USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, Connecticut : with an account of the centennial celebration May 14 and 15, 1895 : also a sketch of Plymouth, Ohio, settled by local families > Part 14
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May the celebration of this anniversary, revealing so much that is new to the rising generation, furnish an additional impetus and materially assist in the onward progress of this community. Allow me, Mr. Chairman, to again thank you for the most
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cordial welcome which you have extended to the people of our town."
Mr. Pond-I am quite sure that this audience extends its thanks to Mr. Etheridge for the kind words which he has offered to-night. We have several letters of regret, one of which must be read, whether the others are or not, and I will read it with your permission now, as I know it will be of interest.
WINSTED, CONN , May 6th, 1895.
HON. BYRON TUTTLE, Chairman, Plymouth Centennial Committee, Plymouth, Conn.
My Dear Sir :- A relative, who was an invalid and with whom I was brought in frequent contact, when a boy, used to say, in answer to inquiries as to his condition, that he enjoyed very poor health. Unfortunately, such is not my state, for it is impossible, in this free country, for me to enjoy that which puts me under the domination of those despots, beneficent though they be, called physi- cians and which deprives me of the long anticipated pleasure of being present at the opening ceremonies in Plymouth church of the centennial of our beloved town. As such however is the case, can you spare me a minute for a word of kindly greeting to my fellow townsmen, neighbors and friends, assembled to-night in a place to which I am attached by so many cherished memories and associations.
A residence of a score of years elsewhere has in no degree weakened but rather increased my love for the town where I was born, where a quarter century of my life was passed, where most of my living relatives reside and where rest the ashes of my parents and kin.
The six years, in which I was permitted to look out of my office window, on this church and on Plymouth green with its monument to the memory of its chil- dren who died in the defense of their country, will ever seem like an oasis in the desert, a green spot in the dry and arid journey of life. The past few weeks of enforced idleness, from other things, have left my mind free to wander amid the scenes of the past, and it has done so constantly. As a result, I beg to bring you, to night, the greeting and tribute of a grateful child to a beloved mother. The century that is passed has brought results, the contemplation of which should fill our hearts with thankfulness. May God grant to this town a future worthy of that past, and may his richest blessing rest upon you all.
Very truly yours, AUGUSTUS H. FENN.
Mr. Pond-We will make this a sort of old-fashioned Meth- odist love feast. £ There are many here to-night who have returned for this occasion and whom we should like to hear for just a few moments, perhaps ten minutes, and we wish to give them an opportunity. We want to hear them and we rather think they want to say something, too. At any rate, I am going to give you this invitation. Among those who are present I notice General Erastus Blakeslee, a native of Plymouth, and I am sure we should all be glad to hear a few words from him. Will he kindly respond ?
General Blakeslee-"My dear friends-for I feel just that way toward every one here in this old home place of Plymouth. It is with something of the feeling which the ancient Jews had when they went up to Jerusalem to the feasts, that I have come up here from Boston to this feast to-night.
I am very glad indeed for the history of the manufacturing interests of this town which has been made to us this evening. I shall be very glad to-morrow to listen to a history of the other features of this town's life, which we all ought to listen to.
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I remember when I was a boy, perhaps ten or twelve years old, going to a two days' celebration in the town of Litchfield-I think it was the centennial celebration of the organization of Litchfield County. I remember nothing that was said there, almost nothing that was done, but I do remember a great impression that was made on my mind. It was this, that there was no such county on the face of the earth as the county of Litchfield, and that has never been rubbed out. Now, I wish that this celebration of the centennial anniversary of the founding of the town of Plymouth might make such an impression as that on all these boys and young people who are here to-night, and I wish it for several reasons. I wish it because I want to cultivate in them love of country, true patriotism; the feeling that we have here in this country something to be conserved, something to be preserved, something to be fought for if need be, and it is only as we take now and then a look backward, as we look over the history which our fathers have made for us and see what a precious heritage they have handed down to us, how they have loved and labored and toiled in the past, that they might hand over to us the things which we now enjoy-that we have deeply impressed upon us the value of these things and the dignity which we have come to in having them handed down to us.
I am very thankful for a great many things here to-night. I am thankful that my great-great-great-grandfather, Deacon Moses Blakeslee, came to the town of Plymouth and located in 1734. He was the patriarch of the Blakeslee tribe in Plymouth, and it has been a pretty respectable tribe among the tribes of this town. I have looked up the history of the family somewhat and find they were all men of industry, of honor, of honesty, of uprightness ; they were good neighbors; they were members of the church ; they did their part in life well and truly, and I am thankful for them. I am thankful most of all for my father, Joel Blakeslee, whom you all or nearly all of you I know remember, and whom one beautiful winter's evening, under the glowing light of the setting sun, we buried over on the hillside yonder ; a man of such kindness and gentleness of spirit, such Christian character, such sweetness of disposition, such activity in every good word and deed that his memory is blessed-all who ever knew him rise up and call him blessed.
I am thankful for my mother, the dear woman, suffering so much in these days of her loneliness and sorrow, and waiting for the day of her translation. I am thankful for this church in which we meet. I remember how I stood nearer the pulpit than I am now, in front of the communion table, one Sunday after- noon, a boy in my teens, and confessed Christ as my Saviour. I remember how I sat back two-thirds of the way that very Sunday, in that part of the house just yonder, and for the first time partook of the sacrament. I remember the first Sunday School class that I attended, sitting just about here in the front pew on that side, and I remember who my teacher was-a good woman whose memory is blessed.
I am thankful, too, that I lived during the last half and a
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little more of the century which we are celebrating to-night. Of course we want all that we can get of the glory of this century's achievements, so I am going to claim about fifty-six years of it, and I am thankful that I have lived in those fifty-six years, the fifty-six greatest years that the history of the world ever saw, the fifty-six years in which has been fought out the great battle for liberty in this country, the fifty-six years in which the greatest progress in business, in enlargement of all sorts, has been made. What the next fifty-six years will pro- duce I do not know. If there is anything that I would like better than to have lived in the last fifty years, it would be to live in the next fifty years, I might as well say a hundred. The reason why I came to-night was that I was afraid I would not last till the next one.
If we can, through this celebration, impress it upon the minds of the young people that their fathers have been wise, industrious, active, patient, noble, upright, sincere, honorable, useful Chris- tian men in all the century that is past, and they have handed down to their descendants the precious privilege of town organi- zation and government, of schools and business prosperity which are in this community; the precious privilege of living in a New England town and breathing the pure air of these hills, they will love these things, and as the great whirlpools of the cities in these latter days draw them away from this hilltop and these valleys that are round about us and plant them in other places, they will look back with longing to this home of their childhood. Boys, if there is anything in the world to be glad for, it is for a noble heritage coming down to you from the past, and if you can only catch something of that inspiration here to-night and to-morrow, the Lord will bless you in it.
Now, I am thankful for the record which this town has made, for one thing, in the Civil War. Perhaps it is appropriate that I should speak of it. I remember boys who used to sit over here on benches and seats in the school house yonder, and boys who came from the school houses down in the valley, and from the eastern part of the town, and as I look over the list of their names and their deeds, I feel to rejoice in them for the things which they accomplished in the service of their country. It is a noble thing to serve your country, to serve it in battle if need be, to serve it at the ballot-box, always voting for the things that are true and pure and right ; always standing up for the right boldly, sincerely and honestly, not for parties because they are parties, but for the things that are pure and true and right, and that may be done in peace as well as in war.
I cannot stop to mention names to-night, but from these school houses, from these homes, from these hillsides and farm houses and factories there went forth men to the southern fields who in the turmoil of battle were smitten down for their country, and with the sound of the battle still unspent went to their reward. Cherish their names; honorable, brave men. There were men who were laid hold on by the enemy and carried off into southern prisons, who wasted there under the southern sun,
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who died under the southern sun, who came home but to die. Noble men! Remember them and their families with honor always. There were those who sickened in hospitals and died, who did not have the satisfaction of dying in the midst of battle, but who died in the seclusion and silence and agony of the hospital life; noble men every one-remember them, honor them, honor their families. And remember that these things were done that we might have the things that we enjoy now, that we might lay hold on the things that we consider precious now, that we might enjoy the fruits of liberty.
' What is the use of coming together to-day,' I asked the lady who sat next me. She said : 'There are a few good things that last a hundred years, they ought to be celebrated.' I agree with her perfectly. I think we ought to celebrate; that is true. But we ought to celebrate this anniversary and come here with joy as we do to-night, not only in memory of the things that are past, but as illustrating to us the brotherhood of man. What is the town organization? It is the community, the civil govern- ment among us. Now we ought to take, and I presume we do take, a great deal more interest in the celebration of an anniversary here in the town of Plymouth than we would in an anniversary of the State of Connecticut, a great deal more than we would in an anniversary of the United States of America. Why? Because we are only parts of the great whole in that case, but in this case we are the whole. This gathering of men which we call a town is the foundation of our civil structure, and it is the place of equality among men, it is the place of all places in the world where men are equal, and when they come together in their town meetings and vote the things they will do, every man is as good as every other man. Every man has his rights and he is not afraid to declare them, and the brotherhood of man, the equality of men, the political and righteous relations between men stand exemplified in the town government as they can nowhere else, so the town government is very dear to us, the very foundation of our political institutions. Without the town government we could not have what we now have in these United States, so it ought to be preserved, it ought to be made much of. we ought to rejoice in it, and that we all have our share in it. We ought, as Paul did when he was on his way to Rome and the brethren came out to meet him, to thank God and take courage, and then go forward, every one, with his heart set on this, that he will serve God and his fellow-men always, everywhere, truly, fully, completely ; that he will put away all that is untruthful, all that is dishonorable : that for the sake of God and his fellow-men and the town in which he lives, for the sake of the parents who bore him and the honorable ancestry around him he will live as a noble, upright, honorable Christian man, always and everywhere doing his part to help his fellow- men. May such be the influence of this celebration upon us each and every one, and those who live on to the middle of the next century, or if any of you are tough enough to live on to the
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next centennial, won't you see if you cannot do very much along the lines which I have mentioned?
Thanking you for your kindness and attention, and rejoicing to be with you here to-night, I bid you all farewell."
Mr. Pond-I am well aware that the hour is late, yet there are some others we would like to hear from. I want to ask them if they won't confine their remarks to not more than ten minutes after this. There is one gentleman I am sure you would like to hear, Rev. Moseley H. Williams of Philadelphia. I think he was born in Plymouth, at least he was a resident here for many years. Will Mr. Williams please favor us?
Rev. Moseley H. Williams-No, I was not born in Ply- mouth, but I wish I had been. I trust you will accept this confession to-night for all that it is worth. I came here a boy of seven and since then Plymouth has at all times been to me a very bright spot, and so I was drawn from Philadelphia. As General Blakeslee said, I felt I should not live until the next one In view of the success of the present celebration you might do as Fred Douglas said the colored people proposed to do after the Philadelphia Centennial. They liked it so well that they pro- posed to have them once a quarter for a while, and it is very likely that you will do the same thing, so that we shall live to have another centennial.
Now, God gives us some bright spots, and this is a very bright spot in my own experience, to be here in the old place, look in the faces of the friends, rejoice in what I had of privilege in this goodly town, and to thank all the boys and girls-wide awake, though it is long past nine o'clock-who will make the history of the next half century. Boys-I was thinking of it while you were speaking, Mr. Blakeslee-of what an old man said to his boys. He said : 'Boys, if you grow up and do my work you can have my place.' That is what the fathers and the older people are always saying, 'If you grow up and do my work you can have my place,' and the next boy that is grown up and can do his part can now have my place ! (Stepping from the platform.)
Mr. Pond-I will not call upon any one personally, but I see many here who are fully competent to talk for ten minutes, and who could entertain this audience, I am sure, and I want to ask them to volunteer. Thomaston is well represented, as I said before.
(There being no response Mr. Pond resumed).
You will notice by the programme that this is not the last of this celebration ; it is to be continued in Terryville to-morrow. The exercises will be held in a large tent in Baldwin Park in the forenoon, with a concert in the afternoon and an organ recital in the church in the evening. We extend a cordial invitation to all of you to come over to Terryville to-morrow. We shall expect to see you all there. We intend to have a good time. We thank you for your attendance here this evening, and as the hour is late perhaps it would be not best to continue any longer.
Wednesday morning dawned with over-hanging clouds,
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threatening the pleasure of a long anticipated day, but though unpleasant the larger part of the morning, very little rain fell. At 10 o'clock a large crowd had gathered in the big tent erected east of the school building on Baldwin Park, in Terryville, to witness and take part in the continued celebration of Plymouth's grand centennial. A large stage occupied a portion of the tent room and upon this were gathered the chorus, Colt's full orchestra and the principal speakers of the day. Seats from the town hall occupied the remaining space and before the opening they were filled. Standing room even was at a premium. Soon the sides of more than a third of the tent were rolled up and the already large audience continued to grow and multiply outside of the space covered by the canvass. For some reason the exercises did not commence until 10.30 at which time the orchestra rendered Marche et Cortege " La Reine de Saba " in their usual pleasing manner. Then prayer was said by Rev. Chas. H. Smith, who spoke as follows :
"Eternal Father, our dwelling place, we thank thee that Thou art the same and that Thy years have no end. The eternal beneficence which Thou has shown unto the earth Thou art showing unto us with the new day. Thy loving-kindness has scattered the shadows of the night; Thou hast brought to us the new morning light and with it the glad sunshine. We thank Thee, O Lord our God, for Thy mercy unto us; for the leading of Thy people through all this century of life until they gather here to-day to rejoice in the loving kindness and tender mercy of our God. And now we come to ask Thy blessing upon us, that in the words that are spoken in this hour there may come such inspiration to our hearts that we shall be built up in all that is noble, in all that is true, in all that is pure, in all that is holy. Bless those who shall lead us in thought; bless those who shall lift up our souls as on angel pinions in the voice of song, and grant that the services of this day may be for Thy glory, for our comfort and cheer, for the instruction of the rising generation ; that they may be most of all for the honor and praise and glory of Him who hath redeemed us with His precious blood-Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we ask it. Amen."
Rev. Wm A. Gay followed with this address of welcome :
"Plymouth is proud of her children. She is proud of them because of what they are. She is proud of them because of what they have done or are now doing. She is proud of them because they have proven so faithful to the lessons learned when they were under her sheltering wing.
Many of her boys and girls have gone out from the old home to win honored places among their fellow-men; and whitherso- ever they have journeved they have carried with them fond memories of their Alma Mater.
The luxuriant valleys, the lichen painted and rock gemmed hills, the purling brooks and bounding rivulets, are pictures that the sons and daughters of old Plymouth have carried with them to their distant dwellings, and have cherished among their most priceless treasures.
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And now the mother has invited her wandering children back to rejoice with her in the celebration of her first centennial. In response to that invitation, you have come from the East and West; from the North and South ; and you are here to-day that you may prove by your presence that you have not forgotten the one who has done so much for you. You are here that you may rejoice with those who still abide along the hills and in the valleys of this old Connecticut town. You are here that you may live over again the scenes of the happy by gone years, when, as boys and girls, you gathered the honeysuckle and the laurel, or mastered the first lessons in arithmetic and spelling in the old school house.
And we give you all a glad welcome. Our homes are your homes. Our hearts and our hands are at your service. We welcome you with the joyous centennial bells. We welcome you with vocal and instrumental music. We welcome you with words of cheer that come from the very depths of our souls.
Welcome home, beloved children, In this flowery month of May; Welcome home to her who loves you ; Welcome, welcome home to-day : Home; home; sweet, sweet home; Welcome, welcome home."
Mr. Pond-The question of who should be invited to deliver the historical address on this occasion is one which caused the Centennial Committee but very little trouble. Although there were many men who claim Plymouth as their native place who were abundantly competent to perform that duty, there was one who appeared, like Saul, the son of Kish, to rise head and shoulders above his fellow-men ; a Terryville boy, beginning his education here, he has been watched with interest from that moment until the present time. We saw him when a mere youth, he scoured the town to enlist men in the defense of his country ; we saw him upon the return from the war with an honorable record, with the commission of a colonel and the empty sleeve hanging by his side. We have watched his career in the law with interest and affection ; we have seen him go up and up until he has reached the highest judicial tribunal in his native state, the bench of the Supreme Court of Errors. You know to whom I refer, Judge Augustus H. Fenn of Winsted.
The judge kindly accepted the invitation extended him and began at once upon the address. As we understand, it was com- pleted on the thirteenth or fourteenth of March, and as he remarked at the time, every "i" was dotted and every "t" crossed. It was folded away to be used to-day. On the next. or the day following, to be exact, the fifteenth of March, he met with the accident with which you are all familiar. His recovery in the past few weeks has been very rapid, and we had hoped, and he had expected, to be with us upon this occasion, but he has at last yielded to the request of his physicians, believing that the excitement would be too great a strain upon his nervous system,
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but at his suggestion, which has been heartily endorsed by the committee, a substitute has been provided, and we are very proud to claim the substitute also as a native of Plymouth. It is needless for me to say further in regard to him-he can abundantly speak for himself The next upon the programme will be the historical address prepared by Judge Augustus H. Fenn, and delivered by Prof. R. G. Hibbard of New Britain.
Mr. Hibbard-Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen : No one can regret more than I do the absence of Judge Fenn to-day. 'We have here an admirable address, which should cer- tainly be delivered by its originator and author. I have, how- ever, consented to do the best I could, to act simply as a voice, and I will proceed to read it, as the chairman has said, without the omission of an "i" or a crossed " t."
The history of the territory which became, in 1795, the town of Plymouth, must necessarily, in an address like the pres- ent, be sketched only in the baldest outline. Especially must this be true of that portion reaching back of the event, whose centen- nial we celebrate to-day.
At the outset, I desire to express my fullest acknowledge- ment for the information which I have obtained upon the subject, to the labors of the late Rev. E. B. Hilliard as embodied in a series of papers printed in the Thomaston Express ; in an article on Plymouth in the Litchfield County History, published in ISSI, and another on the Church at Plymouth, contributed to the volume containing the addresses delivered at the two hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the first Congregational Church at Waterbury-these and two manuscript addresses by Rev. J. W. Backus, prepared and delivered in 1876 (with which I have kindly been furnished) are results of infinite labor and research, and will prove invaluable material to the future historian of Plymouth, whoever that person may be.
Although the settlement of New England began in 1620, and that of Connecticut in 1635, it was not until nearly a century later (1728) that Henry Cook, with his family, located west of the Naugatuck River, and became the first white settlers of the territory of our old town, in that part now Thomaston. He was of Puritan stock ; a great-grandson of Henry Cook, of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Two years later, John Sutliff came from Branford, Conn., then Thomas Blakeslee, Isaac Castle, Barnabas Ford, Gideon Allen, John Humaston, Ebenezer Richardson, John Bronson, Samuel Towner, Ebenezer Elwell, Jonathan Foot-these and a few others, and began to organize as an independent community. Of course, in those days, the earliest organization was the church and the ecclesiastical society ; the first public building, the house of worship; a pastor, their first officer. Such was the case here.
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