History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

216 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUXTY.
township, praying tliat a name may be given unto
—• the said town, it is ordered that it be iienceforth
called New Town/' Thus the name originally
given to the town across the river — which was
the 7iew tow)L because Boston was the old town,
and which was lost when, after the establishment
of the College, the territory received the name of
Cambridge — was now restored, and given to the
portion of the town on the south side of the river.
The name stands in the court records in two
words, of one syllable each, as it was originally
written when first used, in 1631. This form of
writing it was gradually changed into one word
of two syllables. But all the town-clerks followed
the order of the court in spelling it until 1776,
when Judge Fuller was elected town-clerk, and
held the office twenty-six. years. He always spelt
it on the records Newton. Tiicre was no vote on
the subject. Usage in this and other towns had
prepared the way for hnn to assume the responsi-
bility of makhig the contraction by dropping the
w from the last syllable.
Soon after the removal of the tyraimical gov-
ernor, Sir Edmund Andros, the inhabitants of
IN'ew Cambridge met on the 20th May, 1689, and
passed the following resolutions :
"That it is our desire, 1. That tlie Honorable Governor
and Deputy Governor and Assistants, cliosen and sworn
in the year 1GS6, and the Deputies then chosen by tlie
freemen lor that year, do now resume the government of
the Colony according to Charter privileges.
" 2. That there may be an enlargement of freemen, that
is to say, that those persons who are of honest conversa-
tion and a competent estate may have their votes in all
civil elections.
" 3. That the Court, liaving thus re-assumed the govern-
ment, then endeavor to conlirm our Charter privileges.
" 4. That the Court tiuis settled do not admit of any
—
change or alteration of government among us, until it is
first signified to the several towns for their approbation."
On the same day (KiSD) tlie inhabitants made
choice of Ensign John \\ ard as tlieir representative
or deputy, in the present session of the Gen-
eral Court, tlie iirst representative ever sent from
Cambridge Village, and w!io contiimed to represent
the town for eight years.
The ecclesiastical division preceded the political,
and Newton had a cliureii and a pastor more than
twenty years before it was incorporated as an in-
dependent town ; for Cambridge released its ludd
upon Newton by degrees, and paiiiliilh. The
date, August 27,' 1679, when llir (Iciieral Coiirl
ordcivd IJmt the Villatre should have tin- n-lil to
choose selectmen and a constable from among
themselves, was for many years held to be the date
of the incorporation of the town of Newton, and it
is so recorded by Mr. Jackson in his History, -linA.
was engraved in 1874 on the city seal. The action
of the court, however, seems to have foreshadowed
the independent organization rather than confirmed
it; for more careful investigations of the facts
and testimonies have estabhshed the conclusion beyond
reasonable doubt that the true date of the
event is January 11, 1687, and that the name was
given to the town three years later, December 8,
1691.
The following statements, taken from Mr. Hyde's
Centennial Address, present the case with sufficient
" In 1678 they again petitioned to be
distinctness :
set off, and continued to do so tOl 1687, wdien, on
January 11, Cambridge was summoned to appear
before his Excellency in council, ' to show cause
why Cambridge Village may not be declared a
place distinct by itself, and not longer be a part of
said town, as hath been formerly petitioned for and
now desired.'
" At a Council held at Boston on Wednesday,
Jan. 11, 1687, it was ordered, 'That the said Vil-
lage from henceforth be, and is hereby declared a
distinct village and place of itself, wholly freed
and separated from the town of Cambridge, and
from all future rates, payments, or duties to them
whatsoever; and that, for the time to come, the
charge of keeping, amending, and repairing the
said Bridge, called Cambridge Bridge, shall be de-
frayed and borne as followeth : that is to say, two
sixths parts thereof by the town of Cambridge, one
sixth part by the said village, and three sixths parts
at the public charge of the county of Middlesex.
" ' By order of Council, &c.,
" ' John West, Depiit^-Secrclarj/.'
" ' This is a true copy taken out of the original
record, fourth day of December, 1688. As attest,
'"Lauk. H.\m.moxu, Clerk.'
"Tiiis order," says Mr. Hyde, " sluiws conclu-
sively that the town was not wholly independent
until 1687, although the town records commence
in 1679, when the inhabitants of (he Village seem
to have first availed themselves of (he privileges
granted them in 1673, by choositig three selectmen
and one constable, — all the ollicers (hey were
authorized (o choose, — to maiiai^c their 'pruden-
tial allairs.'
" 111 further proof that they were not Vet enti-