382 History of Hingham. 



employed before the purchase of the farm. The farm gives those 

 inmates who are willing to work an opportunity to do so, and 

 compels those who are naturally idle to contribute something 

 towards their support. The products not consumed on the prem- 

 ises are sold, and the income thus produced decreases somewhat 

 the annual expense to the town. These houses were also retreats 

 for the insane, whose condition was greatly changed for the better 

 upon their removal to the Town Farm. Instead of being confined 

 as they had been, it was found that the policy of giving them 

 greater freedom operated favorably, and it proved in many cases 

 that a considerable amount of labor could be performed by 

 them. 



A liberal sum has always been appropriated yearly by the town 

 for the support of the poor both in and out of the house, and it is 

 with pride that we point to the comparatively small amount of 

 actual poverty in the town. 



TOWN HOUSE. 



All the town-meetings were held in the Old Meeting-house from 

 January, 1681-2, to October, 1780. After that date, to accommo- 

 date the voters residing in the south part of the town, some of the 

 meetings were held in the meeting-house of the Second Parish. 



March 13, 1827, the First Parish voted " that no more Town 

 meetings shall be held in the meeting-house of the First Parish, 

 from and after the last day of February next." After that date 

 meetings were held in the hall of the Derby Academy, or in the 

 meeting-house of the Second Parish until the erection of a Town 

 House. 



May 7, 1844, a contract was made by a building committee, ap- 

 pointed by the town, with Samuel G. Bayley, in which Mr. Bayley 

 agreed that he would " on or before the first day of November 

 next, erect, build, and complete, on a lot of land situated on Main 

 Street, in said Hingham, being the premises purchased by the said 

 Inhabitants of the Town of Hingham, for that purpose, of John 

 Loring, a Town Hall " for the sum of $3,400. It stood on Main 

 Street, opposite the present site of the Evangelical Congregational 

 Church. 



The building was never very satisfactory and finally proved to 

 be inadequate for the needs of the town. In 1872 the town took 

 a lease of the parts of Agricultural Hall which had been pre- 

 pared for its use, for fifteen years from Oct. 1, 1872, at an 

 annual rent of $700. The lease was renewed for fifteen years 

 from Oct. 1, 1887, at an annual rent of $750, — the Agricultural 

 Society having constructed a fire-proof brick vault for the purpose 

 of preserving the papers and documents of the town, and granting 

 a more general use of the building than under the former lease. 



