated by the act of February 24, 1885, the members of the East Medway Circulating Library Association decided to tender to the selectmen of the new town all books in their possession (about 325) as the foundation of a free public library. This was done at a meeting of the association held on March 19, 1885, and the offer was accepted by a town meeting four days later. The association also turned over its cash on hand (some $30) for the purchase of new books. The library building was erected by the heirs of Lansing Millis and presented to the town. In 1916 the library numbered 4,480 volumes and reported an income of $214.76.

At a town meeting held on March 7, 1870, it was "voted that the town appropriate the sum of $3,000 for a public library, to be paid to the trustees thereof, when a like sum has been raised by subscription or donation and secured to the satisfaction of the selectmen, and that nine trustees be chosen by the town to expend said amount and have charge of said library."

The citizens of the town manifested their interest in the proposition by promptly contributing the necessary $3,000, upon which the trustees rented a room at Milton Lower Mills and on February 23, 1871, the library was opened to the public, with 3,500 volumes upon the shelves, selected with great care by a committee. Ten years later a building was erected at the Lower Mills especially for the accommodation of the library, and a few years later a branch was established at East Milton. From the beginning the town has been liberal in support of the library, and the institution also has the income from the following funds : Vose, $4,900; Wolcott, $1,000; Kidder, $1,000; Churchill, $500.

Probably no public library in Norfolk County has been of more assistance to the public schools than the one in Milton. On January 2, 1895, the trustees voted to allow the teachers to take from the library "books that have been in the library for one year, in the proportion of one book to every two pupils in the high and grammar schools, and of one book to every three pupils in the primary schools, under such rules and restrictions as the executive committee may prescribe, the expense of transportation to be borne by the school committee." At the close of the schools in 1916, vacation reading lists were printed and distributed among the pupils in the primary and grammar grades, those reading the greatest number of books to constitute a "roll of honor" and have their names posted on the library bulletin board. The library now has three branches and eight school deposits, an arrangement by which every citizen of the town is brought in touch with the library.

At the close of the year 1916 nearly thirty thousand titles were catalogued in the Milton Public Library. The town appropriation, including the dog tax, for the year was $10,065.76, and the income from other sources amounted to $1,618.88.

Needham

On March 5, 1888, a town meeting in Needham voted to establish a public library, to be free to all the citizens of the town and "to be supported wholly by taxation, the town devoting to it the dog tax and a reasonable annual appropriation." The income for the first year was about eight hundred dollars. A room was set apart in the building leased for town purposes. Prior to the above action by the town meeting there were library associations at Needham and Highlandville, both of which turned their books over to the town as part of the free public library. In return for this courtesy on the part of the Highlandville Library Association, a branch of the public library was established in that village. Another branch was subsequently established at Needham Heights, where a building was donated by Andrew Carnegie. This building was purchased in 19 1 5 by William Carter for $9,000 in cash and a site for a new building. The town appropriated $10,000 and Air. Carnegie donated the balance of the cost, which was $32,500. A delivery and deposit station has been established at the Needhamdale School, but the former branches have been discontinued. The new building was dedicated on May 4, 1916. It is one of the most modern designs in the county and has a capacity of 20,000 volumes. At the time it was opened to the public the library consisted of 16,500 volumes. The town appropriation for 1916 was $28,973.97, and the income from other sources was $19,392. This, of course, included the building fund.

In 1880 the Norfolk Library Association, which had been organized some years previously, offered its collection of books, numbering about two hundred volumes, to the town. The offer was accepted and the Norfolk Farmers' Club loaned a number of volumes from the club library. An appropriation of about seventy-five dollars was made by the town and the library was opened in a room in the town house. There it remained until the completion of the new high school building in October, 1897, in which more convenient quarters were fitted up for the library, where it is still kept. In 1816 there were 2,334 volumes on the shelves and the town appropriation for that year was $175.

On January 6, 1790, while Norwood was still a part of Dedham, twentytwo persons met and organized a social library association. Ten years later it was voted to sell the books at auction and distribute the proceeds among the members. On January 22, 1800, a few days after the auction, another library association was formed and used the same book of records, which is still in the possession of the Norwood Library. It continued as the "South Dedham Parish Library" until the Town of Norwood was incorporated in 1872, when the members offered to give "their rights and interests" in said library to the town. At the annual town meeting on March 3, 1873, the offer was accepted and a committee appointed to confer with the shareholders. Another town meeting was held on the 7th of April, at which the committee reported that the shareholders of the South Parish Library had signed an agreement relinquishing their interests in the library, "on condition that the Town of Norwood would establish and maintain a free public library for the benefit of the citizens of said town," and recommended that the offer be accepted. The report and recommendation were adopted and a board of trustees appointed to take charge of the library.

On February 1, 1898, George H. Morrill and his wife, Louisa J. Morrill, presented to the town a lot and building "to be used for literary and educational purposes only, and to be known as the Morrill Memorial Library." This magnificent gift, which cost over seventy-five thousand dollars, was donated to the town by Mr. and Mrs. Morrill as a memorial to their daughter, Sarah Bond Morrill, who died on March 7, 1895. The gift was accepted on February 1, 1898, with appropriate public exercises. In 1916 the library contained nearly eighteen thousand volumes. The town appropriation and dog tax for that year amounted to $4,437.06 and other sources yielded an income of $238.31.

When the Town of Plainville was incorporated by the act of April 4, 1905, the people lost the privileges they previously enjoyed of taking books from the Wrentham Public Library. At the annual town meeting in 1906 it was voted to accept the provisions of the library acts of 1890 and 1892, and room was set apart in the new school building for a public library. A little later the town received $100 worth of books from the state and the pupils of the high school raised over forty dollars for the benefit of the library. The Plainville Library Association, which had been organized some years before, donated its collection of books (112 volumes) and the library was opened early in the year 1908 with about five hundred volumes. During the next two years some five hundred volumes were added by donation and purchase. In 1916 a deposit station was established at Shepardville. The library then numbered 3,750 volumes and reported an income of $407.50, most of which was the town appropriation and dog tax.

At the annual town meeting in 1871 it was "voted that the funds arising from the tax on dogs be appropriated to establish a free public town library," and a committee was appointed to report a plan. The committee reported at a special meeting held on May 2, 187 1, when a board of trustees was elected and the town appropriated $2,500 for the purpose of fitting up a suitable room and the purchase of books. The library was opened to the public on December 11, 1871, with 4,600 volumes on the shelves, about half of which had been donated by the citizens, Charles Francis Adams presenting 1,650 volumes of congressional records and other public documents.

In February, 1880, the heirs and descendants of Thomas Crane offered to erect a library building to his memory, to cost not less than twenty thousand dollars, if the town would provide a suitable site. Thomas Crane was a Quincy stone cutter, who acquired a fortune by dealing in granite in New York. The town voted to accept the offer and to call the building "Crane Memorial Hall" ; also that after the town library should be deposited therein it should be known as the "Thomas Crane Library." The sum of $10,000 was appropriated for the purchase of a site and the "Thomas Crane Public Library of Quincy" was incorporated by an act of the Legislature in 1880. On May 30, 1882, the new building was dedicated. Its cost was over fifty thousand dollars and it has a capacity of 40,000 volumes. In 1895 a bequest of $20,000 was made by Mrs. Clarissa L. Crane, widow of Thomas Crane, the income to be used for keeping the library building in repair, improvement of the grounds and purchase of works of art for the library. The Quincy library has one of the best collections of newspaper files and pamphlets pertaining to local history to be found in Norfolk County. In 1916 the catalogue showed nearly thirty-eight thousand titles. The income for that year was $14,444.69 from the town and $1,429.94 from other sources.

Randolph

Randolph's public library is known as the "Turner Free Library." It was founded as a memorial to Col. Royal Turner by his heirs, viz: Seth Turner, Royal W. Turner, Mary B. Turner, Abby W. Turner and Annie M. Sweetser, and was opened to the public on March 22, 1876. The building was erected by the donors at a cost of $40,000, exclusive of the ground upon which it stands. Colonel Turner's heirs also gave the town a donation of $10,000 in money, onehalf of which was used in the purchase of books and the remainder placed in an endowment fund. Seth Turner died on April 8, 1883, and in his will left an additional sum of $10,000, the income of which is to be applied to the support of the library. This with the one-half of the original donation gives the institution a permanent fund of $15,000.

The first floor of the building, a handsome stone structure, is used for banking and mercantile purposes, the money received from rentals also going toward the support of the library. Under these conditions it has never been necessary for the town to make large appropriations, further than to comply with the condition imposed by the donors that "the town shall keep the building repaired and insured." The library contains complete files of the local newspapers and in 1916 had upon its shelves 25,872 volumes. Several gifts of books were received during the year. The income from the Turner Fund was $2,725.84, and the town appropriation was $15°-

Sharon

At the annual town meeting in March, 1879, tne people of Sharon voted an appropriation of $400 to establish a free public library and a committee of seven was appointed to carry out the instructions of the meeting and act as trustees until the next annual meeting. It was also voted that the annual receipts from dog licenses should be applied to the maintenance of the library "until otherwise ordered." This gave the library an income of $325 the first year. Russel Drake bequeathed the institution $500, Eliza Perkins left a legacy of $300, and there have been other donations and bequests to the library fund, which in 1916 yielded an income of $219.24. The town appropriation for that year was $1,311.28, which included the dog tax.

For the first five years of its existence the library was kept in rented rooms, but when the town building was completed in 1884 the library was removed there. Recently a new building has been erected by subscriptions from the citizens and a donation from Andrew Carnegie and the books, curios, etc., have been moved into new and permanent quarters. The library now contains over three thousand five hundred volumes and is well patronized by the people of the town. During the year 1916 Sharon was aided by a circulating library sent out by the Woman's Educational Association.

Several attempts were made to establish a public library in Stoughton before one succeeded. In April, 1873, the town meeting voted to appropriate the dog tax of that year toward the support of a free public library. This was a humble beginning, but the project was aided by the addition of a small agricultural library, previously established, which was turned over to the town. The library was opened to the public early in 1874 with 524 volumes on the shelves. Wales French, who died on May 31, 1916, was librarian for many years and during his life bought practically all of the books. Henry L. Pierce left a legacy of $25,000, the income of which is to be used for the purchase of new books. This income first became available in 1898. Cassadana L. Phinney left $500 by will for the benefit of the institution.

The library was at first kept in the town house, in which two rooms were set apart for book and reading rooms. A few years ago Lucius Clapp of Randolph, who had previously given the library 500 volumes, presented the town with a new library building. The growth of the Stoughton library has been all that could be desired by the town. In 19 16 it reported 17,695 volumes. The town appropriation for that year was $1,849, and the income from other sources was $1,000.

At a town meeting held on March 13, 1876, a petition signed by George A. Kendall and others was presented asking for the establishment of a free public library. An appropriation of $485, including the dog tax of that year, was made for the purpose of granting the petition and a board of six trustees was chosen by the meeting. In April an arrangement was made between the trustees and the East Walpole Library Association by which the 700 volumes belonging to the latter were given to the public library, upon the condition that the books should be sent to East Walpole once a week for ten years. The Young People's Library of about one hundred and twenty-five volumes and the Agricultural Library of seventy-five volumes were also turned over to the public library, which was opened in a drug store on July 15, 1876. In April, 1878, it was removed to a room in a building owned by Nathaniel Bird, and in September, 1881, to the town hall. There it remained until it was removed into its present quarters in the library building, which was given to the town by Andrew Carnegie. The library now numbers about fifteen thousand volumes. The town appropriation and dog tax for 1916 amounted to $3,000 and the income from other sources to $250.

The Wellesley Free Library was established in 1881, mainly through the munificence of Hollis H. Hunnewell, who paid all the operating expenses until 1890. A few hundred volumes were received from the Wellesley Library /Association and individuals gave a number of books. The building, with a beautiful park of ten acres surrounding it, was presented to the town by Mr. Hunnewell in 1880. The building, a substantial stone edifice, cost about sixty thousand dollars and the donor also provided a fund of $20,000 for the care of the library and grounds. In 1916 the library reported 19,271 volumes. The town appropriation and dog tax for that year amounted to $4,253.07 and the income from the Hunnewell Fund to $1,175.04.

For a number of years prior to 1897 West Dedham had a library supported by subscription and carried on by an organization known as the West Dedham Library Club. It was kept in Ellis Hall and a fee of two dollars entitled any one to use the books. After a time the Town of Dedham appropriated $150 a year toward the support of the library, and still later it became a branch of the Dedham Public Library.

Wnen the Town of Westwood was incorporated on April 2, 1897, the new town appropriated $150 for the library. On February 2, 1898, a town meeting voted to accept the conditions imposed by the act of May 4, 1888, relating to public libraries and the library became a public institution. In August, 1898, the books were removed to the selectmen's room. Howard Colburn, who was a member of the first board of trustees, later gave the town a small but neat building for the use of the library, which in 1916 reported 4,872 volumes. The town appropriation, including the dog tax, was $515.39 and the library had an income of $50.30 from other sources.

There are two public libraries in the Town of Weymouth - the Tufts Library and the Fogg Memorial Library. Early in the Nineteenth Century social libraries were formed in some of the villages of the town. They were owned by associations and supported by a small annual fee paid by each member. Such an arrangement was not conducive to permanence or stability, and after a few years of varying success they gradually disappeared. One of these was organized in South Weymouth on August 7, 1800. Seventy-one citizens were members, each paying an annual fee of fifty cents. The few books left of the collection belonging to this association were found in the attic of a house which stood where the Fogg Memorial Library is now located and were added to that library. The Mutual Library Association of South Weymouth was organized on November 13, 1863, with eighty members. It accumulated about fifteen hundred volumes, the greater portion of which were destroyed by fire.

The Tufts Library was founded in 1879, when Quincy Tufts and his sister, Susan Tufts, left a fund of some twenty thousand dollars to be applied by the town "to instructive lectures, the reading room and the general expenses of a free public library." Part of the gift consisted of two buildings on the corner of Washington and Commercial streets, the lower floor of one being fitted up for a library and reading room, which was opened to the public and used until October, 1892. Then a new building was erected upon the site. It is fifty by eighty feet, with two full stories and a large attic. The lower floor on the Commercial Street side was rented and the money received from rental applied to the support of the library. In 1916 this library reported 29,755 volumes. Its total income for that year was $5,197.71, about one half of which consisted of the town appropriation and dog tax and the remainder came from other sources.

In 1892 John S. Fogg, a wealthy shoe manufacturer, died and left $50,000 in the hands of trustees to establish a free public library that should bear his name, said library to be located in his native village of South Weymouth. In 1897 plans were accepted by the trustees for a two-story building with high basement, in the Italian Renaissance style of architecture, to be constructed of Weymouth granite, fortv-six by seventy-six feet in dimensions. It was dedicated with appropriate exercises on September 14, 1898. The cost of the site was $6,000 and that of the building was $25,000. The balance of the Fogg Fund is invested for the benefit of the library. A memorial bronze tablet, suitably inscribed, occupies the place of honor over the fireplace in the reading room. A Children's Library Society, composed of little girls under ten years of age, meets once a week at this library. In 1916 the number of volumes reported by the Fogg Library was 7,411. Out of the total income of $1,628.36, the town appropriated $500.

Previous to 189 1 the Town of Wrentham had three small libraries - the Wrentham Book Club, the Mite Society, and the Sheldonville Library Association. In 1891 the town meeting voted to accept the provisions of the library act of 1890 and the state gave the customary $100 worth of books toward the establishment of a free public library. The collections of the three above named libraries were then turned over to the town and became a part of the Wrentham Public Library, which was opened to the public on August 17, 1892.

Fiske, children and grandchildren of the late Josiah J. Fiske, erected a library building at a cost of about fifteen thousand dollars and presented it to the town, with a fund of $5,000, the income from which is to be used for the maintenance of the institution. They also gave $500 to be used for the purchase of books. In 1916 the library was recatalogued and reclassified under the direction of the Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission. It then contained 6,142 volumes and reported an income of $818.75, of which the town appropriated $550.

In several of the towns historical societies have been organized, the object of which is to collect books, newspapers, records, old letters, pamphlets, relics, etc., as illustrate and perpetuate the history of New England, and particularly that of the town in which the society is located.

The oldest of these societies is the Dedham Historical Society, which was incorporated on April 23, 1862. In 1886 the society was authorized by a special act of the Legislature to erect a building, Miss Hannah Shuttleworth having bequeathed a lot at the junction of Church and High streets and a fund of $10,000 for that purpose. The building, which is a fireproof structure, was completed in 1887. Here the society has a library of several thousand volumes and a collection of relics. Meetings are held monthly from October to May each year. The building is open to the public from two to five o'clock each afternoon except Sunday.

On May 29, 1893, the Canton Historical Society was incorporated, though it had been in existence since 1871. This society makes a specialty of biography and genealogy pertaining to the Town of Canton. A few years after it was incorporated a substantial building was erected as a place to preserve the collections belonging to the society. This is one of the most active historical societies in the county.

The Weymouth Historical Society was organized in the spring of 1879, and was incorporated on July 19, 1886. Elias Richards was chosen president at the time the society was organized in 1879 and served in that office for several years. For some time the meetings were held in the Tufts Library, but are now held monthly in the Fogg Library at South Weymouth. The society has a fine collection of historical matter and has published several volumes relating to the early history of the town, etc.

The Medfield Historical Society was incorporated on September 14, 1891. Its by-laws call for stated monthly meetings, which have been well attended from the beginning and a great deal of interest in local history has been awakened through the efforts of this organization.

Brookline organized a society in May, 1895. Each member pays $1.00 annually and is entitled to a copy of every publication issued by the society. Several donations of books, documents, curious relics and sums of money have been received by this society. It has published a work on "Brookline in the Revolution," and some other pamphlets relating to local church history, etc.

On September 29, 1897, the Holbrook Historical Society was incorporated. Its collections are preserved in the town hall. Among them are many interesting

Two historical societies were incorporated in the year 1898 - Foxboro on the last day of March, and Walpole on the 23d of May. The work of these two societies is along the same lines as that of the others in the county and regular meetings are held except during the hot weather of the summer season. There is also a historical society in Medway which owns its building and has a valuable collection of relics, documents, etc.

The Milton Historical Society is the outgrowth of the Historical Committee of the Milton Educational Society, which was founded on October 2, 1900. On February 7, 1905, the society was incorporated by Nathaniel T. Kidder and others, and the first annual meeting was held on June 6, 1905. The society then numbered 152 members. At that meeting the first paper was read before the society by Miss Mary P. Webster, the first president of the Milton Woman's Club. It was a sketch of Gov. Jonathan Belcher. In 1916 the society had upon its membership roll 306 names.

The Quincy Historical Society was incorporated on November 15, 1893. Its membership is composed of "men and women of Quincy and the villages included in the old Town of Braintree." It has collected a great deal of valuable information regarding the early families of the town.