USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Danvers > Centennial celebration at Danvers, Mass., June 16, 1852 > Part 16
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There were several marked features, both in the public and private character of Mr. King, which render it a grateful duty to commemorate him as you have done, and as others have elsewhere done. They also make it an imperative duty to commend his example frequently to the young and aspiring minds in the community, for their regard and imi- tation. His high sense of honor, leading him always to preserve self- respect, and to guard against the slightest cause for just reproach from others ; his quiet industry and patient labor,-both with the hands and the head ; his firmness of purpose and ready obedience to every call of duty ; his incorruptible integrity ; his generous, and often concealed, benevolence ; his love for the place of his birth, his interest in the schools and the churches, his endeavors in every way to promote knowledge and virtue in the community ; his love of country, his labors and influence in the councils of the state and the nation ; his watchful attention to every measure, which might help to secure the glory of the land, and to further the best interests of humanity ;- all these are well known here. And it cannot be too often repeated to the young, that it was by such a course of life, he raised himself to an eminence which commanded universal esteem and confidence, made him an honor to his native town, and a benefactor to his country.
One most striking circumstance in the history of Mr. King has been brought to our notice to-day, by his distinguished colleague in Con- gress, who was particularly associated with him in the measure, during the discussion of which it occurred. The Hon. Mr. Palfrey has told us that Mr. King remained, for many hours, calmly attentive and faith- ful at his post in one of the most trying scenes of his public usefulness, whilst his heart was, at the same time, throbbing with the pangs of the most painful intelligence which could be borne to an affectionate parent. So deeply did he cherish the sense of duty to his country and humanity, that he could entirely suppress the emotions of an aching breast, and stifle the utterance of bereaved and wounded affection. Admirable instance of moral firmness, of conscientious adherence to. duty, of Christian faith and fortitude. Worthy is it to be inscribed, in. letters of gold, on the walls of the representative's hall ! Worthy is it.
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to be held up for admiration before every public man, and every youth in our land ! By them who have seen and known Mr. King in his religious life and character, it will easily be understood from what source such calmness and firmness proceeded. Would to Heaven they might be more commonly displayed where like manifestations arc needed every day !
I have alluded to Mr. King's interest in the schools and the churches of his native place. I believe, sir, it is only by a similar interest in these institutions, that you can preserve the present, or secure the future prosperity and reputation of this town. In the fitting words with which the President welcomed the guests at this festive board, he brought to our imagination the vast increase and importance of Danvers after the lapse of another century ; and significantly asked what shall be the character of her citizens at that day. Sir, I believe it is not too much to affirm that the answer to that question depends, mainly, upon the watchful attention of her citizens now to the intellectual and religious education of the young. I believe it is by her schools, her Sabbath schools and her churches to-day, and for the century to come, infinite- ly more than by her material growth and prosperity, that the character of the Danvers of 1952 will be determined. Let these institutions be sacredly guarded, and their benefits be diffused to the utmost. Let no narrow views of present policy, or economy, prevent the proper en- largement and improvement of the one, and the steadfast and honora- ble maintenance of the other. Let every intellect receive the culture and development of a thorough education. Let every heart imbibe the hallowing influences of religion. Let the tokens of a patient in- dustry and a growing thrift, quicken the pulses of them who are about to enter upon the world's labors and strifes. Let the increasing de- mands of the age, the deep wants of the soul, and the loud calls of humanity and of providence, give to them who are already treading the busy walks of manhood, steadiness of purpose, a chastened eager- ness in worldly pursuits, and make them live for higher ends than wealth or fame. Let the memory of the past, and the kindling visions of a future brighter day, be alike an impulse to faithfulness in, every trust, and an incentive to progress in every noble achievement.
I had intended, Mr. President, to say a few words in reference to the generous donation, the announcement of which has so delighted and electrified us all,-urging faithfulness to the trust, and the best possible exertions to give effect to the noble purpose of the donor. But I am anticipated by others, and if it were not so, time would not permit. All honor to that noble merchant prince, whose wealth is thus employed for the highest benefit of his race ! All honor and gratitude to the man whose heart beats warmly with the recollection of his early home, and with purposes of lasting benefit to his early friends !
Mr. President, allow me, with the heartiest response to your own expression of regard for your former townsmen, to offer the following sentiment :
The Schools and the Churches of Danvers-The safeguards of her present, and the hope of her future prosperity and fame. May they be sacredly guard- ed and sustained.
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The Rev. ISRAEL W. PUTNAM, having been called upon, replied :
Mr. President :- I have been requested to say a word in notice of one distinguished and excellent individual of our town, the late Hon. Samuel Holten.
Although he was removed thirty-six years ago, from the scenes of this world, in which he had acted so important and so good a part, yet I know there are now living, and probably present on this interesting occasion, a few, at least, who had a personal knowledge of his history and character,-for he belonged to their generation or to the one next before them ; but there are others here who have not that knowledge. To both these classes of my fellow-citizens, (and I must call all the inhabitants of my native town such,) I would say, that they will find the character of that excellent man faithfully delineated in the funeral discourse delivered by his friend and pastor, the late Rev. Dr. Wads- worth : and I beg leave to refer you, Mr. President, and all here present, to that discourse for the true character of a man whose mem- ory should be cherished with respect and gratitude down to the latest generation of his people.
It appears that Judge Holten (or rather Dr. Holten, as he always chose to be called) was born in 1738, one hundred and fourteen years ago, in Salem Village, now, for one hundred years, Danvers. He was in every respect a youth of high promise ; but feebleness of health interfering with his father's destination for him, which was a collegiate education, his attention was early turned to the healing art. At the age of eighteen, he commenced the practice of that profession in the town of Gloucester; but soon returned to his native place, where he spent a long life of usefulness in the town, and in various public ser- vices of the country.
With all the talents his Creator had given him, which were of a highly respectable character, and with a full share of the zeal of the patriots of our Revolutionary struggle, he enlisted, at the age of thirty, in the cause of his country ; and that cause he never forsook in its darkest day. This occasion does not admit of even the briefest review of the faithful services he performed, or of the distinguished posts of trust and honor which he held from the year 1768 to that of 1783, when the great struggle was over, and the independence of the country was acknowledged by the British nation and the world.
His counsels and his services were sought and rendered in the Com- monwealth or in the Continental Congress during that whole period ; and once he was elected as presiding officer of that patriotic and august body,-the highest seat of honor which his country had to give.
But his public services did not cease when the independence of the country was achieved. He took an active part in the formation of the Federal Constitution ; and after it was adopted was for several years a Member of Congress. Twice he was an elector of president and vice president. Many high and responsible offices did he fill in the Com- monwealth,-being for eight years Representative of the town in the General Court, five years in the Senate, and twelve in the Council.
When not employed in more public services abroad, he was with great unanimity called to the care of the local interests of the town
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and the parish to which he belonged. Twenty-four years he was treasurer of the town, and about half a century treasurer of the parish,-performing all the services of those offices gratuitously, and frequently when the treasury was empty, answering drafts upon it from his own personal resources.
Forty-seven years in all he was in the public service of his country, -always punctual, faithful and devoted to his duties and engagements : and let it be remembered, as the venerable Wadsworth said, that " goodness and usefulness well characterize true greatness."
But the character of Dr. Holten shone with equal brightness in the private walks and social relations of life. Very few, however, of those who knew him intimately are now living to testify to his excellence in these respects. I would only add here that in the dignified appearance of his person, in the condescending and instructive manner of his conversation, and in his whole external deportment, he was at once a model and a monument of the old school of gentlemen of his day.
But I should do injustice to the memory of Dr. Holten if I failed to bear testimony to the highest and noblest part of his character ; I refer to his Christian piety. He was a man who revered the word and the institutions of God. He was constant and devout in his attendance on divine worship in public and in private life. He was ever alive to the interests of "pure and undefiled religion," cheerfully bearing a large share in the support of all Christian institutions, and adorning the profession of his Savior's name by a life which exhibited in beau- tiful consistency the Christian virtues and Christian graces during the whole period of fifty-six years for which he was a member of the church.
If what I have said should have the effect of turning the attention of this generation of the people to a study of the character of Judge Holten, as they will find it delineated in the Discourse to which I have referred, I am persuaded they will not fail to cherish the highest respect for that distinguished and excellent man.
It may not be known now,-the coming generations of our town may never know, the social, civil and moral worth of Dr. H .; but I think there can be little doubt that his services and his character contributed largely to the prosperity of the town that gave him birth, and that enjoyed nearly the whole of his long and useful life ;- con- tributed to the stability of its institutions, to the extent and variety of its educational privileges, to the order, industry and thrift of its inhab- itants, and to the highly honorable position it has taken and is destined to take among the towns of our beloved Commonwealth.
But, Mr. President, I turn gratefully from these views of a character which I could not but love and respect from my early childhood, to the scenes of this joyful anniversary. I love to look around on the grounds and streets and dwellings of this part of the town,-changed greatly indeed from what they were fifty-five years ago, when I first began to see them. I love to think of the venerable men and women whom I knew here in other days,-the Poors, the Proctors, the Osborns, the Kings, the Danielses, the Pooles, and others. I love to go back to my own native parish and think of the Holtens, the Kettells, the Pages, the Nicholses, the Prestons, the Flints, the Princes, and my kinsmen
B. W. Thayer Ac Cos Lit H. Boston.
very affectionately yours D. Poor
REV. DANIEL POOR D.D. Missionary to Caylon.
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the Putnams, and other's, whom I once knew there. And here, did not delicacy forbid, I would name an honored father, *- not unknown as a useful citizen, a faithful and long-acting magistrate, and a firm sup- porter of the Christian ministry and Christian institutions. And here, too, I think I shall be allowed to name a son of one of these respected families, who is yet among the living. I allude to my beloved Christian and ministerial brother, the Rev. DANIEL POOR, who is still toiling and praying in heathen climes for the salvation of heathen men. A close and endeared intimacy of forty-five years warrants me to speak freely of him. Many now within the compass of my voice know him well. Others do not Were he here this day no one would need speak for him. Let me say, then, that he was born on this ground, and that here he spent his early days. Yes, and it was here that the Spirit of God turned his youthful heart to love the things of the Heavenly Kingdom ; and it was under the influence of that love that he then consecrated himself to the service of his Lord and Master, wherever on the earth it should be His holy will to employ him. It was here, in his very boyhood, (as he used pleasantly to tell me,) that he made his first attempts in literary and theological writing. It was in yonder little valley, almost within our sight, and while in his humble calling he was following his sluggish horse round in the bark-mill, that he composed that regular set of little sermons, which he sometimes showed a friend here, and which I hope he now has with him in India.
But that " chosen vessel " was not destined to be used permanently in a bark-mill. A mother's prayers and a father's means soon put him in the way of a classical and theological education. It was my own happiness to be associated with hirn in both. Soon he became a preacher of the blessed gospel of Jesus Christ, and, thirty-seven years ago, sailed for the Eastern world with her, whom he had chosen as a help-meet in his Missionary work.
We all know, or ought to know, the rest,-his labors there, his re- cent thrilling visit to his native land, his cheerful return to his heathen home. Toil on, dear brother, thy Master's eye approves thy work, and thou wilt soon hear that Master's voice, saying, " Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
To the President of this festival I would say, if he was present, I congratulate you on having your lot cast in the good old town of DAN- VERS. I congratulate you on being the successor of such men as the venerated Clark and Wadsworth in the ministerial office. May it please the great Head of the church to allow you, like them, to finish out a full half century in the holy calling in which you have already spent so great a portion of your life. And, when at last you are about being gathered unto the past generations of the town, may you be allowed to look upon its churches and its people as prosperous and happy, not only in the enjoyment of the blessings of civil and religious liberty, but also in the practical exhibition of the purity and piety of their Pilgrim Fathers.
* Eleazer Putnam, Esq., a worthy man and magistrate, much employed as a surveyor, conveyancer, &c., and for the transaction of legal business in the town.
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Mr. Putnam having concluded, the PRESIDENT proposed-
The .Annalist of Salem-He has rescued many important facts in our local history from oblivion, for which we owe him a debt of gratitude too great for present payment. He may, however, be assured that it never will be repudiated.
This was responded to by Rev. J. B. FELT, of Boston :
Mr. Chairman :- To every cooperator who stands on the isthmus of the present, and rescues some relics of the past from rushing to ob- livion, it is next to the approval of his conscious obligation that he hears those of his own day, and especially on an occasion like this, utter language which denotes that his labor has not been in vain.
Sir, our attention thus far has been given chiefly to the men of this corporation. This is both natural and necessary in detailing events of history, because, such is the constitution of society, males are leaders in its prominent concerns. But it is well, so that the balance of justice should be right in the affairs of life, that we sometimes advert to the part which the gentler sex have had in the founding, preserving and advancing communities and nations. May we not, then, be allowed to do so at a time like this, when, more probably than at others, heart meets heart, and the sympathies of humanity flow spontaneously, generously and equitably ?
Let us, for a few minutes, look at " the better half," who, between 1630 and 1640, were among the settlers of Brooksby, the Village, and other principal divisions of this town. We behold them, as to their several departures from Salem, for such locations. Grants of land had been laid out for the families with which they were connected. Log cabins for some, till choicer lumber could be sawed, and better abodes for others, were prepared, with furniture less abundant than in our day. Informed that these habitations were ready for their accom- modation, they at different dates came to them, part of the way, as supposed, on the waters of North River, by canoes, then extensively used, and the rest on foot. With them, horses and pillions, and other land conveyances, were very scarce. Omnibuses and steam cars, so familiar to our vision, they never saw.
Thus, entering upon their domicils with strong and consoling faith, that whatever might be their experience of weal or woe, it would be divinely overruled for their highest welfare, we cannot but revere and bless their memory, as important pioneers in the great work of em- ploying means for contributing to the promotion of the religious Com- monwealth,-the main object for which Massachusetts was settled. In view of the distance between them and their native land,
" What sought they, thus afar ? Bright jewels of the mine ? The wealth of seas,-the spoil of war ? They sought a faith's pure shrine. Ay, call it holy ground, The soil where first they trod,
They have left unstained what here they found, Freedom to worship God."
But for the presence, approval and affection of such fair friends, few of the men, who cleared away the long-standing woods of this soil, and
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braved the perils of the red man, lurking to be revenged for what he supposed the wrongs of his race ; perils of the wolf, bear and other ferocious beasts ; of famine and pestilence,-would have had a heart to begin the world anew in such repulsive wilds. But for those of them, who had sufficient strength, even when the sufferings incident to new settlements were experienced ; when the miasma of stagnant waters and uncleared lands, scarcity of food and prevalence of sick- ness, were followed, among themselves and kindred, with more than usual mortality, there would have been few, if any, who, like minister- ing angels, would have comforted the distressed, given medicine for the recovery of the diseased, whispered truths of Christian hope be- yond the grave, prayed with the dying, and commended their souls to the welcome of the Puritan's God. Look at these more than "Sisters of Charity," in the trials which shook the pillars of the colony, and caused the stoutest heart to quail. Among tribulations of this kind, were the perplexed and lamentable controversy with Roger Williams and his followers ; the repeated demands of the crown for the sur- render of the charter, and, consequently, the prospective subversion of" civil and religious liberty, for which the emigrants had put to hazard! every other temporal interest ; the hostile daring of the powerful' tribes of the Narragansetts and Pequods, and the collisions, arising: from the discussion of Ann Hutchinson's sentiments and the disarming: of her supporters. Other events of similar danger might be cited, enough to aid in the composition of an Iliad, full of stirring, impressive and truthful scenes. To meet them with the spirit of fortitude, andi strenuously turn them aside from crushing the barriers of social order and desolating the best refuge of the oppressed, what, of human aid, was more needed, here and elsewhere, than the home influences of virtuous woman, which calm the disquieted temper, cool angry resent- ment, infuse aspirations for peace, cherish the feelings of forbearance,. but, when necessity calls, nerve the arm for noble deeds in defence of equitable privileges ? Such was the part of matrons, who were num- bered among the primitive members of this community.
Of like tendency was their care for education and piety, the two great sources, whence enlightenment to understand and principle to cherish and preserve the institutions, established by the patriarchs of New England. Beginning with the children at the fire-side and pro- viding for them advantages of instruction at school, they impressed on their minds the excellence of knowledge, and, in process of training, enabled them to perceive the difference between tyranny, which gov- erns to degrade its subjects, and liberty, which controls to elevate its. supporters. But these, and all else appertaining to the physical and: intellectual properties of our race, they held far inferior to the religious: improvement of their descendants. They did not pass over, as a dead letter, the instructions of the company, in England, to Governor Endi- cott. Does the inquiry arise, what were these ? Part of them refer to the Lord's day. "To the end the Sabbath may be celebrated in a religious manner, we appoint, that all, that inhabit the Plantation, both for the general and particular employments, may surcease their labor every Saturday throughout the year, at three of the clock in the after- noon, and that they spend the rest of that day, in catechising and
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preparation for the Sabbath." In spiritual harmony with this injunc- tion, another part follows. "Our earnest desire is, that you take special care in settling families, that the chief in the family, at least some one of them, be grounded in religion, whereby morning and evening duties may be duly performed, and a watchful eye held over all in each family, that so disorders may be prevented and ill weeds nipt before they take too great a head." Here, Mr. Chairman, as is well known, was the application of that religious element, which historians of eminence, like Tocqueville, acknowledge to have been as the salt, which has prevalently savored the population of our country so as to keep its institutions of freedom from being cast out and trodden under the feet of licentiousness and oppression. To commands of such vital importance, the mothers of Brooksby, the village and other neighbor- hoods, did vigilantly and perseveringly look, so that communion with the Father of all mercies in the Sanctuary and around the domestic altar, might be punctually practised, as among the chief safeguards against infidelity and iniquity, and the great promoters of faith and righteousness.
Thus actuated by the highest motives, revealed from the wonder- ful Code of the Moral Universe, to our fallen race, to employ the best means for accomplishing the greatest good, they had the most suitable preparation for every other concern of their domestic and social circles. In these, though coming far short of perfection, they endeavored to dis- charge their relative duties, at home and abroad, so that all, with whom they were associated, might be the better and the happier for such a connexion. In this manner, they stamped upon the minds and hearts of the young, soon to take on themselves the public responsibilities of their seniors, principles, which contributed more than the strongest for- tifications, the largest and best appointed fleets and armies could, to the permanency of the town and Commonwealth in their spirit, life, pur- pose and salutary influences.
Every sire, then blessed with such a " help-meet," could he speak from his long resting place, would say to each of his sons, now in the morning of life,
" Oh! link with one spirit, that's warmly sincere,
That will heighten your pleasure and solace your care ;
Find a soul you may trust, as the kind and the just, And be sure, the wide world holds no treasure so rare ; Then the frowns of misfortune may shadow our lot,
The cheek-searing tear-drops of sorrow may start,
But a star, never dim, sheds a halo for him,
Who can turn, for repose, to a home in the heart."
Cannot all of us, Mr. Chairman, who have carefully looked over the ground, respond, with a hearty amen, to the foregoing positions ? William Hubbard, of Ipswich, in his election sermon of 1676, related, that there was a town, in Germany, called Mindin, because the em- peror and several of the neighboring princes, harmonized there, in opinion, on some important question. It will be perceived, that Mindin is from the German mein, dein, or in English, mine, thine, indicating, that clashing judgments of one party and the other, had been brought together and solved into a pleasant unanimity. We know, also, that the name, Danvers, given to this corporation, was so granted in the
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