USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Glastonbury > Glastenbury for two hundred years: a centennial discourse, May 18th 1853 > Part 21
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And verily ! I think I have seen Glastenbury this day : I think that Glas- tenbury has looked at herself; and has felt the beatings of her own heart, and the thrill of life in her veins. Mr. President, ought not that scene to have been daguerreotyped ! What a picture it would be to show at our next Centennial-one hundred years from this day ; where neither you nor I, nor
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any of us shall be. I cannot reproduce that spectacle for you ; I give it up. But beaming faees and happy greetings were proof enough that we all en- joyed it. And I have alluded to it only because, in the first place, it formed the counterpart and contrast to what I was thinking of the hour before ; and, in the second place to say that every part and section of the scene had its perspective of far-off significanee, and spoke to me in parables. Glance your eye along the " Order of Procession," and you perceive at onee its rep- resentative design. It was history in minature ; in some slight but still suf- fieient way, it was the recapitulation of our annals ; a drama of the elements of our Publie Life.
Here moved the white haired Fathers ; there an army of boys in uniform. each boy bearing his streamer of white-the color of innocence and peace, with " Naubuc" for their only motto. Here move the representatives of eivil authority, in the persons of our Governor and other State officers ; there the official representatives of religion : then, a battalion of soldiery, and another battalion of Ladies. Next the Connecticut Historical Society ; and last a legion of citizens. Flags and streamers and mottoed banners acted well their part ; and the interchanging musie of war and peace gave life and regular motion to the whole.
And, among other parables, have we not seen a parable on horseback to-day ? that couple of the seventeenth century on one horse; and this couple of the nineteenth century on a couple of horses. How venerable ! looked the seventeenth century on her pillion ! Mrs. Nineteenth Century ! can you contrive ever to look as venerable as that !
And again, could any man who ever had a thought in his eye, look upon that interminable procession, trooping on and on, through these streets usu- ally so quiet, and not exclaim-" How like the March of Human Life from the centuries gone, onward, into the centuries to come."
In the morning I had said, under a solemn retrospect of the past, this is indeed, " Old Glastenbury." I was reminded of it while I gazed upon the gathered thousands of our people ; for now I could not but say to myself- Old Glastenbury looks YOUNG. She never looked younger or fairer. She makes me think (it will sound foolish I dare say ; but as it was the thought of the moment I will tell it to you)-she makes me think of a young lady in her new Spring bonnet, fresh with ribbons and wreaths: And I faney you can see, sir, that my illustration was not far-fetched !
And soberly, is there not a truth in what I am saying that can be sustained by the figures of Arithmetic, as well as by figures of speech ? I hear a very good report of your atfairs. I see tokens of your prosperity that have sprung up on every side during the eighteen months of my absence. Are not new avenues of industry and enterprise opening themselves to you ? Is not the value of property increasing ? Are not houses multiplying ? Are not rents high and higher ? People tell me that the price of building spots has doubled; and that in some locations, the money which paid for ten acres of land six years ago, will now buy but one acre. And they say to me, " You have no idea of the amount of business that is done in the place." But any one who should see our regiments of industrious and thrifty-looking young men would be apt to suspect that something was going on, and that their labor was well paid. Indeed the matter is plain enough ; and Glastenbury Is beginning a new career of pecuniary prosperity. German Silver and Yankee shaving soap are doing for us what agriculture has never done-and what the gold of California could never do,-they are giving the true im- pulse to a condition of society liitherto too stationary and routine-like for its own highest good.
Pardon me, Mr. President, for I believe I am approaching a second senti- ment. I fear it is not quite in order for a speaker to give more than one
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toast at a time; but when a toast offers itself to me, of its own accord, what should I do with it but offer it to the people ? And here it is-
Old Glastenbury-She Is growing young.
May she renew her youth wisely ! May she understand this day and hour of her merciful visitation, and call first on Christ, and then on the school- master and the Maine Law, before it be too late. We must not forget that thrifty industry is but the first letter of the Alphabet which American society is predestined to learn ; the first round of the ladder by which a Free and Equal People must climb to its true level of republican nobility. Let us as a people fear God, and honor the ordinances of the New Testament. Let us weigh well the debt which we owe to our children as Republican children. And, if we can, let us have the spirit of our Fathers, who, without a school fund, sustained upon the spot where we now stand, one of the best Acade- mies in the State of Connecticut ; a school to which pupils came from such places as Colchester and Ellington, Wethersfield, Farmington and Water- bury. The building was destroyed by fire some forty years ago. I declare, sir ! I wish we could find one brick, or a foundation stone, or a fragment of the bell of that ancient school-house : for we would have it set in brass that we might make a monument of it, and plant it by our roadside, where we might look upon it every day, and think, think, think of the nobleness of our Fathers, until we can feel-our own.
But sir, I must break off this thread. I have said much more than I prom- ised ; and I fear more than was asked of me: and even now I find my thoughts more disposed for a fresh start, than to wind off to a conclusion.
May I give one sentiment more, provided that it be short and sweet ?--- Well, sir, it is nothing but this-If any one of our citizens does not know how to love and honor Old Glastonbury, I have a notion to give him a bit of advice. Let him begone! And let him live elsewhere a year and a half ; and he may take my word for it that he will be a happier if not a wiser man when he comes back, than he was when he went away.
These are my Sentiments.
Speech of Hon. GIDEON WELLES, of Hartford, whose genealogy has been given on a preceding page.
It is pleasant to be among old friends and old familiar scenes; and to such of us as have come back to our old home, the day has been one of enjoyment. The address to which we have listened, and which has been prepared with so much labor, brings before us events and incidents with which every citizen of Glastenbury should make himself familiar. There are among those of us who were born in the earlier part of the present century, living and unre- corded annals that have been revived by this day's gathering, and on which memory delights to dwell. There is indeed no recollection so pure, no friend- ship so lasting, as that we have shared with the comrades of our boyhood and youth. With these are associated local attachments and the memories of a receeding generation whom we respected and loved. All these come up be- fore us as we meet on the Old Green, to commemorate this anniversary, and while the scenes of earlier days are before us, and living friends are around us, let us not forget the absent and the dead.
The plains and hills, and meadows and streams of Old Glastenbury, have a charm for me beyond those of any place on earth.
" Ah eharming hills, alı pleasing shade, Ah scenes beloved in vain,
'Twas here my eareless childhood strayed A stranger yet to pain."
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My earliest and choicest recollections are connected with the plains of Naubuc and East Farms-the deep valleys of Nayaug and Wassuc, and the high hills of Minnechaug and Kongscut. Here under our eye, repose the remains of my ancestors, on the paternal and maternal side for half a dozen generations. There was a time when I knew personally, and was known by almost every citizen of Glastenbury. To them I was indebted for uniform kindness and unabated, and unshaken confidence during the whole period of my residence among them. It has afforded me pleasure to meet so many of them here to day, and with them another generation.
I give you, Glastenbury-her past-present and future.
Speech of HENRY I. WRIGHT, EsQ., of Hartford, whose genealogy has been given on a preceding page.
Mr. President, I shall respond very briefly to your call-I have looked for- ward to this occasion with feelings of unusual interest ; and my highest hopes have been far more than realized. During the past six years I have derived much pleasure from the examination of such ancient wills, deeds and origi- nal records as gave me a knowledge of our common ancestry ; and being deseended from those who were here two centuries ago, I was prepared to enjoy with a full heart an occasion like this.
As a " son of Glastenbury from abroad," I hope to be sensible of our very great indebtedness to you, who have remained here within the ancient metes and bounds, for what we enjoy to day. We find on every side, an open house, an open heart and a cordial welcome, evineing a spirit of hospitality and generosity worthy of the " olden time."
I have been thinking to day how time in its flight had swept away almost every vestige of the pioneers in the settlement of the town. Their houses have crumbled and disappeared ; but the thought came pleasantly over me that the sturdy oak on the hill side, (a tree so well known for its extreme age,) that this " king of the forest" had come down to us from the earliest settlers. It was a witness of their toil, and their privation ; it had heard the sound of their voices ; and beneath its branches, perhaps, had been heard the hymn of Sabbath worshippers. I love the trees : they have a mysterious language. I love the memory of our fathers ; and I shall ever cherish the thought that these oaks, these " giant oaks," were their companions ! Were I to give you a sentiment, this should be my theme,
The Sturdy Oaks. The companions and fit emblems of the unbending in- tegrity and faithfulness of our fathers.
Speech of HENRY T. WELLES, EsQ., whose genealogy has been given on a preceding page.
Mr. President :- While paying this festal tribute to the memory of those of our townsmen, who have finished their labors, and can no more be cheer- ed by the notes of earthly sympathy and affection ; it is well to remember them, also, who, though still living, are absent, being withheld by various cir- cumstances from a participation in these rejoieings. At earlier or later peri- ods of their lives, they left the town of their birth. Some are only a few miles away ; some reside in the larger cities of our country ; some are woo- ing the smiles of the sunny south ; and some have ventured over the bound- less prairies, and into the dense forest of the West. Others now wander on the pathless ocean, or roam in foreign lands ; others still, are scattered along the valleys of the far off Pacific coast, wringing from their mother earth with toilsome hardihood her hidden treasure.
Once, all these were with us. With us they walked in these streets, and worked in their fields. They chatted at our firesides. They met us in the evening circle, in the school, in the church, on this little plain and even in
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this Hall. Like us they have climbed these hills, and from their summits have looked down on a scene of surpassing beauty and grandeur; of whiten- ed houses, hills, vales and river, of expansive meadows and distant spires, until every feature of it was stamped forever on their memories. They are still bound by a thousand tender associations to the place of their nativity and childhood.
Wherever they are, in whatever clime or country, in whatever condition, to this spot their thoughts will ever instinctively turn. Fancy will bring them back to it in dreams of the night; it will haunt their memories, in the pensive hours of evening twilight and prayers for its welfare and prosperity will be mingled with their morning visions.
I give you, The absent natives of Glastenbury.
Speech of the HON. GEORGE MERRICK, EsQ., a descendant of an early settler of Eastbury, whose genealogy has been given on a preceding page.
The large number of our citizens present, attests the deep interest taken in this our second anniversary.
On this interesting occasion we naturally revert to the first settlement of our Town and country-to those civil, religious and literary institutions, founded by the wisdom of our ancestors, and which we now possess as a rich legacy from them-and we trust will be as lasting as the hills and streams beside which they planted themselves. Education, and toleration in matters of religion seem to be the two leading principles that actuated the first set- tlers, and instructing all classes in the rudiments of literature and religion, at the public expense, seems to be the first germ of the free school system, since so widely diffused throughout the world, and so universally beneficial, and these had their origin in the very infancy of the settlements. And they seem to have been aware of their importance, from the care with which they were cherished. Our ancestors also showed their wisdom in the laws they enacted, which were well adapted to meet the necessities of their peculiar situation. Their magistrates were also men of the highest consideration and distinction in the community. And they exercised the humblest office in the administration of justice.
The first settlers of this Town were a peace loving people. They settled among the children of the soil by compact, and neither history nor tradition has left a trace of a quarrel between the rising and falling races.
And these principles have more or less influenced their posterity, and come down to us. Such a people had need of but few Lawyers to aid in the ad- ministration of justice. And our Town comparatively has had but few. There have been long intervals in which we have had none of that profes- sion, and seldom more than one at a time. And this is true both under the Colonial and State Governments.
. Our knowledge under the former is somewhat limited, but enough is known to sustain the truth of the remark.
The first Lawyer in this Town that we have any account of, is Eleazar Kimberly, who was Secretary of the Colony from 1696 to 1709, and speaker of his Majesty's lower house.
Whether his son and grand-son were lawyers, or not, is not certainly known-But both were active magistrates of the Town. His great grand-son Thomas Kimberly, born in 1745, graduated at Yale, in 1766, after being ad- mitted to the bar, practiced law here till his death in 1777. He was killed by the accidental blowing up of a powder mill in that year. He left a widow, a son and a daughter.
His place does not seem to be supplied, till after our revolution. In 1784, Jonathan Brace, who married his widow, removed from Bennington, Ver- mont, to this town, and practiced law here till 1794, when he went to Hart-
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ford, and remained there till his death, in 1835. He was born in Harwinton, graduated at Yale, in 1779, and at the time of his death was 83.
He held many publie offices. He was state's attorney at Bennington, often represented this Town in the legislature, was a member of the house of assistants-Representative in Congress-Judge of the County Court, Judge of Probate, Mayor of the city of Hartford. He held the judgeship till disqualified by age.
Zephaniah Il. Smith may be considered as his successor in the profession. He was born in this Town, and graduated at Yale, in 1782. For a few years he was a settled Congregational minister in Newtown, in this State. In 1792, he left the ministry, and returned to his native Town.
After a course of reading with Judge Brace, he was admitted to the Bar, and practiced here till his death, in 1836.
He represented this Town in the legislature several times.
Joseph Backus pursued the profession of Law here some time. Ile open- ed an office abont the year 1792-3, and remained here a few years, and then removed to Stratford, since Bridgeport, and pursued the profession there till his death, in 1838. He has represented the town of Bridgeport. He is the author of a treatise in two vols. octavo, on Sheriffs, and book of forms for justices.
Several years after he left, Samuel Jones, a native of Hebron, opened a Law office here. He graduated at Yale, in 1800, read law with the late Judge Sylvester Gilbert of Hebron. He commenced here in 1802, and in 1810, went to Stockbridge and pursued his profession there until 1845, when he removed to Boston, having received an appointment there.
He was succeeded in the profession here by Samuel G. Strong, also a na- tive of Hebron. He graduated at Williamstown, in 1809, and studied law with the late Judge John T. Peters. He practiced here from 1811 to 1814, when he went from this town and soon after died.
I ought to mention among our Lawyers, our towsnmen the Hon. George Plummer, who was born here and graduated at Yale, in 1804. After a course of reading he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice, but his father dying about that time, leaving a large estate to his management, he relin- quished his profession. He has represented this District twice as a senator in the State Legislature.
I might speak of several subjects connected with the administration of justice in the history of our town, did time permit, but I will only offer a sentiment.
" The administration of justice in this town."
May it be as in former days, pure and unsullied.
Sketch of the Remarks of HON. JOHN COTTON SMITH of Sharon, a de- scendant of Rev. Henry Smith, the first settled minister of the Town.
Ladies and Gentlemen :-
After the deep enthusiasm inspired by a day like this, it would seem an almost hopeless task, to add a single thought to the eloquent sentiments, that have lent their interest to this joyous and spirit-stirring festival. But I do not present myself before you as a stranger. The dust of my ancestors lies. mingled with that of yours, and the warmest sympathies, and most tender. recollections of my heart, cluster around your ancient, beautiful, and historie. dwelling-place. Our forefathers who settled this venerable town, belonged. to that wonderful generation that in Old England, set their foot upon the neck of their King, and trampled the aristocracy into the dust in a score of well fought battle fields, and in New England founded a republican common- wealth, not on the slavish creed of the divine right of the monarch, but upom the imperishable doctrine of the sovereignty of the people.
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They came not to this western world like the Spanish Catholic in pursuit of gold, and the propagation of the papal mass, not like most of the early settlers of the other Atlantic States, for the traffic of commerce, and the grati- fication of avarice ; but they came to gain for themselves and their descend- ants the priceless benefits of self-government, and the noblest of all liberties, freedom to worship God.
Soon after the opening of spring, more than two hundred years ago, a little band of willing exiles, might have been seen wending slowly their weary way, through the then trackless wilderness which separated the shores of Massachusetts bay, from that spot on the banks of the Connecticut river, where they designed to erect their public temples, and their domestic altars. They travelled on foot, and slept upon the earth, with no canopy but the sky. Many of them were unaccustomed to hardships, and in their native country enjoyed all the luxuries that high social position confers in an advanced state of civilization. Their wants and wishes were supplied by attentive domes- tics, and from the windows of stately hall and ancient manor house, they could look upon that most delightful of earthly possessions, broad aeres, in- herited from father's fathers. These lands and dwellings they had sold at a ruinous sacrifice, and they were now rich in nothing, but that faith "that overeomes the world," and that " hope that is an anchor to the soul." For a fortnight they struggled forward with untiring courage, through the desert, while they
" Shook the forest wild With their hymns of lofty cheer."
At length they stood upon the banks of that beautiful river, of which one of our own poets has sweetly sung,
" No fairer streams through happier valleys shine, Nor drinks the sca a lovelier wave than thine."
Soon the smoke of their humble cabins ascended from the bosom of the tall waving woods, and the sound of the axe often swung by hands more used to hold the pen, or wield the sword, startled alike the timid deer, and the fierce savage. What exertion and diligence, did not the great and varied labors of these first years demand, when the whole of what is now the most prosperous community on earth, consisted of the three little plantations of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield. Of the latter, Glastenbury was then a constituent portion. How hard to turn with seanty numbers, and inexpe- rienced effort, the dark wilderness into fruitful field and blooming garden. To provide subsistence and shelter for their families and their cattle, against the rigors of a northern winter, to construct new roads through trackless wilds, and all this, amid constant watchings and alarms, so that while guiding the plough with one hand, they were forced to hold the musket in the other.
When assembled for worship on each ealm Sabbath morn of that first sum- mer, perhaps beneath the shade of some noble oak or branching ehn, and re- freshing their wearied spirits by copious draughts of sacred truth poured out by pastors who well knew how " to point to heaven and lead the way," how sweet after that soul-stirring exhortation, must have swelled from their united heart and voice, the sentiment of the beautiful lyric,
Ye feeble saints, fresh courage take -- The clouds ye so much dread, Are big with mercies, and shall break In blessings, on your head. God's purposes are ripening fast, Unfolding every hour -- The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
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In addition to every other circumstanee gloomy and disheartening, their second year in the country, broke upon them with all the horrors of a savage war. Their total destruction was sworn by a numerous and powerful nation, and they had no where to look for suecor, but to GOD and their own courage. Undismayed, they fitted out their little army, composed of nearly one-half of their effective men, and sent them into the enemies' country with the fixed resolution " to do, or die." History records no more gallant exploit than the storming of the Pequod fort, and if judged by its consequences upon the future destinies of man, the mighty armaments and tremendous battles of Europe, fade by comparison into the most perfeet and absolute insignifieanee. One-fourth of that little force were your lineal progenitors, and if it be. a credit to have descended from a race of heroes, you have a full right to the in- dulgence of such a noble and honorable pride. Since that memorable strug- gle, in every confliet for the rights, the interest, and the honor of the colony, the State, and the nation ; the citizens of Glastenbury have freely and gen- erously contributed both of their blood and their treasure. Your ancestors took a no less active part in the eivil, than in the military concerns of the then infant colony. They strengthened it by their council, as well as defend- ed it by their valor.
On the 14th of January, 1639, all the free planters convened at Hartford, and on mature deliberation adopted a constitution of government, whose formation at so early a period, when the light of liberty was wholly darkened in most parts of the earth, and the rights of man but an empty name, was a noble proof of their ability, integrity, and devotion to the principle of a just and righteous liberality. It was the first complete frame of civil order writ- ten out in the new world. It embodied all the essential features of the con- stitutions of the States, and of the Republic itself, as they exist at the pres- ent day. It was the free representative plan, which now distinguishes our country in the eyes of the world.
The first Colonists of Connecticut, from whom it is our pride and happi- ness to deseend, were imbued with a double portion of that stern republican sentiment, which contributes so much to the elevation of both individual and national character. Coming from that portion of England, famed for its steady adherence to the ancient Anglo Saxon spirit of liberty and equality, " be invictis," " unconquered Kent," where the law of primogeniture, and the other monstrosities of Norman feudalism, were never able to fasten their yoke upon its free and vigorous population, they brought with them to this western world, a hearty detestation of the impudent assumptions of arbitrary power, and the empty pomp of aristocratic title. They formed their laws and their manners, not to found and perpetuate artificial distinctions in society, but to promote " the greatest good of the greatest number," and the only patent of nobility which they condescended to respect, was that conferred by the hand of the Creator, and stamped with the impress of honor, of patriot- ism, of knowledge, and of virtue.
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