History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

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, ap-
propriated £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 meeting-
house by the town-way, by Mr. John Child's, in-
cluding 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 commit-
tees appointed by the two towns to proportion the
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 fes-
tive rather than a funereal character. Thus at a
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WALTHAM. 411
I in
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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
those times considered essential to the majority
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 this amount AYal-
tham's share was £169 15*., and Watertown's
£837 10*. Why there was so much discrepancy
in the receipts when the debts were so eveidy divided
does not appear. There seems to be, how-
ever, no evidence of any dissatisfaction.
On the 2oth of January, 1741-42, Mr. Joseph
Roberts was engaged to teach the school at £ 5 per
month, and at the town-meeting on the 10th of
March it was voted to have a " moving school."
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, and £ 80
debt of "Watertown at the time of the division met, to support the school.
and agreed on the following as a just arrangement In March, 1742 -43, the town voted to reseat the
total debt, £171 14*. %d., of which Watertown meeting-house for the ensuing five years, the high-
est tax-payer on real and personal estate to be
allowed the first choice, and so on for all the pews
other things being etjual, the age of those having 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 Wes-
ton having petitioned to have a grant of land called
Phillips' Dividend allotted them, it was agreed to
allow the transfer, providing the town of Weston
would render an ecjuivalent in land. A petition to
meeting of the board, January 1, 1739-40, to take build two more school-houses and remove the one
;