Waltham City (part 3 of 5)

With the increase of population dissensions naturally arose in regard to church and educational affairs. The people thought it a hardship to go to the east end of Watertown to church. The school also was situated at the same place. These two pillars upon which New England progress andadvancementrested were desired for local convenience. Military necessity also prompted a more convenient policy of assembling the able-bodied men. In 1691 the town was divided into three precints, Eastern, Middle and Western, practically now tbe municipalities ofWatertown, Waltham and Weston respectively. Lieut. Garfield's company was the train-baud of the Middle Precinct, and thus on a semi-military basis Waltham commenced its territorial identity.

In 1692 a town-meeting was held to decide upon the location of a new meeting-house nearer the centre of population, but the irreconcilable division of sentiment prevented any agreemenr,. An appeal was made to Governor Phipps and Council to settle the di.spute through a committee. The committee made a recommendation that a new meeting-house be erected at Commodore's Corner, in the westerly part of the present limits of Watertown, and about one-half mile east of the Waltham line. This meeting-house was to take the place of the original church and be the " place of meeting to worship God, for the whole town." After much controversy and under protest ol many of the freeholders, the request of the committee was accepted and the meeting-house built in 1696. Rev. Henry Gibbs, the pastor of the old church, refused to accept the charge of the new church. With the disappointed portion of the residents, be remained with the old church, and Rev. Samuel Angier was chosen as pastor of the new church. The town supported from its treasury both churches, and constant difficulties arose from the expense of repairing the houses, and otherwise maintaining two antagonistic societies. Mr. Angler's church subsequently became the First Church of Waltham, and its establishment foreshadowed the inevitable division of the town. The dissensions were maintained in an embittered struggle of several years, and all eflbrts for adjustment only confirmed the contending parties in adhesion to their course. The General Court was brought into the controversy, and in 1712 ordered that the church be moved at the expense of both precincts to such a spot in the Middle Precinct as the latter should select. This order was treated with contemptuous disobedience, and affairs continued to work out their solution by the ordinary development of local interests and prejudices.

In 1713 Weston was set off and incorporated as a town, and the territorial division of Waltham, comprising the Middle Precinct, became thenceforth known as the Western Precinct. The reduction of the area and population of the town, by giving municipal independence to the part which liad been most strenuous in its demands and complaints, in regard to facilities for attending church, proved to be no sol ution of the difficulties between the remaining sections. Permanent reconciliation seemed as far off" as ever, and the two churches divided the counsels of the town on all matters pertaining to local government in religious, |)olitical and educational matters. Efforts were made for the location of a church edifice in the Western Precinct, and in 1715 the town voted " to build a meeting-house for the accommodation of the inhabitants of the most westerly part of the town," but naught came of the decision. Before this, in 1703, a grave-yard at present called Grove Hill Cemetery, in Waltham, had been laid out in the westerly precinct. This sacred abode of the dead, around which in our New England towns the affections of the people are centred, added an increased local attachment to the precinct, apart from the parent town. The spiritual consolation of the church within their limits seemed as essential to the inhabitants as the holy and mournful associations of the last resting-place, to which, from the administrations of the pastor and the simple and pathetic solemnity of the funeral, the dead were borne. At the death of Mr. Angier in 1719, and his interment in this graveyard, the determination for a meeting-house in the precinct gathered new force. The town relented in its opposition, and in April, 1721, approved the recommendations of a committee, that " the west meeting-house be removed within two years to a spot about twenty rods west of Nathaniel Livermore's house."

In 1720 the line separating the Eastern and Western Precincts was determined and laid out conforming to the present boundary line, and the Western Precinct began to exercise the powers approaching those of separate municipal government

Precinct-meetings were held, records kept, local committees for public affairs chosen, and the farmers began to realize the privileges of a primitive kind of popular sovereignty in their governmental affairs.

As the church was not considered worth moving, an edifice of the kind was purchased in Newton and removed and set up on the new location. This location was at the junction of the present Lyman and Beaver Streets, in the triangular lot we.st of the beautiful mansion and grounds of the Lyman estate. The site is at some distance from the circle of the settled limits of the town, in the midst of sylvan beauty of the most grand and picturesque character on one hand and on the other the expanse of highly cultivated fields and lawns. The repose of its early life is scarcely changed by the progress and activity of a busy town whose growth has proceeded in an opposite direction. Here for upwards of a century it stood in its solitary simplicity, the spiritual home of the community, the monitor of events most marked and important in local history. From its pulpit came the inspired teachings of the successors of the beloved Angier, many of them men of eminent ability and honored reputation, whose names have a veneration belonging to a life passed in sincere service for the welfare of their followers, leaving its impression of good done for no love of favor or earthly reward. Rev. Wareham Williams was chosen pastor in 1723, and was the first settled minister of Waltham, serving in the pastorate until his death, in 1751.

turb the harmony of the two precincts. This was the educational question in the establishment of a local school. It is to the credit of our ancestors that they considered the school interests of so vital importance as to justify the division of the town and public resentment over the manner in which their requests for years for the creation of schools had been ignored. The regular article in the town warrant for the granting of " money for the encouragement of learning in the West Precinct" would come up only to be meagerly acted upon. Finally two of the assessors, William Brown and Nathaniel Harris, refused to levy the usual school tax upon the inhabitants of the West Precinct. This was another instance of the spirit of resistance to taxation without representation, which from the first animated the people and cast its beacon light for the future. Upon a petition to the General Court that body ordered " that the town have two school-houses and two masters, of which each precinct to have one."

At a precinct-meeting in 1729, Allen Flagg offered a part of his orchard as a site for a school-house. After some opposition on the part of the town the order was passed to fix upon a piece of ground between old Deacon Sanderson's and Mr. Allen Flagg's, near Harris' Corner, to be the place to build a schoolhouse on for the West Precinct. This place is what has since been known as "Piety Corner."

The final causeof controversy and ultimate division was the refusal of the town to grant the precinct the care and extension of highways required by its growth and increase of population. Both precincts had by this time come to the wise conclusion that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and the East Precinct reconciled itself to the fact that a permanent separation was better than an inharmonious union. For some years the Western Precinct bad repeatedly petitioned for a separation and for their incorporation into a town, but the Eastern Precinct had strenuously and successfully opposed the action. Now it generously consented to a division and took formal action to that end.

A petition was presented to the House of Representatives on December 14, 1737, by William Brown, Daniel Benjamin and Samuel Livermore in behalf of the inhabitants of the West Precinct of Watertown, " praying the said precinct may be created into a separate and distinct township, which is also agreeable to the East Precinct in said Town, as appears by their note accompanying the petition." A bill to that effect was passed and was signed by His Excellency, Governor Belcher, January 4, 1737-38, and the name of Waltham given to the new town.

The name given in the act is the first intimation of what it was proposed to call the town. It is not known by whom or why it was suggested. But it is supposed to have been given because .some of the residents came from one of the towns of that name in England. Waltham Abbey, a town near London, is 45-iii as a place of hilarity and hospitality, the imagination may picture along the old road many characteristic scenes of life and excitement incidental to the olden time and to the traditions of the country inn as celebrated in prose and poetry.

There were few other streets in the town. Beaver Street, as at present named, and the Trapelo Koad, were the principal thoroughfares leading in the direction of Boston. Traverse roads, like Skunk or Mixer's Lane, sometimes recorded as the way to the school-house, now called Bacon Street, leading to Piety Corner ; Prospect Lane, running over the hill as at present ; South Street, extending to the Poor Farm, a lane where now is Harvard Street, running to the fields adjacent to Mt. Feake ; Grove Street, known as the back road to Watertown ; a road leading from Piety Corner to the hills towards Lincoln, Pigeon Lane, running northward to Trapelo, were about all the highways which broke the solitude of the little town and opened the intervening land to cultivation and settlement.

In the northern part lay the social, political and financial strength of the town. The farmers of Trapelo, Pond End and Piety Corner came over to the town-meetings in the church and managed public affairs both by intellectual and numerical force. At this period they furnished the most prominent town officers and representatives and administered the government with firmness and good judgment. The abilities of the early residents are displayed by their acts and results ; and the names of Wellington, Bright, Smith, Livermore, Lawrence, Stearns, Niles, Clark, Childs, Sanderson, Fiske are represented among the citizens of the present day.

At this period the Province was in a quiet state in its political affairs and in its relations with the mother country. The contest between the New England Colonies and the French, which was to test so severely the spirit and valor of the people in the successful attack upon Louisbourg, had not commenced, but the cloud was rising upon the horizon. The Provinces still regarded England as their old home. No subjects were more loyal. There was no thought of aught but devotion to the mother country. Jonathan Belcher was Governor. He was appointed by the Crown, and although he was born in the Colonies, was an ardent advocate of the royal prerogative. George the Second was King and Walpole was at the head of the ministry, hastening to his fall, which was to close a remarkable career in office. While the Provincials felt a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the kingdom, they were jealous of any infringement of their rights of local government, and already controversies were arising between the Governor and the General Court on questions of local issue, which were eventually to be settled only by war and final separation. Already had Montesquieu, with his far-reaching prescience in political affairs and keen penetration of coming events, noted the fact that in the forests of America was arising a people who would ultimately become a nation and shake off the trammels which bound them to another government.

Religion had lost much of its austerity and intolerant character among the people through the lapse of time and change of mind and character since the early settlement. But still the church ruled in secular as well as in spiritual affairs. Its potent influence was felt in all the walks of life. It was the nucleus of the body politic as well as the soul of the spiritual body. On every Sabbath-day the greater part of the population congregated at the meeting-house. The men, and women, and boys sat apart, the latteroften on the pulpit or gallery-stairs. The deacons sat in front facing the congregation, while the sexton turned the hour-glass as the hours were exhausted in the discussion of the heads of the long sermon.

The choir, made up of the graduates of the winter singing-school, rendered the plaintive and vigorous hymns of the ancient psalmody with native harmony and sonorous effect. The gathering of the people at church, especially those who came from a distance, and brought their dinners, gave to the community an opportunity for neighborhood greetings and for the interchange of the current news of the day and the gossip which gave a savor to the uneventful routine of life. The sacred and secular associations which cluster around the meeting houses of that day are an effective part of the unwritten yet not less important and interesting history of the land.

It was about this period that the great awakening in religious matters took place in the Colonies. Edwards, the great philosopher and theologian, represented the Calvinistic doctrines and expounded them with a vigor and effect, earnestness and erudition hitherto unknown in the country. Whitefield, recently arrived from England, was making a tour of the Colonies and quickening religious zeal by his fervid eloquence, his charm of manner, sincerity of views and marvelous versatility as a pulpit orator. A lively interest was created throughout the Colonies by the controversies over opposing principlesof faith, and acrimonious and sometimes bitter discussions arose through a more liberal interpretation of the Scriptures and progressive independence among the people on sectarian matters.

Newspapers were hardly known in the country towns, and not of general circulation. There were but a very few throughout the broad extent of the Colonies, and those gave but the most meagre synopsis of what may be called the news of the day.

In general literature we find our times in the days of Pope, Swift and Fielding in England, and of Franklin and Edwards in our own land, who may be considered the pioneers in American literature. There wa.s little variety to select from throughout the households, and that pertained mainly to a religious character. In private libraries, as shown in the enumeration of books bequeathed or administered upon, it is curious to note the religious commentaries and works upon divinity, without one ray of the lightof poetry, or fiction, or descriptive writing, though such works were then extant, and to-day are regarded as of standard character. The constant reading and re-reading of these works gave a fund of limited knowledge on those subjects, but above all inculcated a purity of style and diction and a vocabulary of excellent English which marked the writings and utterances even of those whose ways of life led them from the domain of letters. Subsequently when our towns sent forth their little manifestoes against the tyranny of the British Orown, and the farmers gave expressions to their sentiments in words full of meaning, their written protests called forth admiration in British Parliament for their incisive English, purity of style and elevation of thought and expression.

In financial matters an irregular and debased paper currency was afflicting the people and causing embarrassments and losses in trade. There were different issues of paper, and the early and latest were called respectively old and new tenor and passed in a ratio of three or four to one. In nearly all transactions and payments recorded at this time, the stipulation is made that the terms shall be of old or new tenor.

Slavery existed to a limited extent, and we may occasionally note the sale of a servant or quaint observation upon the disposition of such a chattel in a will.

Local amusements were few and simple. They were confined mainly to the neighborhood gathering or perhaps a dance at the tavern. Stern realities took the place of the social amenities of life and taught the dependence of all upon the pursuit of a livelihood amid the severe scenes of nature and the primitive hardships and inconveniences of a country still new and unredeemed from the wilderness.

But in Boston the colonial life shone resplendent, and the town, with its closer connection with England and its centres of wealth and trade, reflected in ambitious imitation the customs prevailing in the old countries. And I cannot close this sketch of the times at the period when Waltham was enrolled among the towns of the Bay Colony better than by introducing, from the interesting book of W. R. Bliss on " Colonial Times," a vivid picture of Boston as it appeared to the denizen from the outlying country in this very year, 1738 : " From the elevated site of St. George's Tavern on Roxbury Neck the traveler saw the steeples of Boston, its harbor lively with vessels, the King's ships riding before the town. As he rode along the narrow way leading into the quiet town the most prominent object attracting his attention was a gallows standing at the gate. When he rode within he found in everything around him a wonderful contrast to the quiet and monotonous views which had always surrounded his life at his country home. The streets were paved with cobble-stone and were thronged with hackney coaches, sedan chairs, fourhorse shays, and cala,shes in some of which gaylydressed people were riding, the horse being driven by their negro slaves. Gentlemen on handsome saddlehorses paced by him. He noticed with amazement the stately brick houses and their pleasant gardens in which pear-trees and peach-trees were blooming. In the Mall gentlemen dressed in embroidered coats, satin waistcoats, silken hose and full wigs were taking an after-dinner stroll with ladies who were attired with bright silks and furbelowed scarfs, and adorned with artificial flowers and patches on their cheeks. Boston was an active, thrifty, trading town ; its shops, distilleries, wind-mills and rope-walks were all agoing, and as he turned into King St. and pulled up to the Bunch of Grapes tavern, he was near the Town House aud conveniently situated for all purposes of business or pleasure."

Such is an imperfect view of the aspect of the country and of affairs at the time Waltham entered the sisterhood of towns of the Massachusetts Colony. And as every town, as an integral part of the Colony, had its direct influence in the policy that was to decide the destiny of the country, we can trace the humble yet important sphere of such a community, the relations which it bore in the pending era of history. It was the character and sentiment of the towns banded together by a common feeling and independently asserting their rights and publishing to the world their principles of government which prepared the whole people for concerted action, as though by common impulse, and precipitated the Revolution that was to startle the world and work changes in governments and peoples far beyond the limits of the American Continent.

In the first annual election after the incorporation, in March, 1738, an entire change was made in all the officers from the highest to the lowest, with the exception of the clerk. Thomas Hammond, John Bemis, John Smith, Ensign Thomas Harrington and Deacon Jonathan Sanderson were chosen selectmen. Samuel Livermore was chosen clerk and treasurer, an office he was to continue to hold for many years in succession. Lt. Thomas Biglow was chosen Representative. A pound was built, as we are informed by the appropriations, and the "town Stockes were fitted up." Thus we are impressed with the facts that unruly cattle and men were to be cared for and restrained in the very inception of government. Action was also taken in July of the same year towards the permanent establishment of a school, and a committee was appointed "to treat with Mr. Thomas Harrington and agree with him if they can to keep the school for one-quarter of a year as cheap as they can." The agreement was made, and annually thereafter for some years £80 were appropriated for the ensuing year. Subsequently, the same year the school was made a moving school. For this purpose, the territory was divided into three squadrons or districts, and the school was to be kept a proportionate part of the year in each squadron. Each squadron was to furnish a place for the school and board for the teacher. The First Squadron included that portion of the town east of the church and north of Beaver .Street ; the Second that west of the church and north of Beaver Street; and the Third all south of Beaver Street, including the plains from the Watertown line to Stony Brook. This division gives an adequate idea of the sparse population within the limits of the present thickly populated portion of the city, and of the disproportionate number of inhabitants in the I'armiug area of the north and east. The regular school-house remained at "Piety Corner" where it was first located.

The records also throw light upon the customs of the time in the ample provision made for the funeral of a widow buried at public expense. Four pairs of men's and two pairs of women's gloves were provided, and also " such a quantity of rum as should be found necessary," Also in another case, gloves were furnished at public expense for the minister and selectmen and for the bearers, who, according to the custom of the day, literally bore the corpse on their shoulders to the grave- yard, and cider for all who attended the funeral services.

In January 1739, a joint committee was appointed by Watertown and Waltham to arrange for the apportionment of the outstanding debt of the town of Watertown at the time of the division. The debt was satisfactorily divided with the arrangement that Watertown should assume £95 5s. 3rf. and Waltham £80 8s. lid. In March of the same year a committee of the three towns originally comprised in the territory of Watertown, Weston and Waltham was appointed to renew the boundaries of the grant at Wachusett Hills. This tract of land was granted to Watertown by the General Court in compensation for land taken from the town when Concord was laid out. The boundaries of Concord by its grant of six miles square encroached upon Watertown, and after repeated grants, which were never located, the General Court, after the lapse of a century, apportioned a tract of two thousand acres at Wachusett. This land was held jointly by the three towns until Waltham and Weston sold their share in 1756 for £267 6s. 8d., or two thousand pounds, old tenor.

Another joint ownership of the three towns was that of the Great Bridge which crossed Charles River at Watertown. It was built at the head of tide-water and was undoubtedly the first bridge over the river, and for many years the only one. It furnished the only access by land for the towns north of the river to Boston by way of Boston Neck. The building and maintenance of the bridge was always a subject of much controversy until the present century. Watertown maintained that as it was for the use and convenience of so many towns, it should be supported by the county, but its claims in this respect were not allowed. When Weston and Waltham were set off, it was one of the stipulations that those towns should bear their proportion of its support. In 1742, on the adjustment of the accounts by the selectmen of the three towns, the share of Waltham was £59 6s. 7d. Waltham continued to contribute to the support of this bridge until the beginning of the present century, when, in relinquishing its share of proprietorship of the weirs located near the same place on the river which were originally owned by Watertown, its obligations for further contributions were canceled.

About this time, on voting to re-apportion the pews in the meeting-house for the en.suiug five years, the first choice was given to the largest tax-payer and so on in order through the house, with the provision that where the claims were equal, age should determine the choice. Samuel Livermore, in consideration of the use of his land for the meeting-house to stand upon, was granted a pew on the east side of the pulpit for himself and heirs during such occupation.

The ammunition of the town was kept in the belfry. The stock required by law amounted to 150 pounds of powder, 300 pounds bullets and 450 flints. In 1744 the number of men reported by Captain Samuel Livermore, as under his command, was 90. Capt. Livermore was a man of much prominence and many offices - captain of the militia company, deacon of the church, sexton, town clerk, town treasurer, representative repeatedly to the General Court.

As the cause of education was one of the primary causes of the separation from Watertown and the establishment of the town, the records show that the subject of the schools was ever an important one in the town-meeting. The moving schools were for a time abandoned and then re-established. Finally, district schools were organized permanently in different quarters of the town and maintained with regularity. Waltham has ever kept up its traditional interest in the schools, supported them generously, and maintained their high character in accordance with the standard of the day. No town has with more careful vigilance guarded the public welfare in this respect. In all that regards public education, it has stood in the front rank and been true to the history and memories of its origin.

Also from the beginning of its corporate existence another subject of contention which precipitated the division has ever received especial care and support. The highways were an early and fruitful theme of local consideration. In the belief that they were not what they should be when the former municipal relations were maintained, the town from the first made ample provision for their care and extension, and displayed the sincerity of its views by its action. Among the most liberal appropriations were those for the highways. These appropriations, expended with care and system, have been maintained to the present time. Waltham roads in the past have stood the test of criticism, and have been cited in official reports without its borders for their construction and care of maintenance. It is only since larger increase of wealth in other suburban communities, allowing greater expenditures per mile and per capita, that her roads have not held the first place in comparative excellence.

In the French and Indian Wars, which drew all New England into active and bloody participation, Waltham furnished its due proportion of soldiers. Though the records do not show that separate companies for such service were organized, there are the names of its citizens borne on the rolls of companies organized in the vicinity. Louisbourg, Lake George and Ticonderoga drew from every New England hamlet the youth who sought to defend the Colonies and m.aintain the military renown of their ancestors.

The growth of the town was slight during these years, as nothing occurred to stimulate the coming of many new residents. The community depended on its natural increase. Early marriages and large families marked provincial life. The yeomanry of Waltham; like that of all its sister towns, was developing into vigorous hardihood with the strong physical and intellectual qualities that in due time, under a destiny which they could not foresee, were to startle the world with a revolution in the form and principle of government, and give a new turn to human affairs. They were unconsciously forming a character and husbanding resources to stand them in the days of trial. The school-house and the town-meeting were inculcating the principles and powers of self-government, and the spirit of freedom was abroad in the land.

The files of the probate records give us interesting details of the inner life of families and estates, and of the customs and legal forms affecting social and business matters.

The inventory of the personal effects of Isaac Brown, who died at this time, is recorded. He was evidently a yeoman and shopkeeper. Besides the firelock and sword, which were usually included in the list of valuables transmitted by will or inheritance, was one negro girl, " Vilet," whose value was placed by appraisal at £26 13s. id. Among his shopgoods were "garlix," "osnabrig," "Dowlas" and " Tammy," articles then undoubtedly recognized by the fashion of the day. John Ball in his will directs that if his negro man " prove Cross or Disobedient to the commands of his wife that he be sold by his Executor." Capt. John Cutting's estate furnishes an inventory of literature, including the "Great Bible" and two small Bibles, some of Mather's works, " Christ dying a sacrifice," "the Blessed Hope," "Sundry Pamphelets," besides five slaves, with their appraised value as follows : Slave Lucy, £20 ; Bartholomew, £20; Dinah, £20 ; Ishmael, £15, and Thomas, £1. In some inventories the list of books left or bequeathed included what is now regarded as the standard literature of the day ; in others, Latin and Greek classics in the original ; but generally the books were of a solemn and deeply religious character.

In 1757, when the Acadians or French Neutrals were exiled from their homes and distributed among the different provinces, some of the unfortunates were sent to Waltham. They became a burden of public support and were not the objects of that hospitality and charity to which their misfortunes would seem to have entitled them. Every town would relieve itself of them when occasion would allow, and if one of them strayed from another place he was quite peremptorily ordered away. At one time as many as thirty were residents in the town. Different in race and religion, speaking a foreign tongue, accustomed to another mode of life, friendless and homeless, they undoubtedly suffered a physical and mental pain which in these days would appeal to our warmest sympathies. But the bitterness of the contest along the Canadian border waged between the English and French, and their descendants, with the cruel participation of the Indians and the fierce animosity of religion, steeled the hearts of the provincials against the humane feelings which otherwise would have marked their conduct.

Much of the local legislation is on the subject of schools, their assignment to different parts of the town, the hiring of teachers and appropriatious for their pay. After several suggestions which were not, at first, favorably received, the town in 1760 voted to hire a school-mistress. Mrs. Geo. Lawrence was appointed and may be assumed to be the first female teacher in the town.

In 1761 a work-house was ordered to be built and a committee appointed for the purpose. It was probably located near the corner of Weston and South Streets. In the same year action was taken, in cooperation with Newton, to build a bridge over Charles River near the mouth of Beaver Brook. This was at the location of the present Newton Street bridge, and was the first bridge over the river within the limits of Waltham.

The close of the F'rench War, in 1763, while it brought peace to the Colonies, and dispelled the fears of the savage invasions, to which the northern borders had been subject, drew in its train the results which soon alienated the people from England and precipitated the final separation. England began to devise new means to pay for the war and keep up its military establishment in America. The Stamp Act, in 1765, was among these resources. Instantly the people were aroused. Every little hamlet felt that a question of principle was at stake, more than that of the mere amount of the tax. Waltham was in touch with its sister communities on the questions of popular colonial rights, which agitated the public mind for the next ten years, and its records give ample evidence of the patriotic spirit which animated its peo- pie and sought expression in the resolutions and action of its town-meetings. It was the town-meetings which kept public opinion aroused and made their influence felt, even across the sea, so that the British Parliament passed an order forbidding that they should be held, except for the choice of officers and the appropriations for ordinary expenses.

In 1764 Joseph Dix was chosen representative and commenced a service of fifteen consecutive years, thus representing the town through the critical period of American history. He succeeded Samuel Livermore, who had served seventeen years, fourteen of which were of consecutive service. At this time the population of the town was 663, including fourteen slaves. There were ninety-four houses and 107 families.

Boston was the commercial and political centre of the Colonies, and as the seat of provincial government gave inspiration to all the lesser towns within the circle of its influence. Its resolutions and actions were endorsed so as to give greater force to its leadership and to its greater interest in all that appertained to public welfare. In 1767 the town endorsed Boston's approval of the measures to " promote industry, economy and manufacturing," and later, by other acts, showed its disposition to keep in step with the prevailing and growing sentiment of liberty.

Late in the year 1772 the famous Committee of Correspondence of Boston was formed and commenced that work which was great because great results fol lowed. The object of the committee was to open a correspondence with all the towns in the Colony and with other Colonies, and to publish to the world the sense of wrong inflicted upon the people by the home government. It was a plan to create a unity of sentiment and action, and encourage an interchange of opinion on the great question of the hour. It has been aptly termed the foundation of the American Union. The time had come when the feelings of every little community were brought to a tension that could not stand mere inaction. Submission was degradation and ultimate loss of liberty, and the spirit of loyalty, ever so manifest, must yield to higher principles.

January 23, 1773, the letter from the committee was read in town-meeting. It asked for au explicit declaration of the sense of the people, and solicited full communication of their sentiments. It also set forth in spirited words the grievances of the Colonies and the invasion of their civil and religious rights. The town appointed a committee, consisting of Samuel Livermore, Esq., Jonas Dix, Esq., Captain Abijah Brown, Leonard Williams, Esq., and Deacon Isaac Stearns, "to take the same into consideration, draw up a vote in answer to said Letter, and report." But there is no record that such a report was ever made. Another letter, setting forth the barbarous and unchristian practices of African slavery, was read at a town-meeting in May, and referred to the repiesentative, toact upon according to his discretion. In July, 1774, the selectmen voted to lay in a stock of ammunition, consisting of four half-barrels of powder, four and one-half hundred-weight of bullets, andSOO flints. In September, in response to a recommendation of an assembly of delegates from Middlesex County, held at Concord, that the town appoint local Committees of Correspondence, the following vote was passed at a town meeting :

" Voted and chose Captain William Coolidge, Dea. Elijah Livermore, Captain Abijah Brown, Lieutenant Abijah Child and Ensign Abraham Pierce a committee for other towns to send to in any emergency, and they to send to other towns on any emergency." This committee was a local Committee of Safety. When the question came up among the several towns of resolving the General Court into a Provincial Congress, the town appointed Captain Abijah Brown, Leonard Williams and Jonathan Brewer a committee to adopt instructions to the representative on the subject.

Subsequently Jacob Bigelow was chosen delegate. Waltham had two delegates, Jacob Bigelow and Eleazer Brooks. Watertown, three ; Newton, three ; Weston, three.

December 12, 1774, a town-meeting was held to take into serious consideration the Association of the Grand American Continental Congress, and according to their resolves, to choose a committee to attentively observe that such association be punctually and strictly carried into execution. Jonas Dix, Cornet Nathaniel Bridge and Dea. Elijah Livermore were chosen committee.

At a town -meeting held Jan. 9, 1775, the question was put " to know the mind of the Town, whether they will all be prepared and stand ready-equipped as minute-men, and it passed in the alKrniative." Jonas Dix was chosen delegate to the Second Congress at the same meeting.

The selectmen for the eventful year, 1775, were Jonas Dix, Cornet Nathaniel Bridge, Lieut. Daniel Child, Josiah Brown and John Clark. One or two merit more than passing notice for their personal qualities and worth, and deserved prominence, as all do, for the important era in the history of the country in which they served and guided the affairs of the little town. "Squire" Dix, as he was called, was a man of great ability, as recognized by the important committees on which he served in Congress, and by the frequent suffrages of his fellow-citizens for positions of responsibility and honor. No man seems to have served the town with more activity, and have done more for the cause of liberty in those historic days. Nathaniel Bridge was intimate with Washington, and entertained him at his house while in command at Cambridge. Thus in the men whom she chose to represent her, at home and in Congress, by the acts of her town-meetings, and by the patriotic fervor and devotion of her inhabitants, Waltham was fully in accord with the neighboring towns when the

When the first act of the Revolution transpired at Lexington, April 19, 1775, it would be expected that Waltham, a contiguous town, would be prominently conspicuous through her militia company with the events of the day. But the records aresingularly obscure in regard to any part taken by the towns people in that memorable affair. There are a few individual instances of citizens who joined in the pursuit of the regulars, but there is no other authority, either by record or tradition, that the military force was near the scene of action. It has been a source of wonder and conjecture among local historians and orators, why the town did not unite with the neighboring towns in sending its company to the scene of duty. It has even been surmised that Waltham was a Tory town, with a majority of its citizens in sympathy with the royal cause. But recent researches in the archives of the Slate fully disprove such intimations. There is ample evidence that the citizens were fully aroused with the spirit of patriotism and the militia company was in active service, though not present at the contest along the line of march of the British troops. The record of the Committee of Liberty shows that during the winter preceding the battle, cannon, ammunition and military stores were stored at Waltham. Doubtless in contemplation of a raid by British troops, and from the danger through the proximity to Boston, of their sudden seizure, the committee had the cannon, mortars, powder, balls, shells, etc., transported to Worcester and Concord. Previous to the Concord expedition, spies had been over the road between Boston and Worcester, and had been apprehended at Weston. When it was known that the troops were preparing for a march into the country, it was a matter of doubt whether their destination was Concord or Worcester, and on the day of the battle when Percy's troops marched out over Boston Neck, it was even then a matter of conjecture as to whether they were intended as reinforcements to the troops returning from Concord, or as a diver.'<iou in the direction of Worcester. As Waltham was on the direct road to Worcester, it was but natural that alarm should spread through its borders and the local company should be ready for work near at home. Many families left their homes with their valuables in anticipation of attack, and the greatest anxiety pervaded the little comunity. But the muster-roll of the Waltham Company, in the State archives, tells its own story. It gives the list of 12 officers and 109 privates who were on duty for three days at this time, marched 28 miles and drew pay forthe service according to the following certificate :

" Company iu Waltbum, cald out by Colonel Thoniaa GarJnor ou alarm in defence of the Liberties of America under the command of Abraham Pierce, Capt. to Concord, and Lexenton flte and the number of miles traveld and how our Expenses and these Lins may sartifle that my Company wa» keept upon gard til Saturday the 4 day after the flte at CoDCord. " Abraham Feihcb, Captain,"

The list is remarkable in the fact that it shows that more than one-half of the male population of Waltham above sixteen years was under arms that day and did their country service. But what route they marched and what were the incidents of their service cannot be ascertained.

Immediately after the battle troops began to gather from the country and march towards Boston ; some of the regiments were encamped at W^altham, but were removed with the main army to Cambridge. Waltham raised a company for the service. This company was commanded by Captain Abijah Child, and was attached to the Thirty-seventh Foot, commanded by Captain Thomas Gardner. Besides this company there were men from the town scattered through other regiments of the army. Captain Childs' company was undoubtedly in the battle of Bunker Hill, as the regiment was in the battle and Colonel Gardner was there mortally wounded and six men were killed, though no names are given in any of the accounts. In the subsequent records of the town votes are parsed for reimbursing some of the citizens for accoutrements lost at Bunker Hill.

The most prominent military man of the town was Colonel Jonathan Brewer, who commanded a regiment in the Continental Army, and was at Bunker Hill, where he was wounded. He made an offer to Congress to raise troops for the invasion of Canada. When this expedition was organized and n;arched to the capture of Quebec, under Arnold, through the wilds of Maine under great privations, Waltham men were with it, and afterwards were awarded additional pay for their sufferings. As Colonel Brewer, Captain Childs and other officers were with Washington in the Jerseys in 1776, it is supposed that the Waltham Company shared the fortunes of the army out of New England. To all the requisitions of men during the remainder of the war, the town responded with patriotic devotion and the soldiers were rewarded with liberal pay and bounties by their fellow-citizens.

In March, 1776, Captain William Coolidge, Thomas Wellington and Lieutenant Samuel Stearns were chosen a Committee of Correspondence. As they are also referred to as the Committee of "Inspection" and "Safety," doubtless they had general supervision of the local military and the shaie of Waltham in conducting the war during their term of service. In May, 1776, the town voted to engage their fortunes and lives in support of a declaration of independence should Congress for the safety of the Colonies so declare them. When tb^ declaration was proclaimed it was read and spread at length on the town records.

After opposing iu one year the formation of a State Constitution, the town instructed the representative in 1777 to join with others in the formation of such Constitution as shall best promote the happiness of the nation. In 1778, at a meeting, it was voted to instruct the representative to vote in favor of ratifying the Articles of Confederation.

During the remainder of the war the struggle bore hard upon all the towns. Constant calls came for men, some to serve with the Continental Army, and others to perform special service where the exigencies of war and the possibilities of attack might require. As orders were issued respectively at different times to the first and second companies of militia, it is inferred that there were two companies in town at that period. The currency had become so depreciated that fabulous sums were paid for bounties, and also for wages and salaries of those in civil stations and for the necessaries of life. A convention was held at Concord for the regulation of prices of merchandise and labor, and in obedience to the recommendation of that convention the following schedule of prices was fixed : Hay, 36». per hundred-weight ; oats, 36». per bushel; labor for haying and wall-laying, 42s. per day ; mechanics with tools and found, 60s. ; blacksmiths for shoeing a horse, £4; meal of butchers' meat and vegetables, 12s. ; same with tea, 15s. ; mug of flip, 12s. ; bowl of toddy, 12s; making a coat, £6 ; breeches, £3, etc. A committee of eleven was elected and directed by the town to carry out the provisions of the order. Persons who should charge more than these rates were to be dealt with by the Committeeof Inspection, Safety and Correspondence, and have their names published in the newspapers. In the demand for soldiers, the bounties in many cases were specified to be in silver.

In 1780, the first election under the new State Constitution was held, and the vote of the town was : for Governor, John Hancock, 54; James Bowdoin, 3.

The natural increase of population, probably owing to the demands of war, had not been sustained, and in 1783 the population numbered but 683. When the new Constitution of the United States was referred to the peopje of the State for ratification, Leonard Williams was chosen delegate to the Convention. In the vote for ratification in 1788, though the majority of the delegates from Middlesex County opposed the new Constitution, the delegate from Waltham voted for it, thus showing that he forecast the future correctly in relation to that great instrument of civil governmant. When, in the first year of the administration, Washington visited Massachusetts, he passed through Waltham. He was received at Weston by a horse company and escorted through the town with every demonstration of the respect to which he was entitled.

It was not uncommon for people in identifying themselves as new citizens of a town, to have the fact publicly known and to be formally accepted as such. In 1793, Christopher Gore was received as a citizen, in accordance with his own request, expressed in writing. He was a distinguished lawyer of Boston, and afterwards rose to high political prominence as diplomatist, Governor and United States Senator. He bought large tracts of land, and built an elegant home. His residence and surrounding estate are today among the mosi attractive of the State. The grand imposing mansion, not ornate but substantial, the spacious grounds and beautiful old trees, and the extensive fields under high cultivation, show the accumulated taste and care of nearly a century. A place of the same character, which has been celebrated for about as long a time, is the Lyman estate, with its mansion-house, lawns and gardens, its farmhouses and fields. Both of these places have been quite historical as examples of American estates preserved for some generations in their original ^nd ideal grandeur and proportions.

Until 1796 the finances of the town were conducted in the tables of pounds, shillings and pence, but after that time dollars and cents came into universal use.

In the War of 1812 Waltham manifested a spirit of generosity to her soldiers, paying them liberally, in addition to the stipend allowed by the government. The military company was called into service, but the service was of the bloodless character which appertained to guard duty, or the watching against the attack of an enemy which never came. Party spirit ran high, and opposition to the war and criticism of its management were carried into town-meetings and elections, social gatherings, and even into the church. Rev. Mr. Ripley in one of his sermons gave vehement and independent expressions to his views, which raised a great feeling. Some of his congregation left the church, and the town took up the matter in a town-meeting, but after much discussion and a close vote, the meeting decided to take no further action.

About this time the character of the town for the future took a decided change. Hitherto Waltham had been quite exclusively an agricultural community, and had followed the uneventful and tranquil life of such a condition. Two or three mills had been established on its streams. A small woolen-mill had been operated on the east bank of Beaver Brook, or Clematis Brook as now called, and a paper-mill stood near where the mills of the Boston Manufacturing Company now stand, but they were too insignificant to establish for the town any reputation for manufacturing industries, or to give employment to many people. In 1813 the Boston Manufacturing Company was organized by Francis C. Lowell, Nathan Appleton, Patrick T. Jackson and others, for the manufacture of cotton cloth by the newly-invented power-loom, and Waltham was selected as a site for the operation. Boyce's paper-mill was bought with its water privilege, and additional privileges were purchased of some mills in Watertown. The new enterprise was started originally for the purpose of weaving cloth, the spinning to be done elsewhere, as was common in England and other countries at that day. Some mills in Rhode Island were at that time making cloth by the same process. But the plan of the Waltham Mills was changed before completion, so as to embrace spinning as well as weaving, and thus the Waltham factories were the first in America where cotton was taken in its raw state and made into cloth in one establishment and under one roof. The sketch of the manufacturing industries elsewhere precludes the necessity of giving but a mere cursory and briefly historical review of this enterprise; but even the most general description of Waltham would be incomplete without special reference to this manufactory, which has been so closely identified with the history of the town, with its growth and progress, and the material welfare of the people. Leaving out its industrial feature, it has been a potent element in the development of the town and of the country, farreaching beyond the mere operation of mechanical appliances for material interests. There is a moral and intellectual as well as mechanical side to the origin and successful inception of this adventure in American manufacturing which brings it within the domain of history in its highest sense.

Lowell was the soul of the new undertaking, the inventive genius and inspired projector. On a visit to England, just before the War of 1812, he observed and studied the source of her greatness on sea and land. He saw that it lay in her commerce and manufactures. He burned with patriotic devotion to transfer some of that power to his native land. He gave his mind and hand to the work, and studied practically and theoretically on forms of machinery to improve those he had seen abroad. With prophetic eye he saw that our streams, running idly to the sea, the cotton and wool grown upon our soil, the faculties of the American race could all be utilized and combined in a system of manufacturing industries to give the country wealth iind prosperity and greater independence and importance among the nations of the world. Of his a.ssociates, Appleton was the man of means, the capitalist, the broad-minded, far-seeing man of affairs ; Jackson was the executive manager, the treasurer and agent, who looked after the details of management. With them there was afterwards associated Paul Moody, a skillful, practical mechanic, whose knowledge and experience could adapt the ingenious devices of Lowell. To these men is due the credit and honor for transcending that of starting and successfully developing a new work of industry. They seemed actuated by the highest moral and patriotic impulses. Lowell and Appleton had observed in England the ignorance, poverty and degradation of the factory operatives. They determined that their operatives should be kept on a higher plane and have the advantages of the better influence of life. With the factories, a church was established and a schoolhouse was built, and the treasurer consented to be the local committee-man of the school. Good boardinghouses were erected and maintained with due regard to the purposes for which they were built. A library was purchased and a lyceum was fostered. Thus

These high principles on the part of the originators of the mills, and the policy pursued for a long series of years, gave evidence of the firm basis on which American cotton factories were established. They are bright lights in the history of manufactures, and the lapse of time gives them even greater lustre and importance. It is an interesting fact that for threequarters of a century, dui-ing which the factory has been continuously in operation, no strike or estrangement between employers and employees has ever occurred.

In 1819 the company purchased the mills of the Waltham Cotton and Wool Factory Company, an establishment erected in 1812 on the banks of the river in the southeast part of the town, and proceeded to build additional mills and a bleachery, where cloth could be bleached by chemical process. This location has since been known as the Lower Place, and its interests have been principally identified with those of the main corporation. The street which connected them by the banks of the river was long one of the most beautiful in town, extending amid groves of forest-trees surrounding some beautiful estates; but these groves have lately disappeared, and the mansions are turned into tenement-houses under the onward march of progress, and the shaded seclusion of road and adjacent lands have necessarily been sacrificed to the requirements of business advancement.

Before this time the town had somewhat outgrown the spirit of unity, and the local feelings and jealousies of a scattered community had begun to manifest themselves to a degree. A sectional division in church matters had created and developed a schism which followed local rather than religious lines. The origin of this difficulty is said to have been a sleighride, which was gotten up in the parish, and to which several were not invited who thought they were entitled to such recognition. Explanations ^ere given, apologies were made, but all to no purpose. The social compact which bound the difierent parts of the town together was hopelessly broken. The agitation extended to the utmost borders, and discordance took the place of harmony, and faction of unity. The residents of the hills entertained a hostile feeling to those of the plains. The only semblance of a village was still near Beaver Brook. The coming of the factories would increase the power and population in the southern section of the town, by the river and on the broad area of the plain, still but sparsely settled, and move the populous part of the village in that direction. The farmers of the north part did not regard the advent of manufactories', their artisans and operatives, with any considerable degree of satisfaction. They opposed the factory people in town-meetings and in church, and with a natural conservatism looked upon the new-comers as temporary sojourners not permanently interested in the aflairs of the town.

But a few years changed these feelings. Those engaged in the mills actively participated in the affairs of the town for the general good ; the spirit of good citizenship prevailed, and the American rule of obedience to the will of the majority reconciled any diiferences on the score of occupation or locality. The manufacturing corporations provided church services in the school-house for a number of years, until the congregation was large enough and able to erect an edifice. With the growth of population, and the varying shades of religious belief, other churches have arisen from time to time, so that one or two places of worship of each of the prevailing denominations of New England are well sustained in the city.

Another institution which the manufacturing company fostered and encouraged by financial assistance, as well as by moral recognition, was the library and lyceum. The Rumford Institute of Mutual Instruction, founded in 1826, was largely composed of those working in the factory. It was one of the earliest and most useful institutions of its kind in this part of the country, and its history has been honorably and notably connected with that of the town. It originally started as a debating club, with evening studies on subjects of the day, generally of a scientific nature.

Public lectures were given, often by its own members and distinguished persons from abroad. A library was a special feature from the inception, and the company generously donated a collection of books it purchased for its operatives, called the Manufacturers' Library, and contributed for many years funds for the purchase of new books. It erected a building with a hall for lectures and rooms for a library, which it rented to the institute free, on condition that it devoted sixty dollars a year to the purchase of books. This building, called the Rumford Building, was sold to the town in 1854, and, with alterations and enlargements, is the present City Hall. The library was given to the town by the institute in 18(J5, and was the nucleus of the present.

Another illustration of a minor character of the encouraging care for education is the fact that the factory bell rang every morning at quarter of nine o'clock to call the children to school. For upwards of half a century, as regularly as it summoned operatives to and from their daily toil, its peals summoned children to their lessons.

The schools of Waltham have always been kept up to a high standard of excellence, and have ranked with the best in the State. It has been noted already that one of the causes of the separation of the town from Watertown was the insufficiency of school accommodations, and hence the principle and practice so strongly contended for have ever been sustained by the descendants of the seceding fathers. Appropriations have always been made with no niggardly hand, and the people have generously taxed themselves to provide for the education of the youth. In the year 1833 the first town or high school was established. This was located in the first story of the new townhall erected at that time. Previous to that tinre all public schools had been in the common single grade district school, and the town had held its meetings in the church. The town-house, which stood on the site of the present North Grammar School, at the corner of Lexington and School Streets, was devoted exclusively to school purposes in 1849, for both the high and grammar schools, and in 1869 was abandoned for the purpose and sold for removal.

Near it stood the armory of the artillery company, and the public flag-staff, and the vacant land around on both sides of the adjacent street was the only public common then owned by the town. In 1854 the town purchased a larger part of the present beautiful common of the Boston Manufacturing Company, which had reserved it from their land for public purposes, and, with a commendable spirit, parted with it only on condition that it should be forever used as a park. Addition and extension on the southern side, made by the city in 1886, have completed its area to just proportions, and furnished the people with a most attractive public square, adorned with trees, in the midst of its busiest life. The original preservation and maintenance of such a park in a place where land has enhanced in value every year and is in demand for the local growth and material prosperity show obviously the character of the people and their sentiment in regard to objects of public use, adornment and recreation. For it is with a strong opposition of a minority when the expense is to be borne from the public treasury, that such a reservation can be made.

During the first half of the present century Waltham was a popular resort for military gatherings of the day. Its broad plains and ample hotels furnished facilities for the mustering of the militia forces and their entertainment, without the necessity of camping on the tented field. War and all its associations were more of a tradition than a reality to nearly all but the few surviving Revolutionary soldiers, and the annual muster and May training had something of a picturesque and grotesque character, compared with the military encampments of to-day. Few even of the officers had ever seen any service, and the semblance of actual warfare maintained for a day or two of duty seems to have partaken of the mock-heroic. The gaudy trappings, the variegated uniforms, the indifferent discipline, made of a militia training a picture rivaling the combinations of a kaleidoscope. With the hilarity and lively scenes of such an occasion, all the country round about took an active interest. In the days of compulsory service, the un-uniformed forces presented a contrast to the uniformed and organized companies. The latter, from different towns, often entered into a spirit of rivalry, in the colors and elaborate details of uniforms and equipments. The shrill fife and rattling drum, wltli the more pretentious martial music of a country band, added materially to the pomp and circumstance of the muster-field and the annual training.

A semi-military celebration was the " Cornwallis," held on the 19th of October, the anniversary of the eventful day at Yorktown, and commemorative of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to Washington. There was a strange blending of the sublime and ridiculous on these occasions, with the marshaling of the opposing forces, the mock battle and surrender, and the travesty upon the reality of war. It was one of these autumnal gatherings at Walthum which prompted some descriptive lines of Lowell in his Biglow papers.

But the preservation of the patriotic and military spirit in this way served its purpose when the days of trial came and the spirit and patriotism of the young who witnessed these scenes of imaginary warfare was to be tested in the actual conflict of arms for the salvation of the country.

With the establishment of the cotton manufacturing industry and its gradual and successful growth, the town had a healthy and steady increase of population and general prosperity. There were few other important industries for many years. "The corporation," as it was called, and its leading men were the principal features of the town in its municipal and material development. The village extended up the main highway in the direction of the factories, and the centre was permanently located where to-day may be considered the heart of the city, with its principal buildings and offices. With all that was incidental to its progress, there was a well-ordered public sentiment that all was well for future prosperity. The streets were generally laid out wide and straight, and were kept in excellent repair - in fact, the town was one of the first to adopt the McAdam system in the construction of the principal thoroughfares. And in nearly all town matters, with the exception of some minor affairs which are always excejitional, a liberal policy was pursued to the ultimate welfare of the whole community.

In 1843 the Fitchburg Railroad was built to Waltham, and in 1845 it was extended beyond to Fitchburg. This naturally gave something of an impetus to growth for some years, but the policy of that corporation from about 1850 to 1860 was such an anomaly in railroad management as to check much progress from that source, and to turn the tide of suburban travel in other directions. The action of this railroad, in regard to transportation and public accommodation, has been considered a great detriment to the town in the past, and has in that regard affected the record of its history. The progressive policy for the past twenty-five years can hardly make amends for former mistakes.

people the facilities of a separate line of communication with Boston. The low fares and frequent trains on the different roads now furnish the citizens unusual advantages in the way of railway passeng<;r traffic.

In 1849 the town received an addition of territory which ultimately had a great effect upon its growth and prosperity, and widened the area of its industrial facilities. This gain of territory was from the annexation of a part of Newton, adjacent to Charles River, and contiguous to the populous part of Waltham. At that time there was on one portion the works of the Chemical Company, and a few dwellings, but the remainder was largely wild land, with some parts given to agriculture. It has developed with almost the phenomenal rapidity of a western town, and has grown into a thrifty and populous part of the city. This smart growth is mainly the result of the establishment of the American Waltham Watch Company's works. Previous to this time some new manufacturing enterprises had sprung up - an iron foundry ; a manufactory or laboratory where some of the first experiments were made with petroleum in the manufacture of oil, paraffine, etc.; a crayon factory, the original and still quite exclusively the principal manufactory of black-board crayons in the country, the product of the inventive genius of one of the citizens. But the inception of watch-making by perfected machinery, in a manufactory at first organized under Mr. A. L. Dennison, has more than other enterprises advanced the progress of Waltham, given it a character as a manufacturing centre and extended its name for its fine products over the civilized world.

The ill success of the first enterprise, its restoration and successful development under the executive ability of Mr. Royal E. Robbins, are an interesting and essential feature of the history of local manufactures. But this great establishment, with the liberal and intelligent spirit of its projectors, the skill and high character of its mechanics and operatives, male and female, the inventive genius displayed in machinery that by delicate and intricate movements performs the part of handiwork, with greatest rapidity and precision, is an important element in the history of the city, apart from its industrial character. In the highest degree it is representative of American skill and management, and of the moral and intellectual standard of artisans. No better evidence of thrift and social culture is needed than the beautiful and attractive homes, with ample grounds, owned and built by those whose livelihood is derived from this well-organized and successful manufactory.

At an agricultural and industrial fair in 1857, the first of the kind ever held in the town, the local products of the field, the home and the workshop were gathered in an exhibition which showed the extent and diversity of the industries of a town of 6000 inhabitants. This fair was held under the auspices of the "Agricultural Library Association," an organization which, with a change of name after a few years to the " Farmers' Club," has done much to foster the interests of the town. Composed not exclusively of farmers, but more generally of those of other occupations, it has, through its weekly meetings in the winter and other gatherings, done much for the common welfare in cultivating among those whose business leads in different directions, that social and friendly intercourse upon which a general community of interests depends.

In 1859 Waltham sacrificed a portion of its terri-' tory, about 429 acres, for the incorporation of the town of Belmont. The part taken was all that east of Clematis Brook, which is now the northeastern boundary of the city. Little opposition was made to the surrender of this area, as in a liberal spirit the people were not averse to contributing to the formation of the beautiful rural town which is now one of its attractive neighboring communities. With what was gained from Newton and lost to Belmont the area of the city is about the same as when first incorporated.

In 1861, when the Civil War burst upon the land, the citizens of the town displayed the loyalty and patriotic ardor, manifested throughout New England and the North, and by public and private demonstration entered into the spirit of devotion to the Union. Immediately on the firing upon Fort Sumter, a massmeeting of the citizens was called, patriotic speeches were made and enthusiastic and determined action was taken to support the cause of the Government.

Captain Gardner Banks announced his purpose to raise a company for service and the enlistment rolls were opened and well filled at the meeting.

Flags were displayed on the factories, schoolhouses, public and private buildings, the common was lively with squads of recruits drilling, and the usual aspect of the village instantly underwent a change.

A town-meeting was held and oflScial action taken to carry out the will of the people, without distinction of party, in vindication of national honor and the integrity of the Union. Money was appropriated for extra pay to soldiers for a specified time, and for support of their families. The women of the town, emulating the example of the men, held sewing meetings, and worked upon uniforms and other articles of necessity for the comfort and welfare of the soldier. The uniforms of the first company were made almost exclusively by their skillful and patriotic efforts. Few then supposed that the war would last more than a tew months, but the impressive and serious earnestness with which the first, as well as subsequent steps were taken showed the existence of the old spirit of the fathers and of the staying qualities of people who reluctantly, dutifully, and with firm determination took up the gage of battle.

The first company was attached to the Sixteenth Massachusetts Volunteers. Later in the same year, when a call for more troops was issued, the militia company of Light Dragoons formed the nucleus of two cavalry companies which wore attached to the First Massachusetts Cavalry. These companies served with distinction throughout their term of service.

In 1862, when the reverses of the Union arms and the power of the rebellion compelled the government to call for still more troops, the town, with equal enthusiasm and liberality, responded to the demands upon it for more soldiers. And when the draft was made, all quotas were filled without a conscrijjtion of but a few men. Private subscriptions, besides the town appropriations, provided liberal bounties and every duty of patriotism was loyally fulfilled.

The women of the town were loyally active during the whole period of the war in providing for the soldiers in the field, and doing everything in their power to alleviate their suflierings and enhance their comfort, through the medium of Soldiers' Aid and Relief Societies. In 1864 a large fair was held in aid of the Sanitary Commission, which was very successful and through which a generous sum was raised for the great cause.

The town furnished about 400 soldiers and sailors, and nearly every Massachusetts regiment was represented by some of its citizens. Fifty-three of the number, as nearly as can be ascertained, never returned, but nobly sacrificed their lives in battle or in the ho.«pital for the cause of their country. Soon after the war, Waltham was among the first towns to erect a soldiers' monument. This monument, an ornamental granite shaft, inscribed with the names of those who gave their lives, is located upon the Common. It also organized one of the First Grand Army Posts in the State, which to-day is active in perpetuating the memory of those who served their country in the time of its peril.

The only regular military organization is the Waltham Rifles, organized in 1874, and attached to the Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.

Waltham has always in due time responded to the demands upon it called for by its advancement in population and prosperity. In 1829 the first fireengine was purchased, and in 1844 a Fire Department was organized under a perfect system, with engineers and subordinates. Previous to the purchasing of an engine there had been an independant organization of citizens called the Fire Club, each member of which was equipped with two bucket* and other implements for extinguishing fires and saving property. This club now keeps up an informal organization by an annual supper. The first steam fire-engine wsui added to the department in 1871, and the fire-alarm telegraph introduced in 1881. The present Fire Department is a finely-organized and well-managed institution in the city. Its adequate equipment, and the harmonious feeling between the dificrent com- panies, and between the men and officers and engineers, render it one of special efficiency and character. The force now consists of one steam fire-engine, one chemical engine, four hose carriages, one hook-andladder truck, supply wagon, etc.

The Waltham Bank was astablished in 1836. Luke Fiske was the first president, and Nathaniel Maynard the first cashier. The capital originally was $100,000, and was subsequently increased to $150,000. The Savings Bank was established in 1853.

The streets were first lighted in 1852. The Gas Light Company was formed and gas introduced in 1853. The same company added an electric plant to its works and introduced electric lights in 188(5. A horse rai'road was built and opened between Waltham and West Newton in 1868, and in 1872 was extended up Main to Weston Street. It was changed to an electric road in 1890.

The people had been agitating the question of the introduction of water for some years, and different sources of supply had been suggested. After considerable deliberation and a careful examination of different places and methods, the town decided, in 1873, to take water from a filtering basin near Charles River above the factories by pumping into a reservoir on Boston Rock Hill. In excavating for the filtering basin, springs were struck on the land side of the basin, giving a supply of pure water ample for all present necessities, besides the facilities for direct draught from the river.

.July 4, 1876, the centennial celebration of National Independence was carried out with much public spirit and parade. A military and civic procession marched through the principal streets, and an historical oration was delivered by Josiah Rutter, Esq., in a large tent on the Common. Concerts and children's entertainments were given at Rumford Hall, while boat-races and games furnished recreation for others. A fine display of fire-works on the Common ended the successful and patriotic celebration of the day.

Mention has already been made of the date and location of the first bridge over Charles River on the site of the present Newton Street Bridge. This bridge, within a few years, has been rebuilt into an arched bridge of stone. Moody Street Bridge was built in 1847, originally of wood; it has since been rebuilt of iron. Farwell Street Bridge, below the bleachery, is a structure of iron. In 1889 a massive new arch bridge of stone was completed from Prospect to Maple Streets, near the watch factory. This is the most expensive and imposing bridge across the river, and furnishes one of the most attractive thoroughfares, whether for business or pleasure. It supplanted a wooden foot-bridge erected in 1885, mainly for the convenience of the watch factory operatives living on the north side of the river.

The Massiichusetts Central Railroad constructed its road through Waltham in 1881, and thus gave additional facilities for communication with Boston,

Where the citizens as a whole have been backward in supplying the necessary improvements, private citizens have by public spirit and enterprise in some cases supplied the deficiency. With the growth in population, places of public gathering for meetings, entertainments, and the ordinary purposes of a large community become inadequate in size and number The town had outgrown Rumford Hall, which, with its historical associations as the assembly room of Rumford Institute, was also used as the Town Hall. Propositions were made for erection of a new and spacious Town Hall. Town-meetings were held with warm discussion. It was voted to build a hall on the Common ; subsequently, that vote was reconsidered and another location chosen. One meeting would negative the act of another, and the attempt to have a new Town Hall came finally to naught. In 1881 under the spirited management of a few gentlemen, a stock company of citizens was foruied and Music Hall was erected. This structure, with its frontage of stores and offices and spacious vestibule and auditorium in the rear, is a useful and ornamental institution of the city. In 1890 alterations were made by which it was more especially adapted for theatrical entertainments, and it is now largely used for the drama, as well as for the general purposes of a large assembly room. Thename was changed to Park Theatre. Under the judicious management of the present lessee, Mr. W. D. Bradstreet, as a local theatre it furnishes the people two or three times a week in the season with a good variety of literary, dramatic and musical entertainments.

By the cen.sus of 1880 the population was very nearly 12,000, the requisite number for a city. As the town-meetings were oftentimes too large for the proper transaction of business, and the rate of increase of population was such as to render a change to a city form of government inevitable within a short time, the subject of application for a city charter began to be advocated. The proposition naturally met with much opposition at first from the more conservative people, and the first vote of the town was against the measure. But renewed interest was at once manifested, and on a second vote, November 30, 1883, the town voted seven hundred and twenty-four to six hundred and sixty-five to apply for a city charter, and appointed a committee of fifteen to prepare a charter. The Legislature granted the charter June 2, 1884, and it was accepted by the people July, 1884, by a vote of nine hundred and seventeen to six hundred and thirty-nine. In date of organization Waltham was the twenty-third city of Massachusetts.

Public sentiment in the town had been quite freely expressed in favor of a one board city government, the council or legislative branch to consist of but one body, instead of a Board of Aldermen and Common Council, as customary in other cities of Massachusetts,

A charter with this provision was granted. This novel feature was regarded as an innovation, and the first experiment in Waltham has been watched with considerable interest by those interested in municipal government. A board of twenty-one aldermen, with three from each of seven wards, was instituted, and has been found to work satisfactorily. The only change from that system deemed desirable was one to break up the local character of the representation from each ward. In 1889 an amendment was adopted to the effect that one of the aldermen from each ward be elected by the people at large.

The change from a town to a city form of government was made January, 1885, when the inauguration exercises took place in Music Hall before a large assemblage of the people. The chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Mr. Timothy Leary, in transferring the aSairs of the town to the new custodians, impressively commented upon the past history and record of the town, the honor and honesty of its officials and the sacred character of the trust for the people which had been maintained inviolate since the date of incorporation. There had been no record of the malfeasance of any officer or of the loss of a dollar of public money through the dishonesty of any official. The last Board of Selectmen was Timothy Leary, F. Buttrick, T. P. Smith, Charles H. Emerson, Lebbeus S. Foster.

Hon. B. B. Johnson had been elected the first mayor, and he assumed the duties of the office with recognition of the fact that the new system of the Aldermanic Board was, in a measure, experimental, and would be regarded for its successful and practical operation beyond the limits of the municipality. Henry N. Fisher was elected the president of the Board of Aldermen. The city has been conducted so a-s to commend itself to the citizens, even the most conservative, who strongly opposed such organization.

The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Waltham was celebrated January 16, 1888, under the auspices of the city government and a committee of citizens. The exercises were held in Music Hall, and consisted of an introductory address by His Honor, Mayor Fisher, an historical address, an original poem by Rev. E. N. Hayward, a hymn by W. M. Fullerton, music and singing, and a short address by His Excellency, Governor Ames. In the evening there was a banquet, at which General Banks presided, and at which speeches were made by prominent gentlemen. This banquet was followed by dancing. As the celebration was arranged in a limited time, the preparation of the historical address was referred to a committee of three, each of whom prepared a portion. This rather novel plan of joint authorship worked admirably, and was successfully carried out to a complete composition adapted to the occasion. The committee on historical address were Charles F. Stone, Nathan Warren and Thomas H. Armstrong. It was impressively read by the Hon. F. M. Stone.

The history of Waltham, thus briefly and imperfectly sketched to the present day, is a part of the history of the Commonwealth and of the progress and development of the country. It is what a free, intelligent people have made it, under the blessings of our form of government and the foundations laid by the early fathers. There is no glamour of war, of royal endowments or special privileges in its simple annals. It is no exception to hundreds of other thrifty places throughout the land - in its general prosperity. Its industrial progress and its representative character of American enterprise. Besides its sons and daughters who have remained and contributed to the city's growth many have gone out from its farms and factories, its schools and homes, to the uttermost parts of the earth, have helped build up other States and earned an enviable name for their enterprise and genius. Their fortunes may be linked with other destinies, but their fondest memories go back to the place they once called home.

Waltham has furnished two Governors of Massachusetts, Christopher Gore and Nathaniel P. Banks ; one United States Senator, Christopher Gore ; a member of Congress for several terms, a Speaker of the National House of Representatives and a Major- General of Volunteers, in the person of N. P. Banks; five Senators in the Massachusetts Legislature, - Luke Fibke, Gideon Haynes, F. M. Stone, N. P. Banks and David Randall. Its Representatives to the General Court since 1800 have been as follows :

A sketch of Waltham would not be complete without special reference to its most eminent citizen, the product of its soil and its thrifty manufacturing life. General Nathaniel Prentice Banks is a loyal son of this, his native town, where he now resides. Born of humble and respectable parentage, connected with the factory life, growing up amidst the busy scenes of the early manufacturing industries of America, obtaining limited education at the village school, he exemplifies in the highest degree the possibilities of the American youth. Commencing work in the factories when a mere boy, he availed himself of the facilities for self-education, proving himself an apt pupil under adverse circumstances, and early evinced remarkable oratorical powers. In the village lyceum, and in town-meeting, he was able to cope in debate with the strongest opponents. He has always been true to his early instincts, and by his fine personal presence, and his fervid eloquence, he has maintained the dignity of labor. From the time when he was first elected to represent the town in the Legislature, after many unsuccessful trials, to the present day, he has been prominent in public affairs ot the State and nation. In the changing fortunes of political life, in peace and in war, he has maintained the high character of personal and public honor and integrity. Honored with age and universal respect, he is again serving the people of his district in the National House of Representatives. At home he is the unpretentious citizen, deeply interested in whatever appertains to the welfare of the community.

The growth of Waltham has been steady and conservative, without spasmodic successes and reverses, and speculative attempts at progress, to be followed by reaction. Improvements are made as suggested by the necessities of the time and by prudent preparation for the future. Taxes are kept within reasonable limit, and the public enterprises are generally carried out with proper consideration of cost and need. A system of drainage has been inaugurated and extended with due regard to the growing requirements of such work. An improved system of sewerage to connect with the metropolitan system of Boston and vicinity, under an act of the Legislature, will soon be commenced. With its eligible location, the firm basis of its present manufacturing enterprises, and the inheritance of the past, Waltham may well look forward for a prosperous future as one of the leading manufacturing cities of the Commonwealth.

By Nathan Warren

The original territorial division of Waltham as a part of Watertown was on a military basis and for the purpose of a public defence by arms. The necessity of promptly summoning men together in view of Indian troubles occasioned the division of Watertown into three precincts, each with a military company or train-band. What is now Waltham, as elsewhere stated, was the Middle Precinct, and was assigned to Lieutenant Benjamin Garfield's command. As all the male inhabitants capable of bearing arms were required to be ready for military service at any time, the early history of the town is seen to have been of a semi-military character. The formation of the precinct was in 1691.

It is not a matter of record what part the men of Waltham took as soldiers in the early wars, but doubtless in Queen Anne's War, which raged from 1702 to' 1713, between the colonists on one hand and the French and Indians of Canada on the other, the precinct furnished its share of men. Military titles were very common, and generally used in reference to those who bore them in civil affairs. Probably few were acquired in actual service, but were won in peaceful duty of the annual trainings. Their bestowal and use show, however, the natural military spirit of the people. In March, 1744, Captain Samuel Livermore reported ninety men under his command.

Of enlistments of Waltham men in the Colonial service we find that of Ebenezer Bigelow, in Captain Stephen Richard's company in 1740, and that of Captain John Cutting in 1744, while in 1748 Nathan Morse and John Barnard were serving at Fort Shirley. In the old French and Indian War, from 1755 to 1763, in which New England was engaged, from Lake George to Louisbourg, until the final victory of Quebec, the town furnished many men. Ensign Robert Smith, Lieutenant Ebenezer Brown, Sergeant William Cox, Cornet .lonathan Pierce, Jonas Cutter, John Bean, Phineas Stearns, Joseph Wellington, Thomas Wellington, William Benjamin, Daniel Fisk, Abram Hill, Abijah Brown, Thomas Harrington, Isaac Glcason, Josiah Whitney, David Fi.sk, William Cummings were in the service. In the Crown Point expedition were Abram Gregory and Abijah Gregory. Benjamin Lawrence and Thomas Hammond were also in the service, and in 1737 Corporal Jonathan Pierce and Ensign William Livermore. In Captain .Jonathan Brown's company served .Josiah Barnard, Isaac Corey, John Whitehead, Nicholas Lucas, William Cox, David Standly, Timothy Flagg, Abram Sanderson, Lowden Priest, Jonas Steward, William Graves, John Wellington, John

This war was the school of the Revolution and gave to the returning soldiers of every town and hamlet a knowledge and experience in the art of war, and a military prestige which served well when resistance to the mother country became necessary.

When the eventful 19th of April, 1775, came, Waltham's company of minute-men was on duly, though not at Lexington. There is no record of the place of service, but the muster-roll tells a story of duty performed by twelve officers and one hundred and nine men, who marched twenty-eight miles and were on duty for three days as follows :

" Company in Walthani Cald out by Colonel Thomas Gardner on Alarm in defence of the Liberties of Amarica under the Command of Abraham Peirce, Capt., to Concord and Lexeuton tite and the number of miles traveld atid boor our Expenses and these Line may sartilie that my Company was Keept upon gard till Saterday the 4 day after the iite at Concord.

Ebenezer Hobbs, A.M., M.D., was born in Weston in 1794. Graduated from Harvard in 1814 ; received his medical degree there in 1817, and settled in Waltham. He continued in practice but a few years, when he was appointed to the responsible position of superintendent of the Boston Manufacturing Company of this town, which office he held for more than forty years, till failing health, which immediately preceded his death, compelled his resignation. A part of this time he was also the treasurer of this large corporation. He left its affairs in a highly prosperous condition.

This formal record falls short of showing the great influence which for many years he exerted upon the affairs of Waltham. A gentleman dignified, yet kindly, in manner; one to whom leadership is naturally accorded. He belonged to a school which seems to be passing from among us. He died in 1863. His successor .seems to have been Samuel Luther Dana, A.M., M.D., LL.D., who was born at Amherst, N. H., July 11, 1795. He was prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and with his brother, the late Prof. James Freeman Dana, entered Harvard in 1809.

The brothers were endowed with a love for the Natural Sciences, and entered upon the study of certain branches of it with great enthusiasm. They often made excursions through the country lying thirty miles around Boston for the purpose of examining its geological structure and collecting mineralogical specimens.

The result of these researches was a volume published by the brothers in 1818, entitled the "Mineralogy and Geology of Boston and its Vicinity."

Having, however, a military inclination, stimulated, perhaps, by the times, he received, March 12, 1814, an appointment as third lieutenant in the United States First Regiment of Artillery. May 1st following he was promoted to second lieutenant, and served through the war with Great Britain, in New York and Virginia.

At the close of the war, in 1815, the army was reduced, but Lieutenant Dana was offered retention in the artillery arm, which he declined, and resigned his commission May 31, 1815.

Shortly afterward he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Amos Bancroft, of Groton, Massachusetts. He received his medical degree and commenced the practice of his profession in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1818.

From 1819 to 1826 he practiced in Waltham, relinquishing which, he established there a chemical laboratory for the manufacture of oil of vitriol and bleaching salts.

He then received the appointment of resident and consulting chemist to the Merrimac Manufacturing Company, Lowell, Massachusetts, whither he moved, and performed the duties of that office until his death, which occurred March 11, 1868.

Dr. Dana was an original investigator, especially in chemistry as applied to the industrial arts, and made many original observations and discoveries, notably in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. His investigatioLs into the more obscure points of the art of printing on cotton-cloth shed much light upon'the subject, and led to many improvements in the process. His discoveries with respect to bleaching cotton were first published in the " Bulletin de la Soci^t^ Industrielle de Mulhause."

The principles there established have led to the American methods of bleaching, of which Persez, in his " Traits de I'impression des Tissues," says, " It realized the perfection of chemical operations." While in England in 1833 he published a clear exposition of the changes which occur in the manufacture of sulphuric acid.

When the discussion of the dangers arising from the use of lead pipes for conveying water for drinking purposes came up in this country he took part in it, writing several pamphlets and making a report to the City Government of Lowell upon the subject.

His translation and systematic arrangement of the treatise of " Tanguerel on Lead Diseases " was an important contribution to medical knowledge.

Dr. Dana gave much time to agricultural experiments, especially with reference to manures, and his " Farmers' Muck Manual" was a very valuable discussion and exposition of an important subject. His " Essay on Manures '' received the prize offered by the Massachusetts Agricultural Society in 1843.

Dr. Dana enjoyed the friendship and acquaintance of the leading scientific men of this country and Europe. He was twice married, his wives being sisters, daughters of Rev. Joseph Willard, president of Harvard University from 1781 to 1804.

town Notwithstanding this incident, Mr. Rogers was born in 1801. He took his medical degree from Harvard in 1826, and in 1857 the honorary degree of A.M. was conferred upon him also by Harvard.

His whole professional life was spent in Waltham. Very early in his residence here he took a prominent and leading position in his profession. In 1858 he gave the annual address before the Massachu.setta Medical Society, and all through his life, by voice and pen, joined prominently in discussions of the medical questions of the day. A paper on the action of water on lead pipe, written by him, was published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. He was prominent in town affairs, and was on the first Board of Directors of the Fitchburg Railroad.

Benjamin Faneuil D. Adams, son of Horatio Adams, M.D., was born in Waltham in 1839. He took the degree of A.B. in 1860 and M.D. in 1864, from Harvard. After several months in Europe, he commenced the practice of medicine in Waltham. A large and responsible practice, in virtue of his own merits as well as in remembrance of his recently deceased and honored father, was at once accorded him. He was chairman of the first Board of Health formed in Waltham. He was obliged by ill health to relinquish practice in 1882, and has since lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado.