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Description and Holding Information
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Joint Comm. on the Hopkins donation. Attorney-General's opinion and report, 1824
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SEE ALSO 51666, 51717. The Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was asked his opinion of the Legislature's plan for the Edward
Hopkins charity. Hopkins made his will in England in 1657, bequeathing L500 sterling to trustees in New England for the encouragement of breeding up youth
in the way of learning for the public service of the country. By the time the will made its way through Chancery, it was 1715; the principal and
interest had grown to L800 sterling. Three quarters of the "avails" were to support Harvard College and the other quarter was to support the Cambridge
grammar school. The trustees were directed to buy land to generate the income. They bought Natick Plantation, which, by 1824, contained the entire
town of Hopkinton and part of Upton. The trustees set up ninety-nine year leases at 3 pence/acre quit-rent and began leasing in 1723. In 1741, the
Legislature altered the lease terms to 1 pence/acre with the residents also paying property taxes to the state. This was to run until March 25, 1823,
after which the quit-rent would increase to 3 pence/acre. The lessees, and eventually the Legislature, thought it was fair for the state to either deduct
the quit-rent from the taxes or to pay the quit-rent from the taxes. Several methods of achieving this were tried over the years and in 1824, the
Legislature wanted to put into law that the state would pay the quit-rent to the trustees every March and the tenants would pay their taxes as if they
owned the land. The Attorney General and the Solicitor General agreed with this proposal, so the Legislature prepared a Resolve to that effect.
(Digitized from a microfilm copy of title originally held by the Massachusetts State Library).
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Title:
To the Hon. the House of Representatives of said Commonwealth.
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OCLC Number:
1381147653
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Available Volumes
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| Name | Fiche Count | Online | Paper Backup |
| Vol. 1 | | Yes | No |
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