Lucius R. Paige, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a genealogical register

[220] that the Overseers should “appoint a suitable person to be Warden of the Poor's House,” who should “cause his family to lead their lives and behave at all times soberly, quietly, decently, orderly, and regularly; particularly he shall cause them to attend the public worship on Sundays as often and generally as conveniently may be;” and he “shall endeavor to form the paupers under his care to habits of economy, frugality, temperance, sobriety, and industry; particularly he shall keep them employed in such useful and profitable labors as they may be respectively able to perform, within doors or without doors, having regard to their different sexes, ages, bodily strength, former habits of life, and all other circumstances, with the approbation of the Overseers;” and that they should also appoint a suitable physician, and employ all necessary servants. The Warden should be required to pay all the earnings of the paupers, monthly, to the Overseers, who should pay the same, half yearly, to the Treasurer, drawing on him for the funds necessary to defray all charges; and the Treasurer should keep a separate account of all such receipts and payments. Finally, “the Overseers of the Poor shall from time to time make such regulations, not inconsistent with these general regulations, the laws of the Commonwealth, or the principles of humanity and benevolence, as they may judge fit for the better ordering of the Poor's House and the affairs of it; which regulations so by them made shall be binding until the expiration of the year for which such Overseers shall be chosen, or until they shall be by them revoked.” This report was accepted; and Dr. William Kneeland, Mr. Jeduthun Wellington, Deac. Aaron Hill, Mr. Ebenezer Stedman, and Mr. Edward Jackson, were thereupon elected as the first “Overseers of the Poor, distinct from the Selectmen.”

In this house, and under such regulations, the pauper establishment was admininistered until 1818, when a new Almshouse was erected in Cambridgeport. By deed dated April 2, 1818, Jonathan L. Austin and Benjamin Austin conveyed to the town about eleven acres of land, being the whole square bounded by Harvard, Norfolk, Austin, and Prospect streets, except one house lot, previously sold, at the corner of Norfolk and Austin streets, “measuring 100 feet on each of said streets, 100 feet on the westerly side, and 78 feet on the northerly side.” The Overseers reported to the town, Nov. 2, 1818, that they had sold the old Almshouse to Jonathan Fowle, for $454.50, and had erected