It is therefore ordered ... that every towneship in this jurisdiction,
after the Lord hath increased them to the number of 50 householders,
shall then forthwith appoint one within their towne to teach all such
children as shall resort to him to write and reade,--whose wages shall
be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the
inhabitants in generall, by way of supply [tax], as the major part of
those that order the prudentialls of the towne shall appoint: provided,
those that send their children be not oppressed by paying much more
than they can have them taught for in other townes. And it is further
ordered, that where any towne shall increase to the number of 100
families or househoulders, they shall set up a grammer schoole, the
mr. thereof being able to instruct youth so farr as they may be fited
for the university, provided that if any towne neglect the performance
hereof above one yeare, that such towne shall pay 5 pounds to the next
schoole, till they shall performe this order.
[The punctuation of this noble sentence has been somewhat
classified here by the use of parentheses, dashes, and colons for
the commas of the original. On this legislation, cf. _American
History and Government_, # 123. The "university" was Harvard, which
had been founded in 1636. The greater part of this law was adopted
two years later in Connecticut.]
83. Representative Town Records
(Extracts from the _Watertown Records_ for the years
1634-1678)
Watertown was the second town to set up town government. (Cf. (1),
below, with No. 72, above.) The complete records of these years
1634-1678 would fill 250 pages of this volume. Note the greater
illiteracy from about 1650 on, and cf. _American History and
Government_, # 122.
(1) August 23, 1634. Agreed by the consent of the Freemen, that there
shall be Chosen three persons to be [for] the ordering of the civill
affaires in the Towne [One of them to serve as "Towne Clark"]; and [he]
shall keep the Records and Acts of the Towne. The three chosen are...
(2)--ember 13. Agreed, by the Consent of the Freemen that Robert Seeley
and Abram Browne shall measure and lay out all the Lotts that are
granted.
Agreed that no man shall fell or cutt down any timber trees upon the
Common, without the consent of Robert Seeley and Abram Browne, and
otherwise to pay to the Towne for every tree 5s.
(3) January 3, 1635. Agreed that no man being foreigner ... coming out
of England or some other Plantation, shall have liberty to sett downe
amongst us, _unless he first have the Consent of the Freemen of the
Towne_.
(4) Feb. 21, 1635. Agreed by the freemen that whosoever hath a Lott
in a generall Inclosure shall fence it with the rest according to
proportion, and if he shall refuse, the Lott shall returne to the Towne
againe....
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