USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Winchester > Annals and family records of Winchester, Conn.: with exercises of the centennial celebration, on the 16th and 17th days of August, 1871 > Part 54
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The President. I find here the name of a man who was so unfortunate as not to be born here ; but he did the next best thing, he came here and married a wife - REV. DR. SEELYE, of Easthampton.
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REMARKS OF REV. SAM'L T. SEELYE, D. D., of Easthampton, Mass.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN :- I am sorry for several things, but glad of many more. I am sorry there is not a platform here instead of a pulpit; I am sorry there are not more lawyers to relieve the ministers from the necessity of ad- dressing yon this evening. It is such a luxury for ministers to keep still, it is always a pleasure to listen to others. I am glad we have had one lawyer to address us. I am sorry to be in the pulpit and to be compelled to take up a new subject so that I cannot take a text, and consequently cannot turn the barrel over for an old sermon ; for I was requested to say something about the ladies. What shall I say? Most of us express the honest sentiments of our hearts in the question, what could we do without them ? Now and then I hear a man say, what can we do with them? (Laughter.) But I am satisfied that the first class are largely in the majority here ; and I am happy to say a word for them, and to express here in this public manner my indebtedness to them. I believe no man enters into this celebration with a more joyous heart than I do ; that no man, even if he be a lawyer, and had the good fortune to be born in Winsted, has a better right to speak to you on this occasion than I have to-day ; because I don't think that all of these gentlemen who were born here in Winsted - I don't think one of them - appreciates the privileges he has enjoyed as I appreciate those which have been given to me. I found my wife here. She was born in the town of Winchester and borough of Winsted. And, my friends, it is a thing I have never told before, even privately ; but it was in the town of Winchester, twenty-three years ago, that I, with that tremor which some of you have felt, I am sure, and that sinking of heart, plead with a Winchester girl to take pity upon me. (Laughter.) And she, blushing sweetly, here in the town of Winchester, with great diffidence, consented to share the trials and the joys of a poor minister's life. She has been by my side through these twenty-three years, an unfailing and blessed help-meet, making every day brighter by her sunny presence. To her I owe everything; all the happiness with which my life, for these twenty-three years, has been filled.
And I am glad to say this to you to-night, and to give you this reason for the joy that fills my whole heart on this glad occasion, this Centennial Celebration. Now, who of you rejoices as I do on this occasion ? There are some of you who have been blessed as I have, and can share my joys; but these men that were simply born here, they have no right to this platform to-night, I am very sure !
Now I owe to the ladies what I owe to Winchester, and I shall express my obligation to them all. But I hardly know where to begin when I am obliged to do this in ten minutes. When boys have been sitting near the clock while I was speaking, I have known them to stop it ; but I know those young ladies in the gallery this evening will not do it. There is one contrast in their favor.
When my brother was giving the contrast between the state of society a hundred years ago and now, he said nothing about the ladies, and it seemed to me that if we could have a picture before us of the young lady of a century ago, by the side of a young lady of to-day, we should see what changes had come over this world of ours more clearly than we do see them by the representations of the material progress in other directions, to which our attention is commonly turned. Now that shows to me the changes wrought in a hundred years better than the railroads and telegraphs, and all the inventions in which we pride ourselves.
I remember my grandmother, who was a young lady nearly a hundred years ago, dressed in her short gown and flannel petticoat. (Laughter). Some of you have' seen such a dress. There she was, at the expense of a dollar and fifty cents, well dressed, with a dress fit for all the demands of her household and her farm. What
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was her house-keeping ? She has told me many a time how she used to put the pot on the fire in the morning, and the logs were big enough in the fire-place to keep burning all the forenoon, and at this season of the year she used to go out and help her husband in the harvest and hay field, and when they came in at dinner time it was all ready, all that was wanted was to put it on the table. There was little ceremony, but they ate as heartily and with as much satisfaction as we cat to-day. What a change ! Dress up a young lady now in a short gown, not over a yard and a-half, and a flannel petticoat, and put her by the side of the young ladies of to-day. (Laughter.) Why, I could not begin to mention the articles in my ten minutes that go to make up a lady's dress of to-day, and then the expense of it all ! A dollar and a half ? What do they charge for making a dress ? I have occasion to know, for my wife asks me for the money. Why, Mrs. Flint of Boston, you know, charged $1,500 for making a single dress ! What a contrast ! And what a glorious change ! (Laughter.) As the picture comes to my eye, see what an advance has been made in our civilization. (Great Laughter.) Who would wish to go back to those days ? Why, my wife, much as I love her - to see her dressed in a short gown and a flannel petticoat -why, we could not get used to it, and I could not love her as well as now.
What taste they manifest in arranging the colors ; what a vast amount of material they require ; how much time they spend in shaping ; how improving to their minds ; what a means of mental and moral improvement; how expanding to the intellect. (Laughter.) Why, what taste there is exhibited in a little bonnet, little as it is, so small that you can cover it with the palm of the hand! Who would wish to go back ?
Why, I rather have such a young lady than my grandmother. (Great laughter.) Who would not? Now, here is an evidence of the advancement made in the last one hundred years. Don't talk about the Atlantic cable, and flashing your thoughts over the ocean or under it in an instant, and reading the news of Europe to- day at your breakfast table to-morrow morning. Don't talk about that! Just think of your grandmother ; there you have the whole thing right before you in an instant. (Renewed merriment.)
Well, my friends, in another respect there has been a great change. My grand- mother used to sew, and make my grandfather's clothes. She took the wool and carded and spun it, and then she wove it into cloth. And my grandfather was a good- looking man, appeared admirably, as you might imagine, and dressed in his home- spun suit, every bit of it made by my grandinother. Then my grandmother helped lim in the field, and rode behind him on a pillion. The lady then acknowledged the husband as the head of the house; his word was law. But this lady of the present day ; whose word is law to her ? Now the gentleman has to put his hat under his arm and stand as a humble servant. What a wonderful change, and what an improvement ! (Laughter.) How much better fitted to guide the world. Put a young lady of to day by the side of my grandfather, splendid man as he was, and how much better fitted to tell him what the men ought to do than my grandmother was !
But I want to say of the grand old celebration up in Winchester, the thing that delighted me as much as any thing was to find - as the razor-strop man used to say - a few more left, like my wife. There are ladies like her, young gentlemen, and I hope you will profit by my example. By the way, speaking of the razor-strop man reminds me of one way in which I got the better of my wife ; about the only time. When we began life we were bored by having agents of all sorts who wanted to come and stop with us. That was because they found my wife was a good cook, and they liked to come and stay a good while, till I got tired of it. My temper is not so sweet as hers, and I could not endure their crowding upon us as well as she did. There was one codger came at one time and brought a paper showing that he was a member
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of the New Haven North Consociation, and said he had a claim on me. I did not see how that was. It was in the forenoon; I was busy writing my sermon. He said, "I have nine children." I said, "You have?" and kept on with my writing. I did not want to be bothered by him, and let him go. When he had gone out, my wife thought I was too bad, and so I rushed to the door and said, "Brother Butts, if you cannot find any place for dinner, come here to dinner." That was the most cordial invitation I gave him. He did not come to dinner, but he came to tea, and stayed over a week, peddling books throughout Wolcottville One night I went to bed early, and he did not get in. The next evening he asked me, "Brother Seelye, when do you go to bed ?" I said, " When nobody is in." After that he came in every evening early. (Laughter.) One day a German Jew came along peddling, and wanted to trade. " No," I said, " elear out." Said he, " Don't you want a razor for twenty-five cents ?" " Yes," I said, "I do." All those ehaps would borrow my razor, and dull it, and it struck me that that was just the thing I wanted for them. Next week a brother came along, amouncing himself as Brother Simmons. He has gone now, I trust, to Heaven, though I am anxious about him. (Laughter.) He came to stay with me, of course, and my wife's influence was sufficient for that. Tke next morning while I was dressing he came down, with an enormous black beard, and looked as though he had not shaved for a week. He wanted to borrow my razor. So I let him have the new one that had never seen a hone, and I gave him soap and a brush, and he went back, and I was happy for half an hour. At the end of that time Brother Simmons came down, with just as much hair on his face as when he went up. (Langhter.) Said he, " I want to ask one question. Did you ever shave you with that razor ?" "No, sir, I got it for just such chaps as you." He never eame again, and that is where I got the better of my wife.
Now I come back to my subject, the ladies. There was a lady in my first parish who was of the old school, for she lived nearly a century ago, and she managed her household, for a wonder, as a premonition of what was to be at this time. I was invited there to tea, and when we had seated ourselves at the table, I supposed, as her minister, and the only pastor present, she was going to invite me to ask a blessing. She said, " Mr. Seelye, I would like to ask you a question." I looked up. Said she, " I would like to enquire whether you ask a blessing at the beginning, and return thanks at the close, or do you do it all up under one ?" I said, "I usually do it up under one." Said she, "Then please to do it." (Laughter and applause.)
SINGING BY THE CHOIR.
REV. SAMUEL ROCKWELL, of New Britain, Connecticut, was then introduced.
I am requested, Mr. President, to speak of the pioneers of this town, and of their work. It would give me great pleasure to speak, for the short time allowed me, in reealling to mind some of my own cotemporaries of sixty years ago, as they appeared to my youthful eyes. I would like, if there were time, to single ont the individuals and give their characteristics as they presented themselves to me; to speak of your Coes, your Cooks, Boyds, Hinsdales, and many other honored names, who bore no mean part in laying the foundations of the social structure of this now populous and
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thriving town. I would like to pay my respects to that honored lady and teacher who taught our village school. She kept a trundle bed in her school room for the benefit of those little urchins who were weary even with their listless want of occupation, and became drowsy on the warm summer days. It was the great aspiration of many who attended that school to occupy a place in the trundle bed.
I recollect many honored names of the past generation, from the Old Society, as they came over the hills to this then growing village. One of this class I recollect, who came over one stormy winter's day when the wind was whistling and the snow flying. He remarked that when he got to Winsted, he felt as if he had got into Abraham's bosom. Whether those who now come here from the Old Society feel precisely in that way, I leave them to determine.
I might recall the name of the daring innovator upon the customs of society and the church, who, it was feared, was far in advance of the age, when he advocated the introduction of the bass-viol into the village choir. Some of you may remember the strong and bitter controversy which arose on that occasion in regard to that innova- tion. But there were at that period many such scenes of scandal in different parts of the country. They did not proceed so far here as in one place of which you may have heard, where the clergyman, after exhausting his arguments against the introduction of instrumental music into the choir in vain, determined to try ridicule; and in order to make the practice appear as incongruous as possible, as he rose to read the morning hymn, he said, with as much gravity as he could assume, "Let us fiddle and sing to the praise of God the 119th Psalm, fourth part, long metre." (Laughter.)
The men of that period, as I recall them, were men of laborious toil, and they had a hard soil to cultivate. It is said that a traveler, passing through the north part of Winchester, going towards ('olebrook, in those early days, meeting a person, inquired, " Can you tell me where I am, and where I am going ?" " You are in Winchester, and you are going to hell," was the reply. " Well," responded the traveler, "I thought, from the looks of the country and the inhabitants, I could not be very far distant." (Laughter.)
I rejoice, Mr. President, in such a celebration as this, for various reasons. It brings together a great number of those who have formerly been acquainted, and it recalls many very interesting reminiscences of the early history of our New England towns ; and it also establishes many important facts of history which will be found of great value at some future period. These facts of history, which we now esteem of so little importance, will hereafter be regarded as of the greatest consequence, as they stand connected with the progress and advancement of the country. And for this do I re- joice in such celebrations as recount the virtues of the settlers of the New England towns, because they laid broad and deep the foundations of public virtue in private Christian lives, in the church and in the cultivation of all those graces which adorn humanity, which strengthen the cause of good order among men, and which prove to be at the very basis of all civil government and all true advancement in Society.
I find in the organization of these New England towns, based as they are upon broad and liberal Christian principles, the solution of one of the most difficult and one of the most important problems which now agitates the various nations of the world, as it bears upon the true source of political power, and the most effective means of pro- moting true social advancement and high intellectual culture. Sir, these towns are the aggregate of the Christian families. Stat's and empires, where well organized, are the aggregates of towns and municipal corporations ; but these towns and munici- pal corporations are but the aggregate of well-ordered families ; and I find in these New England families, built up upon Christian principles, the very germs of all our social order and public virtue, of all that constitute the elements of greatness in the community.
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I rejoice in it therefore, and would gladly recall the names and the labors of those men, who have taken even the humblest part in this great work of laying the founda- tions of our social structure thus broad and deep, so that future generations may rise and call them blessed.
It is sometimes charged against us as a people, by foreigners and even our own cit- izens who have traveled abroad, that we have here no public monuments. We look around in vain for those stupendons columns of marble or brass which are erected to commemorate some splendid event in war. They are not here. But a year ago my daily walk in Paris took me under the shadow of that majestic column in the Place Vendome, where, but a few months later, the brainless mob vented their spite and hate against the man whose image crowned its summit by bringing all the resources of their engineering art to level it with the dust. You may go through Enrope and find everywhere a veneration for antiquity, and in every city some splendid monnment of the past, something that has existed for a thousand years or more. The whole people take a pride in these noble monuments. But when foreigners or our own citi- zens tell us we have no publie monuments, I reply, we have something better ; we have founded and built institutions, which extend their benign influence over all classes of society, which carry their blessings to every fireside and every individnal, which define, protect, and sacredly gnard individual rights as the very germ of all social advance- ment. It is a glaring shame upon the men of any nation, that, whatever may have been the monument that they so hated, they should prostrate it in the dust; but it is a deeper dishonor for any man who exerts an influence in society to seatter around him a corrupt example, thus attacking at the very basis all public virtue, and upturn- ing from their deep foundations those institutions, so noble and beneficent, which our fathers took such pains to build. The men who found institutions upon the Bible are doing a nobler work than the erection of monuments of brass or marble; and those who are living for the future, who are exerting an influence of purity, intelligence, and virtue, worthy of that society which shall reach to future generations, are doing a nobler work than those who built Karnac or Palmyra. Then all honor to the men who built their homes on these hill tops and in these valleys; who cultivated these slopes and even subdued the ridges of the granite hills, to leave to us this heritage.
THE PRESIDENT. I have a long list of names here of persons on whom I wish to call this evening, but I fear if long speeches are made there will not be time for all to be heard. I want now to ask Deacon Ira Hills, who is a native of this town, to let us hear from him.
DEACON HILLS not being present, HON. JOHN BOYD stated that he had himself ex- pected to see that gentleman present; but he would say that Deacon Hills was proba- bly the oldest Winchester-born man living, and would be known to many in the audience as the able correspondent of the Winsted Herald. He is a son of Deacon Seth Hills, the first deacon of Winchester, who went into the woods of Vernon, New York, and cut down the first trees in that town, and was the deacon of the first church there; and our guest, Deacon Ira Hills, is now, or has been, one of his successors.
It is proper to state, that I think there were over forty Winchester families, who in that great exodus found their way into that town, as soon as they could get through the Dutch settlements ; and they made there one of the best towns in New York. Deacon Hills also wishes me to state that he comes here in behalf of himself and townsmen, but was especially delegated to represent Mrs. Rebecca Church, the eldest daughter of the elder Samuel Hurlbut. I think she is 93 or 95 years old, and wished to be especially remembered on this occasion.
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SAMUEL BOYD, EsQ., of New York, was next called upon, who dis- claimed any recognition of the right of the President to present his name as one of the speakers. He, however, proceeded to say :
I was born in this town, and married my wife here, and lived here until about 1834. I used to be about here considerably subsequently ; but I am now among entire strangers. I do not know you. Previous to 1834 I knew every man, woman, and child within ten miles of this place. I have resided since I went away from here, nearly half the time, in an extreme southern state, and a part of the time in New York. I have not come back to you a worse man than when I left you ; I am a better man. I do not know that I have any vice, as it can be called, about me. I have no speech to make, but I am glad to see you, my old friends and young friends. It is, to be sure, somewhat morti- fying to come back and find myself among strangers, where formerly I have known every man, woman, and child. About 45 years ago I was an ambitious young man, in a store directly across the street here. I started the first opposition store that was built in this town, and which was the only one, I believe, for many years. There was a Democratic store started some years ago in opposition to the Federalists. But I started the store which I have referred to, and afterwards carried on a large manufactur- ing business. I come back now a comparative stranger. I have met a great many men in the Old Society, who had gone ont of my mind. I have made the acquaintance of thousands and thousands since I went away. I have lived in a southern city fifteen years, and have seen hundreds and thousands die; have taken care of the sick in that terrible disease, the yellow fever. " I have seen the elephant ;" and am thankful that I am spared, and that my children, who were most of them born here, are all doing well.
The choir then sang the following :-
BEAUTIFUL DAYS.
CENTENNIAL ODE, BY DR. W. J. WETMORE, OF NEW YORK.
Beautiful days of the past, How your bright visions return :
Bringing back faces and forms Long buried in love's hallowed urn ; Voices seem heard on the air, Echoes that tenderly sigh ; Oh ! what delight to recall Past friendships that never can die.
CHORUS .- Beautiful days of the past.
Memory, sweet memory, restore Loved ones long, long ago fled, Who would not see them again, Our cherished and favorite dead ? But they can never return, Memory's bells mournfully chime :
Years are fast floating away, Down the dark river of Time. CHORUS .- Beautiful days, &c.
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Hark ! how the melodies float Out from the grave of the past ; Bringing back memories of old, --- Sweet memories that ever will last. Round us bright spirits appear, Breathing their lessons of love;
Oh! may we join them at last, To praise Thee in mansions above. CHORUS .- Beautiful days, &c.
DR. D. WILLIAMS PATTERSON, of Newark Valley, N. York, was then introduced. He said,
MY FRIENDS :- I suppose you remember the fellow, who, on being asked to speak, while pleading the suddenness of the call (though he had privately had three weeks' notice) and lamenting his consequent lack of preparation, coolly drew from his pocket, and began to read his fully written speech. I am here to-night to fill his place. My notice was ample, under ordinary circumstances, but such were the difficulties for me to overcome before starting for this place, that I had scarcely time to pack my extra shirt before the whistle blew for the starting train.
Perhaps the only reason your committee can give for calling on me, is, that as I, for nearly twenty years, took my bread out of the mouths of this community, I must, of course, be filled with good things, and should be required to open my mouth in re- turn. This may all seem very fair, but pay-day is not always pleasant to the debtor ; nor, in case of his failure, to the ereditor.
Now, as yon find me thus unprepared, I must put in practice the parting injunction of the Irish law-professor to his student, as he sent him into the world to begin his practice, which was this ; " when you have nothing to say, say something else."
I have for more than ten years looked forward to this celebration, though during the last half of the time I have scarcely hoped to be present. Thus far my enjoyment has been far beyond my brightest hopes, but never in my life have I been so forcibly re- minded of the constant procession of humanity from the cradle to the grave; and much more forcibly must that be felt by many of you, whose knowledge of this place covers, not like mine, only a quarter of the century whose lapse we now commemo- rate ; but a much larger part, running from fifty to ninety years of the time; and how short are the centuries made to scem when we meet and take by the hand our venerable friends, Deacon Ira Hills, of Vernon, N. Y., and the Rev. Frederick Marsh ; the first a native, the other a resident, of the "Old Society," whose lives have covered more than nine-tenths of the time occupied by the history of this town.
If life endures so well among the natives and residents of that part of the town, the oft repeated threat of our old friend, Luke C. Coe, that he would "get set off to the Old Society," might well be put in practice by some of us who desire a long life, though the chances still seem good in Winsted, for I have to-day seen my old friend, uncle Peter Tatro, now eighty-eight years old, showing his age scarcely more than at sixty.
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