Waltham City (part 1 of 5)

By Alexander, Stakbuck

OR the first century after grants were made by tlic Massachusetts Bay Colony in that part of "Watertown now known as "VValtliani, the hxtter town was a portion of tlie former, territorially and mw- |i >sv' '-f^ nicipally. Numerous Indian 1 1 (j^\ wars forced the colonists to assume a semi-military state, and in the different towns the male inhabitants capable of bearing arms were supposed to be in a constant state of readiness to'aid in repelling the predatory incursions of the savages on tlie frontier settlements. For mutual protection new settlers gatliered somewhat in groups, eacli group forming perhaps the nucleus of some prospective town. As these groujis increased in size they were each expected to furnish their military contingent, subject to the order of the authorities of the town. In this manner Watertown became divided, in 1691, into tliree military districts or precincts, the East embracing substantially what is now Watertown, the Middle, or Captain Garfield's, embracing substantially what is now Waltliam, and the "West, or Farmers' Precinct, known since 1713-13 as Weston. This was the entering wedge in the dismemberment of Watertown.

Another element entering into tlic cause of the division of many early New England towns was ecclesiastical differences, - differences not as regards faith, for that was practically settled by statute, but as regards accommodation as to the location of the meeting-house, the older portions of the various towns evidently regarding these buildings as fixtures, while the younger portion judged that the site should be changed to correspond with the changing centres of population. Attendance at divine service was as much a por- tion of the training of our forefathers as ploughing their fields, sowing their seed, and gathering their harvests. The General Court never favored tlie erection of a second meeting-house where one would answer the needs of the people, and it sought to accommodate its location to the needs of the worshippers, rather than to increase the burdens of taxation by multiplying the number of churches to be supported. In due time, when the West and Middle precincts had advanced considerably in point of numbers, the complaint of remoteness from their place of worship, particularly in the late fall, the winter, and the early spring, became quite a serious one. In 1692 an attempt was made to change the location of the meetinghouse (then situated opposite the old graveyard just southwest of Mount Auburn) to some place " most convenient for the bulk of the inhabitants." The people not being able to agree upon a site, the selectmen applied to Governor Phips and his council to appoint a committee to consider the subject and make report; and December 27, the same year, the town voted to submit their questions regarding the removal of the meeting-house and the settlement of a minister to such a committee. The gentlemen appointed (William Stoughton, John Phillips, James Russell, Samuel Sewall, and Joseph Lynde) made tiieir report May 18, 169.'3, recommending Rev. Henry Gibbs for the pastor, and the site afterwards called Commodore's Corner for the site for a new meeting-house, and also that the change in location be made within the next four years. This attempt at settlement was not entirely satisfactory, and a protest against the proposed location, signed by one hundred and eighteen persons, was presented on behalf of- the Farmers' Precinct. Francis, in his sketch of Watertown, says (p. 60) that this protest asserts that the town had never "requested the interference of the magistrates in this matter, notwithstanding that a vote to that effect is on record." Nevertheless, the building was erected, and on

February 4, 1C96, was accepted by tlie town. Eev. Henry Gibbs, who . had been employed as pastor for the town prior to the building of the new house, declined to accept the new order of things, and continued to preach in the old building. All attempts at compromise proving not only abortive, but apparently more embittering, the new society called the Eev. Samuel Angier to officiate for them, and being by recognition of the local and colonial authorities Ifie church, they endeavored to secure the records which properly became theirs. In the first measure they were successful, and Mr. Angier was duly ordained; in the second they were not, and the records were still retained by the seceding organization. Mr. Angier was fully settled May 25, l"697.

On the 4th of November, 1713, the General Court passed an order that " whereas ministers of the Middle Precinct had been supported by voluntary subscription," it was directed that the charges of supporting the ministers and repairing the meeting-houses be borne by each congregation separately. Furthermore, that both precincts should bear the expense of removing the Middle meetinghouse to such a site as that precinct should determine. This order was treated contemptuously by the majority of the town, and the General Court, in a burst of indignation at this act of rebellion, passed a supplementary resolve that the town should forfeit £50 for non-fulfilment of the order of November 4. This resolve the council nonconcurred in, and a committee consisting of Samuel Sewall, Benjamin Lynde, and John Clark, Esq., was appointed to consider the subject. What conclusion they came to we do not know.

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

not be legally made in accordance with the court's order of the 4th of November, 1712, and they prayed that the line might be located. A similar petition was sent by Nathaniel Priest and others of the East Precinct. A committee was appointed, consisting of Isaac Winslow, John Cushing, and Samuel Thaxter, of the council; and John Clark, William Dudley, John Chandler, and William Throop, of the house ; and the line, which was surveyed by Thaxter, is described as starting from the Charles River, running "on a north course forty-nine degrees east," and ending at the southwestern bounds of wliat is now Arlington (see Francis' Jl/sfun/). The report, dated December 17, 1720, further recommends " that the West Meeting-house be removed within two years to a spot about twenty rods west of Nathaniel Livermore's house, and that the old, or East Meetinghouse be moved or a new one built on School-House Hill," the West Precinct to pay its proportion for removing or rebuilding the eastern house. Tliis report was concurred in by botli branches of tlie General Court. On the 24th of April, 1721, the town voted to comply with the recommendation of the committee.

The ecclesiastical divisions between the two precincts were now practically settled. After the death of Mr. Angier the western meeting-house had quite a succession of ministers before any person became ])ermanently settled. Of these were Rev. Hezekiah Gold, Rev. Timothy Miiuiet, and, according to Mr. Francis, Rev. ^Ir. Gibson and Rev. Robert Sturgeon. It would seem, however, that Mr. Francis must be in error in regard to Mr. Sturgeon, for the General Court, in November, 17:2:2, ac.usrs l;,,l,rrl .Siurg.on of Hoston of behig privately (Uilaiued to a " pretended middle church,'' and the court appointed a committee which recommended that when the new West meeting-house was erected, the middle one be demolished or removed, and that the eastern one be moved or a new one built. In case the town did not remove or demolish the Middle meeting-house, it was . recommended that the sherilf be directed to do so. The report further says that Sturgeon had been rebuked by t « o eoiiiicils, and advises, that in case he persists iu his course, the attorney-general be ordered to proseeute him. This report was consented to.

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

At a precinct meeting, March 32, 1732-33, Daniel Benjamin, Jonas Smith, and Allen Flagg were chosen a committee to address the town at the next town-meeting, that the West Precinct might be set oft' as a separate town. This attempt evidently failed of success, and the sore probably increased with the increasing months and years. Li June (28th), 1736, Nathaniel Harris, William Brown, and Daniel Benjamin, in behalf of the AVest Precinct, obtained permission of the General Court, despite the opposition of the East Precinct, to set off" land from the common lands devoted to highways, - some of which were twenty or thirty rods wide, - to raise a fund of £ 1,.500 to be invested, and the interest upon it used to support schools. This act only served to intensify the growing bitterness between the two sections, and it is therefore not surprising that at a -meeting of the West Precinct, held December 7, 1737, Deacon William Brown being moderator, it being judged conducive to the peace of both precincts to be separated because an " unhappy controversy has arisen & for some Time subsisted among the Inhabitance of s"* Town Respecting tlie Publick & Priuet ways that are iu the Town to the peaceable desition whereof it is thought deuiding of the Town into Two Townships may be very conducive," it was voted that the precinct should ask the General Court to set them off under the following conditions : 1st, the dividing line to be the same as the precinct hne ; 2d, all charges already incurred or to he incurred on account of tlie Great Bridge or because . of the town poor, to be proportioned between the towits according to the province taxj - the surplus money, if there was any remaining in the treasury, to be divided in the same proportion ; 3d, the yearly interest on Watertown's portion of the £60,000 province loan, Watertown's part of the two thousand acres of land granted by the General Court to them and Weston, and the town's stock of ammunition to be similarly disposed of; 4th, records and boohs to be delivered to a committee to be chosen by the East Precinct ; 5th, the course and widtii of the public ways to be stated by the Court of General Sessions of the Peace agreeably to a report of a committee already appointed. Deacon William Brown, Daniel Benjamin, and Samuel Livermore were appointed a committee to petition the General Court to that effect. A petition was presented to the house of representatives on the 13th of December, 1737, setting forth their differences, the approbation of the measure by the East Precinct, and praying for a division. The prayer was granted, and on the 4th of January, 1737 -38, the town of Waltham was incorporated. The bounds of the new municipality imder the act of incorporation were, south by the Charles River, west by Weston or the Farmers' Precinct, north or northeast by the town line wliicli commenced at tlw northwest corner of Fresh Pond and ran west-northwest to the Concord line, and east by the line beginning at the Charles River, running very nearly northeast, and meeting the line from Fresh Pond to Concord. Its area was about 8,891 acres ; the population probably about 550.

During this period the churcii pastorate had passed under tiie charge of tiie Rev. Warham Williams, who was ordained June 11, 1723. A call had been extended to Rev. William Welsteed, but declined. In accordance with the instructions of the General Court, the meeting-house had been located very near the present junction of Lyman and Beaver streets.

At the meeting held in pursuance of this warrant Deacon Thomas Livermore was chosen moderator, and the following board of officers was elected : -

"Selectmen: Deacon William Brown, Deacon Thomas Livermore, Mr. Daniel Benjamin, Air. Joseph Pierce, and Lieutenant Tliomas Bigelow ; town-clerk and treasurer, Samuel Livermore ; constable, Mr. Joseph Hastings ; assessors, George Lawrence, John Cutting, and John Chadwick ; sealer of leather, Air. Joseph Stratton ; fence-viewers, John Ball, Jr., and Joseph Eager ; highway surveyors, John Ball y* 3d, and JohnA'iels; tythingmen, Isaac Pierce and Theophilus Mansfield ; hogreeves, Josiah Harrington and Elnathan AYhitney."

At a town-meeting, held February 18, 1837-38, Lieutenant John Cutting, Deacon Livermore, and Thomas Hammond were appointed to carry into effect some of the conditions of the division, and the business arising from the arrangement of these conditions served as a basis for several subsequent gatherings. At the regular meeting held, in accordance with the statute, in Alarcli (iCth) a ])ermanent board of officers fen' the ensuing year was elected, Deacon Thomas Livermore being moderator. As this was the first regular election, the 7iames of the persons elected are herewith given: For selectmen. Air. Thomas Hammond, Air. John Smith, Mr. John Bcnnis, Fiisign Thomas Harrington, Deacon Jonathan Sanderson; town-clerk and treasurer, Samuel Livennnri'; constable, Air. Isaac Piene, -Ir. agreed with Air. John Fiske and The Town accepted hiin m his Roome ") ; assessors, Air. Daniel Beiijamin, Mr. Samuel Livermore, Deacon Thomas Livermore ; sealer of leather, Air. Jose])h Stratton ; fence-viewers, Samuel Hastings, .liiliii \ lels ; surveyors of highway, Zachariah Sunih. John I)i\, Josiah Fiske; tithingmen, Daniel Chield, John Chadwick ; hog-reeves, Samuel Gale, Isaac Pierce, John Lawrence. At the same meeting it was voted " that the Selectmen should take Care that the mecting-hous be landed up and the aiiiiiiiiiiition Scqured," also that Samuel Livermore should have the use of the first pew east of the pulpit as long as the meeting-house stood upon his land, in full satisfaction lor the .same; and the sum of £20 was granted to siijiport the English s<;hool.

On the 0th of Alay the town chose its first n|ireseiilative. Mr. Daniel Heujainin was eh'cled, hut as he declined, Lieutenant Thomas Bigelow was chosen in his stead. Evidently in those days the office sought the man, and not the man the office. Lieutenant Bigelow seems also to have had otiier duties, for on the l-2th of the same montli he was voted six shillings for " sitting up " the town stocks.

In July, 1738, the selectmen appointed two of their number to secure a schoolmaster, and in August they reported that they had agreed with Mr. Timothy Harrington to fill that position, during the ensuing quarter, for £^0. To Mr. Timothy Harrington, then, belongs the honor of having been the first ])erson to serve the town of Waltham in the capacity of schoolmaster. The school term commenced on the l^th of July. In September the town increased the salary of their pastor, appropriated £80 for educational purposes, aiid £;J5 for the support of the poor. In November (£4th) the town was divided into three squadrons; the bounds of the first being from the meeting-house by Mr. Hammond's (on what is now Beaver Street) to the town's bounds, and all north to David Mead's (Piske's) Pond ; of the second, from the meetinghouse by the town-way, by Mr. John Child's, including all north ; the third including the remainder of the town. The school was to be kept an equal time in each squadron, provided a majority of the voters of each division agreed upon a place and furnished it at their own cost, and also furnished an acceptable place for the schoolmaster to board at. This was called, in the records of the day, a " movable school." The school-house proper was located at " Piety Corner."

On the 1.5th of January,.1738-39, the committees appointed by the two towns to proportion the debt of "Watertown at the time of the division met, and agreed on the following as a just arrangement : total debt, £171 14*. %d., of which Watertown should assume £91 bs. id. and Waltham £80 8.?. 11^/. On the 30th of March the town appointed Lieutenant Cutting to join with the committees of "Weston and Watertown to renew the bounds of the joint farm atWachusett Hills. This was a tract of two thousand acres, granted to Watertown by the General Court " in recompense of some land taken off by Concord."

Among the duties which seem to have devolved upon the selectmen of the time, one was the funeral arrangements for the town poor who died. Some of the items seem to have the aj)pearance of a festive rather than a funereal character. Thus at a meeting of the board, January 1, 1739-40, to take action in regard to the demise of the Widow Wyeth, a vote was passed to have the coffin made, the grave dug, four pairs of men's and two pairs of women's gloves provided, and " such a Quantity of Rum for the funeral as should be found necessary." It is not intended to imply that the use of liquors was limited to funerals of the town poor, for they were

Tlie following named individuals contributed the sums annexed to hire men to serve in the army : William Brown, AVilliam Wellington, Eleazer Bradshaw, Jonas Child, Isaac Peirce, Silas Stearns, Isaac Stearns, Jr., Joshua Stearns, Samuel Fisk, and Abner Sanderson, £10 each; William Fisk, Isaac Child, Jr., and William Coolidge, Jr., £8 each; Joseph Wellington, £7; Cornet Nathaniel Bridge, Samuel Peirce, Jonas Dix, Esq., Jonas Smith, Moses Mead, Jonas Viles, Captain William Coohdge, Uriah Cutting, David Townsend, John Durant, Peter Ball, Benjamin Green, and Elijah Lawrence, £6 each; George Lawrence, Samuel Dix, Joel Dix, Josiah Hastings, Josiah Whitney, Abraham Bemis, Tiiomas Fisk, Jonathan Dix, Ephraim Peirce, Jonathan Sanderson, ."Jd, and Thomas Livermore, £5 each; Captahi John Clark, Jonathan Fisk, Josiah Sanderson, Abijah Livermore, Peter Warren, and Elisha Cutler, £ 4 each ; Abraham Bemis, Jr., Deacon Jonathan Sanderson, and Daniel Child, £3 each; Jonas Brown, Amos Brown, William Bridge, Jonas Dix, Jr., and Daniel Taylor, £:J each; and Phineas Lawrence, £1. Lieutenant Isaac Bemis, Jonas Lawrence, and Jacob Mead went to Ehode Island ; they should have £6 each. Daniel Stearns, Abraham Bemis, Jr., Ephraim Peirce, Jr., Thaddeus Bemis, and Thaddeus Goodwin were drafted to go to Bennington, and either went or sent some one ; for tiieir service they should have £30 Is. l\d. each, exclusive of what they received. The sums ainiexed to the following names were paid " at that time to Encourage those that turned out and went ": Deacon Elijah Livermore, Leonard Wilhams, Samuel Gale, and Isaac Parkhurst, £30 each; Ensign Josiah Bemis, £10 ; Phineas Lawrence and Joshua Mead, £ 6 ; Jonas Dix, Esq., Jonas Dix., Jr., Joel Dix, Jonathan Stearns, Cornet Nathaniel Bridge, William Bridge, Abraham Bemis, Jacob Bemis, Captain John Clark, Silas Stearns, Daniel Stearns, Jonathan Sanderson, 3d., Josiah Hastings, Abijah Livermore, Thomas Livermore, John Lawrence, Moses Mead, and Joshua Stearns, £5 each; Jacob Bigelow, Samuel Peirce, John Sanderson, Peter Edes, Jonathan Fisk, Amos Peirce, Jonas Smith, and Josiah Sanderson, £4 each; David Smith, Nathan Viles, William Fisk, Zachariah Smith, Jonas Viles, and Isaac Peirce, £3 each; and Peter Warren, Lieutenant Daniel Child, Elisha Livermore, Jr., and Nathan Sanderson, ££ eacli ; which should be allowed. William Peirce aiul Moses Lawrence^ served at Dorchester Hills three months; they should have £ 10 each. Lieutenant Samuel Stearns, Samuel Stearns, Jr., Abijah Bigelow, Amos Harrington, Abijah Fisk, Reuben Bemis, George Lawrence, and Elisha Stearns went in November, 1777, " to guard the troops of Convention," serving until April, 1778 ; they should receive £30 each. Captain Abraham Peirce, William Coolidge, Jr., Benjamin Harrington, Jr., John Bright, Amos Fisk, ]\Ioses Warren, John Perry, Thomas Hoppens, and Bezaleel Flagg,who went in January last to perform the same duty, should be allowed £16 each; and Jonas Child, Zachariah Smith, Nathan Sanderson, Elisha Livermore, Jr., Joshua Stearns, Daniel Warren, John Lawrence, Isaac Child, Jr., Isaac Peirce, Joseph Brown, and Josiah Hastings, Jr., for similar service should receive £ 12 6«., exclusive of what they have had and are to receive. Lieutenant Isaac Hagar, John Gleason, Samuel Bigelow, Eliphalet Warren, Alpheus Gale, Jonathan Hagar, Eli Jones, Moses Mead, Jr., Josiah Leavitt, Jonathan Sanderson, 3d, Amos Peirce, Jedediah White, Charles Cutter, and Jacob Bemis went to the Boston and Eoxbury lines last spring, for which they are entitled to £6 each. The following named persons paid the sums annexed to their names last spring " to fill the Continental Battalions and to secure the passes of the North River," namely ; Caplain William Coolidge, John Dix, Jacob Bigelow, Ensign Samuel Harrington, Benjamin Harrington, Cornet Nathaniel Bridge, Eleazer Bradshaw, Jonas Dix, Esq., Elisha Livermore, Jonas Smith, and David Smith, £ 20 each ; William Hagar, Josiah Mixer, Matthias Collins, Mr. Peirpont, and Deacon Elijah Livermore, £15 each; Captain Isaac Gleason, £12 5*.; Elisha Cutler and Abner Sanderson, £ 1 1 each ; Daniel Taylor, Samuel Dix, Nathaniel Livermore, Uriah Cutting, David Townsend, John Durant, Peter Ball, Ca])tain Abraham Peirce, John Gleason, Bezaleel Flagg, Daniel Cutting, Ephraim HanuBond, Benjamin Stratton, Benjamin Green, Elijah Lawrence, Hy. Kimball, Zachariah Weston, Ebenezer Brown, Jonas Brown, Abraham Bemis, Captain John Clark, Lieutenant Daniel Child, Isaac Child, Jonas Dix, Jr., William Wellington, Jonathan Dix, Thomas Fisk, Jonathan Fisk, William Fisk, Samuel Fisk, Oliver Haggett, Josiah Hastings, Thomas Hammond, Abijah Livermore, Phineas Lawrence, Joshua Mead, Moses Mead, Jonathan Sanderson, Jr., John Sanderson, Josiah Sandei-son, and Nathan Viles, £ 10 each ; Benjamin Peirce, £9 ; and Peter Warren £6; and these sums should be allowed them. William Adams, William Bridge,

Deacon Amos Brown, Joel Dix, Thomas Livermore, Samuel Peirce, Ezra PeircCj Silas Stearns, Daniel Stearns, Jonas Viles, Josiah Whitney, Thomas Wellington, Jacob Bemis, and Tluuldeus Bemis each paid 1 10 to liire men to go to Rliode Island in the summer of 1777, and these sums should be refunded. George Stearns, Elijah Smith, Joseph Lock, William Peirce, Samuel Gooden, and Coburn went in July, 1778, "to guard prisoners of Convention," and were gone fifteen days ; they should be allowed £-i each. Josiah Leavitt, Ephraim Peirce, Jr., Jonathan Smitli, Peter Warren, and John Livermore were of the guard which escorted prisoners to Rutland, and for that service siiould receive £6 each. Two men were also sent in the summer to guard prisoners until the 1st of January; there sliould be allowed for them the expense of hiring them, £70 (supposed). Four men were sent for to guard the lines in and about Boston until tiie 1st of January, 1779 ; two of them are hired and sent, and are to receive £18 per month, including their wages ; this will cost about £t!0 ; tiie other two are drafted, and if they go or hire substitutes are to be paid at the same rate; tills will amount to about £51.. Captain Abraham Peirce, Lieutenajit Samnel Stearns, Samuel Bigelow, Jolm Gleason, J.m'I Ilarnni-lon, Elislia Harrington, Eliphalet Warren, \Vi1Ii;mi,> ( uslnug, i'.czahvl Elagg, Samuel Green, Sainnd Stcanis, Jr., John Ijiverinore, Nathan Lock, Warham Cusliing, and Jonathan Hagar went to the lines at the alarm in August, 1778 , they should be allowed £3 each. If it should appear that there were otlier inhabitants of tiie town who had done service eitiier in person or in money during the war, they should have tlie allowance made in the report in similar cases. Tiie entire total of these sums is £3,308 6*. 4c/., which amount should be proportioned and assessed upon tlie real and personal estate ; those whose payment as by tiie above list is short of their assessment to make up the deficiency, and those whose payment is in excess of tiie assessment to be reimbursed " ill r;i>c I hey will receive it when offered." The snii) rcroiiiinciided by tlie committee was granted, Ijiit the \ol(' u;i> Mil)sc(|ueiil]v ivcoiisidcred. James r in ^iarch, itenant Samuel Stearns, and Isaac Hagar were elected committee of correspondence, and at the May meeting Abner Sanderson was chosen representative, and he was instructed, by a vote of twenty-four to ten, to cast his ballot in favor of a new state constitution under similar restrictions made under a previous vote (see 1777). On the 18th of June a committee was chosen to hire men for the army on the town's credit. . A week later they reported but one man engaged, on account of the high bounties demanded ; the meeting directed them thereupon to make the best terms they could. A convention was held at Concord on the 14th of July to regulate the prices of merchandise. On the 2d of August the report of the convention was read at a town-meeting in Waltham, and a committee of eleven chosen to carry out the vote of that body. On the 9th of August the committee reported the following scale of prices : Innholders, for a good meal of butcher's meat with vegetables, 12«., if with tea, 15«.; West India flip, 12.?. per mug; bowl of toddy, 12.s.; for labor, haying and stonewall work, 12 i. per day and found; mechanics, with their own tools and found, 60.$.; for blacksmith shoeing a horse, £4; shoemakers, best men's shoes, £5 8 «., women's £4 1*.; tailors, making a coat, £6, breeches, £3; weavers, weaving cotton and linen shirting, 6«. per yard ; hatters, for a good beaver, £32 10*.; farmers, hay 36 «. per cwt., oats 36.$. per busiiel, etc. Persons taking more than above rates to have their names published in the newspapers by the committee of correspondence, inspection, and safety, in order that they may be dealt with according to Resolution 2 of the Concord Convention. It must be remembered, in considering these prices, that they are founded on a depreciating currency. On tlie 18th of August Jonas Dix, Esq., and John Clark were chosen delegates to the constitutional convention to be held at Cambridge, September 1. The town granted Jonas Dix, Esq., in behalf of the committee appointed to raise men for the army, £2,838. September 20, the town voted to hire four men to serve in the army in Rhode Island, and October 14, voted to hire eight men to reinforce the army under General AVashington. In Novembi'r the town granted £2,180 18*. 6d. til ilrfray tlie cxpeiise of employing these men.. Ill .liilv ilii' coiiiiiiiilcr rc|iorted having hired Josiali \Vvcr, Kli .loncs, Hlisha Harrington, Thaddeus (loodin, and Richard lloppin at $1,540 each, and 1 Habakkuk Stearns and Joseph Perry at S840 each.

Another committee reported in November that they had borrowed il,?!^, and hired Artemas Cox, Moses Cummins, and Aaron Cummins to go to Rliode Island with orders to equip themselves ; Colonel Jacob discharged the last two for not being equipped, and they, being ordered to march again, refused either to do so or to return part of the bounty received. The committee also hired Samuel Trull for £246, Robert Dalryraijle for £171, William Taylor, Joseph Spaulding, Joseph Dows, and Jonatiian Gray for £246 each, and John Fletcher (who afterwards deserted) for £ 60. Mileage was also reckoned for eight men, two hundred miles, at 2«. per mile. Several orders are given during the year for the first company of militia to be ready to march at a moment's notice. In May an order is given for one private to march to Tiverton, Rhode Island, and in September for two privates to go to Providence to ultimately join Colonel Jacob's regiment under General Gates. Samuel Kendall, Mr. Morse, Nathaniel Bridge's son, and Eunice Mixer were paid during this year for teaching sciiool.

At the March meeting in 1780 the same committee of correspondence was chosen, Isaac Hagar having this time the prefix " Ensign " to his name. A committee was chosen to examine the accounts of money received and disbursed for bounties. Some idea of the depreciation of the currency may be had from the fact that in the highway account $ 16 per day for a man and §32 per day for a man and team were allowed. The town elected Jonas Dix, Esq., representative in May, and in the same month appointed a committee to examine and report upon the new state constitution. The committee reported on the .5th of June, favoring an amendment limiting the time of suspension of the act of habeas corpus to six months; if, however, this could not be done, they favored the adoption of the constitution as it was. The report was adopted by a vote of thirty-two to four. On the 14th of June the town appropriated £1.5,000 to hire twelve men to reinforce tlie army, and for procuring shirts, shoes, etc., in accordance with the requisition of the General Court ; money for support of the schools was refused. Twelve days later the town voted to raise fourteen men for the army, and appropriated £26,660 for military matters, and on the 29th of July the selectmen ordered the treasurer to pay to Jonas Dix, Esq., £1,000, Abner Sanderson £700, and Peter Ball £1,200, in payment for a horse which each of these men had sold the town for use in the army ; £55 were also appropriated for expenses in procuring the horses. On the 4th of September the election of state officers under the new constitution was held. The result, for governor and lieutenantgovernor, in Waltham, was : for governor, John Hancock, Esq., fifty-four votes ; James Bowdoin, Esq., three ; for lieutenant-governor, Major-General Benjamin Lincoln, forty; James Bowdoin, Esq., eight. October 11, the town re-elected Jonas Dix, Esq., representative, and again refused to appropriate money for schools. To such an extent had the currency depreciated, that the minister's salary was now £5,600, and the total appropriations at this meeting £23,941. Seventy-two hundred pounds of beef for the army were ordered, to fill a requisition from the General Court, and £12,000 were appropriated for that purpose. On a petition from Timothy Flagg for additional pay for service in the army, he was voted leave to withdraw. On the 29th of November the town granted £3,360 for the support of schools. At a meeting, December 20, the town chose a committee to procure twelve men for the army, under a requisition of the General Court; £21,000 were voted, to procure 13,824 pounds of beef for the army. Abijah Fiske petitioned for relief from the town, under the following circumstances : he was one of the sixteen men furnished by Waltham to fill a requisition of the General Court. By order of Lieutenant Hastings he went with soldiers to search the house of Edward Garfield for Felix Cuff (negro), one of the enlisted men. Cuff was, however, claimed by Garfield as a servant, and Fiske was sued and fined. The tovvn, taking into consideration the facts, granted his request by giving him his note for £ 7, which the town held, with interest. Elisha Brewer also presented a petition representing that he had served in the Continental army from the beginning of hostilities until July 3, 1779; that in the meantime his pay had depreciated until it was"nearly worthless, rendering him unable to provide for himself and family. He prays for remission of his tax-bill, a portion of which is on real estate, of which he owns none, and which is more than he ought or is able to pay. The town refused to grant his petition. The committee appointed in 1779 to procure mm for the armies in Rhode Island and on the Hudson River reported the following names of men engaged, and the bounties paid to each : William Taylor, £2,180; Loudey Harris and John Mixer,

£1,800 each; Elias Hastings, Moses Livermore, and George Stearns, £2,270 each; Thaddeus Gooding, Jonathan t'oburn, and Nathaniel Flagg, £ 1,100 and sixty bushels of com each ; Eli Jones, paid by Captain Gleason ; Lieutenant Eliphalet Hastings, Joel Harrington, Abijah Fisk, and Moses Gearfield, £1,770 each; Timothy Flagg and John Robinson, £1,500 each; Habakkuk Stearns, Joel Wellington, Asa Peirce, and Asahel Stearns, £600 and sixty bushels of corn each ; and Felix Cuff, £1,500 and sixty bushels of corn. Eunice Mixer, Samuel Kendall, Mr. Boardman, Ruhamah Wellington, and Nathaniel Bridge's son were paid for teaching school.

On the 8tli of January, 1781, the town voted to hire twelve men for the army for three years or the war, and appropriated £50,400 for that end. The men who were the committee of correspondence, etc., had been chosen to attend to hiring men to fill the requisitions on the town, but for some reason they seemed to lack success. They reported in December, 1780, and in January and February, 1781, that they could not find a man at any price in town. That this report was unsatisfactory, is evident from the fact that at a meeting on the 12th of February the town voted to discharge this committee, and appointed Captain Isaac Gleason, Peter Ball, and Abner Sanderson, in their stead ; but this did not prevent their being re-elected Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety at the March meeting. At the regular annual meeting it was unanimously voted to accept Joshua Kendall for an inhabitant, provided he could be set oft' with his estate from the town of (/ambridge. There seemed to be unusual trouble in electing town officers for this year. On several previous occasions one or two electees had declined to serve, and others iiad cither been elected in their stead, and induced to accept, or tiie aid of the law invoked to compel those elected to serve; but on this occasion William ITagar and Nathan Vilcs, chosen as constables, and William Fisk, Abraham Peirce, and Lieutenant Samuel Slearns (three of the four), chosen as assessors, refused to serve. In the case of the assessors three others were elected at a subsequent meeting in tlieir sleml ; William Fisk was chosen constable in i)laee nf \,ilh:iii \'iles, ilagar was to jiay X li, or, failiii'T I" dn >.., lh<' selectinen were to apply to tiie Court of Sessions to compel him to j)ay the i)enalty in such cases provided. At this same meeting (March 12) the town appropriated £25,000 (old issue) to hire soldiers. Ill obedience to a resolve of the General Court the tax-payers were divided into as many classes as there were soldiers to be raised. Each section furnishing its man was relieved from further charge and responsibility. On the 26th of March John Smith, Lowdie Harris, and John Myre were returned as having been secured as soldiers iu behalf of the whole town. A receipt, signed by John Potimia, dated April 12, certifies that Captain Abraham Peirce paid him two hundred Spanish-milled dollars to serve the town as a threeyears recruit for the army, - this sum to be in full of all hire or bounty. On the 18th of June the selectmen reported having paid the following bounties in silver : to John Smith £ 90, to Lowdie Harris £60, to John Myre £60, to William Benjamin £78, and to John Robinson £76. William Peirce, Habakkuk Stearns, and Nahum Smith each furnished sixteen heifers, and were each allowed £1,200 (currency). General Brooks writes to the commander of the " second militia compaii}' in Waltham," under date of June 19, that two men Avere to be detached from that company. As mention was made of i\\% frst company in 1779, the natural inference is that there were two. Jonathan Hammond and George Steams were enlisted for the army in Rhode Island, for three months, and Jonathan Weston, Abijah Fisk, Moses Livermore, Jedediah White, Jr., Alpheus Bigelow, Joseph Perry, John Collins, and William Taylor for the army at West Point, for the same time. The West Point men were all mustered into the service by the 23d of August, except John Collins. In ^lay Jonas Dix, Esq., was chosen represenialive. On the Uitli of July the town voted miaiiiuKMi-ly to procure men to till another call, and granted £ 180 in silver to defray the expense; £300 (new emission) were also voted to purchase beef. The committee for raising recruits reported on the 30th of July that they had secured the men for seven hundred and eighty " hard dollars," and the town granted .£ 60 in silver additional for that service. Felix Cuff must have given considerable trouble, for an article was in the warrant for a town-meeting held September 10, to grant money to defend Kli|)halet Hastings and others indicted for riot while endeavoring to arrest said Cull as an enlisted man last year. £ lo were granted at ihe September meeting for the schools. On the 17th of December the town ordered the remaining taxes to be collected in silver, at the rate of one dollar in silver for seventy-five iu paper of the old emission. It was also voted to instruct Representative Dix to use his endeavors to have the voting qualifications of 1763 restored. The school-teachers who were paid by the town this year were Jonas Dix, Jr., and Nathaniel Bridge's son. In December the selectmen engaged Ebenezer Bowman to keep the school "near the meeting-house."

Early in 1782 the selectmen licensed David Townsend to retail tea. At the March meeting the town elected Captain Isaac Hagar, Lieutenant Samuel Bigelow, and Lieutenant Elisha Livermore committee of correspondence, inspection, and safety. It was voted to remove the scliool-house, and a committee was chosen to select a proper site. In accordance with a resolve of the General Court, AValthatn was called upon to raise five men towards the contingent of fifteen hundred to be raised by Massachusetts for the army. Ebenezer Bowman was the school-teaciier. No representative was chosen in 178;J, but in 1783 Jonas Dix was again returned for that position. The first business of importance occurring in 17 S3 was the adjustment of the accounts of Waltham, Watertown, and Weston for repairs on the Great Bridge. The metiiod of calculation being on the basis of the state tax, the amounts paid by each will be perha])s some indication of the relative valuation : the share of Watertown was £4 11*. %d., Weston £4 2.». Id., and Waltham £41*. %il. Nathaniel ]?ridge, Jr., was paid for teaching school. At the March meeting the committee of correspondence of 1782 were re-elected. The selectmen ordered that a four-penny loaf of white bread should weigh 1 pound 7 ounces; a biscuit for two coppers, 7 ounces ; hard biscuit in the same proportion, allowing for drying. The following persons were licensed innholders : Isaac Gleason, Stephen Wellman, Isaac Bemis, Zachariah Weston, Jonathan Brown, Benjamin Hagar, Samuel Bigelow, Zachariah Smith, Widow Mary Hagar, - nine in all. At this time the population was only 689 persons, so that the proportion of taverns to the population was as 1 to 76|-. It must be remembered, however, that Waltham was ou a great highway, and a very large amount of travel was a necessary consequence. The approaches to Boston, and tiie avenues from that and all the large towns in the state, were few, and their importance was immensely greater than now. Towns were few, and the majority of houses none too large to accommodate the rapidly growing

There were other men who belonged in Waltham who were in the Continental armies, besides those mentioned in tiie town records, - how many, of course, it is impossible to say. The names of some of them, however, are to be met with among the state archives. Isaac Crosby, of Waltham, enlisted at Hingham, about 1780, for three years or the war; Isaac Parkes (fifer), Samuel Fuller, Edward Bird, and Joseph Brown were in Captain Fuller's company (Colonel Brooks) ; William Taylor, Nathaniel Flagg, and John Colburn were among the si.K-months men in 1780 ; Prince Collins enlisted in Newton; John Bennett, John Bemis, Jr., Abijah Child, Jr., Peirce Dewyer, Thomas Field, David Holland, Azel Hooker, Minhano (?) Mitchell, John Eyan, David Stoel (Stowell?), James Twiiias, are names on the rolls credited to Waltham ; John Bettis and Jonathan Wellington served from 1776 to 1780 ; Kera Chappie, Harvey Bezen, and John Kidder were among those drafted into Colonel Thatcher's regiment in 1778; John Potoma (aged 25, - black), Samuel Dale (37), John Robertson (35), William Benjamin (17), Nahum Stearns (22), John Wellington (49), and Francis Parker (21), enlisted in 1781 for three years or the war; AVilliam Glasscock served 37 months, 18 days; Hugh Hines (deserter) served 28 days; Ariel (Azel? - probably same as previous) Hooker, after serving 30 months and 7 days, deserted ; Michael Minnehan died in the service after serving 48 months; John Owins (deserter) served 12 months and 20 days; John Colburn and Abijah Fiske were in Captain Gage's company (Colonel Webb) ; Thaddeus Bemis and Joel Bemis were on board armed sloop Winthrop, Captain George Little; John Greeuleaf, Josiah Barnard, and Thomas Wilbur were also credited to Waltham in the army rolls.

The population of the town, instead of preserving its rate of increase, which would have increased it, hi all probability, to nearly 1,000 souls in 1783, under the terrible pressure of the Revolution upon its vitality lost ground. In 1763 the population was 663; iu 1783, under favorable circumstances, it should have been about 980, but instead it was 689, while in 1776 it was 870. On the 29th of September John Remington was engaged to keep the school near the meeting-house, and Joseph Jackson the one at the foot of the hill.

teaching school. For tlie first time for a long series of years the town, at the March meeting, voted the freedom of the higliways to swine. Abner Sanderson was elected representative in May. A letter to the selectmen from Timothy Tufts and others in behalf of Charlestown appears in the records for tliis year, desiring them to request the corporation of Harvard College to reduce the rates of ferriage between Cliarlestown and Boston, which had been advanced during tlie war, - that body having authority to regulate the matter. Benjamin Green, Jr., was again engaged, in 1785, to teach the grammar school. On the 5th of September, 1785, the town was divided into four school-districts, - Pond End, Trapelow, the southwest part of the town above Mixer's Lane (Bacon Street), and the remaining portion belonging to the middle district. On the 1-ith of February, 1786, the selectmen engaged Jonas Dix to teach the grammar school for one year, and authorized the engagement of an usher for that scliool. In March John Remington was paid for services as a teacher. Abijah Bigelow was engaged in Marcii to teach at the new school-house at tlie west end of the Plain, until the appropriation was expended; l\e was to keep " two schools a day " after the 1st of April. In May Leonard Williams was unanimously elected representative. In August the board of Mr. Jackson, and the salaries of Nathan Underwood and Abijah Bigelow, all schoolmasters, were paid ; and in October the selectmen engaged Jolui Child to teacii the school near the meeting-house, and Jonas Dix to teacli the one at the foot of the hills. In the latter part of 1786 occurred tlie outbreak known as Shays' Insurrection, causing cpiite an excitement tliroughout central Massachusetts. That Waltham's sons were prompt to lend tlie state their aid is evident from the fact tiiat, early in January, 1787, the selectmen directed Colonel Isaac Ilngar to be ])aid for beef supplied to the militia at Cambridge in November, and on the 14t]i of tiiat montii the town voted fortyeight .shillings per month to tlie thirty-days volunteers in tlie service of the governinoiit, tlie town, however, to receive any allowance made for such services by the state. At the Marcli meeting tlie town voted to each private soldier who marclied from tlie town in the 2d Division to join General Lincoln in the service of the government, six sliiilings, exclusive of his public pay, and to cncli officer a like sum in pro])ortion. Finally, in Apiil the town voted tlie volunteers under Geiutral \m\- coln tlie three dollars paid to each in advance, provided they would release the town from further demands, and trust to getting their pay from the state. In April Captain Samuel Bigelow was paid for keeping the school at the Upper Plain, and in May Abner Sanderson was unanimously chosen representative. In October teachers were to be engaged for the four schools. A town-meeting was held, December 17, to choose a delegate to the convention to meet at Boston in January, to consider the Federal Constitution reported at Philadelphia; Leonard Williams was elected for that purpose.

The tax upon the town for the support of the Great Bridge was probably beginning to be onerous, and the people evidently began to be a little restive under it, for in Marcli, 1788, a committee reported verbally that they were unable to find any grant of land made for its support in which Waltham or Weston had any interest. Abner Sanderson was, in May, again elected representative, a position which he continued to fill until 1802. In 1790, according to the adjustment of accounts for repairs on the Great Bridge, Waltham had outstripijed Weston in valuation, and was rapidly overtaking Watertown, the proportions being: Watertown, £2 15.y. 6^/.; Waltham, £2 13*.; AVeston, £2 7*. 5c/. Bridge, Dix, and Mead were paid for teaching, and the school grant, appropriated December 6, was divided as follows, among five school-houses: Upper end of Plain, £25 6«. 8r/. ; Foot of Hills, £22 2«. ; near the meeting-house, £30 OS. -.id.; Trapelow, £18 3*. 10c/.; proprietors of new school-house (probably at Lower Plain), £4 2«. 3c/. In the records for this and the succeeding year there appears an oath of allegiance to the state and general government, signed by a majority of flic town ullicers. In 1791 it was voted by the town to buy tlic school-houses at the Upper Plain and at the Trapelow district, a committee appointed for the purpose having pronounced them suitable for the purpose and the proprietors willing to sell. £77 ll.«. were appropriated for the one at the Upper Plain, the amount being divided among twenty-one proprietors, all of them residing on upper Main and South streets; £56 18*. lOc/. were appropriated for the one at Trapelow, jjroprietors not named. The Iumisc near the Widow Barnard's was reported upon adversely by the mmmi:iee. The schools were ealle.l al'this time IN.iid Knd, riiin, Trapelow, and Southeast Corner. \\\ order appears among the selectmen's records in 1791 appropriating 3.s. Qd. to pay for a horse and chaise " to bring the schoolmistress from Framingham/' hence we may conclude that at least one of the teachers was imported. In April, 1792, the town voted to remove the school-house which was near the meeting-house to a point as nearly central as possible, - between Jonas Dix's and Phineas Warren's ; this would have located it just below the cemetery, on the north side of Main Street. In April, 1793, the town voted unanimously to grant the request of Christopher Gore (afterwards governor of the state) to become an inhabitant. In September, 1795, on an article in the warrant in regard to the purchase of stoves and shutters for the schools, and the building of porches on two of them, the town appropriated £50, and chose a special committee of three to each school to attend to the expenditure of money devoted to educational purposes. This was probably, to all intents and purposes, a school committee who attended to all the minor details, for we lose sight for a time of the payments to teachers which indicated who the teachers were. Prior to 1796 grants were almost wholly made in pounds, shillings, and pence ; after that date dollars and cents were the rule. In 1797 the town chose a committee to defend it against a presentment for not assisting in repairs on the Watertown Bridge. In September, 1798, the town granted 8 533.33 for men's and $100 for women's schools. In the direct tax levied by the general government we find that Waltham was assessed for 109 dwellings, and for 83 acres of lots which they stood on, $70,574. The house of Rev. Jacob Gushing and one belonging to Harvard College, with one acre of land to each, were exempted, mating a total of 111 dwellings in the town. The number of house-owners was 119; the number of occupants, 130. The number of acres of land assessed was 7,666, exempt' (16 acres of Rev. Jacob Cushing's and 159 owned by Harvard College), 175 ; total, 7,926 acres. Valuation of land, $258,634.80; total valuation, $329,208.80. In June, 1799, the town appointed a committee with full powers to act upon a proposition of Watertown parties to widen and support the expense of the Great Bridge forever if the towns would yield their fishery rights. The schools respectively taught by masters and mistresses are distinguished in the records as " men's and women's" schools. During this year the town appropriated $25 to establish a singingschool, and $15 to purchase a bass-viol (probably for the meeting-house). In 1801 the Great Bridge question was finally disposed of according to the Watertown proposition ; a school committee of ten was elected, and the same school grants made as for the last year. Li 1802 Jonathan Coolidge was elected representative; it was voted to plant shade trees on the meeting-house common ; to pay for sixty caps for the militia company under Captain Stephen Mead ; and a school committee of four was elected. The school committee, then as now, had charge of the details of the exjDenditure of the school fund, employing of teachers, etc., and this method of disposing of the subject seems to have given so much satisfaction that it was voluntarily continued to the time when the statute made it obligatory. In 1803 the town voted to send no representative, and in the same year appropriated $120 to hire a teacher of music. MusicaJ instruction at this time was undoubtedly encouraged as a religious rather than a secular accomplishment, and an appropriation was made - - with occasional intervals - for several years. In 1804 Jonathan Coolidge, Esq., was elected representative ; the town voted also to purchase three bathing-machines, similar to those in Watertown, to be used under direction of a physician. In the following year the town was divided into four school districts, and the appropriation was divided according to the proportion of children in the districts, the males between the ages of seven and twenty-one, the females between the ages of four and eighteen. In 1806, 1807, and 1808 Abner Sanderson, Esq., was chosen to represent the town in the General Court. In 1809 he was succeeded by David Townsend, Jr., Esq.,. who was continued in the office until the year 1821, except in 1818 and 1819, when the town voted to send no delegate. The Rev. Jacob Gushing having died in 1809, the church took means to secure a successor, and voted to call Rev. Samuel Ripley to the position. In August, 1809, the town passed a vote concurring unanimously with the church in its choice, and also voted him, in case of his acceptance, a salary of $700 per year. Mr. Ripley accepted the invitation, and was ordained November 22, 1809. In the same year there were petitions from several parties praying to be set oft' with their estates from Waltham, but the petitions were not granted.

It is amusing at this present period to watch the conservatism of the voters of the olden time in regard to those innovations for increased comfort which we have come to look upon as necessi- ties. The subject of a bell for the meeting-house agitated the public mind of Wiiltluim for several years, but finally the revolutionists triumphed, and in 1815 an appropriation was voted to have one. Again, in 1814. it was voted not to have any bliuds put upon the uieeting-house, nor " to pay for the one Mr. Ripley put on " ; however, the succeeding year the town voted to pay for the " pulpit blind." In ISIS the stove came in as a disturbing element. It would appear by the record that some person or persons, not having the traufpiillity and sanctity of the church before their minds, had placed a stove in the meeting-house, and asked the town to sanction an act already committed. That was enough. The town in its dignity rose equal to the occasion, and voted, first, not to purchase the stove in the meeting-house, and, second, to order it out of the meeting-house. A spirit of concession, however, prevailed ; the last vote was reconsidered, and at the next meeting (in April) the sovereigns voted to accept the stove as a present from the ladies of "Waltham, said stove to remain town property. Tlie threatened revolution was averted by female diplomacy.

In 1812 the town voted to pay those soldiers who should be drafted as the quota of Waltham $15 per month (including the pay of the government), and $1.25 per day for each day they should be under military discipline. To those familiar with the extent to which party spirit was carried prior to and during the War of 1812, it will not be a matter of surprise to learn tliat Pastor Ripley preached a sermon to which some of his parishioners took exception. This dissatisfaction finally culminated in the insertion of an article in the warrant of a town-meeting, the purport of which was to know the mind of the town in regard to ascertaining from Mr. Ripley upon what conditions he would resign his pastorate. On tliis the town, by a vote of sixty-six to fil'ty-six, derided to lake no action. The subject was brought up twice in iSl.'J with a very similar result, and in 1814 the malcontents, who in the mean time liad discf)iitinned attendance at the regidar meeting and employed Rev. Elisha Williams, a Baptist from Boston, to preach more acce])table .sermons (first in the schoolhouse, afterwards in the liall of a tavern where the Crntnl llnu.,.n,,w stands), leliinied to the fi,,rk. In lSl;;tl,e F;,e|,,n Vdlag,' ( Lower I'Inee) was set <.IVas a sepirate n,'! .

ascertain who had been in the service of the government during the war with Great Britain, and what sums the town siiould in justice pay them, submitted the following list of names, with sums annexed : Joseph Hoar, Jonas Lawrence, Elijah Lawrence, Nathaniel Stearns, Richard Wellington, Jacob Lawrence, Amasa Harrington, John Sanderson, 2d, Alexander H. Piper, John Simonds, Henry Fisk, Richard Cutter, Isaac Farwell, William Goss, Darius Wellington, Jacob Ryan, Timothy Morris, Daniel Emerson, William Trask, Thomas Barnes, Abel Hubbard, and William Clark, $4.68 each; and James Jones, Noah Hardy, John Cole, William B. AVinch, and Otis Puffe'r, $17.80 each. xVmong those serving the government during the war may be mentioned David Stearns, who was purser on board the Wasp at the time of her battle with the Frolic.

In 1815 an affair occurred which deserves mention from the rarity of such incidents : The legal number of voters petitioned the selectmen to call a town-meeting to act on the enforcement of the collection of certain highway taxes and the

I reconsideration of certain abatements; the selectmen neglected to issue the warrant, whereupon the interference of a justice of the peace was solicited and obtained, and the meeting ordered by him in accordance with the law in such cases. In 1817 the town voted to set off the Boston ^lanufacturing Company's estates for a school-district, and discon-

1 Certain acts of the Rev. Mr. Ripley, such as teaching a school, etc., appear to have cither stirred up a new feeling against him, or to have aff'orded a pretext for further opposition, for at a town-meeting in January, 1820, four articles ap- ])ear in the warrant, charging him with neglect of duty and causing dissension, and calling for his dismissal. These articles the town, by a vole of sixty-four to twenty-six, refused to consider. At the same meeting it was voted to allow the Boston Manufacturing CompaTiy to enlarge the meetinghouse at their own expense, in a manner agreed upon by the town and corporation, the company to have all ])rotits arising from the sale or rental ,.r til,, extra pews. .Vt' the Mandi meeting an elloM «:is mad,' 1,1 s,r if lb,- town u ,.nl,l appoint a imnmill,,' (if lifleen - three from each district - to iiii,i\i,w Mr. Ki])ley and try to induce hitn to gi\e up liis school, but the jiroject was (lis- missed. In May, 1S:J0, the town voted to receive the " manifesto " of the Second Religious Society, and not to oppose their petition for an act of incorporation. This Second Eeligious Society erected a meeting-liouse, and established itself as a distinct body. Efforts made to reunite the two factions were of no avail, but from some cause the Second Society failed of success, and they finally split, the society retaining the house and charter with Rev. Bernard \Vliitnian as pastor, and the church forming a new organization under Rev. Sewall Harding. In 18;J1, U'l'l, and 18:J;3 Luke Fiske represented the town in the General Court, the last year in connection with Charles Lyman. In March, 182-3, the town voted to procure iire-ladders, hooks, etc., and in 1829 appropriated $350 to purchase a fire-engine; this was the germ of our present fire department. In 1 824 Isaac Bemis, Jr., and David Townsend, Esq., were representatives; in 1825, Luke Fiske, Esq.; in 1826, David Townsend; in 1827, David Townsend and Isaac Bemis, Esq.; in 1828, 1829, and 18;3(), Jonas Clark. In 1829 the town voted to exclude needlework from the summer schools in tile morning, and to allow it in the afternoon, and in 1830 a small sum of money was appropriated by the town to procure medals to be given to those scliolars deemed most deserving. On the .30th of July, 1830, the meeting-house erected by the Second Society was struck by lightning and burned. In 1831 Amos Harrington ami David Townsend, Esq., were elected representatives. As early as in

1820 the project of a grammar school had been agitated, an act passed by the General Court in June, 1789 (according to an item in the warrant, but a law passed not far from 1700 was very similar), making such a school incumbent on every town containing two hundred families ; but it was dismissed one year, only to come up the next. In

1821 the town was sued for not complying with the provisions of the act of 1789; but our town fathers were apparently but little concerned, and it was not untd 1832 that the progressionists gathered strength enough to overcome the opposition. In that year the town appropriated §1,200 to build a grammar-school house and town-house on the old meeting-house common. Subsequently it was voted to change the location to a "gore of land" owned by Mr. Lyman, he oflering to give the land and §200 in furtherance of the plan. But this was not satisfactory, and after so many meetings aud so many votes that it seemed as though the project would finally be smothered in motions and amendments, the town purchased of Mr. T. R. Plympton the piece of ground now occupied by the North Grammar-Scliool House, increased the appropriation somewhat, and erected the building there. The following year tJie to« n appropriated §300 to enable the general school committee to hire a schoolmaster and establish a high school, aud the committee were instructed to commence such a school at as early a day as possible. Following out the history of this scliool to the present time, we find that tlie first princij)al was Franklin Hardy, the second Josiah Rutter (1835), the third William H. Ropes (1838), the fourth E. A. W. Harlow (1841), the fifth Charles F. Simmons (181.2), the sixth Daniel French (1842), the seventh William H. Ropes (1844, second time), the eighth Leonard P. Frost (1847). During Mr. Frost's term of service, in 1849, the interior of the building was altered, the town giving up the use of the upper story for public purposes, and establishing a high school there distinct from the graunnar department, Mr. Frost taking charge of the former, and being succeeded in tiie latter by his brother, George W. Frost. In 1859 L. P. Frost again took charge, and he was succeeded in 1869 by William E. Sheldon, in January, 1871, by Alouzo Meserve, in September, 1871, by John T. Prince, in 1877 by John S. Hayes, in 1879 by J. T. Prince (second time), who is now teaching.

In 1868 the town established a grammar school upon the south side of the river, of which Arthur P. Smith was appointed principal, a position held by him at present. Tlie principals of the high school succeeding Mr. Frost have been TimntJiv W. Bancroft (1859), A. J. Lathrop (1864), James C. Parsons (1865), Minton Warren (1874), W. E. Bunten (1876), and Ruel B. Clark (1877). Mr. Parsons resigned his situation in 1873, the scIiool being in charge of sub-masters James L. Fowle and Frederick T. Farnsworth until his successor was appointed. Mr. Clark resigned in 1878, C. W. Parmenter, sub-master, becoming acting principal. The number of schools at present (April, 1879) is thirty-seven, exclusive of evening schools (established in 1874), and the appropriation has increased corresjiondingly, about §32,000 being now required for the annual expenses.

Between the years 1831 and 1879 the town was represented in the General Court by the following persons (except 1833-35, when the town did not elect) : 1836, David Kendall and Robert Sanderson; 1837, Luke Fiske ; 1838-39, Elislia Crehore; 1840, Jonas Clark; 1841, John Abbott; 1842-43, John M. Peck; 1844-47, no representative sent; 1848-50, Nathaniel P. Banks, Jr.; 1851-53, Horatio Moore; 1854, Samuel O. Upham; 1855, William P. Childs; 1856, Horatio Moore; 1857, James G. Moore (in this year Waltham sent a governor, N. P. Banks, Jr., and a state senator, Gideon Haynes) ; 1858- 59, Josiah Butter; 1800, DaniefFrench; 1861, Frederick M. Stone and Josiah Beard (from 1857 to 1866 Waltham and "Watertown, including Belmont wiien incorporated, formed one district with two representatives, this year Waltham seems to have secured them both); 186:J, James G. Moore; 1863-64, Frederick M. Stone; 1865-66, Emory W. Lane; 1867-68, Eoyal S. Warren; 1869, Horatio Moore; 1870, Thomas Hill; 1871, Willard A. Adams; 1872, William Roberts; 1873, Willard A. Adams; 1874, William E. Bright; 1875, Frederick M. Stone; 1876-78, David Randall.

In December, 18'26, a number of gentlemen, having in mind the formation of a society for mutual improvement, met to take some action to that end. The result was that on Saturday evening, December 30, of the same year, an association was organized under the name of the Rumford Institute for Mutual Instruction. Courses of lectures were instituted, which have been continued witli but a single interruption for each succeeding year. A library was founded, which by the year l!S05 had acquired 3,700 volumes. In that year it was, by a vote of the Institute, transferred to tlie town, forming the nucleus of the present public library.

Bringing now the ecclesiastical history of the town down to tlic present time, we tind that from the first permanent secession from the parent church sprung wliat was known at its organization as the Second Religions Society. A meetinghouse was l)uih tor thi'iii on Churcii Sircct, which was dedicated .laiiuiiry 17, ls;M,aii(lon tlir smie day Rev. Sewall Harding was onlaiiicd and installed pastor. But a few years elapsed before they, too, experienced secession, doctrinal points forming the basis of the trouble, flic members of tlie society desiring a change in the theology, while the tneinbers of the church were nnaiiinionsly content with that expoundcil by ihiii- pislor. ']"hc church, with Mr. Harding, withdrew (April, 1825), changed the name (July 25, 1826) to Trinitarian Congregational Church, and built a meeting-house at the corner of Main and what is now Heard Street, dedicating the new building October 11, 1826, the old society continuing worship under Rev. Bernard Whitman. Mr. Harding was succeeded in 1837 by Rev. John Whitney. In 1853 fresh trouble arose, and another division occurred, a new organization being formed under the name of Orthodox Congregational Church, with Rev. Rosswell Foster for pastor ; but in April, 1858, this latter oH'shoot returned to the parent organization. In May, 1858, Rev. Richard B. Thurston succeeded ilr. Whitney, and he in turn was succeeded, in 1865, by Rev. Elnathan E. Strong. In 1878 Mr. Strong' resigned, and at the present time the church is without a settled minister. In 1870 the old church was sold and tlie present one erected, and dedicated Marcli 2, 1871.

Not far from the year 1820 the doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg found adherents in Waltham. Meetings were at first held in the house of Captain John Clark, and were continued in private residences until 1 860, when a stone chapel was built on Lexington Street, at what is commonly known as Piety Corner. Mr. Benjamin Worcester has from the beginning been leader in the devotional exercises. In December, 1869, the interior of the chapel was destroyed by tire, but in the following year it was restored, and the edifice enlarged. On Sunday, July 4, 1869, a church society was formally organized. There is also connected with the society a private school, which gathers its pu))ils from nearly every state in the Union.

About the year 1820 tlie nucleus of the Methodist Episcopal Church began to form, in the shape of class-meetings, a class of twenty-four being gathered, with Charles Barnes as leader. Regular meetings of the class were held for about five years. A majority of the members leaving town for Lowell, about 1825, the class was discontinued. Circuit ])reaehing was occasionally had, ami Miiall appropi-iatioiis from time to time were allouvil lor lis support. Hctwceii the years 1S2S and ls30 class-meetings were revived, Marshall Livermore being leader, succeeded in 1833 by Dr. Theodore Kittredge. Occasional preaching was had, the places where the service was held being the factory school-house on Elm Street, Smith's Academy on School Street, and (he Masonic Hall on Main Street. In March, 1837, regular services were commenced at Masonic Hall, with Rev. Ziba

B. Dunham as pastor. Early in the following year the worshippers purchased the meeting-house then standing on the Common, and owned by the Second Unitarian Society, and in June of the same year a regular church organization was formed, with about forty members. Waltham and Watertown were now made a distinct circuit, with Eev. Thomas Pickering in charge (residing in Waltham), and Rev. Otis H. Howard as junior. In 1839 Rev. Franklin Fisk and Edward A. Lyon were appointed to the circuit (the latter residing here), succeeded in 184.0 by Rev. Daniel Webb and Horace G. Barrus (Mr. Barrus being resident here) ; in 1841 Rev. Mr. Barrus was placed in charge, with Rev. G. W. Frost assistant; in 1842 Rev. B. K. Pierce was stationed af Waltham ; after ' this (in 1843) the relations of the two tow-ns as a circuit ceased. Since then the Waltham church has had for pastors the following: 1843-44, Rev. David Kdburn ; 1845, Rev. .John Paulson; 1846-47, Rev. Moses Webster; 1848-49, Rev. Jacob Sanborn; 1850-51, Rev. George W. Bates (Mr. Bates dying while in charge was succeeded in 1851 by Rev. N. J. Merrill, who was reappointed in 1853) ; 1853 - 54, Rev. Luman Boyden (Mr. Boyden, about tiie middle of his second year, was appointed to mission work, and Rev. J. S. Barrows completed his term) ; 1855, Rev. J. S. Barrows; 1856-57, Rev. T. W. Lewis; 1858-60, Rev. E. A. Manning (in 1859 the meeting-house was removed from the Common to the corner of Main and Moody streets, where, four months after its dedication, which took place January 25, 1860, it was destroyed by fire ; a ntw edifice was erected on the same site, and dedicated March 13, 1861, services having been iield continuously, except from January to May, 1860, in Rumford Hall) ; I86L-62, R3V. Samuel Kelley ; 1863 -64, R<-v. D. K. Merrill; 1865-67, Rev. C. L.Eastman; 1868-69, Rev. D. E. Chapin ; 1870-71, Rev. L. J. Hall; 1872-74, Rev. J. Wagner; 1875, Rev. W. A. Braman ; 1875 - 78, Rev. W. W. Colburn ; 1879, Rev. George H. Mansfield.

Li the year 1830 the Catholic Society was instituted in Waltham. When the building which had been occupied by the Second Society, on Church Street, was burned in 1829, a portion of the sheds were saved. These, with the lot, were purchased by the Catholics, and a section of the sheds fitted into a temporary church. Shortly after this a wooden building was erected, whicii was occupied as a place of worsliip until June, 1848, when it was destroyed by fire. Up to the year 1839 there was no settled pastor, the services being conducted from time to time by clergymen from Boston. In 1839 Rev. T. Fitzsimmons was appointed pastor. He was followed by Rev. Mr. Lynch and Rev. 5Ir. Strain. Mr. Strain continued pastor until 1847. Certain acts of his administration caused considerable discontent among a few of the unruly ones of his parish, which in June, 1846, assumed so far the proportions of a riot as to oblige the selectmen to order the artillery company under arms.

Source changes here: from History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Drake, Samuel Adams, published 1880; 16,445 words in this source stream.

Waltham City

was cho9eii in his stead. Evidently in those days .the office sought the man^ and not the man the office. Lientenant Bigelov seems also to have had other duties, for on the 12th of the same month he was voted six shillings for '' sitting up '^ the town stocks.

In July, 17S8, the selectmen appointed two of their number to secure a schoolmaster, and in August they reported that they liad agreed with Mr. Timothy Harrington to fill that position, during the ensuing quarter, for £ 20. To Mr. Timothy Harrington, then, belongs the honor of having been the first person to serve the town of \yaltham in the capacity of schoolmaster. The school term commenced on the 12th of July. ] In September the town increased the salary of their })astor, appropriated £80 for educational purposes, and £25 for the support of the poor. In November (24th) the town was divided into three squadrons; the bounds of the first being from the meeting-house by Mr. Hammond's (on what is now Beaver Street) to the town's bounds, and all north to Dand Mead's (Fiske's) Pond ; of the second, from the meetinghouse by the town- way, by Mr. John Child's, including all north ; the third including the remainder of the town. Tlie school was to be kept an equal time in each squadron, provided a majority of the voters of each division agreed upon a place and furnished it at their own cost, and also furnished an acceptable place for the schoolmaster to board mt. This was called, in the records of the day,- a ''movable school.'* Tlie school-house proper was located at " Piety Comer."

On the 15th of January, 1738-39, the committees appointed by the two towns to proportion the debt of "Watertown at the time of the division met, and agreed on the following as a just arrangement : total debt, £171 14*. 2r/., of which Watertown ahottid assume £91 5*. 3 J. and Waltham £80 8#. \\d. On the 80th of March the town appointed Lieutenant Cutting to join with the committees of Weston and Watertown to renew the bounds of the joint farm at Wachusett Hills. This was a tract of two thousand acres, granted to "Watertown by the General Court " in recompense of some land taken off by Concord."

Among the duties which seem to have devolved upon the selectmen of the time, one was the funeral arrangements for the town poor who died. . Some ef the items seem to have the appearance of a festive rather than a funereal character. Thus at a -meeting of the board, January 1, 1739-40, tp take action in regard to the demise of the Widow Wyeth, a vote was jxissed to have the coffin made, the grave dug, four pairs of men's and two pairs of women'a gloves provided, and '' such a Quantity of Bum for the funeral as should be found necessary." It is not intended to imply that the use of liquors waa limited to funerals of the town poor, for they were in those times considered essential to the majority of such occasions. At this date Adam Boardman was schoolmaster.

January 8, 1739-40, a committee appointed by the town met a committee consisting of the selectmen of "Watertown, appointed by that town, to divide the proceeds of the sale of lands sold before the division of the town. Of tlus amount Waltham's share was £169 15«., and Watertown'n £837 10«. Why there was so much discrepancy I in the receipts when the debts were so evenly divided does not appear. There seems to be, however, no evidence of any dissatisfaction.

On the 25th of January, 1741-42, Mr. Joseph Boberts was engaged to teach the school at th per month, and at the town-meeting on the 10th, of March it was voted to liave a ** moving schooV

At the town-meeting, March 1, 1741-42, it was voted to have the school kept in the districts alternately, and John Cams agreed in May to keep it for two months in Samuel Gale's house at £5 (Old Tenor) per month, and at the house of John Dix, in the north part of the town, on the same terms, he. being also allowed 19«. per week to board himself. In May the town chose Captain John Cutting representative. In September the "moving school" was discontinued; £10 were appropriated to repair the school-house, an4 tfiXS to support the school.

In March, 1742 -43, the town voted to reseat the meeting-house for the ensuing five years, the highest tax-payer on real and personal estate to-be allowed the first choice, and so on for all the pews; other things being e({ual, the age of those liaving a choice to be considered. The galleries and the space under them were to be disposed of in the same manner as the body of the house, and a committee was chosen to attend to the entire duty. At the May meeting Captain John Cutting was elected representative. Some of the inhabitants of Weston having petitioned to have a grant of hind called Phillips' Dividend allotted them, it was agreed to allow the transfer, providing the town of Weston would render an equivalent in land. A petition to build two more scliool-houses and remove the one tlien existing^ so as to have one at the norths another at the south, and the third, in the westerly section of the town, was rejected. In November the selectmen agreed with William Lawrence to keep the scliool until he had completed the term of fjight months, the term commencing July 9, of that year ; the pay to be £ 6 i)er month (Old Tenor) and his board. On the 23cl of December the selectmen of the three towns, Waltham, Watertown, and ^eston, met at the house of Ensign- Harrington, in Waltham, to adjust the accounts of tlie Great .Bridge, amounting to £195 15*. 7rf., Old Tenor. As adjusted, tliey were, - to Watertown, kli ftf . Hrf., to Weston, £64 2*. 4r/., to Waltham, £59 6*. Id.

March 2, 1743-44, Captain Samuel Livermore represented to the selectmen that there were under his cpmmand ninety men, and that the state law required them to have a stock of ammunition amounting to 150 pounds of powder, 800 pounds of bullets, and 450 flints. At the town-meeting, on the 6th of the same month, the town voted not to open the dams where the fish ran. Mr. Lawrence was further engaged by the selectmen as schoolmaster. Captain John Cutting was again chosen lepiese^tative, and at the same meeting ()Iay 8) a committee was appointed to join similar committees from Weston and Watertown in applying to the Greneral Court for a tract of unappropriated land, in consideration of the failure of the court to lay oat the grant of one thousand acres of meadow previously made. (This probably refers to the grant of fifteen hundred acres of land made to Watertown in 1637.)

At the annual meeting in March, 1744 - 45, Captain Tjivermore, who seems to have acquired great popularity among his fellqw-townsmen, was again elected moderator, clerk, and treasurer, and at the meeting in May was elected representative. September 9 of the same year the town voted that Captain Livermore *' should address the Great and general Court in the name and bchalfc of the Town of Waltlmm that the millers might have liberty to keep up their mill Dams as formerly." It having been brouglit to the notice of the selectmen that Mr. Lawrence had given up the school, and that the people were dissatisfied with there being none, Mr. Ho])estill Mead was appointed by them to find some one to take his place, and Mr. Elisha Harding was the person selected.

carted for him free of expense. Some idea of tlie importance of tliat item may be gained from tlie fact tluit in the year 1 745 he was granted £250 salary and thirty cords of wood.

March 2, 1746-47, a committee was cboaen to consult with like committees from Watertown and Weston in regard to selling the joint farm (probably the one at Wachusett Hills) ; it was vc^ to keep a moving school six weeks in the north, six weeks in the south, six weeks in the west neir Jonas Smith's, and six weeks in tlie school?hoase. Deacon William Brown was appointed to teach tlie northerly district, and if any division n^lected to provide ^ convenient place for holding the school or for tjie master to board, the term of that division should be held in the school-house. On the 18th of May Captain Livermore was again chosen representative. At a meeting of the selectmen in July, James Priest, Jr., is mentioned as absent on the king's service. The town grants for this year, made in October, being in New Tenor, Mr. Williams was allqwed £100 as against £250 in the Old Tenor of the previous year.

In March, 1747 -48, Samuel Livermore, Jr., was appointed to keep the school in the westerly, centre, and northerly parts of the town, an agreement being entered into between, his father and the selectmen to that effect.

In January, 1748-49, the selectmen appointed Caleb Upham a school-teacher. One of the ques^ tions which came before the aimual meeting was that of removing the meeting-house to tbe'centre of the town, or building a new one, but no action was taken in regard to it. In ^lay Captain Livermore was again chosen representative. The succeeding year (1749-50) the town, however, voted not to send a representative. At the annual meeting in March, 1749 - 50, a committee was chosen to meet with committees from ^Vatertown, Newton, and Cambridge, for consultation in regard to a workhouse. The sabries of the town officers for the year 1750 seem, from the appropriation, to have amounted to 13«. 4^/., and this sum was wholly awarded to Captain Livermore, - 8*. as town-clerk, and 5*. 4^/. as treasurer. The record in September, 1751, states that Matthew Bridge, being then present at a town-meeting, " gave the Town £1 6*. 8//. as a gift in Consideration of his Congregating with them.'' Some discussion occurred this year in regard to whether the school should be taught by a schoolmaster or schoolmistress, and the question was finally decided in fiivor of the master. In November the town voted that the money granted for the support of schools should be ex])ended for the one kept in the school-liouse^ and that the teacher should be '^ a grammar-school master/' ' June 22, Vol, the Bev. Warham Williams, for «o many yeat^ pastor of the church, died. In 1762 Jonas Clark, having been employed, ^^-as schoolmaster. Samuel Livermore was chosen vspresentative in May. In December the selectmen engaged- Samuel Livermore, Jr., to teach the school for three months ^t a salary of £45, Old Tenor.

In February, 1753, the younger Mr. Livermore was again engaged to teach the school. Captain Liveimbre was again representative. The scliool was discontinued from July 11 until October 22. At tlie latter date the town voted to have the house repaired, and to have a movable school. The taxable carriages ih Waltham in this year numbered ten, namely, nine chairs and one chaise ; the polls 147, slaves 3, sheep 299, swine 188, horses 111, cows 455, oxen 118.

At a meeting on the 2d of September, 1754, the excise bill was read, together with the speech of the governor to the General Court. After some debate the town voted " that it is the desire that the bill may not be negatived/* Samuel Livermore, Jr., was again engaged to teach the school ; Samuel Livermore, Sr., was again representative.

March 3, 1755, Mr. Matthew Bridge of Cambridge was accepted as an inhabitant, and his farm annexed to our territory. Captain Livermore was re-elected representative in May, and at the same meeting the town voted to sell its share of the 2,000 9cres of hind at Wachusett Hill owned by Watertown, Weston, and Waltham. In December, 1755, the General Court passed an order in execution of its share in the dismemberment of the government of Acadia, and the scattering of its homeless and friendless people broadcast over the country. The total number of these unfortunates ussigned to Waltliam was fourteen.

In March, 1756, Tliomas Sparrowhawk was engaged as schoolmaster, and in May Captain Livermore was 4igain returned representative, a position he continued to fill until 17C4. The sale of the town's portion of the Wachusett Hill farm was concluded in the ktter prt of 1756, and on the 11th of January, 1757, Captain John Cutting made report for the committee on the sale, to the selectmen, that the proceeds amounted to

£267 6s. 8d. (£2005 Old Tenor). Isaac Livermore was schoolmaster from November, 1756, to August, 1757: He continued in that position also during a portion of the year 175S. In November, 1758, among the disbursements made by the selectmen, was one of $2 per week for the support of the French Neutrals, the homeless Acadiana. Tliis is the first mention of the term '' dollars *' in the town records.

Leonard Williams was schoolmaster during the latter part of 1758 and the early part of 1759. The town at its meeting, March 5, 1759, refused to exempt soldiers from taxation. In March, ]l,760^ the town appropriated £2 to carry on a children's reading-school in the southwe^it part of the town. Deacon Isaac Steams was appointed by the selectmen to engage a sdioolmistress for the noirtherly portion of the town, and at was agreed to liave a grammar-school master teach one quarter in the school-house. The wife of George Lawrc^iCe was selected by Deacon Stearns, and we may assume that she was the first regularly appointed ^female teacher in the town. In August, 1760, the General Court assigned to Waltham four more of the French Neutrals. In 1761 grants w*ere made to Jonatlian Livermore, Samuel Williams, and John Wyeth for teaching school. It was voted (September 14) to build a workhouse on the land of the town near Daniel Harrington's. As Mr. Harrington, between the years 1746 and 1761, kept a tavern near the junction of Main and South streets, the workhouse was probably located in that immediate vicinity. At the September meetmg the to^in appointed the selectmen a cdmniittee to receive subscriptions to defray the expense of building a bridge over the Charles River, near the mouth of Beaver Brook, and to join with a committee of the town of Newton in seeing to its building. Wardens were elected for the first' time this year, William Coolidge and Elijah Livermore occupying those })ositions. The following year (1762) liaywards were elected for the first time, and Jbsiali to serve in that capacity. Samuel Williams and Mrs. Clark were paid for teaching school, and a committee chosen *^to prosecute any ])erson who had broken or should break 'ftny glass in the school or meeting house.

In 176:3 the. instructors of youth for the town were three females, - Mrs. Lawrence, a danghter of William Coolidge, and a daughter of Lois Fisk ; and one male teacher, Samuel Williams. During

1763 die wan^ which for so rfiany years had been winged between England andPrarfce; ii'ere terminated by thi^ treaty of Paris. It is quite worth our while to review so. &r as we can the part Waltham took in these struggles, since these conflicts proved the training-school for the soldiers of the Revolution, and the expenses incident to their prosecution the entering wedge in the division of the governments of the twd countries. The excise tax which the town in 1754 desired might "not be negatived'' was an outgrowth of it, and the Stamp Act, against which the whole colony a few years after vigorously protested, was another of its fruits. But' it gave our hardy yeomen military experience and training, and taught them that the men they had fought by the side of in wars with a foreign foe would not be tiieir superiors in courage, prowess, or skill when opposed to them in tlie. ranks of their enemies. While the town records abound in military titles, it in doubtful whether these were won at the annual training oron the battle-field. We find, however, among the heroes of the BeVoliition, quite a number of the names of those who were veterans in the bid French and Indian wars.

In the state records we find better evidence of Waltham's share in tlie colonial troubles. In 1740 we find that Ebenezer Bigelow - husbandman - was in Captain Ste])hen Ricliard's company. In 1744 Captain John Cutting's name appears on the muster-rolls. In 1748 Nathan Morse and John Barnard were in Captain John Catlin's company at Fort Shirley. But in 1756 and 1757 the names follow in rapid succession. In Captain Ebenezer Leamed's company was Ensign Robert Smith, aged twenty-eight, bom in Waltham, enlisted in Worcester. In Captain Timothy Houghton's company were the following, all volunteers, from Waltham : laeutehant Ebenezer Brown, Sergeant William Cox, Clerk Jonas Cutter, Comet Jonathan Peirce, Privates John Dean, Pliineas Steams, Joseph Wellington, Thomas Wellington, William Benjamin, Daniel Fisk, Abraham Hill, Abijah Brown, Thomas Harrington, Isaac Gleason, Josiah Whitney, and David Fisk. In Captain Benjamin Balkird's company was William Cummings of Waltham. In Captain Livermore's company, of the Crown Point ex^ition, were Abraham Gregory, aged fifty-two years, and Abijah Gregory, aged seventeen years, both bora in Weston, but credited in Walthara*s quota. Benjamin Lawrence and Thomas Hammond also served in the army. So much for 1756. In 1757 Jonathan Peirce is a corporal in Captain

Houghton's company. Li Captain Willbm Bart* lett's comi)any William Livermore-is ensigti, Isaae Gleason sei^eant, John Dean corporaL In the roll of Ca])tain Cheever's comimny, Elisha Hasrings of Waltham is set down as a deserter. The billeting-roU of Captain Jonathan Brown's company. Colonel William's raiment, contains the following Waltham names : Josiah Barnard, Isaac Cory> John Whitehead, Nicholas Lines, William Cox, David Standley, Timothy Flagg, Abraham Sanderson, Lowden Priest, Jonas Steward, William Graves^ John Wellington, John Wellington, Jr., and Phineas Steams, and in the muster-roll of Captain BrouTi's company, in the expedition for the redoction of Canada, appear again the names of Priest, Standley, Sanderson, Steams, Steward, the two Wellingtons, Cory, Fisk, Fhgg, Barnard, Whitehead (corporal). Cox (sergeant), Graves (sergeant) , and in addition Trueworthy Smith and Jedidiali White.

In May, 1764, the town chose Jonas Dix as its representative, after a continuous service of fourteen years, and a total service of seventeen yean from Samuel Livermore. Mr. Dix held the office for fifteen consecutive years, and altogether eigh* teen years, representing the town (save in 1 779 and 1782), evidently to its acceptance, during the entire period when the colonies were passing throngh the transition from national youth to manhood. An account of the valuation of the town at this time gives the following results: Houses, 94; families, 107; males under 16 years of age, 145; females under 16 years of age, 162 ; males above 16, 169; females above 16, 174; negroes and mulattoes, males 8, females 5. Total population, 663. The number of slaves owned is put at 14, although the annexed list fails to present so many : Jacob Big(e)low owned 1 ; Samuel Gale, 1 ; Isaac Pierce, Jr., 1 ; Nathan Brown, 2 ; Samuel Woodbum, 1 ; William Goodhue, 2 ; Josiah Brown, 1 ; John Clark, 1. Payment was ordered by the selectmen for the following school-teachers : Thomas Fisk's daughter^ Joseph Hagar, Jr.'s, wife, Joseph Bemis' wife, George Lawrence's wife, Hopestill Bent's daughter-in-law, Jonatlian Sanderson, Jr.'s, wife, John Dix's daughter, Ebenezer Brown's son, and to Samuel Williams, - the female teachers receiving £3 each. Whether these were all employed during the immediately preceding year, or whether some of the payments are for older debts, is uncertain. In March of the following year (1765) it was voted by the town tliat the grammar school sliould be a moving sehool daring the remainder of the year. Leonard Williams and Elijah Brown were schooL-teachers. Of the grant of £41 for educational purposes^ made in September^ £12 was for the women's schools. The whole sum appropriated for town afiairs in this year was £161 2«. Id. ' In 1766y a dispute having arisen between Weston and Waltham in regard to the boundary line, a committee was chosen to see the line rectified and confinned by the General Court. Elijah Brown still continued to serve tlie town as a achoolmastei', and held the position until Septem* ber, 1769. In December (28), 1767, the town voted to adopt similar measures to those approved by Boston, '* to promote Industry, economy and manufacturing.'^ ' Numerous meetings were held during the year 1767, to take action in regard to building a new meeting-house, and one was finally contracted for, to cost £642 13«. ^d. In March, 1769, the workhouse was, by vote df the town, sold, the sum paid for it being £100 2«. 8//. Jonas Dix's son' Jonas was engaged to keep the school beginning in September ; he held the position of teacher of the grammar school until 1772, when he resigned because of ill health. The to\iii voted at its September meeting to build a lai^e school-fiouse near the old one, but took no measures to carry out its vote. The year 1769 is notable in the town's history for two occurrences: ist, it was the last year (save in \1%\) in which swine were permitted to run at large; 2d, the practice of warning out of town persons who came without apparent means of support was discontinued.

In March, 1770, the town granted money and appointed a committee to carry out its vote of the previous year in regard to the new school-house, and also ordered the old one to be re^iaired. Among tlie articles in the warrant for this meeting was one " To know the mind of the town whether they will concur with the respectable Towns of Boston and Charlestown in refusing to purchase any goods wliatcver of those persons who preferring their own private Interest to that of the Public still continuing to Import Goods from Brittain contrary td tlie agreement of the Patriotic merchants." Nonaction was taken on this article. In 1771 a son of Josiah Brown was teacher of one of the schools,' of which there were four besides the grammar school. During this year Newton-Street bridge was rebuilt, and the committee, in rendering its biQ for services, items 118 mugs and 1 pitcher of flip ; 10 qnarts and 4-0 mngs of cider ; 3 pints of rum and 1 bowl of Toddy ; diimers, etc., - amqimt^. ing to £52 l9.\d (£6 19«. Id., hiwful moi^y)i In 1772 William Fisk was engaged to teach the grammar school in place of Jonas Dix, .Jr., resigned. Miss Buth Bussell and Jonatlian Ham* mond's daughter were also of the number of teachera.