USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Address delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, July 12, 1905, by request of the citizens, on the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its settlement > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 G916grh 1786360
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 9542
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/addressdelivered1905grot
ADDRESSES
DELIVERED AT
Groton, Massachusetts,
JULY 12, 1905,
BY REQUEST OF THE CITIZENS, ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE
Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary
OF
ITS SETTLEMENT.
ASSA
FAITH
GROT
TS
LABOR
1655
GROTON, 1905.
1786360
i
------
84432 .468
Groton, Mass.
Addresses delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, July 12, 1905, by request of the citizens, on the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its settle- ment. Groton, 1905.
100 р. 23cm.
Historical address by Samuel Abbott Green (p. [121-50) is also published separately.
SHELF CARO
1. Groton, Mass .- Hist. I. Green, Samuel Abbott, 1830-
119968 Library of Congress
F74.G9G87 6-13403
-- Copy 2.
0863811
Isol How Sad, From Boston april 2, 1906 .. ---
TO THE MEMORY OF
The Early Settlers of Groton,
TO WHOM IN MANY WAYS THE PRESENT INHABITANTS OWE SO MUCH, THESE PAGES ARE INSCRIBED.
Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary.
The committee appointed at a Town Meeting held No- vember 8, 1904, to consider the matter of the town holding a celebration in the year 1905, to commemorate the Two Hun- dred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the incorporation of the town, respectfully submit the following report :
I. The town hold a celebration on some one day during the last week of June 1905.
2. We recommend that at this meeting the town raise and appropriate the sum of Five Hundred Dollars for the purpose of said celebration.
3. We recommend that a committee of arrangements, to consist of five persons, be appointed by the moderator of this meeting, subject to the approval of the town, which com- mittee shall have full power to make and carry out all nec- essary arrangements of said celebration, this authority to in- clude the right to approve bills for expenses of the same, up to the amount of the appropriation that the town may make, the payment of said bills to be by order of the Selectmen.
4. We recommend substantially the following program :
a An historical address in the morning in the First Parish Meeting House.
6 A dinner followed by speeches and music.
c A barge ride in the afternoon to give an opportunity for persons who have not been in town recently to see the changes that have taken place.
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d A social gathering in the Town Hall in the evening with such entertainment as the committee of arrangements shall think best to provide.
FRANCIS M. BOUTWELL, MOSES P. PALMER, THOMAS L. MOTLEY, CHARLES BIXBY, GEORGE M. HOWE.
Groton, April 3, 1905.
At a meeting of the committee, Dr. Samuel A. Green was invited to give the address.
General William A. Bancroft was invited to be President of the day. Both accepted.
It was decided to have the dinner in a tent which was pitch- ed on Shumway Field by the permission of the Trustees of the Lawrence Academy and the address in the Town Hall.
COMMITTEE ON INVITATION.
Col. Thomas L. Motley, Mrs. Daniel Needham, Mr. and Mrs. F. Lawrence Blood, Miss Marion Needham, Mr. and Mrs. William A. Lawrence.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
Zara Patch,
John W. Parker,
Milo H. Shattuck,
John Gilson,
Charles Woolley,
Dr. John G. Park,
James Lawrence,
John Lawrence,
Amory A. Lawrence,
William A. Lawrence,
Samuel P. Williams,
Charles Lawrence,
George H. Bixby,
Herbert C. Rockwood,
Joseph B. Raddin,
Frank L. Blood,
William F. Wharton,
Charles E. Bigelow,
John H. Manning,
John H. Robbins,
H. H. C. Bingham, Michael Sheedy, Jr.
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Prayer by Rev. Pemberton H. Cressey.
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that this land, once covered with unbroken forests, is now marked by the fertile farms and the happy homes of men. We thank Thee for the wealth of our inheritance in light and air, and for all the helpful surroundings in this fair region. We thank Thee for the faith which led our fathers to cross the ocean, and for the patience and fortitude which enabled them to establish their freedom in spite of every hardship, and we pray that we of later day may face with equal prowess the difficulties of our day, and thus preserve undiminished that freedom of soul which is our highest inheritance. We pray for our Commonwealth, and for the mighty nation of which we form a part. Give to the servants of the people who are in high places of responsibility such wisdom and devotion as will enable them properly to administer the affairs of public welfare. More and more may honor and love abound in the lives of individuals, of families, and of nations, until all Thy children upon the earth shall emerge out of the darkness of superstition and sin into the light of righteousness and truth. Amen.
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ADDRESS OF WELCOME
BY
MR. FRANCIS M. BOUTWELL.
Ladies and Gentlemen: It is now my pleasure to extend to you all, on behalf of the Town of Groton, a cordial welcome to this birthday gathering. There are, no doubt, many pres- ent who have not been here for many years, who long ago lived in Groton, and others who attended school here in the days gone by. And it may be that there are some here who never visited the town before, but to whom its soil seems sacred because it was the home of their ancestors.
We hope that you will feel that this is not only an anniver- sary occasion, but that it is a real old home day. We are all here together, all in the old home.
It is now my pleasure to present, as president of the day, a gentleman who needs no introduction in his native town, -
MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM A. BANCROFT.
Mr. Chairman, Friends and Neighbors : By the determi- nation of the citizens of the Town of Groton, in town meet- ing assembled, we are met to commemorate the anniversary of the settlement of this town by white men. We are met also in response to a natural desire to pay tribute to our an- cestors and predecessors, and to review the occupation of these fields by them and their descendants for two centuries and a half. They chose a spot of surpassing loveliness, in
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the midst of a region whose beauty has ever delighted the eye, and whose fertile soil compares well with any in New England. Theirs were the rugged virtues and theirs was a life of hardship and peril. A God-fearing race, they had as- sured themselves that their future life was secure, and may it not be that the rigor of their life here was softened by the charm of their environment? Wont as they were to solace themselves with the prospect of happiness in the world to come, perhaps they were not altogether unconscious of the prospect of earthly splendor which unfolded itself from these rounded summits with its glory of sky and valley, of moun- tain and river, of forest and lakelet, -our possession today, as it was theirs of long ago. And what a race of men suc- ceeded Deane Winthrop and his companions! With hand and brain together they wrought-industrious and saga- cious-in their persons, the laborer and the capitalist united, the ideal state of man. Through their exertion the earth yielded its increase and the landscape grew fairer. Of what a number of superior individuals, too, has this town been the birthplace or the abiding-place! Among them have been two United States Senators; two Cabinet Officers; three Governors of states; one Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to England; eleven Congressmen; two At- torney Generals of States; three Justices of Supreme Courts of States or of a United States Court; three Justices of the Superior Courts of States; two Speakers of the Massachusetts House; besides many holding other public offices of dignity, and many eminent in the professions and in affairs, both in war and in peace. I may not speak the names of all, but three I should like to speak, not meaning to discrimi- nate, -- indeed, without mention of these names in their re- spective centuries, the history of our Country cannot be written :- Major Simon Willard in the Seventeenth Century; Colonel William Prescott in the Eighteenth, and Governor Boutwell in the Nineteenth. If the spirits of the illustrious dead hover about the abodes of their mortal bodies and share the interests of the living, what a company is gathered here! What feelings of pride rightfully invade our breasts when
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reflection reveals the associations that are ours! Small must be the soul and narrow the brain in which the story of our town cannot arouse the ennobling emotions which generous natures always feel in the contemplation of worthy manhood and womanhood. But besides the feeling of pride which is justly ours, we are entitled also to show that other emotion which in all ages has been regarded as creditable to man- kind. We cannot, and we need not, restrain our demonstra- tions of affection for the town of our birth or of our choice. What delightful sensations recur again and again as the lial- lowed memories come back? What friendships! What glowing scenes! What happy hours! But I must not pursue these pleasurable reflections further.
There is one among us, born in the town, of its best line- age, and of which he has never ceased to be an inhabtant, whose services to the town surpass those of all others, no matter how great. Not only is the present generation his debtor, but succeeding generations for all time must be also. It would seem that everything in existence, every conceiv- able record, every printed or written document, every scrap of information concerning the town, from 1655 until today. his indefatigable industry has procured and preserved in the most imperishable form known to man. I do not know how many volumes relating to Groton he has published, but probably no community of its size, situation and age, since the world was made, ever had such priceless treasure, in such abundance, bestowed upon it. I make no mention of his . other services and his other titles to distinction, numerous and important though they be. Today we recognize his highest claim to our respect and gratitude, and I present to you to speak our feelings from the fullness of his knowledge, the devoted lover of the town, the tireless recorder of its his- tory, our orator, the
HONORABLE SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN.
After this complimentary and flattering introduction by your president, I scarcely know who I am, or how to begin, or what to say. I thank him, and I thank you for your warm reception of me.
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I will say, in passing, that last year, in summer, I sent to Groton, England, and got eight elm trees, trees perhaps five or six feet in height, and some acorns and some beech nuts. The trees were set out this spring, and probably not more than three of the elm trees will live, but of the acorns there are ten or twelve that have come up, and of the beech nuts three or four at least. At some future day, when they are large enough, I shall have them placed in some public grounds belonging to the town.
There are six other towns .besides this town in the United States that bear the name of Groton. Of these six towns, I have visited five, and there is only one that I have not seen, [ and that is in the State of South Dakota. At some ' future day I will visit that place also, and if I chance to be present fifty years hence, I will certainly give an account of that township as well.
[Transpose These two paragraphs, and invest in page 36.]
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS
BY
SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN
ON this interesting occasion we all miss the presence of one whose form and figure were familiar to every man, woman. and child in town ; and only a few months ago we were all looking forward to the time when he would take a prominent part in these exercises of to-day. Some of us remember the Bi-centennial Celebration which took place a half-century ago, and a few of us now in this assembly were present at that gathering. We recall the grace and dignity with which he, as President of the day, performed the duties of his office. both in the meeting-house where the historical address was given, and in the tent where the after-dinner speeches were made. Whenever or wherever his services were needed. whether in the councils of the State or of the nation, they were always cheerfully rendered ; and in this quiet village his aid and advice, often sought by his townsfolk, were always freely given. In many walks of life, both lofty and lowly. his absence will be keenly felt ; but here among his old-time neighbors more than elsewhere, the loss is a personal one. and comes home to us all. We miss him now at this time · more than words can tell. When death strikes such a man. who has led a blamieless life, and whose bodily frame has be- come enfeebled by the infirmities of age, his removal is not a cause for sorrow ; but rather it is an occasion for devout gratitude to Heaven and for heartfelt thanksgivings that lie was spared to us during so many years. The noble example of such a one is as lasting as the countless ages of time, and is never lost, for the continuity of life keeps up the thread of connection. He died at an advanced age in the fulness of
OMOTRIN
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all his mental and intellectual powers, which seemed to strengthen as the years rolled by. Truly he was the Grand Old Man of the Commonwealth ! As long as the town of Groton shall have a municipal existence, the memory and traditions connected with the name of Boutwell will be count- ed among her richest treasures.
The story of this town has been told so many times, both in printed book and public address, that now I shall not re- peat the tale. I might give a narrative of the trials and hardships, suffered equally by brave men and resolute women, during the first century of the settlement ; I might tell how the town was attacked by the Indians and burnt, and how the inhabitants were driven away from their homes and compel- led for a while to abandon the place ; how on various oc- casions men were killed by the savages, families broken up, and children carried off into captivity ; and how oftentimes from the failure of crops they were pinched by want; and how they endured other privations,-but a relation of these facts at this time would be as tedious as a twice-told tale. Instead of describing the sad and dreadful experiences of the early settlers, and the destruction of their homes by fire and hideous ruin, I shall confine myself to other topics, and speak of some of the conditions of their day, bringing the account down to a later period, and touching on a few of the more important events in our local history.
In early Colonial days a town did not become a municipal corporation by formal vote of the General Court, with power to act as one person, but a grant of land, sometimes contain- ing many thousand acres, was made to a body of men under certain conditions, which was practically a quasi form of in- corporation. The most important of these conditions was the speedy settlement of a Godly minister, and often another condition was that those persons who received land should build houses thereon within a stated period of time. Some- times a board of selectmen was named by the Legislature, who should look after the prudential affairs of the town until their successors were chosen. In those days this course was substantially the only formality needed in order to give local
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self-government to a new community. The term "prudential affairs" was a convenient expression, intended to cover any- thing required by a town which prudence would dictate.
In the early records of the Colony the proceedings of the General Court, as a rule, were not dated day by day,- though there are many exceptions, -but the beginning of the sessions is always given, and occasionally the days of the month was entered. These dates in the printed edition of the Records are frequently carried along without authority, sometimes covering a period of several days, or even a week or more ; and for this reason often it is impossible to tell the exact date of any particular legislation when there are 110 contemporaneous documents on file which bear on the subject. In some instances papers are found among the State Archives or elsewhere, which fix the date of such legislation that is wanting in the official records.
For these reasons it is impossible to tell to a dot or a day, with entire certainty, when the town of Groton began its municipal life or official existence, --- or, in other words, when it was "incorporated," as the modern expression is. With- out any doubt the date was near the end of May, 1655, Old Style. It must have been after May 23, as on that day the General Court began its session ; and it was before May 29, when the next entry in the records appears. Fortunately there is still preserved among the manuscripts of the New England Historic Genealogical Society a contemporary rec- ord of the action of the General Court in regard to the matter. : This interesting old paper, officially attested by Edward Rawson, Secretary of the Colony, and by William Torrey, Clerk of the Deputies, was given to that Society by the late Charles Woolley, for many years an honored resident of Groton. This document was signed on May 25, the day when the Assistants, or Magistrates as they are often called, grant- ed the petition, and apparently at the same time the House of Deputies took concurrent action. At that period the As- sistants formed the body of law-makers which is known to-day as the State Senate ; and at that time the House of Deputies corresponded to the present House of Representatives.
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It may be proper to add that the Groton Historical Society owns a contemporaneous copy of the record made near the time of the Grant by Edward Rawson, Secretary of the Colony, which is dated May 23, 1655. It was found among the papers of the late John Boynton, a former town-clerk of Groton, and may have been sent, soon after the settlement of the town, to the selectmen for their information and guidance. Perhaps the Secretary took the first day of the General Court, as in England before April 8, 1793, all laws passed at a session of Parliament went into effect from the first day, unless there was some enactment to the contrary.
But whatever the date, be it a few days more or less, the substance is always of greater importance than the shadow ; so it is of less moment to learn of the exact time of the order than it is to know that the town has now reached the ripe old age of two centuries and a half, and that she wears the dig- nity of her increasing years like a crown of glory.
Besides Groton the only two other towns established in the year 1655 by the Colony of Massachusetts Bay were Billerica and Chelmsford ; and singularly enough all three were con- tiguous townships, all lying in the same county, and all three "incorporated" within a very few days of each other. It should be borne in mind that originally the town of Westford was a part of the territory of Chelmsford. Why these three adjoining towns were thus created at this particular time may not have been a mere coincidence. It may have been the result of a certain condition of political ins and outs at that early period of Colonial history which now cannot be ex- plained.
The Charter, duly given by Charles I., was abrogated by the English courts in the summer of 1684. The action wa considered by the Colonists as little short of a gross outrage, and caused much confusion in public affairs as well as hard feeling among the people. Says Palfrey, in his "History of New England" (IV. 5), "The charter of Massachusetts, the only unquestionable title of her citizens to any rights, propri- etary, social, or political, had been vacated by regular process in the English courts." It was vacated by a decree in Chan-
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cery, on June 21, 1684, which was confirmed on October 23 of the same year. On May 25, 1686, Joseph Dudley, a native of Roxbury, under a commission from King James II. became President of New England, with jurisdiction over the whole region. This office he held for seven months, until December 30, when Edmund Andros became Governor of New England, appointed by James II. He proved to be a highly arbitrary officer, and was deposed by a revolution of the people, on April 18, 1639. Andros was followed by Simon Bradstreet, who was Governor from May 24, 1689, to May 14, 1692. He was the grandfather of Dudley Bradstreet, an early minister of this town, which gives an additional interest to his name at this time. During this period another Charter, signed by William and Mary, on October 7, 1691, and now known as the Second Charter, became operative. Under this instru- ment.the Colony was made a Province, which is a lower grade of political existence, as it has fewer privileges and more re- strictions as to the rights of the people. From June, 1684, when the first Charter was vacated, till May, 1692, when the Second Charter went into operation, the time is generally spoken of as the Inter-Charter period, and is an exceptional one in the history of Massachusetts and New England.
The first settlers of the town came here less than one gen- eration after the Colonial Charter of Massachusetts-Bay was granted by Charles I. They represented a rugged race, will- ing to undergo hardships in daily life, and expecting to meet danger from many sources. Under adverse conditions they pushed into the wilderness and made their homes in a region little known to the white man. They were a brave band, and took their trials and troubles with a readiness worthy of all praise. The new township lay on the frontiers, and all be- yond was a desolate wild. It stood on the outer edge of cvilization, and for a time served as a barrier against Indian attacks on the inlying settlements. The lot of a frontiers- man, even under favorable conditions, is never a happy one, but at that period, particularly when cut off from neighbors and deprived of all social and commercial intercourse with other towns, and in an age when newspapers and postal privi-
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leges were unknown, his lot was indeed hard. In after-years this experience told on the settlers to their credit and benefit. and made the bold character that cropped out in later gen- erations when there was need of such stuff. The laws of heredity are not well enough known for us to trace closely cause and effect ; but the lives led by the early pioneers of the Colony had their fruitage in the wars of the next century. These laws work in a subtle and mysterious way and cannot be defined, but the hardships of one generation toughen the fiber of the next. Given a strong body and a high standard of morality, and the offspring will show the inherited traits. Every farmer in this town knows that a strain of blood and breed will tell on his domestic stock. As flowers, by a pro- cess not revealed to us, select the tint of delicate colors from the swampy bogs of nature, so the toils of life weave the warp and the woof which make up noble character. "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together."
It was once wittily said by a writer, -- so distinguished in his day that I hardly know whether to speak of him as a poet or a physician, but whom all will recognize as the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table,-that a man's education begins a hun- dred years before he is born. I amalmost tempted to add that even then he is putting on only the finishing touches of his training. A man is a composite being. both in body and soul, with a long line of ancestry whose beginnings it is impossible to trace; and every succeeding generation only helps to foster and weld together the various and innumerable qualities which make up his own personality, though they be modified by countless circumstances that form his later education, and for which he alone is responsible.
The first comers to Massachusetts brought from their Eng. lish homes a love of personal freedom and liberty. For gen- erations this feeling had not been encouraged there by the royal authorities; and its growth, hampered by many obsta- cles, had been slow. These settlers were a hard-working set and a God-fearing people, and of the right stock to found a nation. Here the new conditions enabled them to give free scope to their actions, and the natural drift of events was all
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toward individual independence in its widest sense. There was no law against conventicles or non-conformists, and for that period of time there was great liberality of sentiment on the part of the Colonists. For centuries the microbic atoms of independence had been kept alive in England, and from one generation to another they handed down the germs which developed in the new world, and bore fruit in the American Revolution. From the time of King John, who, on June 15, 1215, signed the Great Charter of the Liberties of England, the recognition of human rights was advancing in the mother country slowly but steadily; and the new settlers, infected with similar ideas, brought with them the spirit of these political principles. The development of broad views was gradual, but on every advance the wheels were blocked behind, and the gain was held. Each separate step thus taken led finally to the Declaration of Independence, which was the culmination of political freedom. Based on this instrument, and following closely both in spirit and in point of time, was the written Constitution of the United States, which has served as a model for so many different governments.
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