USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > New London's participation in Connecticut's tercentenary, 1935 > Part 6
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-Courtesy of Mrs. Ellen N. Watrons
Huguenot House, Truman and Jay Streets, built 1751.
Nathan Hale Play
By CLYDE FITCH
T HIS play was produced with great success in Buell Hall on the evening of June 5, making a most fitting prelude to Nathan Hale Day, June 6. Much credit should be given to the directors of the play, Ray Reed, instructor in the Bulkeley School, and Miss Louise Howe, instructor in the Williams Memorial Institute, both of whom successfully accomplished a great task.
The sponsors of, and the participants in, the play were the Jonathan Brooks Society, Children of the American Revolution, the students of the Bulkeley School and the students of the Williams Memorial Institute.
The music was under the capable direction of Howard T. Pierce, instructor of music in the Bulkeley School, and in the Williams Memorial Institute.
Special mention should be made of Joseph Stetson, who constructed the scenery, and Jules Racine, who painted it.
The idea of producing some well-known play had its inception with Mrs. Sidney H. Miner, the State Director of the organization of the Chil- dren of the American Revolution. These young people successfully pro- duced two minor plays for the meetings of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and it seemed opportune to produce a worth-while play on the night before Nathan Hale Day, which was done by the three organi- zations.
The participants gave realistic portrayals of the historic characters they reproduced.
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
Alice Adams-Constance Bragaw Tom Adams-John Gorman Talbot Boy-Wayne Whitcomb Jefferson Boy-Roland Bishop Brewster Boy -- Walter Douglas
Schoolboys-Harry Archer, James Dicklow, Robert Mansfield, Richard Lathrop
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Schoolgirls-Judith Platz, Katherine Morse, Marylin Morris, Nancy Miner, Jane Washabaugh, Marjorie Crandall
Ebenezer Libanon-Gerald Abernethy Mrs. Knowlton-Barbara Crandall
Angelica Knowlton-Ruth Fielding
Nathan Hale-Henry Nigrelli
Major Guy Fitzroy-Francis Taylor
Jasper-Ned Smith Colonel Knowlton-John Haney
Major Adams-John Dicklow
Major Stanly-Donald Lathrop
Captain Hempstead-William Latham
Captain Hull- George Humphner
Captain Cunningham-Max Bogusolofsky
Widow Chichester-Rosemary Cooper
British Officers-Charles Quarry, Dominic Mark, Luther Daniels, Richard Langdon
British Sentinel-Donald Foster
British Privates - John Murray, Thomas Kelley, Harold Pope, Frank Johnson, Thomas Moran, Harold Perkins, Mortimer Lubow Hangman-Fabian Plona
-Courtesy of Mrs. Eller N. Watrows Hempstead House, 1646 and 1678. Oldest in New London, near the Huguenot House.
Nathan Hale Day THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1935
T HE New London Tercentenary Celebrations reached their height and culminated in the chief event, when MacMonnies' statue of Nathan Hale was unveiled in Williams Park on the 180th anni- versary of Hale's birth.
The exercises were most inspiring ; conducted in the presence of His Excellency the Governor and Staff; His Honor the Mayor ; City Officials ; the sculptor of international fame; the Chairman of the State Tercen- tenary Commission ; young Nathan Hale, four years old, and his parents; the Executor of the estate of Carlotta Boone; the President General of the National Society ; the President of the Connecticut Society; the Presi- dent of the Nathan Hale Branch of New London, Sons of the American Revolution; George Dudley Seymour, the owner of the Hale homestead ; and many distinguished ladies and gentlemen. The occasion was also graced by the presence of the local officers of the U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, U. S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U. S. Coast Guard. Commander Cassidy of the Destroyer Tattnall was present, the ship having been sent to New London as a special representative of the Navy Department.
There were occasional showers during the forenoon and at the noon hour it was thought probable that the exercises would be held in Buell Hall, for which permission had been obtained. However, the clouds dispersed and permitted the large military, naval, and civic parade, marshalled by Major General Payne and his aides, to proceed on the scheduled line of march. At the time of the exercises the sun shone, and the celebration was completed as originally planned.
The students of the Williams Memorial Institute to the number of 750 participated in the parade as their contribution to the 300th anniversary of high school education in America. Thanks are extended to Howard T. Pierce, Musical Director, for conducting the Bulkeley and Williams Memorial Institute bands, and the girls' chorus from the Williams Memorial Institute and Chapman Technical High School.
One of the most pleasing features of the day was the unveiling of the statue by young Nathan Hale of New York City, four years of age. Little Nathan's father, when four years old, unveiled the bronze tablet at the time of the dedication of the old Nathan Hale schoolhouse in 1901. Mr. Rogers was the New London chairman of that occasion and upon writing the Hale relatives recently, ascertained the Nathan of 1901 has a little son of the same name and age as he was at that time.
LT
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The Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, stipu- lated the statue could be placed here provided New London would furnish the pedestal. It is owing to the efforts of the City Council, through its committee as named below, that the statue, a renowned work of art, was located in New London, for the pedestal was provided and the park graded from the Otis K. Dimock Park Fund.
PROGRAM NATHAN HALE DAY, JUNE 6 Military, Naval, and Civic Parade -- 2.00 p.m., d.s.t.
Exercises-3.00 p.m., d.s.t., at the Nathan Hale Statue, Williams Park AMERICA-Bulkeley-W.M.I. Bands, all joining with bands and chorus INTRODUCTORY REMARKS -- Hon. Ernest E. Rogers, General Chair- man New London Tercentenary Committees, and Past President General of the National Society, Sons of the American Revo- lution, Presiding
INVOCATION-Rev. J. Romeyn Danforth, Past Chaplain General of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution
GREETINGS-Colonel Samuel H. Fisher, Chairman State of Connec- ticut Tercentenary Commission, Litchfield
CONNECTICUT MARCH, Nassann -- Bulkeley-W.M.I. Bands
PRESENTATION OF THE NATHAN HALE STATUE-Charles B. Whittelsey, President, Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, Hartford
UNVEILING OF THE STATUE-Nathan Hale (four years old), New York, N. Y.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE STATUE -Hon. Cornelius D. Twomey, Mayor of the City of New London
ANVIL CHORUS, Verdi-Girls' Chorus, Williams Memorial Institute, Chapman Technical High School, and the Bulkeley Band
REMARKS-Hon. George M. Haight, Syracuse, N. Y.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, Ward --- Chorus and Band ADDRESS -- His Excellency, Wilbur L. Cross, Governor of Connecticut THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER-All joining with Band and Chorus BENEDICTION-Rev. Edward J. Brennan, New London It is expected Frederick MacMonnies, Sculptor, New York and Paris, will be present.
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COMMITTEES FOR PEDESTAL
Representing City of New London-Ex-Mayor Alton T. Miner, Chair- man; Mayor Cornelius D. Twomey, Councilor Joseph A. St. Germain, City Manager William A. Holt, Ex-officio.
Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution-Ernest E. Rogers, New London, Chairman ; George Dudley Seymour, New Haven; Charles B. Whittelsey, Hartford.
CELEBRATION COMMITTEE
New London Committee of the Nathan Hale Branch, Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution-Elmer H. Spaulding, President and Chairman ; George H. Grout, Captain Carey Congdon, Alfred Coit, Charles C. Perkins, Rev. J. Romeyn Danforth, Frank H. Chappell, Loren E. Daboll, Henry Holt Smith, Perry E. Stone.
The students of Williams Memorial Institute will march in the Parade; 374 of them will take their places in the formation of the State Flag, near the speakers' stand.
The Williams Memorial Institute, together with the chorus from the Chapman Technical High School, and the Bulkeley Band, participate as their observance of the Tercentenary of Secondary Education in America.
MILITARY, NAVAL AND CIVIC PARADE
POLICE ESCORT
Patrolmen Clyde F. Murphy, Michael Dorsey, Braxton W. Hill, Clarence Wells, Frank Philopena and George Bruhns.
OFFICIALS
Major General Morris B. Payne, Marshal; Lieutenant Colonel Thomas E. Troland, Chief-of-Staff; Captain Alfred Ligourie, Adjutant ; Lieutenant William C. Bushnell, Aide.
REGULAR ARMY UNITS
11th Coast Artillery Band-Warrant Officer Manuel Comulado, Leader ; 45 musicians.
11th Coast Artillery Battalion-Captain S. E. Willard, Battalion Com- mander ; Lieutenant J. R. Steward, Adjutant.
Battery G-Lieutenant M. G. Pohl, Battery Commander; Lieutenant E. G. Griffith and Lieutenant Tom Stayton, Battery Officers.
VIEWS OF NATHAN HALE DAY EXERCISES
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Battery K-Lieutenant John M. England, Battery Commander ; Lieuten- ant N. B. Wilson and Lieutenant P. F. Passarella, Battery Officers ; 140 officers and men.
NAVY UNITS
Submarine Base Detail-Major G. D. Jackson, Battalion Commander ; Lieutenant Charles B. Brook, Adjutant; Lieutenant N. W. Low- rie, Commissary. Color Guard.
Marine Detachment-Captain W. R. Hughes, Commander ; 30 men. First Naval Company-Lieutenant G. D. Cooper, Commander ; Licuten- ant E. J. Burke and Lieutenant C. D. Miller, Platoon Com- manders.
Second Naval Company-Lieutenant J. E. Rezner, Commander; Lieu- tenant Harold Nielson and Lieutenant Charles L. Freeman, Pla- toon Commanders; 200 men.
Detail from Destroyer Tattnall-75 officers and men.
COAST GUARD UNITS
Coast Guard Academy Band-Bandmaster C. W. Messer, Leader; 28 Musicians.
Detail from Fort Trumbull Training Station-Warrant Officer W. C. Dryden, Detail Commander; 26 men.
VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS
George B. E. June, Chairman.
John Coleman Prince Post, American Legion.
Murphy-Rathbun Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
George M. Cole Camp, United Spanish War Veterans.
Connecticut Society, Military Order of Purple Heart-Captain John R. Feegle, Commander: Captain Eric F. Storm, Adjutant; Colors of Organization.
Mattatuck Fife and Drum Corps.
Sons of the American Revolution - Captain Carey Congdon, Leader ; 200 men.
SCHOOL GROUPS
New London Nautical Academy-Lieutenant Robert Davies, Officer in Charge; Cadet James Otis, Battalion Commander; Battalion of Cadets, 30 boys. Bulkeley School Band-Louis Steinberg, Drum Major; 41 boys. W. M. I. and Chapman Tech Girls-96 girls.
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W. M. I. Band-Ruth Fielding, Drum Major; 43 girls.
State Flag Group-374 girls.
W. M. I. Freshmen-200 girls.
Harbor School Drum Corps-35 children. Escort, 25 children.
PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATIONS
New London Girl Scouts-Miss Mathilda E. Hedlund, Leader ; 100 girls. Minnehaha Council, D. of P .- Mrs. Bessie Fancher, Pocahontas; 15 members.
W. W. Perkins Post, Women's Relief Corps-Mrs. Carrie Angeles, President, and four color bearers in an automobile.
Lucretia Shaw Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution-Mrs. Frederick S. Weld, Regent ; ten automobiles ; float.
W. W. Perkins Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
Jared R. Avery Camp, Sons of Union Veterans.
Ann Rogers Lyon Tent, Daughters of Union Veterans.
Red Cross Chapter-Three automobiles occupied by 15 members of the executive board.
OPENING REMARKS
HON. ERNEST E. ROGERS General Chairman New London Tercentenary Committees
Here in this ancient and historic seaport of New London, the adopted home of our hero, where he lived, taught, was respected and loved by old and young, we celebrate the 180th birthday of a young New London schoolmaster. Each succeeding decade adds new lustre to the name and fame of Nathan Hale. He was a distinguished son of Connecticut, and the youthful hero of our nation, "one of the fortunate few who do not die."
Thirty-four years ago, when finishing my address at the dedicatory exercises attending the restoration of our old Nathan Hale schoolhouse, an aged man on the platform leaned over my shoulder and said, "I knew Alice Adams, the betrothed of Nathan Hale." Upon my inquiry, "What is your name?" "Henry A. Stillman of Hartford, aged 86," was the reply. One hundred and fifty-nine years cover the remarkable history of our republic, now the oldest in the world, but it embraces less than the span of three lives, for I knew a man who knew Alice Adams, and when a boy, was a clerk in the Lawrence store.
Not only in New London, but in Coventry, the place of his birth, in East Haddam, where he taught for a few months, and in the schools throughout the State, the name of Hale is uppermost in the minds of
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all, this day. No memorial marks his unknown grave, but his life, character and lofty patriotism are an open book to all mankind.
This statue will be a visible reminder of a choice life, and his last words, known by all, are cut indelibly into this granite pedestal to last forever.
INVOCATION
REV. J. ROMEYN DANFORTH Past Chaplain General of the National Society. Sons of the American Revolution
Oh, Thou who art the same yesterday and today, and for ever, we thank Thee for the glorious yesterdays of our nation. We thank Thec for the men of old who wrought nobly and left us the goodly heritage of freedom and truth.
We pray Thee that the memory of their great lives may make our own lives greater, and an inspiration for those who shall come after. So may the monument we here unveil stir lofty memories and high resolves, that he who wished he had more lives to give for his country may here speed the lives of others forward in the service of our land. So would we seek Thy dedication for this enduring bronze, and for our own immortal souls. In Thy great Name. Amen.
GREETINGS
COLONEL SAMUEL H. FISHER
Chairman, State of Connecticut Tercentenary Commission
Connecticut is enjoying its 300th birthday party. Since the formal opening of the Tercentenary on April 26th there have been exhibits, meetings, parades and other exercises in many parts of the State, and through the summer and early fall there will be many more. The cele- bration is not confined to any particular locality but is one in which all cities, towns and villages may join. The Tercentenary is State-wide.
Because Connecticut is relatively small and compact ; because it has no city dominating the whole State with its overwhelming size; and because it has such a homogeneous population, every part can join easily and naturally in this anniversary, for when one town is having its cele- bration visitors from other localities may easily and understandingly attend.
One of the pleasant features of the Tercentenary will be this inter- change of courtesies during this summer. As a representative of the
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State Commission I wish to bring greetings to New London at this time from the State, and I also bring greetings from Litchfield, our north- western County of the State, to this, our southeastern County. All of us are glad to join in paying our respects to our national hero.
While the Tercentenary primarily commemorates the coming of the first adventurers who forced their way through the wilderness to found a colony on the banks of the Connecticut and on the Sound, the celebration is also intended to do honor to the men and women who came afterwards, and who have carried on the traditions of those early settlers. Some have contributed to the industrial life of the State, others to the educational and cultural life of the people. Others have served the Church, and others have taken their place in the ranks of the defenders of our nation, as did Nathan Hale.
Few sons of Connecticut have made such a romantic appeal to the youth of the nation as this young Yale graduate who so gallantly and dramatically gave his life for his country. The State and the nation would today pay tribute to his memory.
Here he stands, Erect, self-poised, a boyish face, now scén Against the background of this park, A witness to the ages as they pass, That simple duty hath no place for fear.
PRESENTATION ADDRESS
CHARLES B. WHITTELSEY
President Connecticut Society. Sons of the American Revolution
Tribute to those who worked to bring the statue of Nathan Hale to New London was given and the story of Carlotta Boone of Syracuse, who willed the money to provide the statue, was told by Charles B. Whittelsey, President of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, at the Nathan Hale Day Exercises. He presented the statue to the City in the name of Miss Boone and the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and said :
As president of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, it gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to inform you that the Society is most fortunate in being able to carry out the wishes of the late Miss Carlotta Boone of Syracuse, New York, who stated in her will "the sum of $3,000 be given to the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, to be used in placing a statue of Nathan Hale, a replica of Frederick MacMonnies' work, in some school, library, or park or public square in Connecticut .. , Nathan Hale has
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been one of the inspirations, soul companions, and ideals of my life, taking the place of the little brother whom death stole from my child- hood."
An article clipped from the Hart ford Times, May 18, 1918, by Cap- tain Clarence Horace Wickham, then President of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, was brought to my attention January 27, 1931. The article stated that Miss Carlotta Boone's death had occurred and in her will had left $3,000 to the Connecticut Society for a replica of MacMonnies' statue of Nathan Hale, to be erected in Con- necticut.
On February 8, I was advised that George M. Haight was the executor of Miss Boone's estate, with whom I communicated at once, and upon the establishment of the facts, forwarded the check to me, which I presented to the Society with memoranda of Miss Boone's desire, at the annual meeting of the Society held in Bridgeport, February 22, 193-1. At that meeting I appointed Captain Wickham, chairman of the committee, and in his absence, I communicated immediately with the sculptor, Frederick MacMonnies, and informed him of the facts. He told me that he would be delighted to assist in carrying out Miss Boone's wishes. We found that the original cast had been preserved in his studio in Normandy. The order for the replica to be cast in France was given at once.
The Society decided that the City of New London would be the most suitable place for its erection, owing to the fact that Nathan Hale had taught school in that city the longest, and it was from New London that he went forth as a commissioned officer in the Continental Army when he said, "let us march immediately and never lay down our arms until we obtain our independence," at the time of the Lexington alarm.
A committee was appointed to present the matter to the officials of the City of New London. Ernest E. Rogers, Past President of the National and the Connecticut Societies of the Sons of the American Revolution; George Dudley Seymour of New Haven and myself com- prised the committee.
To Ernest E. Rogers all of the credit is due for securing the authori- zation from the City of New London for its placement in this beautiful Williams Park, and their most generous gift of this magnificent pedestal, which is a replica of the original pedestal upon which the original Mac- Monnies statue of Nathan Hale still stands in City Hall Park in New York City, and which was originally designed by the late Stanford White.
In behalf of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the executor of Miss Carlotta Boone's estate, I wish to express their most sincere appreciation to Ernest E. Rogers, Cornelius D. Twomey, Mayor of New London; City Manager William A. Holt,
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members of the New London City Council, the citizens and all who have been so generous as to contribute this pedestal and site for the fulfillment of Miss Carlotta Boone's desire to perpetrate the memory of the nation's and Connecticut's hero-Nathan Hale.
I must not be neglectful in complimenting you upon the wise selection of Battista Bottinelli, sculptor and monumental worker, who has produced the pedestal in the choicest Westerly granite which was selected by Mr. MacMonnies.
Miss Carlotta Boone was the only daughter of Walter and Frances (Brintnall) Boone, descendant on her mother's side from a frugal but idealistic New England ancestry, a great, great granddaughter of Eliaken Stannard of Saybrook, Connecticut, who enlisted as a private in the Sixth Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army in the Ninth Com- pany under Captain John Ely.
The Brintnall family brought Frances to Onondaga County, New York, where she married Walter Boone.
Carlotta was educated in the country schools in that. county. The father's death brought mother and grown daughter to Syracuse, where Carlotta gained a position in the Public Library. It was here that Carlotta found her world of poetic idealism her soul so deeply craved.
Retiring, shy, yet almost ethereal in her idealistic poetic fantasy, she lived in an inner world of which but few of her associates knew little, and poured out a heart full of devotion in the hero worship of Nathan Hale, whose courage and patriotic sacrifice gained her abundant ad- miration.
Such was Carlotta Boone's New England heritage of idealistic loyalty and patriotism. That of which life deemed her adequate expres- sion she found personified in Nathan Hale, and wrote of him:
"NATHAN HALE" 'GIFT OF GOD'
"A worker in the present and a tiller of the sod- Upon thy day of birth, Not dreaming of thy worth
Thy ready father named thee offhand, Nathan-'Gift of God.'
The path of duty was the path thy firm steps ever trod;
What though it led for thee Up to the gallows-tree?
Thy country called and 'Here to serve' thy answer-'Gift of God' All future generations shall remember and applaud ;
Wherever great hearts beat,
Wherever fine souls meet,
Within the heaven within them wilt thou dwell,-O 'Gift of God.' "
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Your honor, Mayor Twomey, in the name of Miss Carlotta Boone and the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, I present this statue of Nathan Hale, one of Connecticut's and America's most distinguished heroes, which is now to be unveiled by Nathan Hale, aged four years, a direct descendant of Dr. Edward Everett Hale, and of Enoch, brother of Nathan Hale.
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Statue immediately after the unveiling by young Nathan Hale, standing at the right.
UNVEILING OF STATUE OF NATHAN HALE
It was particularly fitting that the unveiling of the statue of Nathan Hale should have been by his namesake, four-year-old Nathan Hale of New York City, a great grandson of Edward Everett Hale, noted divine and author, and the great, great, great grandnephew of Nathan Hale, the patriot.
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It is interesting, too, that the boy is the son of Nathan Hale, who unveiled a bronze tablet to the memory of the patriot Hale, June 17, 1901, at the old Nathan Hale schoolhouse in the Ancientest Burial Ground.
The father, participating in the exercises of 1901, was then four years old. He is now a master at the Buckley School for Boys at New York City, and at the time of his participation in the local exercises was a resident of Schenectady.
Nathan Hale, who unveiled the statue today, was born in New York City, April 25, 1931. He attends Lenox School in New York. His mother, Lillian Boynton Hale, taught art at the Waltham School for Girls, and Boston Museum School and the Buckley School at New York.
ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS
HON. CORNELIUS D. TWOMEY Mayor of the City of New London
Mayor Cornelius D. Twomey of this City welcomed guests to the Nathan Hale Day exercises in behalf of the City and accepted the Nathan Hale statue. His remarks follow :
As Mayor of the City of New London may I have the honor and privilege of extending to you, to the members of this patriotic organiza- tion, and to the many people here assembled to do honor to Connecticut's most illustrious son and hero, our most sincere greetings and a hearty welcome. New London is indeed proud to have as guests such a dis- tinguished company, representing not only the State of Connecticut, but also the neighboring states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and to join with them in a tribute to the self-sacrifice and loyalty of this young patriot.
New London is honored by her selection as the recipient of this beautiful statue of Nathan Hale by the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. We are indeed grateful for this choice, but in our hearts we always believed it would be so decided, for, except at Coventry, his birthplace, Nathan Hale here made the most permanent location of his brief life. (He was but 18 when he became master of the Union Grammar School in New London, and had just passed 20 when he left for the seige of Boston, a second lieutenant in Colonel Webb's regiment.)
In New London the name of Nathan Hale has ever been revered. His schoolhouse has been carefully preserved and now, under the ex- cellent care of the Lucretia Shaw Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is a shrine to our people. To our grammar school
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