USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Norfolk > History of Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1744-1900 > Part 17
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The amount which they reported as subscribed was $4,437.75. The members of this committee were "Eden Mills, Jedediah Richards, Jr., Benjamin Welch, Esq., Col. J. W. Phelps, Joseph Battell, Esq., Dea. David Frisbie, Ebenezer Cowles, Capt. Aaron Case, Ephraim Coy, Luther Foot, Charles Walter and Capt. John Bradley."
It is believed by this writer that the names of those who were subscribers at that time will be read at various times by some persons with interest; not simply to show who gave the money to pay for the building, but to learn who were the residents of the town almost ninety years ago; to learn how many, of the more than two hundred names given, have descendants now living in this town, or else- where, bearing their names, or direct descendants having other names. It will be found that but very few descend- ants of the entire list are to be found here, and many fami- lies who were prominent then, are entirely gone and for- gotten now. Let their names be published, that at least this may be known and remembered of them,-once they were residents of Norfolk,-interested in its welfare, and ready to aid in its upbuilding.
The document to which these names were subscribed specified that "The subscribers promise to pay the sums affixed to our names for the purpose of building a meeting- house of a size of 60 feet by 45, with a steeple and bell, at such place as shall best accommodate the Society, and to be fixed by a disinterested committee," etc. The list sug- gests many things of interest. The largest subscription, by the one who headed the list was $333.33; the smallest, 75 cents. Four others gave more than $100 each. Eighteen others gave $50 or more each. Abraham Burt gave "$25 in Lightning-rod," and that rod still guides into earth the bolts of heaven. There were eight $1.00 subscriptions, and one $1.50. James Parrit, "Quaker Parrit," as he was al-
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ways called, gave $12.00. He was a member of the society of "Friends," an exemplary and esteemed citizen. In his later years Mr. Parrit and Dr. Eldridge were the warmest of friends, the Dr. enjoying his shrewd, quaint, common- sense talks and conversation exceedingly, and at Mr. Par- rit's request Dr. Eldridge officiated at his funeral, and read as he had promised to do, the thirty-ninth Psalm, which was Mr. Parritt's "Creed." His funeral was attended in the church. He died October 28, 1856, aged 82.
The list of names is the following :-
Joseph Battell
Samuel N. Gaylord
Charles Walter & Son
Earl P. Hawley
Luther Foot
Josiah Pettibone
Ezekiel Willcox
Joseph Orvis
Benjamin Welch & Son
Philo Munson
Levi Grant
Barzil Treat
Jeremiah W. Phelps & Son
Daniel Burr & Co.
Joseph C. Yale
Medad Walter
John Bradley
Hezekiah Turner
Benjamin Gaylord
Wilcox Phelps
Eden Riggs
Anson Norton Daniel Roys Augustus Roys
Augustus Mills Nathaniel Stevens
Roswell Grant
Clark Walter
James Grant Frederick Bandle
Loisa Pettibone
Michael F. Mills
Moses Grant
Allen S. Holt
Asahel Case and Asahel E. Case
Salmon Bale
Solomon Tucker
Nathaniel Roys
Amasa Cowles, Sen.
Thomas Curtis
Auren Roys
Ira Skinner Joseph Orvis, Jun. Eden Mills Lawrence Mills
Darius Phelps
Titus Nettleton
Joshua and William Nettleton
Joshua Nettleton, Jun.
William French Joseph Loomis
Joseph Jones Lemuel Akins
Benoni French Ephraim Norton
Steven Pain
Ebenezer Cowles & Sons
Ephraim H. Deneson James Swift
Bethuel Phelps
Lancelot Phelps
Philemon Gaylord
Timothy and Reuben Gaylord
Widow Anna Brown
Amasa Cowles .Jun.
Nathaniel Robbins
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
Augustus Pettibone Nathan P. Holt John Doud
Elizur Munger
Miles Riggs
Earl P. Pease
Malachi Humphrey
Benjamin Maltbie
Benoni Mills
Jacob Maltbie
Robert U. Richards
Samuel Forbes,
David Orvis
Roys Gaylord, Jun.
Thomas Miner, Jun.
Eliphalet Barden
Daniel Cotton
Elisha Hawley
Samuel Hotchkiss
Bushnell Knapp
Luman & James Hotchkiss
Levi Camp
Jonathan Clark
Constantine Mills
Jared Butler
Stephen Norton
James Sturdivant
Benjamin Calhoun
Sylvanus Norton, Jun.
Seth Willcox
Eleazer Holt
Timothy Barber
Timothy D. North way
Ebenezer Cowles 2d
Samuel Northway & Son
Asa Burr
Isaac Spaulding
Reuben Brown
James Rood Martin Green
James Roys
Joshua Beach
Philo Spaulding
Reuben Dean
Caleb Knapp
Noah Miner
Hylan Knapp
Ebenezer Norton & Son
Stephen Holt
Jonathan Moses
Joseph Hull
Sylvanus Norton & Sons
David Gaylord
Nicholas Holt
Samuel Knapp 3d
Abel Camp, Jun.
Zera Babbitt
Elizabeth Seward
Aaron Burr & Sons
Amos Baldwin
Moses Camp
Josiah Roys
Aaron Brown
Jesse Moses
Ephraim Coy
Thomas Moses
Elkanah Coy
Aaron Brown, Jun. Amasa Gaylord
Levi Thompson
David Frisbie, Jun.
Aaron Case Ebenezer Plumley
Linus Mckean
John Warner
Stephen Norton, Jun.
Nathaniel Pease
Jedediah Phelps
Widow Desiah Pease
Prudence Jones
Augustus Phelps John Smith
Daniel Loveland & Son
David Frisbie
Jonathan Pettibone
Edmund Brown
David Sexton
Thomas Tibbals
Joseph Plumley
Joseph and Thomas Ferry Edward Gaylord & Son Joseph Ferry, Jun.
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Rebecca Ives
Rev. Ammi Robbins & Son
Elizabeth Humphrey
Joseph Gaylord
Samuel Gaylord
John Beach
Samuel & Warren Cone
Samuel Pettibone, Jun.
David W. Roys
Benjamin Bigelow
Samuel C. Triscott
Peter Freedom
Samuel Gaylord, Jun.
Joshua Moses
George Tobey, Jun.
Elias Balcom
George Tobey David Lawson
Abraham Burt, in lightning rod
Augustus Smith
Aaron Burr, Jr.
Widow Zilpah Grant
John C. Frisbie
Samuel Johnson
Jedediah Richards & Sons
Oliver Hotchkiss
Joseph Rockwell
Israel Crissey
Joseph Smith
Josiah Hotchkiss
Samuel Pettibone
Abiathar Rogers
Philemon Johnson
Joseph Doud
James Parrit
Jedediah White
David Doolittle
Simeon White
Aaron Ludenton
Daniel Pettibone
Flora Fancher
Jonathan Norton
Francis Benedict, Jun.
XV.
CEMETERIES - LONGEVITY IN NORFOLK.
Standing on some high point where both the village and the cemetery here in Norfolk are to be seen, the writer is often reminded of our former neighbor, Mrs. Rose Terry Cook's poem, "The Two Villages." Suggestive, and appro- priate as an introduction to the following article, the poem is herewith given in full:
"THE TWO VILLAGES."
"Over the river, on the hill,
"Lieth a village, white and still.
"All around it the forest trees
"Shiver and whisper in the breeze.
"Over it, sailing shadows go,
"Of soaring hawk and screaming crow;
"And mountain grasses, low and sweet,
"Grow in the middle of every street.
HAYSTACK AND "THE TWO VILLAGES."
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
"Over the river under the hill
"Another village lieth still.
"Then I see in the cloudy night,
"Twinkling stars of household light;
"Fires that gleam from the smithy's door;
"Mists that curl on the river shore.
"And in the roads no grasses grow,
"For the wheels that hasten to and fro.
"In that village on the hill,
"Never is sound of smithy or mill.
"The houses are thatched with grass and flowers;
"Never a clock to toll the hours.
"The marble doors are always shut;
"You cannot enter in hall or hut.
"All the villagers lie asleep,
"Never a grain to sow or reap;
"Never in dreams to moan and sigh;
"Silent, and idle, and low, they lie.
"In that village under the hill,
"When the night is starry and still,
"Many a weary soul in prayer,
"Looks to the other village there,
"And weeping and sighing, longs to go "Up to that home from this below. "Longs to sleep in the forest wild,
"Whither have vanished wife and child;
"And heareth, praying, this answer fall :-
" 'Patience! that village shall hold ye all.'"
Quoting from Roys :- "As the potent enemy of life soon began its ravages, the inhabitants were obliged to seek a place where to bury their dead. The first burials were in Canaan, where the first settlers attended public worship on the Sabbath. The first person buried in this town was the wife of Jedediah Turner. Her grave with two others were on the ground where Col. J. W. Phelps built his house. In digging his cellar the bones were found almost entire. They were enclosed in a case and deposited not far distant in a decent and proper manner. The next persons who died were placed in the present centre burying-ground."
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
At a Proprietor's meeting, February 22, 1757, the follow- ing record was made :- "We the Subscribers, being desired by some proprietors, inhabitants in the town of Norfolk, for to lay out a piece of ground for a buryal-yard, have ac- cordingly laid out the land hereafter named,-bounded thus: Beginning at a stake and stones standing in the high- way the south line thereof, which goes from Canaan to Norfolk; and the same lyes south of the 48th lot in the first division, second going over; thence south 24 west, 8 rods to the bank of the river, a stake and stones; thence west 24 north 20 rods to a stake and stones; then north 24 east 8 rods to a stake and stones at the aforesaid highway; which lot last described lyes about 40 rods or therabouts westerly of a bridge built by Benoni Moses; and ye said peace of land contains one acre. We recommend to said proprietors as a convenient place to bury the dead in, and that said proprietors would vote and appropriate the same for said use.
Witness our hands, Feb. 18,1757.
Daniel Lawrence, Jr., Joshua Whitney.
"In public proprietor's meeting the above written was voted and ordered to be recorded and the same to be ap- propriated for ye use as is above exprest."
This was the beginning of the present Centre Cemetery, which during the entire history of the town has been its principal burying place, and where several generations have been laid to rest, as for instance, there are at least four generations of the Aiken family buried there, and as many generations of other families. The first enlarging, or rather changing of the original acre, was by vote of the town in 1773, when Dudley Humphrey, Titus Ives, and Samuel Cowles, Jr., were appointed "to agree with Giles Pettibone for land in order to bring the burying ground out to the highway, showing conclusively, that the original highway ran through the present cemetery, as the original acre ran "from the south line of the highway 8 rods to the bank of the river. It seems probable that the committee
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
"to agree with Giles Pettibone for land," etc., gave him the west half of the original acre, and received in exchange in part, as much land on the north side of the east half of it, after the highway was changed to where it now is. De- cember 4, 1775, it was "Voted that the Selectmen fence the burying ground and lay it out for improvement to the best advantage."
Roys says, "Centre burying-ground purchased, 1774." Possibly he refers to the first enlargement, made in 1774. May 26, 1774, Giles Pettibone, deeded to the town for the consideration of 30 shillings lawful money, . . . "the land following, being for the use of a burying yard and lying in said Norfolk and beginning at the north east corner of the old burying yard and to run westward in the line of said burying yard 8 rods to a heap of stones. Then northerly to a heap of stones this day set up standing in the line of the highway. Thence eastward in the line of said highway 7 rods to a heap of stones; thence to the first bounds, and contains about 105 rods of land, more or less. To have and to hold, etc. . . . In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the 26 day of May in the 14th year of the reign of our loveing Lord George 3d of Great Britain." The grounds were again enlarged to the present size in about 1875, the land lying west of the old ground and south of the highway having been obtained of Dr. J. H. P. Stevens after some opposition and quite a contest; some of the residents of the town at that time thinking it better to open an entirely new cemetery instead of enlarging the old one. The added grounds have been nicely laid out, and together with the old part greatly beau- tified and improved.
A small cemetery was at an early day opened in the North part of the town, Northwest of and not far from the Great Pond, now called Doolittle Pond.
In the year 1790 the cemetery in the South End district was opened, the first burial there being Mrs. Abigail Cowles, widow of Mr. Joseph Cowles. Here were buried three generations named Joshua Moses, and a fourth gen-
1
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eration, Joshua Nelson Moses; Not a descendant of the Moses name remains in town so far as is known.
The cemetery on the Goshen road toward South Norfolk was opened about 1818 and a large number of the former residents of that part of the town lie buried there.
In the early days of the town there was quite a settle- ment toward the southwest part, near the Canaan line, called Meekertown, from the principal settler in that region, Phineas Meeker, (who in 1764 married Sarah Brown.) Mr. Meeker seems to have emigrated; and about 1820 Dea. Noah Miner reported to the church that there was a settlement in Meekertown that he called a "hamlet of heathens, living in intellectual, moral and spiritual darkness," and recom- mended that some missionary work be done there. “It was said at the time that not half the people of Norfolk knew that there was such a place within its borders." Mr. E. Lyman Gaylord, a native of this town, now living at Rocky Hill, Ct., writes that about 1820 or 1821 in company with Mr. Wilcox Phelps he rode through Meekertown on horseback, "and from what we saw we concluded that Dea- con Miner's report was not overstated." There was a burial place in Meekertown and a number of persons were buried there,-their graves being marked only by a rough stone; no name being found or any inscription whatever. The place is now grown up into a forest again. One man named Meeker is said to have been buried there, but so far as known no monument was ever erected at his grave, and now the place even is unknown.
In the north-east part of the town, near Doolittle pond, a Cemetery was opened in the early part of this century, the earliest date noticed there being, Francis Benedict died April, 1815, aged 78. Many of the old residents of that part of the town were buried there: the Butlers, Walters, Nortons, Holts, Hawleys, Spauldings, Northways, and others. There are two "Quaker monuments," as they are called there, being marble posts, seven or eight inches square. One has the inscription James Parrit, (who is men- tioned elsewhere) October 28, 1856, aged 82, and Caty Par-
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
rit, 1854, aged 79. There are a large number of unmarked graves in this cemetery; the Orvis family being one it is said; persons of influence in town at one time. Also graves of twenty or more children of Ira Decker, all unmarked.
LONGEVITY IN NORFOLK.
A comparison of the vital statistics of other towns hav- ing no greater population than this town has, might pos- sibly show as interesting an array of facts and figures re- lating to the longevity of life as do those of Norfolk, but in the absence of the proof, the writer begs leave to ex- press his opinion that the percentage of persons living to be past 80 years of age, and also past 90 years, as shown by statistics of this town, cannot be surpassed, or equaled, in Connecticut, or New England.
The following figures and facts are suggestive and in- teresting: Between April, 1879, and January, 1881, (less than two years) six persons died in Norfolk whose average age was 93 1-3 years. An exceptional case, possibly,-but the exception proves the rule, always.
Read the names and ages of the persons past 70, who died in the year 1880, for instance: January-Samuel Smith, 72; Mrs. H. Kellogg, 72; Mrs. Matthew Ryan, 70. February-Miss Polly Burr, 75; Miss Mary Bell, 84. March-Miss Philey Beach, 84; Miss Harriet Holt, 94. April-Miss Almiras Holt, 84; Miss Flora Bell, 82; Mr. Levi Shepard, 95 and 6 mos .; Mr. Anson Norton, 90 and 7 mos. May-Dea. James Mars, 90. June-Miss Lucy Cur- tiss, 87. August-Mr. Matthew Ryan, 79. September- Mr. Anson Gaylord, 80; Dea. Abijah Hall, 82; Mrs. Erastus Smith, 86; Mrs. John Heady, 84; Mrs. Luther Butler, 89. October-Mrs. Daniel White, 74-20 persons; average age, 82 3-4 years. And the old people were not all gone yet, for in January, 1881, there followed Mrs. Seth Preston, 95, and within a few months, Mr. Samuel S. Camp, 80; Mr. Hiram Mills, 86; Mr. Daniel Hotchkiss, 82; Mrs. Benjamin W. Crissey, 85; Capt. Auren Tibbals, 91; Mr. Matthew O'Brien,
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
83; Mr. John A. Shepard, 81. Nathaniel Roys died here in 1832 in his 100th year. Daniel Beardsley died here in 1864, aged 99 years and 8 months. On a tombstone in the South End cemetery in this town is this inscription: "In memory of Widow Rachel Ferry, who died December 9, 1810, aged 101 years and 10 days. 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.'" A woman is now living in this town who has passed her 100th birthday, and says she thinks "the dear Lord has forgotten to call her home." (Her call has just come.)
XVI.
LITCHFIELD COUNTY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
At a meeting of the Bar of Litchfield County, held in Litchfield, January 8, 1851, the subject of holding a Centen- nial Celebration of the organization of the county during that year was considered, and a committee composed of seven members of the Bar of the County was appointed to take such action in the matter as they deemed best. That committee called a meeting of the citizens of the county, which was held at the court-house in Litchfield February 19th, following, at which meeting the following action was taken :-
"Whereas, We have now entered on the one hundredth year since the organization of the County of Litchfield, and as during this period thousands of the sons and daugh- ters of the county have emigrated to other States and countries, many of whom are still living and occupying prominent positions in public stations, professions and oc- cupations, who as well as others, would rejoice to return and visit the homes of their childhood, and we would re- joice to meet and welcome them;
Resolved, That for this purpose a Centennial Celebration shall be held at Litchfield, on Wednesday and Thursday, the 13th and 14th days of August, 1851, and that a Com-
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
mittee of Arrangements from the different towns in the county be appointed; also a Central Committee, to make the necessary and suitable arrangements for the occasion. That among the public exercises there be a Sermon, Oration and Poem; a puble dinner, and other social entertainments, short addresses and poems suited to the occasion. Of the Central Committee of nine, one was Robbins Battell of Norfolk. The Committee of Arrangements from this town were Michael F. Mills, Esq., Warren Cone, E. Grove Law- rence, Auren Tibbals and Samuel D. Northway. At a meeting of the Central Committee, Hon. Samuel Church of Litchfield, a native of Salisbury, was selected to deliver the Oration; Rev. Horace Bushnell, D. D., of Hartford, a native of Litchfield, the Sermon; and Rev. John Pierpont, LL. D., of Medford, Mass., a native of Litchfield, the Poem. In March the Chairman of the Central Committee, (Seth P. Beers,) issued to the Committees of the several towns a Circular, regarding the duties expected from them in preparing for the Celebration, sending invitations to the natives of the various towns, etc., and requesting the Com- mittees to procure portraits and other relics of the past, illustrative of former manners and models of life, to be forwarded to Litchfield and arranged for exhibition. Judge Church, the Orator of the occasion, asked for information regarding the early history of each of the towns, notices of the distinguished men, divines, lawyers, physicians, au- thors, officers, chaplains, and soldiers in the war of the American Revolution, etc.
Very thorough and extensive preparations for this cele- bration were made, and it proved a great success. It was early decided "to dispense with a public dinner."
Major General William T. King of Sharon was Marshal for the day, with twenty-two assistants; one from each town in the county; Col. Robbins Battell was the Norfolk Marshal. General Daniel B. Brinsmade of Washington was President of the day. The Band from the Watervliet Arsenal, N. Y., furnished music. The exercises were held in the park in West street, near the center of which was
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
erected the large tent belonging to Yale College, with large additions, etc.
The vocal music for the occasion was furnished by the Litchfield County Musical Association, of which Deacon Darius Phelps of Norfolk was the very efficient Leader. Notice was given to the members of this Musical Asso- ciation, through the papers, requesting them to attend the Celebration, to bring with them the "Boston Academy's Collection of Choruses," and to come prepared to sing from that book, the "Hallelujah Chorus," "Blessed is He that Cometh," and "The Hailstone Chorus." Upon the days of the celebration the weather was very fine; the procession marched through the principal streets of the town, and when the vast audience was seated as far as possible in the tent, the exercises were opened by the Litchfield County Musical Association, who sang with grand effect, to the tune 'Old Hundred,' the Psalm,
" Be Thou O God, exalted high."
After prayer the oration of Judge Church was pronounced, from which brief quotations in this volume are made. This address by this distinguished son of Litchfield County is of very great historic interest. A volume, giving a full re- port of this celebration, containing the addresses, and the equally interesting sermon and poem, can be found in the Norfolk Library and in various private libraries, in this town.
The discourse of Dr. Horace Bushnell of Hartford was worthy of its distingushed author and of the occasion. Some extracts, giving a vivid picture of the early days of our history as he saw and recalled it, are given. Speaking upon the day after Judge Church's address, he spoke of himself as "a gleaner in the stubble-ground that is left, gathering up the unwritten part of the history celebrated, the unhistoric deeds of common-life, of those whose names are written only in heaven;" . . . describing this first century, as the Homespun Age of our people. . . . "What we call History, I conceive to be commonly very much of a
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
fiction. True worth is, for the most part, unhistoric. We say of history rightly, that it is a record of e-vents; that is, of turnings out; points where the silence is broken by something apparently not in the regular flow of common life. In our historic pictures we gather, under the name of a prominent few, what is really done by nameless multi- tudes. Therefore if you ask who made this Litchfield County of ours, it will be no sufficient answer that you get, however instructive and useful, when you have gathered up the names that appear in our public records, and re- cited the events that have found an honorable place in the history of the county. You must not go into the burial places, and look about only for the tall monuments and the titled names. It is not the starred epitaphs of the Doctors of Divinity, the Generals, the Judges, that mark the springs of our successes and the sources of our dis- tinction. These are effects rather than causes. The spin- ning wheels have done a great deal more than these. Around the honored few, a Bellamy, a Day, a Robbins, sleeping in the midst of his flock, . . . all names of honor; round about these few, and others like them, are lying multitudes of worthy men and women under their humbler monuments, or in graves that are hidden by the monu- mental green that loves to freshen over their forgotten resting-place, in these we are to say are the deepest, truest causes of our happy history. Here lie the sturdy kings of Homespun, who climbed among these hills with their axes, to cut away rooms for their cabins and for family prayers, and so for the future good to come. Here lie the good housewives that made coats every year, like Hannah, for their children's bodies, and lined their memory with cate- chism. . . . These are the men and women that made Litchfield County; kings and queens of Homespun, out of whom we draw our royal lineage. . . . If our sons and daughters should assemble a hundred years hence, to hold another celebration like this, they will scarcely be able to imagine the Arcadian pictures now so fresh in the memory of many of us. Everything that was most distinctive of
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
the old homespun mode of life will then have passed away. The spinning-wheels of wool and flax, that used to buzz so familiarly in the childish ears of some of us, will be heard no more forever; seen no more in fact, save in the halls of Antiquarian Societies, where the delicate daughters will be asking, what these strange machines are, and how they are made to go. The huge, hewn-timber looms, that used to occupy a room by themselves in the farm houses, will be gone; cut up for cord wood, and their heavy thwack, beating up the woof, will be heard no more by the passer- by; not even the Antiquarian Halls will find room to harbor a specimen. The long strips of linen bleaching on the grass, and tended by a sturdy maiden, sprinkling them each hour from her water can, under a boiling sun, thus to pre- pare the Sunday linen for her brothers, and her own wed- ding outfit, will have disappeared, save as they return to fill a picture in some novel or ballad of the old time. . . The heavy Sunday coats, that grew on sheep individually remembered, and the specially fine-striped, blue and white pantaloons, of linen just from the loom, will no longer be conspicuous in processions of footmen going to meeting, but will have given place to showy carriages, filled with gentlemen in broadcloath, festooned with chains of Cali- fornia gold, and delicate ladies holding perfumed sun shades. The churches, too, that used to be simple brown meeting-houses covered with rived clapboards of oak, will have come down mostly, from the bleak hill-tops into the close villages and populous towns that crowd the water- falls and the railroads. The old burial places where the fathers sleep will be left to their lonely altitude; token, shall we say, of an age that lived as much nearer to heaven and as much less under the world. Would that we might raise some worthy monument to a state which is then to be so far passed by, so worthy in all future time to be held in the dearest reverence.
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