USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Billerica > Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Billerica, Massachusetts, May 29th, 1855 > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
But it may, yet, be asked, how there came to be an e in the middle of the word, so that it is pronounced Bille, in one syllable, like the French, instead of two, like the Spanish ? The ancestors of the French were also under the same dominion; their descendants often took the liberty to interfere in English affairs ; and Billerica may thus perhaps boast that three sis- ters of the great national family of Rome assisted in giving the name that she bears.
I know very well, Mr. President, that an English writer states that the name in a remote age was Be- larca, coming, as he supposes, from Balenga or Ban-
*%. -
119
lenga and corresponding to the French, Banlieu, which means suburb or precinct. "But how it came to be transformed into Billerica, which name it bore in 1395," he cannot, he says, "even guess." Guess- ing, however, is a sort of birthright in New England ; and there seems to be no great presumption in offer- ing our conjectures, particularly when others give it up. And even if we are not exactly correct, probably greater blunders might be detected among antiqua- rians more distinguished than any of us pretend to be. But this name seems to import that Bille-rica should be rich. And is she so? Those may be said to be rich who have enough to supply their wants; though some people might say that if there were any prophe- cy in the name, Lowell, with the millions invested there in manufactories, ought to be here .* But, sir, your river (the Concord) is not broad enough and does not fail fast enough for that; and as we cannot control these matters, I have no hesitation in saying, that, for one, I am not sorry that it should have been settled as it is.
If any one of the great changes which sometimes occur should tend to make this a field for speculation, I would not venture to oppose the wishes of any who might desire to share in its effects ; but I should look with doubt on the prospect of eventual benefit, on the whole, to those who now reside here. If the farm, valued at two, three or four thousand dollars, which has given to frugal industry the supply for moderate wants be sold for twenty thousand, the farmer, mov- ing into a new sphere where every thing expands be-
* Lowell was formerly part of Chelmsford, and joins Billerica.
1
£
120
fore him, may yet look backward with a sigh on the enjoyments which he has left, to find that even so great a price is but small in amount where he meets tempta- tions to spend a five or ten thousand a year, and where he knows more of want than he ever did be- fore.
I am glad to see things remaining much as they were, with only the growth that is natural to a quiet place. Such growth may scarcely seem perceptible when measured by our imaginations, but it shows for something in time. It is said that when John Ran- dolph, of famous memory, re-visited, late in life, the college at which he had graduated, after gazing about him for some time in silence, he said :- " Well, every thing looks much as it did except those two elm trees in front, which do not seem to be quite so large as they were thirty years ago." I may say that the trees and the place are not so large as all seemed to me in my boyhood. Yet there has been growth ; and growth without the radical change that seems to be uprooting elsewhere all that belonged to old associa- tions. If the head of each family, as I once knew them all, is gone, and the places that knew him now know him no more, it is gratifying to suppose that some one who bears his name still lives in the home- stead.
It might cause a moment's wonder, but it would af- ford me no pleasure to find, on returning here, that the hills had been carted away, the meadows filled up to a dead level of streets and squares, and that thou- sands, perhaps tens of thousands, of strangers who knew nothing of the past, had come here to crowd out
-
121
of sight and of remembrance the Abbots, the Bald- wins, the Blanchards, the Bowers', the Crosbys, the Farmers, the Fosters, the French's, the Parkers, the Richardsons, the Rogers', the Whitings descendants of the Divine and the soldier, and others who might be mentioned, whose races have long flourished here, while most of these names have become honorably known throughout the United States. One great. thoroughfare of the country has been made to pass within your borders and affords new facilities. As it is not likely that another will pass near it, we may suppose that the destiny of the place is fixed for a long time to come. The world cannot be made into one general city ; space must be left to raise food for man and beast ; and Billerica is likely to remain, as she has been, an agricultural, a farming town.
But in an hour the railroad will place those who desire excitement in the city; and when they are sat- isfied with the bustle and the gaiety, return them in another hour to the quiet enjoyments of the country, where the earth gives forth her increase in the fields, and where woods still grow, affording shelter to the birds in their annual return, when they give forth the songs that sound like praise to God and joyous greet- ing to man ; and where tranquil reflection on what is done in the world may tend, as it often does, to the confirmation of sound principles.
Here may those races that I have mentioned con- tinue fast rooted, and put forth new branches. May those who come here for education in your new Semi- nary, gather it as from the atmosphere that the inde- pendence of the nation is to be maintained only by
9
122
personal independence among the people; that the sure foundations of that is, next to religion, in honor- able industry, such industry as secures comfortable subsistence and makes it unnecessary to resort to the miserable shifts of dishonesty for support. May the juror who is summoned from here give the truth as his verdict without a thought of dependence on the favor of any man or of the public. May the legislator who comes from Billerica give his vote like one who depends on his own resources, who seeks nothing for himself, and is not to be moved in what concerns the welfare of the country by the fear of unpopularity.
And now, as I see before me a large assemblage of your friends, many of whom you will desire to hear, I will detain you, sir, with only one sentence more, an aspiration for the future, which I offer in behalf of all those to whom you have referred as formerly re- ceiving academic education here :-
Billerica, for all time to come, may she be rich as her name, per- haps, imports ; but especially rich in the virtues that strengthen and adorn a republic !
Fourth voluntary sentiment :-
Old Middlesex County .- Rich in Revolutionary History ; al- though many parts of it are prolific in stirring events, none is more so than the City of Charlestown.
Responded to by ABRAM R. THOMPSON, M. D., of Charlestown.
Mr. President :- Our venerable friend, the Orator of the Day, and those who have followed him, have so far exhausted the facts and the rhetoric of the occa- sion, that there remains but little more to say. There is, however, Mr. President, one important fact in the
123
history of Billerica which has not been brought into view. I say important, sir, because I hold that facts of individual experiences; facts exercising strong in- fluence for weal or for woe, over a whole life time ; facts of the heart, which, in the language of Lord Bacon, " come home to men's business and bosoms,"- these, I say, sir, are important facts, and to a great fact of my own life of this class I am indebted, Mr. President, for the honor of now addressing you, sir, of meeting this delightful assembly, and of sharing with them the interesting reminiscences, the pleasing asso- ciations, and the inspiring hopes of this joyful day. Mr. President, in the good providence of God, more than fifty-three years ago I found in old Billerica, the chosen companion of my life*, the wife of my youth, the mother of my children, the faithful helpmeet of all my trials during the pilgrimage of time, and the joy and solace of the evening of my days,- as my de- parted friend, the illustrious Webster, said of Massa- chusetts in the Senate of his country,- so I say of my wife. "There she is, look at her; God bless her !"
Listening with attention and delight to the venera- ble Orator of the Day, who has given us so clear and vivid a history of this ancient town,-and to the fine flight of the Poet, who has so embellished and adorn- ed it with graphic pictures of the imagination,-I feel that it is good for us to be here -for Billerica is here to-day - Billerica as she was two hundred years ago, in her elements, a few stout hearts and strong hands,
* ELIZABETH BOWERS, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Bowers, and grand- daughter of John Parker,- and thus a lineal descendant of two of the ancient families of Billerica.
.
124
- Billerica as she has been progressing along the line, and fully sharing in the perils and the glories of the cotemporary history of New England. It is good for us to be here, for now casting my eyes over the good- ly company before me, I see Billerica as she is now, in 1855, a breathing, living and moving embodiment of all the blessings of civil and social life. Here are the grand-parents with their children and children's chil- dren - a group of warm hearts and happy faces - gathered together in union, and forming that golden link in the chain of human existence which binds and brightens the past with the present and the future, in the indissoluble bond of memory, joy and hope.
In a delightful discourse delivered by the old man eloquent, John Quincy Adams, fifty-three years ago to the Pilgrim Society, at Plymouth, on the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, Mr. Adams thus analyzes this glorious thought :-
" Among the sentiments of most powerful operation upon the human heart, and most highly honorable to the human character, are those of veneration for our forefathers, and love for our posterity ; these form the connecting link between the selfish and social pas- sions. By the fundamental principle of Christianity, the happiness of the individual is interwoven with that of his cotemporaries ; by the power of filial rever- ence and parental affection, individual existence is ex- tended beyond the limits of individual life, and the happiness of every age is chained in mutual depen- dence upon that of every other. Respect for his an- cestors excites in the breast of man interest in their history, admiration for their characters, concern for
{
125
their errors, and involuntary pride in their virtues. Love for his posterity spurs him to exertion for their support, stimulates him to virtue for their example, and excites the tenderest emotions for their welfare. Man, therefore, was not made for himself alone. No, he was made for his country by the obligations of the social compact ; he was made for his species by the duties of Christian charity ; he was made for all ages past by the sentiment of veneration for his forefathers ; he was made for all ages to come by the impulse of affection for his progeny. Under the influence of these sentiments, man is no longer "a puny insect shivering at a breeze." He is lord of this lower world. Existence sees him span her bounded reign, formed to occupy all time and all space; bounded while on earth only by the boundaries of the world, and destined to life and immortality in brighter regions, where the fabric of nature itself is dissolved and perished."
Mr. President, I feel that I have trespassed too long upon your time, and yet I cannot sit down without a word or two in special reference to the sentiment just read and about our Bunker Hill Monument. Eighty years ago our fathers stood upon our high places in blood and fire, nobly contending for their own rights ; for the rights of their descendants, and for the rights of mankind through all coming times ; the scene was glorious ; the offering was sublime. Bunker Hill was the altar; the fire of burning Charlestown lighted the sacrifice ; the smoke of the incense went up accepted of Heaven, in behalf of suffering humanity, and the blood which flowed was thenceforth to be for the po- litical healing of the nations. The great principle
126
which brought our ancestors to this land was religious liberty. Our Puritan fathers acknowledged the prin- ciple; but clouds and darkness were round about them, and they did not see the extent of it; they thought it was religious liberty for them, according to their peculiar views, and for them alone. The pro- gress of light is dispelling the clouds and darkness, and now the platform of true liberty and free consti- tutional government is founded in the common father- hood of God and the common brotherhood of man,- and this country is to be, in the good providence of God, the grand theatre for the development and estab- lishment of this grand principle of equal rights and free constitutional governments for man as man. I contend, Mr. President, that all true civil liberty in order to stand and live, must be founded upon true freedom of religious opinion, and that civil govern- ment shall not interfere with religious opinion on the one hand; nor on the other hand, shall religious opinion interfere with civil government. Hence I say, that true Protestant Christianity - by which I mean the right of private judgment and the sufficiency of the scriptures - is the only true orthodoxy of our free country ; and hence I believe that Protestant Christianity and true Republican liberty are indissolu- bly united and must stand or fall together.
Fifth voluntary sentiment :- ·
Sons of New Hampshire -They have hearts of oak, constitutions of granite, and the real grit all over.
This sentiment brought the Hon. TAPPAN WENT- WORTH, of Lowell, to his feet, who responded as fol- 1 lows :-
1
127
There can hardly be found a gathering, Mr. Presi- dent, in any of the towns in the Commonwealth, where the sons of New Hampshire would not be pres- ent in sufficient numbers to attract the notice with which you have been pleased to honor them.
There are many causes for the large emigration from that State which want of time will not allow me to enumerate; but a recurrence to our carly history will shew that we do not come as strangers, certainly not as foreigners. For nearly one hundred years, New Hampshire was under the civil government of Massa- chusetts, and your records shew that a large portion of the names in that State were, according to the custom of the time, admitted to the rank of freemen in the General Court of Massachusetts. Her citizens in the service of this colony were honored with its trusts, and shared in common with your fathers in the toils and sufferings incident to the settlement of a New World. With a right to your political privileges thus early re- corded - attracted by the personal advantages which, in a greater degree than any other people you offer to adventurous youth - you will hardly be able to es- cape the company of your New Hampshire friends, es- pecially so long as your present treatment of them continues.
The occasion, sir, of our present meeting, interest- ing as it is to all of us, and particularly so to the sons and daughters of Billerica, recalls to the mind not on- ly the toils and hardships, but the wisdom and fore- sight of our hardy ancestors who have been appropri- ately described as " poor in everything but faith and courage." Whatever differences of opinion may now
128
be entertained among other nations of the ultimate success of our form of government, there can be no question that the settlement of New England has thus far proved the most successful effort of colonization known to the ancient or modern world.
When we consider the first landing at Plymouth, with but a foothold upon a bleak, barren, and inhos- pitable coast, hemmed in by the ocean on the one side, and the savages upon the other, and now contemplate twenty-five millions of people inheriting a mighty empire running through twenty-four degrees of lati- tude, and extending to either ocean, enjoying civil and religious freedom to a degree unknown to any people in any stage of civilization ; when we reflect that this state of happiness and grandeur has been reached through a civil war and an entire disruption of the ties which bound them to the parent country, and that during the progress of the war - carried on without treasure or the advantages of commerce - the States were necessarily compelled to change the structure of their governments, and to assume obligations which re- duced them to the verge of bankruptcy, and that after these struggles and whilst laboring under all the em- barrassments attending them, they should form and adopt of their own choice, a national government that has produced these results, and now commands the respect of the world, we must be allowed to refer with exultation as well as gratitude to the wisdom and sa- gacity of the first settlers, who, in the love of religious and political liberty, early laid the foundations of those institutions which enabled a few weak colonies to work out these magnificent results.
1
:
129
To the establishment of public schools and the general support of religion by our forefathers, we owe much of that character which distinguishes us from every other people. But these blessings, great as they are, would hardly have carried this colony through the fierce discussions and struggles of the revolution, and above all, enabled it to preserve a government, under the oppression of the parent country, but for its formation into towns; into those little democracies where every inhabitant became a participator and an actor in the operations of government, and in the pub- lic meetings of which, the political questions of the day were examined and discussed. The wisdom of this organization, and its power at that period, is suf- ficiently evinced by one or two incidents.
In 1772 a committee of correspondence was raised in Boston to state the rights of the colonists as men, as Christians, and as subjects. This proposition which included the whole revolution was directed to be pub- lished to the towns, and the towns were requested to communicate their sentiments upon the subject.
When the power of the legislature was suspended, a convention of the several towns assembled in Boston at the call of the latter, and exhibited to the officers of the crown the power of the colonists to carry on the government should the illegal suspension be continued.
The British Parliament in 1774 testified to its fear of these organizations, and to their importance in the struggle, by abolishing all town meetings except for the choice of officers or by permission of the Gov- ernor. But notwithstanding this act, the lights of freedom blazed with effulgence in the municipal cor-
-
!
130
poration of Boston during the whole struggle; nor did her smaller sisters fail in their patriotic support in every period of the trying contest.
These historical facts, which might be greatly mul- tiplied, are sufficient to shew the importance of the town organizations of Massachusetts in the revolu- tionary struggle, as well as their value in early habit- uating the citizens to a knowledge and practice of government, which is at all times essential to a full enjoyment of political and individual freedom; and they well justify the celebrations in honor of their foundation which have become so common through- out the Commonwealth.
Mr. President, I will detain the meeting no longer, but with your permission offer this sentiment :-
The towns of Massachusetts .- The nurseries of education and of political and individual freedom.
Sixth voluntary sentiment : -
Our Representative elect to the next Congress .- When they take a Knapp they will find themselves wide awake.
This sentiment called up Hon. C. L. KNAPP, of Lowell, who remarked that though he could hardly venture to levy an additional tax upon the audience, in the closing moments of their festivities, yet he would not fail to express his acknowledgments for the call made upon him. The occasion had been to him one of peculiar interest. Waiving his claims upon their further attention, if any he might be supposed to have, he would, as an inhabitant of the suburbs of the ancient Shawshin, content himself with offering a sentiment :---
Billerica as she was and as she is .- In 1653 the General Court
131
pronounced her " a hopeful plantation ;" her returns to-day attest alike the excellence of her culture, and the abundance of the crop.
At about five o'clock the President called upon Dea. Amos Spalding, one of the Vice Presidents, to preside ; after which the following are a few of the voluntary sentiments given :-
By Thomas B. Edmonds :-
The Sons and Daughters of Billerica .- Like thrifty scions they have flourished in a variety of soil, and this day brought the choicest fruits home.
By Dea. Edward Spalding :-
Old Billerica, one of the oldest among her sisters ; may she remain as' firm to maintain our Independence as she was to obtain it.
By Capt. Samuel Foster :---
Although not a native of Billerica, I have lived here nearly sixty years to rejoice in her prosperity, and to witness the labors of such men as Cumings, Albot, and Howe. May her future be blessed with many such.
By Samuel Brown :-
Old Billerica .- Although shorn of much of her original territory, she remains a substantial town yet.
By Josiah Rogers :-
Our Native Town .- Endeared to us by the recollections of youth and the attachments of age, as we behold her exhibiting the improve- ments of the age in churches, school-houses and homes, in faith and hope we transmit her fair fame and destiny to posterity.
By Rev. Jacob Norton, a resident of Billerica, in the ninety-second year of his age :-
The beautiful town of Billerica .- May the best of Heaven's bless- ings descend and rest upon its sons and daughters.
By W. R. A. Jackson, (country planter) :-
Our Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers - May their sons and daugh- ters inherit the spirit and energy of their ancestors against all tres- passers and aggressors of their rights and privileges, and become a beacon light to all the inhabitants of contiguous and surrounding na- tions, that they seeing their good works and virtuous examples may
132
become recipients and almoners to all kindreds, families and nations of the inhabitable world.
By Daniel Parker, M. D :-
As the fruits of the earth grow and ripen by the fierce heats of summer, and the chilling blasts of autumn, so must grow and ripen the fruits of the soul, or be gathered green into God's store-house to ripen under cover.
By W. R. A. Jackson, (country planter) :--
Old Maids and Maidens - Like preserves, lovely sweet, because loveable, good in their proper places. May they be wise nurses of the children of the fathers and mothers of past and future generations, and a help to the aged in the decline of life.
By Augustus Whiting, M. D., of Charlestown :-
The ancient town of Billerica .- Beautiful in location, distin- guished by the industry, virtue and intelligence of our ancestors ; how shall we transmit to posterity its fair name better than by imi- tating the late and lamented Dr. Howe, who by his munificence has erected a monument as durable as the generations of man, and like Joseph of old, after saving the lives of his people, has returned to each man his money.
By J. W. Lovejoy, of Lowell :-
Our ancestors of the town of Billerica .- They arose in the morn- ing in the wilderness, with Christian faith, and toiled that we by imi- tating their virtues, might sit in the evening in the village to gather fruits and flowers from their industry. May we live so as to honor their memory, and die an honor to their posterity.
Billerica .- Let virtue and temperance be her foundation, that prosperity may be her reward.
The American women of olden time, worthy helpmeets of noble men .- May their daughters inherit their patriotism, energy and spirit of self-sacrifice, in the cause of liberty and truth.
The towns of Chelmsford and Groton .- Incorporated in the same act with ourselves, they have well kept up the respectability of the connection ; and as they have generously cleared the track for our . celebration of the day, we give them a cordial grip of fellowship on this occasion in memory of " Auld Lang Syne."
The towns of Tewksbury, Bedford, Wilmington, and Carlisle .- Though when they got big enough they were bound to set up for themselves, their mother is glad to see them home again at her birth- day Jubilee.
133
The sons of the sires .- They have become natives of the broad West, the cold North, and the sunny South ; but wherever they are found, they exhibit the virtue, energy, perseverance and industry of the old stock.
ROBERT L. ROGERS, Esq., of Baltimore, responded to this sentiment, and it is a matter of deep regret that the Committee have been unable to obtain a copy of his remarks.
American Manufactures .- The true support of genuine indepen- dence.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.