By comparison of the registers it will be observed that there was disregard of school district lines. TOWN HALL The first town meeting of the district of Holland after its incorporation, was July 24, 1783. It was held in the church on the hill above the old parsonage (Mr. Silas Fletcher.'s) as indicated by the town warrant. The church was the great centre of social, political, moral and spiritual life of towns in those days. And yet a meeting of that sort seems strangely out of place in a church today, because the voters are so diverse in feelings and opinions. Towns have felt the necessity of having a town building or hall in which the voters could meet and transact the town business. Diversity of sympathies, of opinions, and of faith, rendered this inevitable. Some towns held to the custom of meeting in the church much longer than others. This was especially true of towns not subject to radical change in population. Towns where homesteads pass from sire to son and remain for generations in the same family name are conservative. This conservatism may act as a preservative of the best life of the town. Such we believe was the case with Holland. It held to the custom of holding its town meetings in the church for nearly one hundred years, simply because there was no decided demand for a town hall, nor do we find an indication that one was wanted for about sixty years after it was incorporated. After the new church was built (1835) the old church stood on the common unused. Naturally the question of converting that into a town hall would come up when one or more town meetings had been held there. A committee was appointed to investigate the condition of the building and report, 1837. Their report was adverse for we find a vote (1838) to build a town house. It did not materialize, however. Town meeting was held in the Baptist church sometimes. Building a town hall was avoided by holding town meetings at Holland Inn, paying one dollar for the privilege, 1839. This led to the sale of the old church building, 1839, to Willard Weld for ten dollars. Town meeting was held once in a while in the Baptist church and in 1842 a town meeting was held in a horseshed. In 1848 the Baptist church was closed to use as a Baptist church for lack of support. They tried, ten years later, 1858, to sell it to the Congregationalists after their church was burned but failed to effect a sale. An article was in the town warrant for a meeting, April 5, 1869, "to see if the town will vote to build a town house or take means to obtain the Baptist meeting house and convert the same into a town house; or act anything relating thereto when met." At the meeting the town took action as follows: Voted, "To build a Town House using the old Baptist meeting house as far as it will go, if it can be legally and lawfully obtained." Further discussion of the probable cost led to a reconsideration of the above vote, for we find "Voted, to reconsider the above vote." Also:-"Voted, to pass over taking means to obtain the Baptist meeting house." At a town meeting held Nov. 2, 1869, at Kinney's Hall it was "Voted, to accept the report of the committee that were chosen to see if they could obtain a good title to the Baptist meeting house." From the report it is evident that the Baptist society had to reorganize before their meeting house could be transferred. When reorganized, the society passed the following vote. "Voted to give the Baptist meeting house with the land belonging to the same to the town of Holland if said town will repair and convert it into a town house, provided anyone in said town could have the privilege of holding meetings in said house when not occupied for town purposes; or for schooling. Orrin W. Brown, Lewis C. Howlett, At a meeting of the town, it had been voted to buy the Baptist meeting house property if it could be secured for a sum not to exceed $200. -- Through the work of its committee the town secures it as a gift with nominal provisions. This indicates splendid work on the part of the committee. At the same meeting it was "Voted, to accept the Baptist meeting house as a gift from the Baptist Society." Also "moved that a vote of thanks be extended to the Baptist Society for the gift of the Baptist meeting house." Carried. The said meeting house became town property by deed of gift, April 4, 1870. At a meeting held March 25, 1870, and in anticipation of the Baptist meeting house becoming town property it was "Voted to raise two hundred dollars to aid in defraying the expense of repairing the meeting house." At the town meeting held April 4, 1870, it was voted to choose a committee of three to superintend the repairing of the old meeting house and not to expend over $500, and to be finished by Oct. 1, 1870. George L. Webber, Wm. A. Robbins, O. W. Brown, Committee of Repairs. Holland had now a town house, and the use of part of it for school purposes was a result, the product of circumstances. Much credit was due to the committee who secured such an acquisition for the town on such terms. Lewis C. Howlett was chairman of the purchasing committee and it was regarded as due to his tact and foresight that it was secured as a gift. A vote of thanks was passed for the gift and for the service of the committee. Holland had been eighty-six years without a town hall and of that eighty-six years the churches had supplied the need nearly sixty years. The next thing was to repair the building and bring it into condition for town use. It is to be regretted that no picture of the building as it was when used as a church is now available; but we are told that it had a belfry without steeple built outside of and attached to the front end of the building and that it never had a bell, but that the deck for the bell extended some higher than the ridge pole. The entrances to the church were at the base of the tower. When repairs were made to use it for a town hall, the tower was removed and a floor has been put in making it a two story building, of which the room up stairs is used for town hall. The room down stairs is used for a school room now as noted in Chapter on Schools. Recently an outside stair way has been put on to avoid accident in case of fire. Thus what was the Baptist Church is meeting now a two-fold need. CHAPTER IX HOLLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY That the people of Holland were interested in having access to good reading material, evidence is not wanting. Miss Louisa M. Howlett has in her possession a book on the fly leaf of which is inscribed "The Property of the Holland Social Library Company." which would indicate that a Library Company was formed of those who wished to have good material to read. It was probably done by each subscribing a specified sum per unit of time. A subscription library is better than none, but it is not apt to last long, for the subscribers get dissatisfied, and then comes the sale of their stock. This seems to have been the sequel of the Library Company referred to, and Miss Howlett's grandfather, Loring Chapin, became the recipient of the book as a present from his mother, bearing date Feb. 10, 1816. The book is a copy of Oliver Goldsmith's "A Citizen of the World." Who were in this company, how many volumes their library contained, how long it lasted, we have not been able to learn. It is creditable that such a Library Association was formed. School libraries may have taken its place so that the gap between the dissolution of that company and the beginning of a public library was not wholly void. In 1892 it was voted to accept of the provisions of Chapter 347 of the acts of 1890, and secure the state fund for a public Library. Here was the beginning of what is now Holland Public Library. The first Board of Trustees for the Library were elected as follows,-H. E. Wallis for one year; F. B. Blodgett for two years; and L. H. Howlett for three years. Mr. Ralph Howlett was elected and served as the first librarian. A room was partitioned off on the lower floor of the town hall in which to keep the books. Year by year the number of volumes grew, by purchase with the town appropriations, and |