USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield County centennial celebration > Part 14
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POEMS.
SEVERAL Poems were prepared by different individuals for the occasion, and forwarded to the Committee, among which were the following :
INVITATION TO LITCHFIELD COUNTY JUBILEE.
BY P. K. KILBOURNE.
LONG dreaming where " the seat of empire" lay, Westward the Sons of Litchfield take their way, And in the regions of the setting sun Their proudest, noblest victories are won ! They build their cabins on the rushing rills, Their spires point heaven-ward from a thousand hills, The wild beast's howl yields to the hammer's clang, Their songs go up where once the war-whoop rang; They start the eagle in his mountain cyric, Follow the war-path o'er the trackless prairie ; They wander where the cold Nebraska roars, They plant our standard on Pacific shores, And in their wake, beneath congenial skies, New States extend their sway, new cities rise. And there are orbs of milder light than they, Radiant with love and gentle as the day,
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POEMS.
Waking responsive joys in kindred souls In some far cot where the Missouri rolls !
Still, truants from our households tho' they be, Their spirits wing their way o'er land and sea, And, freed from mortal weariness, in dreams They climb our hills and wander by our streams- Revisit each fair scene they loved of yore, And greet in fancy's realm those they may meet no more !
Oh, all of these, from Life's diverging track, To their old homes we fain would welcome back, To share the festive scenes, the joy, the glee, The life and soul of our great Jubilee ! Come home, ye searchers after fame, come home From scenes and friends like these why should ye roam ?- Lawyers and statesmen, farmers, merchants, teachers, Doctors, dealers in stocks, tin pedlers, preachers- Come, from 'mid northern snows and tropic flowers, From prairie-land, and blooming orange-bowers, From California's realm of gold and graves, From mountain land, and from the mountain-waves ;- Men, matrons, maidens, children-come ye all, And share the glorious BANTAM FESTIVAL !
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POEMS.
A CALL TO THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
BY A NATIVE OF WOODBURY.
BROTHERS ! from each laughing valley, From our hill-sides, rough and bold, Round our common center rally, Like the Jewish tribes of old !
Fathers, come ! your locks will whiten-
Mothers ! ye are young no more ;
But your fading hopes will brighten, With the memories of yore !
Come ye sons, so sturdy, growing, Strong and tall, as freemen should ;-
Bring your sisters, fluttering, glowing, Like rose-laurels in a wood.
We will tell you, if you listen, How an hundred years ago,
Pilgrims saw our waters glisten In the valley, far below ;
Where the forest, grand and lonely, In primeval beauty stood,
And the wandering red men, only Knew the windings through the wood ;
Where our household fires are burning,
Wild deer bounded, far and free,
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POEMS.
Streams, our busy mill-wheels turning Idly, sang a song of glee ;
Where our fathers sat beside them, After travel long and sore- Fearing nought that could betide them, Might they find a home once more !
For a home, they fronted danger- Wrought with rifle lying near : To all luxury a stranger, Was each dauntless Pioneer.
Noble Fathers ! silent lying
In your graves rest, stern and cold, Still ye preach, with voice undying, To your children, from the mould !
And ye tell us, " Love each other ; " " Guard the homes, we toiled to win, Let no hatred of your brother, Doubt or malice, enter in !"
" Chiefly, on each household altar, Keep devotion burning bright, Then, ye will not pause or falter In the doing of the right !"
"Firm in purpose and endeavor- Tireless, till the goal be won, Men shall know you, wheresoever There is labor to be done."
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POEMS.
Ye are freemen ! Ye may glory, In your union, firm and strong ;- Let no future tell a story, Of dissension, or of wrong.
Look into each others faces- Ye will meet again no more ! Then depart and fill ye places Better than you did before. 13
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POEMS.
FOR THE CENTENNIAL.
BY REV. J. LEE.
I.
UPON our hills no moss-clad castles rise, .No massive towers and turrets pierce the skies, To tell of lordly chiefs of ancient fame, Their fallen power and greatness to proclaim, And call our thoughts to distant ages fled, To war's of kings and mighty princes dead : No dark monastic walls and gloomy cells, IIere show the seats where superstition dwells, Where sweet domestic ties are burst in twain, And joys of home will ne'er be known again.
II. Green fields, and flocks, and herds, and harvests fair, And fallows furrow'd by the burnish'd share, And forests waving on each mountain height, Dear memories wake, and scenes of pure delight, In by-gone days, while yet these hearts were young, And all their chords to nature's joys were strung, When near the sacred fane the school-house stood, Where first our minds to learning's paths were woo'd, And from each spire rang clear the Sabbath bell, To call our thoughts on themes divine to dwell
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POEMS.
III.
No triple crown here wields the sword of state, To doom our conscience to the felon's fate, To shut the book of God from vulgar eyes, And guard the holy portals of the skies ; The open page of truth divine we sean, And learn the grace that saves apostate man, The gospel for the poor, of price untold, With pardons full, unbought with bribing gold- For boons so rich we humbly bow the knce, And bless the hand divine that made us free.
IV.
Religion, here, has shone with purest ray, To guide our footsteps in the "narrow way," And righteous law o'er loyal subjects reigned, Our hearths protected and our rights maintained- For this fair heritage, so dearly bought, With tears and toils and bloody battles fought, Thy name, our fathers' God, alone we praise ;--- To Thee with one accord loud anthems raise ; And when our dust with dust ancestral lies, O bless our HOMES, till suns no more shall rise.
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POEMS.
THE CENTENNIAL.
BY H. WARD.
A century's flight hath marked the age, Since Justice with her sword and scales, First took her seat, with counsel sage, Amid these quiet hills and vales.
Through that long vista o'er the stream Of Time, that flows with rapid tide, What visions in the distance gleam, To tell how vain is human pride !
The blast of war-the clang of arms, Have oft resounded loud and long : . And warriors, fired by Freedom's charms, Have listened to her thrilling song.
They fought and bled ; - Columbia rose Sublime above the stormy vale, The joy of friends, the dread of foes, With glory that can never fail.
And far beyond the ocean's waves, Contending nations have gone down ; The ivy twines around their graves, Where perish sceptre, throne and erown.
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POEMS.
These quiet hills, these gentle vales, Now richly clothed in summer's green, Have smiled as now, when balmy gales Swept o'er the undulating scene.
No rude alarms of hostile foes Have echoed 'mid these green retreats ! But calm as yon bright lake's repose, Peace reigned o'cr all these rural seats.
Heaven bless the friends of early years, And all who meet once more in joy, Where Friendship here her altar rears, To greet her sons without alloy.
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POEMS.
THE FLAG.
BY J. L. WADSWORTH.
Fling out the flag of Liberty ! The summer winds should play With its unfolded stars and stripes, Upon this festal day. Our fathers eared not for their lives, So it might freely wave ;- Tis meet that it should float above, The children of the brave.
The banner of Saint George's eross,
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Was wont its shade to throw
Upon the pilgrim's refuge land, A hundred years ago ; But praises to the pilgrim's God, A freer banner now, Floats o'er the land where rests in peace The weary pilgrim's brow.
Still be its stars for the oppressed A cheering, guiding light, Its stripes, the bond of brotherhood That freemen still unite. And, till the centuries cease to roll, Still fluttering on the sky, Be it the standard of a race Whose freedom ne'er shall die !
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POEMS.
A CALL TO THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
BY J. L. WADSWORTHI.
From northern homes, from southern climes, From mart and lonely mead,
From where the red man fades away Before the white man's tread ; Who wanders from his native land, Who loves this highland shore, We bid you gather here again ; Come to your home once more !
The graves are green ye left behind, And many a later mound, Within the field of sepulchres, Those ancient graves surround ; But none will e'er return again, Those gloomy portals through ; So come to us and shed a tear Upon the old and new.
We cannot say, to win you back, That we are growing great ; We cannot boast of mighty deeds, Of pomp, or show, or state. But we dwell among those green old hills, A quiet, noiseless band, And from your olden haunts we call- Come to your father land !
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POEMS.
CENTENNIAL ODE.
BY J. L. WADSWORTH.
GATHERED amid the scenes of yore, The honored and ancestral hills, Where hope's young pinion, wont to soar, Did triumph o'er lifes future ills ; We come from forests of the west, Or where Atlantic billows flow, From homes our fathers footsteps pressed, Pilgrims, an hundred years ago.
Glad greetings for the olden friends Of childhood's free and joyous hour ! Fond memories for each tree that bends, Each home-like bird, each home-like flower! But worship, to the shrines we bring, Where er'st our sires, in homage low, Were wont their hymns of praise to sing To God, an hundred years ago.
The wing of time, with tireless might, Hath borne the century day by day,- Unequal to the ceaseless flight, Wearied, we soon shall sink away. Then let us choose the truth as those Who humbly walked with God below, And from these hills, we trust, arose To heaven, an hundred years ago.
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POEMS.
EPISTLE TO POSTERITY.
ADDRESSED to those who shall meet to celebrate the Second Centennial Anniversary of Litchfield County, August 14th, 1951.
BY P. KENYON KILBOURNE.
OUR Jubilee is over ! Far and wide, Through lane and turnpike, pour the living tide ; Each homeward hies, with pleasure-beaming eye, And heart all redolent with purpose high. Erewhile, another race, in strange array, Will welcome to the world YOUR festive-day ; O, when it dawns, " may I be there to see," Though strown through every land my dust may be!
Hail, unborn brothers ! from these heights of time, I fain would greet you with the voice of rhyme, And send my greeting down the vale of tears, Through the long windings of an hundred years. Think not my toast a lifeless thing, even though It cometh from the grave of long ago : " A health to cach, and joy be with you all, Who gather here at your great Festival !"
O, could the bard but claim the prophet's eye, And read for you a glorious destiny, What pride would mingle in his cup of bliss, To be your Poet on a day like this !
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POEMS.
'Twere more than fame, if down through storms and tears, These lines shall reach you in the far-off years, For other hands must weave your civic crown- New names must grace your ensigns of renown.
Conjecture all! No glass ean penetrate The unknown void that hides the scroll of fate ; No still small voice, no charioteer of flame, Hath told us of your glory, or your shame. Perhaps, as ye shall read of us, ye'll boast Your parents were of " that enlightened host ; " Perhaps in sackeloth mourn, that ye must trace Your lineage to our wild barbarian race!
It may be yours to seal your faith in blood, Martyrs for God, or for your country's good ;- Soldiers in that dread war of death with life, When Gog and Magog mingle in the strife. It may be yours to hail that promised day, When truth shall hold her universal sway- When war, and want, and wrong, and crime, shall cease, And nations own thy sway, O, Prince of Peace!
If true, as hath been said by saint and sage,. The world shall grow in wisdom as in age, Ye, who have soar'd to heights we cannot see, Will need no teachings from such worms as we. If you, like us, must tread life's weary way, Where clouds and storms may close the fairest day- Where friends must die-where love's bright chain must sever In weal-in woe-God be your guide forever !
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POEMS.
However MAN may change for good or ill, The years will roll, their cycles to fulfil ; Tired nature sleeps but to revive again ;- These hills, and streams, and mountains, will remain ; Bold Prospect still will lift his brazen brow, Mount Tom will frown majestic then as now,- The Bantam waters roll their silver tide, Nor heed the generations that have died.
LITCHFIELD, Thursday Eve., Aug. 14th, 1851.
PORTRAITS.
AGREEABLY to the request of the Central Committee, in their Circular of the 22d of March, and in conformity to a vote of the Central and Town Committees, at their meeting on the 19th of July, repeating the request, the following Portraits were for- warded to the Committee and arranged in the Court-room, where they were open to the inspection of visitors, and attracted much attention through the days of the Celebration, viz :-
A Bust of Oliver Wolcott, Governor of this State from 1817 to 1827 ; by Clerenger.
An elegant full length portrait of Hon. Frederick Wolcott, of Litchfield, Clerk of the Courts for forty years; taken by Waldo & Jewett.
Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, of Litchfield, for many years mem- ber of Congress ; by Stuart.
Col. Wm. F. Tallmadge, son of Benjamin T., and an officer in the War of 1812.
Hon. James Gould, of Litchfield, Judge of the Superior Court and Court of Errors; by Waldo.
Wife of Hon. James Gould, taken when 19 years old, and four years after her marriage ; by Waldo.
Major Moses Seymour, of Litchfield, taken in the uniform which he wore at Burgoyne's defeat ; by Ralph Earle, in 1789.
Mrs. Moses Seymour, and son Epaphro ; by Earle.
Moses Seymour, Jr., son of Major Moses S. ; miniature. Wife of Moses Seymour, Jr. ; miniature.
Ozias Seymour, Esq., for many years Sheriff of Litchfield County ; by Snyder.
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PORTRAITS.
Rev. Truman Marsh ; by Earle, in 1789.
do. by Snyder, about 1842.
Mrs. Truman Marsh ; by Earle, in 1789.
Nathaniel Church, of Salisbury, father of Chief Justice Church.
Nathaniel Smith, of Woodbury, Judge of the Superior and Supreme Courts.
Mrs. Nathaniel Smith.
Rev. Noah Benedict, of Woodbury, father of Mrs. N. Smith.
Dr. John S. Wolcott, son of Gov. Wolcott ; by Snyder.
Daniel N. Brinsmade, of Washington, Judge of the County Court.
Rev. Ammi R. Robbins, of Norfolk.
William Battell, Esq., of Torrington.
Hon. Augustus Pettibone, of Norfolk, Chief Judge of County Court.
Samuel Forbes, of Canaan.
Alpha Rockwell, the first person born in Colebrook.
Mrs. Rockwell, mother of the above.
Gen. Morris Woodruff, of Litchfield ; by A. Dickinson.
Col. Perry Averill, of New Preston.
Rev. N. W. Taylor, Professor in Yale College.
David Bellamy, Esq., of Bethlem, son of Rev. Dr. Bellamy.
Hon. Joseph H. Bellamy, grandson of Rev. Dr. B.
Daniel Bacon, Esq., of Woodbury.
Gen. Chauncey Crafts, of Woodbury.
Rev. Azel Backus, Pastor of Church in Bethlem, President of Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y.
Gen. David Bird, of Bethlem.
Dr. Daniel Sheldon, of Litchfield ; by George Catlin.
Rev. Isaac Jones, of Litchfield ; by Snyder.
Mrs. Uriel Holmes, of Litchfield, daughter of Judge Austin, New Hartford.
Major General Francis Bacon, of Litchfield.
Lieut. Frederick Bacon, of U. S. Navy, lost in the " Sea Gull." E. C. Bacon, Esq., of Litchfield.
Upon which the editors of the New Haven Register remarked, that " one of the most interesting features of this festival, was the display of family portraits at the Court House. We were
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PORTRAITS.
struck with their resemblance to the children of the third and fourth generation."
The editor of the New Haven Journal observed, that "among the most interesting exhibitions, at the Litchfield Jubilee, was the gallery of pictures at the Court House, where the sons and daughters of the County assembled to celebrate its birth-day, could look upon the portraits of their fathers and mothers of the ' homespun age,' whose wisdom, purity and virtue, contributed so much to the glory of the place of their nativity. There were pictures in every style of art, from the highest excellence to the daub of the traveling painter. Many of them were taken in the latter part of the last century, by Earle ; and the quaint dresses of many of the ladies, represented to our eye something more of the aristocracy of the Court, than the simplicity of Dr. Bush- nell's 'Kings and Queens of Homespun.' There were the old illustrious names of the County, looking down upon their de- scendants from the walls of the ancient Court House, where many of them had been wont to assemble during life, when its bar and bench possessed a greater array of talent than any other in the land, and where were their children looking with honest pride, on the noble and intellectual faces of their ancestors."
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
AN attempt was made to keep a Register of the names of all who attended the celebration, with a view to publication. And for that purpose, books were lodged at the several Hotels, and at the entrance of the Tent, and a request announced through the village papers, and in handbills, and from the platform, that every person in attendance, would enter his, or her, name, place of residence, and birth. But, owing to the immense crowd, and to the fact that nearly every moment was occupied with the public exercises, very few complied with the request, so that the Register was too imperfect to be published.
Among those in attendance, besides those already named, wc noticed Lieut. Gov. Kendrick, of Waterbury ; President Wool- sey, of Yale College ; Col. Amasa Parker, of Delhi, N. Y., a native of Sharon ; Wm. Rockwell, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., a native of Sharon ; Gamaliel II. Barstow, late Treasurer of the State of New York ; Thomas Day, Esq., late Secretary of this State, a native of Washington ; David Prentice, late Professor of Mathematics in Geneva College, a native of Bethlem ; Hon. D. B. St. John, Superintendent of the New York Banking De- partment, Albany, a native of Sharon; Lawrence Hull, of Angelica, N. Y., a native of Bethlem ; Dr. John Peck, of Ver- mont, a native of Woodbury ; Dr. Goodsell, of Utica, a native of Washington, and E. D. Mansfield, Esq., of Cincinnati, Ohio. Also the following natives of Litchfield, viz. : Hon. Jno. W. Allen, late member of Congress from the Cleveland district, Ohio ; Hon. Horatio Seymour, of Utica ; Hon. John A. Collier, late Comptroller of New York ; Hon. Robert Pierpont, Judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont ; J. Huntington Wolcott, of Boston ;
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CONCLUDING REMARKS.
H. F. Tallmadge, U. S. Marshal, New York ; Jno. Kilbourn, Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench, Canada ; Wm. M. Clark, Esq., of New York ; Hon. Wm. V. Peck, of Portsmouth, Ohio, Judge of the Circuit Court ; Guy, Theodore, and Ashbel Catlin, of Vermont.
Among the venerable men of other days, we noticed on the platform, Daniel Lamson, of Litchfield, aged 97 ; also, Elisha Mason, of the same town, aged 9-both heroes of the Revolu- tion ; also Ebenezer Landon, of Lyons, N. Y., aged 91-having traveled over 300 miles to attend the celebration, accompanied by his son and daughter, and had been absent from Litchfield 46 years.
The early and efficient arrangements of the Central Committee for providing strangers with accommodations, for the preservation of good order, and protection of property, were thoroughly car- ried out and executed. The Sheriff of the County and his Dep- uties were constantly patrolling the streets throughout the day, and the detachment from the "Bacon Guards" were constantly on duty through the night. No pocket was picked, no property stolen or injured, no fighting, wrangling or noise, no person intoxi- cated ; indeed, perfect quiet reigned throughout the whole period of the celebration. We have heard of no occurrence which marred the happiness of the Jubilee, or which cast the least cloud over any part of the exercises. Indeed it was a general remark, that on no similar occasion, was a greater degree of good order and harmony observed, than was witnessed here throughout the whole celebration. According to the estimates made by those conversant with large assemblages, there were probably from eight to nine thousand persons present. More than one thousand visitors were lodged in the village the first night, and within seven or eight miles around the village, nearly two thousand more found comfortable lodgings. Every dwelling was stowed with cheerful and happy guests. We have not yet heard of a person who was unprovided with comfortable accom- modations.
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