USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Princeton > Celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Princeton, Mass., October 20th, 1859 : including the address of Hon. Charles Theodore Russell, the poem of Prof. Erastus Everett, and other exercises of the occasion > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00082 9546
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/celebrationofone 1859prin
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CELEBRATION
OF THE
ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
INCORPORATION
OF TIIE -
TOWN OF PRINCETON, MASS.
OCTOBER 20th, 1859.
INCLUDING THE ADDRESS OF HON. CHARLES THEODORE RUSSELL,
· THIE POEM OF
PROF. ERASTUS EVERETT, AND OTHIER EXERCISES OF THE OCCASION.
` "He who regards not the memory and character of his ancestors, deserves to be forgotten by posterity."
WORCESTER : TRANSCRIPT OFFICE, WM. R. HOOPER, PRINTER. 1860.
1.79181
1:
F
844725 . 6
Princeton, Mass.
Celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Princeton, Mass., October 20th, 1859, including the address of Hon. Charles Theo- dore Russell, the poem of Prof. Erastus Everett, and other exercises of the occasion ... Worcester, W. R. Hooper, printer, 1860.
CHELF CARD 119 p. 23cm.
1. Princeton, Mass .- Hist. 1. Everett, Erastus, 1813-1900. Ir. Rus- sell, Charles Theodore, 1815-1896. 11. Title.
Library of Congress
₣74.P9P92
1-11575
: 34728 Copy 2.
CHICAG
MBRAR
PRINCETON
Centennial Celebration
OCTOBER 20th, 1859.
ـبـ
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Kinn. 96.
ACTION OF THE TOWN.
Pursuant to a warrant issued by the Selectmen of the Town, upon the petition of fifteen legal voters thereof, a town meeting was held at Boylston Hall, on the 22d day of September, 1859, at which meeting it was voted to cele- brate the one hundreth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, on the 20th day of October next, with ser- vices and observances suitable to such an occasion. And the following persons were chosen a committee to make all necessary arrangements for the same, viz .:
At Large .- George F. Folger, Addison Smith, John Brooks, Jr., Wilkes Roper, Charles A. Whittaker, George E. Pratt, Edward E. Hartwell, John C. Davis, Ivory Wil- der, Joseph M. Stewart.
By Districts .- No. 1, Harlow Skinner; 2, Abram Eve. rett ; 3, William H. Brown; 4, Otis Wood ; 5, Paul Gar- field ; 6, George Mason; 7, Samuel Roper ; 8, Artemas J. Brooks ; 9, William B. Goodnow ; 10, Joshua T .. Everett.
At a subsequent meeting of the town, held at Boylston Hall, on the 8th day of November, "Voted, to publish in book form the exercises of the late Centennial Celebra- tion ;" and chose the following a committee to carry the same into effect :
Committee .- Joshua T. Everett, Charles Russell, William B. Goodnow, Edward E. Hartwell, Albert C. Howe.
An organization of the Committee of Arrangements was effected by the choice of William B. Goodnow, Chair- man, and Edward E. Hartwell, Secretary. Sub-committees
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were appointed, to whom special duties were assigned ; and the following persons were unanimously chosen as che officers of the day :
PRESIDENT OF THE DAY. HON. CHARLES RUSSELL.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
HON. JOHN BROOKS,
DR. ALPHONSO BROOKS,
ISRAEL EVERETT,
JOSEPH MASON,
CALEB S. MIRICK,
SOLON S. HASTINGS, EsQ.,
DEA. HENRY BOYLES,
DR. WARD N. BOYLSTON,
EBENEZER SMITH, RUFUS DAVIS,
JOHN G. HOBBS,
DANIEL DAVIS,
MOSES GARFIELD,
FREDERICK PARKER.
TOAST MASTER. JOSHUA T. EVERETT.
CHIEF MARSHAL. WILLIAM B. GOODNOW.
. ASSISTANTS.
HARLOW SKINNER,
EDWARD E. HARTWELL,
WILLIAM H. BROWN,
GEORGE F. FOLGER,
GEORGE E. PRATT, OTIS WOOD,
JONAS B. BROWN,
CHIARLES T. MIRICK,
JOIIN BROOKS, JR., ADDISON SMITHI,
ARTEMAS J. BROOKS.
CHAPLAINS. REV. HUMPHREY MOORE, D. D., REV. DAVID O. ALLEN, D. D.
THE CELEBRATION.
Princeton welcomed home her native and adopted sons, October 20th, 1859, to a festival long to be remembered, in commemoration of her one hundredth birthday. As a stand-point from which to look backward and forward, the occasion is deeply suggestive, and the exercises of the day were, in a very satisfactory degree, interesting and im- pressive.
The weather was unusually cold for the season, yet warm hearts were ready to greet, and were as warmly greeted in return. A family gathering-scattered East and West, North and South-the good old grandmother could hardly expect to see all "who have gone out from her, but who are yet of her," present; but a very large number, from those whose whitened locks proclaimed them the friends of her earlier years, to those who could hardly lisp her name, were there, to exchange kindly salu- tations, to revive old, yet none the less pleasing, associa- tions, and unite in ascriptions of praise to the Father of Mercies, for giving so " goodly a heritage."
OUT-DOOR DEMONSTRATIONS.
The festivities of the day commenced with the firing of cannon, the parade of citizens, under the escort of the Wachusett Cornet Band, and other public manifestations of rejoicing. The streets and many of the buildings on the hill were handsomely decorated, under the superin-
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tendence of Col. Beals, of Boston. The Wachusett Hotel saluted visitors as they came up the hill, with the motto, over its portico, " We welcome you home," and the house it- self was profusely ornamented. Across the Common were suspended the flags of all nations, and the Union Congrega- tional Church was gaily decorated with the Colonel's most impressive combination of colors, while in the recess in front hung a full length portrait of "The Father of his Country." Over the pulpit was placed the motto, which told the whole story of the celebration :
" PRINCETON INCORPORATED OCT. 20TH, 1759."
and other appropriate memorial emblems and mottoes were displayed throughout the town.
PROCESSION.
At 10 o'clock A. M., a procession was formed on the Common, under the direction of the Chief Marshal, William B. Goodnow, and his aids, in the following order :
Aid. Chief Marshal. Aid.
Escort. Thirty of the Sons of Princeton. Music - Wachusett Cornet Band. President of the day, Orator and Poct. Chaplains, Vice Presidents and Invited Guests. Rutland Brass Band. Rutland delegation, under the direction of Col. Calvin G. Ilowe as Marshal. Citizens of Princeton and other towns.
The boisterous weather made it necessary to repair to the church, (Rev. Wm. T. Briggs',) whither the procession was conducted, and where the chief exercises were held.
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EXERCISES AT THE CHURCH.
When the large audience-filling both aisles and galle- ries to overflowing-had assembled, William B. Goodnow, Chief Marshal, called the meeting to order, and introduced the President of the day, Hon. Charles Russell, who, in coming forward, spoke briefly and in a congratulatory manner of the pleasant circumstances which had called them together; regretting that they had not now the large and spacious church built by their fathers more than sixty years ago, but which had now passed away. He craved the indulgence of the audience while they made the best use of the accommodations they had. He then called at- tention to the exercises of the day, which were as follows :
I .- Music by the Band. II .- A Voluntary by the Choir.
III .- Reading of select portions of the Seriptures by Rev. Wm. T. Briggs. IV .- Prayer by Rev. Humphrey Moore, D. D., of Milford, N. H. V .- An original Hymn, composed for the oeeasion by Joseph W. Nye, of East Princeton, was sung by the Choir.
HYMN.
Not as they met-those pioneers, One hundred years ago to-day, Meet we, as elose those many years, Our tribute of respeet to pay ; They met, a brave but feeble band,
Where now a number great we stand.
Here, where the savage loved to roam, Amid the dim old solitudes,
Hath education found a home ; And echo now these "grand old woods,"
With music such as science brings,
Where'er she spreads her golden wings !
No longer dormant lay the fields, Stirred by the farmer's clearing plough,
The pasture wild a harvest yields, Rewarding well his sweaty brow ; And yearly doth the fruitful soil, Repay him for his days of toil !
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And still with ever watchful eye, Our loved high priest, "Wachusett," stands, While fruitful vales around him lie, Baptised in plenty at his hands ; He waves his censor, and the gale, The fragrance beareth through the vale !
God of Creation ! bless us here, As on this festal day we come ; Be Thou to guide us ever near, And take us to Thy heavenly home When all our meetings here are o'er, To worship Thee'forevermore.
And when another hundred years, Have rolled upon their course sublime, When all our earthly joys and fears Have disappeared with fading time; Here may our children's children meet, And joyfully this scene repeat !
After this, the following Oration was delivered by Hon. Charles T. Russell, of Boston.
ORATION
BY HON. CHARLES T. RUSSELL.
One hundred years ago, to-day, the few and scattered dwellers about the base of Wachusett, received from the Colonial Legislature, and the Royal Governor, the act which gave them a place and a name among the municipal corporations of Massachusetts. Here and now, upon the soil they settled and subdued, not far from the humble tavern where they held their first town meeting, we, their children, meet on the old and loved homestead, in joyful commemoration of the centennial birthday of our town.
Gathering on this autumnal morning, at home and from abroad, not strangers nor the public, but townsmen, friends, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters-a family circle, around the family fireside-at a family festival, our thoughts irre- sistibly turn to family matters. Here, on a Thanksgiving day, seated, as it were, on the settle, by the dear old chim- ney corner, while the dinner is cooking, cold and strange would it be, indeed, did we not talk of family history, with minuteness, even, of remembrance and incident.
We come, at a mother's kindly call, with a child's filial heart, to meet her, dearer by every wrinkle time sets upon her brow, in her own home. It is but the impulse of her
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early instructions, the first warm greetings over, that we reverently bow before our Maker, at her knee, and with the earnestness of childhood, adopt its consecrated words, and
Thank the goodness and the grace, That on our birth have smiled, And in these Christian days, Made each a free and happy child.
Rising from this grateful duty to other service, insensate should we be, did not our hearts, in this interview of filial and parental love, break forth in blessings many, and too strong, perhaps, for stranger ears, upon her who so kindly cared for our youth, and so sweetly smiles on our manhood.
In our most public proceedings, to-day, we are but townsmen, in town meeting assembled. No article in our warrant authorizes any business but of immediate domestic concernment, and I should be instantly called to order by universal shout, were I to attempt to speak of aught but our own early history, being allowed, of course, to refer to those larger and more general events, which have entered into, modified and shaped it.
Standing where our fathers stood a hundred years ago, removed from them by a century, the most stirring, active and marvellous, in its progress, history and developments, of any since the Christian era, we find our town sharing always in the general advance quite up to the standard of an agricultural and conservative community, still in all that is peculiar, as little changed as any in the Commonwealth. Yet how grand and striking the contrasts made by mere circumstances, the changes of time, and the progress of knowledge and events, between the days of them, the fathers, and us, the children.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, the hostile warwhoop had ceased to be heard in the "wilderness country, beyond the Nashua," and around the Wachusett. Sholan no longer kept his royal seat, in sight from this hill, between the Washacums. Lancaster had risen from the
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ashes in which the Narragansett war had laid it. Worces- ter sent out no bodies of soldiery on the report that large numbers of Indians "hovered between it and Wachusett Mountain." And yet of the first settler in Princeton, the grandfather had been killed, and the father attacked by these same savages ; and the daughter, born as late as 1739, recollected to have gathered blueberries on this very hill with a file of soldiers for protection. Men, younger than many I now address, remembered the Indian fight in Sterling, and the burning of the church and last attacks at Lancaster-remembrances, events just then occurring, might well quicken and impress.
But if the savages, as enemies, had retired, the forest was present. Looking from this eminence, on the 20th of October, 1759, the eye rested upon a wilderness, clothed in all the gorgeous beauty of a New England Autumn, -but unbroken in its whole extent save where some dis- tant pond glittered in the sunlight, or the curling smoke re- vealed the settler's dwelling, or the smouldering fires of the pioneer's clearing. Hubbardston, Sterling and Boyls- ton were not. Westminster was but a twin born sister. No roads threaded these primeval woods. And dweller found dweller, in traffic, mutual aid or social intercourse, by the bridle path and marked tree, escorted by an occa- sional wolf or growling bear. No mail-no weekly post- man, even, brought news from the inner world to these outside settlers. What they learned of the distant homes they had left away down to Shrewsbury, Lancaster and Weston and Watertown, they gathered by chance visits, or the letter some friendly hand casually brought. The Boston Weekly Newspaper, which found its way occasion- ally to some of them, told them from time to time, of the stirring events transpiring around them, and in the distant country to which they owed allegiance.
Our fathers were the subjects of Great Britain. The act which made them a town, and the warrant which called them together to organize it, were alike in the name of
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the second George. Lightly, as in their forest homes, their allegiance ordinarily sat upon them,-there was a peculiar significance to it just now. They were in the midst of sharing actively the first great contest for civil liberty on the continent. Their sovereign was its leader, and king and colonist, cemented by a common interest, alike uncon- scious of the fact, were laying broad and deep the founda- tion of future freedom.
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Hardly more than a century since, France, by military posts and possessions, had drawn a narrowing circle around the English Colonies, and, in a magnificent sweep, claimed jurisdiction from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to that of Mexico. On the Saguenay and Ottawa, amid the soli- tary grandeur of Niagara, at Champlain, and along the whole line of inland waters from Ontario to Michigan, the rude cross marked her faith, and the fleur de lis asserted her power. Her soldiery struggled with Washington for the beautiful basin of the Ohio. "In the whole valley of the Mississippi, to its head springs in the Alleghanies, no standard floated but hers." The institutions of the middle ages and rising liberty confronted each other in the primeval forest and untrampled prairie. What race should people these vast solitudes, what language make them vocal,-feudalism or freedom, Catholicism or Protestant- ism, which should take root in this virgin soil,-these were the grand issues of that contest Washington opened at Great Meadows, and Wolfe closed at Quebec.
Long before Marquette, La Salle and Hennepin had explored the Mississippi, from the falls of St. Anthony to its mouth, and reared along its solitary banks the arms of France. French forts were established at Champlain, Ontario, Niagara, Erie, and finally on the sources of the Ohio at Pittsburg, while the unbroken forests swarmed with their Indian allies, from the shores of the lakes to the frowning ramparts of Quebec. Massachusetts not long back had mourned French and savage inroads, of which she dreaded the renewal, at points within our view to-day.
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They had roused the peaceful Quaker spirit of Pennsyl- vania, and the more ardent vigor of Virginia and New York. The races approached, the lines were drawn, the posts taken, the crisis impended, and the rattle of Wash- ington's musketry in the western wilderness "broke the repose of the world," and, as has been well said, " began the battle, which was to banish from the soil and neighbor- hood of our republic the institutions of the middle age, and to inflict on them fatal wounds throughout the conti- nent of Europe."
In 1750, the French and English Commissioners at Paris had failed to settle the boundaries of their North American territory by negotiation. In 1754, Washington surren- dered at Fort Necessity. The year following, Massachu- setts troops secured Nova Scotia, and became associated with, if they did not incur, the infamy of removing the peaceful Acadians. Braddock, self-willed and impracticable, met his disastrous defeat in the forests of Fort Du Quesne. In 1756, war was finally declared between England and France, and the chivalric Montcalm assumed the French command in America. Pushing through the forest and along Lake Ontario, while Loudoun and Abercrombie lin- gered at Albany, ho captured the fort at Oswego, reared upon its ruins the cross, and by its side a pillar, bearing the arms of France, and the inscription, "Bring lilies with full hands."
Flushed with success, the next year he descended the shores of Lake George upon Fort William Henry, with eight thousand French and Indians, where the gallant Monro maintained a death struggle, till half his guns were burst and his ammunition all expended. In August of that year, Massachusetts issued an order, "for all and every one of his Majesty's well affected subjects, able to bear arms, to repair to Fort Edward, on the Hudson, to serve with Gen. Webb, for the relief of Fort William Henry, which still stands out fighting against a large and numerous body of the enemy." Already the regiments of the counties of
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Hampshire and Worcester had gone forward to the relief of Monro, and, with their associates in arms, but for the inefficiency of Webb, might have saved us the sad disaster of that broken-hearted officer's surrender.
Just then, in the language of another, " The English had been driven from every cabin in the basin of the Ohio. Montcalm had destroyed every vestige of their power within that of the St. Lawrence." " Of the North Ameri- can Continent, the French claimed, and seemed to possess, twenty parts in twenty-five, leaving four only to Spain and but one to Britain." England herself, straining every nerve to exhaustion, to aid the great protestant power, then developing itself under Frederic,-borne down by an incompetent ministry, which distrusted the colonies, and was repudiated by the people, seemed incapable of turning the tide of American affairs. Massachusetts, through all her borders, trembled for her security, and the dwellers in her more unsettled interior, recalled, with fearful forebod- ings, savage inroads within their personal recollection, and from causes again active.
At this moment of disaster and gloom, England's great commoner assumed the guidance of her counsels, and accomplished some of the brightest glories of her history. Entering permanently upon his administration in 1757, challenging the support of the colonies by a generous confidence, throwing to the winds the fears, and boldly reversing the maxims of his predecessors, he matured and executed those plans, which crowned the first great Amer- ican conflict with the entire subjugation of French Amer- ica.
Animated by his justice, and their confidence in him, the Colonies rallied at once to his support. Massachusetts sent seven thousand troops to the army of that year, and had en- rolled nearly one-third of all her effective men. In July, Am- herst, seconded by Wolfe, captured Louisburg, and in the same month the gallant Howe fell at Lake George, and Abercrombie retreated, disastrously repulsed by Montcalm
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from Ticonderoga. In November, Forbes, prompted and sustained by the energetic spirit of Washington, took Fort Duquesne, and as his country's flag rose over it, gave it the name of that country's protector. The persevering Bradstreet rescued Abercrombie's division from entire disaster by the subjugation of Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario.
In 1759, in the steady march of events, Niagara, Ticon- ' deroga and Crown Point were taken by the English, and the French driven back upon the St. Lawrence. Montcalm repaired to Quebec, where his sagacious mind saw the decisive blow must be met, and awaited it in fearless but foreboding self-possession. On the 13th of September it fell, and Wolfe, noblest and bravest of British officers, over unprecedented obstacles, achieved, with his life, on the plains of Abraham, the first decisive victory of American liberty on the battle field. Our fathers, in their humble homes in the forest, received, with their act of incorpora- tion, the grateful tidings just then sending a thrill of exul- tant joy throughout the Colonies, and which emancipated them from the further power or fear of French or Indian.
Such were the times and scenes amid which our fathers lived. Such the stirring circumstances and grand events transpiring around them,-not distant and remote and to them indifferent,-but upon their very frontier, and threat- ening home and fireside. They shared the duties and dangers of the field, and in almost every household, nearly or more remotely mourned its losses. One has only to run over the muster rolls of Chandler, Ruggles and others to see how largely all this region of Worcester County participated in the French wars, and how largely they suffered from them. It is a somewhat curious and inter- esting fact that the first settler of Princeton made himself bankrupt by a purchase of cattle for the supply of the British army in Canada.
I have detained you longer, perhaps, than I ought, especially after my promises in the beginning, with these
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larger and more general events. I have done so because occurring just at the period of their incorporation, they illustrated the times in which our fathers lived, enter into their domestic history, affected their homes and firesides, and were the familiar subjects which filled up the talks of their winter evenings.
But it is quite time I should turn to history purely our own. In doing so, I desire to say that the short time allowed me for preparation has not permitted me to make all the investigations I could desire-or even to complete all upon which I have entered. I have, however, found several valuable papers and maps, that I supposed were not in existence, and which throw much light upon our early history, and correct some errors in regard to it.
The territory composing our town, although not settled or incorporated till a comparatively late period, was yet early known and somewhat explored. Wachusett, as the highest land in the State, became not only an object of interest but a landmark for all the surrounding country. Centuries before a white man set foot upon it, such was it to its savage possessors and frequenters. Could its ven- erable summit speak to us of all it has witnessed, while for ages it looked
" Upon the green and rolling forest tops, And down into the secrets of the glens,"
before the eye of civilized being rested upon it, what a history might it unfold ! How much of Indian life and action, love and hate, fidelity and treachery, worship, cruelty, decay and extinction ! What tribes have held its sovereignty, what wild tenants thronged its precincts, what scenes of peace or war it has witnessed, how long it stood in solitary grandeur before human foot pressed its rocky soil,-what captives have been tortured or released at its base,-what assaults and murders planned upon its sides, what settlements marked and devoted from its top,
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who gave it the name, you, with such good taste, refuse to change, and witnessed its baptism, far back
" When the gray chief and gifted seer, Worshipped the God of thunders here."
We may interrogate it, but we shall interrogate it in vain. Everything that has transpired on and around it, from the lighting of the first Indian fire in its forests, to the last tale of love whispered in the pale-faced maiden's ear, at sunset, on its summit, is sacredly locked in its faithful bosom, as arrayed in the splendor of its autumnal robes, it looks down, in serene and silent majesty upon our ser- vices to-day.
Were those venerable sides now to break their long silence, and essay to speak, dead and living would join in equal and earnest protest, from the first mountain Hiawa- tha, who there laid the red deer at his Minnehaha's feet, to the last Summer visitor who there breathed words of love to his Genevieve, till she too
" Said and blushed to say it, I will follow you, my husband."
And
" Hand in hand, they went together, Through the woodland and the meadow."
The first reference to Wachusett, unless we adopt the suggestion that it is the hill laid down by John Smith in his map in 1616, is by Gov. Winthrop, in 1632. On the 27th of January, of that year, "the Governor and some company with him," says his journal, "went up Charles River about eight miles above Watertown," where "they went up a very high rock, from whence they might see all over Neipnett, and a very high hill due west about forty miles off." Probably this is the first specific mention of any portion of the territory of Worcester County, as its wil-
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