CVi ^^,456

ADDKESS

DEDICATION OF THE TOWN-HOUSE

At Jamaica Plain,

WEST EOXBURY,

ARTHUR W. AUSTIN.

BOSTOK:
ALFRED MUDGE & SON, PRINTERS, 31 SCHOOL STREET,
1868.

Jamaica Plaik, August 3, 1868.
Aethue W. AirsTiN, Esq.
Deae Sie, — At a meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held this
day, the folio-wing vote passed:
Voted, That Hon. Arthur W. Austin he invited to deliver the
Dedicatory Address to his fello-vv-townsmen, at the dedication of the
ne-w Town-House, at such time as shall be named hereafter.
Please accept this as notice, and oblige
Yours with respect,
WM. MACCARTY, Clerk of Selectmen.

Ol)Ztj,4So

ADDRESS,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Fellow-Citizens :
I am happy to congratulate you upon the prosperity of the
Town of West Roxbury. I join with pleasure in welcoming you
to this hall, so capacious that if ever the better part of creation are
admitted to suffrage, the accommodation will be ample, for de
liberation and female eloquence, and they can discuss in Senate
without interruption, and confine the hitherto termed lords of
creation, in the hall below.
We know not what further folly the future may produce, there
is no evil so great in public affairs as the incapacity of those
who administer. A portion of intelligence is requisite in
the management of a municipality; and a large portion of
ability, intelligence and sagacity combined is necessary to tlipsp
whose business, it is to conduct great public affairs, to guide the
destini.es of States, to .keep the peace of nations, to preserve
empire., . It is to be hoped, that neither men, nor women will go
beyond, their sphere. If they do, mischief is thg.regult. , B.u,t
whatever comes, let us, trust, the, dignity of woman will ney^r be
lost in the arena of degrading and , demoralizing, political con
flict. Let all such contests to mankind belong —
Over the household woman should preside;
The fireside altars — the domestic throng — -
Alike her pleasure and alike her pride.
The town as a separate municipality has not been long in ex
istence. It was severed from the City of Roxbury by an act of

incorporation on the 24th of May, 1851. Previous to that time
it made a part of Roxbury Town, or Roxbury City. Of mat
ters connected with the division it will be more proper to speak
hereafter. The town of Roxbury was described in 1654, as "situated
between Boston and Dorchester, beinij well watered with cool
and pleasant Springs issuing forth the Rocky hills, and with
small Freshets, watering the vallies of this fortill Towne, whose
forme is somewhat like a wedge double pointed, entering be
tween the two foure named Townes, filled with a laborious peo
ple, whose labours the Lord hath so blest, that, in the room of
dismall swamps and tearing bushes, they have very goodly Fruit
trees, fruitfull fields and gardens, their Heard of Cows, Oxen
and other young Cattell of that kind about 350 and dwelling
houses near upon 120. Their Streets, are large, and some fayre
howses, yet have they built their Howse for Church-assembly
destitute and unbeautified with other buildings."
It is difficult to give much distinctive information about the
portion now making our goodly town. Judging from the
records, it seems however that the upper part, for many years,
even up to 1800, was considered subject of the lower, which
always having numerical superiority, refused what it pleased
and considered what it granted as a boon and not as a right. .
The general plan seems to have been to do as little as possible
for the advancement of this particular territory. The roads
were, in many instances, merely cart-paths, and the schools
were aided but little. Owing to the dependent condition of
this territory, and thc loose, meagre and generally confused
records kept during tlie first hun.dred years after the settlement
¦of the ancient town, it is a matter demanding much discretion,
to know what to present that would be acceptable. It is only
by selection at distant p.riods that we can furnish types of the
modes and manners of those who had an early part iu the
settlement of, the region called Roxbury,

The first settlement of Roxbury appears to have been in
1630. By the Colony Records, the following grant was made
in 1636: " Ordered
that all the rest of the ground lying betwixt Dorchester Bounds
and Boston Bounds shall belong to the Towne of Roxbury
easterly of Charles River except the property of the aforesaid
townes which they have purchased of particular persons —
Roxbury not to extend above eight miles in length from their
meeting house."
The boundary of Roxbury and Dedham was not finally settled
till 1697, and then the wbole territory of Roxbury was defined.
Spring Street was known by that name as early as 1690, and
Jamaica Plain by that name in 1667. The town had but one
church for a long time. The church was the town and the town
the church for many years ; and, at one time, all persons were
ordered to live within half a mile of the meeting-house.
The lower part, having revenue from the upper, was long
reluctant in allowing another parish or in aiding it. A curious
document, which I will read, will serve to exhibit a savor of the
times, and appears to give the best account of the formation of
the Second Parish. The document is as follows :
The 3.''» of April 1711 The Town mett according to the
Adjournment above mentioned, and the Petition of the western
part of the Town was read, which was as followeth ^
The Humble Address of the neighboring inhabitants belonging
to the Congregation at Jamaica or the western part of this Town.
To their Fathers and Eldei- Brethren assembled at this General
Town meeting in Eoxbury.
The Petition of the Western part of the Town, Honoured and
Beloved ! We whose names are here unto subscribed, the inhabi
tants of the South west part of this Town of Roxbury, Do hereby
humbly address our Christian Fathers, Brethren and Neighbours
(inhabiting the more ancient body of this our above named Town,

with a sincere design to give Christian satisfaction unto all or any
of you,- to whom just occasion of offence was given by any wrong
disorderly steps, in our late proceedings, to build a Meeting House
and form a distinct assembly for thc publick worship of God ; for
we humbly acknowledge it to be offensive for us first to ask the
leave and consent both of the Generall Court and of this Town
Assembly and yet before it was fully granted unto us, for us
to presume so precipitantly aud rashly to enterprize and prosecute
such an important affair without the consent of the Honourable
Eepresentatives in the General Court, the approba,tion of our Rev*
and Dear Pastour and the concurrence of our ancient and honour
able Mother the Church and Town Assembly, for which just Occa
sion of Oifence to the God of Order, to our Political Fathers to our
Rev'^ Pastour and to our beloved elder Brethren of this ancient
Church, and Christian neighbours now assembled in this Town.
We therefore humbly and earnestly implore the pardon of God, in
and through the blood and merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
crave your forgiveness for this our Trespass hoping you will please
to compassionate us in our late hour of temptation, to pass by thia
our offence, and pray to the Lord for us. Whereupon we thus
turning again and saying we repent, we cannot but hope' to find
such a Christian spirit in our Fathers and Brethren as to forgive
us, according to the direction and command of our compassionate
Redeemer in Luke 17:3,4.
Wherefore we are now incouraged to make our humble request to
you to grant unto us a dismission to be a distinct Precinct, whereby
we may be, capable (if, the Lord will) to embody into a Church
State, to call a minister, and to support him honourably according
to the rules of the Gospel. And to this end we are constrained to
entreat you to grant us a Precinct Line on the Western side of the
River to run close by the School house near the Dwelling of our
neighbour John PoUey frora the South East to the North west to
include all those of our Christian neighbours that voluntarily desire
it, and have therfore been at charges hitherto with us, who from
the s* line towards Dedham are dwellers amongst us. And in
order to prevaile upou you to grant these ouf requests we humbly
crave, your leave to propound to your Christian consideration these
following arguments.

I. We understand by credible information that about forty
years ago when this ancient Meeting-House was about to be built,
where it now stands, our neighbouring inhabitants upon the Plain,
objecting against it on the account of the foreseen future necessity
of another Meeting-House nearer Dedham, as our Town should pro
bably increase thereupon by a Committee of this our Town, an in
strument of agreement was made with them (which was seen and
read in Capt. Johnson's house after his decease, tho' since unac
countably lost) wherein the ancient inhabitants of the body of this
our Town promised in like manner to assist them when they should
go about the same worke for themselves, nearer home.
II. As for the season and opportunity we took for our above
s* mismanaged enterprize whether this was the time agreeable to
the approving will of God, we dare not assert ; but tho event proves
it to be his permissive and determinate will, else it had not been so
far effected. And blessed be God in Christ altho we have morally
erred as to our hasty time and manner thereof; yet having obtained
his help, nothwithstanding our unworthyness,we have beencarryed
through & continue to this day.
III. If it is objected, that we have set up our New too near to
the Old meeting House ; we humbly Answer the distance between
them is something more than 3 miles and 3 quarters. And there
are diverse instances of Meeting Houses nearer together by more
than a mile and an half in other country Towns not a dozen miles
off: IV. The North Church and Town Assembly in Brantree lov
ingly forgave the proecipitant and far more encroaching trespass of
the South Congregation upon their acknowledgement and freely
voted for them a dividing praecinct as exactly halfe way between
both Meeting Houses as possible so as to comprehend three or four
families more as to number in the South Precinct than they re
served for themselves in the North, but our requested dividing line
above specified we shall be gratefully contented with.
V. The above requested dividing line is considerably more than
two miles from the old meeting house.
I VI. If the dividing line be yet nearer to our Meeting House ;
it will unavoidably crush our capacity to support a minister

8
amongst us. And our distance from the antient place of publick
worship herebefore hath been a great burthen and oppression to us.
Moreover our remoteness from home at the old meeting House for
the most part hath forced our peoj^le in mercy to their tired natures
necessarily to expend that money at the Taverns which otherwise
they should have offered in Contribution ; wherewith now we can
comfortably maintain preachina; amongst us.
VII. Now to conclude we cannot but confide in your charity
and compassion to us, that you will not triumph over our Expence
vexation and ruine ; but that you will follow the golden rule of
Christ in Mat; 7:12: to do by us as (if yee were in our case) we
would have done to you, and to find you such well wishers to the
spiritual and temporal prosperity of us and ours as to be concerned
for our now distressed congregation : as the Church of the jews
was for that of the Gentiles saying of us as in Cant. 8 : 8 : we
have a little sister and she hath no breasts, what shall we do for
our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for ? Thus referring
it wholl}'^ unto the Lord to dispose your hearts as seemeth good in
his sight, We subscribe
At the Western end of Roxbury
Feb 7* 17ia Nath Holmes
Samuel Lyon jun Thomas Mory
Eliphalet Lyon jsaac Bowen Joseph Weld
John Weld Ebenezer Lyon John Whitney
John Curtiss John Fuller Thomas Lyon
John Parry Thomas Mayo Peter Hanchett
Joseph Parry Samuel Lyon William Lyon
Nath Draper john Griggs
Timothy Whitney Joseph L3'on
Ephraim Lyon Jonathan Curtice
Thomas Parry Thomas Bugbee
Daniel Whitney james Griggs
Samuel Holdridge jchabod Davis
John Case Ephraim Beacon
The answer to the Petition of the Western inhabitants, entered
the 12 May. The same day the Town proceeded to consider of an
answer to the Petition of the Western part of the Town. And or-

dered the clerk to enter the following vote as theirs. Answer
thereunto, viz : In answer to the Petition it was clearly Voted, that
their Precinct line should begin at the line between Dorchester and
Roxbury, where the Head-line between the flrst and second Division
strikes upon the afores* line, so running down to the River, and
then the River to be the bounds until it comes to the place where
the Road crosseth it by jsaac Bowens from P. Bowens, running as
the way goes to the school house, and so to thc line between the
school land and the land of josiah Holland, and so cross the South
end of the great Pond to Brookline. And that the Petitioners,
together with all such as dwell on the South side of the afores*
line who are willing to joyn with them, and do embody so as to.
maintain an able, learned, orthodox minister amongst them, shall
be freed from any charge to the minister of the East end of the
Town, as also from charge to the repairing and sweeping the meet
ing house so long as they do maintain a Minister among them, and
no longer.
The second parish was formed at Spring Street, and probably
included originally all the territory down to about what is now
Walkhill Street — perhaps the line would bring it to include all
of the Bussey estate. The phraseology used is Jamaica End
and Spring Street ; this was intended to form for many years
the second parish. But in the document just cited the line is
carried down to Pond Street.
There is no second parish record extant before 1733-34.
But there was a meeting-house in the upper part somewhere
about 1712. The original government of the town was called
the five men, — afterwards designated as selectmen. And for
many years it was the custom to choose them one at a time,
the first chosen to be chairman.
In August 1772, a committee of the third or middle parish
agreed with the committee of west parish on their boundaries,
agreeably to the act of April 1772, under the government of
George III.
The second parish on the 11th of December preceding agreed
2

10
that a new church might be formed. Jamaica Plain was the
third or middle parish, and 1772 was the commencement of its
official existence. A house for public worship had been raised
in 1769, but William Gordon, the first pastor, was not installed
till July 1772. We find curious entries interspersed both in the
town and parish records. These give insight into modes exist
ing in former years.
In 1686, the town clerk was directed to transcribe in another
book all that is in the old town book, •' Unless such things as
either are ridiculous pr inconveniant." And there are many
things in the book, as it stands, that might come under either
description. It appears that the selectmen sometimes came to
grief; the regulation, by which they were paid yearly ten shil
lings for their services, being repealed. In the second parish
votes were proposed " To have Committee of Great & General
Court to pitch upon spott for meeting-house." ^coUers were not
allowed to keep scooh in the meeting-house without consent. At
one time corn is declared a currency. It appears that instead
of destroying caterpillars, much prayer was made and fasting at
divers places, and the Lord heard them and on a sudden took
them away. Turkeys at a very early period were considered as
trespassers " as well as other cattle." Strangers were not al
lowed to stay in any house more than a week without leave of
selectmen. Gentlemen were fined for not accepting office. Re
wards of one penny were paid for every blackbird presented to
the selectmen. And one busy man is paid for killing blackbirds,
warning persons out of town, and keeping goodwife Bogle.
It appears that the disposition to interfere with everybody's
afi'airs was prevalent with everybody. Joanna Boyce is recorded
as a maide, and goodwife Patchen as a poore old woman, and
Mrs. Barker is recorded to have come from Barbadoes, for the
gospel's sake. Most of the settlers it was asserted came " not
for worldly ends but for spiritual," and it was complacently al
leged that the Roxbury people were the best that came over.

II
And in 1687 our brethren at Jamaco have liberty to provide a
herring place. At this period the term Jamaco probably intended
to cover all above Pond Street.
The first born child in the settlement was John, son of Griffin
Crafts, — one of the five men in the early government of the
town. We find the blacksmith is paid 4s 6i for iron work about the
cage and meeting-house, — the cage being used probably to con
fine drunken aud disorderly persons or stray Indians ; then 2s
Qd is paid for physic for Eleazar May's wife ; and Nathaniel
Davis, constable, is directed to warn Abiel Wood to depart the
town of Roxbury in fourteen days or give security. It is mar^
vellous how in so short a time there should be found in a newly
settled country so many rated as vagabonds that it would not be
safe to entertain. A law was passed forbidding the taking
boarders from other towns, and five royal folio pages are re
quired to contain the names of persons warned out of Roxbury.
In 1696, it was voted that the whole town should assist ia
building a watch-house at Jamaica if necessary. At a late
period, within a century, representatives and senators were
directed to use their utmost influence to increase travel through
Roxbury to Hartford.
We find also that galleries were established in the meeting
house for women and boys, and constables appointed to take
charge of both on the Sabbath. At the flrst parish the consta
bles are all relieved from rates, if one of them will sit in the
gallery and keep the boys in order.
In the second parish the boys appear to be what would now
be called a hard set, and the girls no better. Four men were
at first chosen " to take care of disorderly boys and girls and
others at the meeting-house on the Lord's Day; afterwards six
were appointed. Mr., Bradford's salary, about the year 1798,
was $333.33 and 3 mills. The pastors of the second pariah had,
originally, a small salary, — twenty cords of firewood, and all

12
onmarcked money in the contribution box, and, in some cases,
were entitled to two annual contributions, and sometimes the
pastor is to have the eusial contributions.
It was voted that there should be but one ordinary in town,
and there were the same disputes about licenses and liquor laws
that we have in our day. Upon the whole, the impression made
is, that the morals, manners and habits were not of any higher
grade than in our day, though it was then a strictly church
government. •
In 1767 we find the views of those on the stage given on poli
tical economy. They recommend to lessen the use of superflui
ties and to prevent importations; they proscribe loaf-sugar;
men's and women's hatts, and apparel of all sorts ; shoes and gold
and silver and thread lace ; snuff; mustard ; clocks and watches ;
broadcloths, costing more than ten shillings a yard; muffs,
furs, tippets and all sorts of millenary ware ; starch ; women's
and children's stays; silk velvet and gauze lawns; cambricks
and silks of all kinds for garments; lemons and teas of all
sorts. Church and State aff'airs are constantly intermingled,
and at town meetings, committees are directed to report after
lecture. There seems to have been a constant struggle from 1727 up
wards, on the part of Spring Street and Jamaica to obtain their
supposed share of assistance for schools, and, before the divi
sion into parishes, for their church.
In 1727, the lower part refused to allow any money for sup
port of school at Spring Street.
In 1769, refused money towards building a school-house at
Jamaica, so called, to accommodate the schooling of their chil
dren there.
In 1771, there was a long dispute about help to maintain a
school at Spring Street.
In 1733, refused anything to maintain a minister or repair
meeting-house in the upper or westerly part, or even to repair

13
two pews that were damaged and destroyed. A curious reg
ulation was at this time made, that those who set by the win
dows should mend all the broken glass. Pew was, in the early
records, generally spelt pue, and they vote that certain parts of
the meeting-house shall be ptied. In short. Lower Roxbury, by
its numbers, had uncontrolled power, and in all human govern
ments where there is uncontrolled power, — power uncontrolled
by constitution or law, — there will be tyranny.
There is no evidence that the general mode of spelling at the
time was widely different from our own, for in the Spring
Street, or second parish, pew is spelt correctly, and I have
known of a graduate of Harvard College, who, after graduating
was elected a Town Clerk, who always spelt cow with a k. But
it is singular that persons who could so grossly misspell should
be made clerks.
In 1770, the lower part refused to give the west end any of
the interest of school money.
In December 1787, the town generously voted ten pounds out
ofthe town treasury, in addition to ten pounds granted in 1771,
to support two schools in that part of the town called Canter
bury, to be drawn when thcs school-houses are built.
One of these school-houses was at the confluence of Bourne
and Canterbury streets, and has recently been removed; the
other was on Poplar Street, and was condemned the first year
of our town government, and taken down iu a wretchedly dilapi
dated condition.
In 1822, the town opposed road from Spring Street to Ded
ham, and constantly opposed road from Jamaica Plain to Dor
chester. In 1790, there were at school on Jamaica Plain . . 80
Upper school at Jamaica Plain, so called . 20
At Spring Street  37
We find, also, in the records, votes indicating the sentiments
of the town on the political questions of the day.

14
May 22, 1776, it is recorded: "If the Honorable Congress
should declare independence, they vote that they solemnly engage
with their lives and fortunes to support them in their measures."
On Sunday after the Declaration of Independence was re
ceived we find it was read, and recorded at length in the records
of the second parish.
May 2 7, 1777, Samuel Williams as a person firmly attached to
the American cause, was chosen in town meeting to procure evi
dence of the inimical dispositions of any person in the town.
In 1779, it was voted, -'If any inhabitants of the Town shall
presume to sell any article at any higher rate than established
by the Town Committee, he shall receive that severest of all
temporal punishments, the displeasure and contempt of the
people, and upon conviction of a 2d offence before the Commit
tee, shall have his name published in the several Boston News
papers at the expense of the town, as a pest of society and un
worthy the confidence and esteem of mankind." The above was
recorded as voted by a very large majority.
There is a still more curious record in the shape of instruc
tions to Mr. Thomas Clarke, the representative in the Great and
General Court from Roxbury, in which he is instructed in 1786,
after Independence and after peace, as follows :
To Mr. Thomas Clark, Representative of the Town of Roxbury :
Sir : Although your constituents repose the fullest confldence
in your Integrity and Abilities, yet it may not be inexpedient on
some momentous occasions that they express to j'ou their senti
ments and expectations. Many complaints have of late prevailed
from the pernicious practice of the law in this Commonwealth,
and that the modern practice of the profession is such as tends
rather to the embarrassment, perplexity, and expence of the People,
than any real advantage or furtherance of their prosperity and
happiness. AVe conceive that an easy and equitable administra
tion of Justice is highly essential to the Peace and happiness of the
People, but we by no means apprehend that such an administration

15
depends on a numerous order of Practitioners, voluminous Laws or
great art and address, which are perhaps often displayed to screen
and serve a bad cause, as to defend a good one ; and as all Consti
tutions, Laws and Establishments have, or ought to have, the good
of the People for their ultimate object, and all practice should be
conformable thereto. We think proper to Instruct you, and we do
hereby instruct you to use your utmost endeavors in the next
Session of the General Court to have a full investigation of the
subject, and to place the administration of Civil Justice in this
Commonwealth, on that safe, easy, and equitable basis, which
the preservation of Peace and good order, connected with
the prosperity and happiness of the People, mark as the
model of wisdom in a Free Republick, observing that you keep
within the bounds of the Constitution. If this can be effected by
proper checjfs and restraints on the Practitioners of the Law, we
do not insist on your exertions to endeavor an annihilation of the
order, but if upon investigation, it should appear more conducive
to the happiness of the People, that the order be annihilated, you
will act conformably ; for it is much better that a few suffer than
that the whole sink beneath oppression.
You will also endeavor in this Event that such arrangements
are adopted, as will effectually- secure all proceedings already had
since the Settlement of the Country, as well as afford an easy and
safe mode of procedure in future, nor do we conceive this a very
difficult task, under the Smiles of Heaven, which we implore in
your aid :
In the name and behalf and by order of the Inhabitants of thc
Town of Eoxbury in Town meeting legally warned and assembled
on Monday, May, 1, 1786.
(Signed) John Read, Moderator.
In September, 1814, by vote the town unanimously engage,
" That the Inhabitants of the Town of Roxbury, will by manual
labor, pecuniary contributions, & military services, do whatever
the Executive of the Commonwealth shall require to put the
State of Massachusetts in a proper posture of defence."

16
These are some of the doings of the town of Roxbury, of
which we once formed a part, in the days that have passed. The
men of those days, doubtless, performed their parts after their
fashion, — some well, some ill, some indifferently, — as we are
now performing our parts in the great, thc incomprehensible
drama we call life.
Mr. Ellis, in the History of Roxbury, has given elaborate and
well-drawn characters of several men distinguished in the times
that are gone. Thomas Dudley was among those who filled a
large space as a r.olitician, and who was Governor and Deputy-
Governor at an early period in our colonial existence, and the
name of John Eliot, a pure-hearted philanthropist, called the
Apostle, should be familiar to all. The former seems to have
possessed all the attributes of a sturdy puritan, — a class of
people who seem never to be happy except they have somebody to
quarrel with, or some one to oppress. Dudley was active, enter
prising, and always looking sharply after his own immediate
personal interests, demanding toleration for his own insensible
and frequently absurd religious opinions, and strangely exhibiting
fierce intolerance of the opinions of others ; one of those who
boasted that they had risked life for their religion, yet when in
power could refuse toleration to others.
The Apostle, on the other hand, seems to have passed a life
of persevering virtue, without indication of the illiberality of
the age, — striving with means not abundant, to encourage all
by his earnest, active benevolence, and at the end of his life lie
endowed Roxbury, and especially this portion with lands, that
have been valuable, and we are to this day enjoying the benefit
of his bounty. His life was eminently useful — not a failure,
though Mr. Ellis very justly intimates that one of his gracious
and kind efforts was. He translated the Bible into the Indian
language, and with a heart full of kindness towards the Abo
rigines, devoted his energies, which were great, to their civiliza
tion. In this he failed, as the good Las Casas, under Spanish

17
rule, had failed before him. Both are to be commended for
making the experiment ; if it had never been tried, the result
never could have been known, and we should not have had evi
dence of its futility. Ages ago, according to iEsop, an attempt was
made to wash the Blackamoor white, but the Blackamoor died
under the operation. Experiments of a similar kind are ' now
on trial, to fail, as all others have failed heretofore. The deter
minations of the first great cause cannot be overturned — set
aside, by man or devil. Satan tried the first experiment. That
failed; as all experiments must, when attempts are made to
counteract the intentions, resist the ordinances, or reverse the
decrees of the Almighty.
It may not be inopportune to speak of one who bore an
important part in the municipal history of Roxbury at a much
later period. The Hon. Ebenezer Seaver at one time represented
the district in which Roxbury was, in the Congress of the United
States, and for thirty years was one of the Selectmen of Rox-;
bury, and the Chairman of the Board for many years, until he
declined its duties on account of advancing age. He waa
educated at Harvard College, but preferred agriculture to any
profession, and devoted his life to that and to the service of his
fellow-citizens, in the management of their municipal affairs.
He was a man of sense, firmness and integrity, just in his
action, never faltering in what he esteemed right, nor hesitating
to denounce what he considered wrong, careful of the public
interest, which he cherished more than his own. The public
gave him unlimited confidence, in spite of grave difference in
opinions ; his own opinions he avowed and maintained, however
much they might differ from others, but standing by them, unlike
Dudley, was tolerant of the opinions of others, not obtrusive of
his own ; but asking that for himself which he conceded to
others, granting to all competent to form an opinion the same
privilege he claimed for himself. He enjoyed the luxury of
personal independence to its fullest extent ; his actions he held
3

18
were of consequence to others only so far as they were affected
by them. His belief was his own : that no one could dictate,
and, whatever it might be, into it no one had a right to inquire.
He who holds opinions different from his neighbors, if his
opinions are widely wrong, should be compassionated, not per
secuted. Belief is a thing beyond the mind's control; the same
evidence that satisfies one, brings no conviction to the mind of
another. But, Mr. Seaver lost nothing with the men of his day
by the openness of his character, or by the fearlessness which
he always presented ; all recognized his integrity, and the major
ity seldom failed to acknowledge his value as a public servant.
The want of courage in avowing opinions is a vice of our times ;
too many conceal their opinions when not in harmony with the
mass, and thereby not unfrequently aid the mass in perpetuating
abuses. He who is capable of forming an opinion, but forsak
ing manhood and renegade from principle, falters from fear or
interest, either in politics or religion, acting contrary to his
own deliberate judgment, in opposition to his own well-con
sidered convictions, is a traitor to himself, his country and
his God.
Our venerable friend, Michael Whittemore, now present at
¦the age of eighty-five, rich in the respect of his fellow-citizens,
was the colleague of Mr. Seaver. Mr. Whittemore and Mr.
,Judson Chapin were the only ones living who had represented
this part of the town in the Board of Selectmen under old
Roxbury, at the time of the division. Mr. Chapin served on the
Board for six years after the division, and it is with great
pleasure I bear cordial testimony to his carefulness, prudence
and good judgment as a servant of the public.
Why the part of the town now called Jamaica Plain was des
ignated as Jamaica, it is impossible to tell. I venture the con
jecture that the Indian name of the place had a similar sound.
The spelling it Jamaco at times, seems to warrant this sugges
tion.

19
On the records it is sometimes called Jamaco, sometimes
Jameica, sometimes Jamaica, and sometimes Jamaica End ; not
often till after 1700, as we now write it. Various suppositions
have been made heretofore, but there is no foundation for the
suppositions, nqt even respectable tradition. The pond was
called the Great Pond in the early records, and undoubtedly at
comparatively late period drew its present name from Jamai
ca Plain. The origin of names to places, or streets, is often ob
scure. The region of Canterbury Street bore the name of Can
terbury District for a great length of time, but though I have
examined many elderly persons, I cannot find the shade of a
tradition as to its origin.
In a part of the record, Mr. Williams and Mr. Seaver, by vote
of the town, are asked to put in writing what they would fence
Long Crouch for.
It would much puzzle the present fathers of the town, and in
deed would require considerable research to discover that Seaver
Street was Long Crouch. It was known fifty years ago by the
name of Long Crotch, and was so designated till called after
the Hon. Ebenezer Seaver.
Forest Hills Street was called Jubes Lane within the memory
of many, and the tradition is that it was called after an old ne
gro that lived thereon many years ago. This is correct. An
obscure record informs us that the negro's name was Jupiter ;
on the town books it was called Jupiter's Lane, and in the ab
breviated and common language it was corrupted into Jube's
Lane, and poor Jupiter was deprived of his compliment. Per
kins Street, as early as 1 700, was kno-wn as Connecticut Lane,
laid out ill 1727, and extended in 1762; why called Connecti
cut Lane, it is impossible to ascertain.
On the 6th May, 1795, there was an article in the town war
rant to see if town would call town meeting in the middle pre
cinct, that was Jamaica Plain, the house was polled and decided
in negative.

20
Since the incorporation, in 1636, many attempts were made
to separate what is now West Roxbury from the original town
of Roxbury.
The first attempt was as early as 1706, — then Joseph Weld
and forty-four others — there being about fifty families at that
time, (prayed) petitioned that the West part, commonly called
Jamaica End and Spring Street, might be made into a separate
precinct. The second attempt was made in 1778, and then it was con
templated taking the second and third parishes, which then com
prised, with some exception, what is now West Roxbury.
The record shows that June 9th, 1777, at a meeting of the
second precinct in Roxbury, lawfully assembled, it was voted,
That the inhabitants of this precinct join with the inhabitants of
the third precinct in this town to present a petition to the Great
and General Court, setivg fourth the situation of said Town, and
the difficulty in attending Town meetings, and pray the Honor
able Court to set of and incorporate said two precincts or
parishes into one district and separate district by the name of
Washington, and it past in the affirmative unanimously.
Deacon David Weld appointed a Committee to carry above
vote into effect.
The next attempt, of which I can find any record, was in
May, 1817, fifty years after. A Committee, consisting of David
S. Greenough, Jr., Joseph Curtis, John Prince and Ward N.
Boylston was appointed on Jamaica Plain. Mr. Boylstdn was
understood to be the principal mover.
Their report presents a curious contrast to the expenditures
of the present day. The whole amount of tax (paid) assessed
upon the then whole territory of Roxbury was $7708.88, of
which the second parish paid $714.85, and the third or Jamaica
Plain parish, paid $1785.63, amounting to $2500.48, for what is
now West Roxbury.
The Committee go into calculation to show that an annual

21
saving of $352.48 would be made by a separation. It does not
appear that the attempt at separation led to anything more than
reports in the year 1817. A fuller report was made in 1818 by
the same Committee, with the exception of Mr. Greenough ; no
favorable result was produced by the exertions at this period,
though I am told the matter caused much excitement.
In 1838, another attempt at division was made, in which the
late General William H. Sumner and Mr. Bussey were promi
nent, and Messrs. Jos. Curtis, Francis C. Head and David S.
Greenough were the Committee of the third parish.
The principal point made was, that the third parish paid the
preceding year, in taxes, the sum of $4810.94, $2219.94 of which
(they say) was expended exclusively for the benefit of others.
It is alleged this last amount is expended for things in the first
parish, or Roxbury proper, as it is sometimes called, with which
they have no concern, paving and lighting streets, supporting a
Town watch, so called, though their services are confined to
Lower Roxbury exclusively. The report is elaborate, and the
Committee say " no one can avoid being struck with the enor
mous proportion of the town expenses for purposes, the benefits
of which are exclusively confined to the first parish.
The positions taken were generally correct, and there is little
doubt but that the third parish was a source of revenue to the
first for at least thirty years before the final division.
In February 1843, another attempt at separation was made
which brought forth strong opposition, from Lower Roxbury,
which had become by that time deeply interested in retaining so
profitable a source of revenue as the third parish.
A large and able committee selected from all parts of the
town, for neither second or third parish were then united, were
arranged in opposition to separation. The Committee were
authorized to employ counsel and summon witnesses to resist the
division. In the report ofthe Jamaica Plain Committee of 1843, signed

22
by Messrs. S. G. Goodrich and Stephen M. Weld, they say
" There is one other consideration that doubtless lies at the
heart of the petitioners, and may as well be avowed. They feel
that they are controlled by a majority, thickly settled at one ex
tremity of the Town. Imputing no evil design, no ungenerous
feeling to any one, they still think that they are in a state of
practical servitude. They wish to enjoy that quickening im
pulse which belongs to independence ; that efficiency which
springs from unity ; and, under- these influences, they hope, nay,
expect, if they succeed in their prayer, to see a vigor, life and
adaption brought to bear on their interests, which cannot exist
while they are but a remote fragment of a large town."
The petition preferred at this time was not granted.
In 1 844, another new petition was presented which had at its
head that honored patriarch, Ebenezer Seaver. A Committee of
the lower part in a report, assume to decide what is for the ben
efit of the upper part.
Though Jamaica Plain at this time appears to be a unit, the
promises to the western part produced there some division of
sentiment. At the western part the voters stood fifty-seven in
favor, to thirty-one against separation.
In February, 1844, an able Committee, principally from the
first parish or lower Roxbury, were appointed to appear before
the Legislature and oppose division, and were successful in their
opposition. In 1845, the inhabitants of Jamaica Plain, intending to prefer
fresh petition, their opponents resorted to a step which it was
supposed would forever prevent separation, and petitioned for
a city charter, and Roxbury voted in November, 1 845, that it
would not oppose division, but in the month of December, fol
lowing, reversed the decision by a very large majority.
I find a report without date, but which probably was made in
1845 or 1846, signed by Messrs. D. S. Greenough, Moses Wil
liams and Joshua Seaver, in which the propriety of a city char-

23
ter is discussed, concluding with recommending the following
vote: Voted, That it is not expedient at present to petition for a
city charter.
This appears to be a minority report, the majority report
being in favor of a city charter, which was obtained in 1 846. It
is somewhat remarkable, but Mr. Austin was not aware of the
existence of the documents and reports from which he has
quoted in 1851. They were given to him in 1862 by Colonel
Greenough. They would have been of value in carrying the
division in 1851, but no one of the gentlemen informed him of
the existence of them ; so he derived no benefit therefrom.
The obtaining a city charter was supposed to be an effectual
bar to the wishes of those who desired separation, and the char
ter was obtained with that view, but it greatly increased the de
sire for a division.
At the close of the year 1850 earnest expressions of the de
sire of separation from the city proper of Roxbury arose in the
second and third parishes. By some it was considered impossi
ble to effect a separation, as the annexation to a city was not
uncommon but division from a city had never been known.
In all matters relating to my own connection with the divi
sion, or management of town affairs after division, I shall use all
plainness of speech, and what I state as matters of fact in the
connection it will not be fair to consider as said in a spirit of
egotism. And I shall speak the more plainly as there ai'e many
new comers who have been prejudiced, and have not been rightly
apprised of the past.
Mr. Austin lived at a remote part of Roxbury, and had but
recently become a citizen in 1850. Earnest appeals were made
to him to assist in dividing what is now West Roxbury from
Roxbury city by interested gentlemen of Jamaica Plain, and
large pecuniary reward was held out. He declined to act for
compensation ; but tendered his personal and professional servi-

24
ces without wishing or expecting any remuneration, except the
satisfaction of gratifying his fellow-citizens in what appeared to
be so much for their advantage. At the first consultation, at a
house within view of this building, he assured those assembled
that success should follow if the matter were left to his guidance.
One of those most interested said that he could not sell his land
whilst remaining under city government, that people would not
emigrate from Boston to a city, and that as he had large unpro
ductive estates that without the division he would be ruined. Mr.
Austin told those assembled that the petition could not be car
ried on the ground of unequal taxation, as taxation always had
its inequalities, but on principles of far higher importance. He
told them they had the right to administer their own affairs in
their own way whenever they could shew that the majority of
the petitioners owned the territory, and were desirous of exer
cising authority over what was their own; the true ground to
put division on was that they had sufficient territory, sufficient
population for a town, and that owning the soil they had an in
herent right to manage their own affairs in their own way; and
that the great point was to establish unity. This unity was car
ried under his direction; and about five, certainly not ten, in
the whole territory that sought the boon of self-government but
what became petitioners for a division. He declined to put for
ward any argument as to the difference of taxation. It was
quite possible, he said, that the taxes might be of equally high
rate after a division ; but the real point was, if a town by them
selves, they who paid the tax could have the benefit of directing
thc expenditure, and not be in the hands of those who had
numerical advantage, and might or might not do them justice.
The opponents of division, in 1851, in Roxbury proper were
able, persevering to obstinacy, and threatened to leave no stone
unturned to kill the petition, and in their warmth promised
themselves the Governor's veto. They succeeded in postponing
the hearing till a late day in the session, and, after persevering

25
efforts against the bill generally, offered to assent to the Charter,
if the petitioners- would make Green Street the line, leaving all
below that line in the City.
Mr. Austin replied he would not sacrifice friends in that quar
ter, and tha,t he intended to carry off all of the second and third
parish. The next proposition was to take a large portion at
the East up to Walkhill Street, with a plausible argument that
Forest Hills Cemetery should be under Roxbury's jurisdiction.
All the amendments of the opponents were defeated, and after
five months' labor the bill passed May 24, 1851, the last day of
the session. The contest being the hardest ever known in the
Legislature, excepting that of Warren Bridge, which was pro
longed several years.
Mr. Choate and Mr. Austin were the counsel of the petition
ers. Mr. D. A. Simmons and Mr. J. J. Clarke for the opponents
of Division.
The whole of Mr. Choate's argument was taken down in
short-hand, and published in a pamphlet. I give the following
extracts therefrom :
" I am sure you will hardly suspect me, at this time of night,
of a desire to declaim ; but it is hardly extravagant to say that
this bill which you are asked to pass will be received like another
Declaration of Independence. The ringing of bells and the
firing of bonfires will exhibit the feeling that exists. Thia
strength and unanimity of feeling I regard as very high evidence
that the interests of these persons will be promoted by this act :
it is evidence that there are evils which they feel, and that the
separation will be the remedy.
" But the presumption is, that a wide spread discontent is well
grounded. And I think it ought to serve — instead of entering
into a history of the city government — that it ought to serve
for proof that these gentlemen who have lived under this action,
who have summered it and wintered it, who represent a com
munity that concurs that they have felt it practically to work
4

26
unfavorably to them, — I trust you will receive that as proof
that they will derive inestimable benefits from this proposed
separation." " Mr. Choate continues : Of course, gentlemen, as I was just
having the honor to say, the petitioners do not rely upon the
strength or unanimity of their qwn wishes in their behalf as evi-
4ence of the evils they feel and the relief they crave. They
undertake to point those evils out. And they find, to begin
with, the source of them all just where the citizens of just and
free governments find the source of all social and political evil,
in thjs : that they are deprived of the great gift of self govern
ment in its best form. The grand and comprehensive remedy
they seek, then, gentlemen, is to make a more complete approach,
by your aid, to self government ; and not only a more complete
self government, but a species of self government in which the
will of the people shall be more certainly, more directly and
fliore influentially applied to the management of their own af
fairs. That is the grand comprehensive evil of which we
complain. " The evil which we labor under is two-fold. This locality (I
pean upper Roxbury) is governed, this day, not by itself, but by-
lower Roxbury, and not only that, by a city government, an ob
jectionable form of government to agricultural communities. Ih
the first place, we are governed, this day, by other men. I mean
to say, gentlemen, if lower Roxbury chooses to elect this man or
that man, defeat this man or that man, carry this measure or that
measure, etc., it can do it, and we are powerless in their hands.
The numbers are there."
The only portion of Mr. Austin's opening argument preserved
is, -what was written out at the request of some citizens who
desired to call attention to the town. It was published in the
Morning Post, and is as follows :
"Mr. Chairman — Attached as our agricultural territory is to Eox
bury city, we are as Somerville was befpre its separation from Charles-

27
town, — like a stagnant lake, its waters unruffled and unrefreshed' by
the purifying influence of the westem breeze.
" Sir, if your committee could see our territory, as I see it now, re
vived in the recollections of a happy boyhood — if they could see it as
I have daily Seen it for the last flve years, I would not argue this ques
tion one minute — argument would be superfluous. Nature itself has
entered its protestation against that act of legislation that made it a
city. It is a territory full of rural beauty — from my door-stone in
midwinter have I seen hundreds of robins, happy in the branches of
my cedars* Are these the denizens of a city? Is it necessary to have
a police from Lower Eoxbury, to protect or restrain them? From my
chamber this morning I cast my eye over hills covered with pines that
have been undisturbed for ages, and which may remain for ages yet tp
come, — over a broad meadow, at which, in its periodical emigrations,
the webfooted wayfarer of the upper deep seeks a temporary resting
place, in which the bittern sounds its cry — from which the lark soars
to heaven — beyond dark forests are seen, apparently boundless, wh«re
the birds ofthe air career undisturbed — undisturbed? intrepid as when
they flew at Eden!
" Within our borders are ravines as wild as any among the recesses-
of Hew Hampshire — as romantic as any that can be found among, the
hills of our own Berkshire: a region full of living beauty — ^that
might awake, in the breast of a politician, if that were possible, some
thing of poetic ardor. A territory full of memorable beauty, replete
with scenes that might afford to another Pope new sources of melliflu
ous inspiration — here are retreats where the directing mind of another
Chatham might in tranquillity form plans for the salvation of a land —
solitudes sublime, where some future historian, in repose, may record,
in magnificent periods, the rise and fall of naagnificent empire.
" And is it such a territory as this, that you would condemn to the
vices and miseries — the miseries and vices of a city gBvernment?' We
trust not, sir. We confidently hope — we courageously believe that the
wrong, originally practised, you will generously redress-.
"I ask this boon then of you in the name of five hundred voters,
within this territory, of all political parties —united and combined —
perhaps united and combined in nothing, else, but unanimous in this ; I
ask it in the name of over three thousand inhabitants living within our
laorders — at all period* of life, from lisping infancy to dechning age,"
Mr. Austin, in his general argument, showed that division
would be beneficial to West Roxbury and not injurious to the

28
city; and that there was no instance on record where either
party was injured, and no instance where the new town did
not increase and the old one enjoy greater prosperity by divi
sion, besides strongly urging the positions which he originally
suggested. It was necessary to present to the Legislature itself, in a brief
pamphlet, the general grounds assumed in the opening argument,
as but few were present Tvhen it was delivered.
I quote a portion of the pamphlet as follows: "The peti--
tioners claiming generally to be owners and occupiers of this
agricultural territory allege, and they think with manifest truth,
that there is no necessity that the city form of government
should be extended over them. They claim that they possess
sufficient capacity to manage their own affairs, with economy,
and more to their satisfaction than it is possible to have them
managed by those who now control them.
^' The petitioners claim, that owning and occupying the terri
tory which they pray to have set off, that the custody, guardi
anship and advancement thereof, of right belongs to them, and
they are disposed to think this position impregnable. Having
the capacity of self government, being respectable in territory
and in numbers, there would seem to be little reason why they
should not be permitted to enjoy their own, in the way and
manner most satisfactory to themselves."
And it will be perceived by the concluding clause of the
report of the -majority of the Legislative Committee that the
position was therein maintained by the Committees, and after
wards by the Legislature of 1851. The Committee say: ^'But
here is an abundant territory for a large town, of a rural
description, beautiful sites for country residences, and farming,
-containing three thousand inhabitants, who nearly all desire a
separation, who are entirely competent, and wish to govern them
selves ; and your committee, believing that this division can be
made without injury to either party, ask leave to report the
-subjoined Bill and recommend its passage."

29
Roxbury, in 1851, had six Representatives in the Legislature :
four were from the city proper, who were fiercely opposed to
the division, — two representing this portion ; Messrs. Theodore
Dunn and Stephen M. Allen gave their earnest support, and
were untiring in their efforts to produce the result desired.
The first town meeting was held at Taft's Tavern, June 3,
1851, under a warrant issued by Dr. Luther M. Harris. Our
respected and venerable citizen, Moses Williams, Esq., was
unanimously chosen Moderator; our present excellent Mr.
Maccarty, Town Clerk ; and Mr. E. M. Dudley, Collector and
Treasurer, which offices the two last-mentioned gentlemen have
held respectively to the present time, with great acceptation.
Messrs. Cornelius Cowing, George Brown, Stephen M. Allen,
Theodore Dunn, and Arthur W. Austin, were chosen Select
men ; and the first official act of the Selectmen was to grant
permission to Mr. Pratt and others to furnish fire-works.
On the evening of organization, June 3, West Roxbury was
a Town, and the people met in congratulation ; there was the
roar of cannon, fire-works on the plain, and bonfires on the
hills. By effecting the incorporation, Mr. Austin considered he had
conferred benefit on every landholder, and probably on every
citizen. A committee of those who had been most active, and
who possessed the best knowledge of his exertions, addressed
a letter, July 26, 1851, to Mr. Austin, which I give, with his
reply. West Roxbury, July 23d, 1851.
Arthur W. Austin, Esq.,
Dear Sir, — Your fellow-townsmen are impressed with the
belief, that their separation from the City of Roxbury, and their
incorporation as an independent town, will greatly promote
both their interest and their happiness. Efforts to bring about
the same result have been made at different times, in former
years, but without success.

30
For the consummation of their wishes, at the last session of
the Legislature, they feel mainly indebted to you, for your wise,
energetic, and untiring efforts ; and they feel the more obliged,
because they know, that all these efforts were made to establish
our common rights, and without the expectation, or desire, of
any pecuniary reward.
Your labors, however, were intense, long continued, and suc
cessful ; and your fellow-townsmen, grateful for the favors you
have been n:ainly instrumental in conferring on them, and fully
sensible of your arduous efforts in their behalf, have deposited
the sum of $800 to your credit in the Boston Bank.
This sum they hope you may invest in some manner agreea
ble to yourself, and in such a way that it may occasionally re
mind you of the kind and grateful feelings entertained towards
you by all the citizens of the new town of West. Roxbury, in
whose behalf, we subscribe ourselves,
Respectfully and truly, your friends,
Moses Williams,
Stephen M. Weld,
D. S. Greenough,
(Copy) J. H. Curtis.
(Copy answer, 1851.)
West Roxbury, July 26, 1851.
Messrs. Moses Williams, Stephen M. Weld, David S. Green
ough, and J. H. Curtis, Esquires.
Gentlemen, — ^Your obliging favor of the 23d inst. was re
ceived this morning. For the kind expressions and for the lib
eral token of my townsmen's kindness communicated therein,
please receive my warmest acknowledgments.
The spirit in which their generous testimonial is conferred is
fully appreciated by me ; though the satisfaction, at having in
some degree contributed to gratify the long cherished but long

31
delayed wishes of my fellow-townsmen was complete -without
the substantial memorial prompted by their kindness.
I have seen their gi-atification in their happy faces, and have
felt it in their gratulating hands. There are few moments in
life more satisfactory than when we feel that we have been in
strumental in promoting the interest and happiness of our
friends and neighbors; and the assurance of the satisfaction
of an entire township, like ours, ought to satisfy any reason
able ambition.
The reminiscences connected with our late efforts, and the
friendships formed in consequence, must always be cherished as
amongst the most valuable of my life ; and at the earliest con
venient opportunity, such disposition of the munificence of my
fellow-townsmen shall be made that I shall not be occasionally
but always reminded of their regardful and generous spirit.
To you, personally, gentlemen, I am under the deepest obliga
tions for confidence reposed and encouragement given during our
late contest, and that by you and all of our townsmen, — the 24th
of May — the day of the independence of our newly created re
public^ — may be forever marked with a white stone is the con
stant wish and prayer of your faithful and obliged friend,
Arthur W. Austin,
of West Roxbury,
As reports have been made by those who know better that
the division was carried by money, I take pleasure in stating
that we bought not our way ; it was carried by its own merits,
aided by the force of a determined will. In the course of the
summer, General Dearborn died ; he had been Mayor a part of
the year over us, while we were part of the city ; though opposed
to division, he had always treated the matter fairly. Mr. Austin
will repeat a brief eulogy from the Town record as it exhibits
the respect of Mr. Austin to a life-long political opponent and
has not had much publicity.

32
Gentlemen op the Board op Selbct-mbn, — I should have
called you together earlier, had I not been aware that some of
you were necessarily absent. Since our last regular meeting.
Providence has removed from this earthly scene one whose re
lations have been intimate with our territory, and who has held •
situations therein which have claimed for him, and entitled him
to our respect. The manly form — the dignified presence — the
agreeable address — the pleasant colloquial powers of General
Dearborn have passed away.
" Under the circumstances of our late connection, it seems to
me fitting that our Board should take some public notice of one
whose life has been so valuable, and inscribe to him some
tribute in our records.
" General Dearborn was a true patriot, from patriotic stock;
with him ' Our country, however bounded,' was not an artificial
sentiment, but a reality. As a statesman, his views were never
sectional and never narrow. Called early to situations of
responsibility and trust, he met the requisitions with signal
faithfulness and ability. In his characteristics there was
nothing selfish, interested, or mercenary; having a value in
himself, that which was outward did not seem to affect him. I
have said he was a true patriot — he was a true man; pre
serving his equanimity amid the propitious or adverse. His
generous hospitality, his liberal courtesies, when the ability was
perfect, were only surpassed by the cheerfulness and dignity
with which he so conformed, as almost to seem to welcome the
circumstances of a lessened fortune.
" As a politician, he was frank, open and decided ; capable of
forming, he acted up to the courage of his opinions.
" Non-commitalism — the offspring of craft, but the scorn of
manliness — made no part of his natural or acquired constitu
tion. And if openness and frankness did not always acquire
for him the currency he deserved, it was the fault of others, and
not of himself, His hours of leisure were not hours of idle-

33
ness, but his time was always devoted to that which might be
valuable and useful to others.
" Of a mind imaginative and reflective, at all times of his life
he was rather before than behind his age ; and was possessed
of many qualities that claim respect, and of some that chal
lenge admiration.
" It has been my fortune, through almost the whole of my life,
to be ranked amongst the political antagonists of General
Dearborn ; but I have never heard his integrity in any quarter
questioned or impeached, or anything advanced in derogation of
his claim to entire personal respect.
" With regard to our particular territory, he was always lib
erally disposed, and, in his official character, ever ready to do
us justice.
" We have been indebted to General Dearborn, in common
with the world, for much of advancement in the valuable and
pleasing sciences of agriculture and horticulture ; both of which
have been improved by his skill, and adorned by his pen. He
has thus passed a life useful, valuable and honorable, leaving
around us many grateful memorials of his services and his
virtues." At the argument before the legislative committee in 1851, it
was maintained that West Roxbury, if incorporated, would ad
vance in all particulars ; but the result has far exceeded the
predictions. It is proper to present some statistical facts to warrant the
above assertion.
By the census of 1850, what is now West Roxbury had 3,304
inhabitants; by the census of 1855, 4,812, — an increase of
more than 45 per cent in five years. The United Slates
census of 1860 cannot be depended on; but, by the census
of 1865, the number of inhabitants was 6,912, and there were
647 dwelling-houses in 1855, and 1,044 in 1865. The increase
5

34
of inhabitants from 1855 to 1865 was over 42 per cent, and in
fifteen years from 1850 the population more than doubled.
The ordinary calculation is from 22 to 25 per cent in ten
years ; and the large percentage above exhibited is unexampled
in a place long settled.
For the sixteen years that Roxbury existed a city, and West
Roxbury a town, the annual rate of taxation in the city averaged
$11.03; in West Roxbury, $7.80. The debt of West Roxbury
is now $35,000, and the city debt amounted in the same time to
$991,456, nearly a million of dollars; and it may further be
observed that our rate was on a low or moderate valuation, and
the city at a high valuation.
Indeed, I have heretofore made calculations that, owing to the
difference in valuation, the tax at the city was really twice that
of our town. The value of our act of incorporation is exhib
ited by the remarkable increase in population within the first
few years of our existence as a town. And as the town never
has been stinted, and the taxes, generally speaking, not bur
densome, the benefit of managing our own affairs in our own
way is manifest.
The first year, 1852, the amount raised was . . $18,250
in 1853 " " " . . 22,200
« 1854 " " " . . 24jl00
" 1855 " " « . . 28,600
The amount appropriated iu some measure keeping pace with
the growth of the town.
The town grant this year is ... . $87,875 00
State tax  19,580 00
County  8,282 57
$115,737 57

35
Over the two last items, the town has not control. The
County tax is more than twice as much as in 1852, and the State
more than ten times as much.
In 1852, the rate in West Roxbury was $4.15 in t!ie thousand,
and the rate was never higher than $6.40 till after 1860.
This year the rate is $9.40, and perhaps the valuation higher
than in former years.
Mr Austin was Chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the
first eight years of the town government. He was elected
Selectman twice, after publicly declining, — twice unanimously,
and there was no serious contest, except the year 1855, against
the Know-Nothing party, when he was chosen by a vote of nearly
three to one : and Mr. Austin, the last time he suffered himself
to be a candidate for national office, had a majority over both
the Republican and Know-Nothing parties. These facts are
mentioned in justice to the people of West Roxbury, who, as a
body! have always cordially sustained him.
The first year was one of particular importance, on account
of the organization of the town government ; and the Board of
Selectmen were intrusted with a very delicate matter, — the
adjustment of financial affairs with the City of Roxbury, which
adjustment was satisfactorily made, — the Division Committee
saying, in the concluding paragraph of their report: "Your
committee state, as a matter of congratulation, in the negotia
tions, thus far an amicable and just spirit has been evinced,
creditable to both city and town, and prophetic of the friendly
relations of the future." The committee was thanked by vote
of the town. By this adjustment, in February 1 852, after pay
ing all our expenses of the year preceding, we had in tbe treas
ury over $7,000 and the City of Roxbury scrip for $11,765.95,
which has since been redeemed.
It is proper to remark that nothing was charged for services,
though the responsible and laborious duty of drafting and pre
paring all the important instruments and deeds necessary t.) the.

36
settlement of affairs with Roxbury devolved on the chairman.
In 1852 a portion of Dedham was annexed to West Roxbury,
by an act of thc legislature, and in 1852 and 1853 the road
was built loading through Morton Street to Dorchester.
And in the same year, there was an excited discussion on the
subject of a Town House, and the chief burden of defeating it
then was thrown upon the Chairman. It was proposed to build it
in the neighborhood of Taft's Tavern, but such were the reasons
offered in opposition, that tho citizens of the western part of the
town cheerfully acquiesced in the reasons presented. ^ Mr. Aus
tin, in 1859, at the conclusion of the Selectmen's report, thus
took leave of municipal affairs :
Fellow-Citizens : The chairman now retires from the ad
ministration of your affairs, having devoted more than the leisure
of the past eight years to what he has supposed your welfare.
He is fully sensihle that your uninterrupted confidence, testified
by repeated annual election, has given coherence and effect to
his efforts for your advancement.
Amid all the heats and fluctuations of party during the time
he has served, he has uniformly enjoyed your confidence and
been sustained by your approbation, • — a fact creditable alike to
the elector and the elected ; and it is with justifiable and pleas
urable pride that he reflects upon the unexampled prosperity of
thc town since its incorporation. The office he has held has not
by any means been a sinecure, but the retrospect will be ever
grateful, cheered as it will be with the belief that his endeavors
to pro-mote tlie interests of his fellow-citizens have not been alto
gether in vain.
At the annual meeting in 1859, the following votes were
passed with only one dissenting voice, and that of a clergyman :
Rrsohrd : That the thanks of the people of West Roxbury be
presented to Arthur W. Austin, Esq., for his long and ardu-
.ous services as Chairman of their Selectmen, for his fidelity and
constant attention in defending their legal rights, and in what-

37
ever he considered would most promote the welfare and pros
perity of the town.
Resolved, That the people of West Roxbury will always re
tain a grateful remembrance of said faithful services, and that
their best wishes attend Mr. Austin in his retirement from the
office he has filled during a period of eight years in so success
ful and satisfactory a manner.
Though taken by surprise, Mr. Austin's reply was such that it
proved agreeable even to his political opponents. He said his
lieart was full, would have been too full, but for the momentary
opposition, for which he was thankful ; that in the administration
of municipal affairs, he might have committed errors, as all were
liable to errors, that he was not conscious of any, certainly no
material errors had been committed, but if there had been, as
his services had been protracted, laborious and gratuitous, it
might not be unbecoming Christian charity to throw its mantle
over him. He ended with hearty wishes of happiness and pros
perity to all the citizens of West Roxbury.
Mr. Head succeeded as chairman, and after him came fhe rule
of party, of which I do not now propose to speak.
In the spring of 1852, after the exciting discussion about the
Town House, the Selectmen unanimously agreed to change the
name of Centre to Austin Street. Centre Street was an un
meaning term — it was not the centre of the town — but was a
continuation of Centre Street, Roxbury. It was difficult for a
stranger to tell where Roxbury ended, and where West Roxbury
began ; and the town having received a new designation, all the
title deeds would read as if the estates were on Centre Street,
Roxbury. It is now, and has been for a long time, the custom
in cities and towns, to give the name of a street, school, park or
square", to a public officer, or to some person who may have ren
dered service of note to the public. ¦ Mr. Austin took great pride
in the town ; it pleased his pride to enjoy the compliment which
appeared to be willingly bestowed. At the time of political ex-

. 38
citement,inl857, certain parties desired an article in the annual
warrant, to see if the town would change Austin to Centre Street ;
the town, when assembled, chose Mr. Austin Selectman by a
generous vote, and indignantly dismissed the article, thereby
confirming the name wifh marked unanimity.
In December 1861, certain malicious parties finding they had
a political majority on the Board of Selectmen, petitioned to
change the name from Austin back to Centre Street, believing it
to be, as they alleged, for the interest of the town. The Select
men changed the name. Mr. Austin's friends gathered round
him, and urged that the subject should be brou.trht before the
towm He declined any such action, and told them his name
should not be bandied about at a town meeting, nor be the means
of disturbing the peace of the town ; that he had the names of
the parties concerned ; when he was ready, would write the his
tory of the town, and would embalm the petitioners as Pope had
embalmed the blockheads of the Dunciad. And the record
stands, showing about one hundred and fifteen persons, who,
with the petty malice of petty minds, have rejoiced in depriving
of a cheap compliment, one who, for eight years, by night and
by day, had been untiring in the service of a town, which some
of them had admitted he was the principal agent in bringing
into existence.
The events of later years are painfully familiar to all on the
stage. My own opinions have ever been openly avowed.
As to those, recreant to principle, who engaged in the late
unhappy war, prompted by an ill-regulated, indefinite and
unholy ambition, or what is worse, moved by unholy hate, or
actuated by mercenary motives, or excited by the hope of plun
der, living or dead, with such I have no sympathy ; let the waves
of oblivion hurry to roll over them !
But to those, in all parts of our common country, animated
by lofty, noble sentiments, inspired with generous emotions,
impelled by the -\varni impulses of patriotic hearts, acting from

39
sound or mistaken judgment, who sacrificed their li\'es in the
maintenance of their principles, all honor and respect that
humanity can offer, whether they now slumber by the banks of
the rivers where they fell, unheeding the waters that will forever
flow by them, or whether they lie under the field of slaughter
where they perished, unconscious of the wind that roughly or
gently sweeps o'er them, or whether their sleep is tranquil in
the gardens of the dead, where flowers nourished by the hands
of affection, bloom around them, or whether they rest beneath
the turf of their native valleys, there reposing regardless of the
failing shadows of the evening twilight, there calmly sleeping,
" careless of the voice of the morning."
We have here what may well be called a noble edifice. We
come here to dedicate it to the purposes for which it was in
tended. It is an evidence of the overflowing wealth and material
prosperity of the Town; but I see greater, more satisfactory
evidence of the value of the Town in the assembly before me.
Ou XWoi, ovSs |uXa, ouds
Ts^vr] TsHTovuv ui iroksid eitfiv,
'AXV 0 -rou *or' av Sdlv "ANAPE2
Aurourf dii^siv siSorsd,
'EvraMa t£ij^») xai itiXsii.
Edifices of splendor — ^lofty towers — frowning battlements —
tall spires, make not the real wealth of a country ; frowning
battlements will be of no avail unless within are courageous,
manly hearts, willing hands, ready to resist oppression, defend
the fireside and protect the liberties of a land ; tall spires that
you point in pride to heaven, will be an offence to the God of
Truth if the roofs cover nought but hypocrites; the true
wealth of a country is in the elevation, the dignity of its man-
]iood — in the virtue of its women.

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