Plymouth County, Massachusetts - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 28 of those read), 1884

East Briduewater

"The Inhabitants of the East Parish of Bridgewatcr, in the County of Plytnouth, by Bartbolemew Brown, their Agent, appointed for this special purpose, beg leave respectfully to rep- rescut : That sinue the incorporation of North Bridj^ewatcr and AVest Cridgewater, the remaining territory of the Old Town of Bridgewatur is left long and narrow, so tliat many of the iohabitantd haVc to travel six or seven miloa to attend their an* nuul Town meetings; that local disputes, dissensions, and jealousies continually arl^c, and the municipal afTairs uf the town arc not and cannot be conducted in so economical, prudent, and satisfactory a manner aa they uuglit to be, and as your petitioners are very desirous of. Therefore, in order to remedy the aforesaid evils, and to promote the intcrc^t, peace, and traimuillity of the people of the said parish, they re<iuc?t that the l^aat Parish of Cridgewatcr may bo incorporated into a distinct and scpiirato town by the narue of Euit Bridgcwater, and that the same be vesteil with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties and requisitious uf other corporate towns, according to the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth, and :is in duty bound will ever i)r:iy.

** That from the local situation of your iietitioners in consequence of the recent division of the Uld Town of Bridgewater, by which they are subjected to many and great inconveniences, and nlso to render the transaction of public business less expensive, they are desirous that said parish should be incorporated into a Town, and to take the name of East Bridgcwater, and as iu duty bound will ever pray.

Act Op Incorporation

"Sect. 1. Jie it enacted by the Senate and Jlmme of Repveaeutittiven in General Court aaaeinbltdf and by the authority of the same. That the East Parish of Bridgewatcr, according to the territorial limits thereof, he and the same is hereby iucorporuted into a town by the name of East Bridgewnter, and invested with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties and requisitions, to which towns in this Commonwealth are by the Constitution and laws entitled and subjected.

"Sklt. 2. Bt it further enacted, That the inhubilants of said town of East BriJgewalor sbull be bulilea to pay all arreara of taxes which have bcea asaesseU.or dircctetl to be asscascd, upon tliciu by the town of Bridgewater, and aball bo entitled to receive, hold, and enjoy such proportion of all debts and taxes now due, and ass&ssmenta voted to said town of Bridgcwatcr, and such proportion of all the privile','ea and property, real or personal, now belonging to said town of Bridgewater, of what kind soever it may be, as the property of the said inhabitants of East Diidgewatcr bears to the property of all the inhabitants of s;iid town of Bridgewater, according to the latest valuation thereof; and they shall be bolden to pay their proportion, to be ascertained as aforesaid, of all the debts now due and owing fruin said town of Bridgewater.

'-Stcr. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said town of East Bridgewater shall he bolden to support their proportion of the poor of the town of Bridgewater which are now chargeable to said town, which proportion shall be ascertained by the present valualiou of said town, and all persons who may hereafter become chargeable 03 paupers to the said town of Bridgewater or East Bridgewater shall be considered as belonging to that town in the territory of which they had their settlement at the time of passing this act, and shall in future be chargeable to that town only.

'-Sklt. 4. Be i(/iii(/ie)- eijuc(ei/. That any justice of the peace for the county of Plymouth is hereby authorized to issue his warrant, directed to any freeholder of said town of East Cridgewutcr, rcnuiring him to warn the inhabitants thereof to meet, at the time and place therein appointed, for the purpose of choosing all such town oHicera as towns are by law authorized and required to choose at their annual meetings. [June U, 1S23]."

First Town-Meeting'. - The first town-meeting held under the act of incorporation took place at the meeting-house ou the 4th of July, 1823. Hon. Nahum Mitchell was chosen moderator, and town officers were elected, a part of whom were Ezra Kingman, Jr., town clerk and treasurer ; Alfred Whitman, Isaac Aldeii (3d J, Abishai Stetson, selectmen ; Lot Whitiuarsli and Joseph Chamberlain, Jr., constables ; Ezra Kingman and Ellis Holmes, tithingmen. Most of the young men in town recently married received the appointment of hog-reeves. At a subsequent meeting the following were chosen the first school committee, viz. : Rev. Benjamin Fessenden, Bartholomew Brown, Ezra Kingman, Jr., Hector Orr, John S. Champney, and William Harris, Jr.

At the time of the incorporation of East Bridgewater the post-olficc received a mail from Boston but three times a week, viz., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There was a public conveyance to Boston three times in a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, by the Boston and New Bedford stage, which stopped at noon for the passengers to ditie at the tavern tlien kept by Mrs. Naomi Ciombie, where the Roman Catholic house of worship now stands.

Justices Of The Peace

Each of the attorneys received his commission soon after admission to the bar: Nuhuiu MitchL-Il, July 3, 1795; Bartholomew Brown, June 2G, 1S12; and others whose names are elsewhere given.

Cen3D8 At Vakiou

A comparison of the earliest and latest valuations and appropriations (1823-83) will give some idea of its financial status then and now, thouj^h it is probable that in the first, .State and county taxes were not included, as the precinct became a town during that fiscal year :

Public-Houses. - The first tavern in East Bridgewater of which we know was kept by Josiah Scars, who had come from Cape Cod about 1711, and married a daughter of Isaac Harris, who died about 1707. Mr. Sears lived in the liouse previously occupied by his father-in-law. This house was near the old furding-piacB iu Satucket River, below the Indian dam. He kept this house of entertainment till about 1725, when he sold the house to Capt. Jonathan Bass, and returned to the cape.

Joshua Pratt kept a tavern from about 17G0. He died in 1772, and was succeeded by his son, Joshua, Jr. The house was on the uoith side of Central Street, opposite Bridge Street.

The Joseph Lazell House was erected about 1796, where the Roman Catholic Church now is ; this was a tavern till 1827. Mrs. Naomi Crombie was laudlady of the house for several of its later years as an inn. Jackson & White were the last tavern-keepers.

The hotel known as the Hudson llou.*c was the large house erected iu 1787 by Capt. Joseph Keith and Benjamin Robinson. It stood in the vill.igc, near the crossing of Central and Bedford Streets, and was burned June 4, 1857. The successive landlords were George M. Allen, from Scituate, 1S25 ; Harrison Whitman, 1826 ; Thomas Whitman, lvS27-o2 ; William Smith, 1833-43; Harvey Josselyn, 1S44 - 49 ; Doolittle, 1850-51 ; John 0. Hudson, 18.')2-j7.

Streets and Roads, - In 1870 the public thoroughfares of the town, to the number of thirty-six, were named as streets. To some of the principal streets names were applied from certain circumstances ; fur example, Central Street runs iu a nearly direct line east and west across the common thruuuh the town ; Bedford Street was formerly a part of the turnpike from Boston to New Bedford; Plyiuoutli Street was the old Plymouth road from the common to Halifax; Whitman Street was the ancient road from Whitman's mills (now the Carver Cotton-Gin Works) to Joppa (Elmwood) bridge. All the hou.ses on that ruad fur many years were occupied by Whitmans.