USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Bridgewater > Celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, at West Bridgewater, June 3, 1856 > Part 8
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And though I was not born within her limits, and though my life-blood does not " track its parent lake " through her first or carly settlers or their descendants, yet I believe that I appreciate the merits and services of those good and true men as justly and as highly, that I respect and venerate their characters as much, and that I join in this celebration, in- tended to revive, to honor, and perpetuate their memory, as cordially, as though I had been a native of the soil of Old Bridgewater, and my cradle had been rocked within her limits.
The founders of Bridgewater were men of no ordinary stamp. Though sorely beset and severely tried, yet, with unflinching fortitude, surmounting all obstacles, and throwing off all encumbrances, they accomplished their purpose ; they laid the foundation of a great town, - a princely munici- pality. They were men of enlarged minds and a wise policy. Appreciating the value of knowledge, they provided liberally, considering their means, for the education of their children. Knowing the vital importance of religion to states, commu- nities, and individuals, they made liberal provision, as far as
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their ability would admit, for the maintenance of public wor- ship and the preaching of the gospel.
Old Bridgewater was highly favored and blessed in her clergymen ; and, when they passed away, she lost some of the "most precious jewels of her coronet." It is not my purpose, nor am I qualified, to speak their praises ; but of one with whom I was intimately acquainted, and who honored me with his friendship, I must be indulged in a more parti- cular notice. I refer to the late Dr. John Reed, who was the minister of the Old West Parish when I came here fifty- seven years ago.
He was a man of plain, simple, unaffected manners, with a heart free from all guile ; of great sensibility, and overflow- ing with the milk of human kindness ; but possessed of a strong mind, and of great reasoning powers. He was very familiar with the Scriptures, and a learned expounder of their doctrines, and of the great principles of Christianity. He was not called a brilliant preacher, holding very cheap all the arts of rhetoric : but he certainly was an effective, and, I think, an eloquent preacher ; for he convinced the judgment by the force of his argument, and penetrated and subdued the heart by the pathos of his delivery.
But he had merit higher than this. What he preached to others he practised himself. His doctrines were exemplified in his life and conversation.
" His preaching much, but more his practice, wrought A living sermon of the truths he taught."
This, I know, is a slight and feeble tribute to the memory of a great and good man ; but it is sincere, and comes from the heart.
I will now conclude with a few words addressed particu- larly to those who are here from the four Bridgewaters. We all know that Old Bridgewater no longer exists as a corpora- tion, except in contemplation of law. She has been dismem-
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bered, - divided into four towns, separated from each other by distinct and independent organizations. This separation is fixed, and will remain. Re-union is not desired, and, if it were, would be hardly practicable. But still there may be a union, not created by law, but a voluntary union, - a union of hearts, irrespective of town lines and town organiza- tions, but not conflicting with them, nor interfering with them, - a union formed and supported by social and friendly intercourse, and by a disposition to promote the interests and happiness of each other. By cultivating this friendly and Christian spirit, the four Bridgewaters will remain united in the best sense of the word, and be Old Bridgewater still ; and I say, from the bottom of my heart, Old Bridgewater for ever !
9. " Those who have practised the Healing Art in the Ancient Town of Bridgewater, or can trace their Descent therefrom. - Skilful in the prevention and cure of disease, each of them, like an apostle of old, may well be called ' the beloved physician.'"
Dr. EBENEZER ALDEN, of Randolph, replied sub- stantially as follows: -
MR. PRESIDENT, - I thank you for your kind personal notice, and especially for your high compliment to the pro- fession of which I am a member.
I cannot feel myself to be a stranger here to-day. Of the five generations which have intervened between myself and the stripling who first leaped upon Plymouth Rock, and who was the last male survivor of the " Mayflower," four were inhabitants of Bridgewater.
Joseph, second son of Hon. John Alden, of Duxbury, was a proprietor in his father's right, and came here as early as 1656. He was much respected, and received the title of Goodman, as your town-records show. He died, in 1697, at the age of seventy-three ; and his remains were, without
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doubt, deposited in the ancient burying-ground, but the exact place of his sepulture knoweth no man of this genera- tion. Could his descendants of the present day do a more fitting thing than to erect a plain monument to his memory ?
Joseph Alden, son of Joseph, was a resident in the south precinct, and an officer in the church there ; where he died, at the age of eighty, in 1747. Then followed in succession two Daniels ; one the husband, the other a son, of Abigail, daughter of Judith Shaw, whose character has just been so graphically delineated by her great-grandson, Hon. Lemuel Shaw, Chief Justice of the Commonwealth. They were both good men and true ; residents in Bridgewater for a time, but finally removed, - one to find a resting-place in Stafford, ยท Conn. ; the other in Lebanon, N.H. I may add, that, like their fathers, they enjoyed not only the blessing of the upper and the nether springs, but, according to the promise, an abundant heritage of children ; and that, with rare exceptions, they have honored the memory and training of their sires.
My father settled as a physician in the immediate vicinity of Bridgewater in 1781, and for many years was in habits of frequent - I had almost said daily - intercourse with its inhabitants ; and, for nearly half a century since his death, the kindness to the father has not been withholden from the son. My interest in these scenes, therefore, Mr. President, is similar to your own. I thank you again for an invitation to visit the old domicile, and to unite with you in celebrating a common ancestry.
But, sir, in the sentiment to which I have been invited to respond, you allude to the medical profession ; and I thank you for the allusion. Next to the Christian ministry, 1 maintain that there is no more useful or honorable calling than that of the good physician. He is with you from the cradle to the grave ; from the first struggle into life, through all its morbid changes, to its close. He is an inmate of your families and firesides, - in the hour of peril, to ward off danger ; to call back the ebbing tide of life, when each pulsa-
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tion is apprehended to be the last; to restore the wife to the embraces of her husband, and the child to the bosom of its mother ; and by his assiduity and skill, and the blessing of God upon his efforts, to send joy and gladness into hearts stricken and oppressed with emotions which no language can express. And, when he can do nothing more, he stands by your dying pillow, a sympathizing, sorrowing friend, to miti- gate, as far as he may, the pains of separation between the departing spirit and its earthy tenement.
Such was Samuel Fuller, one of the company who landed in Plymouth in 1620, the first physician in New England, - first in the order of time, and a model physician in character. For twelve years he went in and out among the people; like a guardian angel, making all happy with whom he associated. He was frequently requested to extend his labors beyond the boundaries of Plymouth Colony and the neighboring Indian tribes. Twice - viz., in 1628 and 1629 - he visited Salem, by desire of Governor Endicott, during the prevalence of severe sickness among the newly arrived immigrants; and his efforts were attended with the most gratifying success. In a letter to Governor Bradford, bearing date June 28, 1630, he says, " I have been to Mattapan (Dorchester), and have let some twenty of those people blood." But Dr. Fuller was eminent not only in his profession, but in other walks of life. Before he left Holland, he had been chosen an officer in Robinson's church. His judgment in ecclesiastical affairs was highly valued. He was a wise counsellor, a faithful friend, a zealous and consistent Christian. Too soon for the church and for his country, he was called to go up higher. He died of epidemic fever in 1633 ; and the people " mourned with a great and very sore lamentation."
From that time to the present, the Old Colony has had a succession of physicians, who, if they have not all attained the eminence of Samuel Fuller, have adorned their profes- sion, and secured the respect of their contemporaries.
Time would fail me to present a catalogue of their names,
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much more the briefest sketch of their characters. They are embalmed in the memories of a grateful posterity, and have an imperishable monument in your hearts.
Many of the early ministers in the Old Colony practised medicine as well as preached the gospel ; not intending by this to obtrude themselves into the business of the regular physician, or, as quaint Sir Thomas Browne has it, " to chase two hares at one time," but as a necessity in the absence of more efficient helpers. Such were Rev. Charles Chauncy, at Scituate ; Rev. Samuel Brown, at Abington ; Rev. John Shaw, of Bridgewater ; and others.
Thomas and Comfort Starr, Matthew Fuller, Samuel Sea- bury, Thomas Little, and Francis Le Baron, were reputable physicians and chirurgeons in Plymouth and the vicinity at an early day. In later times, we find the names of Bryant, Hitchcock, Otis, Lathrop, Winslow, Crane, Carver, Shaw, Thaxter, Thacher, and many more; some of whom, in the revolutionary contest, were distinguished as patriots as well as physicians.
In the immediate place of our assembling, we call to mind, in succession, the names of Howard, Perkins, Dunbar, and Whitman ; the latter a personal friend of my own, as well as of many who hear me. They and their associates were noble men, worthy of the times in which they lived, and of the reputation they secured ; and they have left to their successors an example which may be safely imitated.
Allow me, Mr. President, in conclusion, to propose the following sentiment : --
" Our Puritan ancestors and their immediate descendants, the first settlers of Bridgewater. They appreciated moral worth in all the departments of society. The best tribute we can offer to their memories is to cherish their principles, and to transmit them, with the institutions they originated, to coming generations."
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10. " The Memory of Nahum Mitchell, the Historian of Bridgewater, - an honor to the science of sacred music; an upright judge; and a faithful legislator, both of the State and nation. His untiring industry, in rescuing from oblivion the memorials of the past, deserves the gratitude of succeeding generations."
The following notice of Judge Mitchell was submit- ted by Hon. AARON HOBART, of East Bridgewater : -
The above sentiment is one most fitting for the occasion. He whom it commemorates was distinguished by a long life, - a large portion of it spent in the practice of an honorable profession, and in the service of his country. It was my good fortune, more than fifty years ago, to enter his office as a law student, and reside in his family. From that time to his sudden death in Plymouth, where he had gone to join in celebrating the two hundred and thirty-third anniversary of the embarkation of the Pilgrim Fathers at Delft Haven, I have known and held him, as all who knew him did, in great respect.
Judge Mitchell was a descendant, in the fourth degree, from Experience Mitchell, who came to Plymouth in the third ship, the " Ann," in 1623. He was the son of Cushing Mitchell, and Jennet, his wife, who was a daughter of Hugh Orr, of Bridgewater, but a native of Lochwinnoch, in Scot- land, and was born Feb. 12, 1769. Having been fitted by Beza Hayward, of Bridgewater, he entered Harvard College in 1785, and graduated in course, in 1789, with what repu- tation for scholarship is not known; but his accuracy in matters of scholarship in after-life would seem to render it certain that he could have been no mean proficient. His part at Commencement was a syllogistic disputation, with Asaph Churchill, on the thesis, " Gravitas non est essentialis materia proprietas." After leaving college, he read law with the late John Davis, of Plymouth, afterwards Judge of the United States District Court ; was admitted to the bar in November, 1792 ; and, soon after, opened an office in his native place.
Nahummitchece
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He soon atracted attention in his profession ; and the esti- mation in which he was held by the public, and by those who had the appointing power in the State, appears in the many offices which were from time to time conferred upon him.
He was nine years a representative in the General Court, - seven from Bridgewater, and two from Boston ; a member of the eighth Congress of the United States ; senator from Plymouth County from 1813 to 1814 ; and a member of the Executive Council from 1814 to 1820. On the abolition of the old County Court of Common Pleas, and the establish- ment of a Circuit Court of Common Pleas in 1811, he, though not of the same political party with the ruling power, was appointed one of the justices of the new court for the southern circuit, comprehending the counties of Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable, and, on the resignation of Thomas B. Adams, succeeded him as Chief Justice. In 1822, he was chosen State Treasurer, and held the office for five consecutive years. Besides these offices, he received appointments under special commissions. He was appointed, with Edward H. Robbins, of Milton, and Nicholas Tillinghast, of Taunton, in 1801, to settle a disputed boundary-line between Massa- chusetts and Rhode Island ; and in 1823, with Mr. Robbins, and George Bliss, of Springfield, to settle the line between Massachusetts and Connecticut. His last appointment was chairman of the first commission for exploring the country from Boston to Albany for a railroad .*
The performance of the various duties of these high and responsible offices was confided to competent and safe hands. Judge Mitchell was a man of great industry, quickness of perception, and caution, and united to a discriminating judg- ment the attentiveness and precision of the mathematician. His habits of inquiry were "so remarkable, that he was never satisfied with investigation, nor desisted from it, so long as
* Judge Mitchell was also an active member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
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he had less than all the light he could obtain on the subject. He was a man that did, and did well, whatever he undertook.
As a lawyer, he was distinguished for sound learning, and fair and honorable practice. The late Chief Justice Parsons, not long before his death, at an evening-party in Plymouth, one of whom was the venerable and reverend Dr. Kendall, when the name of Nahum Mitchell was mentioned, " spoke of him freely as a man and lawyer. He said it would be improper to draw comparisons between him and other gentle- men of the Old-Colony bar. There were, some of them, very respectable ; but certainly Mr. Mitchell was among the very best, and that no one was more accurate and discrimi- nating. He had been in the way of witnessing his accuracy and discernment, having been frequently associated with him in the same cause. He spoke of him for a quarter of an hour in a strain of high encomium."
His qualifications as a lawyer made him a good judge ; and such he was generally esteemed. It was, indeed, some- times said of him that he lacked promptness and decision. This, however, was only in appearance : the opinion pro- bably arose from a desire on his part to do right, which led him to defer judgment until the scales of justice ceased to vibrate, and he could see a clear preponderance.
He was in Congress but for one term. There, he was in a small minority, and did not participate much, if any, in debate, but gave close attention to the business of the house, particularly such as related to matters of finance, and was active and influential on commitees.
The principal measures discussed and acted on while he was a member were - an amendment of the Constitution, re- quiring the electors of President to name, on distinct ballots, the persons voted for as President and Vice-President ; the impeachment of Judge Chase ; and the purchase of Louisiana from France. On all these questions, he, with a majority of the Massachusetts delegation, voted in the negative, - against the last because he had a doubt (in which Mr. Jefferson, the
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President, participated, but yielded to the pressure of circum- stances) of the right of the treaty-making power, under the Constitution, to buy territory to be admitted into the Union as a State, and also because of an uncertainty as to our title under the treaty of cession.
After attending to all his official duties and correspondence, he found himself with many leisure hours on hand. These he employed in reading classic authors, among them Ovid's " Epistola Heroidum," in the original, - an interesting book, which he " found, in a bookstore in Georgetown, stowed away among a heap of second-hand volumes ; " in translating the works of Horace into English verse ; and writing an in- teresting and amusing poem, in one canto, called the " Indian Pudding." He rarely engaged in any amusement, except an evening game of chess with Samuel W. Dana, a member of Congress from Connecticut ; "in which," he said in a letter to a relative, "I am generally conqueror, and have therefore become more skilful than my teacher."
He was a great lover of music, and, from youth to old age, studied it as a science. More than fifty years ago, he com- menced the publication of the "Bridgewater Collection of Sacred Music," of which he was the principal editor, although his name never appeared in the titlepage. The work passed through nearly thirty editions, and rendered essential service in improving the then-existing style of music, by substitut- ing, for tunes that were neither dignified, solemn, or decent, such as were chaste, classical, and sufficiently simple to be adapted to the wants of a worshipping assembly. Many pieces of his composition obtained a wide-spread circulation, and were generally performed, - among them, an anthem, called " Lord's Day," and a piece, of several quarto pages, beginning with the words, "Jesus shall reign." He also published a series of articles in the " Boston Musical Gazette," on the history of music, and wrote a treatise on harmony, which a competent judge said, if published, "would have done him no discredit."
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The success of his efforts for reform were extensively visible, and especially in the church, where he was a constant worshipper. There he was one of the choir for more than a quarter of a century ; and assisted by his relative, the late Bartholomew Brown, who was pre-eminent for the power and excellence of his voice, and the late Rev. Dr. James Flint, for fourteen years the minister of the parish, and others, he trained it to a degree of perfection in psalmody rarely equalled, and gave it an impulse in the right direction, that is felt to the present day.
He was much of an antiquarian, as is evinced by his well- written " History of Bridgewater," which is a monument to his memory that will endure for centuries, and, it may be hoped, as long as the art of printing. That was a work of vast labor. Its numerous scattered materials were to be searched for and gathered up from the state, county, town, church, and family records, and other sources, and reduced to a system. This he did with great care, good judgment, and accuracy, - considering the peculiar liability to mistakes in a work of the kind ; and has thus furnished the people of the Bridgewaters with a household book, valuable now and hereafter as a repository of historical and genealogical facts most interesting to them and their posterity.
His private character is a model for imitation. He was affable and familiar ; his manners were simple and easy ; his temper gentle, even, and cheerful ; and his whole deport- ment such as to inspire confidence and respect. Hospitality reigned in his house ; and cheerfulness beamed from his countenance on his happy family, and was reflected back by them. He was eminently a man of peace, and, all his life long, exerted a peculiarly happy faculty he had to promote it in his own neighborhood, and elsewhere within the sphere of his influence. He had faults, - and who has not ? - but none which should enter into a candid estimation of his character.
It has been said to be as difficult to compare great men as
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great rivers. Some we admire for one thing, and some for another ; and we cannot bring them together to measure their exact difference. But taking into the account, as well as we may, all the various talents and acquirements that combine to make up the whole man, I think it may be justly said, without being invidious, that the old town of Bridgewater, though numbering among her sons many eminent men, has never produced his superior.
He has now passed away, full of years and full of honors ; but his genial face, his tall, erect, dignified person, and elastic step, will not soon fade from the eyes of those who knew him. Nor will the remembrance of his life be limited to the days of his contemporaries : another generation will keep his memory green.
11. " To the Emigrants from Bridgewater, who have returned with their descend- ants to unite with us this day in commemorating the memory and virtues of our forefathers, we bid a most hearty welcome."
12. " Public Schools, - the Archimedean lever which moves the world.
13. " Duxbury, - the honored mother of Bridgewater. Though her children wandered thus far into the wilderness to plant the first inland town, they look back with affection to the Gurnet Light."
Hon. SETH SPRAGUE, of Duxbury, responded as follows : -
MR. PRESIDENT, - After listening to the interesting and eloquent address of Governor Washburn, the pleasing poem of Mr. Reed, and entertained with eloquence, wit, and humor for four long hours, it is only to inflict pain and pun- ishment on the audience for you to call on any one to speak at this late hour. A speaker, who could interest an audience thus satiated with good things, must have power equal to a galvanic battery that would stir the dead. On my own account, I would not utter a single word ; but, as Bridge-
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water is an offspring of Duxbury, I merely respond to the relation, and say, that when Bridgewater, or perhaps a larger territory than was assigned her, was purchased from Massa- soit, her whole territory, large as it was, was valued at seven coats of a yard and a half each, nine hatchets, eight hoes, twenty knives, four moose-skins, and ten and a half yards of cotton cloth, - the whole not worth more than twenty-five dol- lars. Such was the town valued at by the possessors, after a long period of occupation by savage tribes, and, from expe- rience, was not destined to be increased in value by their mode of life, had they possessed it until the present time. Peopled by a civilized, Christian people, in the short space of two hundred years, the value of this same territory is more than five millions current money. Duxbury had the advan- tage of Bridgewater, in being settled some fifteen years ear- lier ; yet Bridgewater has outstripped her in population and wealth. I am astonished when comparing their statistics. In 1790, Bridgewater had more population than Duxbury and Plymouth, the territory of Plymouth being nearly equal to that of Bridgewater. At the present time, the population of Old Bridgewater is fifty per cent more than Duxbury and Plymouth together. The superior local advantages of Dux- bury - situated on the seaboard, with all the advantages of coasting, foreign trade, ship-building, the facilities of transpor- tation, the fisheries, and inducements to enterprise and expan- sion - render the superiority of Bridgewater the more to her credit. You must, for the first century at least, and proba- bly the first half of the second, have been mainly confined to the cultivation of the soil. I cannot call to mind any place, with no greater local advantages, that has advanced with equal rapidity. The soil of your township is probably superior to any town in Plymouth County. As much behind you as we are, we rejoice at your success and prosperity. You have a right to be proud of your position. I would say more, but ought not to have said so much. I will close with a senti- ment : -
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