USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Suffield > Celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Suffield, Connecticut, October 12, 13 and 14, 1920, with sketches from its past and some record of its last half century and of its present > Part 2
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CHAIRMEN OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Samuel H. Graham Decoration E. C. Stratton Housing, Information
George A. Harmon Reception, Collation Mrs. Edward A. Fuller Hostess House T. J. Nicholson Transportation
James N. Root Parade Charles F. Kurvin Community Dance
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L. Phelps, William S. Pinney, Henry J. Roche, Howard A. Shel- don, Frank S. Smith, Harry C. Warner, Edward M. White.
Dance Committee: Charles F. Kurvin, Chairman; Joseph Barr, Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Bidwell, Jr., William H. Bridge, William Culver, Horace G. Eggleston, Charles Goodacre, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Graham, Mrs. P. W. Jones, Anthony Kulas, Carlton B. Lees, Winfield H. Loomis, James Mitchell, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Harold C. Nelson, Mrs. Fordham C. Russell, Hanford Taylor, Clive I. Thompson, Miss M. M. Thompson. Committee on Decorations: Samuel H. Graham, Chairman; Ernest N. Austin, Arthur N. Beach, Charles R. Brome, John J. Devine, James Eagleson, Robert B. Edwards, Raymond Eg- gleston, Ralph B. Ford, Mrs. Joseph A. Gibbs, Mrs. Joseph P. Graham, Paul W. Jones, Adolph L. Koster, James Mix, Samuel J. Orr, Thomas H. Smith, Ward Spaulding.
Committee on Publications: Henry B. Russell, Chairman; Rev. Daniel R. Kennedy, William H. Nelson.
Transportation Committee: T. J. Nicholson, Chairman; J. F. Barnett, Jr., Arthur G. Bissell, Thomas F. Cavanaugh, Samuel J. Colter, John Eagleson, John Fitzgerald, Albert R. Ford, Harvey N. Fuller, John H. Gregg, C. E. Hanford, G. M. Hastings, Nelson A. Humason, George B. Jobes, Matthew Leahey, James F. Lennon, P. D. Lillie, Clement H. Mather, Charles T. O'Brien, John O'Malley, Gordon L. Sikes, James Sullivan, Roland J. C. Wetherell, George O. Wilcox.
Hostess House Committee: Mrs. Edward A. Fuller, Chair- man; Mr. and Mrs. Oley L. Allen, Mrs. Arthur N. Beach, Mrs. L. P. Bissell, Mrs Frank Brockett, Dr. H. M. Brown, Mrs. O. R. Bugbee, Mrs. W. G. Fennell, Mrs. Charles S. Fuller, Sumner F. Fuller, Mrs. D. W. Goodale, Mrs. S. H. Graham, Mrs. Edmund Halladay, Mrs. F. B. Hatheway, Mr. and Mrs. Karl C. Kulle, Mrs. Clinton H. Nelson, Mrs. William H. Nelson, Miss Emma L. Newton, Miss Alena F. Owen, Mr. and Mrs. Howard F. Pease, Mrs. Edward Perkins, Miss Myra Phelps, Mrs. A. R. Pierce, Mrs. H. D. Sikes, Mrs. C. C. Spencer, Mrs. Charles L. Spencer, Mrs. C. Luther Spencer, Jr., Mrs. P. W. Street, Mrs. Carolyn F. Sutton, D. J. Sweeney, Mrs. S. L. Wood.
Housing and Information Committee: E. C. Stratton, Chair- man; Arthur L. Bessett, Willis L. Chapel, Alfred M. Gay, Dr. J. A. Gibbs, Hiram Jones, George L. Parks, N. A. Talmadge.
Collation Committee: George A. Harmon, Chairman; George L. Creelman, F. F. Ford, Henry Fuller, T. H. Hauser, Dr. William Levy, Harry Kehoe, George A. Martinez, B. A. Thompson, Harry Woodworth,
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Pageant Committees
Executive: H. G. Truesdell, Chairman; Mrs. C. C. Bissell, William S. Fuller, Mrs. George A. Harmon, Charles R. Latham, Mrs. George A. Peckham, William S. Pinney, James N. Root, Charles L. Spencer, Samuel R. Spencer.
Business, Finance, Tickets: Charles L. Spencer, Chairman; Charles S. Bissell, Arthur H. Bridge, Charles R. Brome, O. R. Bugbee, Howard C. Cone, Edwin A. Culver, Sumner F. Fuller, Egerton Hemenway, George M. Hendee, Karl C. Kulle, John Noble, Howard F. Pease, J. E. Phelps, Samuel N. Reid, Allen C. Scott, Alfred C. Sheldon, F. H. Sheldon, Lawrence Sikes, C. Luther Spencer, Jr., Edward M. White.
Publicity: Charles R. Latham, Chairman; Robert Chew, Rev. E. Scott Farley, George R. Fowler, Joseph P. Graham, Morton S. Harris, Frank M. Kearns, William C. King, William C. O'Neil, Harold K. Perkins, Judson L. Phelps, S. N. Reid, Fordham C. Russell, Howard R. Sheldon, Edwin G. Warner.
Music: Mrs. Charles C. Bissell, Chairman; Mrs. Fred Brockett, Mrs. W. E. Caldwell, Miss Mary Cooper, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Couch, Amos B. Crane, Mrs. L. H. Creelman, E. G. Hastings, Miss Grace M. Hastings, Miss Margaret Hathe- way, Mrs Marshall L. Moulton, Mrs. Frank H. Reid, Mrs. James N. Root, Mrs. I. L. Russell, George A. Sheldon, L. H. Sikes, Mrs. Bernard L. Sutton, Mrs. Charles F. Whittemore.
Costumes and Make-up: Mrs. George A. Harmon, Chairman; Mrs. William Alling, Miss Mary E. Atwater, Samuel Barriesford, Mrs. William M. Cooper, Mrs. Howard C. Cone, Mrs. James Eagleson, Mrs. W. S. Fuller, Mrs. Charles C. Haskins, Mrs. Adolf L. Koster, Miss Julia Leach, Sidney Kent Legare, Miss Nellie Lipps, James O'Malley, Mrs. Joseph Patterson, Mrs. William W. Pomeroy, Miss Mary Roche, Mr. C. Luther Spencer, Jr., Mrs. J. P. Spencer, Mrs. Daniel J. Sweeney, Mrs. H. G. Truesdell, George L. Warner, Miss Minnie A. Wilson, Mrs. George B. Woodruff.
Cast and Rehearsal: Mrs. George A. Peckham, Chairman; Mrs. H. M. Alcorn, Mrs. Louis G. Allen, Mrs. E. N. Austin, Mrs. James Barnett, Miss Mary Bawn, Mrs. C. C. Bissell, Charles S. Bissell, Mrs. Charles S. Bissell, Mrs. David L. Broc- kett, Miss Lena E. Brown, Miss Florence M. Cone, Miss Bertha Corrigan, Mrs. Annie Covington, Mrs. Edward Culver, Mrs. L. I. Fuller, Charles E. Goodacre, Mrs. J. P. Graham, Mrs. Eger- ton Hemenway, Mrs. George F. Holloway, Mrs. E. G. Hubbard, Mrs. Alfred C. King, Miss Victoria Kulas, Mrs. P. D. Lillie, Miss Frances O. Mather, Mrs. James Mix, Mrs Spencer Mont-
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gomery, Mrs. T. J. Nicholson, Miss Sadie Nicholson, A. P. Phillips, H. Leslie Pomeroy, Mrs. H. Leslie Pomeroy, Mrs. James H. Prophett, Mrs. Charles A. Prout, Mrs. A. M. Rem- ington, Mrs. Philip Schwartz, Miss Talulah Sikes, D. F. Sisson, Earl Spaulding, Mrs. S. R. Spencer, Mrs. Herbert T. Stiles' Mrs. George L. Warner, Mrs. Harry C. Warner, Miss Minnie E. Welch, Miss Lucille M. Wilson, Joseph Zukowski.
Stage, Grounds, and Properties: W. S. Fuller, Chairman; Arthur Adams, Samuel Adams, Charles T. Austin, Andrew S. Barr, Thatcher G. Belfit, Myron A. Blakeslee, Charles R. Brome, A. A. Brown, Myron Canfield, Jerry Deneen, Howard Edwards, Charles Firtion, Adam Fusick, Jr., Adam Fusick, Sr., Bernie E. Griffin, August Hauser, Arthur L. Jackson, Price Jones, Patrick Keohane, C. D. King, George F. King, Spencer Montgomery, Joseph Patterson, Henry W. Phelps, Herbert E. Root, Brownislaw Sobocenski, Edward M. White.
Parking and Policing: George B. Woodruff, Chairman; George W. Adams, Thomas Ahearn, Fred A. Anderson, Joseph A. Anderson, Nelson Babb, Thomas M. Burke, James T. Cain, John F. Carroll, Frank Cowles, George L. Greer, Jeremiah M. Hayes, Alvah Hinckley, James Jones, Frank L. Kent, Samuel G. Lathrop, Allen McCann, Harry L. Oppenheimer, Joseph Prekop, George D. Remington, Frank M. Rising, Fred J. Scott, Bernard Sikes, Erwin E. Stratton, Herbert Wallace.
With the generous co-operation of local advertisers and many in neighboring places, the committee prepared and printed an edition of 8000 of the official program-a handsome pamphlet of over sixty pages which was distributed gratis during the celebration. Besides the program of exercises it contained the lists of committees, the synopsis of the Pageant furnished by Professor Crawford, the cast of characters, a list of the old houses that the Historical Committee had marked, and the whole bore on the cover an illustration of the Gay Manse built in 1742 by the first Ebenezer Gay who at about that time began his long pastorate in the town.
The Invitation Committee prepared a general invitation which was sent to people of Suffield, and a large number of former residents and descendants of Suffield families. The Tablet Committee secured practically complete rolls of the Suffield men serving in the wars of the country and contracted for two bronze tablets which, at the suggestion of service men in the recent World War, were placed on the front wall of the
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Town Hall. The Decorations Committee contracted for the decoration of the public buildings and the people of Main street co-operated in the general decoration of their residences. The Committees on Parade, on the Community Dance, on Trans- portation, on the Hostess House, on Housing, and Information, on Collation and on Reception made the complete and necessary arrangements for the successful co-ordination of the events of the celebration.
One of the largest committees and one to which a very large amount of work fell was the Pageant Committee. It was organized into several special committees to cover all the neces- sary arrangements for the imposing pageant that was produced on the second day of the celebration. Much of the work was done in the six weeks preceding the celebration and when the time arrived the whole ambitious program was complete in its many details.
Each committee organized to prepare for and to perform the function in the celebration assigned to it. The Committee on Speakers and Programs arranged the following general program of exercises:
Program
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12TH First Congregational Church, IO A. M.
OPENING EXERCISES
PRAYER-Rev. V. L. Greenwood.
MUSIC-"Coronation."
ADDRESS OF WELCOME-Hon. Hugh M. Alcorn.
RESPONSE-Hon. Seymour C. Loomis, New Haven, Conn.
MUSIC-Quartette, "China." (Written by Timothy Swan of Suffield about 1800.)
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Couch of Suffield, Miss Ruth G. Remington of Suffield, Mr. Robert Winn Jones of Hartford. HISTORICAL ADDRESS-William Lyon Phelps, Ph.D.,
Lampson Professor of English, Yale University. MUSIC-"America."
BENEDICTION.
2.00 P. M. COLLATION.
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CONCERT TUESDAY EVENING, OCT. 12TH, 1920 7 to 8 P. M. 104th Regiment Band
I. MARCH, "Flag of Victory," Von Blon King
2. OVERTURE, "Prince of India,"
3. CONCERT WALTZ, "Jolly Fellows," Vollstedt
4. SELECTION, "Mlle. Modiste," Herbert
5. DESCRIPTIVE, "Hunting Scene,"
Bucalossi
6. SONGS OF UNCLE SAM
Hosmer
7. FINALE, "Stars and Stripes," Sousa
8. P. M. Dance.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13TH Second Baptist Church, IO A. M.
PRAYER-Rev. E. Scott Farley.
ORGAN RECITAL-Professor William C. Hammond, Holyoke, Mass.
SOLO-Miss Marie Roszelle, Hartford, Conn.
ADDRESS-"Pilgrim's Progress. 1620 to 1920." Rev. Stephen S. Wise, Ph.D., LL.D., New York City.
MUSIC-"Blest Be the Tie that Binds."
BENEDICTION.
2.00 P. M. Pageant. 7.30 P. M. Be at Home.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14TH CONCERT OCT. 14th, 1920, 8 A. M. to 9 A. M. 104th Regiment Band
I. MARCH, "Pasadina Day,"
Vessella Auber
2. OVERTURE, "Chival De Bronze,"
3. CONCERT WALTZ, "Blue Danube," Straus
4. SELECTION, "Maritana," Wallace
5. DESCRIPTIVE, Fantasia "Over the Top," Luders
6. FINALE, "The Regiment Return," Crosby
9 A. M .- Parade. IO A. M .- Dedication of Tablets.
ADDRESS-Mr. Henry B. Russell.
1.30 P. M .- Transportation for any desiring to see their old home. 3.30 P. M .- Football game.
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A Sabbath Prelude
The services in the First Congregational and Second Baptist Churches on Sunday October 10th constituted an appropriate prelude to the official exercises of the celebration of the quarter- millennial of the town with whose life and well being they, with other churches, had been long and inseparably connected. An Old Time Sunday was observed in the First Congregational church whose establishment was practically coincident with the settlement of the town, the present pastor, Rev. Victor L. Greenwood, preaching on "The Golden Present" at the morn- ing service. He compared the religious conceptions and customs of early colonial days with those of the present and spoke of the development of the greater spirit of freedom and the expanded conception of love in the Christian faith.
At the same hour in the Second Baptist Church the pastor, Rev. E. Scott Farley, preached a historical sermon on the sub- ject, "Suffield's Witness to the World." He traced the develop- ment of the town in its relations to religion, education, material affairs and the country.
At the noon hour and in accordance with the purpose of re- producing features of an Old Time Sunday, the people of the First Congregational church and those uniting with them gathered in the church or on the green, ate the luncheons they had brought with them and enjoyed a social hour. At 2 o'clock the church bell again rang for the afternoon service in which members of other churches in town united. At this service Rev. Percy E. Thomas of Rockville spoke upon "The Pilgrims' Sources of Inspiration."
TUESDAY, THE FIRST DAY
Historical Exercises at the First Congregational Church
Old Suffield appropriately opened its official celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its settlement with a welcome to many sons and daughters returning to their native soil, to descendants of old families long ago transplanted in other States, and to visitors from neighboring cities and towns with whose early history its own was interwoven. With these gath- ered the present residents of Suffield to review the history, renew acquaintances and revive memories.
Main street-the High street of the original settlement and the old records-was bright with mingled autumnal and national colors; at first under a leaden sky, which later cleared and re- vealed the natural beauty of one of the fairest of old New Eng- land streets in holiday attire. The Town Hall, the business blocks, the churches, the library, the Suffield School buildings and the dwellings were tastefully decorated with flags and bunt- ing, their colors gleaming through the tinted foliage, hanging above the broad street and historic Common, rich in town and family traditions of two and one half centuries.
The historical exercises were held in the First Congregational Church. The present edifice, the fourth in descent from the first Meeting House, was completed in 1870 shortly before the celebration of the Bi-Centennial. In this church and on this day, October 12th, as fifty years before, the people gathered to re- trace the years.
Seated on the platform were Mr. Edward A. Fuller, chairman of the General Committee, Mr. George A. Peckham, the vice- chairman, Rev. Victor L. Greenwood, pastor of the First Con- gregational Church, Rev. Jesse Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Rev. Dryden Phelps of New Haven, Mr. Sey- mour C. Loomis of New Haven, Professor William Lyon Phelps of New Haven and His Excellency, Marcus L. Holcomb, Governor of Connecticut.
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Following a prayer by Rev. Victor L. Greenwood and the singing of "Coronation" by the congregation, Mr. George A. Peckham, read the following letter from Hon. Hugh M. Alcorn, one of Suffield's sons and residents and a prominent member of the Connecticut Bar, who had been chosen to deliver the ad- dress of welcome:
October 6, 1920
Mr. George A. Peckham, Chairman,
Speakers' Committee, Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary, Suffield, Conn.
My dear Mr. Peckham:
I am very sorry to advise you that I cannot deliver the Ad- dress of Welcome on the 12th instant, and I would appreciate it very much if you would take my place upon that day. Early last Spring the Supreme Court of the United States, on motion of opposing counsel, advanced for argument a very important case in which I am engaged and assigned it for October 12th at twelve o'clock noon. I have ever since been expecting, Micaw- berlike, that something might turn up to enable me to stay in Suffield, but I now know definitely that I am doomed to dis- appointment. I deeply regret that my professional obligations require me to be in Washington at that time.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) HUGH M. ALCORN.
Mr. Peckham thereupon extended a welcome in behalf of the town and its people in these words:
It is with deepest regret that our committee announces that our honored fellow townsman, State Attorney Hugh M. Alcorn, is unable to be with us today to deliver the address of welcome.
Not being accustomed to the writing or the delivering of an address, I find only two reasons for my appearing before you at this time: First, by request of Mr. Alcorn; second as a native of Suffield and a descendant of a native of Suffield, for although my parents were not born in Suffield, my grandmother, Susan Smith, was born at what is now called "Wards Corner" in West Suffield, August 27, 1800. Also as a direct descendant of George Phelps, who came to America in 1630, and settled in Windsor, Conn., in 1635, I naturally feel not only a great inter- est in Suffield, but also in the State of Connecticut. Two hun-
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dred fifty years ago our forefathers laid the foundation of this beautiful town.
Today I extend a hearty welcome to the citizens of Suffield, to all former residents, to the chief executive of our State, his staff, and other state officials, to the Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, who represents our mother city, to the select- men of Blandford, Massachusetts, who represent our only daughter of early days, and to all interested in the commemorat- ing of Suffield's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.
We meet here to honor those who in the early days so well laid the foundations for future generations and all time. To those born and educated here many happy memories of old times fill your hearts today; many times in years past have your thoughts wandered back to your childhood days, and how happy are you to return and shake hands with relatives and early companions, and view the beautiful spacious streets of old Suffield; equally happy are we to extend these greetings to you.
It is interesting to observe how many people are sensible of the joys of these pleasant memories. Fifty years ago a similar natal day was observed in this same church. Many of the then familiar faces are gone, others have come to fill their places. Although strangers to you, they extend most cordial greetings, for they are honored by your presence.
Finally, in behalf of the executive committee of this anni- versary, the town officers and all citizens of Suffield, I extend to every one present a sincere welcome to all the exercises com- memorating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of dear old Suffield.
Mr. Seymour C. Loomis of New Haven, a native of Suffield and grandson of the late Daniel W. Norton, who was chairman of the General Committee of the Bi-Centennial Celebration of 1870, delivered the following response:
It is with deep appreciation of the honor and of the grace and confidence of the committee in charge of the celebration of the quarter millennium of this community that I respond in behalf of the visitors to the eloquent and cordial welcome just given by your distinguished townsman. Had I the mind of Dr. Gay and Dr. Ives and the facile and logical expression of General Lyman,
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Judge Granger and Calvin Philleo, I might be able to adequately convey the feelings of the guests.
With hosts so distinguished and so generous as the town of Suffield and her citizens, it becomes us to tender our heartfelt gratitude for your pains and thoughts, for your hard work and personal attention, that made possible this magnificent· cele- bration. Such an affair as this is not conceived in a moment, nor accomplished in a day. It means much anxiety and sacri- fice to those who father and mother it. But permit me to say to you that the subject of your labors justifies all that you have done and planned to do. Its influence has been and will be felt as the years roll by.
We celebrate today the foundation of a town that, with a few others, made possible the colonies of Massachusetts and Con- necticut. Until 1749, against her will, she remained a part of Massachusetts though really from the beginning she was a vital force in Connecticut. The former colony was loath to give her up and she was assessed for twenty years after but the taxes were never collected. As a balm to assuage the grief of Massa- chusetts that colony was allowed to take those beautiful sheets of water known in my boyhood days as Southwick Ponds, a place which I always love to visit.
It has been said that the reason why Suffield went to Con- necticut was to avoid the payment of the taxes of Massachusetts. But at the time she first evinced a desire to be a part of the Constitution State there were no taxes accrued, and an unpreju- diced study of history, I think, reveals the fact that she preferred Connecticut for basic reasons and, of course, in any form of statecraft taxation is of much importance.
It is certain that Connecticut with her representative govern- ment under her Fundamental Orders of 1639, the first written constitution given to the world, was more attractive to the wise men and women of Suffield than even the benign Common- wealth of Massachusetts. Thus, in those early days, in the formative period, which afterwards resulted in the Republic, Suffield, though originally a part of goodly Massachusetts, saw with a keen eye and unerring judgment the advantages of being under a rule of law, which one hundred and fifty years afterward was the nucleus of the Federal Constitution, a document which
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has stood the test of peace and war for more than a century and is at the present time a model to all peoples, who have the brains and sense to govern themselves. This does not mean that each individual or even a small or large group of individuals can do as they like, but that, as under our system, the most benign, we believe, on earth, each person should have his share in the electorate, should be given a fair opportunity to have his rights and remedies in a court, not of favor, but of law, and should have executives capable of execution.
Though a boy of eight years at the time of the Bi-Centennial in 1870, I distinctly remember the events of that great day. The greeting of the visitors at the end of the Suffield branch, as far as it was then completed just north of the bridge over the straight road to Windsor Locks, as they came sliding down the bank, was unique. They received, however, a most friendly welcome and were taken in carriages to the park about which, the same as today, the exercises were conducted.
Of the many interesting events and functions the one which seemed then to impress me the most was enacted in the immense tent pitched upon the central park. It was the sturdy frame of Captain Phelps then past eighty-six years old. His countenance bore testimony to his rugged life. I had heard the stories of his prowess with the Hartford pugilist and of his ox-like strength on the mountainside and, though his voice was indistinct, his stature and the furrows of his face reflected clearly his strong and useful life.
Usually a child has little character delineated on its face, but with advancing years, the painters say, the result of all the good and evil that a man has done and thought is etched upon his countenance in lines which a discerning eye can read as plainly as in a printed book. So Rembrandt, the great master in portraying character, loved above all the elder faces and he makes them tell their story.
It is within the province of Apollos Phelps' worthy kinsman to detail today the history of the town, but I ask your permis- sion to briefly allude to a few subjects, which have come under my personal observation during the last fifty years, the first eight of which I spent, along with many other Suffield boys of that time attending school, "doing chores" and working on the
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ground. The education thus received I prize second to none I ever had. To be able to work regularly about a farm, when one is in the graded and preparatory schools, is a privilege, if not then understood, certainly appreciated in later life. The train- ing out of doors in regularity and in practical ways of doing things is a valuable complement to the mental instruction. The time is fast coming, if it is not already here, when men will go back to the land. Food products are the country's greatest need and will always continue to be. Suffield, with her wonder- ful soil and climatic conditions peculiarly adapted to tobacco, a crop which even in its growing is a delight to the soul, is in agriculture pre-eminent.
It is said that as one matures his sincerest gratitude goes out to the teachers of his youth, who have conscientiously given to him of their life. Such to me were Miss Rising, Miss Halladay, afterwards Mrs. Dr. Mason, Miss Nichols, now Mrs. Sterling, Miss Fuller, afterwards Mrs. Will Pease, Miss Comey, John Coats, Principal Shores, George Rigler, Marcus Johnson, Ed Vose, Thomas Gladding and Mr. Marsh. I remember how scared I was the first day at the little district school in that part of the town hall where the post office now is (Arthur Austin and Ed Perkins and others will remember it), and how Mr. Dwight Ives, of the school committee, gave me words of encouragement. It was doubtless a small thing to him but it was a big thing for me and something I have never forgotten.
I remember the old Dace Hole of Stony Brook where we went bathing, or swimming as we called it, and Sherman's Hill and the church hill and back of the Institution where we used to slide down on the snow and ice with rippers and double rippers.
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