History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

to Medford on the easterly side of Spot Pond.
Action relative to this way was taken at a meeting
held December 31, 17''50, the town voting to have
" an open road from the county road at Spot Pond
to Charlestown land line, and as near the pond as
the selectmen shall see room and convenience for
the road to be."
It is probable tiiat the first representative to the
Eased and granted to give John Vinton, Esq., the
sum of twenty-three pounds, eighteen shillings,
(£23 IS*. Or/.) for his sarving representative for
the yeare 1734."
At a town-meeting held Monday, May 22, 1738,
it was voted to raise ten pounds towards building
a new school-house, using, as far as was possible,
the materials of the old one.
Mr. Osgood continued as pastor of the church
until his sudden death, March 2, 1746. A war-
rant was issued for a town-meeting to be held
March 4, at which fifty pounds. Old Tenor, were
voted for the burial of Rev. James Osgood, the
sum being equivalent to about thirty dollars. The
attended to the grave by several ministers and a
great concourse of people.
The second minister was Kcv. John Carnes, of
Boston, who was settled December 17, 1746.
In the year 1748 a man named Peter Hay, sup-
posed to be the Scotchman Hay, died at the ad-
vanced age of ninety-one years. It is said that he
married no less than five wives, and at the last
marriage ceremony he displayed his youthful buoy-
ancy by dancing. His death occurred at the
house, several years since destroyed by fire, for-
merly owned by Captain Jonathan Hay, deceased,
standing on the lot of land upon which the house
of tlie late Jesse Tay stands.
The dwelling-house known as the Old Parsonage,
standing on the west side of Central Street, for
many years tiie property and residence of the late
Eev. John H. Stevens, was erected or completed
in the year 1747, and first occupied by Rev. John
Carnes.
In reference to the matter of schooling there
seems to have been some delinquency, as no action
was taken until a meeting held August 15, 1729,
when Captain John Vinton, Daniel Gould, Jr.^ and
STONEHAM. 343
Peter Hay, Jr., were chosen a committee to provide
a schoolmaster. At a meeting held Novem-
ber 21, 1729, it was voted to raise nine pounds for
a school for the ensuing year. In the years 1730
and 1731 nine pounds were raised; in 1732, six
pounds ten shillings; in 1733, nine pounds ; in
1734 it was voted to raise two pounds ten shillings
to repair the school-house. May 17, 1736, voted
General Court was Captain John Vinton, and that nine pounds for schooling; in 1737, sixteen
he was elected May i-i-, 17o4. The records do pounds. At a town-meeting, held May 18, 1752,
not show this, but at a town-meeting held May 23, " Voted, raised, and granted, the sum of two
1 735, the following vote was passed " : Voted, pounds, lawful money, to pay for repairing the
meeting House in said town. Also, voted, to give
Elder Samuel Sprague liberty to build a pue in
said Stoneham Meeting House, according to his
desire to cut down the remaining part of the two
hind seats in the body of seats below, on the
woman's side, and to build said pue upon his own
cost and charge." At a meeting held in March,
1753, it was "Voted to sell a pue belonging to the
Town that Avas built by perticular men at thir own
cost and charge for Mrs. Sarah Osgood, formerly
widow of Rev. James Osgood, but now Mrs. Sarah
Hart." Also voted not to give to " those perticular
men that built said pues the money they expended
in building said Pue." A great deal of disquietude
funeral was on Wednesday, March 5, when the appears to have been occasioned at different times
body was carried to the meeting-house, and then in consequence of taking down the long seats and
erecting pews. They also appear to have experi-
enced considerable difficulty in reference to provid-
ing seats for the colored persons then resident with
tliem, and at that time slaves, as at a town-meeting
held October 14, 1754, they passed the two
following votes " : Voted, That the Town will seat
the negroes in Stoneham in Stoneham Meeting
House. Voted, That the negro men in Stoneham
shall set in the hind seat in the side Gallery in the
west end of Stoneham Meeting House, and the ne-
groes wives and other negro women shall set in the
hind seat in the side Gallery in the east end of said
Meeting House and no where else in said Meeting
House, if there be convenient room in said seats,
except it be on special occasions."
The Rev. Mr. Carnes wns dismissed from his
pastoral charge July 31, 1757, expressing his wish
to remain if he could have received a sufficient
amount of salary for his support. During his
ministry he solemnized eleven marriages.
His successor was Rev. John Searl, who was
settled January 17, 1758, so that they were with-
out a pastor only a short time. The population at
that time was small, and the means of acquiring