History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

ecords 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 indi-
cated 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 de-
fend 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 belong-
ing to Harvard College, with one acre of land to
each, were exempted, mating a total of 111 dwell-
ings 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 mis-
tresses are distinguished in the records as " men's
and women's" schools. During this year the
town appropriated $25 to establish a singing-
WALTHAM. 425
ably for the meeting-house). In 1801 the Great
Bridge question was finally disposed of according
to the Watertown proposition ; a school com-
mittee 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 represent-
ative ; the town voted also to purchase three bath-
ing-machines, similar to those in Watertown, to be
used under direction of a physician. In the follow-
ing year the town was divided into four school dis-
tricts, 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 Towns-
end, 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. Sam-
uel 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 com-
school, and $15 to purchase a bass-viol (probfort which we have come to look upon as necessi-
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