The history of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, By a committee of the Dorchester antiquarian and historical society ...

452 HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
the name of Hewes's Farm, was sold Nov. 6th, 1772,
~156 17s.; School Farm, Dedham, sold 25 March
1790, proceeds not yet received, amt. with interest,
~879 Is.; Donation of Proprietors of Dorchester,
given to the Town to be applied to some publick
Purpose, has been appropriated to the use of schools,
~100; piece of land near Mr. John How's [the
School Pasture] supposed worth ~300; ~ a Pasture
upon the neck, supposed worth, ~50: Total, ~1970
8s. 8d."
In 1792, a committee was chosen to consider the
expediency of dividing the town into wards, for the
better accommodation of the schools. They reported, on the 5th of March, that there were " 177 children north of the meeting-house, including Dorchester neck; from said meeting-house to Mr. Jonathan
Pierce's on the lower road, including said Pierce's,
92; from Mr. Thomas Leed's to Mr. John Capen,
junr., & to Mr. John Dolbeare's, inclusive, 111; from
Mr. Abraham Pierce's to Roxbury line, on the upper
road and other parts adjacent, 172; total, 552 children," under fifteen years of age. This is the first
census of the children entered on the Town Records.
The committee proceeded in their report to set
the bounds of the four wards, as also to locate the
several schools; but, as this report was not accepted,
though placed upon record, it may not be worth the
while to give its details.
The town voted, however, in the following May, to
be divided into four wards, respecting the schools,
and to appropriate ~120, thirty to each ward, towards maintaining said schools. The next year they