1832. January. Voted, That all neat cattle, horses and mules be restrained from going at large on the highways and commons within the town of Hamden the ensuing year under a penalty of eighteen cents per head for neat cattle, and twenty-five cents for horses and mules, each; one-half to the impounder and the remainder to the pound keeper, and it shall be the duty of the Haywards, and lawful for any freeholder, to impound any cattle, horses or mules so going at large.

1834. At a special town meeting legally warned and held Decr. 15, 1834, for the purpose of providing an Alms House, or work-house, for the town poor, Joel Ford, Esq., was chosen Moderator. Voted, That the Selectmen be requested and impowered to purchase a situation at the expense of s'd town for the purpose of converting it to a house of correction for the accommodation of the poor of s'd town and all those who shall become disorderly, in consequence of which it shall be thought necessary to place them under the management and control of the keeper of said house, but if considered by the selectmen not proper, or expedient, at the present time, to contract with some suitable person or persons to support the poor of s'd town for such term as they, the Selectmen, shall deem desirable.

THE POOR OF THE TOWN.

BY C. P. AUGUR.

E find by the act of incorporation that careful provision was made that the inhabitants of the new town of Hamden should "take upon them the charge and support of their part of the town poor of said town of New Haven in proportion as aforesaid.”

Our ancestors were careful to prevent any undue accession to the numbers of the town poor by providing that when any transient person, "without any visible means of support," came within our borders they were soon warned to 'depart the town," by the selectmen, that they might not gain a settlement here.

The poor that really belonged to the town were cared for either by being "set up to public vendue," singly or all together, and bid off to the lowest bidder, or placed with suitable persons, under the direction of the selectmen, as witness the following votes passed at a town meeting held Dec. 11th, 1815: "Voted, That if any person shall appear to bid off all of the aforesaid town poor for a less sum than they shall amount to singly, they shall have the privilege; all under the care and direction of the selectmen."

"Voted, That whoever shall bid off the whole of the town poor for the ensuing year, shall be required to give a bond with sureties to the selectmen in the sum of $1,500, conditioned that the poor, so bid off by him, shall be provided and furnished with comfortable food, clothing and

lodging, and fire wood during the time for which he undertakes to support them."

TOWN FARM.

In December, 1834, a committee was appointed to "investigate and report on the feasibility of purchasing a place for an almshouse, where the poor of the town could be kept."* And from that time until Feb. 15th, 1850, other committees were appointed for the same purpose nearly every year, but no definite action was taken until the latter date, when the Tuttle farm was purchased for the purpose, and so used until 1861, when it was sold, and the Brooks' farm, the present town farm, was occupied as such, it having been willed to the town by Mr. Enos Brooks, subject to a life lease of his wife, Mrs. Roxana Brooks.

The will stipulated that the income of the farm "should be applied to the maintenance of the roads and bridges of the town," which stipulation has been complied with on the part of the town.

Soon after the town took possession of the farm, the selectmen compromised with Mrs. Brooks by paying her a certain sum annually during her life, and it is a somewhat remarkable fact, that, after being away from the place. nearly twenty years, she was brought back to her old home, where she died in the fall of 1880, and the town erected a suitable monument to her memory.

New buildings were erected on the farm by the town at an expense of some four thousand dollars, and the present accommodations are deemed ample for the comfort of the inmates, who are always under the care of a competent superintendent and matron.

The farm is situated in the extreme northern part of the town, and contains one hundred and eighteen acres of land. The average number of inmates for several years has been from ten to twelve.

*See extracts from Records, 1834.

THE ATWATER FUND.

The late Mr. George Atwater, of this town, bequeathed his property (after certain legacies, etc., were paid) to the trustees of the "Connecticut Hospital for Insane," to constitute a fund to be known as the "Atwater Fund," the income of which, or so much of the same as shall be necessary, to be devoted to the support of the "Insane poor of the town of Hamden."

In accordance with said bequest, the executors of Mr. Atwater paid over to the said trustees the sum of $21,254.03, which is the amount of the "Atwater Fund," the income of which is now credited to the town of Hamden on the insane poor account.

POPULATION.

T has not been possible to ascertain what the number of inhabitants was in 1786, when the town was set off from New Haven. In those early days the chief center of the population appears to have been the Mount Carmel Society. We read in the records also of the "East Farms," and of the "West Farms," but it is certain that the population was much scattered over the territory, and that the farms were generally much larger than they now are. At this date, the main roads leading out from the city are lined on one or both sides by residences at short intervals, so that along the Cheshire road there is an almost continuous village from the New Haven line to Centerville. The churches continue, as of old, to form a sort of nucleus for the population. The several water power privileges, determining the site of factories, also draw residents about them. It results from these, and other causes, that while the people are diffused on farms all over the town area, there are several places at which the population is more dense than at others; and these points are now generally known as Whitneyville, Hamden Plains, Augerville, Centerville, Ives's and Mount Carmel, in their order of succession from New Haven northward. The advancing tide of city population has already reached the southwestern limit of the town, particularly in the region near the terminus of the Broadway horse railway line, and has caused a considerable settlement which by a sort of general consent has acquired the name of "Hamburg," though it does not appear to have ever been formally so named. Its limits are not defined, and the people residing there are generally more directly interested in the city than in the town affairs.