Charles Street Workers' Housing Historic District

On the ]-"5th of May, 1715, the town passed a vote " to build a meeting-house for the accommodation of tlir inhabitants of the most westerly part of the town." The former West or Farmers' Precinct having been incor])oratcd as Weston, that part of the town now called Waltham had become the most western division. The vote was not, however, carried into effect, and in Si|)l( inbrr of the same year the Eastern Precind priiiioiiiii the (ienernl Court for separation.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

Leaving now the (piarivl of the eliurehes, we eoiiie to the third, the final, and on that aeeonnt perhaps the principal, cause of the complete with- drawal of the West Precinct, and its formation into a distinct town. As early as January 1720-21 tlie precinct in many things assumed almost complete municipal powers. On the 30th of January, 1720-21, a meeting was held, at which Isaac Mixer was chosen clerk, Joseph Mixer treasurer, and Lieutenant Jonathan Smitli, Sergeant Jonathan Sanderson, Ensign Samuel Garfield, Captain Samuel Harrington, John Cutting, Sergeant Joseph Pierce, and Daniel Benjamin were chosen precinct committee. Votes were passed to carry into effect the order of the General Court of December 17, 1720, in regard to the meeting-house, and in October, 1722, it was voted to "sell what was left of the old meeting-house." On the 7th of April, 1729, a meeting was held to see, among other things, about a location for a school-liouse. Allen Flagg agreed to give a piece of land at the north end of his orchard for that purpose, and the precinct agreed to accept it. On the 1th of February, 1729-30, Znchariah Smith, Allen Flagg, Thomas Harrington, Thomas Bigelow, Jonas Smith, John C'hilds, and John Cutting were appointed a committee to wait upon the selectmen, and have inserted in the warrant for the next town-meeting an article requesting the town to grant a sum of money to build a school-house on the land of Mr. Flagg. The town, however, refused to accept the site or vote the money, and on this school cjuestion came tlie tug of war, which resulted in the West Precinct becoming Waltham. The town-meeting at which the request of the western people was refused was held in March. On the 1st of May, 1 730, Thomas Bigelow, Zachariah Smith, Allen Flagg, Elisha Smith, and John Child were appointed a committee at a meeting of the West Precinct, to take measures to have that portion set off as a separate town, "and take Effectual care that the same may be Established that Learning may be Advanced amongst us or some other proper methods whareby to obtain the same." A petition signed by Anthony Conady (Caverly ?) and others, representing the difficulties in the way of schools, and the " impositions" of the East Precinct, and praying for a separate township, had already been prepared and sent for the consideration of the General Court, and the town was served with a copy of the j^etition, and cited to show cause why it should not be granted. Li February, 1730-31, Deacon William Brown, Anthony Cau [v] erly. Deacon Thomas Livennore, Thomas Bigelow, and Jonas Smith were chosen a committee to attain the coveted separation. At a regular meeting held April 19, 1731, the town, or practically the East Precinct, appointed Lieutenant Samuel Stearns, Joseph Nason, and Jonas Bond a committee to appear in behalf of the town, and probably in opposition to the division. What action the court took is not plain, but one of the recommendations was that the town provide two school-houses, with two duly qualified schoolmasters, - one of each for each precinct. These recommendations the town (August 16, 1731) refused to accept. The assessors of the West Precinct, - Nathaniel Harris and Deacon William Brown, - acting under a sense of gross injustice practised by the East Precinct majority, refused to assess for the grant made by the town for the support of schools. Something of the spirit of opposition to taxation without representation asserted itself here.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Waltham City - 74,798 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.