History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

514 HISTORY OF MIBDLESEX COUNTY.
to value his own repose, in comparison with the
welfare and comfort of his friends. This uniform
benevolence of disposition shone tlirougli the small-
est acts of his daily life, — and especially in his
constant liberality to the poor wiio had any claims, one. In the year 1855 the population had in-
however slight, to his consideration.
creased to 1,801; in 1860, to 1,937; in 1865, to
" He was an accomplished sciiolar in the French,
Spanish, and Italian languages, — two of whicli he
1,968; in 1870, to 2,645; in 1875, to 3,099; of
the latter, 1,476 were males and 1,623 females.
spoke with ease and fluency. He was a discrimi- In the same year there were 506 native voters and
nating judge, no less than a liberal patron of the 125 naturalized voters.
fine arts, and delighted to surround himself at all The inhabitants are actively engaged in agricul-
times with the elegances of art, and to enjoy that
approbation of his refined taste which those per-
sons who were best cjualified to judge rarely failed
to express to him. As he lived universally beloved,
so he died universally lamented."
Stalisllcs. — The assessors for the first j-ear re-
ported the valuation of real and personal estates
to be $874,259; 195 houses, of which IS were
owned by non-residents ; 366 poll taxes ; 202 chil-
dren between five and fifteen years of age; rate of
taxation that year, .| 2.88 per §1,000;' amount of
tax levied, $3,001.96. The valuation of real and
personal estates was the highest in IS 7-1, when it
was $4.,758,890. The last valuation (in 1 879) was :
personal, $801,407 ; real, $2,746,635 > or a total
of $3,548,042. Tiie rate of taxation increased
after the first year up to $17.30 per $1,000 in
the year 1865, when it reached its highest point;
in 1875 it was $16; in 1876, $15.50; in 1877,
$13; in 1878, $12.50; in 1879, $12.30 per
$1,000. The expenditures for the first year, or to
March 1, 1851, were : for schools, $1,253.20 ; for
building and repairing school-houses, $1,540.91
support of poor, §112.98 ; town officers, $636.50
incidental expenses, $572.95; total expendi-
tures, $4,116.63. The expenditures for the
year ending February 28, 1880, were: for schools,
$10,959.28; repairs of school-houses and improvement
of grounds, $929.34; iiighways and bridges,
S 6,416.99; fire department, $3,232.83; support
of iK)or, $2,361.50 ; library, $1,201.85 ; cemetery,
$721.27; miscellaneous, $4,699.37; construction
;
of water-works, $2,799.18 ; maintenance of watertain in the eastern section near the reservoir. Tlie
works, $1,505.12 ; interest, $14,590.72; state and underlying rock is sienite and dolerite, in wiiich
county tax, $3,068.13 ; total, $52,485.58. The occurs a bed of copper ore. Through the centre
tdlid iiuicbtedness of tlu; town, February 28, 1880,
i^ .S2I."),S.-,1). Tlie percentage of (he wliole debt
drbt
I in is six and eighl li
nly is four and fifty-i
• municipal debt is one
idndili^; tlie
( hlHHlndths,
nd liflv-seven
Fopidai'wn. — "When the towii was incorporated
the population numbered 1,353. The growth of
the town has not been as rapid as some others, yet
its progress in this direction has been a healthy
tural, mercantile, and mechanical pursuits. Large
quantities of fruit and vegetables are produced for
the Boston market. A great many of the citizens
transact business in Boston.
At the present time there are 606 houses in the
town, of which 72 belong to non-residents; 245
citizens liable to do military duty ; 283 horses,
244 carriages, 4 oxen, 173 cows, 11 heifers, 379
swine, 165 dogs.
The following manufacturing business is carried
on at the present time in the town; three tan-
neries, four currier-shops, one shoe-stiffener (inner
soles and lieels), one machine-shop for making
machinery of all kinds, one shop for making knives
for splitting leather, two shops for making piano-
forte actions, one shop for making gold rings, one
shop for making piano-forte cases, one saw-mill for
mahogany and fancy woods, one watch-hand fac-
tory, one felting and wool-wadding factory, — hav-
ing in all a capital invested of some $100,000.
As but a few streets were laid out at the incor-
poration of the town, and those were in an imper-
fect condition, the growth of the population has
necessitated the laying out of many new highways,
and the repairing and altering of old ones. The
present number of accepted streets is forty-four,
many of which are fine avenues and are frequent
resorts for walks and rides.
The town is partially surrounded by several hills,
or wooded eminences, which are named Mount
Pisgah, Horn Pond Mountain, and Zion's Hill,
located on the north and west, and Taylor's Moun-
of the town flows in a devious current tiie Aba-jona
River, whicli, starting from Wilmington, empties
into the Medford Pond, one quarter of the latter
being located in tiiis (own. Cutter's Brook is one
of its brandies, and (lie ondet (o AVedge Pond.
"Wedge Pond, in the c(n(re, is no(ed for tiie abun-