Chronology

1632	Space was assigned to a “beadle” for a prison in Boston.
1639	Legal provisions were established for care of the deserving poor, correction of the idle poor, and warning out of nonresidents.
1660	A major private bequest was given to build Boston’s first freestanding public Almshouse.
1662	Boston’s first Almshouse was in operation.
1682	That Almshouse was destroyed by fire.
1686	A new brick Almshouse was built at the northwest corner of the Common.
1690/91	The Boston Town Meeting selected its first Overseers of the Poor (four were chosen).
1692	The General Court of Massachusetts established the legal status of the office.
1704	The General Court defined “the poor” as those on alms and those not rated for taxes.
1713	The Boston Town Meeting approved a ward system based on earlier militia and fire-watch precincts.
1723	A freestanding prison (Bridewell) was opened near the Almshouse.
1735/36	The ward system was fixed at 12 with one Overseer assigned to each ward.
1738/39	The first freestanding Workhouse (separate from the Almshouse) was occupied.
1739	New warning out law. Transients could claim residency if not ordered out within three months.
1742	Renovation and expansion of the 1686 Almshouse.
1772	The Overseers were incorporated as an exclusive public arbiter of private bequests.
1793 and 1794	The Overseers’ 1692 authority was renewed with modifications. The same laws effectively ended the practice of warning out.
1795	Almshouse, Bridewell and Workhouse properties were sold for redevelopment.
1801	The new Bulfinch-built Almshouse opened at Barton’s Point. It doubled the capacity of the older Almshouse.
1821	Josiah Quincy Jr’s Report . . . on the Pauper Laws . . . called for the reform of public poor relief, including an end to “outdoor” (that is, at home) relief.
1822	Boston received a city charter that required elected councilors and an elected mayor in place of selectmen. This meant an effective end to the Town Meeting as the local authority. The House of Industry was built to replace the 1801 Almshouse, and combine Almshouse and Workhouse functions. The Overseers were excluded from its management by 1825.
1823	Josiah Quincy was elected Boston’s second mayor and waged a campaign to end outdoor relief and curtail the Overseers’ authority. As a result, the city government authorized a different system of the management of public poor relief that began to reduce the Overseers’ roles to clerical functions.

1 On some of the MS pages this column is titled “Where born.”

2 Marked for entry at this point is the interlineation “Absent a few days Remitted.”

3 The edge of the page is torn away.

4 In this and the following entry the edge of the manuscript is torn.

5 The year was interlined above “Do.”

6 An entire entry has been effaced.

7 Above the surname the clerk interlined and then canceled the name “Carswell.”

8 The bottom left corner of the page is torn, resulting in the loss of several letters in this and the following entry.

9 Closing parentheses supplied.

10 This entry written in pencil and by another hand than the rest of the register.

11 This word is interlined. I.e., the child of Hannah Hollis.

12 A stain obscures the year.

13 The bottom left corner of the page is both torn and effaced, resulting in the loss of the surname for this and the following entry.

14 The MS is stained, obscuring a portion of this and the following entry.

15 The bottom right corner of the page is torn off, resulting in the loss of text here and in the next entry.

16 The bottom left corner of the page is torn, resulting in the loss of text in this and the next two entries.

17 These two words are entered in a column titled “age.”

18 The edge of the page is worn, resulting in the loss of some text in this entry as well as the next.

19 The edge of the page is worn away resulting in the loss of text at the beginning of the entry.

20 Mrs. Sadler’s given name is interlined above the canceled text.

21 The previous two words are interlined and marked for insertion at this point

22 The edge of the page is worn away, resulting in the loss of text in this and the following entry

23 Thus in MS.

24 Entered in a column titled “age.”

25 Entered in a column titled “age.” The edge of the page is worn away.

26 The remainder of the entry is covered by a strip of paper pasted to the MS to repair a tear.

27 The edge of the page is worn away, resulting in the loss of several letters in this and the next two entries.

28 Entered in a column titled “age.”

29 Entered in a column titled “age.”

30 Entered in a column titled “age.”

1 Heading supplied from the final MS page of Notifications.

2 Written along the left margin of the MS.

3 The corner of the MS is worn away, resulting in the loss of text in this line and the next.

4 This entry written on a slip of paper interleaved at this point in the volume.

1 Thus in MS.

2 10 and 11 of the MS are missing.

3 Pages 28 and 29 of the MS are missing.

4 This is the last page numbered in the MS.