cultural and manufacturing establishments, and the other social statistics, for 1850, as entered by the assistant marshal under the authority of the United States, be obtained by the town, suitably bound, and deposited with the town clerk, or board of health, (if one should be chosen,) and that it be furnished with an alphabetical index for reference to each family and each establishment. 6. That a Board of Health, composed of some of the intelligent cit izens of the town, be chosen or appointed, and that the measures recommended in this Report, so far as they are locally applicable and expedient, be adopted and applied to the promotion of the sanitary welfare and happiness of the people. 7. That a general report be made annually, by the selectmen, or board of health, containing a clear, concise, and simple statement of the finances, the income and expenditures, and of other public matters, of the public schools, and of the sanitary condition of the town, during the preceding year; and embracing such suggestions as it may be deemed proper to make, and which may lead to improvement; and that the same be printed in a pamphlet form, circulated and preserved. XXVI. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH OF THE TOWN OF PLYMPTON, FOR THE YEAR 1850. BY THE COMMISSION. [The following reports are inserted for two objects-one to convey interesting sanitary information; another to illustrate a mode by which an annual report of a Board of Health may be prepared. The first, relating to Plympton, is made upon an important or special occasion, and details more particulars than are usually needful in a report for such a town. The other, relating to Lynn, also has some peculiarities, but may serve to suggest topics for notice in such reports, which may be applicable to other towns. These are not reports which were actually made by Boards of Health in those towns, but which might have been made from the facts that there existed.] To the Inhabitants of the Town of Plympton : There are times when it is as proper for towns as it is for individuals to pause, to examine into their condition, to review the history of the past, and to ascertain how far they are prepared to meet the anticipations and hopes of the future. It may be the termination of a semicentennial, a decennial, or other period of time; or the recurrence of an anniversary of some historical event. One of such periods is the year 1850. Some of the events of our history have from time to time been laid before you; but this year completes another half-century of the ordinary divisions of time, and it is the year for numbering the people of the nation, and for valuing the property of the State. These and other circumstances render it a year of more than usual importance, and will justify the Board of Health in a comparative review of the past, and a recapitulation of some facts which may, perhaps, be already familiarly known. The town of Plympton was incorporated Nov. 26, 1695. Previous to that time, it constituted the northwest parish of Plymouth; Carver at the same time constituting the southwest parish. It was first settled, and has since been principally occupied, by the emigrants, or their descendants, from the ancient and venerable town to which it was at first attached. It is now in the hundred and fifty-fifth year of its existence; but it has never held a very important rank in population or property, as compared with many other towns composing the sisterhood of the Commonwealth. It has had no local feature to give it prominence or peculiarity; yet its condition is not without interest to the inhabitants, and may not be entirely unimportant to people elsewhere. For many of the facts now about to be stated, we are indebted to our venerable town clerk-Deacon Lewis Bradford, Esq.-who has past his eighty-second year in vigorous health. He has been reëlected this year for his thirty-ninth term; and, during the long period in which he has held the office, the records of the town have been kept with a minuteness and fidelity, in most respects, unsurpassed at any other period, or in any other town, within our knowledge. 1. The Number and Social Condition of the Inhabitants. The population of the town has been nearly stationary for the last fifty years. According to the National Census of 1850, it contained 927 inhabitants, which is two less than the number given in the State census for this year. It was 861 in 1800; and the average of the last six National censuses is 895. It had 34 less, in 1800, than this average; 900, or 5 more, in 1810; 930, or 35 more, in 1820; 920, or 25 more, in 1830; 834, or 65 less, in 1840; and 927, or 32 more, in 1850. The following are the comparative details of the last three enumerations : The area of the town is 14.52 square miles, or 9,310.11 square acres. There are 63 inhabitants, nearly, to a square mile, or 10 acres to each inhabitant. The following statement will show the manner in which the lands have been divided, at different periods, according to the return of the assessors to the State : Acres. : In 1800. In 1810. In 1820. In 1830. In 1840. In 1850. This is 490 acres less, in 1850, than the actual area. Of the 927 present inhabitants, 880, or 94.9 per cent., were born in Massachusetts; 29, or 3.1 per cent., in other States; and 18, or 2 per cent., were foreigners. Of those born in other States, 9 were natives of Maine, 3 of New Hampshire, 10 of Vermont, 3 of Rhode Island, and 4 of New York. Sixteen of the foreigners were born in Ireland, and two in France. These facts show the population to be of a remarkably stationary character. If a distinction had been made between those born in the town and those born in other parts of the State, as it should have been, a still more striking illustration would have been afforded. The ancestry of more than two-thirds of the whole population has been traced back to the elder pilgrims of the Mayflower. The 927 inhabitants live in 164 dwelling-houses, and in 188 families; which is 5.6 persons to a house, and 4.9 persons to a family. According to the return of the assessors to the State Valuation Committees, the house accommodation in the town, at different periods, has been as follows : This shows that house accommodation has been increasing. The occupations of the male inhabitants, over 15 years of age, are as follows: Farmers, Shoemakers, including two boot-makers, Other mechanics and manufacturers :-4 blacksmiths, 2 boxmakers, 10 carpenters, 1 clothier, 4 machinists, 2 woollen 107 89 manufacturers, 1 moulder, 9 nailers, 1 painter, 2 spinners, 2 sawyers, 12 shovel-makers, 1 tailor, Professional men :-1 clergyman, 2 physicians, Other occupations:-1 agent, 1 boarding-house keeper, 2 clerks, 1 conductor, 10 fishermen, 1 innkeeper, 2 pedlers, 1 seaman, 1 student, 6 traders, Total male persons in town, over 15 years of age, 51 3 35 32 19 336 A comparison of the agricultural produce of the town, at different periods, exhibits the following results: The number of farms enumerated in the census of 1850 was 71; and they contained 4,693 acres-2,538 improved, and 2,155 unimproved ; the smallest contained 12 acres-10 improved, and 2 unimproved— and the largest 175 acres-85 improved, and 90 unimproved. Three were valued under $1,000, and one as low as $700; 31 between $1,000 and $2,000; 23 between $2,000 and $3,000; 10 between $3,000 and $4,000; 2 between $4,000 and $5,000; and 1 at $5,000. They had 66 horses, 194 cows, 100 working oxen, 102 other cattle, 35 sheep, 114 swine; and the annual product is stated at 260 bushels of rye, 2634 of corn, 569 of oats, 54 of peas and beans, 4,354 of potatoes, 56 of barley, and 10 of buckwheat; 13,635 pounds of butter, 4,795 of cheese, 697 tons of hay, 5 bushels of grass-seed, 94 pounds of wool, 95 pounds of beeswax; value of orchard products, $573. The whole may be stated as follows ; Aggregate value of the farms enumerated, 66 66 of the farming utensils, 66 66 of the live stock, Total capital vested in Agriculture, Aggregate value of the annual products, estimated at the market value in the town, including value of animals slaughtered, $136,047 6,226 14,960 $157,233 $14,819 The mechanical and manufacturing industry of the town is principally employed in the production of cotton printing cloths, shovels, iron tacks, boxes, and boots and shoes. Some account of these productions was obtained in 1837, 1845, and 1850. The results, as far as they can be compared together, are as follows: The manufactures of boots and shoes were not enumerated in 1850; and, though specified in 1837 and 1845, are omitted in this statement. The cotton mill contains 1,200 spindles, and 30 looms, and produces annually 202.800 yards of cloth. Seventy-two thousand shovels, 150,000,000 tacks, and 5,000 packing boxes, were made last year. The average monthly wages of a farm hand, with board, is The following statement shows the valuation and proportion of $1,000, as fixed by the State at different periods. The relative proportion of $1,000 included Maine, before 1820, which then belonged to Massachusetts : The real estate was valued, in the census of 1850, at $231,010. The true valuation of the real and personal estate, made by the assessors this year, was $405,200; and the taxes assessed were $233 for the county, $1,824 for the town, payable in cash; and $500 for highways, payable in labor. The number of legal voters, for the last 7 years, has averaged 222; the smallest in any one year was 207, and the largest 236. The public expenditures of the town, for the last two years, ending March 1, provided for by taxes, have been as follows: |