USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dover > Old home day : proceedings of the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dover, Massachusetts, Wednesday, July 7th, 1909 > Part 1
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M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
norfolk (.)
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 9294
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/oldhomedayprocee 1909dove
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1
OLD HOME DAY
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of
DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
Wednesday, July 7th, 1909
It is good for us to commemorate this homespun past of ours : good, in these days of a swaggering and reckless prosperity, to remind ourselves how poor our fathers were, and that we celebrate them because for themselves and their children they chose wisdom and understanding and the things that are of God.
James Russell Lowell.
1
Printed by the DOVER HISTORICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY
1910
CONTENTS
1146757
Foreword
6
Invitation
7
Official Programme 8 Committees 9
The Celebration
10
The Sports
10
Literary Exercises in the Meeting House 11
Invocation-By Rev. William R. Lord 11
Words of Welcome-By Frank Smith, Esq. 12
Original Hymn-By Rev. George H. Badger. 13
Historical Address-By Frederic J. Stimson, Esq 14
Original Poem-By Miss Mabel Colcord
24
America
25
Literary Exercises in the Town Hall 26
Reading of Letters from His Excellency Governor Eben S.
Draper-By Augustin H. Parker, Esq .26
Greeting to Dover's oldest citizen-Asa Talbot, Esq. 27
Address-By Hon. Charles Q. Tirrell 27
Address-By Dr. William T. Porter. 31
Address-By B. Edwin Guy, Esq. . 34
Address-By Richard W. Hale, Esq 35
An Original Poem. 37
Address-Dover Beautiful-By George D. Hall, Esq 39
Address-By Hubbard C. Packard, Esq. 40
Sunday at the First Parish Church. 44
Sunday at the Dover Temperance Union 54
FOREWORD
The inception of the plan for celebrating the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the incorporation of the town had its origin in the Dover Historical Society. The directors were instructed by vote of the society to canvass the subject and ascer- tain if there was a sentiment in favor of the observance of the day. The proposition met with a hearty response, and the town unanimously voted at the April town meeting, under Art. 67 in the town warrant, to observe the occasion under the auspices of "Old Home Day."
An appropriation of three hundred dollars was made to meet the necessary expenses. A joint committee of the town and the Dover Historical Society arranged for the celebration and carried out an interesting programme, the entire expense of which was kept within the appropriation.
A more perfect summer day for the celebration could not have been desired, fair skies and gentle breezes prevailed. It was estimated that at least a thousand persons were in attendance during the day. All public buildings and private residences in the center of the town were tastefully adorned. The interior of the meeting house was beautifully decorated with crimson ramblers and horse brier, while the town hall was dressed in our national colors. An arch was erected over the central path lead- ing across the Common, which bore a "Welcome" for all. Derby's Natick Band discoursed appropriate music throughout the day, from a band stand, which had been erected on the Common.
Able committees on invitations, reception, literary and musical exercises, decorations, badges, refreshments, sports and finance, attended to every detail of the celebration.
The committee on invitations issued the following invitation, which was sent to over eight hundred persons scattered over the country, from Maine to California.
1784
1909
Celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Incorporation of DOVER.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 1909.
We cordially invite you to join us in our Anniversary Cele- bration.
Let us gather together on that day and renew old acquaint- ances, and form new ones that shall strengthen the ties that bind us to our beautiful town.
The following programme, suitable to the occasion has been prepared for your entertainment, and we trust that after the day is over all will feel that the time has been well spent, and long to be remembered.
Anticipating a large attendance, the committee has decided to make it a basket lunch.
Hot coffee and lemonade will be furnished free to all from 12 m. to 1 p. m.
A suitable place will be provided near the Town Hall where all who so desire may obtain a lunch at reasonable rates.
The committee would request all who receive this invitation to cordially invite any former resident who may have been omitted, to be present.
A band will be in attendance throughout the day.
125TH ANNIVERSARY
LITERARY EXERCISES
President of the Day, FRANK SMITH, EsQ.
FIRST PARISH MEETING HOUSE, at 11:00 a. m.
1. Organ Voluntary-Mrs. J. H. Faulk.
2. Invocation-Rev. William R. Lord.
3. Words of Welcome-By President of the Day.
4. Original Hymn-Rev. George H. Badger.
5. Historical Address-Frederic J. Stimson, Esq.
6. Original Poem-Miss Mabel Colcord.
7. National Hymn, "America"-By the audience.
TOWN HALL, at 2:00 p. m.
1. Violin Solo-Mrs. Harold Shaw.
2. Reading of Letter from His Excellency Governor Eben S. Draper-Augustin H. Parker, Esq.
3. Greeting to Deacon Asa Talbot.
4. Address-Hon. Charles Q. Tirrell.
5. Address-Dr. William T. Porter.
6. Vocal Solo-Mr. James Tisdale.
7. Address-B. Edwin Guy, Esq.
8. Address-Richard W. Hale, Esq.
9. Original Poem.
10. Address-Dover Beautiful, George D. Hall, Esq.
11. Address-Hubbard C. Packard, Esq.
12. Vocal Solo-Mr. James Tisdale.
The ushers are descendants of the following early residents, as indicated :
MEETING HOUSE.
Miss Alma Chickering-Nathaniel Chickering, Eleazer Ellis.
Miss Martha A. Colburn-Hezekiah Allen, James Mann.
Miss Esther Bond-Henry Wilson, James Draper.
Miss Irene Bacon-John Bacon, Andrew Dewing, Nathaniel Whiting.
TOWN HALL.
'Allen F. Smith-Ebenezer Smith, Thomas Richards, John Williams.
Judson Battelle-Thomas Battelle, Ebenezer Newell, John Mason.
Charles Thompson-Seth Wight.
William T. Tisdale-Henry Tisdale, Samuel Fisher.
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DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
The Sawin Memorial Building, the home of the Dover His- torical Society, was open from 10 to 11 a. m., 1 to 2 p. m., and was visited by a large number of people.
JOINT COMMITTEES.
OF THE TOWN-Eben Higgins, Chairman; James H. Chicker- ing, Allen F. Smith.
OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY-Augustin H. Parker, Secre- tary ; Charles S. Bean, Edward W. Grew, Mrs. B. T. Wheeler, Mrs. Allen F. Smith, Mrs. Sarah A. Higgins, Mrs. William T. Porter, Mrs. J. L. Woodward, President Frank Smith, ex-officio; Vice President Richard H. Bond, ex-officio.
The joint committee appointed the following committees :
HONORARY COMMITTEE-Mrs. E. Colburn, Mrs. S. E. Wight, Mrs. Josie Bean, Mrs. C. M. Tisdale, Mrs. Bertha Whiting, Mrs. M. W. Smith, Mr. Asa Talbot, Mr. G. E. Chickering, Mr. A. F. Dodge, Mr. Elbridge L. Mann, Mr. A. K. Tisdale, Mr. John C. Coombs, Mr. William Conrick, Mr. I. Colburn, Capt. Warren Wotton.
INVITATION COMMITTEE-Mr. A. F. Smith, Chairman; Mrs. M. A. P. Everett, Mrs. A. F. Smith, Miss Caroline Newell, Mr. Frank Smith, Mr. Geo. E. Chickering, Mr. George Mckenzie.
COMMITTEE ON SPORTS-Mr. James Chickering, Chairman ; Mr. Frank A. Bean, Mr. Wayland Minot, Mr. Donald B. Wheeler, Mr. William McClure, Mr. G. D. Hall, Mr. J. V. Schaffner, Jr., Mr. Edward Sawyer.
FINANCIAL COMMITTEE-Mr. E. W. Grew, Chairman; Mr. Eben Higgins, Mr. J. G. Forbes, Mr. B. T. Wheeler.
LITERARY AND MUSICAL COMMITTEE-Mr. Frank Smith, Chairman ; Mrs. Eben Higgins, Mrs. L. A. Chickering, Mrs. B. T. Wheeler, Mrs. R. K. Rogers, Miss Dorothy Damrell, Miss Lydia Higgins, Mr. R. W. Hale, Mr. H. C. Vrooman, Mr. Winthrop Harvey.
COMMITTEE ON DECORATIONS-Mrs. J. L. Woodward, Chair- man; Miss Una Bean, Mr. J. H. Faulk, Mr. G. C. Taylor, Mr. Frank Bean, Mr. A. F. Smith.
COMMITTEE ON BADGES-Mrs. B. T. Wheeler, Chairman ; Mr. A. F. Smith, Mr. George H. Burgess.
COMMITTEE ON REFRESHMENTS-Mr. C. S. Bean, Chairman ; Mrs. Evora M. Wotton, Mr. Winfred W. Battelle, Mrs. H. C. Packard, Mr. J. Ziolkowski, Miss Annie Ziolkowski.
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125TH ANNIVERSARY
RECEPTION COMMITTEE-Mrs. Eben Higgins, Chairman ; Mrs. J. H. Faulk, Mrs. Caroline Hodgson, Mrs. A. H. Parker, Mrs. Allen Smith, Mrs. E. W. Grew, Mrs. Charles Lord, Mrs. John McClure, Mrs. Anna Battelle, Miss Martha E. Colburn, Mr Robert S. Minot, Mr. George C. Taylor, Mr. B. H. Dorr, Mr. F. A. Parmenter, Mr. Charles S. Damrell, Mr. P. B. Howard, Mr. M. W. Comiskey, Mr. James McGill, Mr. C. W. Plympton, Mr. C. W. Sawyer, Mr. James Hopkins.
THE PUBLIC OBSERVANCE.
The public observance of the day commenced at 7 A. M., with the ringing of the Meeting House bell, which in the years that have long passed has been rung on so many and varied occa- sions.
In the years that have gone it has solemnly announced the death of many a patriarch of the town. For seventy years it has sent forth its invitation to the inhabitants to come and wor- ship the Most High. And for the same period of time its iron tongue has joyously announced on the fourth of each July the anniversary of the birthday of the nation. The old bell has thus appealed for nearly three quarters of a century to the higher nature of man, and has long announced the joys and sorrows of the community.
SPORTS.
The athletic events commenced at 9 o'clock in the morning and were confined to the residents of the town. The events and the prize winners were as follows:
100-yard Dash .- 1st, Daniel Comiskey; 2nd, F. A. Bean; 3rd, Donald Wheeler.
220-yard Dash .- 1st, Daniel Comiskey ; 2nd, Donald Wheeler ; 3rd, F. A. Bean.
80-yard Dash for Boys .- 1st, Arlan Wotton; 2nd, Edward Comiskey ; 3rd, J. W. Woodward.
One Mile Run .- 1st, J. W. Woodward ; 2nd, Clifford Nelson. Potato Race for Boys .- 1st Edward Comiskey; 2nd, Leon Bean; 3rd, Daniel Comiskey.
Three Legged Race for Boys .- 1st, J. L. Woodward and Daniel Comiskey.
High Jump .- 1st, Donald Wheeler; 2nd, F. A. Bean; 3rd, Charles Paine.
Broad Jump .- 1st, F. Lally; 2nd, F. A. Bean; 3rd, Lester Fravel.
Shot Put .- 1st, F. A. Bean; 2nd, Charles Durocher.
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DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
Potato Race for Girls .- 1st, Dorothy Faulk; 2nd, Geraldine Wheeler; 3rd, Evelyn Bean.
Egg and Spoon Race for Girls .- 1st, Dorothy Faulk; 2nd, Evelyn Bean; 3rd, Elizabeth Woodward.
BASE BALL GAME, 4:00 P. M.
A game of base ball took place between the Pokanoket Club and selected players among the boys of the town. One of the players on the club team was Filley, the Harvard oarsman. The club team won.
THE SCORE.
Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Pokanoket 3 1 0 3 5 4 3 2 3-24
Dover boys 2 0 2000002-6
LITERARY EXERCISES.
FIRST PARISH MEETING-HOUSE, 11 A. M.
The exercises commenced with an organ voluntary by Mrs. John H. Faulk.
The President: The blessing of our fathers' God will be invoked on the exercises and festivities of this day by the Rev. William Rogers Lord.
INVOCATION.
In the midst of these happy greetings and sacred memories, we would bow down before Thee, O God, at this shrine of the fathers! Reverent thought of Thee ever becomes us! How much now, as we remember Thee as the God of our common humanity, Thee, before whom and in whom the generations pass on and out and up !
Thou wast and art and evermore shalt be, and thus in Thee is the assurance that all things work together for good; that our human lives have part in the eternal process moving on toward high ends and glorious fulfilments.
We thank Thee for the succession of generations who have struggled on and up to greater and ever greater achievements, conquering in our humanity the beast and developing the man.
For those hero-men and women who, on these hills, demon- strated the divinity of themselves, and thus of us who are their children, we thank Thee.
We thank Thee for the faith, the hope and love in these our forbears, which caused them to endure hardships, and even to make light of the afflictions of their day and their conditions !
How great is our inheritance from those who toiled and tra- vailed for us who were yet unborn!
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125TH ANNIVERSARY
Contemplating today what manner of lives they lived, we would not be altogether unworthy of them, unworthy of our- selves, or of Thee whose sons we are, O God !
We thank Thee for the fair face of this our common home,- for hill and vale, river and lake, for the more ancient trees and for the youthful woods !
We thank Thee for the ties that bind us to the people and the associations of the past, and now here to one another !
We thank Thee for the present and its gifts of things abun- dant, physical, intellectual, social and spiritual! For this oppor- tunity today, to touch hearts in honoring our great and common dead !
We thank Thee, too, for the future! That it makes to us all such glorious appeals to fill it with blessing through our brave endeavors and wise direction,-that our children and our chil- dren's children may count us worthy also to be remembered !
Before Thee then, in the one fellowship of the dead, of the living, and of those who are to live,-here, within this home town. in this temple, the shrine of the fathers, the shrine of their children who are here and who will be here, we acknowledge Thee to be the Only Wise God, our Father, to Whom be honor and glory for evermore! Amen.
WORDS OF WELCOME. BY FRANK SMITH, ESQ., PRESIDENT OF THE DAY.
Fellow Citizens and Friends :---
We can well imagine that there was great rejoicing in Dover a hundred and twenty-five years ago to-day. For more than half a century the people here had been contending for indepen- dence-a characteristic of this people-first, in being freed from the minister rate at Dedham; second, in their endeavor to gain parish privileges, and third, in their determined effort to win an incorporate existence. July 7, 1784, witnessed the consumma- tion of their desires. So it is well for us on this anniversary to make a holiday, to pause long enough to consider the lives of the founders of this town. George Eliot once said: "No great people ever lived without processions, great festivals, and high holidays." We do not have holidays enough in this busy money- getting age of ours. In the olden time it was a custom to lead out the youth of royal families to gaze on the monuments of their ancestors and be there inspired to emulate their heroism. We are all the product of the past and whatever we are we owe our existence and all that we enjoy to other human beings.
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DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
Others have labored and we have entered into their labors. We take from the generation that has passed and we give to the generation that is to come.
It was the courage, the sacrifice, the heroism of our fathers that made it possible for us to enjoy so much in the present, and as their lives are held in review we ought to gain that inspira- tion which shall make us more faithful in the discharge of civic duties, more loyal to the institutions which they founded. And so, my friends, I welcome you to this country town; I welcome you to this country life which you so well remember; I welcome you to these roof-trees and to these homesteads into which have soaked in several instances the traditions of ten generations. I welcome you to these wooded hills, these fertile plains, these country roads, these blooming flowers, these winding brooks, on whose banks you may have heard in the silence the very voice of God speaking to your souls. I welcome you to this ancient church with all its tender memories and associations. It matters not what your church affiliations may be to-day; for nearly a century your ancestors worshipped on this hill. I welcome you to all the institutions of the town, made sacred by human per- sonalities and events which have consecrated them; finally I wel- come you to the exercises of this day which have been arranged for your pleasure and instruction.
The President: You are all invited to sing to the tune of Hamburg the original hymn written by the Rev. George H. Badger, a former minister of this town :-
ORIGINAL HYMN.
O God, to whom in former days Our fathers looked, and not in vain, For guidance in adventurous ways, That greatening grace their quest attain :
With reverent joy we count their deeds ;
They builded true, as to thy name;
O'er modest measure of their needs
Was raised faith's consecrating flame,-
In these fair days of greater gifts, Horizoned with a broader view Where newer custom vainly lifts A dream of manhood rashly new,
May we, the children of such sires, Keep virtue staunch and pure as theirs : As proudly guard faith's altar-fires, And forge achievement for their prayers.
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125TH ANNIVERSARY
Fair as the grace of field and dale That spread our sunlit valleys thro' May old-time honor still prevail Crowned with a faith divinely new.
The President : Dover was highly honored a few years since by one of our prominent writers in having the scene of an inter- esting story,-King Noanett,-largely laid within her borders. The author of this story having been born and reared in the neighboring town of Dedham, is almost to the manner born, and so we have asked him to speak to us to-day, on this our anni- versary, because he can not only give us the salient facts in our own history, but bring to us the greetings of the mother town as well. I have the pleasure of introducing as the orator of the occasion, Frederic J. Stimson, Esq., of Dedham.
ADDRESS: FREDERIC JESUP STIMSON, ESQ. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :-
It gives me exceeding pleasure to bring to you the greetings of the town of Dedham.
I presume it must have been your knowledge of my fondness for the old Springfield Parish of Dedham that has caused you to honor me in this way. From early boyhood, I was in the habit of roaming through its woods, climbing its hills and wading its brooks. I walked and rode through the Noanet Valley before I knew its name, and puzzled over the Cyclopean walls of its dams and mill races, which seemed already of an age im- memorial. I explored the cellars of the Indian orchard before I knew that they were really Indian cellars. I rode to the top of Pine Rock Hill and enjoyed its wonderful view before I knew its name. Indeed, we called it "The Brunhilde-Stein" from its resemblance to the usual staging of the last act in Wagner's opera of "Siegfried." I put my canoe into the waters of Mill Brook and paddled to the Neponset River. I thought then, as I think now, that this little town presents the most charming combination of typical New England scenery, wild and tame, rocky fell and meadow valley, to be found in Massachusetts. If love for a place qualifies one to speak for it, I am qualified ; otherwise, I fear not.
For, in the first place, your town has been favored with the work of one of those local historians that are an honor to New England and a wonder to the outside world. What he has left of a second crop, or, rather, of a third crop-for I think he has preceded me at least twice in this office-will make very poor
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DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
rowans indeed, and I must say now that I fear the only perma- nent value of my words to-day to the people of the town of Dover will be the bibliography* which I have been at some pains to prepare. I have exhausted the resources of four great his- torical libraries, Harvard College, Boston Athenaeum, Massa- chusetts Historical Society and the Dedham Historical Society.
I will spare you the catalogue now, but I shall leave it with you in an appendix.
As you all know, Springfield became a parish in 1748, and the District of Dover in 1784. The independence of the Colonies seems to have prompted your independence from the mother town. Dover, therefore, was always a free town. It never was subject to King George III. and very possibly it is one of the very first,-certainly of Massachusetts towns,-that was created under the American Republic .**
Naturally, the annals of Dover prior to 1784 must be sought in the wonderful records of Dedham, for your mother town, as you know, almost alone among American municipalities, has preserved and even published its complete town records from the year of its settlement, 1637; and the labors of that other great antiquarian who is our Town Clerk have furnished an inex- haustible mine for all time for the student of New England sociology and institutions. I have consulted these records, but while there is here and there a reference to Springfield by that name, most of the entries are indistinguishably mixed with the annals of Dedham as a whole, and could only be picked out by one familiar for more than a century with the names of the residents of Springfield. It seems established that on Straw- berry Hill was your first settlement, and that Henry Wilson of Kent, England, had there his first child born in 1644, and that on the morning of the first night in his new house he was awakened by a wildcat looking in through the window. This wildcat may, therefore, be said to begin the history of Spring- field.
The next documents to which I would call your attention are the famous diaries of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, the father of Fisher Ames, which have been in great part printed by the Dedham Historical Society. I have had access to the originals, and here, if anywhere, may I hope to find a line that has escaped the attention of the redoubtable Frank Smith. His diaries begin in 1762 and last until 1821, with some breaks. They begin, ap-
*See appendix.
** Longmeadow, incorporated Oct. 13, 1783, was the first town in Massachusetts to be created under the American Republic.
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125TH ANNIVERSARY
parently, while he was at Harvard College, and contain single line entries, many of great interest, though the vast bulk of them is concerned, as in most diaries, with the state of the weather. Fortunately, however, he does not, as do the earlier diarists of New England, tell us only of the state of his soul. Nothing is more discouraging to the New England historian than this habit; where he would give worlds for a paragraph on the appearance of the country, on the flora and fauna, on what they really saw and did, and on the habits of the Indians, he finds only interminable analyses of the writer's spiritual con- dition, which might equally well have been written without ever stirring from old England. Dr. Ames has not this fault, but he does tell you too much about the weather, about his mistreat- ment by his housekeepers and domestics, and, as is natural and proper for a doctor, he enters the birth of every child he brings into the world. The weather, however, is not without interest, and we may gather that the climate was much the same as now. He complains of cold spells in May, and even frosts; of hot spells in December and mild weather in January, of repeated drouths in August, and also of rains or floods in March, in May, or even later. He cuts his meadow hay at dates varying between the last week in July and the third week in August, but in one year he mentions that he went over the meadows in boats, on account of the heavy floods. The first reference he makes to Springfield is on June 20, 1762: "Went Springfield Meet with Debby. Caryl preached; a girl taken with an hysterick fitt in Meeting." The same year, September 8, he enters: "Reduction of the Havannah. Admiral Saunders' victory. Also that our Queen was safely delivered of twins." What a flood of good news is here! Note the fervent loyalty of a Dedham resident, who afterwards became a great patriot and, as we should call it, Democrat, only one or two years before the Boston Massacre and the Stamp Act, and thirteen years before King George made proclamation that all the inhabitants of his thirteen colonies were "rebels" and so drove them away.
The amusements in those days were, in some respects, much like ours, but they still had a great horror of the theatre or of play acting. About this time Dr. Ames says that they gave a play at Cambridge and fear they may be indicted for so doing. The first professional dramatic company seems to have come to Newport, R. I., and then to Providence, and there are several entries of Dr. Ames and other inhabitants of Dedham going to Newport or to Providence to see them. On September 11th :
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DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
"Seth and I agree to spend eve with same La. . . A very pretty and genteel ball for Dedham. The Co. consisted of Leonard, Fisher, Scollay, Hunt, Sherburn, Andrew Oliver, Balch, Seth and I. Ladies, imprimis and before all the adorable D F . .. r, (this lady, after all, did not become his bride, though, oddly enough, when some years later, he gets married, he notes the incident but does not tell us the lady's name) next D. Balch, Eliz Day, Miss Hilly Newfoundland & mea soror. Held at Mrs. Steward's to whom we very impolitely gave no warning of our coming, but were received very graciously." It appears from this entry that the so-called Surprise Party, which even Dr. Ames thinks something of a vulgarian atrocity, prevailed at that early day, and I wish I could here tell the story of the surprise party of the White Lady carved in wood, on Pegan Hill.
I have said that their amusements were quite modern. It is true, they eschewed theatres; they did not have any. They drank a great deal more than we do, but, on the other hand, they went to church a great deal more. They were not given to athletic games, although Ames speaks once of playing bat and ball in College. But on September 12, the day after the ball, he says : "We all . . spent the chief of the Day in playing
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