subject of poverty, its causes and results, as affecting human happiness and the social condition of society; his watchful care of those tendencies which might add to its increase; his vehement denunciations of those impositions of the vicious which confuse and distract the efforts made to lessen its evils; together with the tender solicitude which he evinced for its innocent and helpless victims, to which was added a punctilious and prompt discharge of official obligations, all these qualities eminently fitted him for that department of the public service which has been particularly assigned

to our care.

Resolved, That, while thus officially placing upon our records this testimony to a faithful public servant and a warm and devoted friend, we do not forget the family of which he was the beloved head, and whose comfort and happiness were his daily care; we respectfully tender to them our heartfelt sympathy and condolence in this season of their deep bereavement, and desire to share with them in the affliction which has fallen upon us all.

Mr. Amory moved that the resolutions be adopted, and that they be entered upon the records.

Mr. Cruft then spoke as follows: I should hope, Mr. Chairman, that these resolutions and the preamble, which I heartily second, of the character and services of our lamented associate, might have a wider notice than simply to be placed upon our records. More conspicuous notice is continually being published of those of far less note and worth. Dr. Allen was a public man, as you have said; a faithful public servant, than whom few have ever served the city with greater fidelity and diligence. It is a great loss that our Board has sustained, - one we cannot fully realize now; one that will grow upon us more and more as the months go round. The coming winter, which from all the signs must be a very hard one, if not the hardest, among our poor, will make us feel most sensibly the privation of his strong presence, his wise counsels, his ever-ready and energetic co-operation. Especially will this be the case, as you have said, in the Temporary Home, to which for so many years he has given so much of his valuable time and attention. His knowledge of the character and wants of the poor, especially of the Roxbury District, from long study and experience, was such that very much of it, as in the case of our late Secretary, must necessarily perish with him. Dr. Allen was a remarkably busy man; he never knew an idle moment; it was always a wonder with me how he could find time to accomplish so much. He was one who not only had "many irons in the fire," but he had the rare faculty of keeping them all "hot." He held many offices of trust, and, as you have very truly remarked, he not only held them, but he filled them; and most all of this was gratuitous work; he was not rich for himself, but rich for others; he never delegated his work to others, but made it his own personal concern and care. “The cause that he knew not he searched out." It was my privilege to be associated with him for some years on the School Board, and here his loss will be deeply felt; here his labors were equally constant, numerous and valuable; he was the chairman of three

important committees, and of course, as such, had most of their work to do. These were of the Roxbury High School; the Sherwin School, which he had watched over from its humblest beginnings to its present large growth, with the tenderest interest and a proud satisfaction; and also of the School for Deaf Mutes, one of the most important and interesting of all our schools. It was here that I met him for the last time, but a few days before his death; it was at the building on Warrenton street, that had been especially prepared and renovated to meet the rapidly increasing wants of the school. He had watched over the repairs that had been going on during the vacation with careful oversight, and he spoke of the abundant satisfaction he felt that all had been done so thoroughly and well; that the want so long felt had been so gloriously met at last, and that the school in its new location had now opened before it such a prosperous future. Alas that he could not have lived to have shared in its prosperity!

We can

But it is especially here at this Board, in the confidences of our own family circle (as I think I may not inaptly call it), that we shall miss the presence of Dr. Allen; here we met him in unreserved intercourse; here he unbended and unbosomed himself, and what wise and pleasant conference we had together! That vacant chair how eloquent it is! He must come to fill it. We cannot make him dead — no, we need not he is not dead — he is alive forevermore he is with us and will be with us ever in spirit. walk with him and labor with him in the higher walks and labors of a true spiritual communion. To those not intimately associated with Dr. Allen there was a certain roughness of exterior, a bluntness of manner and speech, that at first might seem to repel; but those who were privileged to penetrate that exterior, like ourselves, know very well what a large, warm, tender heart was beating within. It were not hard to discover the gold in its rougher setting. In his character "the lion and the lamb lay down together, and a little child led him.”

In the heat of discussion we might sometimes differ from him in the conclusions arrived at, though more generally I think we were found to accept those which his own wiser thought and more practical judgment suggested; yet we always had a thorough respect for his very positive convictions; the warmth of their advocacy only made us the more believe in his sincerity and honesty.

These were native to him, and were manifest in all his intercourse; the man behind was greater than his uttered word. I visited yesterday the beautiful "garden of graves" at Forest Hill. I went to the lot and stood by the new-made grave of our dear associate. It was in the stillness of the Sabbath morning, and all around was so peaceful and tranquil, emblematic of the "rest that remaineth for the people of God” the very air seemed to say, and the angels to respond, "He is not here; he is risen.'

The beautiful floral emblems we had seen around the altar and upon the casket, all were there: the cross and the crown, the sheaves and the scales, the last so original and so very fitting, symbolizing as they did the eminent justice that marked all his life, they were there still; but, alas, they were fast fading; they had

lost all their fragrance and their beauty; but how different, I thought, was it now with him; his "mortal had put on immortality; his works followed him, and their remembrance shall ever possess for us a beauty that will never perish, and his example a fragrance that will never fade.

The resolutions were then adopted unanimously.

Voted: That the resolutions, with the remarks of the Chairman and Mr. Cruft, be published in such form as the Chairman may think best, and that copies of the same be sent to the family of the deceased.

Voted: That the Chairman notify the City Council, through the Mayor, of the vacancy in the Board caused by the death of Dr. Ira Allen.

To the Honorable the City Council :

GENTLEMEN, I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication received from the Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, announcing that a vacancy exists in the said Board, occasioned by the death of Dr. Ira Allen. The letter of the Chairman does no more than justice to the personal character and public services of Dr. Allen. In the wards formerly constituting the city of Roxbury his death is especially felt and lamented.

He had served that city faithfully, for many years, in various offices of trust, and he enjoyed the respect and confidence of all classes of people. To his friends there it is a great satisfaction to know that his private worth and public usefulness have been appreciated in the wider sphere in which he has been called to act in these latter years.

I respectfully recommend that steps be taken at an early day to fill the vacancy.

SAMUEL C. COBB, Mayor.

NOTIFICATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL, THROUGH THE MAYOR, OF THE DEATH OF DR. ALLEN.

OFFICE OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR,

CHARITY BUILDING, COR. OF HAWKINS AND CHARDON STREETS,

BOSTON, September 25, 1875.

TO HIS HONOR SAMUEL C. COBB, Mayor of the City of Boston:

SIR,- It becomes my painful duty to officially announce to you, and through you to the City Council, that a vacancy exists in the Board of Overseers of the Poor, caused by the death of Dr. Ira Allen, of the Highland District. Dr. Allen became a member of the Board soon after the annexation of Roxbury to Boston, and brought to its service not only a hearty interest in the work to which it is devoted, but the fruits of a long and ripe experience in similar relations to the municipality in which for many years was his home and the scene of his professional labors.

Fearless and independent in opinions, practical and prompt in affairs, with warm sympathies for the deserving, and a deep sense of official obligations, he was one of our most efficient members.

He died on Sunday evening, August 29th, at the age of sixtythree years.

By his decease the Board has lost an agreeable and wise associate, and the city one of its most faithful public servants.

I remain,

Yours very truly,

F. W. LINCOLN, Chairman.

OLD DOCUMENTS.

A pretty careful examination of the old papers stored in the upper part of the Charity Building shows them to be of more interest and value than was supposed. The pressing daily work of the office has prevented the completion of an index to them, but it is now possible to state, in general terms, their nature and contents.

Setting aside certain private business-papers, the owners of which were probably town-officers (by whom or their executors these were accidentally left among the town papers), which have been or will be restored to the legal representatives of the original

owners, as they can be traced; and leaving out of the account thousands of small vouchers for ordinary town expenses, such as carting gravel, repairs of school-houses, ringing of bells, etc., these papers may be considered under three general divisions, viz., those pertaining to the Overseers of the Poor, those connected with the other town-officers, and those having a more general interest, though often in connection with the town-officers. Each of these divisions is represented, pretty fully, in these files, from 1700 to 1793, and the last two, irregularly, for fifty years earlier. Still, there are many papers missing, to which the reference made in those remaining shows that they once formed a part of the collection, and of those which remain too many are mutilated by the cutting away of autographs. In the leases of estates near Dock Square, 1739 to 1760, this may have been done when the leases expired or were annulled, but in the majority of the papers there is no room for charitable doubt.

There is no mention of the Overseers of the Poor until 1700, which is nine years after the Board appears first to have been chosen; but there is hardly a year after that date in which these papers do not throw some light upon the history of the care of the poor, or the effort for the prevention of poverty and the expense of providing for it. While a smile often rises to the face of the reader of these old records, as he notes the curious methods which these men, who were creating a civilization anew, took for the attainment of their purposes, he will often have renewed cause to admire the sterling good sense, the keen perception of the true causes of poverty, and the unfailing goodness of heart of the men who wrote them.

From about 1713, it was the custom of the Overseers, with one or more of His Majesty's justices, accompanied by a constable, to walk through the different parts of the town, observing the condition of the people for themselves, sometimes making an appointment to go at night. At the same time it was the duty of the constables to keep a good lookout that no strangers were allowed to gain a settlement by lack of being warned out, and that none of the inhabitants were idle or unthrifty. After the visits, when necessary, the Justices and Overseers sat as a court to pass upon what they had observed, or what had been reported to them.

[Extracts from Minutes and Votes 1702 and 1703.]

"At a Prosession of the Overseers of the Poor, July 21: 1702 Goody Crease, her circumstances Enquired into. Esther Sigsworth and her three daughters are reported not to imploy themselves in an Honest Imploy answerable to their way of liveing, and that they Entertain in their House Company dancing at night. William Gowers, his Circumstances Considered. Upon Enformation that a boy of Goody Kitchen-s lives disorderly that case was enquired into. Henry Adams his condition was consulted."