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1 620.
1726. KINGSTON. d876
1776.
REPORT
PROCEEDINGS AND EXERCISES
One Hundred and Fiftieth
ANNIVERSARY
INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF KINGSTON, MASS.
JUNE 27, 1876.
BOSTON:
E. B. STILLINGS & CO., PRINTERS,
15 Spuing Lane.
1876.
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OFFICERS OF THE DAY.
Nathaniel Adams, Esq., of Boston.
Witt
-jjprtsifonts.
Penn.
William R. Sever, Esq.
Muss.
R. I.
Rev. Job Washburn,
Me.
Mass.
Rev. William A. Drew,
"
"
Dr. C. C. Holmes,
Mass.
Del.
Hon. Henry S. Washburn,
a
Mass.
Henry R. Glover, Esq.,
u
N. Y.
Philip Holmes, Esq.,
Me
cc
Prop. Albert Stetson,
111
a
James B. Stetson, Esq.,
Cal.
Hon. Joseph R. Chandler, Penn.
Hon. George B. Holmes,
Hon. Edward S. Tobey,
Rufus R. Cook, Esq.,
Hon. George G. Lobdell,
Hon. Erancis M. Johnson,
Dr. Fred. W. Bartlett,
Rev. Winslow W. Sever,
Thomas D. Stetson, Esq.,
Chief Marshal . • Cornelius A. Faun ce.
%&»•
Cyrus W. Ripley.
Quincy A. Eaunce.
Lewis H. Keith.
Walter H. Eaunce.
Chaplain
Toast- Master
Rev. Joseph Peckiiam.
W. R. Ellis.
€*tnrfifae Committer,
Kimball W. Stetson, Chairman.
And Chairman of Committee on Invitations and Correspondence.
Walter H. Faunce, Secretary. Horatio Adams, Treasurer.
Chairman of Committee on Reception.
" Tents.
Henry K. Keith .
James H. Dawes .
Caleb Bates .
Azel H. Sampson . x
William H. Burges
Philander Cobb
Cornelius A. Faunce
Lewis H. Keith
Cyrus W. Ripley .
Frank H. Fuller .
Fireworks.
Finance.
Public Dinner.
Music.
Music.
Decorations.
Military.
Ringing of Bells.
€ommxttzt of IpuMicHlxom
Joseph Peckham, Walter H. Faunce,
Horatio Adams.
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INTRODUCTION.
The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorpora-
tion of Kingston, coming only one week before the centennial
biithday of the nation of which it forms a small but not unim-
portant part, the question began frequently to be asked both by
present and past citizens, Why not unite in a commemoration
of the day ? The desirableness of this appeared all the greater,
since nothing of the kind was known ever to have occurred y and
since the materials for a town history, even from the landing of
the forefathers, when Kingston was apart of Plymouth, had
been largely gathered and only needed to be brought before the
public to give to the occasion an extraordinary interest. The
special appropriateness of a celebration at this time was further
evinced by the proclamation of the President of the United
States, in accordance with an Act of Congress, inviting the peo-
ple throughout the country to assemble in their respective muni-
cipalities on the 4th of July, to recount their local histories, and
then to deposit copies of the same in the public archives at
Washington. This centennial year has not only given greater
intensity to the passion of antiquarians for collecting every
pamphlet and paragraph, every name and date, that- pertain in
any way to the local annals, but also has awakened a uni-
versal curiosity in all matters of the past. From year to year,
increasing efforts are bestowed upon historical and genealogical
research and greater pains are taken for the preservation of the
perishable records and fading traditions of the first settlements.
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6 INTRODUCTION.
It was evidently no less the duty than the honest pride of a
town, so rich in Pilgrim and Revolutionary memorials as Kings-
ton, to contribute its important share to the historic treasures
of the country.
In compliance with this awakened interest, several notices
were posted in different public places of the town inviting the
citizens to meet at the Town Hall on the evening of April 25,
1876, "for the purpose of adopting such measures as they
might deem desirable." As the result, it was unanimously
voted to celebrate. The business- of the preparation was dis-
tributed among ten different committees, the chairmen of which
were to have the general oversight and were to constitute the
Executive Committee. The committees thus organized pro-
ceeded at once to their several duties with a zeal and efficiency
that meant success. The interest daily increased through the
whole community, till those who were indifferent or opposed at
first vied with the foremost in contributing to the material aid
and to the pleasures of the occasion. Including the expense
of the public dinner, more than fifteen hundred dollars were
readily raised by voluntary gifts.
The services of a first-class brass band (the South Abington)
to discourse the music, and of the oldest military company
under the charter of the State (the Halifax Light Infantry) to
perform the escort, were secured. This military company was
organized in 1792. Under the first call of President Lincoln
for troops, after the firing upon Fort Sumter, its captain
(Harlow), receiving the summons at midnight, warned every
member thereof, though residing in seven different towns, so
that without exception "they took the earliest train the next
morning on their way to the scene of conflict. The last act of
this gallant company before being disbanded was the escort
duty most acceptably performed at our anniversary.
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INTRODUCTION. 7
The Commi tee on Invitations and Correspondence, after
much painstaking, particularly of one of their number,* col-
lected and registered in a book for the purpose nearly six
hundred names of former residents of the town, and of those
otherwise connected with it, belonging to twenty-seven differ-
ent States of the Union, to each of whom, by private hand or
through the mail, they sent a handsomely printed circular cor-
dially inviting them all and severally to revisit on this natal,
festal day the old home, and assuring them that it would be
an occasion for many pleasant reunions and reminiscences.
That none might by any possibility be omitted, notices of the
contemplated celebration, and invitations thereto were pub-
lished in various newspapers. The responses of the sons and
daughters of Kingston residing in these different portions of
the land proved conclusively, that a deep chord had been
touched in their hearts, and we were sure of a large gathering.
Where there were such numbers of the distinguished sons,
worthy of official prominence and well qualified to entertain
the audience on such an occasion with speech, it became a some-
what delicate and painful duty of the Executive Committee to
set narrow limits and to give the positions of honor only to a
few representatives of the different families and States.
The place selected for the main services was Thomas's Hill,
being a part of the estate of Gen. John Thomas, of Revolu-
tionary memory, and commanding a view of the bay where
the Mayflower was moored, of the island where the Pilgrims,
under the canopy of a wintry sky, "rested the first Sabbath,"
of the hill at whose base their valiant captain resided, and of
the river, winding through our territory, named for the captain
of the Mayflower, and on whose borders the Pilgrims " had a great
liking to plant." Within a few rods of this hallowed spot,
* Mr. Cornelius A. Bartlett.
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8 INTRODUCTION.
the last survivor of the Mayflower passengers, Mary Allerton,
relict of Elder Thomas Cushman, expired, and from this mount
of vision could be easily discovered, within the limits of what
is now Kingston, the localities where dwelt the Bradfords,
Gov. Thomas Prence, Allerton and Cushman, Fuller, How-
land, and Cooke, Paddy and Willett; also the lands of numer-
ous others who were among the early comers. In 1838 this
hill was selected by the artist of Barber's Historical Collec-
tions of Massachusetts as presenting the most favorable view
of the pleasant village with its churches and surroundings ;
and it is certain that the progress of nearly forty years since
that date, has been continually adding to the landscape in
every direction the charms of trim shrubberies, of graceful
lawns, and handsome structures.
Providentially the 27th of June, though sharing somewhat
largely in the heats of the summer solstice, was yet one of the
loveliest, balmiest, and most comfortable days of that pure, leafy,
and rosy month. The echoes of the morning were awakened
by the ringing of the church-bells and the firing of cannon and
anvils, and there was a repetition of the firing and ringing at
sunset. " The Antiques and Horribles " including a goodly
number who personated the dusky aborigines, thus carrying
the imagination back into the remote and misty past, glided
through the streets in the early morn, and soon were seen no
more. It is not the province of the prosaic journalist or histo-
rian of a day, to record the transactions of the unseen world,
but he would be regarded as very unimpressible and stupid in-
deed, not to allow that, at least on a day like this, the venerable
fathers were invisibly present as deeply interested spectators.
Precisely at nine o'clock at the sound of fife and drum, a pre-
liminary procession, consisting of the children of the public
schools and citizens, under the direction of the efficient marshal
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INTRODUCTION. 9
and his aids, took up the line of march from the Town Hall for
the Old Colony Station to receive the invited guests. In a brief
time after the arrival of the cars- the procession was greatly
enlarged, and was re-formed in the following order: —
Bowie's South Abington Band, with twenty pieces.
Halifax Light Infantry under command of Capt. Geo. II. Bonney, Jr. of
this town, with forty-seven muskets.
Governor's staff and Secretary of State.
President of the day.
Yice-Presidents.
Orator, Historian, and Poet.
Other Invited Guests.
Aged men and women of the town.
High, Grammar, and Primary Schools.
Citizens.
Nearly one hundred carriages passed at a given point near
the depot, while the number of persons on foot was uncounted.
The procession moved first to the estate formerly owned by
Gov. Bradford and his almost equally illustrious son, William
Bradford, Jr. ; passing the cellar of the house occupied at
least by the latter, and also by the last apple-tree of his
orchard, a high-top sweeting, set out, it is believed, in 1669,
and which in this year of grace 1876 bears a small quantity of
fair fruit; then returning by the depot and Town Hall, it
passed through the main street to the Hill. Most of the dwel-
lings on the route were handsomely and some even elegantly
decorated with flags and streamers, with ensigns and shields,
with evergreens and flowers, while the older edifices were
marked with mottoes indicative of the times when built and
of various historical associations. The national emblem with
its stars and stripes floated from numerous liberty poles,
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10 INTRODUCTION.
erected by private enterprise, and at all favorable points was
suspended across the streets. The whole village put on a gala-
day dress, and seemingly the entire population, with hundreds
from the neighboring towns, w T ere gathered to mingle in the
festivities. " Upon the lawns and ornamented spots about the
dwellings passed by the procession, the ladies had collected,
and saluted it by the waving of handkerchiefs and such dem-
onstrations as their enthusiasm prompted, rendering the scene
more animated and greatly adding to the prevailing good feel-
ing. " The occasional hearty hand-shaking, when two aged
ones met and recognized in each other the boy or girl of their
youthful pastimes and school-days, formed one of the most
touching spectacles of the occasion. The ancient town was
rejuvenated and the oldest present seemed among the youngest.
Notwithstanding the crow r ds, not an instance of intoxication or
disorder occurred to disturb the public ceremonies and exer-
cises of the day, nor was there the slightest accident to mar
the universal pleasure.
The procession having arrived at the spacious pavilion at the
end of the route, the president, other officers, and guests were
marshalled to the platform, in the rear of which were the
names conspicuously posted of the first four ministers of the
town, Stacey, Maccarty, Rand, and Willis, with the dates of
their pastorates, and also the motto, reaching quite across the
tent, "Our Fathers' God hath prospered us." Directly in front
of the speakers' stand were seated, as the representatives of
a former generation, some twenty Kingston octogenarians,
while from 1,500 to 2,000 people were either seated under
the canvas or stood within hearing distance.
Promptly at eleven o'clock the exercises began with an
address of welcome from the president of the day as follows : —
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INTEODUCTIOK. 11
SPEECH OF. NATHANIEL ADAMS.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Town-people, — I have been
delegated by your Executive Committee to extend to you, one
and all, a sincere, hearty welcome to this the one hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of this place as the
town of Kingston, and to assure you that all the preparations
and arrangements have been made for your especial enjoyment.
The occasion is well calculated to renew in our minds that
respect and veneration we owe to our ancestors, who, one hun-
dred and fifty years ago, laid the foundation of what we see in
Kingston to-day, and to revive in our memories the days of our
childhood and of our school-days. The occasion will afford a
rare opportunity to exercise that social element of our nature
with which our Creator has so liberally endowed us all, and it is
hoped that all will avail themselves of this favorable opportu-
nity. The causes and reasons which actuated our ancestors in
petitioning for the incorporation of the town, and the success
of their descendants in maintaining it, down to the present
time, will be related to you by the historian and orator of the
day.
I have been introduced by your marshal in a very happy
manner, and yet I am none other than one of those Adams boys
who left this ancient town at the age of seventeen, about forty-
seven years ago, a little older to be sure, and have been a resi-
dent of the city since that time. I am greatly indebted to this
town for its many influences for good.
I remember well my senior townsmen, many of whom have
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12 INTRODUCTION.
gone to their great reward. I remember their generous and
encouraging words intended for my guidance ; words which, if
not strictly heeded, have never been forgotten.
I am indebted to this town for other circumstances in early
life. I had the honor of graduating at the age of sixteen, from
a seminary supported by this town, called Grossman Pond
School. The most of my preparation before entering that
seminary was obtained from Mrs. Abigail Foster, a lady well
calculated to impart her knowledge to the lads and misses of
her day. The principal of that seminary at the time I gradu-
ated was Samuel Ring, Esq., a gentleman I remember with
respect. I well remember his parting address to the graduat-
ing class, and some of the possibilities he hoped we might
attain unto ; but alas ! the most prominent of them is old age.
The exercises of the occasion will now commence.
Immediately after this address a selection from the Scriptures
was read by Rev. C. Y. DeNormandie, and a prayer was
offered by the Chaplain of the day. The following original
hymn, composed by Dr. T. B. Drew, was then sung by the
audience, accompanied by the band, to the tune of America : —
HYMN.
We gather here this hour,
On us thy blessings shower,
Father divine !
And while we mingle here
This first " Centennial Year,"
We feel thy presence near,
The glory thine.
A century has gone
Since " Freedom's land " was horn
'Mid hopes and fears;
But ere that glorious day,
While Britain held her sway,
Kingston had sped her way
Full fifty years.
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INTEODUCTIOK 13
And now our thoughts go back
O'er Time's well-beaten track,
To those old days ;
And ere it onward runs,
We'll think of sires and sons,
Mothers and loving ones,
"Who trod these ways.
Their pathway on in life
Led them to toil and strife
And noble deeds,
And as their children see
The fruits of liberty,
May we true followers be,
Where duty leads.
Our kindred! There they lie
Beneath this summer's sky,
In yonder ground.
Where pain and sorrow cease,
There they at last found peace,
And all had sweet release
In rest profound.
And as those paths we tread,
The ways our fathers led,
Let us arise;
Press forward in our might,
And battle for the right,
Until we see the light
Beyond the skies.
The other exercises of the morning were the oration by Rev.
Joseph F. Lovering, of Watertown, the poem by George C.
Burgess, Esq., of Portland, Me., and the historical sketch by
Dr. Thomas B. Drew, of Plymouth, all natives of Kingston.
These excellent and interesting productions, which were elo-
quently delivered, will be found in their appropriate places in
the following pages.
At a quarter before two o'clock there was an adjournment,
after half an hour's recess, to the mammoth dining-tent a few
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14 INTRODUCTION.
rods distant. The children of the schools had been provided
with an entertainment in a separate tent, erected for the pur-
pose. The seats for eight hundred and twenty-seven guests
were all speedily occupied. The blessing of the God of the
fathers, in a clear, firm voice, was now invoked by Rev. Job
Washburn, of Camden, Me., the oldest person present, and
probably the oldest living man, native of the town. Sharpened
appetites gave additional relish to the bountiful repast prepared
by Caterer Peirce, of Boston Highlands. Over twenty young
ladies of Kingston, dressed in patriotic attire, "red, white, and
blue," volunteered to wait upon the tables.
" After the battle of knives and forks was concluded," the
President introduced the Toast-master. Numerous suggestive
sentiments were successively presented, appropriate both to
the occasion and to the several gentlemen expected to speak.
Much to the regret of all, only a part of the toasts w 7 ere
responded to, for lack of time; but both the speeches that
were actually delivered and most of those that would have
been, will be found in the subsequent pages.
w The feast of reason," enlivened by many pleasant reminis-
cences of boyhood and former days, and by many coruscations
of wit and eloquence had to be cut short, since one of the long-
est days of the year had sped too quickly in its exuberance of
delights. It was appropriate that priority in the speaking
should be chiefly given to the older men, to those who are the
links connecting the town w T ith its original founders, but it will
certainly be right at the next centennial to give the first chance
to those, if present, who were debarred the privilege at this.
The following hymn composed by Mrs. Caroline B. Burgess
of Boston, a native of Kingston, was sung at the table.
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INTRODUCTION. 15
INVOCATION HYMN.
Tune, si Italian Hymn."
Father Supreme, above,
Ruling in changeless love,
Wisdom and power,
Thou who didst bow thine ear
Our fathers' prayer to hear,
Oh, graciously draw near,
And bless this hour !
Thou who, with outstretched hand,
Didst guide the Pilgrim band
Safe o'er the sea,
And gav'st them strength to bear
Hardship and want and care,
All ills content to share
In serving thee, —
Their children scattered wide,
"We pray thee guard and guide
Through every ill.
On smooth or troubled sea,
With cheerful heart may we,
Trusting like them in thee,
Obey thy will.
In us, O God, renew
The strength our fathers knew,
And victory won!
Their patient courage lend,
Like grace and virtue send,
And every good descend
From sire to son.
Kingston, June 27, 1876.
In the evening various choice pieces of music from the band,
which had delighted all through the day, stirred the hearts of
the multitude, while a fine display of fire-works gratified every
beholder. As the concluding scene, apparently emblazoned
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1 6 INTRODUCTION.
upon a dark thunder-cloud which overhung the western hori-
zon, and from which there were frequent flashes of pyrotech-
nics more grandly beautiful than those of art below, and as
the fitting finale of a day more joyous, more fraternizing, fuller
of delightful recollections and of happy anticipations than any
other since the organization of the town, if not since its first
settlement, there shone for several minutes, in letters of living
light, awakening the echoing cheers of the witnessing throng,
the royal name of the dear old town, with the dates of its
beginning and of its present anniversary : —
1726- KINGSTON. 1876.
mm Jtecr.
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ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING. 17
ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH R LOVERING, WATERTOWN.
Mr. President, Fellow-citizens of Kingston, and Friends: —
We celebrate to-day the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary
of this town. We may do so with profound gratitude and
exultation; for on this day we may take knowledge, not only
of the immediate and detailed interests affecting this commu-
nity throughout its history, but of those broader and more com-
prehensive relations that embrace the good fame of our noble
commonwealth and the dignity and power of the nation. It
may be said of every town, however restricted its territorial
area, however small its census list, that it belongs not to itself
alone but to the State. The mighty ocean, whose grand
expanse stretches far away from these shores, lifts its majestic
tides and fills the basins of Massachusetts and Plymouth Bays,
sweeps round yonder Gurnet, and bears back the waters and
overflows the channel of our Jones Eiver with all its creeks and
tributaries. Yet the mighty ocean welcomes not only the con-
tributions of the Merrimac and Saco and Penobscot, and a host
of larger and lesser rivers, but also the smaller gifts from the
liquid veins of mountain torrents and meadow brooks. So,
too, while the great life of a State bears up the fortunes of its
constituent communities, and feeds with the pulse of its life
the simpler and humbler activities of town and village, those
communities themselves, however inconsiderable, nourish and
sweeten and increase the life of the State. Tacitus in his
Annals * very pertinently remarks : "Pleraque eorum quce ref-
* Lib. TV, 32.
2
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18 ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING.
er am paw a forsitan et levia memoratu videri, non nescius sum.
JSfon tamen sine usu fuerit introsjpicei e illce, primo adspeciu
levia, ex quis magnarwn scepe revum motus oriitntur."
"I am aware that many things to which I refer may seem
trivial and not worth recording ; yet it is not altogether useless
to examine affairs which at first sight appear to be of no great
account, since they often give rise to matters of large moment."
There is no need for us to urge any such consideration, how-
ever, as we invite attention to our goodly town. We have a
direct and immediate interest in that inheritance of worth and
influence which was born within the circuit of a half-dozen
miles from here, when the vast extent of territory now embraced
by this nation was a mighty wilderness. We boast a descent,
however we have degenerated in individual instances, for we
make no plea for personal desert, — let the next century and
a half judge concerning that, — we boast, I repeat, of a descent
which for elevation o£ motive, moral strength, matchless devo-
tion to civil and religious principle, puts to shame the vaunted
ancestry of kings ; we have royal pedigree. For what better
aristocracy can any land boast than the aristocracy of worth
and intellect and valiant service ? Such an aristocracy founded
Plymouth colony, of which this town was most intimately and
from the first a part, and made it forever honorable.
We cannot admire too greatly, we cannot honor too rever-
ently our Pilgrim Fathers. Separating themselves from the
tender associations of home and from the inheritance of social
custom and churchly faith, on a pure question of personal
morals and individual conviction, refusing to submit to any
wrong which conscience recognized or to any ceremonial which
reverence for God forbade, they expatriated themselves, they
sought as exiles in a foreign land to cherish their love of virtue
and adorn their spiritual faith, and w 7 hen the way opened before
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OBATION BY REV. JOSEPH P. LOVEKCSTG. 19
them they did not hesitate under commandment of duty to
tempt an untried ocean and an inclement season, that, under
another sky and on virgin shores, they might construct a State
whose compact should hold them to plain allegiance to simple
integrity, personal rectitude, and a prosaic life, and enable
them to build an altar, before which a clean conscience and a
heartfelt devotion might bow in humble, thoughtful, conse-
crated worship. Plymouth Colony claims this high distinction
that its enterprise started in the fear of God, and sought to
establish itself on principles of righteousness and truth, —
principles which, amid the blaze of hate, the whisperings of
slander, or the storm of reproach, shall stand firm, enduring,
eternal, as under the scorching heats of summer or the wild
blasts of winter, and amid the angry surges of the ocean, shall
stand that rock which, in 1620, w T as consecrated by the touch
of Pilgrim feet.
It is well for us, at the invitation of such a day as this, to
review the past. We stand upon an elevated table-land.
From the summit of one hundred and fifty years we may look
around us as from a hill of observation. Leave this village,
with its shaded streets and quiet life, cross the bridge whose
double arches span the Jones River, turn sharp to the right,
bearing to the left after you have crossed a shallow trout-
brook, and then follow the sandy road through thickets mur-
murous with insect life, through pine woods with the fragrance
of balsam in their breath, skirting the shore of Smelt Pond,
stopping a moment, if you please, to notice the easy, graceful
sweep of an eagle that, startled from some resting-place, lifts
himself on mighty pinions, as if he scorned the earth, into the
blue of the heavens, and then, almost breaking your way
through scrub-oak and birches and alder bushes, climb the
narrow path whose sharp ascent brings you to the summit of
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20 ORATION BY BEY. JOSEPH F. LOVEEING.
Monk's Hill. Now look about you ! You turn almost instinc-
tively to the ocean, but look landward. Far clown into the
valley, far away to the horizon, south and west, stretches for
mile&and miles an untravelled wilderness. It needs no extrav-
agant fancy to imagine that thus it looked a hundred and fifty
years ago, Whatever changes may have happened, from the
woodman's axe or the besom of fire, it indicates sufficiently
well the wilderness of long years ago. You see no indication
of human life. There are shaded woods where the Indian
to-day might live, and coverts where the timid deer may hide.
With any thought of the past in our mind, we cannot fail to be
impressed with its lonely and untamed solitude. Turn now
so that the wilderness shall be at your back; look down the
sloping sides of the noble hill, see the mirror-like brightness
and beauty of the pond at its foot ; then look beyond, far
away across the broad, blue expanse of the level bay, till your
eyes touch the bold headlands of Cape Cod, — the clenched
fist on the forearm of Massachusetts, stretched out to hold
back the mighty surges of, the Atlantic, and to give to Massa-
chusetts Bay and Plymouth harbor their first grand break-
water. Under the shelter of those headlands, within the
security of that mighty arm, that compact for just and equal
laws was written and subscribed for the " general " good and
"in the name of God," by John Carver and his associates,
Nov. 11, 1620, on board the Mayflower. The waves that
break to-day upon these shores do not cease to echo the mem-
ory of that devoted company of God-fearing and heroic men
and women.
This side the bay, you see the sharp, needle-like beach set
before the town of Plymouth, which is itself veiled from our
sight by the woodlands back of it. To the right are the pine-
clad hills of Manomet ; to the left, beyond the beach, the shores
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ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING. 21
of the Gurnet; this side of it Saquish and Clarke's Island —
the latter named after the mate of the Mayflower ; still
farther to the left is Captain's Point, and the hill on which
stands the monument erected to the memory of Miles Standish ;
between the shore at our feet and Captain's Hill we see the
mouth of Jones River and can catch glimpses of the river as we
follow it up till we see our beautiful village embowered in trees
and admirably situated on a high and level plateau. If you
look beyond our village you can catch glimpses of Duxbury and
Marshfield and so follow the coast-line along, till turning
to the north we see the range of Blue Hills in Milton and
Dorchester.
A hundred years ago Monk's Hill was one of the beacon hills
from which flashed the intelligence which, leaving the coast
below, travelled by a well-defined series of beacon heights, till
the Blue Hills brightened with their fires. Now we look over
a peaceful country. The bay is whitened here and there with
the sails of adventurous commerce. The land, in solitary
homes and in clustering villages, gives indication of careful
thrift and sober prosperity. From the wilderness at the back
of us of one hundred and fifty years ago we may look from the
hill of observation the present gives us, on scenes of comfort
in multiplied homes and on the light of a future promise
brighter and more cheerful than any beacon-fire of the past.
While we accept the sober worth of the present and its bril-
liant promise of a future with gratitude and exultation, we
look back to the past with unfeigned admiration for its heroic
fortitude and persistent energy. We cannot fail to notice the
record it gives of facts which ennoble individual lives and indi-
cate the majestic steps by which Divine Providence has led
New England and the American people to the proud eminence
occupied to-day.
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22 OKATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVEEING.
I have referred already to the settlement of Plymouth. It is
fitting we especially should keep it in mind. We can claim
with peculiar appropriateness an inheritance in its wealth of
renown. Some of the most respectable of the original colo-
nists settled within the present limits of this town, such as
Gov. Bradford, — or if that is disputed, certainly his son Major
Bradford, at onetime deputy governor of the colony, did live in
the north part of the town, — Mr. Allerton, Dr. Fuller, Francis
Cooke, Mr. Hanburg, Thomas Cushman, and others. Moreover
at the very commencement of that settlement the project was
entertained of making the site of this town the permanent
locality for the colony. In Bradford and Wilson's Journal*
we read that the day after the landing of the Pilgrims, a com-
pany was sent out to view the land. " We found," says the
Journal, "a creek, and went up three English miles, a very
pleasant river at full sea." This river was our Jones River, so
named from the master of the Mayflower. ^This place,"
the Journal goes on to record, " we had a great liking to plant
in, but it was so far from our fishing, our principal profit, and
so encompassed with woods, that we should be in much clanger
of the salvages ; and our number being so little, and so much
ground to clear. So we thought good to quit and [not] clear
that place till we were of more strength."
Fifteen years later, at the Colony Court held in March, per-
sons were appointed " to confer on re-uniting with them at
Duxborrow at Jones River, or at such place as shall be most
convenient." Later in the same month, so the record informs
us there was another meeting of the court and " after much con-
ference about the neerer uniting of Plymouth and those on Dux-
borrough side, divers were appointed to view Jones his river
and Morton's hole which were thought the fittest places and to
*See Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, Chap. 10.
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OBATION BY KEV. JOSEPH F. LOVERTNG. 23
render a reason for their judgment." The commission of
conference thus authorized by the court consisted of five from
Plymouth and five from Duxbury, and all but one met in coun-
cil. They came to no unanimous conclusion, " seven of the said
nine," says the record, " holding Jones River to be the fittest place
for the uniting both places into a neerer society and there build
a meeting-house and town. And the two preferred Morton's
hole before Jones River. Afterwards the governor and council
summoned said persons deputed as before had done and read
their reasons of their judgement, and after long debating of the
thing it was at length referred to the two churches on each side
as churches to agree upon and end the same."* There is no
record of any meeting of the churches " as churches," and so far
as appears the whole matter was suffered to drop by mutual
consent. It is thus evident, from the evidence cited, that this
locality was prominently before the colony as a place for the
principal and permanent settlement. Aside from any such
consideration, however, we claim partnership in the renown
which is so justly given to Plymouth, since it was not until
nearly a century had past after the colony was founded that any
separation took place between it and us. Social and civil rights,
educational and religious privileges, were common to both. At
last, in 1716, those living near Jones River took measures to
secure an independent existence as a town. Their petition was
not granted. Prominent and influential men were selected,
however, to appear at the general court and advocate the cause
of the petitioners, and one year later this place was set off as
Jones River parish. For awhile this was satisfactory, but at
last the people were aggrieved by unsuitable school and church
accommodations, and after a good deal of earnest debate, com-
missioners were appointed to view the locality, and it was finally
*01d Col. Rec. Ct. orders I. 90.
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24 ORATION BY BEY. JOSEPH F. LOVERTNG.
decided that Jones River parish should be set off and incorpo-
rated as a town. This was in 1726. The first name proposed
for the town was Asburton, but was not approved.* Lieut. -
Gov. Dummer proposed Kingston, which was adopted.
The spirit of independence which led to the organization of
the town was not peculiar. It was a legitimate expression of
the principles advocated by the colony in its establishment, and
it became common throughout the State. Indeed, the more
we study succeeding events in the history of the country, the
more important this town spirit will appear. We cannot
emphasize too greatly its influence in encouraging and disci-
plining public patriotism. I ask your especial attention to it
even at the risk of some repetition. We admire a river whose
majestic current sweeps through the varying scenery of an
extensive territory. The grand lines of a mountain are mir-
rored on its surface to-day, to-morrow the same waters glide
sweetly through cultivated fields or picturesque woodlands ;
now it broadens into a lake peaceful as the blue heavens above
it, and now restrains its flood till it shall wake the voice of the
thunder as it pours its mighty volume over some Niagara
height; now its smooth surface is so gentle that only a pas-
toral beauty slumbers in its embrace, and now it lifts up the
freightage of a State, and bears a noble fleet upon its swelling
bosom. Yet the river, deep and broad and strong as it may
be, has been gathered out of country rivulets and from springs
that have bubbled up under the cool shadows of distant forests.
From such sources it feeds its tide. The sea may let its surges
sound the praises of the river, but the river must sing in every
wave the praises of the hills. After a similar fashion we judge
the beneficence and authority of the State. The nation is
strong in the union of the States, but each State receives the
*Mass. Hist. Coll. 2 Series, Vol. Ill, p. 168.
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ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING. 25
vital current of its strength from the separate towns and vil-
lages set upon the hill-tops or nestled in the valleys. This
commonwealth is second to none in the nation. Its industry
and valor, its enterprise and virtue, deserve our admiration and
respect. He must be a degenerate son of Massachusetts who
does not thank God that he can claim by birth or by adop-
tion this noble old commonwealth as his home. There is no
distinction more honorable than to have been born in Massachu-
setts, especially in that part of Massachusetts embraced by the
old Plymouth Colony, and to be worthy of such birth. Yet
the high estimation in which the State is to be held has been
achieved by the independent spirit of the separate communities
of which the State is composed. We cannot understand and
appreciate the honorable and patriotic position Massachusetts
held prior to and during the war of the Revolution without
studying the character, the life, the fame of individual towns.
It is not the province of this address even to review the causes,
the complaints, the repeated aggravations which stirred up so
much bitter controversy, so much personal recrimination and
hatred, resulting in so long-continued and wasting a war as that
of a hundred years ago. I simply desire you to take notice
that the spirit which induced Kingston to demand independence
as a town was the same spirit prevalent throughout all towns
in all the colonies, and to take notice, also, that this same spirit
made Kingston, as it made other towns, loyal to freedom, ready
in support of public affairs, brave and resolute in opposition to
the encroachments of the royalists. For this reason it had no
sympathy with those who were satisfied with the British rule
and desired to submit with slavish ignominy to British insults.
For this reason this entire colony gave no unmistakable intima-
tion to those who were disobedient to the high commandment
of freedom and manhood that their absence would be more
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26 ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH E. LOVERING.
acceptable than their presence. A single instance will illus-
trate this better than any argument, and show the extreme feel-
ing existing between the Tories and the Whigs, the first being
the declared adherents of the crown, the other the vigorous
defenders of American liberties. For it is to be remarked, we
must look back of Lexington and Concord to greet the first
movements of life that gave birth to American liberties. It
is not enough to study the history of battle-fields, where the
yeoman strength of our fathers met in open conflict with
the hirelings of the British crown. You must look over the
records of town life. There were indications of the coming
struggle long months and years before the first angry blaze of
a musket flashed its threat or the sound of a cannon echoed
among our hills ; Whigs and Tories were arrayed against each
other ; there were public controversies ; there were acrimonious
conflicts in social life. The large majority of Tories were out-
side Plymouth Colony. The same spirit which in religious
matters made Plymouth Colony refuse to sign the circular *
sent from the Massachusetts Colony, recommending capital pun-
ishment for worshipping God in a different form from their
own, made Plymouth Colony almost unanimous in defence of
civil liberty. Yet the following incident will show that they
were sufficiently earnest in punishing what was deemed an
infringement of social and civil rights. . I give it as I find it in
Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolution, f
"Jesse Dunbar, of Halifax, bought some cattle of a man-
damus councillor in 1774 and drove them to Plymouth for sale.
The Whigs soon learned with whom Dunbar had presumed to
deal, and after he had slaughtered, skinned, and hung up one
of the beasts, commenced punishing him for the offence. His
* Memorials of Marshfield, by Marcia A. Thomas, p. 47.
f Vol. I, Art. Jesse Dunbar.
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ORATION BY KEV. JOSEPH F. LOVERTNG. 27
tormentors, it appears, put the dead ox in a cart, and fixing
Dunbar in his belly, carted him four miles, and required him
to pay one dollar for the ride. He then was delivered over to
a Kingston mob, who carted him four other miles, and exacted
another dollar. A Duxbury mob then took him, and after
beating him in the face with the creature's tripe, and endeav-
oring to cover his person with it, carried him to Councillor
Thomas's house and compelled him to pay a further sum of
money. Flinging his beef into the road, they now left him to
recover and return as he could."
The hostility between Whigs and Tories was reported to be
so wide-spread and bitter, notwithstanding order-loving people
might have discountenanced any such expression of it, that
Gen. Gage determined to send an armed force into the colony.
This indignity was felt so sensibly and public sentiment was so
greatly roused, that on Feb. 7, 1775, the selectmen of Kings-
ton, in conjunction with those of Plymouth, Duxbury, Pem-
broke, Hanson, and Seituate signed a remonstrance protesting
against it.* The Massachusetts Provisional Congress warmly
approved of this procedure, and on the 15th of the month
passed a special vote by which these towns were bidden, as the
record reads, "steadily to persevere in the same line of con-
duct, which has, in this instance, so justly entitled them to the
esteem of their countrymen ; and to keep a watchful eye upon
the behavior of those who are aiming at the destruction of our
liberties."
Kingston did " persevere in the same line of conduct." She
encouraged the loyal spirit already manifested, and prepared
for the crisis which was near at hand. Some of her most
prominent and energetic citizens, for instance, recruited a
* See Journal of Second Provincial Congress, under date Eeb. 15, 1775.
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28 ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING.
company of minute men, commanded by Capt. Peleg Wads-
worth, afterwards commissioned as general. The eager,
devoted patriotism prevalent at that time throughout the
colony, is well illustrated by an anecdote told of a member
of a minute company, in a town originally embraced within
the boundaries of Plymouth Colony. "In the front rank
there was a young man, the son of a respectable farmer, and
his only child. In marching from the village, as they passed
his house, he came out to meet them. There was a momen-
tary halt. The drum and fife paused for an instant. The
father, suppressing a strong and evident emotion, said, ? God
be with you all my friends! and, John, if you, my son, are
called into battle, take care that you behave like a man, or else
let me never see your face again.' The march was resumed,
while a tear started into every eye." *
We need not go outside our own record, however, to catch
the spirit of the times. We are honored to-day, in the person
of our historian, with the presence of a great grandson of Seth
Drew, who served as lieutenant of the company of Kingston
men to which reference has been made. He was a ship-builder,
and on the day when the news of the battle of Lexington
reached the old colony, he was at work with his adze in the
ship-yard. Without a moment's hesitation he called his brother
James, gave his tools into his charge, and took his place in the
ranks, and for more than eight years was prominently engaged
in the war which gave ns our nationality. At Roxbury during
the battle of Bunker Hill, at Dorchester Heights when the Brit-
ish evacuated Boston, he served under the noble-hearted patriot
and soldier, Gen. John Thomas. He was in the forefront of
the battle at Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered, and at Tren-
ton, Monmouth, and on the Hudson River during that memora-
* Tudor's Life of Otis.
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ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVEEING. 29
ble campaign. He was one of the court martial detailed to
try Joshua Hett Smith as an accomplice of Major Andre, and
in various services distinguished himself as a soldier and civil-
ian. In the war of 1812 the Government appointed him to
oversee the fortifications on the Gurnet and at Fairhaven and
New Bedford. When the Society of the Cincinnati was formed
he became a prominent member.* He was commissioned a
Justice of the Peace, held the office for many years of post-
master and collector, and was deservedly esteemed by his fel-
low-citizens. He died at the advanced age of seventy-seven,
in May, 1824.
There were other officers and men whose names are treasured
in the annals of this town, such as Hezekiah Ripley, Crocker
Sampson, and James Sever. The last named was a boy when
the war broke out. At the close of the war in 1783 he was
only twenty-two years old; yet he had won promotion, and
held the honorable position of ensign, or of color-sergeant as
that office is now called.
In such a spirit and by such men Kingston helped the cause
of the Revolution. She furnished for the army, sixty men, j
her full quota, contributed generously to the common supply.
She gave under call of the Provincial Congress, convened at
Watertown, May 31, 1775, thirty-eight coats as her proportion
for the Massachusetts troops, and paid at one time more than
$10,000 of the currency of the time for less than six months'
service of a single soldier. In May, 1779, a committee was
chosen " to examine the militia record and make a fair list of
what services each person has done personally or by their
* In the history of this Society is this testimony to his character and worth :
" Distinguished for activity of mind as well as of body, he sustained also the
reputation of a brave and discreet officer, and merited and received the
approbation and esteem of all with whom he associated."
f See Wm. T. Davis's Address, Supra,
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30 ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING.
money since June 1778." A list of such persons was reported,
and the amount was as follows : —
£ s d
For the Continental service . . . 267 3 4
For the secret expedition. . . . 177
For other purposes 73 10
Total 517 13 4
It may be well to state, in estimating the ten-thousand-
dollar bounty referred to, that at one period a silver dollar
would purchase one hundred in paper. Thacher, in his History
of Plymouth, tells us that "a farmer sold a cow in the spring
for $40 and in the next autumn paid the whole sum for a goose
for Thanksgiving dinner."
In 1777 Kingston, together with Plymouth and Duxbury,
built and manned a fort at the Gurnet. It is fitting I should
mention another name which made the pages of our history
brilliant during the Revolutionary War, — that of Gen. John
Thomas. He was born in Marshfield in 1724, but after pur-
suing the study of medicine he settled in this town and is
claimed among the number of her honored citizens. Our his-
torian will, without doubt, make detailed reference to him. It
is therefore unnecessary for me to say more than this, that he
was held in high esteem not only by the people of this com-
monwealth, but throughout the colonies. He was so beloved
by the army, so distinguished as a soldier, that he was honored
by the personal solicitations of George Washington and Gen.
Charles Lee and by special vote of the House of Representa-
tives at Watertown, July 22, 1775, to induce him to retain his
military command, notwithstanding he had been superseded,
through the ill-advised action of the National Congress, by offi-
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ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVEKING-. 31
cers who had served under him. That action was rectified, and
Gen. Thomas served to the satisfaction of all until his lamented
death from small-pox in Canada, June 2, 1776.*
Such men as those I have named, such events as those sug-
gested, may serve to indicate the temper of the times and the
steadfast resolution which braced the people of these colonies
to deeds of enduring renown. Let it be understood that we
cannot measure the personality of any man by his immediate
individual life, that we cannot describe or assign honor to any
deed by simply comparing it, as it stands alone and at first,
with other deeds acknowledged to be famous. The measure
of a man is discovered in the influence he has upon his fellows,
and in the inspiration his character and life give to succeeding
generations ; and the importance of a deed is to be told by
its ultimate effect upon the destiny of a nation and the fortunes
of a people. Under such law as this men like Thomas and
Wadsworth and Drew and Sampson and others whose names
are familiar in our annals are to be honored because they
helped originate and increase and preserve that mighty spirit
of loyalty to human rights and liberties, which, as the winds
of heaven by the sceptre of their breath make forest trees
bow before them, swayed the thoughts, fired the zeal, gathered
up into heroic courage the hearts of men who followed their
lead and wrought valiantly for God and the right. Under
such law the mustering of a minute company in this town, the
sharp decision that threw down the carpenter's adze, and said
*The nearest living descendant of Major-Gen. Thomas is Mr. Augustus
Thomas, a native of Kingston. It is worthy of note that the use of the
broad and open field where the exercises of the clay occurred, from which
there is an extensive view of the surrounding country and the harbor, was
generously and courteously offered by Mr. Thomas to the Committee of
Arrangements. In his green old age Mr. Thomas has the satisfaction of
knowing that he has won and deserved the hearty respect of his fellow-
townsmen.
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32 ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING.
farewell to home and peace and love, have a meaning as noble,
because fraught with great results, as the gathering together of
Caesar's legions or Napoleon's battalions. It was because of
the power of manhood back of the man himself and not to be
determined by stature or speech ; it was because of the power
of manhood back of every squad of men, dressed in homespun
and with flint-lock on their shoulders, however awkward it
might be, that Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill are
names written high up upon the scroll that records deeds done
in supreme consecration to liberty and justice for the cause of
humanity and the service of God. And it was because this
good town helped forward, by its manhood, that war of the
Revolution in which renowned deeds were performed and in
which such splendid heroism was illustrated, that it deserves
our sincere and grateful veneration and applause.
In the succeeding history of the town I find nothing imme-
diately affecting public affairs, unless I might except some
earnest controversy about religious matters. The town pur-
sued the even tenor of its way, sturdily attentive to its own
concerns, ready by council and influence to assist the general
weal. Between the Revolutionary War and that of 1812 there
were built on an average about two hundred and fifty tons of
shipping annually.* The war of 1812 was the most serious
hindrance to its prosperity as it was to the general prosperity
of the State. About thirty men enlisted from Kingston, most
of whom were employed at the fortification on the Gurnet or
in general coast-guard duty. Two only of the number sur-
vive, David Chandler and John Drew, known to you all as
worthy and respected citizens. After the close of the war — at
which time Kingston owned at the landing three sloops, one
hundred and fifty tons ; one brig, one hundred and sixty tons ;
* Mass. Hist. Coll. 2 series, Vol. III.
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ORATIOX BY KEY. JOSEPH F. LOVEKING. 33
at Rocky Nook six schooners, four hundred and forty-five tons,
and two brigs, two hundred and fifty-six tons * — the modest,
content, and sober life of the town continued as before, the
most exciting topics being those connected with ordinary town
affairs, questions affecting the election of town or state officers,
or the conduct of the schools and the church, or the building of
the railroad in 1845, which was as much of an event in my
schoolboy days as the centennial celebration at Philadelphia is
to the nation at large at the present time. It is a fact in which
the residents of the town may well take commendable pride,
that in social culture and general refinement and good morals
Kingston occupies an enviable position. It will not be deemed
an invidious comparison to say that no town within the limits
of the old colony surpasses it in the strength of its integrity,
in the fairness of its life, in its sustained though never extrava-
gant enterprise, and in its praiseworthy thrift. The graceful
purity of its homes bears testimony to the modest and beautiful
lives of its mothers and daughters, and the vigorous, fair-
minded character of its fathers and sons gives clear warrant of
the continuance of its useful and honorable citizenship.
Nothing is now wanting to the compass of this address but a
brief reference to the grand record which is given of the town
during the war of the Rebellion. It was to be expected that
every town in our beloved commonwealth would respond with
ready patriotism to the call of the country's need. We look
back through the years ; we recall the days when the roll of
the drum and the shrill notes of the fife were heard in the
streets of every village along our shores and among our hills.
The flash that glared from the cannon, pointed by rebel hands
against the sacred honor and union of these States, represented
as they were by Fort Sumter, served to light the beacon fires
* Mass. Hist. Coll. 2 series, Vol. III.
3
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34 OEATION BY EEV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING.
of unmatched and heroic patriotism on every Northern hill.
The sullen threat of that cannon waked the echoes of loyalty in
all our valleys, — echoes answered and repeated by the free
surges of the Atlantic, as they break at the foot of Plymouth
rock, and on every cliff along the shores of New England,
while brave men, descendants of the minute-men of the Revo-
lution, filled the ranks of volunteer regiments, and swore that
the brave old flag, that had been torn down by treason and
rebellion, should once again float on the free breeze of heaven,
and be so firmly nailed by the strong right arm of the nation's
manhood to every flag-staff and mast-head that never again
should it be lowered to any foe at home or abroad. Thank
God, the North kept its oath !
We greet to-day, in this company, those who fought for
union and liberty, for country and humanity, those who are
represented by the Kingston Boy, Capt. George H. Bonney,
Jr., who is well worthy to command the gallant body of men
from Halifax who do escort duty to-day. We greet to-day
the grand old stars and stripes. We gather under the sacred
shadows of its folds, and as w T e remember the past we renew
our oaths that it shall float in beauty and strength over the
whole country, North and South, East and West, and be hon-
ored of all nations on all seas from the rising to the setting sun.
Let it be the proudest boast of Kingston to-day that it was
true to the record of the old colony and of the Revolution,
that it helped crush the Rebellion and save the nation. It paid
out of its town treasury $11,236.50; $5,574.08 were raised in
addition by private subscription, making the whole amount
raised and expended, exclusive of all State aid, $16,810.34,
while at the close of the war it had cancelled all bills and held
an available balance of $1,616.17. It may rightly boast, also,
of its personal service. Shall it be said that we sent out none
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ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERDSTG. 35
who commanded a position in these latter years equal to
Thomas and Waclsworth and Drew in former years? If that is
true, we sent ont men who sustained nobly their own honor and
that of their native or adopted town. Those men we salute
to-day, — the one hundred and eighty-nine soldiers, "a surplus
of nineteen over and above all demands, " out of a population
in 1865 of 1,626, — more than one in every nine; and with
especial reverence we salute the memory of the heroic dead, the
fourteen who died in service, one in every thirteen and a half of
those who filled our quota.
" Cheers, cheers for our heroes!
Not tliose who wore stars,
]STot those who wore eagles
And leaflets and bars.
We know they were gallant,
And honor them, too.
For bravely maintaining
The red, white, and blue.
But cheers for our soldiers,
Rough, wrinkled, and brown, —
The men who make heroes
And ask no renown.
Unselfish, untiring,
Intrepid and true.
The bulwark surrounding
The red, white, and blue."
The noble company of heroic men who represented this town
in the army' and navy of our country deserve our earnest grati-
tude and praise. They stood between their homes and the foe ;
they bared their breasts that the blows aimed at the life of the
nation might strike them first ; they helped form a living
breast-work behind which the security and perpetuity of our
country were safe. They deserved well of the republic. , Let
the names of the living be honored ! Let the graves of the dead
be the altars of our patriotism !
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36 ORATION BY EEV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING.
Pardon me, fellow-citizens, if I add a few words more. I
said at the beginning of my address, and repeated in substance
during it, that while the great life of a State bears up the life
of its constituent communities, the communities themselves,
however inconsiderable they may seem, nourish and sweeten
and increase the life of the State. For our encouragement let
this be emphasized. Town life has given the source from which
the broader life of the State and the nation has been helped.
De Tocqueville * says, "Municipal institutions, i. e., towns and
villages, are to liberty what primary schools are to science :
they bring it within the people's reach, they teach men how to
use and how to enjoy it." I need not attempt to prove to you
the correctness of his statement. We know it to be true. In
our government the township is the unit of power.
I wish, however, to remind you that aside from any direct
and specific action, there are other methods by which the influ-
ence of a town is exerted. It is done not by the reputation,
the community may have at home, but by the character of
those who go out from it, and are, as it were, its ambassadors.
We must not neglect to acknowledge this, and to take pride in
the meritorious and useful lives of those who love this town
as the place of their nativity, and whose name, the town cher-
ishes. No one will expect from me anything like a complete
list of such persons. Many of you, however, recall the name
of Joseph R. Chandler, member of Congress, minister to
Naples, editor formerly of the United /States Gazette, who
lives in Philadelphia, venerable in years and in honor, and of
Ichabod Washburn, late of Worcester, who bequeathed a fund
for the relief of aged and indigent women in this town ; of
John Holmes, who was United States Senator from Maine, and
of Dr. Ezekiel Holmes, teacher of Natural Sciences in the
* Democracy in America, Vol. I, Chap. 5.
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ORATION BY REV. JOSEPH F. LOVERING. 37
same State; of Caleb Adams, of Brunswick, Me., who pro-
vided in his will for the establishment of a school in this town
at some future time ; of Rev. William A. Drew, formerly
editor of the Gospel Banner, and Rev. Job Washburn, and of
Samuel Adams, who invented the first reaping machine ; of
Edward S. Tobey, the successful merchant and efficient post-
master of Boston ; of Francis M. Johnson of Newton, Henry
Glover of Boston, and of many others who have enlarged the
influence of this goodly town, last but not least of whom is
William R, Sever, for so many years County Treasurer at
Plymouth, and who can leave no better legacy for the rising
generation than his spotless integrity, exact honesty, and clean
moral worth. When a famous Grecian was asked what he
could do, he replied, " I can make a little village into a popu-
lous city." His boast men like these I have named have made
a fact. For greatness and power come not of size, but of brain
and heart and hand.
Let us, then, with gratitude for the past and present, cele-
brate this one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incor-
poration of this town. Let us thank God for the mercy that
has been so signally manifested to those who have preceded
us, and let us pray that His favor may be with us, so that we
may worthily endeavor to secure to our children a future
which shall honor still more largely this beautiful and beloved
town of Kingston.
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38 POEM BY GEORGE C. BURGESS, ESQ.
POEM BY GEORGE C. BURGESS, ESQ., PORTLAND, ME.
Standing upon this hill-top's grassy crown,
We look, with hearts aglow and eager, clown
Upon the ocean, fields, and busy town.
So from the summit of thrice fifty years,
Backward we look, and plain to us appears
The fabric which our memory uprears.
And as we look, the thronging visions come
Of those who made this fruitful spot their home.
We see the rock set in the salt-sea foam,
Their shallop in the inner harbor rides,
Stemming the rough waves of the winter's tides,
While the swart savage from them lurking hides.
One hundred years! We see them stronger grown,
Their borders widen, fruitful seeds are sown,
They have made all the wilderness their own.
In loyal homage to their well-loved king,
The name of their new-founded town they bring.
And Kingston call the accepted offering.
In fifty years how changed the feeling grows!
The land no king as earthly ruler knows,
Against all king-craft proving sturdy foes.
One hundred more! How has the circle spread!
There stands a nation in the hamlet 7 s stead,
And midst the proudest rears her wreath-crowned head.
As when the lightning flashes through the night,
One instant stands revealed to eager sight
A thousand forms of things distinct and bright,
So memory's glance brings to our sight; to clay
The forms of things though centuries away,
To them I turn with my unskillful lay.
The scent of summer roses fills the air,
Each summer bird trills now his sweetest lay,
And summer clouds hang low and languid where
The quiet waters heave in yonder bay.
The growing corn waves in the Summer sun,
And green fields stretch in peaceful length along;
Showing the fruits by sturdy labor won,
Where Peace to Plenty sings her constant song.
!N~ot so when first these shores our fathers trod.
And sowed the seed which gave a nation life,
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POEM BY GEORGE 0. BURGESS, ESQ. 39
Building their altar in the name of Gocl
"Where they might worship free from baneful strife.
Around them wildly raged the wintry blast,
Before them spread an untrod wilderness,
Behind them lay a persecution past,
Within them beat stout hearts of steadfastness.
What bitter grief those steadfast hearts did feel
Who trod the level graves which hid their dead!
What sad forebodings visions drear did bring
Filling their present with a nameless dread!
But never did their utmost longing trace
A pathway backward crost the stormy main.
With fervent prayers they kept their hearts of grace,
And trusted God to make their losses gain.
Their zeal and courage did so close them round,
An atmosphere of life, that all within
The circle of their living, straightway found
Themselves imbued with strength to theirs akin,
And children's children in the years that came
Keceived from them a chrism of holy power,
A stern baptism, which kept them in the flame
Of war's red breath and peril's deadly hour.
And these, though loving well the mother-land,
Loved Freedom more, and with undaunted might
In bloody fields they took their lives in hand,
Gave pledge to fortune, dared the unequal fight,
And with the priceless gift which Nature gave
From sire to son, of courage joined to skill,
Scorned a luxurious ease if as a slave
' T would be enjoyed; no rest they knew until,
The last fight o'er, the rights asserted won,
The laurel wreath of victory on their brows,
A newer life with duties grave begun,
To Freedom consecrate with holiest vows.
The choicest fruits which Victory gave they kept
As noblest gifts for them by Heaven ordained;
And in their watch they slumbered not nor slept,
Keeping the prize heroic courage gained.
Have we, their children, felt their spirits' fire,
Their pride to do and dare, their holy zeal,
Their steady strength of will that did not tire,
But self forgot in good of common weal?
We span the continent with iron bands,
Pierce granite hills, and send the steam-urged steed
From Eastern shores to the far Western lands,
Rivalling the sun in his resistless speed.
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40 POEM BY GEORGE C. BURGESS, ESQ.
We stem the ocean's waves and river's tides
With floating palaces, and even dare
The risk of life itself, where danger rides,
To pierce the secrets of the upper air.
The words the Old World heard within the hour,
And hearts that listened with warm rapture thrilled,
The quivering wire gives us with lightning's power
Ere the applause which greeted them is stilled.
All that can minister to wealth or pride
We dare and do; but in the nobler strife
Are our heart's promptings taken for our guide,
To lead us upward to a higher lif e? J
For us no forest spreads its trackless wild,
For us no foes our peaceful homes molest;
No mother, trembling, watches o'er her child,
Lest stealthy savage snatch him from her breast.
But other foes for other courage call,
And other ills must anxious souls affright,
And who would not before their weapons fall
Must with high courage watch and pray and fight.
How vain to us, dwelling upon the past,
Seems in our sight this newer, later day!
How are our idols from their high seats cast,
Their brazen fronts becoming crumbling clay!
The world., with stony visage, stands apart,
And like the fabled sphinx a riddle tells
Which we must solve or die. As oft the heart
Yields in despair as it in triumph swells;
The dusky smoke from almshouse and from jail
Blots out the azure of the summer sky,
The cry of want and suffering's plaintive wail
Is lost in the loud sound of revelry.
The swift gain not the race, nor do they win
Amidst the battle's strife, the world calls strong,
Not always do they stand the assaults of sin
Who in religion's armor have fought long.
And the clear ring of statesmen's voice we miss
Who held their country as the all in all;
But now the chief est statescraft comes to this, —
To watch the means how parties rise and fall.
We praise our fathers' deeds, and hear with pride,
Their noble story o'er and o'er retold ;
Lest their example should our footsteps guide,
We sell their landmarks in our greed for gold.
The stern, heroic soul, which every page
Bears as the record of our fathers' lives,
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POEM BY GEORGE C. BURGESS, ESQ. 41
Dwells not amongst us in this later age,
And Honor's self with noblest purpose strives,
Full oft in vain, to win a poor success,
Where fraud and swift deceit oppose the way,
And men get hearts of flint beneath the press
Of the hard, shallow life we live to-day.
Oh, had we Bradford's stern integrity,
Whose chosen path was of self-sacrifice,
Or Carver's patient soul, whose loyalty
To God and man was sealed at costliest price,
Or Standish's fiery zeal, whose ready hand
Hurled mimic war wrapped up in serpent-skin,
Or Brewster's trust, who sought a foreign land,
To holier lives his fellow-men to win !
But what our fathers did in that old time,
Their sons who follow them must do to-day;
To loftier heights, with toiling feet, must climb,
To purer air must urge our onward way;
Strive for the living faith to which they clung,
Not to a dead belief nor blind assent,
Keeping our thoughts forever fresh and young,
Our talents not as given but only lent.
'Gainst lust of office and the greed of trade,
The loss of honor's quick, inspiring sense,
Placing our strength as walls of stone are made,
To beat oack ocean's waves of imminence.
So as from seed which in the ground is cast,
And lifeless lies, forgotten, cold, and dead,
The future shall spring from the buried past,
And wide abroad its living branches spread.
A brighter day is coming, and along the eastern sky
The crimson banners of the sun proclaim the dawn is nigh;
The purple tints of morning fade from oif the topmost hills,
And a flood of radiance poured along the slumbering valleys fills.
The throbbing pulse of Mother Earth feels life awake anew,
And through the scattered clouds of night comes impulse strong and true.
Prophetic souls, with ears attent, hear a sound that stirs and cheers,
Prom future generations borne adown the coming years,
And midst the sound is heard no tramp of armed and mailed host,
War's trumpet-blast amidst the hum of Labor's throng is lost.
The shock of nations' angry jar shall vex nor land nor sea.
All nations, owning but one head, one brotherhood shall be;
The victories which Peace shall win shall far exceed the old,
Which War upon his battle-flags with pride hath oft enrolled;
Earth's stores for all her hapless sons shall then be garnered in,
Nor shall the strong against the weak in constant struggle win.
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42 POEM BY GEORGE C. BURGESS, ESQ.
As 'neath the ocean's swelling flood the lightning bears amain
The message trusted to its care and swift returns again,
Obedient to the lightest touch the electric thrill is sent,
From zone to zone with speed untold, crost sea and continent,
So shall the world, with one accord responsive to the will
Of the great Master, cheerfully his purposes fulfil.
Upon Valhalla's open meads, the elder Eddas tell,
There stands the mystic tree of life, the ash- tree Ygdrase'l.
Throughout the heavens its branches reach, and in the centre earth,
Deep as the mind can fathom depth, its secret roots have birth;
Upon its lofty topmost bough, with mighty spreading wings,
An eagle sits whose piercing gaze holds all created things.
The dew its branches all distill, its cool, protecting shade,
Give life to all, nor do they know if friends or foes they aid.
The gods who drink Hvergelmer's stream feel their full pulses swell,
The serpents gnawing at its roots are cherished too, as well.
The fountains springing from its roots are wit and wisdom's home,
And to their source at Mimer's fount the gods in judgment come.
There is no place unvisited, no lost, forgotten spot
The ash-tree's power has not searched out, though they may know it not.
Though long concealed, the hidden germ will yet be brought to life,
And, dead to mortal sight, is still with fruitful vigor rife.
The runes which Odin's hand has traced, this mystic sentence give, —
In the far twilight of the gods all better things shall live.
It needs not saga-lore the myth of Ygdrasel to read,
Nor which the mystic tree that grows upon the open mead.
That tree whose branches wide shall be throughout the broad heavens
thrown,
Whose roots shall clasp the universe, is Freedom's tree alone.
"Within its sheltering influence weak hearts are stronger made,
And even traitors claim their seats beneath its fostering shade.
And they who sought this spot remote, from home, from comfort turned
To breathe the air of freedom, all their vain allurements spurned.
Their bright example lives to day, and nations feel its might,
And turn towards it as the germ in growing seeks the light.
The murmur of the forest pines, the waves upon the shore,
And winds that blow at will shall bear the story evermore;
And full and strong the coming years shall see its ripened fruit,
Slow growing through the centuries, in every clime take root.
The chain from off the fettered limbs shall everywhere be riven,
The cry of anguish from the slave go up no more to heaven,
The mind in gloom of ignorance shaljl see the glorious light,
And Knowledge stand before mankind in radiant robes bedight,
Foul Superstition's baleful breath no more pollute the air,
And God's true spirit in his word find dwelling everywhere.
Oh, hasten on, thou glorious day, which brings upon the earth
The newer life, the freer soul, the nobler, purer birth!
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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 43
HISTORICAL SKETCH, BY DR. T. B. DREW.
Sons and Daughters of Kingston: —For a long time I have
had this day in anticipation. In 1856, at the suggestion of a
friend, I commenced to collect whatever I could of an historical
nature relating to Kingston, with a view of writing a history of
the town at some future time. I knew then that 1876, besides
being the centennial of our nation's birth, would also be the
one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birthyear of our
town, and the time then intervening was deemed fully sufficient
to do any work of that kind at that day planned ; yet the twenty
years have passed away, and it is not accomplished.
But as you have chosen me the historian for this occasion, I
have, with considerable labor, endeavored to select and con-
dense from my material an historical sketch of that part of
Plymouth which is now Kingston, from the earliest colonial
times down to a period within the memory of persons still
living, which, with your indulgence, I will now read : —
EARLY SETTLERS AND PROPRIETORS OP LANDS.
At a very early period after the settlement at Plymouth by
the Mayflower Pilgrims, A. D. 1620, and the division of lands,
the colonists began to occupy their lots around the bay, so that
after seventeen years only had elapsed (1637), a sufficient
number to form a separate township had settled in that part of
the town now Duxbury. About five years earlier a church
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44 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
had been formed there, causing, of course, a withdrawal of
members from the Plymouth congregation. It was with great
reluctance they were allowed to go, and to some minds it
seemed that such divisions or separations would be a great
disadvantage to the colony. They little realized that they were
the founders of a great nation, and that such divisions must
necessarily take place to form new settlements in other parts
of New England. Gov. Bradford lamented these separations,
and after expressing his feelings upon the subject, says, "And
this, I fear, will he the mine of New England, at least of the
churches of God there, and ivill provoch the Lord's displeasure
against them"
Could Bradford have looked into the future, he would have
seen that New England itself would soon be too small to hold
the descendants of those pioneers of the Plymouth and Massa-
chusetts colonies, and he would have beheld them still pressing
on through the western wilderness, until the shores of the
Pacific were reached, three thousand miles away from the old
rock on which they had landed two hundred and fifty years
before. But we cannot wonder that, in those early days, they
deeply felt those separations, especially in the church, and it is
not strange some wished for a reunion. The question of uniting
the Plymouth and Duxbury churches at Jones River was seri-
ously discussed just previous to the incorporation of the latter
town ; but after a committee had reported favorably towards
the project of building the meeting-house and town here, the
matter was dropped. At this time just referred to, houses had
been built and occupied in Rocky Nook and at Jones River,
and I will now notice some of the principal persons who, pre-
vious to the year 1700, were residents or proprietors of lands
in that part of Plymouth now Kingston.
The first ten or twelve whom I shall mention were either
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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 45
Pilgrims on the Mayflower or arrived during the next year,
1621. Isaac Allerton was a very important man among the
first comers, as he was almost at the head of their business
affairs, and continued so until 1630, when his transactions,
which at first had been profitable to them, proved in the end to
be a loss, and many were involved, causing much unkind feel-
ing towards him. He owned a house and farm at Eocky Nook,
extending probably north to the river, embracing part of the
estate of the late Alexander Holmes. Mr. Allerton went from
Plymouth to New Amsterdam, and finally to New Haven,
where he died about 1659.
William Bradford, the illustrious governor of Plymouth
Colony, had a tract of land and a house at Stony Brook as
early as 1637. Antiquarians have expressed doubts whether
he ever lived so far from the town proper, but the following
extracts from the records will seem to leave no doubt but that
he resided in this part of the town, during portions of his life
at least. In 1643, when he was governor, it was voted at a
town meeting that "wolfe traps be made according to the order
of court in manner following : 1st. That one trap be made at
Jones Eiver by the governor's family , Mr. Hanbury, and Mr.
Prence and Matthew Fuller and Abraham Pierce." In 1644,
when Win slow was governor, Mr. Bradford's family at Jones
River was ordered "to furnish one person for a company in
time of war or danger." Thus I see no reason for doubting
that the governor lived here the two years last mentioned, if at
no other time.
Francis Cook, the ancestor of the Cook family in this vicin-
ity, lived at Eocky Nook. He was one of the first "layers out
of land" in 1627, and died in 1663. His son John, who also
came in the Mayflower when a child, lived at Eocky Nook.
Another son, Jacob, w T ho arrived shortly after the father, had
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46 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
lands near Smelt Brook. He was one of a number of soldiers
"who were "willing to goe upon service against the Pequent."
Clement Briggs owned land at Jones Eiyer and Rocky Nook
previous to 1640.
Dr. Samuel Fuller, the first physician in the colony, had a
house and farm at Rocky Nook, near Smelt Brook, although at
the time of his death he dwelt in the town. He was a very
valuable man in the colony, and in 1629, soon after the settle-
ment at Salem, a general sickness prevailed there, and at the
request of Mr. Endicott, Gov. Bradford sent him among them,
which visit was greatly appreciated by the inhabitants of that
new colony. In 1633 he himself fell a victim to an alarming
sickness that prevailed at Plymouth, and died much lamented.
From him the Fuller family here has descended.
John Howland had land at Jones River about 1638. The
latter part of his life he dwelt at the Nook, northerly from the
house of the late Hezekiah Ripley, where the remains of his
cellar are still visible. He died in 1672.
Stephen Hopkins had a grant of land in the north meadow
by Jones River in 1640. He was very prominent in public
affairs, and died in 1644.
Elder Thomas Cushman resided on the farm at Rocky Nook
that had previously belonged to his father-in-law, Mr. Allerton.
The Elder's spring is still to be seen, and is one of the few
ancient landmarks that can be pointed out to the present
generation. From him the Cushman family in America is
descended. His wife was Mary Allerton, who came a child in
the Mayflower, and was the last survivor of the first-comers,
dying in 1699, aged ninety. He died in 1691, aged eighty-
four.
John Winslow, a brother of Gov. Winslow, had lands at
Jones River before 1657.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 47
As before stated, these persons I have noticed were of the
earlier settlers, and now I will speak of prominent names of a
later generation.
Major William Bradford, son of the governor, was one of
the most important men in the colony. He resided at Stony
Brook, probably in the same house that had belonged to his
father, and the location of it can now be distinctly seen on the
rising ground between the houses of Deacon Foster and the
late Francis Drew. Persons now living in the neighborhood
well recollect the old orchard that stood on the premises, and
one tree still remains as a landmark of the past. Major Brad-
ford was deputy governor from 1682 to 1686, and 1689 to
1692, when the colonial government terminated. Afterwards
he was chosen a counsellor of Massachusetts.
In the year 1662, when Wamsutta or Alexander, the suc-
cessor of Massasoit, was suspected of designs against the
English, he was with Major Winslow when the chieftain was
surprised and taken prisoner. The most eventful period of
his life was during the years 1675-6, just two centuries ago.
He was chief commander of the forces from Plymouth at the
time King Philip and his people were attacked and routed
from their stronghold in the Narragansett Swamp. The details
of that bloody battle cannot be entered upon here. It is
enough to say that on it seemed to depend the existence or
destruction of the colonies. The English realized the situa-
tion, and in the depth of winter made one of the most des-
perate attacks on a savage foe that we find recorded in history.
They gained the victory, but not without the loss of eighty men
killed and one hundred and fifty wounded. In the year 1689
he is styled by the people of Eehoboth as the "Worshipful
Major Bradford." Whether he was a member of the " secret
fraternity" or not will be left for the Masonic brethren to
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48 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
decide. His estate comprised the whole of the present village
of Stony Brook north of the brook, extending to the bounds of
Duxbury, besides tracts of land in other parts of the town.
All that portion first mentioned was bequeathed to his four
younger sons, viz : Israel, Ephraim, David, and Hezekiah.
Many interesting facts could be recounted relating to this dis-
tinguished man, whom Kingston should never forget to honor,
but the limited time forbids. He died Feb. 20, 1704, and was
buried by the side of his father on the ancient burial hill at
Plymouth. His gravestone bears the following inscription: —
OF THE
HONOURABLE MAJOR WILLIAM BRADFORD,
WHO
EXPIRED FEBRUARY Ye 20th , 1703-4.
Aged 79 Years.
He lived long but still was doing good
And in his country's service lost much blood.
After a life well spent he's now at rest,
His very name and memory is blest.
Joseph Bradford, the youngest son of the governor, lived half
a mile from the mouth of Jones River at a place called Flat
House Dock. He died in 1715. Major John Bradford, the
eldest son of Major William, lived in the house still in existence
near the railroad at the Landing. This house was partially
burned by the Indians during Philip's War. The circumstances
connected with this event may be interesting to the younger
people. The story is this : Major Bradford had removed to
the guard-house (which may have been the ancient Cobb house,
as there is a tradition that it was formerly a garrison or fort),
and was returning in company with others to take some goods
away when he discovered his house to be on fire, and saw an
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VICINITY OF JONES RIVER,
TJrree JleuJbes Itoh*. Plytm.oui5|u to StepkstLTrncic f
in. tkc*|7 Gen.bu.ry oun-cL sorruz of th& ioccdLiLties
From O. C. Records May 10, 1637. "^ * s agreed that the heighways both for horse and cart shall be as followeth.
From the town of Plymouth to Jones River as it was cleared, provided it be holpen at Mr. Allerton's by
going through the old cowe yard at the river, the place being commonly called the Old Wading Place and so
through a valley up the hill and then to turn straight to Abraham Pierce's ground and through his ground as it
is now marked and so the old path to Massachusetts leaving Mr. Bradford's house upon the west, and from
Mr. Bradford's house to Steephen Tracey's ground as the way now lyeth, being already trenched a foote way
from the lower stepping stones to Steephen Trade's the heighway lying through Steephen Tracie's feild now en-
closed. Also we allow a way from Francis Billington's ground through the nooke as it now lyeth to the ferry
and from the ferry to Steephen Tracie's house and so through the meadow to the bridg."
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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 49
Indian on the brow of Abram's Hill, waving his blanket and
shouting to his comrades that the white men were coming.
They fled into a dense swamp by the frog-pond at the base of
the hill, and were pursued by the major, who fired at them, kill-
ing one as he supposed by seeing him fall, but on reaching the
spot was surprised at not finding the body. As it happened,
the Indian was only severely wounded, and was able immedi-
ately to crawl behind a log of fallen wood, and thus escaped
notice. After the war was over the affair was explained to
Bradford by the Indian, and the marks of the wound in his side
were shown. Major Bradford held many offices, being a
deputy and representative to the General Court on several
occasions. He was the principal founder of the new town, and
a promoter of its interests by gifts of land for public purposes.
Caleb Cook, who will be remembered in connection with the
death of King Philip, lived at Rocky Nook. He was a soldier
and was placed with an Indian by Col. Church to watch, and if
possible, kill Philip. When the chance came, Cook snapped
his gun, but it missed fire. He then bade the Indian fire,
and the mighty chieftain was instantly killed. The Indian
gave up his gun to Cook, and it was kept in the family for
several generations. Part of it is now in Pilgrim Hall as a
relic.
Edward Gray, the most prosperous merchant in the colony at
the time of his death in 1681, lived in Rocky Nook on the same
estate where some of his descendants still dwell.
William Paddy and Thomas Willet, merchants, bought a
house at Jones River in 1648 belonging to Edmond Freeman,
of Sandwich. Mr. Willet traded with the Dutch at New York,
and became so accustomed to them, their language, etc., that
after the surrender of the place to the English, he rendered the
Commissioners of Appeals great service, and became so popular
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50 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
that he was elected the first English mayor of New York. He
died in Swansey in 1674.
Thomas Prence, the governor of Plymouth Colony seventeen
years, at one time owned the farm that first belonged to Mr.
Allerton and afterwards to Elder Cushman.
Charles Chauncy, the minister of Plymouth and Scituate,
and finally President of Harvard College, had a grant of ten
acres of land at the North Meadow by the river in 1640.
The names of Armstrong, Bartlett, Brown, Combe, Crowe,
Curtis, Cole, Doane, Lee, Wright, Winter, and others appear
upon the records as land owners in this vicinity. Thus an
attempt has been made to notice all the principal persons who
took up lands or resided in this part of the colony, and it is
pleasing to know that so many of the distinguished founders once
inhabited the soil of Kingston, and that the events connected
with their lives can thus be perpetuated in the memory of their
posterity, and others who may from time to time occupy those
same lands once trodden by the Pilgrims. May future gen-
erations forever cherish the names of those " ancient worthies "
who first planted the seeds of civilization on these Western
shores and bequeathed to us so many blessings !
HIGHWAYS.
For an unknown period previous to the settlement of the col-
onies by the English the country had been inhabited by tribes
of Indians, who had their paths or trails connecting different
points and the more distant regions one with another. Those
paths in many cases were doubtless used by our forefathers in
passing from place to place, and finally became established
roads. In the early records the " path to the Massachusetts "
or the " Massachusetts path " (which connected this part of the
colony with that in the vicinity of Boston) is often mentioned.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 51
It probably crossed Jones Eiver near the almshouse, and then
up Abram's Hill, through the valley just north of the house of
the late Wiswall S. Stetson, and thence in a northeasterly
direction towards the present estate of Samuel Loring, Esq., of
Duxbury. The first bridge over Jones Eiver was built in 1639,
near the place just mentioned, and in a few years afterwards
another one was built farther down the river near the fish
wharf. As early'as 1636 there was a ferry established nearly
at the mouth of the river, and Joseph Rogers was allowed a
penny for the transportation of each person. In 1684 the
King's highway was laid out, and after passing from Plymouth
through Eocky Nook, crossed the river at the lower bridge. In
1707 the town voted "that it is a great burden and charge to
maintain two bridges over Jones Eiver when one might answer,
and that application be made to the County Court and the Court
of Barnstable that a bridge might be built higher up the river."
The next year, 1708, the highway was changed to its present
location, and the first cart-bridge was built there in 1715 at a
cost of £80. About the time this new road was opened, the
old lower bridge was burned, as was supposed by an incen-
diary. While the officers of the law were endeavoring to
detect the person, a wag reported to them that he saw a man
going to the bridge with a live coal in his hand, but on being
pressed for further information, at last told them it was only a
certain gentleman walking hand in hand with a young lady
whose name was Cole. The other old bridge near by the new
road was ordered by the court to be taken down, as it was
dangerous for travel.
In the early times there was a road from Stony Brook, run-
ning towards Bridge water across the corner of Evergreen Cem-
etery, following nearly the footpath that still exists. There
was also a highway across the old burying-ground, from where
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the Town Hall is now located, to a point near the house of Mr.
Lewis Ripley, thus separating the old church from the grave-
yard. Any one can now notice that the old gravestones, say
previous to 1760, are to be found at the northwest part of the
old ground. The road from the church to the Patuxet House
was not laid out until 1759.
JONES RIVER PARISH, INCORPORATION OF KINGSTON, ETC.
At the beginning of the last century, or soon after the year
1700, the inhabitants in the region of Jones River had so
increased that they numbered more than forty families, and
they began to feel the necessity of a withdrawal from the old
town, but there was no action in the matter until March, 1717,
when a request was made to the town for a separation. This
was refused, and shortly after a petition signed by forty-one
persons was directed to "His Excellency, Samuel Shute, Esq.,
Captain General and Governor-in-Chief, in and over His Maj-
esty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay, etc. The Council
and Representatives in General Court assembled," in which
they set forth the difficulties they labored under by living so
far from the meeting-house, many residing at a distance of six
or seven miles, and the most of them above four miles, etc.,
etc. After a full hearing upon the question, the General Court
passed an Act in November, 1717, setting off the north part of
Plymouth with a small portion of Plympton and Pembroke, as
a precinct or parish. As the Act provided that they should
suitably maintain a minister, the people of the new parish soon
began to make preparations to build the meeting-house, and a
call was given to Mr. Thomas Paine to be their minister, but
he was not settled, and nothing more is recorded concerning
the ministry until we find that " Mr. Joseph Stacie began to
preach July 26, 1720." On the 5th of January, 1721, Major
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John Bradford deeded a lot of land to the minister, on which
was soon erected the parsonage house. Mr. Stacey sold this
house to Thomas Croade in 1724, and afterwards lived in the
house that formerly stood near the large elm-tree on the grounds
of Joseph A. Holmes, and which was not taken down until
about 1843.
Only a little, more than seven years had elapsed after the
incorporation of Jones Kiver parish when a serious trouble
arose concerning the schools. As early as 1696 it was voted
by the town that the school-master for the fourth quarter should
" remove no farther southward in said towne for settlement to
Jceepe scool than John Grafs" In 1714 £20 was allowed to
the north end of the town " to build a scool house somewhare
neere Jacob Cook's," and the same year Major John Bradford
gave a lot of land for it to be built upon near the corner, just
westerly from the house of the late Capt. James Sever. A
school-house which stood on the same land is well remembered
by many persons, as it was not removed until 1826, just fifty
years ago. At a very excited meeting Feb. 15, 1725, it
was voted to have but one school in the town. As the inhabi-
tants in the north parish had enjoyed for several years a sepa-
rate school, this action of the town greatly exasperated them,
and to compromise the matter somewhat, it was voted at the
next meeting to allow them what they were annually rated or
taxed for the school, and no more, towards maintaining one
among themselves. The result of this meeting seemed to
determine the future action of the people of Jones Eiver parish,
for the same month they voted at a precinct meeting " to peti-
tion y Great and General Court to become a tovmship." Dur-
ing that year the mutter was urged and opposed by the different
parties, as a majority of the people of the town of Plymouth
were strongly against the separation ; but on the third day of
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June, 1726, the bounds of the intended new town were decided
upon, and on the 16th day O. S., corresponding to the 27th N.
S., the following Act passed : —
Anno Regni Regis Georgii Duodecimo.
AN ACT
Passed by the Great and General Court or Assembly of His Majesty's Province of the Massa-
chusetts Bay for Dividing the Town of Plv mouth, and erecting a New Town there by the
name of Kingston.
Whereas the town of Plymouth within the county of Plymouth is of
great extent for length and lyes commodiously for Two Townsliips and
the North Precinct thereof being of late sufficiently filled with Inhabi-
tants who labour under great Difficulties on several accounts and have
there upon addressed this Court that they may be set off a distinct and sepa-
rate Township; Be it therefore Enacted by the Lieut. Governor, CouDcil
and Eepresentatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of
the same ; That all the Lands lying within the said North Precinct in
Plymouth aforesaid, particularly described and bounded by an Order of
this Court passed at their present Session, be and hereby are set off and
constituted a separate Township by the name of Kingston ; And that the
Inhabitants of said Township be vested with the Powers, Privileges and
Immunities that the Inhabitants of any Town of this Province, by Law
are or ought to be vested with.. Provided, and be it further enacted ;
That nothing in this act contained, shall be construed, deemed, judged or
intended to hinder or prejudice the right and interest of all or any persons
whatsoever in any of the Common and Undivided Lands within the Towns
of Plymouth and Kingston aforesaid, but the same shall remain as here-
tofore. Provided also, and be it further Enacted, That the Inhabitants
of the said Town of Kingston shall be liable and subject (notwithstanding
their being set off and constituted a Township aforesaid) to pay their
proportion of all Province, County and Town rates for this present year
in the Towns to which they respectively belonged, and shall be accord-
ingly assessed in such Towns in the same manner as they would have been
if this Act had never been made ; Anything before contained to the con-
trary notwithstanding.
Passed in Council and signed,
J. WILLARD, Sec'y.
Passed in the House of Eepresentatives and signed,
WM. DUDLEY, Spk'r.
Consented to,
Wm. Dummer.
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It is said that Lieut.-Gov. Durnmer suggested the name of
the new town on the 28th of May, that being the birthday of
His Majesty King George the First, then the reigning sovereign
of England.
By order of the General Court Major Bradford issued on the
13th of August the first warrant for a town meeting, to be held
on the 29th of the same month, and at that meeting the follow-
ing officers were chosen ; Major John Bradford, Moderator ;
Joseph Mitchell, Clerk ; Beuj. Eaton, Thomas Croad, and Jacob
Mitchell, Selectmen and Assessors; Ensign Wrestling Brews-
ter, Treasurer; Joseph Mitchell, Constable; Seth Chipman,
Tithing Man; John Gray and Samuel Foster, Hog Eeeves ;
Eobert Cook and Jacob Cook Jr., Fence Viewers; Samuel
Ring, Surveyor.
ANNALS OF THE TOWN.
Having passed the period of the incorporation of Kingston,
I must necessarily pass rapidly over the next fifty years, simply
noting a few facts or events. In 1730 the name of Giles
Eickard, the school-master, first appears upon the records,
though he had probably been employed previously. In 1740
Capt. Gershom Bradford was sent as the first representative to
the General Court. Previous to this, the town had sent
excuses for not sending. Eev. Joseph Stacey died Aug. 25,
1741, after a ministry of twenty-one years. Eev. Thaddeus
Maccarty was the next settled minister, being ordained in
November, 1742. In 1743 a reward often pounds was offered
to slwj one who should kill a wolf within the limits of the town,
and the following year it is recorded that a wolf was killed.
In 1745, during Eev. George Whitefield's career in this vicinity
a trouble arose with the minister, Mr. Maccarty. The town
voted " not to allow itinerant preachers to preach in the meet-
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56 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
ing house," and "that hooks and staples be put to the casements
that nobody may get in at unseasonable hours to do damage in
y e meeting house, etc., etc." Mr. Maccarty was displeased
and asked for his dismission, which was readily granted in
November, 1745. It is said that both minister and people
afterwards regretted the action taken at that time.
The third minister was Eev. William Rand, who was settled
in 1746. He had previously been settled at Sunderland, and
his opinion in regard to Mr. Whitefield was just the opposite
of Mr. Maccarty's.
Joseph Mitchell, who had held the office of clerk since the
incorporation of the town with the exception of two years, died
1754. It was voted in 1756, "that the town stores of pow-
der, balls, &c, be lodged in the garret of the meeting-house."
Until 1764 the meeting-house had no steeple, and that year one
was built and the first bell of the town was placed in it. This
year died Nicholas Sever, Esq., aged eighty-four years. He
was the first of the once prominent family of that name in
Kingston, and now but one of his descendants resides in the
town. He graduated at Harvard College, 1701, was ordained
minister at Dover, N. H., 1711, and dismissed 1715. After
being a tutor in Harvard College, he settled in Kingston about
1728, and was, for a number years, a judge of one of the
Plymouth County Courts. After the disturbances at Boston,
caused by the Stamp Act of 1766, a meeting was called to see
if the town would vote for compensation to the sufferers by the
riotous proceedings, and a majority was against it.
Deacon Wrestling Brewster, the first town treasurer, who
continued in that office until 1751, died Jan. 1, 1767, in his
seventy-third year. He was of the third generation in descent
from the Elder, and was born in Duxbury, removing to Kings-
ton previous to 1720, as about that time he built the house
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belonging; to the estate of the late Elisha Brewster. Oct. 14,
1771, it was voted "to allow Benj. Cook the sum of eight
shillings for a coffin and liquor at the funeral of James How-
land. 1 ' Although this person was one of the town's poor, yet,
according to the custom of those days, all proper respect was
shown him.
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
On the 12th of January, 1773, a meeting was called to con-
sider a pamphlet published by order of the town of Boston, in
which many infringements of the rights of the inhabitants were
pointed out, etc. On the 4th of February, the town addressed
the following answer to the Committee of Correspondence, of
Boston : —
Gentlemen: — The town having duly considered the same, are clearly of
the opinion that they are fully entitled to all those rights as by you stated,
and that any attempt to deprive us of them is an infringement of our just
rights. It gives us the greatest concern to see that, notwithstanding the
immense advantages accruing to Great Britain from her trade with the
colonies, advantages vastly exceeding the expenses incurred for their
protection, that the Parliament of Great Britain should adopt a system
with regard to the colonies which effectually divests them of their rights
as Englishmen and subjects, and reduces them to a condition little better
than that of slaves, — a system "which, if adhered to, will, we fear event-
ually terminate in their own ruin. But notwithstanding such has been
the unremitted, unvaried plan of administration towards the colonies for
years past, we cannot but hope a due regard for their own safety and real
interest will at length induce them to redress the grievances we so justly
complain of. We shall always be ready to co-operate with our brethren
in any legal and constitutional measures tending thereto. Slavery is ever
preceded by sleep: May the colonists be ever watchful over their just
rights, and may their liberties be fixed on such a basis as that they may
be transmitted inviolate to the latest posterity.
Sept. 2.6, 1774, a meeting of the towns of Plymouth County,
by their committees or delegates, was held at the tavern of
Widow Loring, in Plympton, and John Thomas, Esq., Capt.
John Gray, and William Drew were the Kingston delegates.
Subsequently, these same gentlemen, with Hon. William Sever,
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Deacon Ebenezer Washburn, Mr. Benjamin Cook, Mr. Peleg
Wadsworth, Jedediah Holmes, and Capt. Joseph Bartlett were
chosen the Committee of Correspondence. The minute com-
pany was probably formed in 1774, as in the early part of 1775
the town voted " to purchase thirty-three stand of good fire-
arms, with all accoutrements suitable to equip thirty-three
soldiers." This company was commanded by Capt. Peleg
Wadsworth; Seth Drew was lieutenant, and Joseph Sampson,
ensign. As soon as the news of the Lexington battle reached
the Old Colony, the Kingston company marched with Col.
Cotton's regiment to attack Balfour's regiment of British troops,
which was stationed at Marshfield. After arriving there, a
conference of officers was held, and Capt. Wadsworth, being
dissatisfied with the delay, marched his company to within a
short distance of the enemy; but his numbers were too small
to venture an attack, and before any action took place, Balfour
conveyed his troops through the Cut Eiver, and when on board
the sloops, which were anchored off Brant Rock, sailed for
Boston. Thus the Kingston minute company has its place in
history.
Of the officers in the Revolutionary army, the most prominent
ones who went from Kingston were Gen. Peleg Wadsworth
(a native of Duxbury, but for several years a resident of Kings-
ton), Gen. Jno. Thomas, and Major Seth Drew. Gen. Wads-
worth distinguished himself by many acts during the war, and
finally lived and died in Maine in 1829. Of the eminent ser-
vices of Gen. Thomas I need not speak, as they are so well
known to all who are acquainted with the early history of the
army at Roxbury and Dorchester Heights, and as such honor-
able mention has been made of them by the orator on this occa-
sion. Major Drew was in the army throughout the whole war,
being at Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered, also at Trenton,
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Monmouth, and in the vicinity of West Point during that mem-
orable campaign. He was one of the court-martial appointed
to try Joshua Hett Smith, accused of being an accomplice of
Major Andre.
Simeon Sampson, the distinguished naval commander, was a
native of Kingston. He was appointed by the Provincial Con-
gress of Massachusetts the first naval captain in the service,
and commanded the brig "Independence," and afterwards the
" Mars," both vessels being built at the Kingston Landing.
While in the first-named vessel in 1776 he captured five prizes,
but was himself soon after taken by Capt. Dawson, after a
bloody conflict. March 24, 1777, Samuel Foster, Charles Fos-
ter, and Wrestling Brewster were considered internal enemies
of the government. The Messrs. Foster were tried by a court
in the meeting-house, and both were sent on board a guard-ship
in Boston Harbor, where they remained ten months. At this
time several persons left town, as they were attached to the
royal cause, and it was made very uncomfortable for any one
suspected of being a Tory, as he was in constant danger of a coat
of tar and feathers by the vigilance committee, to say nothing
of the numerous indignities they at times received. At one
time, while the British soldiers were stationed in Marshfield, a
man by the name of Dunbar carried an ox, which had been
slaughtered by a Tory of that town, to Plymouth for the pur-
pose of selling it. As soon as the facts were discovered the
vigilance committee took the case in hand. Dunbar was put
inside of the carcass with the tripe tied around his neck, and in
that condition was sent to the committee at Kingston* On
arriving at the liberty pole here, the contents of the cart were
tipped out, and after a sort of demonstration was made, the cart
was reloaded and sent to the authorities of Duxbury, where
Dunbar was subjected to the same treatment he had previously
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received in this town. He was then taken to the bounds of
Marshfield and there left, his escort not caring to risk a contact
with the troops statioued there.
Another incident of those times of a* different nature will be
mentioned in this connection. A certain sea captain, whose
sympathies were decidedly with the Eoyalists, had absented
himself from public worship for a long time on account of the
revolutionary proclivities of Parson Eand. But it came to his
ears that on a certain Sunday the minister would read a procla-
mation from the king. This so delighted him that he resolved
to attend divine service on that day, and Mr. Eand did read
the king's proclamation ; but to the great consternation of the
Tory, the minister turned over the document, on the back of
which he had written his sermon, containing many severe allu-
sions to King George and his advisers in Parliament, and it
proved to be a sermon more decided in its political nature than
Mr. Eand had ever before preached. He listened to it until he
became very angry, then left the house in an excited manner,
slamming the pew-door after him and shuffling his feet on the
floor as he passed down the aisle. To irritate him a little
more, just as he was passing out of the house a member of the
congregation cried out to him, " JShet the door arter ye, Cap-
tain! " much to the amusement of the audience.
At a meeting in 1778, William Drew and Nicholas Davis,
Jr., were chosen "to purchase articles of clothing, etc., to be
sent to the suffering soldiers in the army." On the 14th of
March, 1779, the Eev. William Eand, after a faithful ministry
of thirty- three years, died suddenly of apoplexy, aged seventy-
nine years. In July of the same year Wm. Drew, Esq., was
chosen a delegate to attend the convention at Cambridge for
framing a new State Constitution. May 22, 1780, the town
voted " to concur with the church in giving Mr. Willis a call to
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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 61
the work of the Gospel ministry in this town," his salary to be
£80, to be paid partly in Indian corn, rye, pork, beef, etc.,
at specified prices. A settlement of about £133 was also
granted him. He was ordained Oct. 18 of the same year, and
continued in the ministry forty-eight years, until he resigned in
1828. He lived until March 6, 1847, when he died in the
ninety-first year of his age. The first election of State officers
under the new Massachusetts Constitution took place Sept. 4,
1780, and the Kingston vote for governor was, for Hon. John
Hancock, 13, for Hon. James Bowdoin, 12. About this time
the paper currency had become so greatly depreciated that no
confidence could be placed in its value, for in December $75
per bushel was allowed the soldiers for the corn that was due
them, and in May, 1781, it was voted " to allow Mr. John Ful-
ler's account for £22 10s. old currency, one hard dollar. The
ancient burial ground, that was given to the town for a burying
place by Major John Bradford in 1721, remained without an
enclosure for sixty-six years, when in 1787 a wall was built to
protect it. There the remains of most of the founders of the
town, with their descendants, in some cases to the number of
seven or eight generations, repose, and there, also, rest three
of the four earlier ministers (Messrs. Stacey, Rand, and Wil-
lis), whose pastorates, with the exception of Mr. Maccarty's
three years, extended over a space of about one hundred and
eight years. The earliest inscription there bears the date of
Feb. 14, 1718, and down to the year 1860 nine hundred and
thirty-five names were inscribed on the gravestones in that old
burial place. As many graves have no monument or stone to
mark them, the whole number buried there can only be imag-
ined. Down to the year 1840 this continued to be the only
public burying place, but about that time the old ground was
enlarged on the northerly side, and since 1854 the beautiful
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Evergreen Cemetery has been connected with this latter por-
tion, so that the ancient resting-place of our fathers, with that
of the present generation, are still in one enclosure The Hon.
William Sever, Esq., was chosen a delegate to the State Con-
vention for ratifying the United States Constitution, which was
held in January, 1788.
The most remarkable case of longevity in this vicinity was
that of Ebenezer Cobb. On the first day of April, 1794, he
completed his hundredth year and continued to live until
December, 1801, when in his one hundred and eighth year.
Being born in 1694, he lived in the seventeenth, eighteenth,
and nineteenth centuries. As he was five years old before
Mary Allerton, the last of the Pilgrims, died, it makes him
the link that connects the Mayflower Pilgrims with the present
time, for aged people are now living who recollect of seeing
this centenarian; and it is a peculiar pleasure that we have
two of that number on the platform here to-day, the venerable
Eev. Job Washburn, of Eockport, Me., now in his ninetieth
year, who is visiting his native town probably for the last
time, on this interesting occasion, and the Hon. Joseph R.
Chandler, a distinguished son of Kingston, now a resident of
Philadelphia.
The first meeting-house, that had stood for eighty years,
was demolished in 1798, and a new one was built that year,
which is well remembered by many of us, as it was not taken
down until May, 1851, after standing fifty-three years. The
present church edifice of the First Congregational Society
occupies the same site as the two which preceded it, and some
of the timber from the very first building was used in the con-
struction of the last.
I did intend before finishing this sketch to notice many
things which must be passed over. A mere reference to the
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schools of seventy years ago will doubtless cause many of the
aged people of this community to think of their youthful days,
when they were instructed by Mr. Martin Parris as he went
from one section of tho town to the other, and thus in his
circuit was teacher of the whole.
A very important business carried on in town in the ancient
times and down to within a few years was that of ship build-
ing. Vessels were built on Jones River or Stony Brook before
1714. The Stetsons and Drews were builders at a very early
date, and the latter family can count back at least six genera-
tions who were engaged in the same business.
During the first sixty years of the present century Joseph
Holmes built seventy-five or more vessels, while in the same
period many others were launched from the yards of the
Drews, Bartletts, and Delanos.
CONCLUSION.
Two hundred and fifty-five years have passed since the first
settlement of New England at Plymouth, and I have endeav-
ored in this imperfect sketch to notice the interesting facts and
speak of the most important events that transpired in the
vicinity of Jones River for one hundred and seventy-five years
of that period. As Kingston has shown so good a record in
the years gone by, may we, her children, assembled here to-day,
forever honor the old town from whence we sprung, and keep
alive the memories of the worthy deeds of our ancestors, so
that our children and their descendants may never forget the
starting-point of their race, in this good Old Colony town.
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AFTER DINNER SPEECHES.
1. The day we celebrate, designated for the public recital of our town
history by the Proclamation of Divine Providence.
SPEECH OF HON. GEORGE B. LORING, OF SALEM.
Ladies and Gentlemen, — After the exhaustive and elabo-
rate addresses to which we have listened to-day, it would seem
as if there were no more to be said with regard to the events
which you have met to commemorate. But I have felt that
I should not do justice to my own natural feelings were I to
fail in attempting, at least, to perform the part which has been
assigned me. This spot is filled with personal interest to my
mind. The hero and heroine of this locality, and of that
period in history out of which grew the organization of this
town, stand at the head of one branch of my own family, and
bind me with a strong and tender bond to the people who made
these shores immortal. I have always taken especial delight
in the personal contest between Miles Stan dish and John
Alden, feeling that the very beginning of my fortune and
fate, ay, of life itself was fixed when the valiant captain sur-
rendered at the feet of the fair Priscilla Mullins, and John
Alden, a successful and triumphant suitor, laid the foundation
of that family from which my paternal grandmother sprang,
and whose name she bore. The landscape here is the setting
to my mind of a picture which I never grow weary in contem-
plating. I cannot forget, moreover, that there is an unadjusted
account of charity and kindness still open between the colony
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 65
at Plymouth and the colony at Naumkeag, which I now repre-
sent, an account created when the Pilgrims sent their wise and
learned physician to heal the distemper which broke out among
the followers of John Endicott, and threatened to destroy them.
Perhaps I, as a quasi-physician from old Essex, can, on this
occasion and at this late day, perform some service here which
may be considered a humble and inadequate offset to the debt
incurred by my ancestors.
But more than all this, the town itself in which we have
assembled stands in history, to my mind, as a representative
spot. The planting of colonies in various ages of the world
constitutes one of the most interesting chapters which man is
called upon to contemplate. The power of a great nationality
manifests itself as much in the quality of the colonies it sends
forth as in any more conspicuous step in its career. The
swarms which poured forth from Greece and Eome to occupy
the remote regions of the globe in those early days, told of
the vital force of these great nationalities, and gave them an
influence not surpassed by that acquired by their schools and
their social and civil organization. It was the principles
which the colonies bore with them that indicated the character
of the parent stock. Imagine then, if you can, the significance
of a colony whose fountain sprang from the foot of Plymouth
Rock. When your ancestors started forth from the immortal
colony which settled there, they bore with them the very
foundation of our government itself. They carried with them
as the ark of their covenant those doctrines of state and
society which have enabled our country to endure, and have
given a grand significance to this centennial anniversary of our
nation's birth. The people who inherited the character of
John Carver, the immortal governor, and the philosophy and
example of Winslow and Bradford and Brewster have a right
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to a high distinction, unknown to many a more conspicuous
and imposing nationality. For let it be remembered that the
associations which cluster here to-day belong to the immortal
events of history, — events which will not be forgotten when
the glory of many a conquest shall have faded from the memory
of man.
I always contemplate with great pride and satisfaction the
work performed by our fathers here, simple and unpretending
as it was. The historian of this occasion has told us that in
the early days of the colonies, a path was cut through the
forest having Plymouth at one end and Boston at the other.
Along this rude highway the defiant colonists of Plymouth and
Massachusetts Bay are said to have travelled in those heroic
times, when the solemnity of the primeval forests was a fitting
retreat for the serious and determined adventurers, who brought
with them from the Old World all the great doctrines of freedom
and right upon which to found the New. It was along this path
that the advocates of those principles of church and state,
which we now enjoy passed along on their sacred errand. Here
might have been heard the truth which was thundered from the
gallery of the Old South and echoed through Faneuil Hall
in the days of Adams and Otis and Warren and Quincy, the
orators of the uprising people. Here might have been heard
those doctrines which were woven into the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. Here was laid the foundation of universal freedom,
and that human law out of which grew the Proclamation of
Emancipation. Here was written *the sacred word borne by
our soldiers on the point of their bayonets through the great
civil war, and here, on this path, in those primeval days,
might have been found the prophets of American nationality.
It is on this path, my friends, that the American people are
travelling to-day.
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 67
Allow me, then, to propose to you: "The Massachusetts
path, — may it encircle this continent, and become the high-
way along which a great people may travel to never-ending
glory and renown."
2. Kingston, though born under a monarchy and of royal name, has
ever been a most loyal portion of the Great Eepublic.
RESPONSE OE HON. E. S. TOBEY, Post-Master of Boston.
Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen,— I confess to a
degree of sympathy for you that, after the eloquent words of
the distinguished gentleman who has just preceded me, you
are obliged to listen to the common-place remarks of the
speaker. I am not unmindful that it is the accident of birth,
rather than any special merit of mine, which has placed me
in so prominent relations to this truly interesting and com-
memorative occasion. As it is a kind of family gathering, I
may, perhaps, be permitted the liberty of referring to some
early local reminiscences, even though they be personal. This
is not the first time that a topic has been assigned to me by my
fellow-townsmen.
Memory at once recalls to my mind and, perhaps, also to the
minds of some early friends whom I now have the pleasure of
addressing, the fact that, at the age of ten years, when a scholar
in the academy, the well-known soliloquy of Alexander Selkirk
was given me on which to exercise my powers of declamation,
in those familiar lines commencing,—
" I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute."
I can assure you that these early and delusive ideas of uni-
versal empire have long since been dispelled, and my rights,
although in my judgment often remarkably well-founded, have
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been successfully disputed. But deeply as this and other inci-
dents of my early school-days are graven on my memory, not
less vivid are the recollections of the old church, with its pecu-
liar but dignified architecture, and its equally dignified pastor,
who ministered at its altar for so long a period.
The tones of its bell, as in solemn cadence it noted the
departure of a beloved friend or neighbor, seem still to echo
in my ears, reviving the memory of the honored dead; and
although no "storied urn or ambitious monument" marks their
final resting-place, the record of their worthy deeds and private
virtues will ever be enshrined in the hearts of their descendants.
But no longer to indulge in these reminiscences I turn to
the sentiment to which I have been invited to respond. No
one can question the fact that our worthy progenitors had no
love for monarchy in any form. It is, however, evident that
they did not wholly lose their taste for royalty, or at least
for some of its more pleasing associations, as partially indi-
cated by their adoption for our native town the name applied
by the Duke of Kingston to his extensive domain in England.
As to the loyalty of Kingston to the Great Republic we need
no further evidence than is contained in the interesting sketch
given us by the faithful historian of this occasion as to the ser-
vices of our fellow-townsmen in the war of the Revolution, the
maritime w T ar of 1812, and in the recent war of the Rebellion.
But evidence of loyalty and patriotism is not confined to either
military or naval service. "If War has its victories, Peace
has its victories too." Kingston has shown her loyalty to the
principles of Republican government by her full share of influ-
ence in shaping both state and national legislation. Although
never directly represented in the halls of Congress, she has
had representatives there in her sons, who have been readily
* Rev. Mr. Willis.
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69
adopted by the States to which they had transferred their resi-
dence. Our venerable friend * who honors us with his presence
to-day, was, as you are aware, a representative in Congress from
Pennsylvania, and was subsequently appointed by the President
of the United States as Minister to Naples. The late Hon. John
Holmes was also adopted by Maine, and ably represented her
in the United States Senate. The sons of Kingston who have
removed to other parts of the State have also been chosen to
participate in determining her political policy.
And, now, friends, aside from the social and intellectual
enjoyments of this pleasant occasion, what is its practical les-
son? Is it not that it may deepen our convictions of duty, and
inspire us, each and every one, with an earnest and sincere desire
so to discharge our responsibilities, that those who shall at
some distant period gather here may be able to testify to our
fidelity to the principles and virtues transmitted to us by the
fathers whose memory to-day we seek to revive and perpetuate ?
3. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, all the more flourishing and
fruitful because engrafted upon Pilgrim stock and watered by Pilgrim
springs.
RESPONDED TO BY HON. HENRY B. PEIRCE, Secretary of State.
His Excellency, Gov. Rice was expected to speak to this sen-
timent but was unexpectedly detained by "an official duty."
The Secretary, after explaining the enforced absence of the
Governor and apologizing for him, in a short but unreportable
speech put the audience into the best possible good humor by
his wit and drollery, which served greatly to mitigate the keen
disappointment felt by all.
It is proper to add that the Governor's Private Secretary and
personal Staff were present and participated in the festivities of
the day.
* Hon. Joseph R. Chandler, of Philadelphia.
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4. Plymouth : Our Mother Town. We invite her to join us to-clay in
welcoming her grandchildren to this feast.
SPEECH OF HON. WILLIAM T. DAVIS, OF PLYMOUTH.
Mr. President, — In riding from Plymouth into your village
this morning, had I not on various occasions in an official
capacity been called upon to define the boundary between the
two towns I should have found it difficult to determine where
Plymouth ended and Kingston began. The population is so
continuous from one town to the other that I am not sure a
scheme of annexation will not soon be contemplated. Whether
Kingston shall be annexed to Plymouth or Plymouth to Kings-
ton will be a question in which your taxpayers will have far
more interest than ours. It has already been suggested that
Plymouth might supply Kingston with water, but I am inclined
to think that the suggestion has its origin in the fact that the
other ingredient of your half and half she supplies you with
too bountifully already. Of Plymouth gas you will probably
have no need, as I fear that the specimen exhibited here to-day
will be more than you desire of that article.
But seriously, sir, I thank you for the privilege of being here
to-day, and in behalf of the town of Plymouth which I unworthily
represent, of tendering to you the congratulations of a parent to
her child on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its birth.
On this interesting occasion Plymouth mingles her rejoicings
with yours and repeats your cordial welcome to the sons and
daughters of Kingston gathered around this board. I cannot
fail to remember that for more than a century after the settle-
ment of that ancient town you were bone of her bone and flesh
of her flesh, that your history and hers were identical, and that
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now the same ancestral glories which stir her pride, kindle also
a warmer glow in the blood which courses through your veins.
Your early traditions and hers are the same ; the sacred places
where our fathers lived and died are scattered over your
domain; the names of Adams, Bradford, Cooke, Cushman, Ful-
ler, Gray, Holmes and others in your midst attest your Pilgrim
descent ; and yonder river, which in 1620 bore the shallop of the
Mayflower on its bosom, still winds its reluctant way to the sea
as if loving to linger among your homes and repeat its story
of those early days. But, sir, these are not the associations
which the voices of the hour recall. More recent memories
cluster around the day you celebrate, — memories exclusively
your own, which no stranger can either appropriate or share.
The history, however, of your town, from the organization of
the north parish of Plymouth in 1717, and the incorpora-
tion of your municipality in 1726, has been so thoroughly and
accurately portrayed that nothing is left to be culled by
those whose fortune it is to follow your orator and historian.
Its current has flowed on with placid stream through lengthened
periods of ordinary municipal life, marked only by the intelli-
gence, enterprise, and thrift of its people, and through shorter
and more eventful seasons of revolutionary and rebellious
wars, in which its patriotism and courage have been tested and
proved.
But I cannot forget that to a Kingston man belongs the honor
of having received the first naval commission in the war of our
independence and that the vessel in which he sailed and fought
w T as the first vessel placed in commission by the Provincial
Congress and was built on the banks and launched into the
waters of your river. I hold in my hand the sword of that gal-
lant hero, Simeon Sampson, the sword which he wore in one of
the most bloody naval battles of the war, and which his captor,
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72 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
Capt. Dawson returned to him in recognition of his heroism
and courage.
Nor must I fail to pay due respect to the memory of him to
whom no more than justice has been done to-day, one of those
immortal men with whom Washington " went shoulder to shoul-
der into the B evolution, and on whom his great arm leaned for
support." A physician of education and repute, a commander
of provincial troops under Gen. John Winslow in the war of 1756,
a delegate to the convention of Plymouth Comity in 1774, a
member of the Provincial Congress in that and the following
year, lieutenant-general in the provincial army, and brigadier-
general in the continental army, Gen. John Thomas was
selected to command the expedition against Canada in 1776, in
which he lost his life. To have produced such a man, active
yet judicious, resolute yet prudent, fearless yet sagacious, high-
bred yet beyond ordinary measure kind to his men and
thoughtful of their comfort and health, trusted and beloved by
Washington and pronounced by the inexorable pen of Ban-
croft to have been the best general officer in the colony, Kings-
ton, on this her day of jubilee, may well be proud.
Nor must I hesitate to correct the modest claim of your
historian, that Kingston furnished sixty-one men for the .'war of
the Revolution. I have brought from my library a contempora-
neous official record of the men raised by the various towns in
Plymouth County during that memorable struggle, and I find
in the manuscript which I hold in my hand the names of one
hundred men whose enlistments attest your active patriotism.
I also hold in my hand the original census of Plymouth county
taken soon after the war, containing the names of heads of fam-
ilies and the number in each family, and showing the popula-
tion of Kingston to have been nine hundred and ninety-nine.
Thus the record shows that from ten to twelve per cent of the
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whole population and nearly one half of the adult male citizens
of the town took active part in the service of their country. If
there are other towns in the commonwealth which, can show a
better revolutionary record, I challenge them here and now to
produce it.
Of the part which Kingston performed in the recent war of
the Rebellion, I do not propose to speak. I assure you, how-
ever, I know it well, for no one had abetter opportunity than
myself of observing the patriotic liberality which characterized
its citizens and the eminent ability with which its municipal
affairs were conducted in meeting with full measure the require-
ments of the war.
In thus alluding, sir, to the pages in the history of your town
on which the record of its patriotic deeds may be found, and
which I trust are closed forever, let me in closing express the
hope that hereafter neither wars nor rumors of wars may dis-
turb your people, but that for all coming time, peace, prosper-
ity, and happiness may reign within your borders.
5. The Legends of Kingston.
SPEECH OF HON. JOSEPH E. CHANDLER.
Mr. President, — The gentleman who preceded me enriched
his reminiscences of early years in Kingston with the pleasing
fact that in his school-boy days he had a part in certain reci-
tations and declamations, then not unusual in your public
schools. I have a pleasing recollection of a similar occurrence,
a recitation which, as it occurred nearly fourscore years ago,
may fairly be set down as my first exhibition of oratory, and
as this will probably be my last effort, I might to-day make
a sort of da capo close, and say, as I then said,
u You 'd scarce expect one of my age
To speak in public on the stage."
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But, sir, I am called up to respond to a sentiment, " The
Legends of Kingston." Perhaps other towns in the Old Col-
ony had their legends, and only lacked a historian to give
them " form and presence." The descendants of those who
yield belief or consent to the narratives of their seniors or
the embellishments and additions of their cotemporaries may
have forgotten in the tumult of social antagonism for wealth
or place, a part or the whole of what had influenced their
childhood. But I can bear witness to the fact that in this
town almost every rock that guards your bay was deemed at
times the residence or resort of the unearthly and the evil ;
and that the lower, damp portions of land, which then were
made dark by exuberant shrubbery, were sacred to spirits that
held their ghostly Sabbaths in the shade.
In darkness or in solitude men of stern mould passed
through these scenes, consecrated with what you call super-
stition, in shrinking dread of
" Forms unseen and mightier far than they,"
and occasionally they did homage to the great unseen by
acknowledging their existence, which they would rather deny
in broad daylight or in a crowd. If it be true that these
superstitions have given way to the teachings of reason, and
that men, women, and children no longer with awe listen to the
stories of what was once a social and practical belief, then,
without condemning the past, we may reckon this decay of
faith or fear among the changes which are so obvious in
Kingston, and to which I shall briefly allude. But before
leaving the subject which is the keynote that your committee
has sounded, let me say that a belief in the unearthly and of
their interference in the affairs of life and in the direction
of human beings distinguished all Massachusetts, and cer-
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tainly it had its mildest form in Kingston where the traditions
of witchcraft are not found ; though I must confess that I
recall the apparition of some beings, whose appearance was so
influential that 1 am not astonished that even in this day, when
we ridicule or lament the imputed power of old women witches,
we are bound to confess that the spirit has descended to the
young, and the charms of cultivated talent and beauty may
induce and warrant the admission that witches have not failed
from the land.
If the toast by which I am called up had reference to certain
literary efforts of my own in which the peculiarities of belief
of our native town were the staple of what was written, I can
only say that they were the result of early impressions, and,
strange to add, they were imparted by an anxious, pious,
widowed mother, who, having nothing of worldly wealth with
which to endow her eccentric son, was led perhaps by Prov-
idence to bestow in her maternal solicitude a love of the mar-
vellous, and to cultivate a habit of fanciful thought, for with
the exception of that bestowal,
" When I arrived at man's estate
' Twas all the estate I had."
But wealth would probably have fled or been lost in specula-
tion. The want of that wealth led to constant drafts upon the
maternal bestowal, and though you may have profited little by
my records of the "Legends of Kingston," yet they became
to me the means of some little distinction, and I owe the
pecuniary comforts of old age less to the commercial and polit-
ical stages through which I have passed than to the uses which
I made of the legendary lore with which my mother beguiled
the hours of my early boyhood.
Though these wild scenes that I have tried to decorate with
fancy are not now interesting to you, yet they are classical
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fields in my remembrance ; they are Gardens of Hesperides to
my small experience and my inconsequential condition.
" Paulo majora canamus." Let me advance from myself and
my doings to remark on some of the changes in Kingston.
Our goodly town was formerly distinguished by the amount
of ship-building carried on, on what you called "the landing,"
■ — an amount truly great when taken in connection with the
dimensions of the river at the points at which the work was
performed. That was certainly the life of your place, for
almost all other occupations were greatly dependent, directly
or indirectly, upon that important specialty. The music of the
broad axe, the adze and the mallet, was the daily, unremitted
concert from the " flat rock " to the bend of the river, and it
was most interesting to look at the hulls of vessels, in every
stage of construction, from the day of laying the keel to the
bustle of the workmen and the trembling complacency of the
master-builder as he gave orders to knock away the " dog
shore," which was to allow the mighty fabric to leave the
blocks and become a floating palace.
But that music has ceased. Ships are the vehicles of com-
merce ; commerce is the growth of successful trade. When the
latter ceases, ships have little use ; they are cumbersome, costly
possessions. And now your ship-yards, once the scene of so
much activity, silently, almost mournfully, await that business
change which can alone renew their activity and recall that
credit which the genius, the enterprise, and industry of Kings-
ton once made so general.
Another change has come over your town. Not only has
shipbuilding ceased, but the use of the small craft in the navi-
gation of your somewhat eccentric river is no longer noticeable.
The plan of constructing ships of commerce of iron, of course
greatly injured your principal production, and the burning of
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anthracite coal in domestic uses diminished the demand for cord-
wood, which made so important an element of the river and
coast navigation, and the railroads finished what other new
customs began. One consequence of the two changes which I
have noticed is most observable; that is the new growth of
wood in your interior, so that the deer a^d other old denizens
of your forests have returned to their former haunts in your
neighborhood, and wood-craft is likely to take the place of
wood-chopping.
It is the true characteristic of genius to rise above the acci-
dents. of business, and Kingston, I think, has shown herself
eminently capable of great expedients in using those gifts of
Providence which had not been made familiar by circumstances.
The cessation of shipbuilding, a business that influenced almost
all other pursuits among you, and the decay of coast-wise com-
merce, suspended no hope from individual industry, but rather
drew attention to the capabilities which were" around. Your
enterprise has known how to direct industry into other chan-
nels, so that the suspension of one branch of business has led
to the adoption of others. The best spirit of the century has
been fruitfully operative among you. The multiplied streams,
those specialties of your location, which (above tide) seemed
only the highway of the migratory denizens of the flood, have
been made subservient to the requirements of new industries,
and from their sources to their lowest confluents, their power is
utilized to the promotion of a multitude of manufactories whose
production extends from the ponderous anchor of a majestic
ship of war to the small but useful contributions to domestic
convenience.
In few pursuits does Kingston present greater advances than
in agriculture. I do not know what progress has been made in
the production of cereals and other grains, probably not exten-
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sive, yet in the production of grasses undoubtedly there have
been advances that but for the steadiness of the increase would
have caused surprise to your own people. Single large fields
now, I am informed, produce more English or artificial grass
than was cut in the whole township sixty years ago. This is a
true application of science to one of the most important of your
industries; and if "he is a public benefactor who makes two
blades of grass grow where only one had been raised, " cer-
tainly a good many people of Kingston in more ways than one
swell the list of philanthropists.
Nor should I overlook the wonderful progress which element-
ary and practical education has made among you. Beautiful
school-houses have taken the place of the airy structures, that,
in years past, were devoted to the discipline of candidates for
maturity. Few, I believe, ever looked at the old " district
school-house," with its "looped and windowed raggedness,"
without feeling the force of the patriarch's exclamation, "Surely
this is an awful place ! " The advancing spirit of the people is
now wonderfully illustrated in the excellent schools and these
productive fields
" Giving blossoms to nature and morals to man."
I have said a word upon the effect which the cessation of
shipbuilding and that of conveying hence ship-loads of cord-
wood have had upon your upland forests. I have a little
interest, arising out of events of other times, to ask, What is
the effect of the increase of your public schools and of the
improvement in the modes of education upon the pliant woods
of the low lands ? How is it with the birch ? "I cannot but
remember that such things were and were most dear."
Perhaps opinions upon its applications have undergone prac-
tical changes. The good man who administered the birch so
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lovingly, eighty years ago, was wont to quote, with infinite
gravity,
" Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined."
Well, the twig was bent very often, but I do not remember
that any of its recipients were much inclined to its reception.
If the Kingston boys of those and later times deserved and
received the flagellations of a good master, what kind of men
would they make? That is a natural question. I answer in
the language of the great architect's epitaph, " Look around."
It is to the immortal credit of Kingston, and to the honor
and profit of her sons, that she never moulded a doctrine to suit
a practice ; wrong was wrong, whoever was the perpetrator.
The bad act she punished, and thus limited its effect; the bad
theory she knew would perpetuate offence and foster crime.
Some changes have taken place in your means of public
devotion. The small, original church or rather " meeting-house,"
with its disproportioned steeple and diamond-shaped window-
glass, its high pews, the corners of which were surmounted by
contrivances to sustain the cocked hats of the male worshippers,
gave place to another, distinguished externally by two towers,
and internally by extraordinary decorations along the galleries ;
and that twin-steeple house gave place to the neat and beautiful
edifice, whose cross upon the steeple catches the first rays of
the rising, and reflects those of the setting sun, telling of the
faith of those who rest in its shadow. Two other churches
denote the freedom of thought exercised here, and that the
restrictive creed of other centuries has given place to a better
sentiment, which is not startled at the name of toleration, and
demands and enjoys a perfect right to be or to do. And Kings-
ton will find that just in proportion as she extends the liberty
of religious views and indulges sound and religious freedom
will be her harmony and her prosperity. Difference of opinion
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may be earnestly and sometimes intemperately discussed by
men of different creeds; that is undoubtedly an evil, but that
evil is incomparably smaller than the heart-burnings and dis-
quietude promoted by dissension among those who are of one
profession.
Some one has said that Daniel Webster considered New Hamp-
shire " a good State to leave." Certainly, I think Kingston
a good place for a youth to leave. He might lack adaptation
of talents to the peculiar requirements of his native town, that
kind of ability which her business necessities employ and reward.
But it is in another light that I view the advantages to a youth
of having come from Kingston. He is likely to take with him
some of those simple, pure manners that distinguish the place,
some of those unyielding principles of right that he has learned
irom his parents, and especially those habits of industry and per-
severance that he has seen in constant illustration by his seniors.
He may, indeed, fall into error, but he has never been taught
that those errors may be justified. Surely, Kingston has been
honored by such emigrant youth, whose after-fame has been
part of her boast to-day, and by some whose later liberality has
added to your means of high usefulness and beautiful charity.
The admirable High School building, that decorates another
part of your town, is due to the local love of a son of Kingston ;
and a charity that distinguishes only between the needy and the
possessor is due to the enlarged benevolence of one who w r ent
poor from this place, taking with him the simple habits of his
virtuous ancestry and the pure principles of his townsmen. I
knew him and loved him in his infancy and childhood and fol-
lowed with deep interest his manly steps, and was delighted to
think he was our townsman.
u But greater gifts were his, a happier doom,
A brighter genius and a purer heart,
A fate more envied and an earlier tomb."
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Kingston has produced distinguished men, but none of them
ever forgot his birthplace ; none of them ever felt a breeze of
praise or prosperity but he was delighted to think it reached
his native town. In peace or in war her children have done
their part in social or public service, and pointing to them and
to Kingston the world may say,
" This man and that man were born in her."
Others will do justice to the exalted work of those who were
born in Kingston and maintain their residence. Your orator
to-day has done justice to men who in the hour of trial offered
their services and themselves to the nation's good. The very
prosperity of your town amid the prevailing gloom of decayed
commerce and paralyzed enterprise, the happy hearths, the
smiling edifices, and the fruitful fields show that while men of
genius and activity were carrying out the means of wealth for
themselves they felt and enjoyed the beautiful consequences to
others which their own gallant enterprise was diffusing.
The very spot on which your festivity is held affords a most
splendid outlook, for, from this very pavilion we may survey
the historical points of river and bay, and catch a view of the
houses of Cobb and Bradford, that seem to defy (as did the
former) the tooth of time. Those hills beyond the gurgling
first brook are associated in my recollection with the pleasure
and profit of summer exercise. There, a surface wealth
abounded which was more valuable in the domestic economy
of a virtuous, quiet neighborhood than that which the Black
Hills of the Sioux Country is said to afford. There in its
season the industry of the young gathered the hills' annual
tribute of succulent huckleberries, of which one of your New
England poets has sung that they are
" Great in a pudding, glorious in a pie."
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The love of my native town has existed and strengthened
with many years of absence and often with many leagues of
distance, and while I have enjoyed the recollection of her
interesting scenery, I have enriched that recollection with the
memory of those who made that scenery most dear. If few
or none of them are left, their successors have an easy task to
build their own credit upon the solid virtues derived from their
predecessors. With the recollections of such an exigent soil
and such scenery and the knowledge of the actors, it is natural
for the absent, in indulging their pride of early home, to
exclaim,
" Low lies the land and rocky is the soil,
Her sons are honest and her daughters fair."
That sun which now in unclouded majesty is sinking below
the western horizon has never witnessed in this place such
a ceremony as it smiles upon to-day. Half a century hence
it will shine upon a celebration, influenced by the same
motives and sanctified by the same emotions of gratitude
to man and praise to God. There will be iio changes there
but the change of improvement. Other forms may be con-
sistent with future celebrations, but what we love and what
we laud will be the stimulants. It will be Kingston, repre-
sented as now in her children, sending up anthems of thanks-
giving.
The uses of your possessions may alter, and agriculture
change yet more the face of your fields, and these affect the
forms and locations of your dwellings, but time will not be a
destroyer. The rugged rocks that give denomination to a
portion of your territory are almost indestructible. And those
lovely streams and beautiful lakes that characterize your town
and give their names to their locations, shall not be changed.
The lakes will for centuries reflect the blue sky from their
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placid bosoms, and the streams with their charming cadence
shall know no cessation,
" They run and will forever run."
6. The Sons of Kingston in the State of Maine, — Stars of the East,
the horizon adorning.
RESPONDED TO BY REV. WILLIAM A. DREW, OF AUGUSTA, ME.
Mr. President, — I am here to-day on a revisit to the home
of my childhood ; to the scenes of beauty which first touched
the springs of joy in a young heart ; and to recall the welcomed
memories of a bright morning in life's opening day, — a day
which, with the varied experiences of good and evil, has now
entered the evening shadows of a setting sun. And if in
the remarks I propose to offer, there should appear anything
betraying the imbecility of age, I trust my native townspeople
and many kindred present will pardon something to the playful
spirit of the period I could wish to recall.
It is an old proverb, which dame Nature herself endorses, that
the genus homo is " once a man and twice a child." Of course,
then, he must have two nativities. I may, therefore, claim the
singular honor of having two birthplaces, — one in Kingston,
Mass., and one in Augusta, Me. This peculiarity, after all, is
not so absurd as was the claim of the honest Hibernian who
demanded the right to vote for Gov. Eice or some other Dem-
ocrat ( !) because, having lived in Boston twenty-one years, he
had become a " native American" since he left Ireland.
I was never ashamed of my first birthplace ; I always loved
old Kingston. It was here my eyes first opened to the light of
day ; it was here those sacred affections were formed which
will endure forever. I can say as the Hebrew bard said of his
Jerusalem, "If I forget thee, O Kingston, let my right hand
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forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth," and with the more modern
British poet, —
" Where'er I roam, whatever lands I see,
My heart, untravelled, still returns to thee."
True, as a septuagenarian, my second childhood commenced
in Augusta. Nor am I ashamed of that birthplace. It is a
beautiful city, and the capital of that great State, the families
in which, the sentiment just offered calls on me to represent.
Daniel Webster, a native of the Granite State, after he
removed to Boston, said New Hampshire was a good State to
go from. The emigrants from Massachusetts to Maine have
found that a good State to go to. Indeed, before the " Great
West" was discovered in the then far-distant valley of the
Mohawk, " Down East " was about the only land of promise to
w 7 hich the Old Colony boys could go, to better their condition.
The lands were largely owned by the Commonwealth and by
rich proprietors at home. A large part of one township, now
the town of Turner, was owned by Hon. Wm. Sever, of Kings-
ton, at whose instance it was settled by several of the Gov.
Bradford families. Another township, or a large part of it,
given by the legislature to Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, of Kings-
ton, for his Revolutionary services, was settled by him, to
which, on its incorporation, he gave the name of "Hiram," in
honor of Hiram Abiff, the architect of Solomon's Temple, and
the first Grand Master of Freemasons, to which order Gen.
Wadsworth belonged. Many Plymouth County families are
scattered all over the State, not a few of whom bear the
Kingston names of Bradford, Brewster, Cushman, Prince,
Adams, Wadsworth, Bryant, Holmes, Washburn, Stetson,
Cobb, Mitchell, Dunham, Fuller, Bartlett, and Drew. Some
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of these names have risen to high honor in State and Nation, and
all, with some exceptions, have proved themselves good and
useful citizens. I never knew of but one Drew that was hung ;
but he, fortunately for the Old Colony family, belonged to a
tribe in New Hampshire that never saw Kingston. That exe-
cution took place in Portland shortly before I entered Maine,
and subjected me sometimes to the humiliating question, What
relation was he to me ? I could only say that he stood in the
same relation to me that he did to the Adam family which
originated in Mesopotamia, the father of which made a lady
whom Milton described as " daughter of God and man, accom-
plished Eve," the mother of all the human race. Our relation,
therefore, was very distant.
Before I proceed, Mr. President, to fulfil the main object of
your call, will you allow me to add a few words more, personal
to myself? Having been born almost under the shadow of
Forefathers' Rock, it is natural enough that I should claim a
relationship to the forefathers themselves and cherish a filial
respect for the principles which governed them and which are
the foundation of the civil and religious liberties of the New-
World. Though I do not subscribe to all the "five points" in
their creed, I do believe that the religion of the Puritans was
the " purest " which the Christian world has seen since the days
of the apostles of Christ, and that it is to the departure from the
strictness of that religion that there is at the present day such
a decadence in public virtue and private morals as must sooner
or later subvert the glory of our republican institutions. If
there is a spot on earth where that religion should be revived
and extended in its " purity," it is on what Mrs. Hemans calls
this "holy ground" of the Pilgrim Fathers on which we now
stand.
I said I could claim relationship to the forefathers. The
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86 AFTER-DDOTEK SPEECHES.
blood of Elder Brewster circulates in my veins, and it is, per-
haps, this hereditary instinct that has inspired my veneration
for his religion, and made me, what he was, a minister of the
gospel of Christ. Though I claim no other blood relation to
the Pilgrims, I think 1 can say what no other person present or
elsewhere can say, viz., that there is but one life between me
and the poop-deck of the " Mayflower " that brought the Pil-
grims here, having myself been with a man who had enjoyed
the caresses of Thomas Clark, the supposed mate of that ship.
If the descendants of the centenarian, " Grand 'ther Cobb," of
Rocky Nook do not challenge a solution of this enigma, perhaps
my friend, Dr. Drew, who is the genealogist of our family, may
be able to explain how a guest at this table, two hundred and
fifty-six years after the landing of the Pilgrims, can be reck-
oned, in matters of time rather than of blood, as a child of the
second generation from the cabin of the Mayflower, — a mere
grandson of the foreparents of New England. * He will have,
however, to credit tradition for one of the links in the chain of
facts.
And now a little more about the Maine State and the Kings-
ton families in it. Half a century ago it was a common idea in
Beacon Street, that "Down East "was the very jumping-off place
of creation, to which, if a Bostonian should go in the darkness
which always rested upon it like a cloud, he would be in dan-
ger of pitching off into nowhere, as the Pope told Columbus he
would if he ventured ten leagues west of the Pillars of Hercules.
The land, which had little or no agricultural value, was sup-
posed to be bound in almost perpetual ice ; the people but half
civilized, in constant dread of tigers and bears, and subsisting
on wild meats and rye johnny-cake. Why, even since I have
*E. Cobb, born 1694; T. Clark, died 1697; W. A. Drew, born 1798; E.
Cobb, died 1801.
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 87
lived there, I have been inquired of by people in Massachusetts,
when I have revisited my native State, to know whether corn,
one of our surest crops, could grow in Maine, and how the
inhabitants contrived to survive the rigors of our Arctic winters.
Why, dear souls ! don't you know that the Dirigo State is as
large as all the rest of New England; that her soil is, on the
average, better than that of the parent State, many parts of it
being not inferior to the boasted prairies of the West ; that our
farmers can raise all the necessaries and many of the luxuries
of life ; that she has more sea-coast, more safe harbors, more
navigable rivers, more water-power, and builds more ships
than any other State in the Union; that her mineral wealth in
granite, lime, feldspar, slate, and iron is inexhaustible, and that
her shipments of lumber and ice bring wealth to her very
doors ; that her people are intelligent, industrious, temperate
(to the great sorrow of distillers and rumsellers), and as highly
educated and loyal as any people in the Union? Why, sir, as
to that being a benighted region, don't you know that all the
light you have comes first from us ; and that some unseen power
Down East has to pry up the sun every morning to bless the
people of Massachusetts with his smiles after we have break-
fasted in his light ?
And then as to scholars and statesmen: Have you never
heard of that Kingston grandson, Henry Wadsworth Long-
fellow, the poet, whom the Emperor of Brazil came all the way
from Rio Janeiro to see and dine with last week? And Grenville
Mellen and B. B. Thatcher, hardly inferior to Prof. Longfellow ?
If the Maine nom deplume "Florence Percy" is not the equal
of Mrs. Hemans, no American lady is. Who, too, has not
heard of Rev. S. F. Smith, author of the National Hymn,
"America," sung already at this table ? of the celebrated song-
stress, Alice Gary, and the Peakes family? of the historical
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88 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
Abbotts and Williamsons? of the scholarly acquirements of
Pres. Woods and Dr. Jenks, and of Profs. Cleaveland, Upham,
Newman, and Smyth? of George D. Prentiss and Seba Smith,
the veritable "Jack Downing of Downingville " ? One of
Kingston's sons, Dr. Ezekiel Holmes, and two of her grand-
sons, C. L. Stetson, Esq., of Auburn, and Hon. William P.
Drew, of Augusta, have been professors in colleges. Where
will you hear of better jurists than Chief Justice Parker, who
adorned the Supreme Court of Massachusetts so long ; and of
Mellen, Wilde, Whitman, and of Greenleaf in the law chair
of Cambridge? Where of more distinguished divines than
Pay son, Appleton, Pond, Nichols, Boardmail, Bishop Soule,
Bishop Burgess, and Dyke? Where of abler statesmen than
King, Parris, Evans, the two Fessendens, Holmes (one of
Kingston's most distinguished sons), Gov. Andrew (your own
John A.), a whole family of Washburns, Gen. and Gov.
Chamberlain, to whom the rebel Gen. Lee surrendered the
" lost cause," and, though last not least, James G. Blaine, who
came as near the presidency as Webster or Clay, and failed for
the same reason ?
By the Kingston families in Maine I suppose it is not only
proper to represent those who still bear the patronymic of
the first settlers, but also those who, by intermarriage, have
become lawful members thereof; and of these it is respectful
to remember not only the first generation, but also the grand
and even the great-grandsons and daughters now upon the
stage. All this, indeed, would embrace a list too numerous
to be detailed here.
Within the family circle thus described, I take pleasure, in
honor to old Kingston, to say she has given to the country one
senator in the Ccnigress of the United States, Hon. John
Holmes, who was the author of the Constitution of Maine ;
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four representatives in the National Legislature, viz., Gen.
Peleg Wads worth, who represented Cumberland District both
in the Continental and Federal Congress ; Hon. Joshua Cush-
man, a lineal descendant of Elder Thomas Cushman ; Hon,
John Holmes, afterwards transferred to the Senate already
mentioned, and Hon. T. J. D. Fuller, of Washington County,
who, as I have been assured, originated in one of the Fuller
families in Kingston ; one governor, and one regular candidate
for governor, who failed only for the want of an actual major-
ity of votes, viz., Dr. E. Holmes, the founder and editor of
the "Maine Farmer" ; one United States Minister to a foreign
Court, viz., Hon. John Holmes Goodenow, grandson of Sen-
ator Holmes ; three judges, Hon. Job Prince, of Turner, Hon.
Bezar Bryant, of Anson, and Hon. H. C. Goodenow, of
Bangor, brother of the minister at Constantinople ; one Secre-
tary of State, Col. F. M. Drew, of Augusta ; one adjutant-
general, J. P. Cilley, of Thomaston ; six State Senators, Hon.
Joshua Cushman, of Winslow, Hon. Job Prince, of Turner,
and his brother,, Hon. Noah Prince, of Buckfield, both of
whom were presidents of that Board, Hon. L. L. Wadsworth,
of Pembroke, Washington County, and one whom I am happy
to see here to-day, Hon. Henry H. Burgess, of Portland, who
" escaped a great mercy " by the lack of two votes to make
him president of the Senate and thus lieutenant-governor of
the State ; a large number of local representatives, one of
whom was speaker of the House, and two members of the
Executive Council, viz., Hon. Benj. Bradford, of Livermore,
and Hon. L. L. Wadsworth, of Pembroke.
To this list, by a pardonable license, might be added three
adopted sons of Kingston families, viz., Gov. Albion Keith
Parris, though born in Maine after his father, Judge Samuel
Parris, removed thither, was in early youth educated by his
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90 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
and my uncle, Rev. Martin Parris, of Kingston, and was
married to the daughter of Rev. Levi Whitman, also of this
town. This gentleman, a lawyer by profession, had advanced
to more official honors than any man in Maine, having been
Senator with Hon. John Holmes, in the Massachusetts Legisla-
ture, before the separation, representative in Congress, Gov-
ernor of the State several years, Judge of Probate, Judge of
the Supreme Court, Judge of the District Court of the United
States, Senator in Congress, and second Auditor of the treasury
in Washington, where he died in office* His was the remark-
able case of a successful office-seeker, honest and faithful in
every post ot duty. Till death he retained his early love of
Kingston by constant visits to his uncle and father-in-law,
whom he greatly comforted and supported in his needy old
age. Hon. Ezekiel Whitman, of Portland, was the adopted
son of the same Rev. Levi Whitman, who reared him to man-
hood and gave him a college education. The relation of father
and son was always sacredly respected between them. He
was a very distinguished lawyer, twice a representative in
Congress from Cumberland County, afterwards an eminent
judge and chief-justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of
Maine. Hon. Jonathan Cilley, of Thomaston, a lawyer of
note, married the daughter of Hezekiah Prince, Esq., of that
town, — a Kingston emigrant, — by whom he had a son who was
colonel of a Maine regiment of cavalry in the late Rebellion,
and who is now adjutant-general of the State. He, therefore,
is one of Kingston's grandsons. His father, whilst in Con-
gress, fell in a duel with Graves, of Kentucky.
u NTo farther seek his merits to disclose,
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode.
There they alike in trembling hope repose, —
The bosom of his Father and his God."
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 91
Though the names I have mentioned had acquired official
distinction, I would not have it understood that those in more
humble life, past and present, have not clone as much in their
spheres of duty, to confer honor upon the land of their nativity.
They constitute now a large and highly useful and respectable
portion of the citizens of our State.
" Honor and shame from no condition rise,
Act well your part, there all the honor lies."
The beautifully executed card of invitation issued by your
committee, which has brought us together to a celebration just
fifty per cent more time-worthy than the National Centennial now
in progress in Philadelphia (a show which, great as it is, has
less attractions for me to-day than the present joyous festival,
since my curiosity in such exhibitions was gratified to satiety
at the World's Fair in London), gave us the assurance that
"the occasion will be one for many pleasant reminiscences and
reunions." The " reminiscences," indeed, are fresh and replete
with interest, but in the matter of " reunions " there are few
who have come here in their second childhood, like myself and
my dearly venerated foster-brother from Philadelphia, Hon.
Joseph Eipley Chandler, and even the senior of us both,
the respected nonagenarian, Rev. Job Washburn of Camden,
Maine, that can participate in that part of the promised
pleasure. The "reunion" can, to the most of us, be only in
spirit with the spirits of the departed, whose graves we must
visit ere we bid this, bur last adieu, to our native borough.
Of our cotemporary schoolmates, I am privileged to-day to
find but three of my ancient associates, viz., two boys and one
girl, or to speak more deferentially, two old men and one old
woman ; and as we are brought together late in the evening of
life, dozing for a final repose, I need not say that Mrs. Caudle's
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92 AFTEE-DINNER SPEECHES.
Curtain Lecture must be short, and take its inspirations chiefly
from the land of " Pleasant Dreams."
" When shall we "four " meet again? "
" When shall we " all u meet agjain? "
u When the dreams of life are fled,
When its wasting lamp is dead,
When in cold oblivion's shade,
Beauty, fame, and power are laid;
Where immortal spirits reign,
" There may we " all " meet again."
In parting, now, from these companions of a blithesome boy-
hood, I may be permitted to recall the memory of one of our
schoolmates, now no more on earth, who was, I think, the
most precocious scholar, and a thorough one too, of which
American history gives a record. I allude to my cousin, Sam-
uel B. Pakris, son of Rev. Martin Parris, our old schoolmaster,
who was born in Kingston, Jan. 30, 1806. Before he was
eighteen months old he had learned the Hebrew alphabet, and
became the master of that sacred language before he studied
the English grammar. At the age of six he commenced a
diary or journal, in which he recorded the experiences of every
day, confessing all his faults in Latin. He entered college
when only nine years old, being so childlike that he sat in the
lap of his professor whilst undergoing a successful examination
in the classical languages and the higher mathematics. " Whom
the gods love, die young." He died at the age of twenty-one.
An interesting volume, entitled " Parris's Remains," was pub-
lished after his death, containing specimens of his writings
both in prose and poetry, alluding, as I also do to-day, to the
scenes of our early pleasures. I add only a brief quotation
from his poem on " Anticipations and Recollections."
u Scenes of early pleasure! years may pass,
In life's united tragedy and farce;
But, with oblivion's besom, ne'er shall they
Sweep thy remembrance from my thoughts away."
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AFTEK-DINNER SPEECHES. 93
Only once more : Not only can Kingston claim to have
given birth to that remarkable scholar just mentioned, but it
is a subject of pride to all her sons that this small but ancient
town has contributed more than an average share to the ele-
ments of a national reputation.
On this shore the forefathers of New England laid the foun-
dations of our national glory. Then Jones Eiver was as much
Plymouth as Town Brook. Here Gov. Bradford, his son, the
Deputy-Governor, William Jr., Gov. Prence, Dr. Fuller, and
Elder Cushman had estates and homes. Here the captain in
King Philip's War, Major W. Bradford, led the forces which
conquered and killed that powerful Indian monarch. In time
of the Revolution, Kingston furnished two distinguished major-
generals of the army, the companions of Washington, — Thomas
and Wadsworth. Here, in Drew's ship-yard, the first armed
brigantines of the Continental Navy, the "Independence" and
the "Mars" were built, and were successively commanded by
Simeon Sampson, the first naval captain commissioned by the
Provincial Congress. Here, in time of the Adams-Franco War
Commodore James Sever commanded the frigate " Congress."
Here Deacon Jed. Holmes made the first anchors for the navy.
Here Jesse Reed invented the first nail and tack machines.
Here John Washburn's genius gave the world the benefit of the
first and all succeeding screw augers. Here Samuel Adams
invented and patented the first mowing machine. In mechani-
cal as well as in patriotic and literary history, therefore,
Kingston is entitled to a reputation not to be overlooked on
this anniversary, and in which we all may take an honest pride.
Esto perpetual
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — Thanking you very
respectfully for the indulgence by which you have allowed me
to trespass so long upon your time and patience, I will only
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94 LETTERS.
add my parting benediction, God bless old Kingston for-
ever ! Farewell.
7. The public schools of Kingston, — best known by their products, —
men and women.
responded to by letters.
Normal, Illinois, June 24, 1876.
Mr. W. E. Ellis,
Toastmaster , Kingston Anniversary Celebration:
Dear Sir, — Finding it impossible to be present at your cel-
ebration and respond to a toast at your public dinner, I venture
to send the following sentiment :
Illinois sends cordial greeting to the Old Colony ; the
Father of Waters to Jones River ; Lake Michigan to Smelt
Pond ; the luxuriant prairie to the sandy sea-shore ; the home
of Abraham Lincoln to Abraham's Hill.
May the cable forever remain unbroken which moors the
fair Valley of the Mississippi to Plymouth Rock !
Trusting that your celebration will prove eminently success-
ful, I am
Very truly yours,
Albert Stetson.
South Dartmouth, June 16, 1876.
Messrs. Stetson & Faunce,
Of the Committee of Invitations, etc.
My dear Sirs, ■ — Please accept my grateful thanks for your
very polite and courteous invitation to be present and partici-
pate in the " proposed celebration of the one hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Kingston."
It will be a sad occurrence which can prevent me from avail-
ing myself of the opportunity of visiting the home of my child-
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LETTERS. 95
hood on the 27th inst., and participating in the exercises of the
day.
Yours very truly,
Francis D. Babtlett.
New York, June 20, 187G.
Messrs. Stetson, Peckham, Sampson, Faunce, etc.,
Committee of Invitations, etc.
Gentlemen, — Your very cordial invitation to revisit my old
home and join the present citizens in celebrating the one hun-
dred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Kingston
was duly received.
I regret that I cannot enjoy the occasion with you, but allow
me to thank you for your kind invitation and the honorable
mention you give me in this connection. It would afford me
rare pleasure to join you and others on the 27th inst. I fancy
that I am not the less patriotic though a non-resident.
Kingston as a part of the old Plymouth town has certainly a
rightful claim to most honorable mention as a constituent factor
of this republic in this centennial year.
If the sky be now "Hayes-y, " the guiding star of our
national destiny shall so clarify the atmosphere that, as a
planet of the first magnitude, this great republic shall lead the
nations onward to a purer national life.
Again thanking you,
I remain fraternally yours,
Geo. B. Robbins,
Waltham, Mass., June 19, 1876.
Kimball "W. Stetson, Esq.
Dear Sir, — A few days ago I received from your committee
a circular of invitation, extended to natives of Kingston, to par-
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96 LETTERS.
ticipate in the celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anni-
versary of the incorporation of the town.
Of course my absence would not be noticed, yet I cannot let
the occasion pass without expressing my sincere regrets that
other engagements will keep me away from the celebration ;
examinations and exhibition of my school coming on the 28th
or 29th.
The new settlers of the West used to say with virtuous pride
that Massachusetts was an excellent State to emigrate from.
So we can truly say that no firmer foundation could one wish
than old Plymouth Eock and the principles which the good
Puritan fathers brought to America, and which have descended
in such large measure to their descendants in Kingston.
Thanking you for remembering me, and hoping that the event
will be in every way a success,
I remain very sincerely yours,
John T. Prince.
San Francisco, July 14, 1876.
To the Committee of Invitation and Correspondence,
Of the Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary
of the Incorporation of Kingston.
Gentlemen^ — Allow me, at this late day, to tender my
regrets that I could not be with you all at your grand celebra-
tion. It was an opportunity that occurs not this once in many
men's lifetime ; and if the most extraordinary exertions could
have availed, rest assured I should not have been long in making
them. We " natives " who have adopted California for a home
never meet but we inquire for the latest news from Kingston,
and one and all look back with a more than ordinary clinging
to the scenes of our boyhood.
The latest files of Plymouth County papers have not yet
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 97
come to hand, and we are not fully informed as to the stage of
glory you were able to reach ; but I trust you did not fail to
make it a full centennial and a half.
Yours very truly,
Frank: J. Symmes.
8. The early ministers of Kingston.
REMARKS OF ELLIS AMES, ESQ., OF CANTON, MASS.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — The announcement
by way of reminiscence of the " early ministers of Kingston,"
with the posting conspicuously of the names of Stacey, Maccarty,
Hand, and Willis upon the sides of this tent in which we assem-
ble to hear the orator, poet, and historian, seems to justify as
much of a response as the time will allow.
On November 8, 1717, a tract of land inhabited by John
Bradford, Jacob Cook, and thirty-nine others, inhabitants of
the part of Plymouth near Jones Eiver, the northeast part of
Plympton and the southeast part of Pembroke, was, by an Act
of the General Court, set off and incorporated as a precinct,
that is, as a parish or religious society, according to the bounds
set out in the report of the committee of the General Court,
to whom the matter had been referred, and the territory of that
parish was subsequently, one hundred and fifty years ago this
day, incorporated into the town of Kingston.
Rev. Joseph Stacey, a graduate of Harvard College, of the
class of 1719, and a native of Cambridge, was ordained the
first minister of the parish, Nov. 2, 1720. Rev. Daniel Lewis,
the first minister of Pembroke, preached the ordination sermon,
which was printed and published by the unanimous request of
the parishioners. That the setting off of the new parish from
the first parish of Plymouth was with the approbation of the
7
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98 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
latter, is manifest by a full preface to that ordination sermon,
written and subscribed by Eev. Ephraim Little, then minister
of the first parish, in which he greets the rising and develop-
ment of the new parish, and addresses Mr. Stacey by all the
endearing appellations with which one Christian minister can
call another.
Of the pedigree of Mr. Stacey and of his connections except
at college, before his settlement at Kingston, I am wholly unin-
formed. Though very abstemious, and taking abundant exer-
cise in fishing and fowling, he died of a fever Aug. 25, 1741.
He left no sermon nor anything else in print by which we
may be able to judge of his intellectual powers ; and how much
of a man he really was can only be inferred from the general
character of the clergymen of his age and from his connection
with this parish in particular.
His parishioners, on settling here, were nine grandsons and
one great-grandson of Gov. Bradford (all men of high per-
sonal character), with their families, namely: Major John
Bradford, Gershom Bradford, Israel Bradford, Hezekiah Brad-
ford, Perez Bradford, Ephraim Bradford, William Bradford,
David Bradford, Elisha Bradford, and John Bradford, Jr.
Among his parishioners were Wrestling Brewster, a great-
grandson of Elder Brewster, and Francis Cook, a great-grand-
son of him of the same name, a passenger in the Mayflower
with the Cushmans, the Eaton s, and more than thirty others
with their families, grandsons, and great-grandsons of the
forefathers and first-comers in the Mayflower, the Ann, and
the Fortune, reminding one of the names upon the roll in
iron in front of Pilgrim Hall at Plymouth. At Mr. Stacey's
settlement, Samuel Adams, "the last of the Puritans," had not
been born, and the very eldest of Mr. Stacey's parishioners in
their youth had attended church at Plymouth with Gov. Brad-
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 99
ford himself in his old age, and with Miles Standish and others
of the Mayflower, and with others of the second generation,
such as Elder Faunce, every way equal to the forefathers
themselves.
On Jan. 5, 1721, Mr. Stacey's parishioner, Major John
Bradford, son of Major William Bradford, deputy governor,
and grandson of Gov. Bradford, who had been before a mem-
ber of the Council Board of the Province, made a deed of
gift to Mr. Stacey of two acres of land for his house lot, being
the three-cornered lot where the road in the centre of the vil-
lage branches off one way to Boston and the other to Bridge-
water, on which Mr. Stacey built his house, which we saw this
day on our march to this place elegantly labelled as the house
of the first minister, Mr, Stacey.
A learned historian says, How very able must the ministry
have been at Plymouth when Gov. Bradford and Elder Brew-
ster, the founders of civil and religious liberty, were among
the parishioners ! Applying the same test to Mr. Stacey at the
time and during the continuance of his settlement here with
the grandsons and great-grandsons of the forefathers, we
may justly infer that he was possessed of all the learning and
talents that this Puritan parish, an offshoot of the great Puri-
tan parish of Plymouth, could desire.
Thaddeus Maccarty, born in Boston in 1721, a graduate of
Harvard College, of the class of 1739, was ordained the sec-
ond minister, Nov. 3, 1742, being himself then just twenty-
one years of age. His great-grandfather, Thaddeus Maccarty,
of Boston, was sl member of the Ancient and Honorable Artil-
lery in 16fcl, and died in Boston, June 18, 1705, aged sixty-
five years, whose widow, Elizabeth, died June 7, 1723, aged
eighty-two. His grandfather, Thaddeus Maccarty, the third
son of the first Thaddeus Maccarty, was born Sept. 12, 1670.
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100 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
His father, Capt. Thacldeus Maccarty, was a master mariner,
and carried his son, Eev. Thaddeus Maccarty, while a mere
boy, several .voyages at sea. Eev. Ellis Gray, a distinguished
clergyman of Boston, then only twenty-five years of age,
preached the sermon at the ordination of Mr. Maccarty, which
was printed at the desire of the church in Kingston. Mr.
Maccarty was friendly to the famous George Whitefield, who
was in 1745 again preaching over the country, but his parish
here was nearly all strongly opposed to Mr. Whitefield, which
induced Mr. Maccarty to ask his dismission, which was granted,
and Mr. Maccarty preached his farewell sermon on Nov. 3,
1745. Mr. Maccarty was settled in Worcester, June 10,
1747, and continued to preach there until his death, July 18,
1785, aged sixty-three years. His farewell sermon here was
first printed in 1804, in which it is difficult, at this distance of
time, to perceive any allusion to Mr. Whitefield whatever, or
that his dismission was from any cause whatever except by
mutual consent.
He occasionally afterwards visited Kingston and preached
there, and on one such occasion on his return called upon the
elder President John Adams, when a young man just out of
college, and procured him to go to Worcester as a teacher, and
President Adams mentions the name of Mr. Maccarty in his
diary of that period.
Besides his farewell sermon at Kingston (never printed in
his lifetime) and his sermon preached at Worcester, June 10,
1748, at his instalment in his pastoral office there, Mr. Mac-
carty published two discourses delivered at Worcester, April
5, 1759, being the day of the public annual fast appointed by
authority, and the day preceding the general muster of the
militia throughout the province for the enlisting soldiers for
the then intended expedition against Canada. His text w T as
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Joab's speech to the hosts of Israel preceding the war of King
David with the Ammonites and Syrians, — 2 Samuel, chap, x,
verse 12 : "Be of good courage and let us play the men for
our people and the cities of our Grod." Besides a sermon in
1768, on the occasion of the execution of one Arthur, and a
sermon in 1770 on the occasion of the execution of one Livesey,
both printed, Mr. Maccarty preached at Worcester two ser-
mons, both printed, on the occasion of a special fast observed,
there, as well as in many other towns, on July 11, 1774, on
account of the public difficulties of that time, and also a sermon
at Worcester, on the 23d of November 1775, a day of public
Thanksgiving by appointment of the General Court.
Mr. Maccarty also preached at Worcester, on July 2, 1778,
on the occasion of the execution of James Buchanan, William
Brooks, Ezra Eoss, and Bathshua Spooner, for the murder of
Joshua Spooner, the husband of said Bathshua, at Brookfield,
on March 1, 1778. This Bathshua Spooner, who conspired
with three British soldiers, then prisoners of war, quartered at
Brookfield, to murder her husband, by plunging him into a
well, was a daughter of Timothy Euggles, Esq., formerly of
Hardwick, a Tory and refugee, who had formerly been speaker
of the House of Representatives of this province, and. the
granddaughter of Rev. Timothy Ruggles, minister of Roches-
ter in this county, for many years prior to his death in 1768,
and with whom Mr. Maccarty had doubtless exchanged while
minister of Kingston.
Rev. William Rand, born in 1699, son of Mr. William Rand,
of Charlestown, and a graduate of Harvard College, of the class
1721 and who had been the settled minister of Sunderland from
1724, into the year 1745, was settled here in the year 1746.
Unlike the parishioners of Kingston, the parishioners of Sunder-
land were attracted by Whitefield, which led to the dismission
of Mr. Rand from the parish there.
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Mr. Rand was settled in Kingston at the age of forty-seven,
and in the full maturity of his intellectual powers. His pub-
lished sermons, at the ordination of Rev. David Parsons over
the third parish of Hadley, now the town of Amherst, on Nov.
7, 1739 ; at the ordination of Rev. John Ballantine, at West-
field, June 17, 1741; and at the ordination of Rev. Abraham
Hill, at Roadtown, now Shutesbmy, Oct. 22, 1742, had estab-
lished his reputation as a preacher. He was assuredly the
great opponent of the famous George Whitefielcl.
On Sept. 10, 1741, the elder Jonathan Edwards, minister
of Northampton, a great admirer of Whitefield, delivered
a discourse at New Haven, entitled " The Distinguishing Marks
of a Work of the Spirit of God applied to that Uncommon
Operation that has lately appeared on the Minds of many of
the People of this Land ; with a Particular -Consideration of
the Extraordinary Circumstances with which this Work is
attended," to which discourse, as printed in one hundred and
ten pages, was prefixed by Rev. Wm. Cooper, of Boston,
another admirer of Whitefield, a preface in eighteen pages.
To this discourse and preface Mr. Rand drew up an answer,
entitled "The Late Religious Commotions in New England
considered/' in twenty pages to Mr. Cooper's preface, and in
forty pages to Mr. Edwards' discourse, which answer was
printed in 1743.
This answer was undoubtedly the ablest argument against
Whitefield that appeared in print; and the reader will find
there, logically written, the whole that can be said against
Whitefield's preaching, and against preaching that is sensational
and addressed to the passions and to the imagination.
Mr. Rand's answer cannot be abridged so as to be appreci-
ated. I cannot help quoting, however, on page 6 of the reply
to the preface, the following words of Mr, Rand : " He," that is,
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Mr. Whitefield, " made great pretensions to extraordinary com-
munion with God and Christ, and placed himself high in their
favor. 'My Master hath sent me,' 'What shall I tell my
Master? ' *I will tell my Master,' ? I will rise up against you
at the last day,' were phrases often in his mouth; and they,
with some others that he used, were very striking to vulgar
minds."
Sixteen clergymen of Hampshire County, of whom Rev. Wm.
Rand, of Sunderland, was one, assembled at Springfield on the
fifteenth day of February, in the year 1745; and upon con-
ferring together, drew up and subscribed an address to Mr.
Whitefield, in which they tell him that his coming to that part
of the country was offensive to them ; that they knew no justi-
fication for his travelling from one place to another, as he had
done, to preach -where the gospel was already truly and faith-
fully preached, and that by men, most of whom he, without a
great degree of modesty, might esteem better than himself;
that he had delivered many false and dangerous doctrines ; that
he discovered a very censorious spirit by slandering the minis-
ters of the country ; and that though many of his errors had
been faithfully laid before him, he had not made Christian sat-
isfaction, nor was there then to them any appearance of his
reformation ; that, as he had disturbed the peace of their
churches by the errors he had propagated and by the slanders
he had uttered, they looked upon him as a person whom, in
God's word they were directed to mark and avoid, as having
caused divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine they had
learned of Christ; and that they judged it would be of great
service to him if he could be persuaded to look more critically
than he had yet done, and seriously to review his own conduct ;
that this might be a means to discover to him his errors and
misconduct ; that while he continued such as he now appeared
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to be, they thought it their duty to use their influence to dis-
suade their people from attending his ministry.
Any one acquainted with the style of Mr. Rand will instantly
declare his opinion that this address was chiefly composed by
him. This address was subscribed by Rev. Mr. Hopkins, of
West Springfield, as leader; by Rev. Mr. Doolittle, of North-
field, second; and by Mr. Rand of Sunderland, third; and by
the ministers of Sheffield, Blanford, Brimfield, Stockbridge, and
Deerfield ; by the two ministers of Springfield ; by Rev. Noah
Merrick, grandfather of the late Hon. Pliny Merrick, of our
Supreme Judicial Court, then the minister of Wilbraham ; by
the ministers of Westfield, Suffield (then in Massachusetts,
but now in Connecticut), and by the ministers of Bernardston,
New Salem, and Shutesbury. The publication of this address,
signed by Mr. Rand, and well-known at the time as mainly
his composition, doubtless precipitated his dismission from
Sunderland.
The president, professors, and tutors of Harvard College,
an association of ministers convened at Weymouth, on Jan.
15, 1745, the pastors of the church in Brookline, and of the
two churches in Roxbury, the ministers of Barnstable County,
and of the North Association in the county of Hartford in the
colony of Connecticut, in the same year, addressed Mr. White-
field to the same effect. The venerable Nathaniel Stone, of
Harwich, then seventy-eight years of age, the same year, inter-
rogated Mr. Whitefield whether he had any evidence whatever
of what he had alleged, viz., that the then ministers of New
England were inefficient and incompetent compared with their
predecessors sixty years before ; and in the next paragraph
Mr. Stone declared to Mr. Whitefield that he well knew their
predecessors sixty years ago, and had opportunity to observe,
and had observed them, and that on comparing them, the pres*
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ent clergymen were as lively a ministry as the former ; and in
the address of the association of ministers at Weymouth they
declare that in almost every town where Mr. Whitefield had
preached, the consequence had been an alienation between the
minister and people.
No wonder that Mr. Eand should be sought for and settled
by the parishioners of Kingston, who were so unanimous in
their opposition to Mr. Whitefield. Mr. Hand's sermon at the
ordination of Eev. Charles Turner, at Duxbury, on the 23d of
July, 1755, was published; as also his charge to the Eev. Caleb
Gannett, at his ordination in Hingham for Cumberland, Nova
Scotia, in 1767 ; and at the ordination, in Duxbury, of Eev.
Zedekiah Sanger, in the year 1776.
It is a decisive evidence of the learning and talents of Mr.
Eand, and of the estimation in which he was held by the cler-
gymen of this State, at that period, that he was elected to
preach and did preach the sermon to the ministers of the
Massachusetts Bay in New England, at their annual meeting
in Boston, on the 26th day of May, in the year 1757, which
was published.
Eev. Zephaniah Willis, the fourth minister of Kingston, a
graduate of Harvard College, of the class of 1778, was the
only son and child of Mr. Zephaniah Willis, of Bridgewater,
whose great-grandfather, John Willis, Esq., emigrated from
England, and was a resident at Duxbury as early as 1637,
became an original proprietor of Bridgewater, and settled there
as early as 1656, when that town was incorporated; was its
first representative to the Legislature of the Colony of Ply-
mouth in 1657, and from that time to 1681, including the period
of King Philip's War was that town's representative, —seven-
teen years more ; was justice of the peace, and a man on whom
the town much relied, who died at West Bridgewater, Aug.
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27, 1693, as see in the Probate Records at Plymouth, Vol. 1,
page 146, where we find his will proved Sept. 20, 1693.
A lineal descendant from John Willis, Esq., I claim a remote
relationship to Rev. Zephaniah Willis. I own fifteen acres or
land in West Bridgewater, parcel of the large landed estate
that descended to him through his father from John Willis,
Esq., one of the original proprietors of the territory of ancient
Bridgewater. Rev. Mr. Willis sold out his inheritance in
Bridgewater when he settled in Kingston. He was many years
one of the trustees of the Bridgewater Academy, and I was
examined by him as such trustee in the latter part of August,
1823, at the examination of the scholars who had attended
school at the term then closing. On being informed that I had
read through the iEneid of Virgil, he casually opened at the
beginning of the Fifth Book, and called upon me to construe.
I quickly found myself in the hands of a sharp critic of the
Latin language. As one instance of a number of his criticisms
then : In the third line of Book V, I construed to him the
words " moenia resjpiciens" and rendered them "beholding the
walls," to which he replied that true iEneas was beholding the
walls, but that the word " respiciens " signified "looking back
upon," and that as iEneas was sailing away from "the walls
w T hich shone with the flames," the word " respiciens " was the
word which indicated precisely what JEneas was doing. There
are so many present that well knew Mr. Willis personally,
that I might leave off in the middle, or even at the beginning,
as to him.
He that knows not something of the biography of the ancient
ministers of the parishes of New England, graduates of Harvard
and Yale to a great extent, is deficient in his knowledge of the
history of our country. They had great influence upon the
affairs of the community in their age. The legislators of their
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time in the Colonial and Provincial General Assemblies looked
up to them and sought their advice at the crises of the nation's
peril. The learning and intellectual productions of the ancient
ministers have long ago become mixed up with and become
part of the common learning and intelligence of the people of
the country, and the fair fame of the first four clergymen of
Kingston is without blemish, stands high, and will grow
brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.
9. Kingston, having furnished two Presidents of the Old Colony Kail-
road Company,* rejoices to-day in the presence of another of her success-
ful sons, who is a Railroad Commissioner of the State. Before the train
starts to bear our honored guest to his adopted home, we hope to hear
from him.
RESPONDED TO BY HON. FRANCIS M. JOHNSON, OF NEWTON.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — Talfourd has said,
a scent, a note of music, a voice long unheard, the stirring ot
the summer breeze, may startle us with the sudden revival
of long-forgotten feelings and thoughts. How rich in remind-
ers of the past is this occasion ! It is now twenty-seven years
since I left Kingston and took up my abode among strangers ;
but memory, obeying the commands of the heart, annihilates
time and space, and I confront at will the familiar scenes and
impressive events of other days, — the days when Kingston
was my home. The view is panoramic, and every object by
its associations is a treasure. I will refer to one or two of
them. There stands the old meeting-house, where I attended
Sunday School and sang second treble in the choir. I see its
spacious portico, and two quaint cupolas, each surmounted
with a gilded ball, and its solemn-toned bell, — how hearts
have ached when that bell has tolled ! — the high, white pulpit,
occupied successively by parsons Willis, Cole, Sweet, and
* Col. John Sever and Alexander Holmes.
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Pope; the galleries on either side, and the singing seats op-
posite the pulpit, provided with curtains, behind which the
younger members of the choir exchanged expressions of friend-
ship, unobserved by the preacher above or the congregation
below.
Prominent among the choir stands Deacon Jedediah Holmes,
playing most vigorously on the "big bass viol," and Walter
Bartlett, leading off with the sharp-toned violin. There are the
roomy pews of unpainted pine, topped out with short-turned
balusters and rail, and the little box-pew away off in the cor-
ner, next the ceiling, for colored folks. But the colored man
now, in this centennial year, sits nearer the pulpit than he
used to ; he has a seat, also, in our halls of legislation. Thanks
to those noble men and women who protested against the insti-
tution of slavery on the rostrum, and the gallant boys in blue
who fought against the slave-power on the field of battle, and
vanquished it there, we are able to say of the United States of
America what the poet Cowper has said of England, " Slaves
cannot breathe in America. If their lungs inhale our air, that
moment they are free. If they touch our country, their
shackles fall. That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud and
jealous of the blessing. Spread it, then, and let it circulate in
every vein throughout this great country, that where Columbia's
power is felt, mankind may feel her mercy too."
The old meeting-house gave place to the present Unitarian
church in 1851, and according to the historian it was erected in
1798, on the site of one built in 1718. The general appear-
ance of the town has not changed very much in these twenty-
seven years, — its picturesque beauty has always been a subject
of remark ; but who can relate the changes that have taken place
among the people, among the families of the town? Here the
changes have been great. The silent monuments in the church-
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yard and cemetery denote this ; the busy broods of beings
which have sprung into existence, and scattered, as the young
birds scatter from the parent nest, all testify to this. The
young have become middle-aged, and the middle-aged old; the
stripling of thirty years ago is now the orator of the day, with
power of speech to stir men's hearts and minds according as he
wills. All see and feel the power, the silent, mysterious power,
of time.
As I remember, Kingston was progressive, and kicked up as
much of a dust as any other town of her size. She had her
temperance meetings, and Miller meetings, where was sung
" In eighteen hundred and forty- three
Will be the year of jubilee,"
and anti-capital punishment meetings, non-resistant meetings,
abolition meetings, and I believe women's rights meetings,
beside lyceum lectures and debating societies. I am quite
sure the ladies of Kingston held women's rights meetings if
they desired any rights they did not possess, for neither the
men nor the women of Puritan stock have ever been backward
in asserting their rights.- Would there not be an immense
women's rights meeting, if the Massachusetts legislature should
enact the old Roman law of 2,081 years ago? This law read,
" No woman shall possess more than half an ounce of gold, or
wear a garment of various colors, or ride in a carriage drawn
by horses in a city or town, or any place nearer thereto than
one mile, except on occasion of some public religious solem-
nity." This law was repealed at the request of Ihe matrons of
Rome and the towns surrounding, who assembled en masse at
the capitol, and protested against, it.
Kingston heard the voices of the best lecturers of the period,
such as Phillips, Douglas, Brown, Foster, Grough, and Garrison,
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and it did not cost then $500 to secure a lecturer on any-
subject .
In " Tippecanoe and Tyler too " times Kingston had her log
cabin as good as the best of them ; and the cry of " Hard cider,
$2 a day and roast beef" had, as Josh Billings would say, "its
average enticin effect " ; for Kingston, like other cities and towns
throughout the country, has had a weakness for the allegorical
and romantic during the heat of important political campaigns.
The time allotted me is up. I thank you for your kind at-
tention to my bric-a-brac remarks.
10. No name has been more prominent in our town than that of Sever.
There is a little bit of history connected with their origin here of spe-
cial interest to us all.
RESPONDED TO BY THE FOLLOWING LETTER.
New York, June 13, 187C.
Dear Sir, — Your kind invitation to be present as a guest
at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation
of our native town is duly received. I beg you to believe that
my inability to accept the invitation is not caused by indiffer
ence or by want of love for the dear old town which I delight
to claim as my birthplace. It is associated with one of the
happiest of boyhoods, and every inch of its ground recalls some
youthful pleasure. No day ever passes without my thoughts
turning to it. Before me in my study always hangs a picture
of my home, — that home which, in vacation days, I always
gladly sought until death, by its too frequent comings, taught
me that not houses but hearts make home. The cemetery now
is more homelike than any other place, and there, when the
work of a busy life is over, I hope to rest.
The first occurrence of the name of Sever in Kingston is
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almost coeval with its incorporation. Tradition has it that Nich-
olas Sever, a graduate of Harvard College, in the class of 1701,
and afterwards pastor of a Congregational Church in Dover, N.
H., was taking a horseback journey to Cape Cod for the benefit
of his health. Arriving at Kingston, he halted on his way at
the house of a Widow Little, subsequently owned and occupied
by my grandfather, John Sever. Mrs. Little found in the
stranger whom she entertained, an angel unawares, and on the
21st of November, 1728, became his wife. ^She was herself a
lineal descendant of the Winslows and the Warrens of the May-
flower. Three sons were born of this marriage, William,
James, and John. The two latter died without surviving issue,
and William, who lived till June 15, 1809, is still known to
the older inhabitants as Judge or Squire Sever. The house
now occupied by Miss Jane R. Sever was built for him at the
time of his marriage to Sarah Warren, of Plymouth, in 1760.
Like his father, he had three sons, William, James, and John.
William in early life moved to Worcester, and was the father
of the late Mrs. Gov. Lincoln and Mrs. Eev. Dr. John Brazer,
of Salem. James was the late Capt. Sever, not yet passed out
of memory, and John was my grandfather, who died in 1803,
leaving six: children, the three eldest of whom, as in the two
preceding generations, were named William, John, and James.
Those of this later generation who remained in Kingston
always, I believe, proved themselves public-spirited citizens,
devoted to everything that would promote the honor and wel-
fare of the town. Those who settled elsewhere were always
strong in their attachment to their birthplace. The male line
of the name in town ceased on the death of my father in April,
'69. I am sure that by all the descendants of Nicholas Sever,
the name of Kingston will ever be regarded with peculiar rev-
erence and affection.
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With many thanks for the kindness shown and the honor
done me in your invitation, and with regret that it docs not
seem expedient to me to accept it,
I am most cordially yours,
Winslow W. Sever.
11. Cape Cod, — the right arm of Massachusetts.
RESPONDED TO BY HON. JOHN B. D. COGSWELL, OF YARMOUTH.
It seems to me, Mr. President, eminently proper that, on
this occasion, you should remember that picturesque peninsula,
without the intervention of which, like an outstretched arm, we
should not be gathered together. Most thankfully our fathers
welcomed its shelter on that memorable Saturday noon when
the shattered Mayflower dropped its anchor in Provincetown
Harbor, thirty-five days before the landing at Plymouth.
There they refreshed and refitted themselves after the discom-
forts and perils of the terrible voyage; there they thanked
God for deliverance from the dangers of the sea, and with a
spirit of cheerful resolution they sang such songs of praise as
Deborah and David had sung of old. Dec. 10, Carver, Brad-
ford, and others of the exploring expedition kept the Sabbath
on Clark's Island in Plymouth harbor, and their abstinence
from labor and journeying has been justly extolled by eloquent
tongues ; but at the same hour, the main body on board the
ship were, for the fifth time, exhorted by Elder Brewster to
lift up their eyes and hearts from the beach and hills of Prov-
incetown to contemplate that heavenly country whither they
were tending.
Save the sick and the infant in arms, all the Mayflower
company pressed the sands and explored the secret places
of the cape. Standish, Bradford, and the exploring band
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encamped two nights in Pamet, now Truro, where they first
caught a glimpse of savages, flying before them. There they
found the ship's kettle, and the hidden corn which they carried,
away w T ith them in it and in their pockets, seed-grain for the
twenty acres which they planted the next spring, and which
gave them " good increase," saving the lives of all at Plymouth.
Here, too, they first inspected the architecture and furnishing
of the Indian wigwam, and the memorials of the departed,
buried in the Indian grave. Sounding along the shore, and
exploring the inlets of Wellfleet and Eastham, they were
rudely assailed in the dusky dawn of Dec. 8 by that stormy
flight of angry arrows which they called the "First Encounter."
In the " Provincetown Roadstead " the question of settlement
there had been earnestly discussed, and not the least accurate
of their chronicles has asserted that but for the wild snow-
storm of Dec. 8, which prevented their seeing the point of
Sandy Neck, the permanent settlement would have been made
at Cummaquid, now Barnstable. Nor did the establishment at
Plymouth cause the fathers to forget the scenes of their tem-
porary sojourn. In the following June they were again at
Cummaquid and Mattakeese (Yarmouth), and through the
intercession of our courteous sachem, Iyanough, recovered the
lost boy from those Nausets who before had greeted them with
hostile arrows. Poor Iyanough ! Terrified by the loud threats
of Standish, he fled into the cape swamps, where he perished of
exposure, and his bones, if a learned antiquary is not at fault,
are to be seen in the vestibule of Pilgrim Hall yonder. But
the "First Encoui ter " was also the last hostile meeting
between the English and the Indians of the cape. They were
and even to this day are, friends in peace, allies in war. Gov.
Bradford and his successors bought corn and beans of them in
various times of dire distress and famine.
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By 1627 the Pilgrims had established a trading-post at
Manomet, now called Cohasset Narrows, in the present town
of Sandwich, the permanent settlement of which commenced
in 1637. Sandwich, Yarmouth, and Barnstable had deputies
in the General Court in 1639. Duxbury and Scituate alone
had preceded these towns in the order of settlement. In 1643
Gov. Thomas Prince, Deacon John Doane, and Edward Bangs
led so large a company to Eastham, on the cape, that the church
at Plymouth, it was lamented, was left like a mother bereft of
her children. Seven times, Prince, "majestic of presence
and a terror to evil-doers," was re-elected governor, whilst
resident at Eastham.
The last governor of the colony of New Plymouth when it
was merged in the Massachusetts — "the calf," as was said,
"dying in the cow's belly" — was Thomas Hinckley, of Barn-
stable. He was not the least meritorious of the six governors.
Born at Tenterden, in Kent, England, in 1618, he was only
two years old when the Pilgrims landed at Provincetown ;
but he came over to Plymouth when a lad, and at twenty-one
years of age was in Barnstable with Pastor Lothrop and the
Scituate Colony. His name appears on the first page of the
records of Barnstable, and does not disappear from them till
his death in 1706, at eighty-eight years of age, a survivor of
the colony by fourteen years. As early as 1745 he was in
Plymouth as deputy, was successively assistant, deputy gov-
ernor, commissioner of the United Colonies, and governor by
many annual elections, until by his last official act, proclaiming
a fast upon the merger of the Pilgrim Colony with its more
powerful Puritan neighbor, New Plymouth ceased to exist.
During his time, and especially in the period of the Indian and
French Wars of 1775-6 ancT 1790, much official business of
the colony was transacted at Barnstable. He was industrious,
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devout, a friend to education, firm, acute, astute, skilled and
diligent in public business, comprehensive of those arts which
make a small State grow large.
I believe this hasty sketch will amply demonstrate that the
fourteen towns of the Cape (including the new Indian town of
Mashpee) have ample right to participate in the historical fes-
tivities of the people of the Old Colony, that noble common-
wealth unsurpassed in influence and glory, if the smallest in
numbers and the meanest in substance. Indeed, we of the
Cape have sometimes thought that the associations, memories,
lineage, labors, contributions, and valor, of our immediate
ancestry and our birthplace, were sometimes strangely over-
looked at Plymouth. But after all, what does it matter?
We all have part in that immortal story of sacrifice, devotion,
triumph, such as poets and orators are yet unable adequately
to recite. Though monuments may never rise and statutes
never be erected to the Pilgrims of Plymouth, the earth and
the heavens are telling forever their story, more enduring than
the marble, more inspiring than architecture.
You, fellow-citizens of Kingston, celebrate to-day the one
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of your separation as a muni-
cipality from old Plymouth. We of the upper Cape towns
are almost ready to celebrate our two hundred and fiftieth.
Our ancestors, also, entered in through the gateway of Ply-
mouth. We trace to the Mayflower, to the Fortune, to the
Ann, to the Leyden Church, to the church of Jacobs and
Lothrop in London, to Pastor Robinson himself; and the
precious seed we received, we have kept pure and unmixed
with foreign and degenerate. We are more English than
England, nay, we are nearer Plymouth than Plj mouth itself.
But by an instinct of nature, we are all drawn to the cradle of
the race, just as we read that the body of William Bradford,
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the second, was borne through deep snows with great difficulty
from his residence near Jones River, because he had expressed
a desire to be buried by his father, the second governor, the
good and wise historian of New Plymouth.
When I received an invitation to participate in this festival
of that part of Plymouth lying upon Jones River, I recalled
certain documents I had lately seen in the archives of Massa-
chusetts, having reference to the laying out of a new road over
Jones River in 1709, embracing a report of John Otis of Barn-
stable, grandfather of the famous James Otis and of Mercy
Warren of Plymouth, drawn up by the direction of the Barn-
stable County Court of Sessions. These papers show how inti-
mate was still the connection of our fathers, the Cape people
being obliged to contribute to the support of bridges in Ply-
mouth County.
I also found in the archives a petition of Joseph Sampson
and others, selectmen of Kingston, dated Aug. 15, 1781,
addressed to Gov. John Hancock, "captain-general, etc.,"
asking that Capt. Daniel Loring may be commissioned captain
of " one of those sort of boats commonly called Shaving Mills
to cruise on the enemies of the United States," which had
been built and equipped by a number of the inhabitants of this
town. The document evinces the activity and patriotism of
the people during the Revolution, which doubtless still exist;
but have you any "Shaving Mills" now? or do you go for
them to Boston or to the Banking establishments of our friend,
Mr. Davis at Plymouth, and the rest? I will hand these papers
to the Committee of Arrangements to be printed, if they shall
think them of interest to anybody in this generation.
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[Archives of Massachusetts, Vol. .171, p. 460.]
To his Excellency John Hancock Esq.
Capt. General, & Governor in Chief of the Com ih of Mass. Bay:
Sir: Whereas a no. of the inhts of this town have built & equipt one
of those sorts of Boats commonly called Shaving Mills to cruize on the
enemies of the U. S., & are desirous that Cap. Daniel Loring of this
town shd. be com d to command sd. boat, we, therefore, the subscribers,
selectmen of the town, beg leave to recommend sd, Loring to yr. Emi-
nency as a person in whose fidelity & prudence, yr. Excellency may put
full confidence & pray yr. Excellency wd. grant him a com 11 for that
purpose.
Kingston, 15 th Aug. 1781.
Joseph Sampson.
John Eatjnce.
Jed: Holmes.
His Excellency John Hancock, Esq.
[Vol. 113, pp. 505-508, Archives of Massachusetts.]
The Court of Gen Sessions of Barnstable County, having been served
at its Term of April 1709, with a copy of the pet* of Samuel Bartlett
& David Alden, Selectmen of Duxbury & Saml Sprague & Ephraim
Ellis, agents for the Town of Marshfield, relative to the turning of the
road or Highway that leads over " Jones Kiver," " directed its clerk,
William Bassett, to certify to the General Court, the appointment of
Hon. John Otis Esq. of Barnstable, and Mr. John Paine, of Eastham,
its representatives, to lay before the General Court tw the proceedings
that have been relating to the turning said way, and the motives leading
thereto," which duty, Messrs. Otis and Paine performed very judiciously
on the 3 d of May following, by memorial to the General Court, giving
four principal reasons why the location of the road had been changed,
upon the application of the town of Plymouth & the Court of Geu
Sessions for the County of Barnstable, ie. New way wd. be much better:
less chargeable to maintain: the expense & neglect of "'Causey" on
North side of old bridge: avoids the causey on South side wh. was very
low & difficult when the " Tidde " was high: and 4 thly new way is 40 or 50
rods shorter through better country, & hath the unanimous concurrence of
the Southern inhabitants, "as hath appeared by their cheerful paying
of a considerable tax."
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118 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
Their report proceeds upon the ground of general public benefits to
which contrasts the petition of Elisha Wadsworth of Duxborough, u That
whereas the justices of the County of Plymouth have seen cause to
demolish ye bridge over ye river between ye towns of Plymouth & Dux-
borough (called Jones Elver) and to lay out another way which is
extremely to my damage. Por whereas formerly by opening one gate, I
could goe on mine own land to ye Queen's Eode & then I had but four
miles to Plymouth Town, and now I have six miles and a half: and one
mile further to mill: and also ye situation of my living and ye commodity
of my Place, are much Damnified. And further to augment my Grief,
my neighbours y* dwell between me and ye new Kode afores d , through
whose land ye old Rode passeth, have divers times fenced up ye same,
so y* I have been forced to pull it down, before I could pass on my
earnest occasions: for wh. they daily threaten to Arrest me, whereby I
am in continuall danger, yet notwithstanding, our justices take no care
for my relief.
The humble request, y'fore of your grieved supplicant is for such
relief &c.
Elisha Wadsworth."
Caleb Loring, agent for Plimpton, petitions for that town, in support
of the new way.
On the coming Fourth of July I shall have the honor of
addressing the inhabitants of the venerable town of Barnstable,
upon the Cape ; and if opportunity offers, shall not fail to tell
them that on this, their happy anniversary, the people of
Kingston, once the people of Plymouth, have kindly remem-
bered that our ancestry bore with theirs, the toils, the depriva-
tions, sustained the burdens and faced the perils, the glorious
fruitage of which has made the name of " Pilgrim " the most
honored among men.
12. Our Past; it is studded with memories over which the Historian,
Poet, and Scholar love to linger.
RESPONSE BY HON. HENRY S. WASHBURN, OF BOSTON.
Much has already been said, Mr. President, upon the subject
which you have assigned to me, but the theme is far from being
exhausted. We might, I am sure, indulge in these pleasant
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 119
remembrances of the past far into the night before us, and yet
leave unsaid and unsung much that would awaken the tender-
est emotions of our being.
We come together from remote distances to exchange greet-
ings and congratulations, and to look upon forms and faces
associated with the recollections of our early days,
"We tread in olden paths to-day,
We muse on hallowed memories here,
And linger fondly by the way
With friends we've missed for many a year.' 5
I am reminded daily of Kingston by meeting its sons in
the streets of Boston, for many years the city of my habitation.
You have long been honorably represented there in the persons
of several of its most respected citizens. Of these, the presi-
dent of the clay is a worthy illustration. He is not always as
staid and sober as you see him now, nor does he usually
address me in the dignified manner in which I have just been
introduced to you. "How are you, Henry?" and " How are
you, Nathaniel?" were salutations which only a few days ago
passed between us. How tenderly does this familiar recogni-
tion by old friends move us ! How much dearer to the heart
is it than all the Misters, Esquires, and Honorables, by which
the world addresses us ! "There is no one left now to call me
Victoria," said the British queen on the death of the prince
consort. How does this reveal the almost infinite longings of
the heart, amid all the glare and blandishments of life, for
familiar voices, still calling after us by the name we bore in our
childhood ! And so to-day we touch the tenderest of chords
as we recognize each other as Nathaniel and Joseph, Edward
and Levi, Mary and Hannah, Eliza and Eebecca.
I referred to the president a moment ago as one who in Bos-
ton had been an honor to his birthplace. An ex-president of
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120 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
the Mechanics? Association, himself an accomplished artisan and
builder, it is the pride of his friends to point to some of the most
imposing and substantial structures in the city as the product of
his skill and genius. And here, by my side, sits another who
has just addressed you, a gentleman well-known for his ster-
ling integrity and large business capacity. When, recently,
the President of the United States, like Diogenes of old, was
searching, with a lantern in his hand, for an honest man to fill
the position of postmaster of the city, he selected a Kingston
boy, Edward S. Tobey !
Opposite to me, upon this platform, is still another, the pos-
sessor of an ample fortune, acquired by his own energy and
industry, whose rosy face and benevolent look speak always of
peace and good-will to men. As a good steward he rejoices in
dispensing to the needy of the abundance which has been given
to him. Many a weary one, rising from a bed soft as down
could make it, has had occasion to bless the name of Henry K.
Glover.
And here, too, I see one, unassuming and unpretending, who,
in his own quiet but effective way, is constantly going about
doing good. In all our. reformatory and penal institutions, the
benignant face and venerable form of " Uncle Cook " is daily
seen, bringing words of succor and good cheer to those who
literally have no one to care for them. Into his ear how often
has the Master whispered, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me " !
Nor let me refrain, Mr. President, in this connection, from
referring to him, my honored kinsman, who, in the fulness of
years, after having borne the burden and heat of the day, has
travelled more than two hundred miles to mingle his congratu-
lations with us on this occasion. At the age of four-score-and-
ten years he waits " till the shadows are a little longer grown "
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 121
before he shall pass away from the scenes and responsibilities
of earth. Kingston can boast of few men more worthy to be
honored than Job Washburn.
My thoughts involuntarily turn at this moment to another,
not now among the living, but upon whom, until recently, you
looked with feelings of pride and veneration. I refer to the
late Ichabod Washburn, a native of Kingston, a gentleman
well-known throughout the commonwealth. And here allow
me to relate an anecdote regarding him, which I am sure will
interest you. The son of a sea captain, he at an early age, with
this twin brother and a sister, sustained the loss of his father,
and was thrown upon his own energies for support. His brother
had the misfortune to be born with only one arm, and it was
deemed best that a portion of the small property left to the
family should be expended in giving him an education which
would fit him for some one of the learned professions, but that
Ichabod should acquire the knowledge of a trade by which to
earn his living. Up to that time cotton cloth had been made
chiefly on hand-looms, some of which are still to be found
in the farm-houses argund us. Cotton factories, or the making
of cotton by machinery, were just then coming into use. One
of the earliest of these institutions was established by Deacon
Holmes, in the west part of this town. An opening was pre-
sented for the boy Ichabod to work in this factory, which was
soberly considered by the immediate friends of the family. The
opinion was freely expressed that the position for a while might
be a good one; but as these factories were turning out cotton
rapidly, it was evident they would soon fill up the world with
the article, and the boy would be thrown out of employment.
Horses and oxen, however, must always be shod, and iron
work of various kinds would be required, and so these wise
men thought it would be safer to put him out as an apprentice
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to learn the trade of a blacksmith. When we consider the
crude and imperfect machinery of that day, and compare it
with the wonderful mechanism now displayed in the cotton
mills of Lowell, Lawrence, and Fall Eiver, we can but smile
at the opinion then entertained of a speedy overstock of cotton
cloth in the country. But the boy blacksmith faithfully served
his master till he reached his majority, when he threw off the
shackles that bound him, and struck out for himself as a manu-
facturer in a department of business which soon led him to
fame and fortune. That fortune, honorably acquired, distilled
ever as the dews ; and it was his pleasure, as you well know,
not to overlook, in the distribution of his property, the town
of his nativity.
Upon the order of exercises before us is a cut, representing
the old church, with two steeples, so well remembered by
elderly people present. It may be fitting that I should read
a few lines referring to that venerable edifice, which I composed
many years ago, but have never published.
THE VILLAGE CHURCH.
It stands where it stood in the olden time,
When my step was light in my boyhood's prime;
And I hear, on the breath of the morning, swell
Again the chime of that old church bell.
It stands where it stood on the brow of the hill,
And the people tread in its old aisles still,
While I look around and inquire, Where
Are the good old men who once worshipped there?
And they point to the grave-yard close by the way,
And they tell me they've been there for many a day;
That the manly heart and the blushing maid
Have been long in that quiet graveyard laid.
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 123
There was one I remember ; his mild blue eye
Was wet with tears when he breathed good- by,
And the clasp of his hand was warm and true ;
But he wasted away like the early dew.
Oh! my heart is sad, old church, while I gaze
Around for the friends of my early days ,
And my tears fall fast as the April rain,
Eor I seek the departed here in vain.
Mr. President, this occasion, which must "be interesting to all,
is to some of us full of tenderness and significance. After many-
long and weary years, passed in toil and conflict, we return to
find, notwithstanding earth's chances and changes, these hills
and vales still the same 9 the same these dim old woods,
these silver streams, these fragrant meadows, this land-locked
harbor, and the boundless expanse of ocean spread out beyond
it. As a village, quiet and unpretending, comparatively little
known in the wide, wide world, its people, from generation to
generation, have, as God has given them ability, performed
their part in the great drama of life, true and loyal ever to
the best interests of their State and the country. Eight happy
are we to pay our homage at this dear old shrine to-day. If the
mother is glad to see her children, they are equally glad to see
their mother. If she is proud of her sons, they are also as proud
of her. The gladness and the pride are reciprocal.
At the foot of this hill, as you come to the Jones River, in
turning into what was once a lane, but now more of a highway,
you reach, in a few rods, after passing over a little brook, an
old house, which to-day bears an inscription informing us that
it was standing in 1703. For the most, if not through all its
history, it has been the home of my ancestors. There my
father and grandfather were born, and there still resides a
cousin of mine, one of the committee of arrangements for this
festival. Here, also, my childhood was passed; and I cannot
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124 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
refrain, in closing these remarks, from paying a passing tribute
to that dear little stream, so tenderly associated with my boy-
hood, and which still flows on, beautifying and gladdening the
valley through which it passes.
THE BROOK.
There is a brook, a merry brook,
"Whose waters glide away ,
And creep within each tiny nook,
Like a little child at play.
It runs beside my grandsire's door,
The same as, when a child,
I heard its mimic waters pour
Their music on the wild.
The passing stranger may not heed
This modest little rill,
Which wanders through the verdant mead,
Its pleasant journey still:
But unto me, O stream! a voice
Hast thou of buried years;
I cannot see thee but rejoice,
I cannot but with tears.
'T is not because the hills and vales
Through which thy pathway lies
Are fairer than the hills and dales
Beneath a thousand skies;
!Nor yet because thy waters leap
So joyously and free,—
]STo, not for these my heart doth keep
This memory of thee.
5 T is for the past that thou canst stir
Each passion at thy will,
For halcyon days, that I prefer
Thy sparkling waters still.
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Oh! thou art wedded to the days,
The blessed clays of youth,
"When gently fell the loving rays
Of tenderness and truth;
To the memory of the early dead
Within their cold graves sleeping;
Thou art, for hours forever tied,
A thousand memories keeping.
Sad were our being, if the mists
Of gathered years could hide
The past, that we might not recall
Who lived, who loved, who died!
Then thanks to thee, thou little rill,
For the record thou dost bear,
The record of the good and ill
Which slumbers by thee there.
A pilgrim from the din and strife
Of earth, I turn to thee.
Full soon must end this checkered life,
Bear record, then, of me!
13. The successful business men who have gone out from our town,
as they do not forget us, they will be held in perpetual remembrance by
us. Particularly in memory of Ichabod and Charles Washburn of Wor-
cester, Mass.
REMARKS BY CHARLES F WASHBURN, ESQ., OF WORCESTER.
Ladies and Gentlemen and kinsmen of every degree , — I
arise under peculiar circumstances, — to speak of and for those
who would have been so happy to be here today; to whom
Kingston, physically and socially, was dear, was replete with
interest; to whom, probably, one third of those present were
related in some degree by tie of blood. I refer to Ichabod and
Charles Washburn, late of Worcester in this State s
Representing, as I do for the moment, natives of this town
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126 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
who have passed away, I have, while sitting here, been con-
strained to liken myself to one born of Athenian parents in
some Greek colony on the Asiatic shore, who, without having
ever before seen the proud city of Minerva, had been made
from earliest childhood intensely interested and thoroughly
acquainted with its history, and who from the conversation
of his parents had grown up with the feeling that his home
was Athens and that her people were his people . Such are my
feelings for you and for this old town.
This commanding hill is dear to me because from its summit
my dear departed ancestors have looked out upon and enjoyed
this same grand panorama^ — the Gurnet, the spires of Dux-
bury, Captain's Hill, the mouth of Jones Eiver, Plymouth
Harbor, Clark's Island, the ocean-vexed beach, Plymouth
itself. Could the foreigner by birth, but Athenian by blood
and education, have looked from the Acropolis upon the same
number of objects with greater interest than I do upon the
objects and scenes I have mentioned, and which were never
more plainly to be seen than spread before us on this auspicious
day ? I trow not ! Why, not a place or point have I men-
tioned, associated with which I have not more than one narra-
tive or anecdote from the lips of my father or uncle.
And just here let me say that while, though the story of Sala-
mis and its victory would be sweet to our Athenian, the story
of Clark's Island and its victory is to-day just as dear to me.
Yes, more important in its results, grander in its purpose, was
the single act of our chilled, jaded, storm-tossed forefathers, in
deciding to remain on Clark's Island that first Sunday, because
it would be breaking the Sabbath to move to the blessed main
land, than ever was that successful onslaught upon the hordes
of Asia. Go where you will, study the reasons of the rise and
fall of nations, and the most potent of them will be found in the
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fact of their recognition or ignoring of the God who made
them, and His commandments.
There never was a community, from that Friday evening
when, in darkness, in cold, and in storm, its founders groped
upon Clark's Island, until the present, in the which God and
His word have been more profoundly revered ; and never,
from the foundation of the world, has a community exerted so
wide-spread and benign an influence for pure religion as has
this. But I hear you say, "Our townsmen and kinsmen,—
tell us of them." The story is not a long one.
Aug. 11, 1798, in a cottage still standing in yonder hamlet
of Stony Brook, the twins, Charles and Ichabod, were born.
Their mother, sixth in descent from the first Gov. Bradford,
was left a widow in six months from that time, and hard was
the struggle this devoted mother had, to cherish these two boys
and the older sister into self sustaining maturity.
Ichabod was early apprenticed to a blacksmith near the city
of Worcester, and from that time until his death in 1870, his
life was a constant experience of intelligent industry and self-
culture rewarded with success ; and to-day the manufacturing
house founded by his skill, and bearing his name is much the
largest in the city of his adoption ; and in that same city are
flourishing four great charities originated, and wholly or in part
endowed by him, which will ever cause his name to be remem-
bered with gratitude.
Charles fitted for Brown Uiiiversit} 7 - under " Parson Willis,"
whose cottage we passed this morning, was graduated in 1820,
studied law in Norway, Me., married the daughter of the first
county justice before whom he tried a case ; lived and practised
in that State until 1837, when he moved to Worcester with his
family, and joined fortunes with his brother Ichabod. His
death occurred in October last.
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The affection subsisting between these brothers was always
marked. They loved to refer to themselves as " twins." They
lived side by side in Worcester the last half of their lives. As
before intimated, a frequent subject of conversation between
them was " Old Kingston " and the friends and experiences of
their young days. Among others, the fact that Charles, when
fitting for college, "watched" in the old woolen mill on Jones
River, just south of Kingston Village, and that Ichabod often
cheered the lonely vigils of his brother, was often discussed by
them. This phase of their young lives is referred to in some
lines read by a member of the family at a dinner celebrating
their seventieth birthday, and there is so much in them signifi-
cant of the fraternal sympathy that always subsisted between
them, and there are so many present who are deeply interested
in everything connected with the brothers, that I will venture to
read them.
The sunset rays had faded,
The sky had lost its light,
Its starry diadem lit up
The dusky brow of Night.
The busy wheel hangs motionless,
The waters ripple by,
ISTo sound disturbs the stillness,
jSTo living thing is nigh,
Save a little, lonely figure,
The watchman of the mill*
Whose quiet footfall breaketh
The silence deep and still,
As he paced with childish footsteps
The old brown walls about,
And watched the stars till daylight
As they one by one went out.
He keeps his lonely vigil
With a faithful, earnest heart,
Though weariness assails him
As the lengthening hours depart.
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129
And he walks the dark old chambers
In silence and alone,
While the light of a little lantern
About his footsteps shone.
The sighing wind in the forest
Stirs his boyish heart with fear,
And he hears with a chill of terror
A footstep drawing near.
Straight up the rocky pathway,
Onward, right on, it came;
A voice breaks the evening stillness,
It calls him by his name.
An answering cry burst from him;
He knew his brother's call,
And sprang with joy to meet him
In the shade of the ancient wall.
" Why come you here,' 5 he questions,
" At this lonely hour of night,
When to labor you must hasten
With the earliest dawn of light? "
u I could not rest, dear brother,"
The elder one replied.
u You slept not on my pillow,
I missed you from my side.
" Let me stay with you, brother,
While you your vigil keep ;
The thought of your lonely hours
Would haunt me in my sleep."
The little watchman answered,
As he heard his loving prayer,
a The lonely hours too short would seem,
Did you my watching share.
u I cannot work like you, brother,
For this we often grieve," —
And the eyes of both glanced downward
At a little empty sleeve,—
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" But a brave, stout heart I have, brother,
My duty I will do,
And when I need two hands in toil,
Why, then I '11 lean on you."
So faithfully they labored,
Each one his place to fill;
They worked at the forge and anvil,
And watched in the old brown mill.
Life's pathway lay before them,
Its rugged steeps untrod;
Unaided they must tread it,
Save by their father™ God.
"With strong, brave hearts they struggled
Manfully side by side;
While years passed swiftly o'er them,
And blessings multiplied;
Though in toil and many a hardship
Their lot was often cast,
In mutual love and sympathy
Boyhood and youth were passed.
When many years of manhood
Had tinged their locks with gray,
God's finger touched the elder;
He falterecLby the way.
While the nights were long and weary,
And his listless hands lay still.
He dreamed of the scenes of childhood,
And the nights in the old brown mill.
Though the faith and hope of the Christian
Shone bright in this trial hour,"
The love that blessed his boyhood
Had never lost its power.
When strength ebbed low within him,
And the lamp of life burned dim,
He could not leave his brother
While he had need of him.
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AFTER-DINNEft SPEECHES. 131
So he struggled up from the river,
Though lingering long on the brink,
And once and again of its waters
His lips were pressed to drink.
He had deemed the battle over,
He thought his life-work done;
That the soldier's watch was ended
And the rest of the Christian won.
But another year these brothers
Are lingering on the shore.
To celebrate their natal clay
We now return once more.
The friends with whom in former days
The path of life they trod,
Are gathering, a family,
About the throne of God.
Bright angels safely guide them
As they cross life's troubled sea,
And reach that quiet haven,
Prom pain and sorrow free!
The love they bear each other
As brightly glows to-day
As when in hours of infancy
They in one cradle lay.
So at the last sad moment,
When parting words are spoken,
May they cross the shining river
With the mystic tie unbroken!
M. E. W.
My friends, I will not detain you longer. Many and affec-
tionate are the personal greetings my father and uncle would
give if they were here ! I, in their behalf, now thank the warm
hearts of Kingston for the many kind words and expressions
with which they followed these brothers as long as they lived,
and let me assure you that they were always appreciated. For
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myself, let me beg you, young and old, cherish the hearthstones
of Old Kingston. Do not forget your past, so peculiar, simple,
perhaps, in detail, but so grand in its results ! As the children
grow up, repeat to them the precious associations of Plymouth
and Kingston, that they, as thousands before them have, may
in turn transplant into the regions, north, west, and south of
our dear country 9 the practice of those virtues which have
given this portion of the Old Colony the world-wide name and
prase it now enjoys.
14. The son of Kingston who has the most relatives, good, bad, and
indifferent, " Uncle Cook."
TO HAVE BEEN RESPONDED TO BY RUFUS R. COOK, ESQ, OF
BOSTON.
Much regret has been felt and expressed that at least a few
moments could not have been allowed for speaking at the
table, to this energetic and philanthropic son of the town.
The thoughts that were prompted by the occasion, he assures
us, could not after a few weeks be gathered up or put into the
form of a speech by his pen.
Mr. Cook has for years been chaplain of the Suffolk County
Jail, and has been ?? the prisoner's friend " in the municipal
court-room of Boston.
In many instances he gives his personal bond for the reap-
pearance of those arraigned and for their good behavior for
a definite period. Through his kind and Christian influence,
many of the fallen have been reclaimed, and the number of
the vicious has been reduced. Believing in the old doctrine
that prevention is better than cure, he has labored assiduously
to promote the cause of temperance and also has bestowed his
energies for the salvation of the young in Sabbath Schools.
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He has thus fairly earned the enviable distinction of a univer-
sal uncle, finding warm friends among all classes, conditions ,
and ages.
The above statement having been submitted to one of the
justices of the Municipal Court (Hon. Mr. Chamberlain), he
says, "It is both accurate and just* Indeed, it is hardly pos-
sible to overestimate the importance of the work Mr. Cook
has undertaken, and for years has quietly pursued, and his
admirable fitness for it. He is so constant in his attendance
upon the court that my associates and myself have come to
regard him as one of its officers, and he is never absent with-
out being missed. The city has few better or more useful men
than "Uncle Cook,"
15. Rhode Island and Delaware, States almost too small to contain
the Works of two Kingston boys 5 whom we are happy to number among
our honored Vice-Presidents to-day.
RESPONDED TO FIRST, BY HON. GEORGE B. HOLMES, OF
PROVIDENCE, R. I.
Mr. President, — In response to a sentiment referring to
Khode Island, I have to say that, although I am a Rhode Isl-
ander by an adoption of half a century, I still remember with
pride that Kingston is the town of my birth. Here I passed
the pleasant days of childhood and youth. I remember, with
a feeling of gratitude, that when only twenty-six years of age,
I was elected from this town as. a member of the State Con-
vention for the revision of the Constitution in 1820, and had
the privilege of listening to the debates of the eminent men
who belonged to that body, upon the fundamental law. My
election was rather singular. I was not nominated or even
asked, neither did I know I was to be voted for, nor did I attend
the town-meeting; but a friend called on me in the evening
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134 AFTER-DINNER SPEEC
and gave me the information. I attended the Convention, and
it was a very great help to me, My political course was then
changed, and I have not entered into the political field since,
very strongly. During the attendance of the Convention, I
became fully convinced that all governments are controlled by a
Divine Providence, and my duty was to vote for the best man.
As all men, whether exiles by compulsion or chance,
constantly recall with satisfaction the just renown of their
native place, so it has always been with me an unfailing
source of pleasure to dwell upon the reputation, which my
old home has acquired for solid worth and the prevalence of
those substantial virtues, which are at once the strength and
glory of the individual and national life. I refer to official
and private honesty, strict regard for confided trusts, thrift,
temperance, and intelligence* If Kingston has not risen to
commercial empire, like New York or Boston, she has, never-
theless, the satisfaction of knowing that she has avoided the
questionable blessing of great debts and town bonds, and
that in that greatness which is the final salvation of all coun-
tries, the greatness of a thrifty, patriotic, and moral citizen-
ship, she is far more opulent than she would be with a harbor
filled with fleets of merchantmen, and with warehouses groan-
ing under the product of every clime.
But fond as I am of the reputation of my native town and
State, I am yet equally fond of the reputation of my adopted
home, in whose behalf I am invited to speak. I remained in
Kingston till July, 1824, when I moved to Providence and
entered into the foundry and machine business. I have had
the management of this business almost fifty-two years. Our
establishment was at first small, but with the growth of our city,
which has gone up from 20,000 to 108,000 in population, the
business has very naturally increased from a capital of $14,000
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 135
to $300,000, Though I have five times been elected a member
of the General Assembly of my adopted State, I have never
entered very deeply into politics. Business has been my
hobby, and of course, in a State so small in territory as .your
toast intimates, our Works occupy a larger space comparatively
than if they had been in Massachusetts.
But Rhode Island, small as she is, has innumerable voices to
speak for her. Her enterprise is known of all men ; her patri-
otism sealed with blood ; her piety written in letters of devotion
and death on many missionary fields ; her scholarship ripening
in harvests of learning in every State of the Union ; her courage
proved on a hundred battle-fields, flashing in the light of the
burning ?? Gaspee," heralded by the flying splinters from Perry's
frigate, and consecrated by the dying gallantry of Slocum and
Rodman, and a host of unrecorded heroes, — these all speak
for Rhode Island. And in the 2reat struggle for commercial
renown her success has not been less distinguished. Let her
million spindles, her pattern-cards displayed in every market,
her toiling engines moving the universal wheels of industry, be
her sufficient eulogists.
My hope and my prayer is that to her, as to that place of my
childhood so fondly cherished, God may grant deliverance from
past error and misfortune, and may give countless centuries of
prosperity in the future. And finally, as for myself, it being
more than fifty years since I left Kingston, my experience of
life has been varied and continued beyond the time ordinarily
vouchsafed to man.
Among life's chances a return to Kingston, to rest my dying
eyes upon her green fields and to lie down among my ancestors,
will probably not. be granted me ; but I trust that a kind Provi-
dence will grant me beyond the grave an existence, where the
memory of her green fields and quiet streams will not be taken
from me.
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136 LETTERS.
RESPONDED TO ALSO BY LETTER FROM GEORGE G. LOBDELL,
ESQ., OF WILMINGTON, DEL.
Wilmington, Del., June 22, 1876.
Dear Sir,— Yours of the 5th inst. to ?? Hon, George G.
Lobdell" was duly received. As there are no persons of the
name in this section, other than my own family, I suppose it
was intended for me. Although I have something of a national
reputation with railroad men, as a manufacturer of railroad
wheels and the inventor of the first plate railroad-wheel which
was a success, I have never filled any political position entitling
me to the prefix of "Honorable," and have never had any ambi-
tion in that direction, neither am I given to making speeches ;
therefore I could not reply to one of your toasts. However,
if I could do so, it would afford me great pleasure to visit
Kingston and participate in the proposed celebration, and to
have accompany me some who are not only proud of the name
of Blue Hens' Chickens, but boast also that they can trace
their genealogy to the Pilgrims, —Elder Brewster, Thomas
Prince, Philip de la Noye, Edward Bompasse, and through
their mother to Peregrine White.
I find, however, that I cannot leave home on account of the
Centennial Exhibition, having with us several friends, and I
am expecting others to attend this, the most wonderful exhibit
that the world ever produced. We have been notified that our
Works, which are the oldest and I believe the largest of the
kind in the country, will be visited by several of the commis-
sions of foreign countries, which, taken with the fact that I
shall have to meet the judges on a part of our exhibits on the
27th inst., will prevent my leaving home during this month.
Yours very respectfully,
George G. Lobdell.
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LETTERS. 137
16. Letter from Ex.-Gov. Emory Washburn to an invitation to be
present and to participate in the exercises.
Cambridge, June 10. 1876.
Gentlemen, —Your favor of the 5th inst., extending to me
a flattering invitation to be present at the celebration of the
citizens of Kingston on the 27th inst,, reached me as I was start-
ing for New York, too late to reply to it then, and I seize the
first moment after my return to thank you for the honor you
have done me, and to express my sincere regret that, as our
Commencement comes on the. 28th, I cannot with any propriety
be absent from my place here on the preceding day. I shall
greatly regret to lose the pleasure of being present where
there will be so much to enjoy, and shall be sorry to lose,
moreover, an opportunity to renew my claim, as I do on all
proper occasions, to being of the Old Colony lineage, though
my birthplace, without any choice on my part, happened to
be within the limits of Massachusetts Bay. If I cannot go
back quite to the Mayflower, I claim relationship with
Plymouth Rock, as my line of descent goes back to a grand-
daughter of Mary Chilton ; and as Kingston was a daughter of
Plymouth, if I could have been present on the commemora-
tion of her birth-day, I should have put in my claim, with much
pride and satisfaction, of having come to a family gathering and
having my heirship recognized .
I am sorry to lose the chance of having my hereditary rank
recognized, but shall try to content myself with the honor of
having been invited to participate on that occasion with so
many, of whose appreciation I should be justly proud.
Very respectfully, your ob't servant,
Emory Washburn.
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138 AFTER-DINNEB SPEECHES.
17. Our Native Town :
'"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there 's no place like home."
RESPONDED TO BY DR. FREDERIC W. BARTLETT, OF BUFFALO,
NEW YORK.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — I am invited to
respond to this sentiment , and I do so with pleasure. In all
ages and all nations, the love of home has been a dominant
feeling of the human heart. Even the inhabitant of cheerless,
frozen Iceland considers it the " best hind on which the sun
shines/' and
u The naked negro panting at the line
Boasts of his golden skies and palmy wine."
If the love of home cannot be stifled in the breasts of these
unfortunates , how shall one born in this lovely town ever
become insensible to its marvellous attractions? For it is
the
" Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain,"
of all the smiling hamlets peacefully scattered over our grand ,
historic State, with motherly Plymouth sending forth the bold
headlands of Manomet, and the Gurnet to resist the rudeness of
the storm-swept ocean, and Jones River flowing, a ribbon of
silver, from its source to the embrace of the quiet bay, winding
and hesitating as if reluctant to leave such tranquil scenes, and
beyond the bay with the noble hill, home of the great military
leader, Standish, with Monk's Hill on the south, and all the
lakes, each with tiny streamlet to carry its surplus to swell the
volume of the gently-flowing river, I doubt if there is a finer
panoramic view in all this fair land than that from Abraham's
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 139
Hill. Here, too, are the memorials of those who gave birth to
this great nation. It seems incredible that within the scope of
our vision lived the people who organized government by the
people, and gave to this land all that is valuable in its institu-
tions. We may criticise their weaknesses, but dare we, as a
people, in a political or religious sense, prefer any just claim to
superiority? I am proud of this town for its noble record in
all those qualities which make a people truly great, proud of
the patriotism which hag given our bravest and best for the
defence of liberty and law, and I remember with pathetic ten-
derness all those who on land or sea have yielded up their lives
for their country. " They sleep for the flag ; and may the light
of its glorious stars shed pleasant dreams upon their loyal souls
forever ! "
No town on all the coast has furnished better qualified
commanders in the merchant marine than Adams, Sy mines,
Holmes, and Baker ; and no river of its size has witnessed the
launching of so many noble vessels by Holmes, Sever, and
others, whose sails have whitened and keels made musical the
most distant waters of the globe.
I am grateful to Almighty God that my birth was in this
upright, moral, Christian community ; that in all my boyhood
years no licensed or unlicensed temptation lured me to drunk-
enness or immorality ; for its good schools, with such teachers
as Jason Winnett, David Thayer, and Hollis Stone. I am
proud of the thrift and honesty which in a population of 1,700
has but one individual in its almshouse to-day. This com-
munity has always cheered its sons in every good work, and no
one need ever fear an envious disparagement of his success ; on
the contrary, he may be assured that every stride he may make
to eminence, wealth, or fame will be mentioned with satisfac-
tion by all his townsmen. The allurements of the great world
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140 AFTEK-DINNER SPEECHES.
outside have taken many of your sons to other and distant
scenes, but the old love remains, and is well expressed by
Goldsmith in these familiar lines : —
" In all my wanderings round this world of care,
In all my griefs, — and God has given my share, —
I still had hopes my latest hours to crown,
Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down;
To husband out life's taper at the close,
And keep the flame from wasting by repose.
I still had hopes — for pride attends us still —
Amidst the swains to show my book-learned skill;
Around my fire an evening group to draw.
And tell of all I felt and all I saw;
And, as a hare whom hounds and horns pursue,
Pants to the place from whence at first she flew,
I still had hopes, my long vexations passed.
Here to return — and die at home at last."
I do not recall an instance in all my boyhood of a conviction
for crime of a native of this community.
Good Justice Eli Cook had always a dry inkstand, and the
exotics whose pleasantries he punished, came like celestial vis-
itors, "few and far between."
There were jovial little coteries of village statesmen at the
shop of Joseph Stetson (a most excellent and useful citizen,
whom I regret is physically unable to be here to-day), but in
all their discussions, no matter how animated, I do not re-
member to have listened to profanity. You have good homes,
good municipal regulations, and are given to kindly sympathy
for each other in sickness or other adversity. Your religious
teachers have been men of culture and unsullied character,
considerate and friendly and tolerant of the views of others.
a Peace be within your borders, and prosperity within your gates! "
Cling to the grand old principles which you glorify in your
ancestors. Protect the youth of to-day, as our fathers protected
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AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 141
us, by a steadfast opposition to concessions to vice in every
form. Let them safely walk these streets, and give them those
elements of character which alone can achieve success . May
it be truly said of us, and all of us, that we are faithful to high
responsibilities. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, " God bless
us, every one ! "
18. Kingston Inventions.
SPEECH BY T. D. STETSON, ESQ., OE NEW YORK CITY,
The old mode of boring holes in wood was by a pod-auger,
which had to be drawn out at intervals to empty the pod.
Now we bore continuously through two feet or more of dense
timber in ship and bridge work, and the chips are worked out
as fast as cut. This is the result of the introduction of the
screw-auger. John Washburn, of Kingston, Mass., was the
inventor in the latter part of the last century. He also
invented cut nails and tacks. He cut the blanks in one
machine, and employed children to pick them up one by one
with their fingers, and insert them in the places where they
were to be headed.
Jesse Reed, then of Kingston, put the improvement upon
that which made it a commercial success. He held the blank
by a spring after it was cut, and by the motion of the cutting
knife itself moved it into the dies and left it there. He made
the cutting and heading one operation, and ever since his
Kingston patents of 1809-10-11, the nail machine has been
able to take in plate iron at one point, and drop the finished
nail or tack at another, at the rate of about three per second,
till the knives or dies become dull and require a delay of ten
minutes for grinding. The screw-auger, the cut nail, and the
machine for making the cut nail, are all Kingston inventions.
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142 AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES.
Kingston, with a population of less than 2,000, — one
twenty-thousandth part of the American Union, — has clone
her full share to promote the present advanced condition of
the arts. None of Kingston's sons have as yet made for-
tunes by their inventions without work, but with the same
great strides, or even with much smaller ones, the chances are
far greater for doing it now than a century ago. They are still
at work. The patent is only a few years old on an improve-
ment in stump pullers, one of the first necessities for back-
woods' farming, invented by Caleb Bates or Thomas Newcomb,
or both, and forged by Christopher Drew with the water power
of Stony Brook, which flows past the Kingston depot. These
are all residents and active business men of Kingston. The
railroad is, on the other hand, a type and a product of the most
rapid and dashing civilization. Our railroad cars glide over
long lines of steel rails on our Western prairies, and move
through the rocky defiles of our sister republics in South
America, on wheels containing improvements invented and
patented by George G. Lobclell, a native of Kingston, and
manufactured in a large way in Wilmington, Del., by a com-
pany of which he is the head.
It is hard to conceive anything more simple than an inven-
tion of Martin Washburn, of Kingston, not yet patented, for
cleaning horses, or anything more abstruse and intangible than
the invention of Dr. Frederic W. Bartlett, one of Kingston's
sons, practising medicine in Buffalo, which has just been
patented here and in Europe. He makes ozone better.
Ozone is electrified oxygen, electrified water, oxide of oxygen,
double oxygen, peroxide of hydrogen, the bleaching principle
of chlorine, the disinfecting, vitalizing, purifying principle of
fresh-burned charcoal, or of nature generally. Nobody knows
what it is as well as he does nails and augers, but Dr. Bartlett
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knows what is of more importance practically, — how to make
it, — and his invention is attracting much attention in scientific
societies. Heretofore ozone could be made artificially, but too
impure. Instead of pleasing, it offended ; instead of invigo-
rating, it choked. The Bartlett process promises to give, at
a practicable cost, a useful gas, destined, it is hoped, to become,
like ice and chloroform, a necessity in every hospital.
Kingston inventors have made probably their proportion of
failures. Osborne Morton and Asaph Holmes, of Kingston,
labored together, twenty years or more ago, to attain perpetual
motion, or something which cannot be much distinguished
from it. Their faith was too great. But another Kingston
inventor, a half century earlier, nearly attained one of the
most successful machines, in a pecuniary sense, in the world, —
the harvesting machine. No one, until Obed Hussey, in 1833,
made a useful invention in that line ; but Samuel Adams, of
Kingston, made one of the early attempts, and went all the way
to Washington on horseback to obtain a patent, which issued
Dec. 28, 1805. The records have been burned, but it is
believed to have been close in the line of the present machine,
which has contributed millions to the wealth of individuals,
and hundreds of millions to our nation's greatness and to the
prosperity of the world. His faith was too weak.
Unsuccessful experiments do not benefit the world, and are no
longer cited in the courts to defeat patents. They tend to establish,
so far as they establish anything, that success in that direction is
impossible. They signal to keep off, rather than to follow. But it
is hard if we try, which we will not, to avoid a deep feeling of
sympathy for the luckless toiler in the mine of invention, who,
through want of merit in his conception, or through want of
capital, persistence, or judgment in developing it, almost,
but not quite, succeeds. Success is not in obtaining a
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patent, — many other Kingston men have reached that point,
— but in making the invention useful and profitable. The
United States Lock Company, now manufacturing at Kingston,
make probably the very best lock in the world, but the inven-
tion is not by a citizen or native of Kingston ; so I will not
dwell on it.
John Washburn did not try to keep secret, or to patent, or
in any other way to protect his inventions. He threw them out
for any to copy, — just as he did his successful adoption of
previous foreign arts, in the casting of sleigh-bells with the balls
magically contained inside, and just as his brother, Elisha
Washburn (my grandfather) , did with the model and details of
the construction of the famous Kingston fishing-boat, " Moll
Corey," which it was the ambition of fisherman and fancy
sailors vainly to try to equal fifty years ago.
As the law and practice now stands, nearly every really
important forward step in the arts can be protected for the
exclusive benefit of the originator for a considerable term,
either by patent for invention, patent for design, or by regis-
tration of trade-mark, or by copyright; and it is every one's
duty, to himself and family, to avail himself of the privilege,
when he makes a happy hit.
I have used names, and spoken them plainly out loud, and it
is right. It is an American weakness to glorify Americans
generally and decry or ignore them specifically. An inventor,
artist, or savant is fortunate who is born in England. The
English praise Englishmen, Americans copy from English
books ; and the science of Newton and Brewster, the pictures
of Turner and Landseer, and the inventions of Watt, Har-
greaves, and Bessamer are famous wherever the English lan-
guage is spoken. Let us not refuse to the past or to the
present inventions of our countrymen and our neighbors the
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credit of distinct public acknowledgement, which is in too
many cases the only reward.
19. The celebration of our anniversary abundantly pays in the privi
lege it affords of reunion after years of separation, to those who once
were boys of our schools and at play around the old hearth-stones of
their native town.
RESPONDED TO BY RICHARD HOLMES, ESQ., OF BOSTON.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — After listening to
the highly interesting remarks of the gentlemen who have pre-
ceded me, I should not presume to occupy a moment of your
time, were it not for the fact that I should prove recreant to
the promptings of my own heart if I did not here, in the home
of my nativity, surrounded by so many friends of my youth,
promptly respond to your call, if it were merely to express to
you, sir, and these friends, the strong attachment that I still
have for the good old town within whose limits I passed sweet
childhood's happy days. I have learned from observation, Mr.
President, that this strong attachment for early home is a char-
acteristic somewhat peculiar to New Englanders ; for in my
travels in the Western States, where I have been brought in
contact with many settlers who went out from New England, I
have ever found predominant in their affections, this reverential
love for early home ; and rare, very rare, have been the instances
where they were not anticipating with pleasure the time when
they should return to pass their declining years upon or near
to the old homestead. I am confident, Mr. President, that
many within the sound of my voice will bear testimony to the
fact that, although many, very many links in the chain of early
affections may have been severed, and many new associations
formed, yet wherever or whatever may be the home of our
10
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adoption, there ever linger in our memories sweet reminis-
cences of the dear old home ; and though many of the transac-
tions of recent life mqy have passed into oblivion, vivid in our
recollections are the scenes of our youthful days. I am truly
grateful, Mr. President, that you have, in the exercise of your
judgment, assigned to me the duty of responding to the senti-
ment commemorative of early days and of the pleasure of our
reunion ; for on this, the one hundred and fiftieth birthday of the
town which you and I, sir, have ever been proud to call our
home, standing on the turf that my youthful feet so often trod,
with so many suggestive surroundings, it would be impossible
for me to give utterance to sentiments other than those per-
taining to the old home and the scenes of my boyhood. Well
do we remember, as though it were but yesterday, when, in the
days of Samuel Glover and John Allen (worthy representatives
of both of whom I am happy to greet here to-day), we, each
Sabbath morning, with Sunday-school hooks in hand, marched
up this dusty road to the old Baptist Church (an edifice to us
then so sanctified, now somewhat demoralized) ; and after list-
ening to the pious instructions of the morning from the sacred
desk and repeating our well-studied verses in the Sabbath
School, how hugely we enjoyed the hour spent in the woods,
upon the river's bank, or in gathering berries, which, notwith-
standing the pious injunctions of the morning, we deemed no
sacrilege as long as they were needed for home consumption !
Eeturning to the church in the afternoon, how nobly we strug-
gled to divert our minds from the woods, the river, and the
berries, which we had so reluctantly left, in order that we
might take in sufficient religious instruction to keep us well
balanced until the succeeding Sabbath ! I confess, Mr. Presi-
dent, that in the exuberance of our youthfulness, it sometimes
scarcely lasted, but in the emergency, the admonitions received
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under the paternal roof and the discipline of the school-teacher
performed wonders in making good the void.
I see many before me to whom it is unnecessary to recount
the experience of the old red school-house or the circumstances
attending our early scholarship, for in our spelling-matches, our
struggles for the supremacy in mathematics and other kindred
studies, as well as in the enjoyment of the truant hour and the
participation in the punishment so sure to follow, they were
ever the sharers of my joys and sorrows, and although we never
professed to believe in the old adage, "Stolen fruit is ever
the sweetest ; " when the favorite apple and pear became pal-
atable we were never defaulted, but ready to put in an appear-
ance at the right time. How enjoyable were our excursions to
Monks' Hill, Smelt Pond, Billington Sea. and other favorite
kindred localities ! How pleasant our fishing and sailing
excursions in the harbor, which usually ended with a fish
chowder at the Gurnet, or a clam chowder on White Flat, none
the less palatable because they were prepared by our own
hands. Indelibly stamped upon our memories are the minutest
transactions of our youth, and as we here recount them this
thought is suggested: The companions of our youth, — where
are they? Some of them, true to home attachments, have
remained here to make good the places of our fathers and sus-
tain the character and standing of the good old town (for which
they are worthy of commendation) ; others have located in
neighboring cities and towns of the commonwealth ; still others
have sought their fortunes in a more distant clime ; while many,
very many, Mr. President, have passed on to a higher life ; and
whether their bodies are deposited with our fathers in yonder
consecrated ground or repose on some distant shore, I make
no doubt they are with us in spirit to-day, participating in our
enjoyments, and that we shall by this social gathering, aided
by their influences, become holier, happier, better.
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Mr. President, at this fraternal reunion, while I would not
bring the tear to a single eye, or cast the faintest shadow over
this joyous gathering, in tribute to those who have gone before
us I give you as a sentiment : The memory of our loved ones.
And by your permission and the indulgence of these kind
friends, I will recite a few lines that I trust on this occasion
will not be deemed inappropriate.
From busy care, at close of day,
How sweet to steal an hour away!
Where'er in life we roam.
And, free from trouble, noise, and strife,
Reflect on scenes of early life,
With thoughts of dear old home. t
The village school, where by us stood
Companions ever true and good,
With teachers kind, who in their vocation
Maintained the honors of their station ;
The churches, all so reverent dressed
That each one deemed their church the best;
The men of God, who from sacred desk
Proclaimed the danger and the risk
If Satan's shafts were not defied,
While they preached to us Christ crucified;
The pleasant woods and lovely grove,
Where we with dear ones oft did rove!
The dear old fields and gurgling brooks,
Upon whose banks in shady nooks,
By subtile and deceptive plan,
Practised too oft by artful man,
We lured the guileless, speckled trout,
And as he took our bait mwe took him out.
When these old scenes to mind are brought
We bless our memory for the thought;
And for pleasant woods and bounding sea,
Each flowering shrub and towering tree,
For meadows green and meandering river,
Grateful are we to God, the Giver.
As we these scenes to mind recall
There comes one thought dearer than all;
And in that thought you all will share, — *
'T is of a mother's love, a father's care.
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These priceless gems caimot be bought ;
And 't is our noblest, sweetest thought,
That whether by land or sea we roam,
We ne 'er forget our parents' home.
And as they pass on, their children's love
They bear with them to that home above ;
And though by us unseen,
We '11 cherish in our heart of hearts,
Lives ever true in all their parts,
And keep their memory green.
20. The fair daughters of Kingston. Who will not speak for them
impromptu?
A LETTER FROM MRS. E. M. C. WALSH.
Philadelphia, June 23, 1876.
Messrs. Stetson, Willis, Peckham, Bartlett, and others:
Gentlemen, — While I regret that circumstances will prevent
my being present at the festivities attendant on the celebration of
the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of dear old Kingston
as an incorporated town, allow me to thank you for your
kind remembrance after so long an absence from the home of
my childhood. I have read and re-read the old familiar names,
and they have brought back to my mind scenes and events of
earlier years until I have almost seemed young again. I love
my dear native place, its very name sends a throb of joy to my
heart. May God's blessings be ever above and around it ! is
the sincere wish of
Yours truly,
Eliza M. Chandler Walsh.
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150 VOLUNTEER TOASTS.
VOLUNTEER TOASTS.
1. The Union, established by deeds of valor and cemented by the
blood of the heroes of the Bevolution, North, South, East, and West.
May it endure forever!
BY PHILANDER COBB, ESQ.
2. Kingston, always lovingly remembered by her dutiful children,
whether at home or abroad.
BYALDEN SAMPSON, ESQ., CHARLESTOWN, MASS.
3. Jones River. Though unknown in song and story, with no foreign
keels plowing its " short reach," yet its staunch fleets have reached every
foreign shore.
4. The clam banks of our bay. Their welcome currency relieved our
fathers in their sorest depression; their rich issues rule the market in
town and city to-day.
BY CAPT. FRANK A. JAMESON.
POEM BY GEORGE C. BURGESS.
Mr. President, Fellow- Citizens, — I had hoped to be spared
From answering to a toast to-day, for I'm wholly unprepared!
[ knew, to be of Pilgrim blood, you held as proudest boast,
And so I thought you too well-bred for making up a toast.
I've listened well to that address which told us so much new
About old times, and wondered not that it attention Brew.
The ring of eloquent words we know from a full heart must spring,
But when it's not political, we all do Love (a) ring.
With martial strain and soldiers' tread and childhood's smiling face,
We joined in dusty march to-day to find this resting-place;
imagination's magic wand it was that showed the way —
['m sure 'twas Fa(u)nce*s form I saw, who led us here to-day.
And as our first man Adams here, we ought, I do believe,
Though it would keep us five hours more, we ought to wait for eve.
[ thought, as back to the old times our minds to-day were drawn,
And of the full centennial we dwelt upon its dawn,
And praised with no unstinted speech the words and deeds so bold
That through a hundred years and more, have undiminished rolled,
And thanked our stars whose influence had made our fathers thus,
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POEM BY GEORGE C. BURGESS. 151
What if the years could be rolled back, what would they think of us!
You all have seen a telescope, a tube with glass and things,
You put the small end to your eye, and close at hand it brings
Whatever object you may wish its wondrous power to try.
But turn the instrument about, how far those objects fly!
We all of us to-day have gazed away down in the past,
And through time's telescope our gaze with lingering looks have cast,
But as we used the smaller lens and scanned their actions all,
They'll have to use the larger one, and would nH we look small!
And yet it is n't quite unmixed, this feeling of respect,
Unless we're filled with Pilgrim blood, and sit with the elect.
I've a young couple in my eye, I scorn to make them blush,
Who think some old-time Pilgrim laws not worth a single rush.
You ask me why? The reason's plain, for in those laws is laid
A fine of twenty shillings due if man shall kiss a maid.
And every woman here will say in some things they were wrong,
When they forbade that any wear a ribbon two yards long;
And many a man would hesitate to give some laws good heed,
For stocks and fines awaited those who used the soothing weed.
While children meditate, no doubt, upon the improved plan
By which the restless ones at church escape " ye tythinge mann."
And yet with all their uncouth ways, we feel a pride to-day,
That faithless men and adverse winds drove them to Plymouth Bay.
As the rough chestnut's fruit, whose burr, so hard and sharp to hold,
Does in its inmost heart, so soft, the kernel sweet enfold.
'Neath rudest dress and roughest words, they hid the truest heart,
That deep within its tenderness of God's love held a part.
And fellow-citizens, this toast I beg to give to all, —
God grant our memories fragrant live the next centennial!
MAP OF KINGSTON.
The new and enlarged map of the town and village of Kingston which accompan-
ies this volume has been prepared with much care and cost, and is invaluable as a
present directory and guide; but it is coupled with the pamphlet account of the
late celebration for two important reasons : first, as setting forth in a sensible man-
ner a sort of summary of two and a half centuries' progress since the first settlement
of the town; and second, as affording the ready means to those who shall come
after us for ascertaining its condition in this commemorative year of our national
independence, 1876. Soon the things that are will be among the things that were,
and the facts hereby presented will become important and permanent history. Hav-
ing so recently felt the great need of just such information in respect to the former
and ancient inhabitants, the location of their dwellings, schoolhouses, mills, roads,
and bridges, it becomes no less our pleasure than duty to put these matters upon
enduring tablets for the benefit of generations yet to come. We hereby discharge
one of the debts we owe to posterity.
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