USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Bridgewater > Celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, at West Bridgewater, June 3, 1856 > Part 9
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 | Part 10
137
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
" Old Bridgewater, - daughter of Duxbury and grand- daughter of Plymouth, - the date of her birth nearly co-eval with her parents. In wealth and population she has excelled them both ; and, though cut into four parts, she is as vigor- ous and fruitful as ever. Her sires, though far behind her, rejoice in her prosperity, and wish you a thousand times as many as ye are."
14. " The Memory of James Keith, - the first minister ordained in Bridgewater. We are this day enjoying the fruits of his devotedness to the cause of civil and reli- gious liberty."
Hon. JAMES M. KEITH, of Roxbury, responded as follows : -
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, - A sentiment in memory of the honored dead is generally received stand- ing and in silence ; and such a reception, in the present case, would be, I apprehend, a far more eloquent tribute than any I can hope to offer. Indeed, the vocation of one practised in the strife of the forum is little calculated to make him a fitting exponent of the virtues of him who ministers at the shrines of the temple. And yet there is a beauty and moral sublimity in the patient devotion to duty, manifested in the daily life of the conscientious Christian minister, which appeals even to what some consider the callous heart of the legal advocate, in tones more thrilling than the highest-wrought periods uttered from the rostrum.
The eloquence of such a life was shown by the Rev. James Keith, the first minister of Bridgewater, for more than fifty-five years, amidst the toils, the privations, and the dangers of a colonial settlement, in the forests around the spot on which we are assembled. Born in Scotland, educated at Aberdeen, coming to these shores in 1662, ordained in 1664, he con- tinued in the faithful discharge of the duties of his ministry
18
138
BRIDGEWATER
till called to his reward in 1719. He showed his apprecia- tion of " Heaven's last, best gift to man," by an early mar- riage. He had six sons and three daughters ; and his descendants, to the number of more than a thousand, are now found scattered through the New-England States, New York, Michigan, Missouri, and Minnesota ; showing that, how- ever his posterity may have failed of obedience to some of the precepts of the Decalogue, they have not forgotten the first command given to man. His descendants have been, so far as I know, an honest, industrious, and law-abiding people. Out of some seven hundred criminal cases reported in the decisions of our Supreme Court, only one is found in which a Keith was a party defendant; and that was a case in which he had been convicted of the illegal sale of intoxi- cating liquor, on the testimony of a convicted thief; and the Court, like sensible men as well as learned judges, set the verdict aside, and thus placed the family name all right upon the record.
The first minister of Bridgewater did not preach, nor did his hearers practise, a sickly sentimentality, which showed more sympathy for the criminal than love for the observance of law ; but he taught, and they believed, in a willing obe- dience to law, and in the speedy punishment of its violators. They devoutly believed in prayer, and trusted in God; but they also trusted in their own right arms to achieve their de- fence. When attacked by the Indians, whom they had treated with uniform kindness, they did not abandon their homes, as advised by the timid of other settlements, nor trembling wait for Omnipotence specially to interpose for their deliverance ; but, seizing their weapons with resolute hearts, they attacked the foe, and drove him from their settlement.
Judging the present inhabitants of Bridgewater by their past history, one could wish that the plains of Kansas were now filled with them ; that they might there repel the hordes of violence and oppression, and make those broad savannas vocal with the songs of freemen.
139
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
But, at this late hour, I will detain you no longer. I close with this sentiment : -
" Civil and religious liberty, - the priceless inheritance left us by our fathers, which must be maintained at all hazards, and transmitted unimpaired to our children."
15. " Woman. - She guides the steps of childhood, cheers the labors of manhood, and smooths the pillow of age. To her we offer the warmest sentiments of grati- tude and love."
16. " The Poet of the Day. - His subject has inspired his Muse; and we have listened with delight to the words of her inspiration."
Mr. REED, in reply, said, Our friend Governor Washburn had remarked that he never felt more at home in his life; but he (Mr. Reed) must confess that he never felt less so, surrounded as he was by reverend men of all professions. He then gave, as a toast, -
" The descendants of Mrs. Judith Shaw (to whose memory respectful allusion had been made at the table), -the best proofs of her piety and frugality."
17. "The Memory of Massasoit, - the friendly sachem, who sold the township of Bridgewater."
A representative of the Pokanoket tribe made the following response: -
BROTHERS, - I have come a long way to meet you. I am glad that our good old father Massasoit still lives in your memory. These fields were once the hunting-grounds of the red men ; but they were sold to the white men of
140
BRIDGEWATER
Bridgewater. The red men have been driven towards the great water at the West, and have disappeared like the dew ; while the white men have become like the leaves on the trees, and the sands on the sea-shore.
Brothers, our hunting-grounds grow narrow ; the chase grows short ; the sun grows low ; and, before another Cen- tennial Celebration of the Incorporation of Bridgewater, our bones will be mingled with the dust.
Brothers, may we live in peace ! and may the Great Spirit bless the red men and the white men !
18. " The next Centennial Anniversary. - May it find the doors of the old home- stead wide open to receive its returning children ; its inmates contented, prosperous, and happy ; and our country at peace, united, and free !"
By WILLIAM ALLEN : -
" Bridgewater, Somersetshire, Old England. - Our friend and correspondent: God bless lier! She was the first in all the British empire to send a petition to Parliament for the extirpation of the slave-trade. May neither she, nor her name- sake in Massachusetts, cease her efforts in the cause of truth till all humanity is free ! "
A sentiment complimentary to Senator SUMNER was offered, and responded to by Rev. PAUL COUCH, of North Bridgewater.
A scroll, of which the following is a copy, was cir- culated in the tent for signatures : -
"Other men labored ; and ye are entered into their labors." - St. John, iv. 38.
" We who have assembled this day to commemorate the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town
141
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
of Bridgewater, in grateful remembrance of the toils and suf- ferings of our ancestors, and in the hope that the inheritance they bequeathed to us may be guarded and enjoyed by their descendants to remotest generations, here record our names.
" WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., June 3, 1856."
The following Songs, by Mr. D. W. C. PACKARD, of North Bridgewater, were prepared to be sung at the table, but were omitted for the want of time : -
The glorious band, that brave old band, Of honest heart and strong right hand, - Oh ! noble were the deeds they dared ; And beauteous, who their danger shared. Their hallowed dust our hillsides hold, Our valleys bloom above their mould ; But their spirit lives in our souls to-day : It lives - it lives - shall live alway.
They found these fields when the wolf was here; When through the thicket leaped the deer ; When the Indian's council-fires were red, And these peaceful vales with blood were fed. The Indian's hard-fought fields are o'er, And his council-fires are seen no more ; But our fathers' spirit it lives to-day : It lives - it lives - shall live alway.
For Freedom was their life-blood given ; In that dear cause they kneeled to Heaven ; And Freedom, from the dust they trod, ยท Springs up like verdure from the sod.
142
BRIDGEWATER
Their hallowed dust our hillsides hold, Our valleys bloom above their mould ; But their spirit lives in our souls to-day : It lives - it lives - shall live alway.
From north, from south, from east, from west, We come, the sacred spot to bless, Where first our fathers' anthems broke The silence of the wilderness.
The place, the time, those honored forms, Alike our recollection claim ; And, like the dove, she hastens back To brood o'er each remembered name.
And she shall dress their grassy graves With wreaths of amaranthine flowers, And, weeping there, shall smiling turn To view the blessings that are ours.
And long as waves the golden grain Above the plains their hands have tilled, So long as summer fields are green, Shall memory's cup to them be filled.
More sentiments and songs had been prepared for the occasion ; but the end of the centennial day drew near, and they were omitted.
" UNION, PEACE, AND JOY HAD CROWNED THAT FESTIVE DAY," -
when a vote was passed to adjourn to the next Cen- tennial Anniversary.
143
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
LETTERS.
THE following letters, among others, were received from gentlemen who had been invited to attend the celebration, but were not read, for want of time: -
From His Excellency Henry J. Gardner.
BOSTON, May 29, 1856.
MY DEAR SIR, - I have delayed till to-day my reply to the Committee of Invitation for " the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the ancient Town of Bridgewater," in hopes that my official duties would permit me to be present on so interesting an occasion ; but present appearances, as well as ascertained engagements, will, beyond a question, deprive me of that pleasure.
Since the day that Capt. Miles Standish purchased of the Indians the territory of your town, for a miscellaneous collec- tion of coats, hatchets, hoes, knives, and moose-skins, it has had historic associations connected with its progress, inte- resting alike to the antiquarian and the general reader.
My purpose, however, now, is not to attempt writing a new " Bridgewater Treatise," but to express my sincere regrets at my inability to be present on the 3d of June next.
I remain, very respectfully, You friend and fellow-citizen,
HENRY J. GARDNER
AUSTIN PACKARD, Esq., West Bridgewater.
144
BRIDGEWATER
From Hon. Edward Everett.
BOSTON, May 7, 1856.
DEAR SIR, - I have your favor of the 5th, inviting me, on behalf of the Committee appointed for the purpose, to attend the celebration of the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the ancient Town of Bridgewater, on the 3d of June.
I am much indebted to the Committee for the honor of this invitation. Few towns in Massachusetts are of greater importance than Bridgewater in the carly history of the Old Colony, or afford ampler subjects for commemoration at the present day. I should have the greatest pleasure, if I were able, in being present on an occasion of so much interest, and particularly in listening to an address from the eminent gen- tleman who is to speak to you. Other engagements, I regret to say, put it wholly out of my power.
With the best wishes for an agreeable celebration,
I remain, dear sir, Respectfully yours, EDWARD EVERETT.
Mr. AUSTIN PACKARD.
From Hon. Charles E. Forbes.
NORTHAMPTON, May 15, 1856.
MY DEAR SIR, - I have received your invitation to be present at the celebration of the Second Centennial Anniver- sary of the Incorporation of Bridgewater, on the third day of June next. Though born in your ancient and respectable town, my removal from it took place at so early a period in life, that I have no recollection of the event. But, from the conversations of others, I became, during my childhood and youth, very familiar with the names and characters of many of its inhabitants then living ; the greater part of whom, in
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 145
the ordinary course of nature, are now gathered to the fathers. But many of their descendants, of those who bear their names and inherit their virtues, will be present, with whom it would give me great pleasure to unite in the proposed celebration. My engagements, however, will compel me to forego this pleasure ; but I beg you to be assured of the sympathy and kind feelings which I shall ever cherish towards the inhabitants of my native town, and towards the descend- ants of its former inhabitants, in whatever part of the world their destiny may have placed them. Accept for yourself, and be kind enough to convey to the Committee, my thanks for this honor.
I am, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,
CHARLES E. FORBES.
AUSTIN PACKARD, Esq.
From Hon. Israel Washburn, jun., of Maine.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, May 9, 1856.
DEAR SIR, - I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to be present at the celebration, on the third day of June next, of the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the ancient Town of Bridgewater.
I should rejoice exceedingly to be at this "gathering of the sons and daughters of the four towns:" for there I should meet my relations, and be at home ; and there I should have an opportunity to hear the eloquent words of the dis- tinguished gentleman who does so much honor to the name found oftener than any other in the records of Bridgewater. But my duties and engagements here will constrain me to forego this pleasure.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
I. WASHBURN, jun.
AUSTIN PACKARD, Esq., for the Committee, &c.
19
146
BRIDGEWATER
From Hon. Elijah Hayward.
MCCONNELSVILLE, Ohio, May 26, 1856.
DEAR SIR, - I have received, and read with much pleasure, your letter of the 5th instant, inviting me to be present, on the 3d of June next, at " the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the ancient Town of Bridgewater ; " for which I tender to you, and to the Committee of which you are the organ, my sincere thanks. A temporary illness of the last three weeks has prevented me from earlier making my acknowledgments. It would afford me inexpressible satisfaction to be present at that time, and to participate in the flow of feeling which must then be exhibited, and that love of ancestral pride which belongs to the instincts of our nature ; but my previous engagements, which cannot be dis- pensed with, will, I regret to say, deprive me of that plea- sure.
Being a native of the town, "and to the manor born " in 1786, and a lineal descendant of at least nine of its original proprietors and early settlers, - of which your own ancestor, Samuel Packard, was one, - it is impossible for me to be indifferent to those impulses which must be manifested on that great occasion, and to those affectionate reminiscences which add pleasure to the recollections of by-gone events. We
view the past in the sepulchres of the generations that have lived before us ; we see the present in the conflict of human reason and the human passions ; and we contemplate the unseen future in humility, as in the will of the great Creator, to whom alone all time and all knowledge is present. There is not probably a square mile of the original eight miles square, of the ancient territory of Bridgewater, in which there has not been preserved some reminiscent of the first and early fathers of the town, worthy the cherished veneration of their descendants.
The motives which ennoble our nature, and the virtues which adorn the character of mankind, in which no taint of
147
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
vice ever intermingled, were most happily illustrated in the lives of the first and early settlers of Bridgewater, whose example, now fixed on high, presents a spectacle of virtue, piety, and patriotism, worthy of the most lasting commemora- tion. We should violate the best feelings of filial affection and gratitude, if we did not most fully appreciate the result- ing consequences of their motives and conduct.
But there is another sentiment which must inevitably interpose itself upon the occasion. Many natives of the town, who have long been absent, will then be present, with sensations of another character. There is no feeling more pure, more chaste, than that which is inspired by the multi- tude of the recollections of the place of our birth, and the scenes of our childhood, connected with the virtues of our ancestors. The clime of our birth, the place where we first experienced the sensations of pleasure, and even those of pain, -" that mysterious attraction which draws us so gently to the first objects of our views and to the earliest of our acquaintance," - possess a secret spell of enchanting reflec- tion, a charm which time sanctifies to our fondest recollec- tions. Even the rude, unlettered savage, - " whose home is the forest, and whose habitation is the shade," - an alien to many of the ordinary feelings and sentiments of humanity, venerates the sepulchres of his fathers, and esteems his birth- place holy ground. It is the triumph of nature, true to its social instincts, over the most violent passions, and all the artifices and refinements of civilization.
What, then, must have been the emotions of those female Pilgrims, the mothers of Bridgewater, when they bade their last adieu to the home of their fathers, the land of their birth, and to all the delicate and bright hopes of their youth ! What pious fortitude, what religious zeal, what strong affec- tions, what firmness of purpose, and what serene calmness, must have set enthroned in their bosoms, to have enabled them to forego so much, and to encounter so much, for Christian liberty and social peace ! Wonderful women! daughters
148
BRIDGEWATER
of a foreign land! mothers of a new generation of heroes, statesmen, and patriots! - your descendants - a free people, a nation prosperous and happy - cherish the recollection of your exalted virtues, and have consecrated them to your memories.
I would, if it were proper, present to the consideration of those assembled on the occasion the following sentiment : -
" The first and early Fathers of ancient Bridgewater. - Their lineal descendants honor themselves by doing honor to their memory,"
And I would also present the following : -
" The Mothers and Matrons of the original Town. - While they taught their offspring the love and the value of civil and religious liberty, they were ever them- selves tenacious of the liberty of loving."
With great respect, your obedient servant,
ELIJAH HAYWARD.
AUSTIN PACKARD, Esq., West Bridgewater, Mass.
From Hon. James Savage.
To the Committee for the Centennial Celebration
at West Bridgewater, on 3d June next. BOSTON, May 16, 1856.
GENTLEMEN, - Very great pleasure should I have in being present at the re-union of ancient Bridgewater, in its fourfold strength, on the recurrence of its natal day for the two hundredth time ; and great is the attraction that must reach widely around from the fact that an appropriate address will be delivered by my friend Governor Washburn. Yet my situation forbids me to indulge the hope of partaking in your solemnities, as, on that day, I must be in a distant part of the country ; and nothing is permitted me but to express most grateful acknowledgment for your polite invitation. Private friendships would be refreshed by meeting such honored old associates as William Baylies and Artemas Hale; but the
149
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
advanced years have done much towards making the grass- hopper a burden, and leaving little hope of being endured in his garrulity by
Your most obliged, JAS. SAVAGE.
AUSTIN PACKARD, Esq.
From Hon. C. C. Washburn, of Wisconsin.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 17, 1856.
MY DEAR SIR, - It would give me great pleasure to accept your polite invitation to be present at the Second Centennial Celebration of the Incorporation of the ancient Town of Bridgewater ; but my engagements here are of such a character as to preclude me from doing so ; which I much regret. Hoping that you may have a pleasant time,
I am, very truly,
C. C. WASHBURN.
AUSTIN PACKARD, Esq., West Bridgewater, Mass.
150
BRIDGEWATER
ADDRESS
TO THOSE WHO MAY CELEBRATE THE THIRD CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCORPORATION OF BRIDGEWATER.
PREPARED BY THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED FOR THAT PURPOSE.
ON the third day of last month, the present inhabitants of our old and favored town met to commemorate the virtues of a peculiar people, the founders of a free and happy community, - our forefathers. This is undoubtedly the first instance in which a centennial celebration of the town has been held. A hundred years ago, the inhabitants of the colonies were so absorbed in the contest at that time raging between the mother country and the colonies on the one side, and the French and Indians on the other, that little time could be spared, and little money expended, for such fes- tivities.
It would be to us highly gratifying, could some memorial of a like day of thanksgiving, held a hundred years ago, now greet our eyes. Pleasant would it be to see the names of those who might have been the actors in such a day of rejoi- cing ; to read a recital of their impressions of the past, their condition in the then present, and their hopes and anticipa- tions of the future ; and especially if they had prepared, for transmission to us, their expressions of interest in those, who, at this date, have arisen to fill their places.
151
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
No such memorial can be found ; but we, from the sym- pathies of our nature, judging that, to those who shall be here one hundred years hence, a word of congratulation must be welcome, will with pleasure speak to-day to those, who, on the third day of June, 1956, may meet to rejoice over the past ; who, in speaking of the men of ancient time, will look back upon us, we hope, as a part of an honored line of an- cestry.
As we glance at the past, and then turn to the future, a multitude of thoughts press upon the mind; and the first thought is expressed in the question, If the change in the future be as great as that in the past, what will be the condi- tion of the inhabitants of New England a hundred years hence ?
Favored, indeed, has been our community, in common with our nation. When, in the course of the century just closed, our fathers were oppressed, and their cry rose to Heaven for help, God heard their supplications, and brought them deliverance. To an impoverishing and deadly strife suc- ceeded the comforts of peace. The inventive faculty of man has here found ample scope. All the elements of the mate- rial world have been taxed to aid in the advancement of America. Inventions and discoveries have been presented to view, astonishing even to ourselves. It is within a very brief period that lightning has become the messenger of thought ; and information is transmitted through our country, as it were in a moment, from centre to circumference. The sun, with mathematical precision, performs the office of the landscape or portrait painter ; while the researches of science have, by the use of chloroform, rendered surgical operations painless.
Precisely forty-nine years have passed since the first appli- cation of steam to navigation in this country, and a little more than a quarter of a century since it was first applied to land carriages. This powerful agent, the steam-engine, - the very " king of machines ; " superseding, in a great mea-
152
BRIDGEWATER
sure, the former cumbrous methods of locomotion, and daily applied more and more to the promotion of the various branches of art, - is revolutionizing the country. Its future results it is impossible to conceive.
Within the last fifteen years, the friends of education have been making unusual efforts, and we trust with a good degree of success, to discover the best means of educating the youth of our country. Intense activity is the great characteristic of our community. The care-worn countenance and toil-hardened hand, the hum of peaceful industry, and the reverence for things divine, evince the causes of the productive fields of our rural districts, and the wealth of our cities. A pros- perity unexampled in the history of any earlier nation has attended ours ; and well may the language of the ancient prophet be applied to us, " What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done ?"
But, notwithstanding the prosperity of the community, it must be regretted that the morals of the people have not fully kept pace with their privileges. The ordinances of divine worship do not, from a part of the people, receive that hearty support which the spiritual wants of our nature demand. A portion, on the sabbath, absent themselves from the house of God. While very few openly oppose religious institutions, too many treat the subject with indifference or lukewarmness.
The cause of temperance, which has suffered ever since the first century of our existence as a town, still meets with obstacles to its success. Men of wealth and influence do not always, in this matter, come with that hearty determination to aid in the exaltation of our community which every true patriot must devoutly desire. For the promotion of this cause, temperance societies have been organized by indivi- duals pledging themselves neither to use ardent spirits as a beverage, nor to encourage others in the use or sale of them. We are gratified to remember, and it may interest you to know, that one of the first of these in the United States was
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.