Somerville City (part 3 of 4)

During this year the Forster School building was erected, and the large hall in the upper story, was fitted up for the use of the town. ^ Town-meetings were first held in the Medford Street school-house, or the little engine-house on the comer of Prospect and Washington streets, until the completion of the Unitarian Church, when its vestry was hired for the meetings. The town occupied the lower hall of the high-school house from the time of the erection of this building until the increasing needs of the school compelled a transfer of the town-hall to the Fprster School.

For several years the subject of an abundant supply of pure water had been under consideration. Previous to the year 1864 the inhabitants had depended upon wells, not oidy for drinking purposes, but generally in case of fire. For the five years succeeding this date the east vilbge, the McLean Asylum, and a part of Winter Hill had been supplied from the mains running from Mystic Lake to Charlestown. At a meeting of the town, November 5, 1867, a committee was appointed to meet the Charlestown board of water commissioner9> and to contract for the general introduction of Mystic water into the town. April 13, 1868, this committee reported, and another, consisting of Aaron Sargent, C. E. Bymes, R. E. Demmon, R. A. Vinal, and C. Downer, was instructed to procure an act from the legislature authorizing the town to make arrangements for a water supply^ and to raise 8100,000 for defraying the cost of the same. September 18, the act was accepted by the town, and the committee, styled the Somerville Mystic Water Committee, proceeded to confer with the Charlestown authorities. Within three days a contract was drawn up and signed, whereby the inhabitants of Somerville should be sufficiently furnished with water, provided the supply, was more than adequate for the wants of Charlestown and Chelsea, at the rates charged to the inhabitants of these cities, with a rebate to the town. Distribution pipes were immediately connected with the Charlestown mains, at the comer of Medford Street and Broadway, and during the following jear the town was generally supplied with water. Marcli 11, 1870, a legislative enactment was procured to raise bcmds to the additional amount of $100,000, for the extension of the works/ and March 19, 1872, a third issue was authorized, increasing the amount to $400,000. Forty-four miles of pipe Imve been laid in the city. The debt for the construction of the water-works is 8335,000, and the annual municipal outlay for water purposes is nearly 814,000.

Althdngh the contract between Somerville and Charlestown imposes conditions which might have been foreseen and guarded against by a more earnest attention to the subject, when the introduction of water from Mystic Lake into Charlestown was in contemplation; the inhabitants of Somerville are receiving tlleir annual water supply at less tlian the average cost to cities of the commonwealth.

Prior to 1867 the sewerage of Somerville was in a primitive condition; a few private sewers and open drains, emptying into river basins, creeks, and stagnant pook, sufficiently supplied the needi of the inhabitants.

In 1867 the first town sewer was laid, and during the two following years a system was inaugurated which has since been essentially adhered to, and which has brought the greater part of the city to a satisfactory condition in respect to this important item of municipal regulation.

That tvat'ershed whose natural outlet was Miller's Biver was drained by trunk sewers constructed from West Somerville to Charles River along the line of Somerville Avenue and Beacon and AVas^hington streets. The valley of the Lowell Bailroad has been provided with an outlet into the old Charlestown mill-pond. A trunk sewer running under Broadway and the Park supplies the region tending towards the Mystic River. The watershed comprismg the "Walnut Hill district, liaving a natural outlet in Alewife Brook, is still sufficiently suppUed with sewerage. Authority was obtained from the legisbture, May 20, 1873, to drain into this stream, but it has been deemed inadvisable to take advantage of the act. Tlie city is now supplied with twenty-five miles of sewerage.

July 9, 1868,\he Flint Street Methodist Episccfpal Church was organized. It began under the auspices of the First ^fethodist Society, and worshipped in the chapel in Tufts Street. September 13, 1871, the chapel in Flint Street was daiicated. Bev; W. B. Toulmin is the present pastor.

In 1868 the graduates of the high school smoe the year 1862, and the members attending prior to that date, reorganized an association which they had formed some four years previous, and which had been for some time quiescent. The leading spirit in this new movement, Edward E. Edgerly, believed an association of the graduates of the town's highest educational institution should be a power for good in the community; consequently the Somerville High School Association was reformed, not with the sole intention of refreshing the scenes and renewing the acquaintances of youth, but to consider and discuss the social and educational problems of the day ; to teach the simpler branches to those who had not the opportunity of instruction in youth; to supplement and continue the teaching of the schools by classes or lectures ; and to introduce or further any scheme for the in^- tellectiial growth or moral welfare of the town. The object was noble, and not entirely in vain was the work of Mr. Edgerly, who, unhappily for the cause of education, died within the short space of two years. By his efforts and example the Association has been able to render honorable service to the citizens. It has instituted a course of lectures in almost every season for the last ten years, it has supported classes for the pursuit of special subjects, and it suggested and aided in the establishment of the free public library.

In November, 186S, two petitions were presented to the legislature, asking for a dinsion of the town, but the subject received little encouragement. Li that vear the selectmen ordered a census to be taken, which showed the population to be 12,5S5.

December 23, 1869, the St. Joseph Catholic Church was formed. The society worshipped at first in Hawkins Hall. November 21, 1874, the present church edifice was dedicated. Rev. C. T. McGrath was tlie first pastor, and still continues in ofiiccT.

The graves of Somervillc's fiillen soldiers were first decorated in 1S60, by George 0. Brastow, Lebbeus Stetson, and a few other patriotic citizens, with monev raised by private subscription.

August *17, 1870[ theTVillard C. Kinsley Post 139, Grand Army of the Kepublic, was constituted. Many of its charter members were from the John A. Andrew Post of Boston. Colonel C. F. King was chosen the first commander. He was succeeded by Colonel H. E. Hill, to whom the post

In 1870 the police department^ which up to this time bad been of minor consideration^ was reorganized^ and one captain^ eight night watchmen^ and four day patrolmen were in regular service.

In 1870 was printed the first paper^ devoted exclosively to the interests of Somerville. During a few years previous The Charleihwn Chronicle had given many of its columns to the news of its neighbor; but the rapid growth of the town served to justify the establishment of a home-sheet^ and the .first issue of The Somerville Jottrnal appeared on December 3. It has continued to be published weekly with increasing success.

la 1870 the Lexington and Arlingto)i Branch railroad was constructed^ and in December began nmping trains through a part of the town hitherto bat sparsely populated. From this innovation dates the growth of West Somerville; and tliere is now an extensive village^ with its residences, churches, school-houses, stores, and depots, where in 1870 there were less than half a dozen cottages surrounded by open fields.

For several years much dissatisfaction had been manifested with the town system of government. The town was becoming too large, her public business too various, important, and laborious to be wisely considered and impartially despatched in town-meeting. Some citizens favored annexation to Charlestown and Boston ; otliers urged the establishment of a separate city government.

In 1869 the town instructed her representatives to favor annexation, and cast a small vote for a city charter. During the following year the advocates of the latter form of government gained ground, and early in 1871 a petition was presented to the legislature, and April 14 an act passed to establish the city of Somerville. April 27, the act was accepted in town-meeting by a vote of three hundred and thirty-six to one hundred and seventy. But an undercurrent in favor of annexation existed for some time after the acceptance of the city charter. Meetings were held in the various ward-rooms, on the first Monday of December, for the election of such city officers as the law required. Geoi^ 0. Brastow was elected mayor, and a city council of two aldennen and four common councilmen was chosen from each of the four wards with a high degree of unanimity.

for a formal inauguration of the city government. Twenty-six peraons who were legal voters at the founding of the town occupied prominent seats Upon the platform. After the address of th^ mayorelect one hundred guns were fired. The day was made one of public, rejoicing, and closed with a grand ball in the same hall.

Upon the new city council devolved an unusual amount of labor, not only iii the instituting of a proper code of ordinances for the government of their own and successive bodies, but in tliat of despatching through untried channels a public business much inqreased by the exigencies of a new city and of a rapidly increasing population.

The ohl high-school building was fitted up for a city hall. Charles E. Oilman, who had held the clerkship from the founding of the town, was elected city clerk. Aaron Sargent was elected treasurer.

A seal was established, with the device of Washington standing on Prospect Hill, grasping the standard of the unfurled Union flag: In the background is a view of a part of ]}oston, and showing the State House and Bunker Hill Monument. In a narrow inner circle about tliis centre-piece are the words, "Somerville, founded 1842, Established a Citv 1872." In an outer circle is the city's motto, "Municipal. Freedom Gives National Strength.''

April 23, an act to establish a police court was approved, and June 24, with appropriate ceremonies, the court was constituted. Isaac Story was appointed standing justice, and Lebbeus Stetson clerk.

From the founding of the town until 1854 criminal cases were taken to Charlestown and East Cambridge for trial. From this latter date until the incorporation of tlie city, almost without interruption, cases were tried by Francis Tufts, under commission as justice of the peace^ and subsequently under a hiw by which certain trial justices were triennially designated and commissioned, who should exercise authority and jurisdiction in criminal cases in any to\vn in the county where no police court was established. Tlie first trials in Somerville, and those for many years, were conducted in the office of Captain Tufts, on the southern comer of Medford axA Washington streets. In 1861 the court was moved to the builduig on the eastern comer of Prospect Street and Somerville Avenue. After the city police court was constituted, the business of the department was held in a room at the city hall until the building in Bow Street was erected.

Altbongfa tlie ten years previous to the city charter included the period of the Civil War, Somcrville made a progress in growth unprecedented in her own history, and perhaps unequalled in that of any otlier in the state. The popuktion, 14,685 by the census of 1870, was estimated at 16^000^ a gain of nearly one hundred per cent in the iai years. The number of jiolls was registered at i,103, showing a much larger percentage of gain. The number of dwellings had increased to 3,061, making the same relative advance. Tlie schools now numbered* fifty-four, eight having been organized in this period, and seven male and fifty -^ight f emald teachers gave instruction to a school population of 2,951.

For some years the basin of Miller's River had been a growing nuisance, from its use as the outlet of the sewers and as a depository of offal from the slaughter-houses upon its banks ; and in 1872 it was felt that the public health demanded tliat measures should be taken for remedying this great and increasing evil. Consequently ou May 3 and 6 acts were passed by the legislature, - tlie former authorizing the filling of bnds to a grade thirteen feet above mean low water, and the latter empowering the harbor commissioners and the stale board of liealth to investigate the cause of the nuisance^ and recommend measures for its abatement.

Tlie board of commissioners reported plans for filling the river, and the city coundl took steps towards procuring an act. May 23, 1873, whereby the cities of Cambridge and Somerville were authorized to fill the river and to construct a sewer along Somerville Avenue and Bridge Street to the Charles Biver, which should be an outlet to this made land, the surrounding districts, and such other territories as the river would naturally have drained.

Work wMs begun upon these important measures without delay, and prosecuted uninterruptedly, as far as the seasons would permit, until their completion at the close of tlie following year. This work was one of vast magnitude and ex})cnse, but by its accomplishment the city was not only rid of an intolerable nuisance, but it secured for taxation an extensive and valuable piece of proi)erty witliin two miles of the heart of the metropolis.

Li 1872 the Holland Street Methodist Episcopal Church was formed, largely through the exertions of the Bev. Mr. Lacount. Bev. A. E. Wiiisliip held the first pastorate. The cha|)el was dedicated May 1, 1873. The present pastor is Bev. William Merrill.

During the second year of Mr. Brastow's ad« ministration the most important measures were the oi)ening of the public libran*, the abatement of the Miller's Biver nuisance, the eirectioit of the Luther V. Bell school-house and the George 0. Brastow hose-house, besides constant and exteiisive improvements in streets and sidewalks.

To Henn' M. Brown, treasurer of the Somerville High School Association, belongs tlie honor of originating the movement which resulted in the establishment of the public library. He believed that the furtherance of such a project came within the scople of the purposes of the Association, and in 1870 he wrote a letter to the trustees, selectmen, and schobl committee, urging the matter upon their attention. The selectmen promptly responded, December, 1869, by appointing a committee of three to confer with one from the Association. In March, 1870, similar committees were appointed, who prepared a brief plan for operating the proposed library ; but this was not ratified by the citizens, who in town-meeting, Apiril, 1871, appointed another committee of sixteen to prepare a more ekborate code of regulations. Tlie report of this committee was accepted and adopted by the town in November, 1871. It was therein provided tliat a board of trustees should be chosen by the first city council as soon after its organization as should be convenient. Notwithstanding the eflbrts of the Association, which made the promotion of this educational scheme one of its especial objects, no further municii)al action was taken until June 1, 1872, when it was voted that a room be forthwith preixired for a library. October 21, a board of nine trustees was appointed. Mr. Isaac Pitman consented to become the nominal head of the library during its fonnation, and Misji Harriet A. Adams was chosen assistant librarian. The first purchase of books was made in March, 1873, and tlie library was o])encd to the public in Mav with a collection of more than two thousand volumes. Tlie circulation for the first year waa 24,693. In 1S78 it had become 61,076, and the number of volumes had increased to 7,441. Hie total number of borrowers rciristered since the ojiening was 7,780. One room snHiccd for the uses of the library untQ 1876^ when a smaller one was added, with a reading-table supplied with twentyfife newspapers and periodicals. The library is open six hours daily. When the institution was in successful operation^ Mr. Pitman resigned, and Miss Adams was promoted to the position to which she has been annually re-ql^ted.

This administration completed the widening of Highland Avenue and ^lilk Street, and many measures begun by their predecessors. It continued the generous line of improvements deemed ned^ saiy in view of the increasing populatipn and Taluation of the city.

April 4, 1874, the West Somerville Congregationid Church was formed, under the auspices of the Home Missionary Society, and tHe ministration of Bev. Charles Mills. The present house of worship was dedicated December 3, lj^76. Bev. Albert Bryant is the pr^ent pastor. ^ '

Jane 22, 1874, the Broadway -M^khodist EpV copal Church Was formed through the labors of J. Benson Hamilton, of , the Flint Street socie.ty: In November the new congregation firsC occupied its present house of worship, the v^try of It contemplated edifice.

In the spring of 1874 tlie Prospect Hill Cdn^ gr^tional Church had its beginning at the house of M. P. Elliot. A Sabbath sqliool wa^ soon afterwards gathered, and the church drgamzed December 20. The following year t6e* pi^nt pastor, Bev. A. E. Winship, was install^. Servicej were held m the " Hill '' building until October,19, 1876, when the present church edifice was dedicated.

An act having been procured from the legislature for the establishment of a public park, the city council voted to accept it, and immediately began the purchase of an area of low land lying between Mount Benedict and Winter Hill, thinly settled and undesirable for d^-ellings; for i\A site of the proposed improvement. The construction continued during the following two years, when on June 17, 1876, it was appropriately dedicated. The cost of construction was 8213,903.20.

In 1875 Mr. Furber received the indorsement of the citizens by a hearty re-election, and continued the same diligent oversight of the public interests which had characterized his first term of office. As the years 1874 and 1875 were the ones of greatest infiation and speculation, particularly in the matter of real estate, there was in the community a wide-spread and chimorous demand for extensive and somewhat unreasonable public improvements, involving large expenditures of money, and it became exceedingly difiicult to be able to define the proper official course to pursue between the idea^of prudence on the one liand and obedience to the popular will on the other. During these years the police court building was constructed, Broadway was widened and graded, and improvements in the various departments of the city continued. Austin Belknap served as mayor during the years 1876-77, being succeeded by George A. Bruce, the present incumbent.

In accordance with an act of legislature in 1875, to regulate municipal indebtedness, a board of commissioners of the sinking-funds was appointed to manage sums annually set apart for the payment of the various municipal loans at their maturity. $ 144,963.84 was held by this commission January 1, 1879. In 1877 the houses in sixteen streets were numbered.

The -West Somerville Baptist Church was organized May 13, 1877. It sprang from the Union Churcii formed iu 1874. Bev. J. B. Haskins was tl\e first, and Bev. William Lisle is the present pastor. ,, In ''1878 an act of legislature authorizing the establishment of boards* of health in the cities of the commonwealth was accepted by Somerville, and such a board organized. Accurate maps indicating the prevalence of the various contagious diseasies in all parts of the town have been prepared, ' and aiuch sanitary measures have been taken as would be most likely to guard against epidetUjics. At present nearly every dwelling is connected with the sewerage. Prior to this year the selectmen and aldermen had constituted themselves boards of health, but this department did not become a regular source of expense to the town until 1866. -v

Mr. Bowman was bom in Charlestown, Mav 11, 1840. He graduated at Harvard College in 1860, and subsequently at the Harvard Law School. He was chosen the first solicitor of the city, and a member of the first board of trustees of the public librarv.

In 1878 the total valuation of the city was fixed at 820,076,900, a third less tlian in 1875. The city debt in 1879 was 31,585,000. For the extingnishment of this debt, $45,525 are raised annually by taxation, and set apart as sinkingfunds, in accordance with the provisions of statute law. There are in the city twenty religious societies and eighty-two schools. The great questions of water and sewerage have been satisfactorily disposed of. The highways have been thoroughly reconstructed and are in fair condition, and the city seems to be entering a season of prosperity unrivalled in her histor}\

In 1857 John Abbot Lodge of F. and A. M. was instituted. It holds its meeting on the first Tuesday in each month, at Masonic Hall, Union Square. Soley Lodge, M'hich has its time of regular communication on the third Monday of each month, is now working under disi)en5ation. Somerville Boyal Arch Chapter was constituted in 1871, and meets the second Tuesday in each month, at Masonic Hall, Union Square.

Somerville Encampment, No. 48, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, meets the second and fourth Monday of each month. Oasis Lodge, No. 146, was instituted September 17, 1868, and meets every Thursday evening, at Odd Fellows Hall, Union S(|uare. Paul Eevere Lodge, No. 184, was instituted March 15, 1878, and meets every Tuesday evening at Fraternity Hall, Broadway. Ivaloo Lodge, No. 7, Daughters of Bebekah, meets the second Friday in each month. The instalhtion of officers occurs the second Friday in January.

There are six temperance organizations in Somerville: The Welcome Home Lodge, No. 71, Independent Order of Good Templars, instituted June 29, 1877, and which meets at 18 Summer Street; the Banner Division, No. 63, Sons of Temperance, which meets ever)' Thursday evening at fiacon Hall, Union S(|uare; the CUrendon Division, No. 85, Sons of Tem])erance, which meets at Ckirendon Hall, West Somerville, ever}' Monday evening; St. Paul Temple of Honor, No. 41, wliich meets in Indei)endcncc Hall, Reed's Corner, Charlcstown, everj* Wednesday evening; the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, organized April 26, 1876, which meets at Associate Hall, Union Square, every Wednesday at 3 p. m ; and the St. Joseph's Total Abstinence Society,

Among other organizations are the Franklin Lodge, No. 41, Knights of Pythias, which meets in Pythian Hall, Union S(iuare, every Tuesday evening ; Elm Council, No. 36, of the Boyal Arcanum, West Somerville, which meets the first and third Thursday, in Arcanum Hall; Somerville Council, No. 6, B. A., which meets the first and third Wednesday of each month ; Unity Council, No. 59, B. A., which meets in Fratenn'ty Hall the first and third Monday in each month ; Excelsior Council, No. 3, B. A., instituted August 8, 1877, and which meets in Franklin Hall the first and third Wednesday; Warren Lodge, No. 89, which meets every Monday evening in Odd Fellows Hall, Union Square ; Cameron Lodge, No. 1,146, which meets in Arcanum Hall, West Somerville, the second and fourth Tuesday of each month; Winter Hill Lodge, No. 423, which meets in the hall, Broadway Street, every Tuesday evening, - all Knights of Honor ; and the Willard C. Kinsley encampment. Post 139, Grand Army of the Bepublic, wliich meets at Police Station Hall on every Monday evenuig.

The Powder-House. - This venerable structuiej associated equally with the appliances of war aud the occupations of })eace, was erected in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, and for several years was a windmill, to which the settlers for many miles around brought their com to be ground.

For some twenty years before the Bevolution^ and till 1822, it was in use as a public store-house for powder. Again becoming private property, it has since remained idle, resting on the distinction of beiinir the onlv ancient ruin in Massachusetts.

Standing on an eminence, formerly called Quanj Hill, with its round tower surmounted by a conical cap, it is a conspicuous object for miles in many directions.

It is built of slate-stone, such as occurs in the neighboring quarry. There are three stories, divided by heavy floors, and supported by large oaken joists. In heiglit it is nearly forty feet, and nineteen feet in diameter. The walls are two and a lialf feet in thickness at the base. The door was formerly on the southwest side, the present entrance, on the northeast, being of modem origin. The age of the old mill is not now accurately known, but records exist wliich fix the time of its erection between the jean 1703 and 1720, oml make it probable the former date is nearer the true one. In 1703-4 ten acres^ so described as to make it dear that tlic knd on which the ruin now stands was indicated, were deeded by Jonathan Fo^kct to John Mallet, a French Huguenot. From the fact of there being no mention of buildings upon the property, and from its being designated merely as a part of the stinted ^xisture '^ near the quarries/' the deduction is made tiiat the tower was not in existence at that time.

John Mallet died in 1722, and by his will, dated August 30, 1720, wherein he bequeaths half of his grist-mill to each of liis sons, Andrew and Lewis, it is shown to have been then in active operation. Andrew bought his brother's part in 1788, and continued in possession of the property till his death in 1744.

Three years later the structure, with a qimrter of an acre of land around it, and the right of way to and from the county road, was sold by Isaac, son of Andrew, to the province of Massachusetts, for ^'£250 in bills of public credit on the province of the old tenor." It had then ceased to be used for its original purpose, as it is spoken of in the deed as the stone edifice formerly a windmill. It was then remodelled into a magazine for holding the powder of the provinoe and of the towns.

o It was used for this purpose by the American forces during the siege of Boston, and by the State of Massachusetts till 1822, a few years after the magazine at Cambridgeport was completed.

The Powder-House is connected with one of the opening scenes of the Sevolution, which led to the first armed gatliering of the yeomanry of Middlesex.

In the summer of 1774 the colonists, apprehensive of the coming conflict, gradually withdrew the powder belonging to the towns. Governor Ghge, being informed of this action, resolved to save the remainder. Accordingly, at sunrise, September 1, Lieutenant-Colonel Mnddison, with two hundred and sixty men, embarked in thirteen boats from Long ^\^larf, and was rowed to Ten Hilb Farm, where he landed. One detachment marched to Cambridge, where it seized two cannon ; another proceeded to the Powder-House, and removed to tl^ir boats the two hundred and fifty half-barrels of powder there remaining, whence it was carried to Castle William in Boston Harbor.

The old Powder-House passed into the hands of the heirs of the late Mr. Nathan Tufts, of Charlestown, in 1836, and luis since remained in possession of the family.

Tbe McLetiH Asylnm, - The McLean Asylum for the Insane is located in Somerville, on an eminence known during the Revolution and earlier as Cobble Hill, mentioned in this sketch. It is a branch of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and, like its sister charity, was erected by the united libemlity of the commonwealth and of private individuals. The newly formed corporation purchased the residence and grounds of Joseph Barrell for the establbhment of their asylum. Tlie lot procured was five hundred feet wide by sixteen hundred feet deep, and extended to the water. The mansion-house was occupied by the officers of the institution, and two buildings were erected on either side of it, each adapted for tliirty patients.

Dr. Bufus TTyman was chosen the first physician and superintendent, March 23, 1818, and in the following autumn, after visiting Philadelphia and New York to examine the only luiuitic hospitals then existing in the country, entered upon his duties. Difficulties incident to the opening of a new cliarity beset him on every side. * The buildings had been constructed with an imperfect knowledge of the requirements of such an institution, and many alterations were necessary to adapt them to thC" style of treatment proposed by Dr. Wyman, - a treatment requiring more miimte classification, allowing greater freedom to tlie patients^ and demanding more moral agencies than liad been heretofore customary in similar institutions.

Tlie first i)atient was admitted October 6, 1S18. His father believed he was possessed of a devil; and said tliat whipping had been one of the ieme« dial agents employed upon him. Thirteen patients entered before the close of the year.

In 1819 Samuel Eliot donated 310,000 to the Asylum. Each year brought an increasing number of |)atients> especially of males, and it became necessary to enlarge the accommodations in this department. Consequently in 1826 an extensive wing surmounted by a dome was joined to the male, wards. During this year the institution took the name of McLean Asylum, in honor of John McLean, who a few years previous had made to tlie institution a donation of 335,000, and tlie residue of his property after the payment of certain bequests, - a sum estimated at the time at $90,000. In 1830 Joseph Lee, recognizing the usefulness of this branch of tlie hospital, and grateful for the opportunities it had offered for the care of his deo^sed son, donated 320,000 to it. In 1832 the asylqm still further eiiriclied by the will of Miss Mnrj' Belknap, who made the institution Iier residuary devisee. Tliis devise iras valued at 588,602, and crowned tlie munificence of a family wliicli had alwavs shown unstinted liberality in this cause.

In August, 1832, Dr. Wyman resigned. But the trustees, feeling that lliey could ill be deprived of his services, temporarily sejwrated, in the following month, the offices of physician and superintendent, and contiuued lum in the medical directorship; and these duties he fulfilled till his final resignation. May 1, 1835. During the superintendency of Dr. Wyman more than eleven hundred patients were received under treatment, and the ainiual admissions had begun to exceed one hundred, llie prejudices of the community were gradually becoming dissipated, and the commonwealth had recognized the necessity of such charity by the erection of a state hospital at Worcester.

It was fortunate for the McLean Asylum that it secured for its first superintendent the services of a man so fitted by his intellectual and moral endowments to become the pioneer among the hospital superintendents of New England. The highly curable nature of insanity was not then widelj tect^iiied. Storien, often not without foundation, of tlie abuses of the prirate madhouses of England were rife in tlie commnnitf. People were loath to allow their uufortnnate rdittives to be taken to nn institution where pbjsieil punishment and violence were supposed to eiter into the means of treatment. To overcome thu wide-s])read feeling of distrust and aversion, tiid to exhibit the advantages arising from a kind, intelligent treatmeut, required a director tif gpotlea rooml character; and to lay the fouitdations of % comparatively new tharity wisely and successfulW,' demanded a physician skilled iu his profession,'and possessing, in more than ordinary degree, inveatin faculty and executive ability. Such (jualities wen united in the first superintendent.

Dr. Kufus Wyman was boni in Wobuni' in 1778. lie graduated ^vith honor at Han-ard College in 1799, aiid studying metlicine under direetion of Dr. John Jelfries, took his degree in 1804. He sought to correct a naturally delicate couitkH<- lion by a country life, and sellleil in Chelmsford, where he remained, notwithstanding a flattering call from the citizens of Concord, until cboMU physician and superintendent of the McLeau Abj^' lum. Eesigning in 1S35, he retired to private lif^ and died at Boxbury in 1S^2.

of putting in operation needed mechanical appliances. He early gave attention to the heating and ventilating of the buildings^ and devised woodburning furnaces, by which the desired temperature was obtained from small volumes of highly heated air. His plan was put in successful operation, and was shortly afterwards used in the Capitol at WashingtoiiL To good natunil endowments Dr. Wyman had added an academic education, a training of many years in the general |)mctice of his profession, and a judgment formed from a close and varied acquaintance with other minds ; and at tlie beginning of his connection \x\t\\ the Asylum his life bad been matured by the experience of forty years. To his wisdom and skill he united unwearied devotion to all the interests and requirements of the institution, and a fidelity which extended to the lesser as well as to the greater and more showy duties of his station. For fourteen years, or till his health broke down, he had been absent but five nights from his chaj^. He was averse to ostentation, and to such a degree that it is doubtful whether he gave due publicity to the results of his experience, which might luive strengthened the hands of others about entering this field of labor, and served to increase the reputation and usefuhiess of tlie institution. Chief among his attributes was a sterling integrity and a moral grandeur before which the charges and assaults to which such institutions are c^er unavoidably liable fell liarmless. The same qiialities which enabled him to proceed patiently day by day, laying the foundations of an intelligent and humane treatment of lunncy in Xew England, that did not permit him to build or alter without a wise forethought, or to act without a well-matured and, as experience has sho>\'n, generally a just rea- 'son, will presence his name fresh in the list of those who have rendered invaluable services for the amelioration of the insane in this country.

On the retirement of Dr. "Wvmnn, Dr. Phineas O. Lee, who had been the assistant for a year, was elected to the 8U|)erintendency, and at once began a coiirse of treatment in some respects opposite to that previously pursued. Dr. Wyman liad regarded insanity as an inrtammation. Dr. Lee believed it to be an irritation, and curable in all cases. He brouglit into greater prominence the moral agencies begun by his predecessor. Idleness was deemed a great evil, and all the inmates were sought to be provided with some occuixition, if not of a useful, then of a diverting, nature. All the knomi varieties of amusement were adopted, wliich should effectually, shut out all trains of diseased thought. In the. midst of this experiment Dr. Lee died. Although tlie indulgence it) rational amusements and the establishment of cheerful surroundings are relied upon at the present day. as the chief items of treatment, under the light of added exi)erience it is doubtful whether th^ extreme measures adopted by Dr. Lee could have been long carried out unmodified.

I)r. Lee was bom in New Britain, Connecticut, in 1808. After a service under Dr. Todd at the retreat at Hartford, in 1834 he became the assistant of Dr. Wyman, and at the expiration of a faithful and active service of two years at the Asy* lum he yielded his life in the midst of his diosen work, dying October 29, 1836, of nen'ous exhaustion brojught on by his constant and fatiguing labors. Dr. Lee was of a cheerful temperament, de\'oted and enthusiastic in the pursuit of his calling, and possessed a wonderful control over his patients. The purity of his character and the strength and fervor of his religious convictions endeared him to his many friends, and the energy and skill displayed in the care for his unfortunate -cluirgc made his decease - at the early age of twenty-eight - an event universally to be deplored by the friends of the institution. Und^r the direction of Dr. Lee one hundred and eighty-nine patients were received.

Dr. Luther V. Bell, of Derry, New Hampshire, was elected his successor in December, 1836, and pursued with some modifications the treatment of his predecessori In 1836 the grouiids were enlarged by the addition of six acres, and work was b^un to extend the female wing by a similar addition to tliat upon the east side. Tlie new wards, completed in 1838, were erected with the money of Miss Belknap, and [)er})ctuated th^ memory of this benefactress. In 1851 Cochituate water was introduced into the Asylum along the line of the Lowell Railroad. In 1850 William Appleton donated 820,000 for the erection of two buildings for the accommodation of a class of patients who had been accustomed to a more luxurious style of living than could be furnished in the older apartments. During the administration of Dr. Bell the class of occupants at the Asylum gradually became changed, by the tacit demand of tlie public, for an institution more jmrticularly devoted to the care of ilie wealthier class. This change had come about naturally by tlie more general provision for the insane made bv tiie erection of state institutions.

Dr. Bell resigned in 1856, after a service of nineteen jears, leaving the institution in a highly prosperods condition. Twenty-five hundred patiejits had been admitted under his charge. The number of institutions for the insane had increased in these tw6 decades from iialf a dozen to more than forty. Dr. Bell left the McLean Asylum standing in the front rank of these curative establisliments, and enjoying the confidence of tlie commujiity to a rare degree. No great change had been adopted in the medicinal means, but the agents of moral treatment, so called, had become more perfect, and many experiments and means of treatment had been tried, to be accepted or discarded as experience directed. Important improvements in ventilation and warming had been devised. Some phases of disease hitherto undescribed had been detected, all of which added not a little to the stock of knowledge in this specialty, and established for their autlior a world-wide reputation.

For twentv vears Dr. Luther V. Bell was a citizen of this city> and during his residence as physician and superintendent of the McLean Asylum, identified himself with the interests of tlie town and its inhabitants, as he did Antli the larger interests of the community in all public questions and in matters ])ertainhig to his special vocation.

His report^} as chairman of the school committee for the years 1845-46 and 1846-47 are unusually long and minute, and show an earnest and jealous regard for the welfare of our scliools, and a warm desire that they should attain that excellence for which they liave been in later years conspicuous.

Luther V. Bell was bom in Francistown, New Hampshire, December 20, 1806. His ancestors, of Scotch-Irish stock, were among the earliest settlers of New Hampshire, and the name of Bell lias been in continual prominence in the annals of the state. The subject of this sketcli - son of one governor, nephew of another, the brother of a senator and a chief justice - was graduated at Bowdoin College in 182^3, and at the Medical School at Hanover three vears later, while still in his minority. He began the practice of medicine in Derry in 1831, married in 1834", and continued in tlie general practice of his profession till lie was called to the speciol service to which he gave the best years of his life.

Becoming interested in the project of providing public accommodations for the insane, he allowed himself to be elected to the state legislature for the furtherance of this object, and in 1837, while thus engaged in his legislative duties, received a call to undertake the sn})erintendence of the oldest and most prosperous institution for the insane in New Enghmd, - the McLean Asylum, where for nearly twenty years he was prominently before the eyes of the tomi, the state, and the country.

He was for five years president and a leading spirit of the Association of Superintendents of North American Listitutions for the Insane. In 1857 he was elected president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. In 1850 he was a member of the governor's council.

Besigning the superintendency of the Asylum in 1856, not old in vears, but in delicate health, he returned to private life, fixing liis residence in Cfaarlestown. But, important and useful as his life had been, it was not destined to go out without a further and crowning service. At tlie. beginning of the Bebellion he promptly responded to the call of his countr}' ; was commissioned surgeon of tlie 11th Massachusetts Begiment, June 10> 1861, made brigndier-sui^eon in August, and _^ medical director of division when Hooker became majorgeneral. He was in the path of promotion to still higher fields of usefulness, when, at Camp Baker^ near Budd's Ferry, he was stricken down with pericarditis, which terminated fatally on the seventh day, - February 11, 1862.

Dr. Bell achieved his greatest success in the specialty which was the principal occupation of his life, and upon tlie full and able performance of the various duties incident to the many branches of this calling his most enduring reputation will undoubtedly rest. When he assumed charge of the McLean Asvlum there were not more than half a dozen such institutions in the country, and he was frequently called ui)on to give the aid of his experience in the construction of new hospitals. The sv-stem of moral treatment of the insane was recogiiized at this time, but the means for accomplishing this end were far from being perfect, and it was under the administration of Dr. Bell tlmt many of the appliances and adjuncts for carrying out tliis higher treatment were adopted. Many exi)eriments were tried, some of M'liich were abandoned, others continued. All the results of his nineteen years' exi)erience were given to the public in an interestiii£r and elaborate series of annual reports, wliicli did much to increase the efficiency of similar institutions in the country, and to maintain and advance the reputation of that which he had in charge. Dr. Bell had a taste for the legal aspects of insauity^ and his full learning, his ready and suggestive memory and self-command, fitted him for medico-legal duties. For twenty-five years he WIS constantly before the courts as an expert in the vexed questions pertaining to his calling. No man had performed these duties oftener, more conscientiously, or with a higher degree of success. As a writer. Dr. Bell excelled ; but he left few products of his pen behind him. Essays on the external exploration of disease, on small-pox, and on a vegetable diet, his asylum reports, a work on vehtikition, a eulogy on President Taylor, and an exliaustive and very able opinion on the Parrish Will case constitute nearly all of his literary remains. But his life was spent as an observer, and the results of his experience were imparted more frequently by speaking than by writing.

Dr. Bell possessed considerable skill and interest in meclianical arts. The exterior of the Unitarian CImrch was modelled after his plans. A machine for the manufacture pi flax has been in successful ose abroad. He claimed to have been the first to send communication over the telegraphic wire, and petitioned Congress for remuneration. Having an even temperament, he had disciplined himself to bear with dignity the petty aimoyances of his station, and the aspersions of the malevolent. His cliaracter and life were pure and simple. Though a member of no religious sect, he had deeply pondered the Scriptures, and in life and death was a consistent Christian man.

March 16, 1836, Dr. Cliainncy Booth, who had been assistant physician for thirteen years, was elected physician and superintendent ; but he lived to make but one report, ahd to occupy the position a little less than two years. He died, in the midst of much promise, January, 1858. No important changes were made in this period. Dr. Booth was bom in Coventry, Connecticut, in 1816. After a residence of two years at Amherst College, he began in 1837 the study of medicine with his uncle. Dr. W. H. Bock well, who had just assumed the charge of the newly opened Vermont Asylum for the Insane at Brattleboro\ Taking his medical degree at Pittsfield, he was elected assistant at Brattleboro', and in 1840 was chosen to the same position at the new Hospital for the Insane at Augusta, Maine, where he remained till his election to the ilcLean Asylum, two years later. Dr. Booth possessed an unusual faculty for dealing with the insane^ and so closely identified himself

Dr. John E. Tyler was elected superintc^dciit February 12, 1858, and continued in office lill ill health compelled him to resign, February 17^ 1871. During this period two model buildings were erected for the more violent insane, and tiie eslate was extended by the purcliase of five acres of land. Tlie library for the use of the patients was largely increased, greater opportunities for amnsement and for exercise were offered, and the Asylum, then as now, frequently enjoyed the performances and works of artists- in the various branches of art and music.

John £. Tyler was bom in Boston, December 9, 1810. Aftfsr leaving school lie entered upon a business life, which he shortly after abandoned to fit himself for a profession. Graduating at Dartmouth in 1842, he soon turned to the study of medicine, and took his degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1846. He established himself in Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, where he practised his profession six years. During this i)eriod he represented the town in the legislature two terms. The position of superintendent of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane being vacant, he received the apix)intment October 15, 1852. Here he remained five years, radically improving the condition of the insane in that state. When about to return to general practice, he was elected physician and superintendent of the McLean Asylum. Resigning, with shattered health, after a service of thirteen years, he retired to the privates practice of his specialty in the city of his birth. He held a professorship in the Harvard Medical School, and continued to be frequently called in consultation and in courts till his death, April, 1878. Dr. Tyler was a man of uncommon energy and personal power. He not only had an unusual personal magnetism in dealing with patients, but possessed the faculty of gsiining the confidence of their friends and the public at large more generally than is wont to fall to the lot of hospital directors.

Early in the administration of Dr. Tyler the asylum was dei)rived of the services of its steward and matron for thirty years, - Mr. and Mrs. Columbus Tyler. The fact that they are still living in their adopted city deters the writer from offer- I ing that tribute to the recognized fidelity and wis- ^ dom M'itli which they conducted the aflairs of the

Source changes here: from History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, by Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Ed, published 1890; 15,365 words in this source stream.

Somerville City

his natural reserve. He never sought public office, though he served occasionally in some capacity of trust. The last office he held was that of Water Commissioner. He was an officer of many corporations, and at the time of his death was a director in the Waltham National Bank, Newton and Watertown Gas-Light Company, Waltham Gas-Light Company, Bay State Brick Company, and a trustee and member of the Investment Committee of the Waltham Savings B.ank. In all positions which he held he performed his duties with unfaltering trust. The later years of his life, until his death, in 1880, were passed amid much pain and severe suffering, which he bore with great courage and patience.

Francis Butteick

Mr. Francis Buttrick has been prominently identified with the business interests of Waltham for upwards of a half-century. In the real estate operations incident to a growing New England town, and in the ownership of houses and other buildings which are so intimately connected with the welfare of the people and the prosperity of the place, he has been one of the leading men. He is now by far the largest real estate owner in the city. He has grown up with the material development of Waltham, and is still active in whatever pertains to the management of his property. Mr. Buttrick was born in Pepperell, Mass., in 1814, and removed with his family to Concord in 1828. Here, after receiving a limited education at the public schools, he learned the trade of house carpenter with his father. Working in that and the surrounding towns as a journeyman, became to Waltham in 1838, where he continued the same occupation. In 1844 he commenced business on his own account as builder and employer. In 1857 he bought a lumber-yard, planing and aaw-mill and box manufactory, and entered into quite extensive operations in that line of business, giving up his occupation as a carpenter. He had lately retired from active participation in his lumber business, which is now organized as the Buttrick Lumber Company.

Through his business as carpenter and builder, he became interested in real estate, mostly of improved character, with buildings devoted to the wants of a manufacturing and laboring community. From small beginnings in this way he has, by good judgment and sagacity, fair dealing and attention to his aflairs, acquired a possession of real estate, varied and valuable, in different parts of the city. As a landlord and party in interest in property held by others, Mr. Buttrick has always been kind-hearted and disposed to assist those who were inclined to assist themselves. He has helped many to preserve their homes, when under a more exacting man they might not have been able to keep them. As a citizen, he has always taken an interest in the affairs of the town and city, and contributed his advice and support to all matters, public and private, affecting the welfare of the community. In material aid to the many objects constantly presenting themselves for individual assistance, he has bestowed his benefactions willingly and liberally. Mr. Buttrick has been for many years a director in the Waltham National Bank, is president of the Waltham Music Hall Company, and a director in the New England Northwestern Investment Company. He was one of the original promoters and incorporators of the Waltham Co-operative Bank, and for .several years has been its president. This institution has been most successful and praiseworthy in its practical operation in encouraging men to invest their earnings to the best advantage in their own locality, and to build for themselves homes. Mr. Buttrick has ever taken a deep interest in this institution, and has given it from the first, the benefit of his active efforts and good judgment.

He was a selectman of the town for several years, and was a member of the last Board of Selectmen, when the town government was changed to a city form of government.

Mr. Buttrick is a man unassuming in life and manner, bears the burdens of business easily and quietly. Genial and hospitable in social life, always on theside of good government and sound policy in public aflairs, local and general, conservative and level-headed in business matters, he commands the respect of his townspeople, and the confidence of all who know him.

Chapter Liii By William T. Davis

In writing a history of Somerville, as a contribution to a history of Middlesex County, in which the histories of all its towns are included, the writer thinks it will be superfluous to record the incidents in its career before its incorporation, and while it was contained within the bounds of Charlestown, from which it was separated in 1842. The histories of Maiden and of the county of Middlesex, to be found in these volumes, cover enough of the ground prior to the incorporation of Somerville, and render any further allusion to it unnecessary.

In 1841 the people living in the westerly part of Charlestown, becoming dissatisfied with the burdens of taxation, unrelieved by corresponding benefits, held a meeting on the 22d of November in that year, at the Prospect Hill School-house, to discuss the question of a division of the town. At that meeting Joseph Miller presided, and Edwin Munroe, Jr., acted as secretary. A committee of seven, consisting of Francis Bowman, Asa Pritchard, Edward Cutter,

Robert G. Tenney, Benjamin Hadley, John S. Edgerly and John Tapley, was chosen to obtain the views of the people on the question and report at an adjourned meeting. At the adjourned meeting, held on the 29th of November, a committee of six, consisting of Francis Bowman, John S. Edgerly, Clark Bennett, James Hill, Jr., Oliver Tufts and S. S. Runey, was chosen to investigate and report on town affairs generally, and more particularly on the taxes paid by their section of the town.

On the 3d of December the committee reported that in 1840 the assessed tax of the town was $34,093. 76 of which the sum of ^'5,687.78 was assessed on the inhabitants and property above the bridge, over the Middlesex Canal. An analysis of this tax showed that the portion of it paid by inhabitants on property in that section was $4,378.30, while the sum of $1,008.28 was assessed on non-residents, $110.24 on residents for property below the bridge, and $130.20 on the Tufts Miles tan-yard. They also reported that in May, 1840, the population of that section was 1519, the number of families 224 and the number of polls 437. They reported that in 1841 the number of polls was 527, and the assessed tax of the whole town $57,- 522.98, of which the sum of $9,416.20 was paid by the inhabitants and property of that section, divided as follows: $7,221.34 by the inhabitants on property within the section, $1,821.83 on non-residents, $156.03 on residents for property below the bridge, and $217 on the Tan-yard Wharf.

It was determined at this meeting to make an effort to secure an act of incorporation for a new town, and a committee of nine, consisting of Charles E. Oilman, Hiram Allen, Edwin Munroe, Jr., Caleb W. Leland, John C. Magoun, Oliver Tufts, Charles Miller, Samuel Thompson and Robert G. Tenney, was chosen to secure the signatures of persons favorable to a division. It seemed necessary to make efforts to this end greater than the result proved were necessary. An attempt to obtain an act of incorporation had been made in 1828, and had failed. A petition was sent to the Legislature .at that time to be incorporated as the town of Warren, and the petitioners had been given leave to withdraw. It was now, therefore, determined to proceed with energy and with care, and to secure such evidence as would satisfy legislators that the best interests of all concerned demanded a division. The above committee was instructed to use all honorable means to secure an act of incorporation and to employ counsel. The committee organized by the choice of Charles E. Oilman as chairman and Edwin Munroe, Jr., as secretary. Ephraim Buttrick was retained as counsel, and after some discussion the name ofWalford was selected for the proposed new town, in honor of the first white settler of Charlestown. At a later meeting, however, that name was abandoned, and the name of Somerville, having no special significance, was substituted.

the following petition, signed by Guy C. Hawkins and many others, was presented, which was opposed by many citizens in the main part of the town, by the inhabitants immediately outside of Charlestown Neck by some of the people in the upper part of the section, asking for the division :

"Respectfully represent the undersigDed that they are citizens of Charlestown, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts aforesaid, antl resident in that part of said town lying westerly and northwesterly of the bridge near the Middlesex Canal at the Neck, so-called, and the highway leading thence to Maiden Bridge and bounded by Mystic River on the northeast and north, and by the town of Cambridge and West Cam* bridge in the south and southwest - that the part of Charlestown embraced within the limits aforesaid contain an area of about four square miles and a population exceeding fifteen hundred inhabitants thereof, and that the interests, convenience and just rights of the inhabitants require that the territory included within said limits shall bo set off from the town of Charlestown and incorporated into a separate town.

"Wherefore your petitioners pray the Honorable Legislature that the territory aforesaid, with the inhabitants thereof, may be set off and in. corporateii into a separate town by the name of Somerville, and as in duty bound will ever pray."

The following petition, in aid of that of Mr. Hawkins and others, was signed and presented to the Legislature by persons presumably residing in Charlestown, outside the dissatisfied district:

"Humbly show the undersigned citizens of said Commonwealth that they are severally the owners and proprietors of real estate, although they do not now reside thereon, but elsewhere situated in that part of Charlestown, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, being Westerly and Southwesterly of the bridge over the Middlesex Canal at Charlestown Neck, so-called, that the interests and just rights of yOur memorialists require that the part of Charlestown being Westerly and Southwesterly of said bridge should be incorporated into a separate and distinct town.

'*W^herefor your petitioners pray that the prayer of Guy C. Hawkins and others, now pending before your Honorable bodies for the incorporation of that part of Charlestown into a new town by the name of Somerville, may be granted and in duty bound will ever pray."

Dr. E. C. Booth, in an interesting sketch of Somerville, says that " when the matter came before the Legislature, toward the close of the session, it was found that the act could not be secured with the boundaries as they were designated in the petition. The Rev. J. D. Green, member from Cambridge, a moment before the vote was to be put, declared nothing could be effected at the present session unless the line was drawn outside the neck as it now exists, and a narrow strip in the northerly part of the town extending near to Mystic Pond was ceded to Cambridge. Oniy two of the committee of the petitioners were present; but Mr. Hawkins declared he would assume the responsibility of the concession, and the act thus modified passed the Legislature and was approved by the Governor March 3, 1842." The act as is follows :

"Sect. 1. The westerly part of the town of Charlestown, in the County of Middlesex, bounded and described as follows, viz.: beginning at the southerly corner of Widow Stearns' lot, near the town ledge, and running north seventy degrees east four hundred and four feet ; thence north thirty-five and a quarter degrees east of Mystic River; thence along the Mystic River to the line of the towu of Medford ; thence aloDB the Medford line to Alewivo Brook ; tbeuce aloug the biook to tbt* line of the town of Cambridge ; thence along the Cambridge line to the junction of Miller'a River with Charles River; thence along the westerly side of Charles River to the westerly corner of the Mill dain ; thence along the southwesterly side of the Mill Pond to a point where a line north by the magnetic needle, will strike the point of beginning, is hereby incorporated into a town by the name of Somerville ; and the inhabitants of the town of Somerville are hereby invested with all the powers and privileges, and shall be subject to the duties and requisitions of other incorporate towns according to the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth.

' ' Sect. 2. The iohabitanta of said town of Somerville shall be holden to pay all arreare of taxes which have been assessed upon them by the town of Charleatown, before the passing of this act, and also their proportion of all county and State taxes that may be assessed upon them previously to the taking of the next State valuation, said proportion to be ascertained and determined by the last town valuation ; and the said town of Somerville shall be holden to pay their proportion of the debts due and owing at the time of the passage of this act from the town of Charleatown, and be entitled to receive of the town of Charlestown their proportion of all the corporate property now owned by said last mentioned town, such proportion to be ascertained and determined by the last valuation of said Charleatown.

"Sect. 3. The said towns of Charlestown and Somerville shall be respectively liable for the support of all persons who now do or hereafter shall stand in need of relief as paupers, whose settlement was gained or derived from a settlement gained or derived within their re epective limits.

"Sect. 4. Until the next apportionment of representatives to the General Court, the town of Somerville shall be entitled to one representative in the General Court and the town of Charlestown shall be entitled to four representatives.

"Sect. 5. In case said towns shall disagree in respect to a division of paupera, town property, town debts or State and county taxes, the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Middlesex are hereby authorized to and shall, on application of either town, appoint three disinterested persona to hear the parties and award thereon ; which award, when accepted by the Court, shall be final.

"Sect. 6. Any justice of the peace in the County of Middlesex is hereby authorized to issue his warrant to any principal inhabitant of the town of Somerville, requiring him to warn the inhabitants of eaid town to meet, at the time and place therein appointed, for the i)urpoBe of choosing all such town officers as towns are, by law, authorized and required to choose at their annual meetings.

" The dividing line between these towns should hereafter he as follows ; beginning ou Milk Row (so-called) at a point being 'Hi ft. 8 inches distant from the point on Milk Row where the land of Anna Huunewell is divided from the land of Benjamin Rand, and thence running in a northeasterly direction along the boundary line of said estates, there measuring from Milk Row 222 ft. 4 inches, thence turning at a right angle and running northwesterly along the west side of a until it strikes Cottage street (so called), there measuring 21»fJ ft. 6 inches, then turning and running along the southerly side of said Cottage street in a direction north of west until it reaches Elm street (so called), there measuring 308 ft. until it intersects on the westerly side of Elm street the line before established between the said towns."

The territory of the new town was four square miles in extent and contained 2700 acres. Within this territory were the several hills called Quarry Hill, Ploughed Hill, Winter Hill, Prospect Hill and Cobble Hill, and Ten Hills Farm, which, consisting of 600 acres, lay on the banks of Mystic River and was granted to John Winthrop, September 6, 1630. On this farm Winthrop built a house which he probably occupied during a portion of the year. The first vessel built in New England was built by Winthrop on this farm called "Blessing of the Bay," and launched about July 4, 1631. In 1677 it passed out of the hands of the Winthrop family and in 1740 was bought by Robert Temple and from him acquired the name of Temple's Farm, by which it was known in later days. In still later years it has been owned by Elias Hasket Derby and leased to Samuel Jacques, in whose hands it became famous for the thorough and successful manner in which it was conducted.

On Quarry Hill the old powder-house stood, in which powder was stored at the beginning of the Revolution. On the Ist of September, 1774, General Gage sent Lieutenant-Colonel Madison with 216 men in thirteen boats up the Mystic, who crossed Winter Hill, and, seizing the powder, conveyed it to Castle William. Forts and redoubts were built on the other hills in 1775 and on the 18th of July in that year, on Prospect Hill, General Israel Putnam unfurled a flag bearing on one side the inscription, " An appeal to Heaven,'' and on the other, three vines, the armorial bearing of Connecticut and the motto of the State. On the 1st of January, 1776, with a salute of thirteen guns, a Union flag with thirteen stripes was on this hill flung to the breeze. In 1777, Burgoyne and his soldiers were encamped as prisoners on Prospect and Winter Hills under a guard commanded by General Nathaniel Goodwin of Plymouth. On Cobble Hill, the McLean Insane Asylum, a branch, as it may perhaps be called, of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, was built and opened in 1818. This hospital stands on the groiiuds once occupied by the residence of Joseph Barrell and received its name from John McLean, who gave to the institution about $115,000. It has received numerous other gifts, among which may be mentioned those of Samuel Eliot, in 1819, of $10,000; of Joseph Lee, in 1830, of $20,000, and of Mary Belknap, in 1832, of $88,602, the residuary amount of her estate. The different superintendents of the institution up to the present time have befen Dr. Rufus Wyman, a native of Woburn, appointed March 23, 1818, Dr. Phineas G. Lee, a native of New Britain, Conn., appointed in 1832; Dr. Luther V. Bell, a native of Francestown, N. H., appointed in 1866; Dr. Chauncy Booth, a native of Coventry, Conn., appointed in 1856; Dr. John E. Tyler, a native of Boston, appointed in 1858; Dr. George F. Jelly, a native of Salem, appointed in 1871, and Dr. Cowles, the present superintendent. On Cobble Hill a fortification planned by I'utnam and Knox was begun November 22, 1775, which was a part of the works encircling Boston and afterwards forcing its evacuation by the British forces in 1776.

On Ploughed Hill the Ursuline Convent was built which was destroyed by a mob in 1834. It was first established in Boston and removed to Somerville in 1826. On Central Hill, as it is now called, but really one of the eminences of Prospect Hill and connected in the early part of the Revolution with the other eminences by a rampart, are located the City Hall of Somerville, the Public Library and High

School building. There are few localities in Massachusetts from which so comprehensive and interesting a view of the surrounding country may be had, and it redeems the city from the monotonous expression which the generally flat character of the territory would otherwise give to it.

On Winter Hill separated from Prospect or Central Hill by a valley which forms a considerable portion of the main part of the town, the most extensive fortifications of 1775 were built. They were begun by Stark on the 18th of June, and when finished they were occupied by General Sullivan with troops from New Hampshire.

At the time of the incorporation of the town its valuation was $988,513, -and its population 1013. It had one grammar-school, five primary schools, no meeting-house, less than two hundred houses, no stores, one factory and one old tub fire-engine. It had been simply an outlying suburb of Charlestown, its people maintaining themselves by the products of their milk and vegetable farms. The factory referred to was the Milk Row Bleaching Company which was incorporated April 18, 1838, with a capital of 150,000, for the purpose of bleaching calendering, printing, dyeing and finishing silk, cotton and linen yarns. This company was authorized, April 17, 1848, to increase its capital to $100,000 and to change its name to " The Soraerville Dyeing and Bleaching Company."

There had been enterprises established within the territory forming the new town, however, which had brought its people into closer contact with the business world, and had doubtless excited a feeling of unrest in the quiet life they had pursued. The Middlesex Canal had been chartered in 1793 and opened in 1803 from Charles River to the Merrimack. In 1804 the Medford turnpike was opened, and in 1835, about the time that other important avenues of travel were constructed, the Lowell Railroad was opened. The final incorporation of the town was one of those steps in the process of evolution which when taken .seem almost matters of accident, but which are really consummated in obedience to inexorable law.

In compliance with the act of incorporation, a warrant issued by Ephraim Buttrick of East Cambridge, justice of the peace, directed to Charles Edward Oilman, dated March 5, 1842, requiring him to call a town-meeting at two o'clock in the afternoon of March 15th, for the organization of the town at the Prospect Hill School-house. At a meeting of citizen.s lield March 10th, of which Columbus Tyler was chairman, and Nathan Tufts, Jr., secretary, a committee of three was chosen to nominate a committee of nine to nominate a list of town officers. The committee of three was composed of Guy C. Hawkins, Charles Adams and James Hall, Jr., who nominated for the committee of nine : O. N. Towne, Wm. A. Tufts, W. A. Russell, Jr., Joseph Miller, Charles Miller, John Runey, Robert Vinal, Hiram Hackett and Wm. Bonner. At the town-meeting held on the 14th of March, Francis Bowman was chosen moderator and Charles E. Oilman, clerk. Edward Tufts was chosen treasurer and collector, and Nathan Tufts, John S. Edgerly, Caleb Leland, Luther Mitchell and Levi Russell, selectmen. The School Committee were James Hill, Henry Adams, Levi Russell and Alfred Allen; the Assessors, Guy C. Hawkins, John C. Magoun and Oliver Tufts ; Assistant Assessors. Nathan Tufts, John Runey and Charles Adams ; Overseers of the Poor, Isaac S. Spring, Charles Adams and Robert G. Tenney; Board of Health, Hiram Allen, Robert G. Tenney and P. W. Hayes ; Constables, Robert Sanborn and Benjamin Fiske; Field-Drivers, Robert Sanborn and Asa Tufts; Fence-Viewers, Wm. Bonner and Wm. A. Tufts ; Tythingmen, Wm. Bonner and Moses Griffin ; Finance Committee, Robert Vinal, Wm. Munroe and Luther Mitchell. The selectmen were made surveyors of highways.

At an adjourned meeting held on the 4th of April, $1800 was appropriated for schools; $2000 for highways ; $450 for county tax ; $200 for the poor, and $300 for contingencies. At the same meeting Wm. A. Russell, Jesse Simpson and Robert Sanborn were chosen a committee on fisheries, and Hirara Allen, Levi Russell, T. Frost, Robert G. Tenney and Charles Adams, fire-wards ; John S. Edgerly was added to the School Committee; and Francis Bowman was chosen to fill the place of Levi Russell on the Board of Selectmen, who had declined.

The following persons were subsequently chosen selectmen in the year set against their names up to 1871, the year of the incorporation of Somerville as a city: pit by Rev. David Temple Packard, he was invited to become pastor, and was installed September 21, 1860. Mt. Packard resigned April 1, 1866, and preached his farewell sermon on the 23d of September.

On the 16th of March, 1867, the meeting-house of the society was burned, and on the 27th of June, 1867, Rev. L. R. Eastman, Jr., was installed. The cornerstone of a new house of worship was laid August 27, 1867, and the house was dedicated September 30, 1868. Mr. Eastman resigned April 29, 1871, and was followed by Rev. Wm. S. Hubbell, of West Roxbury, who was installed February 1, 1872. Mr. Hubbell resigned November 5, 1881, and his successor. Rev. Wm. E. Merriman, was installed April 19, 1882. The present pastor of the society is Rev. James H. Ross.

The following are the other religious societies in Somerville: The First Baptist was organized December 30, 1862. Its house of worship is on Belmont Street near Summer, and its present pastor is Rev. F. O. Cunningham.

The Free- Will Baptist Soctety has a church edifice on Broadway, between Lincoln and George Streets, and was removed from Charlestown to Somerville October 1, 1874. The present pastor is Rev. E. D. Moulton.

The Union Square Baptist Society was organized in 1885, and has a place of worship at 73 Bow Street. Its present pastor is Rev. Charles S. Scott.

The West Somerville Baptist Society was organized in June, 1874. The church edifice is on Elm Street, corner of Winslow Avenue, and Rev. Drew T. Wyman is pastor.

The Winter Hill Baptist Society was organized June 27, 1881. Its house of worship is on School Street, opposite Maple Avenue, and Rev. E. D. Mason is pastor.

The Day Street Congregational Society was organized in April, 1874. lis house is on Day Street, corner of Herbert, and Rev. H. C. Hitchcock is its pastor.

The Prospect Hill Congregational Society, which was organized December 30, 1874, has a church edifice on Warren Avenue, near Union Square, which was dedicated October 19, 1876. Its pastor is Rev. Edward S. Tead.

The Winter Hill Congregational Society was organized January 29, 1883. Its house is on Central Street, corner of Broadway, and its pastor is Rev. Charles L. Noyes.

The St. Ann's Catholic Church was dedicated September 25, 1881, and stands on Thurston Street, corner of Medford. Its pastor is Rev. John B. Galvin.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church was dedicated November 21, 1874, on Washington Street, corner of Webster Avenue. The pastor is Rev. Christopher T. McGrath.

The Broadway Methodist Church was organized in June, 1873, and its house of worship on Broadway, opposite Sargent Street, was erected in 1872. Its pastor is Rev. A. M. Osgood.

The Flint Street Methodist Society was organized Xovember 17, 1868, and has a house of worship on Flint Street. Rev. C. M. Melden is its pastor.

The First Universalist Society was organized in 1853. Its first church was burned January 2, 1860, and the present one on First Street, corner of Tufts, was dedicated in 1869. Its present pastor is Rev. Charles A. Skinner.

The Third Universalist Society was organized August 10,1881. Its place of worship is on Morrison Street, corner of Elm, and Rev. Mr. Smith officiates as the |)astor.

The Winter Hill Universalist Society was organized June 23, 1879, and is located on Thurston Street, corner of Evergreen Avenne. Rev. Charles A. -Skinner officiates as pastor.

In 1850 a Fire Department was established by an act of the Legislature passed on the 2d of April of that year, and the equipment for extinguishing lires has grown from the single tub-engine located .vithin the territory at the time of the incorporation of the town, to an apparatus surpassed by no community in the State of equal size and jiopulation. The Fire Department now consists of James N. Hopkins, chief engineer, and Nathaniel C. Barker, a.ssistant, with the following apparatus and men : Steamer, Somerville, No. 1, located on Highland Avenue, with H. A. Byrnes, engineer, W. A. Burbank, fireman, L. D. Bixby, clerk, Irving C. Jackson, driver, L. D. Bixby, driver of hose-carriage, James A. McLane, fireman, Frank Langen, assistant foreman and seven hosemen ; the John E. Wool Hose Company, No. 1, on Webster Street, with Thomas H. Daley, foreman ; the Winter Hill Hose Company, No. 2, on .Marshall Street, with F. W. Ring, foreman ; the George H. Foster Hose Company, No. 3, on Washington Street, with C. H. Bridges, foreman ; the George O. Brastow Hose Company, No. 4, with Samuel H. Stevens, foreman, and the R. A. Vinal Hook-and- Ladder Company No. 1, with Edwin H. Bright as foreman, and a fire alarm with forty-six stations. Besides the above the Department has two fire extinguishers and about eight thousand feet of hose. The sum expended for the current expenses of the Department during the year 1889 was $32,696.05.

In 1853, by an act of the Legislature passed February 23d in that year, the Charlestown Gas Company was allowed to extend its pipes into Somerville, and on the 11th of April in the same year the Cambridge Gas Co. was allowed the same privilege ; but on the 13th of April, 1854, Augustus R. Pope, James M. Bhute and others were incorporated under the name of the Somerville Gas Company. In 1851 the first directory of Somerville was published, containing the names of five hundred and sixty-one males. It was published by Edward Tufts, of Somerville and is a small duodecimo pamphlet of thirty-two pages. At that time the population of the town, which in 1842 was 1013, and in 1843 had increased to 1445, had still further increased to 3540. The names of the justices of the peace contained in the Directory were Henry Adams, Alfred Allen, George O. Brastow, Luther V. Bell, Ebenezer F. Cutter, John F. Hall, Jonas H. Kendall, John C. Magoun, Samuel Poor, Edward L. Stevens and Columbus Tyler.

A list of the streets and places, of which there were fifty, may be interesting for purposes of comparison with the present localities of the town. They were as follows :

Linden No. 2, from Elm. Russell, from Elm to Cambridge. Orchard, from Russell. Cottage Place, from Russell. Hamlet, from Church. Summer, from Central. Beech, from Oak to Spring. Harvard, from Beech to Summer. Elm Court, from Harvard. Harvard Court, from Harvard. Myrtle, from Perkins to Cambridge. Florence, from Perkins to Pearl.

On the 29th of April, 1854, the Middlesex Railroad Company was incorporated and constructed, in 1855, a street railway to Boston, from the eastern boundary of the town through Washington Street. In May, 1851, the Medford and Charlestown Railroad Company was chartered, and on the 29th of May, 1857, George O. Brastow, Henry A. Snow and Isaac F. Shepard and others were incorporated as the Somerville Horse Railroad Company, one of these occupying Main Street and Broadway and the other Washington, Milk and Elm Streets. The Somerville Horse Railroad Company was authorized by its charter to receive the rights, powers, privileges and franchises ot the Middlesex Railroad Company, so far as the same relate to proceedings within the limits of Somerville. At the present time all the various lines of street railway in the town are owned and managed by the West End Street Railway Company, whose centre of operation is in Boston, which was incorporated in 1887.

The first militia company in Somerville was the Somerville Light Infantry, organized in October, 1853. In May, 1854, the company was enrolled as Company B, Fourth Regiment, Third Brigade, Second Division ; but the regiment was afterwards numbered the Fifth, instead of the Fourth. The first captain was George O. Brastow, who was succeeded, June 29, 1854, by Francis Tults, who served until April, 1859. Captain Brastow was then re-elected, and served until the autumn of 1861. Captain B. F. Parker succeeded Captain Brastow, and still later it was commanded by Captain W. E. Robinson, Captain J. N. Cofiin, Captain G. W. Daniels, Captain Charles F. King, Captain R. Kramer and Lieutenant R. T. Blackwell, and was disbanded July 6, 1876.

Coming now to the period of the Jate war, the activity and patriotic spirit which characterized the people of the whole Commonwealth were displayed in Somerville. Before the blow was struck, the Somerville Light Infantry, in anticipation of trouble on the part of the government of the State, had been, like other militia companies in the Commonwealth, notified of a possible call for men and of the necessity of retaining only such men in their ranks as would be willing to respond at a moment's notice. When, therefore, on the 15th of April, 1861, dispatches were received announcing the surrender of Fort Sumter and the issue of a proclamation by the President of the United States, calling for seventy-five thousand men for three months' service, Somerville was fully prepared to perform her share in the emergency. Further dispatches announced that Governor Andrew had issued orders to the commanders of the Third, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Regiments of Massachusetts Militia to report, with their commands, on Boston Common the following day. A little later the Fifth Regiment, under the command of Colonel Lawrence, of Medford, was called for, and the Somerville company quickly responded. On the 17th of April a meeting of the citizens was held for the purpose of rendering such aid to the company and to the families of its members as might, under the circumstances, become necessary. Henry A. Jones was chosen chairman, and Aaron Sargent secretary. A committee of five, consisting of B. F. Adams, James M. Shute, Columbus Tyler, Charles H. Guild and Charles S. Lincoln, was chosen to prepare a plan, and subsequently at the same meeting the following resolution was reported and adopted :

" Besolved, that in the opinion of this meeting the town should take measures to provide for such families of members of the Somerville Light Infantry as may need aid during the absence of that company in defense of the National Government and of the rights and liberties of mankind."

Remarks were made by James M. Shute, Columbus Tyler, E. H. Wakefield, M. H. Sargent, Ebenezer Davis, Asa Fisk, John R. Poor, C. C. Walden and others. Subscriptions were at once raised, amounting to $4308.50, and of this amount the sum of $700 was presented to Captain Brastow, who had entered the hall with his company.

It was voted that the remainder of the amount subscribed should be deposited in the Lechmere Savings Bank, subject to the drafts of the Board of Selectmen. On Saturday, the 20th of April, the company gathered about the flagstaff in Union Square, ^yhere the flag was saluted and Rev. Mr. Fairbanks made a fervent prayer. A procession was then formed under the direction of John K. Hall as chief marshal, and marched to the Congregational Church, in Franklin Street, where each member was presented with a Testament by Moses H. Sargent, each of which bore the following inscription : "' And behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." - Gen. 28 : 15. The procession then escorted the company to Faneuil Hall, in Boston, where it was quartered until the next morning. On Sunday, the 21st, it went to New York by the Fall River route, reaching that city in the evening. At New York the regiment embarked on steamers for Annapolis, and reached Washington on the morning of Saturday, April 27th. It was quartered in the United States Treasury Building, performing guard duty during four weeks ; and then encamped for one week in Camp Andrew, on the Virginia bank of the Potomac, about four miles from Washington. On Monday, June 2d, the regiment encamped in Camp Massachusetts, about one mile southwest of Alexandria, where it remained until Tuesday, July 16th. The regiment was engaged in the battle of Bull Run, in which Frank E. Hauaford, a member of Company B, was killed. On Sunday, the 28th of July, the regiment left Washington ; and arriving home, the Somerville company was received by the Second Battalion of Infantry, and escorted by citizens, under a salute of one hundred guus, to Prospect Hill, where, gathered round the flagstaff, they were addressed by Rev. Mr. Fairbanks and N. B. Proctor and an ode of welcome wassutig. Captain Morton responded to the addresses of welcome, and received also, with his men, the more private congratul.ations of his neighbors and friends. W. Francis Morris, a member of the company, was left in the hospital, in Washington, sick, and died on the 3l8t of July.

At a legal meeting of the town, held on the 29th of April, 1861, it v.-as voted to instruct the selectmen to provide for the families of volunteers, and to authorize the town treasurer to borrow a sum not exceeding $5000 for the purpose. On the 28th of April it was voted to borrow 16000 for the purpose of aiding families. In June, 1862, the President called for three hundred thousand men, and of this number the quota of Somerville was ninety-two. On the 19th of July the town voted to raise a company to fill the quota and to pay a bounty to each volunteer of one hundred dollars. For this purpose it was voted to borrow twelve thousand dollars. A committee of sixty, with the selectmen added, was chosen as a rallying committee. On the 27th of August, 1862, the town voted to pay a bounty of one hundred dollars to other volunteers, and on the 24th of September to pay an additional bounty of seventy-five dollars to members of the Somerville Light Infantry.

On the 27th of April, 1863, it was voted to borrow ten thousand dollars for aid to soldiers' families, and on the 10th of December, 1863, other ai)propriation8 were made for the purpose of enlisting volunteers. In 1862 the Somerville Guard, raised to fill the quota called for in June of that year, was recruited to the full number of one hundred and one men, and encamped on the 12th of August on Prospect Hill, when it was mustered in for three years, and remained until the 3d of September, when it encamped at Boxford. It was attached aa Company E to the Thirtyninth Regiment, and on the 6th of September took the cars for Washington. After a short encampment at Arlington Heights, it went into quarters at Poolesville, Maryland, where it passed the winter.

In April, 1863, the regiment removed to Washington, and on the 9th of July joined the Army of the Potomac, with which it remained until the close of the war. The casualties of the Somerville Guard, during its service, were as follows : F. J. Oliver, Washington Lovett, Joseph W. Whitmore, Henry E. Howe and Richard J. Hyde died in rebel prisons; William D. Palmer, Samuel O. Felker, Robert Powers, J. H. Roberts, William M. Harburn, Eugene B. Hadly, Willard C. Kinsly and John Moran were killed. Besides these, Frederick A. Glines, James M. Allen, Charles G. Jones, David Gorham, John E. Horton, George H. Hatch and David Kendrick fell victims to disease.

It is unnecessary to recount all the various voles of the town concerning the enlistmeut of men and appropriations of money for bounties and aid to families. It is sufficient on this point to say that the whole amount of money appropriated by the town for war purposes, exclusive of State aid, was f 1.33,039.41, and that the amount contributed by citizens was $65,823.38.

It is stated by Dr. Booth, in his sketch of Somerville, already referred to, that "Somerville furnished forty commissioned officers and one thousand and eighty-five men fjr the war in all branches of the service, which was a surplus of one hundred and fortyseven above the number required. Ninety-eight were killed or died of disease incident to the hardships of war, and two hundred and fifty were wounded. A marble monument was erected in the cemetery in 1863 to the memory of the dead, and was paid for by the money raised at the citizens' meeting, held April 18, 1861, for the purpose of aiding the Somerville Light Infantry, previous to its dejiarture for a three months' service. It was the first soldiers' monument erected in Massachusetts."

The writer finds no roll of soldiers in the office of the clerk of Somerville, and has therefore been obliged to rely on the Massachusetts record published by the adjutant-general of the State for such a list as he is able to furnish In this record he finds only four hundred and fifty-one names entered as belonging to Somerville, and their names will be found in the list included in this sketch. To be added to this list are, of course, the names of three or four hundred who entered the naval service to the credit of Somerville which the writer has not the data at hand to include in the list. To be further added are the soldiers credited generally to Massachusetts, of whom Somerville had its share placed to its credit. The writer trusts that it may be properly within his province to suggest to the authorities of the city that early steps be taken to secure from the archives in Boston and Somerville and other available sources a complete list of all soldiers and sailors entering the service either credited to or belonging to the town.

in id Batterij: I.ucian A. Hodgdon, 2d It. Mustered Feb. 16, 1864, Seth H. Hatch, aitiflccr. Mustered March 18, 1864, JIustered Jan. 26, 1364, George Madeu. Wm. Stahl.

Ill the early days of the town its meetings were held either in the Medford Street School-hou.se or in the engine-house on the corner of Prospect and Washington Streets. Wheo the Unitarian Church was completed its vestry was used for a time, but after the erection of the High School-house which was founded in 1852, town-meetings were held in its lower hall until the Forster School building was erected in 1807, when the large hall in the upper story was fitted for a town hall and used by the town until the incorporation of the city in 1871.

On the 3d of May, 1.8G6, an act was passed by the General Court authorizing Charlestown to supply the town of Somerville with water, and on the 14th of May, 1868, another act was passed authorizing Somerville and Charlestown to lay pipes for the supply of water. Before that time the main reliance of the town had been in wells. A contract was made with the Charlestown authorities for a supply of water, provided their present supply was more than sufficient for Charlestown and Chelsea, at the rates charged to the inhabitants of those cities, with a rebate to the town. The sum of $100,000 wiis raised for the purpose of carrying out the enterprise, and the town at once received the necessary supply. In 1870 under a subsequent act of the (.reneral Court, the town was authorized to raise an additional sum of $100,000 and afterwards a third amount was raised, making the sum total of water loan $400,000. The town is now supplied with Mystic water by the city of Boston through pipes, and a water tower for high service of its own. Boston collects the water rents and returns to the city of Somerville fifty per cent, of the same. The expenditure for high service was authorized by the Legislature May 21, 1889. Tne pumping station aud tower intended for the high service alone can furnish a supply of two million of gallons in twentyfbnr hours. A small part of Somerville near the Cambridge line is supplied with water from Cam- bridge, but the Somerville Water Board in their Report for the year 1880 advise that 7051 feet of pipe laid by the Cambridge Coaipany, aud supplying about two hundred and fifty houses, be replaced by the Somerville pipes ; so that the supply of the whole town shall be exclusively their own.

On the 31st of March, 18G0, the town of Somerville was authorized to lay sewers. The system is now progressing rapidly towards completion, and during the last year nearly iwelve thousand feet have been laid. During the same year the cost of construction and maintenance was $1(5,968.04.

On the 29th of April, 1871, the town of Somerville appointed a committee to prepare a set of by-laws for the organization of a Public Library. Trustees were chosen October 21, 1872, and on the 14th of November met and organized. The trustees were John P. Marshall, Quincy A. Vinal, Charles G. Pope, Charles H. Guild, Charles Lowe and Samuel A. Carlton. Isaac Putnam was chosen librarian aud the library was opened in a room in City Hall in May, 1879, with 2386 volumes.

The present elegant and commodious Library Building on Prospect Hill was finished in 1885, and dedicated in the Unitarian Church on the 2yth of September in that year. Mark F. Burns presided, and the principal address was delivered by Justin Winsor, the librarian of Harvard University. Short addresses were also made by Kev. George W. Durell, Kev. John S. Thomson and George A. Bruce. The library contained at the close of 1889, 17,045 volumes, of which 1162 were added during the year. The available revenues for the same year were an appropriation of 13000. Keceipts from dog licenses allowed by the town, $2382.90 ; fines, $293.76 ; receipts from catalogues, $44.05 ; payments for books, $15,50, making a total of $5736.21. The expenses were: Salaries, $1874.88 ; books, $2520.81 ; printing aud stationery, $400.67 ; binding, $140.95 ; newspapers, $V2 ; gas, $182.01; fuel, $233.05; water, $29; repairs, $382.83 ; labor, $121.15; express, $41.15; incidentals, $48.60; insurance, $142.50, making a total of $6151.66.

In 1808 two petitions were presented to the General Court for a division of the town, but the petitioners received leave to withdraw. In that year also, under the direction of the selectmen, a census was taken which showed a population of 12,535. In 1869 a movement was made looking towards annexation with Charlestown and Boston, and the representatives to the General Court from Somerville were instructed to vote for it. The movement, however, failed, aud from that time until 1871 the popular feeling grew in favor of a city charter. In that year a petition was presented to the Legislature, and on the 14th of April, 1871, the act was passed.

On the 7th of December, 1871, the selectmen met and counted and declared the vote for city and ward oflicers. For Ward One, Ansel Lewis was chosen warden, and M. B. Stebbins clerk; for Ward Two,

Robert A. Vinal, warden, and Samuel S. Sias, clerk ; Ward Three, Samuel M. Pennock, warden, and Forest G. Hawe.s, clerk ; Ward Four, Lebbeus Stetson, warden, and George \V. Pratt, clerk. (Jeorge O. Barstow was chosen mayor, and the following aldermen and Common Council :

At the ceremonies attending the inauguration of the city government January 1, 1871, the meeliug was called to order by August Belknap, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and a prayer was offered by Rev. Henry F. Barber. Hon. George O. Brastow then delivered his inaugural address. George Oliver Brastow was born in Wrentham, September 8, 1811. After a few years' residence in Maine he removed to Somerville and engaged actively in business. In 1845 he was a selectman, from 1844 to 1862 on the School Committee, Representative in 1849-51 and 1862, a member of the Senate in 1854, 1860-69, and President of the Senate in 1868 and again in 1869 after the resignation of Robert C. Pitman on his appointment to the bench of the Superior Court. His connection with the Somerville Light Infantry and his service In the war have been already mentioned. After his return from the war he was for a time a paymaster in the army, and in 1874-70 he was a member of the Executive Council. He died November 23, 1878.