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FACTS, HEARSAY AND MEMORIES - Page 18 I don't imagine that today any child is interested as to when the Town Officers meet, but the last Saturday of the month was something special. My father always carried to the Town Hall necessary books such as the Dog License book, the Marriage License books, blanks to make out Burial Permits and a few of the current record books of Births, Marriages and Deaths. These were kept in a large safe in our front hall as long ago as I can remember. To the best of my knowledge the safe is now in the basement of the present Town Office Building. If it is I would recognize it. I recall seeing different officers drive past. I remember especially Albert Sherman, grandfather of Wendell Sherman. He sat up in one seated open wagon, and his sidewhiskers floated out in the breeze. He was a selectman. Although of course I am writing of time long before women had the right to vote franchise there was one women on the School Board, Annie Sherman of North Westport. She drove a smart little horse and an unusual one-seated canopy top carriage. The Town Hall was then what is now the Catholic Hall. I do not know the exact date but in the middle '90's when the High went permanently to the Head, the upper floor was free for Town Meeting purposes and the lower floor was transformed into offices. It seemed very grand. The first two rooms were the School Committee room on the right, and the Public Library on the left. The treasurer had an enclosure with an iron grating in front for his protection and all teachers near enough to do so went there for their pay in cash, as did workers on roads. Grocers who supplied the Town Farm and anyone who supplied fuel for school houses was paid there. These rooms relieved the home of officers from some of the business. In the earlier days, I do not remember, but I have heard my mother say that the Registrars of Voters met at our house. If they were working on a voting list she provided dinner for all. After they went to the Town Hall I remember on registering days they came up in relays to supper so as not to leave the place closed. A great deal of business was transacted in our living room. Dog licenses, marriage licenses, and burial permits were made out. It was not uncommon in summer when Daniel Sanford, the constable who had been forced to visit homes where there were unlicensed dogs whose owners had been tardy since April 1st in coming across with the two or five dollar fee to spend an entire morning in the chair beside my father's desk. Some of these tardy owners expected to pay, but found it easier to wait for Daniel's visit than to make the trip to Central Village. We understood perfectly that we should make no disturbance of any sort when people were there. We were allowed to sit on the other side of the room in cold weather and play some quiet game. People sometimes would sit there a whole morning looking over records. Selectmen were always coming to see Town Meeting records to see what a certain vote might have been. Beside Albert Sherman, I recall two others, Andrew Sowle of Westport Point, and George Eddy Handy of Horseneck Road. Town Meeting day was one of the high lights. It began for me before it actually opened by looking out and if possible be the first to announce that Richmond's Bakery cart was going down. That meant Town Meeting cake without which no Town Meeting was complete. If the weather was suitable long tables were stretched on horses in the yard, if not in the lower hall inside. As I recall there were three sizes, small ones for five cents each, the next two for a quarter, and a large size for twenty-five cents. They were in content much like an old fashioned bun and contained large raisins sparingly used. Most men munched these with a mug of coffee. The most affluent could obtain a dinner in the Grange Hall. Nearly every man on leaving carried home a paper bag of Town meeting cake, and if you looked in the dinner pails of children the next day it would be only a rare one which did not contain more or less of it. It was always the day for company. Women from other parts of the town availed themselves of a chance to visit friends or relatives while their husbands were attending to the town's business. My mother began making pies early as no telling how many would come for the day, and her Saturday rack full of pies was usually depleted over Sunday. Then too, horses had to be "parked" for the day. As we had a large barn there were several vacant stalls and often horses were hitched on the threshing floor. The barnyard and dooryard were filled with carriages. Most men were considerate enough to bring feed for their horses, but occasionally somebody would dig into our grain barrels. Some men never failed to come to our barn year after year. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
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