USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Danvers > Centennial celebration at Danvers, Mass., June 16, 1852 > Part 17
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 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
B. W. Thayer & Co's. Itthe Boston.
MR'S. SARAH FOWLER. DANVERS. Aged 92 years and two Month's .
171
lively exercise of kind affections towards a patron. With the at- mosphere of these happy examples around us, can we do less, in view of what the primitive matrons of this community did, than freely and fully unite in the sentiment,-
That they were worthy parents of worthy descendants, and, while we grate- fully remember the excellence of the mothers, we will cherish the best wishes for the prosperity of the children.
The following sentiment was then announced :-
The Women of Danvers in Revolutionary times-like the staple manufacture of the town-firm, tough and well tanned,-but unlike it, as they were not to be trampled upon.
To this sentiment, SAMUEL P. FOWLER responded :
Mr. President :- I had hoped that some one else would respond to your sentiment, but as no one arises, I will attempt to offer a few re- marks. The women of Danvers, Mr. President, have always manifested a great interest in the welfare of their country, and have ever been ready to assist in extending the glory of her arms abroad, and pro- moting the blessings of peace at home. When their sons were called upon by Governor Shirley, in 1755, to form a company of volunteers to reduce the forts of Nova Scotia, they cheerfully furnished them with clothing and other articles necessary for their comfort. After they were equipped, and about to join their regiment at Boston, these patriotic women of Danvers accompanied the volunteers to the village church, where a long and interesting sermon was delivered by Rev. Peter Clark. His subject upon this occasion was, " A word in season to soldiers."
The daughters of these energetic women were the mothers of 1775, who, prompted by the same love of country, cheerfully yielded their husbands and sons to secure on the field of battle its independence. Some of them, the day after the battle of Lexington, visited the scene of that bloody conflict. Thus, at this early period of the Revolution, were enkindled those fires of patriotism which burnt brightly till its close. But the women of the present day are not called upon to make such sacrifices for their country ; if they were, we doubt not, the same spirit would be exhibited. It is theirs now to adorn and beautify the inheritance so dearly purchased, and by their virtues to increase its glory and prosperity. Upon occasions of public interest, the energy, skill and taste of women are all called into requisition. We are in- debted to the women of Danvers for much of the neatness and taste displayed by our public schools, for those oriental costumes and ancient tableaux, which have added so much to the interest of our Centennial Celebration.
In the sentiment offered, allusion has been made to the staple man- ufacture of the town. Mr. President, Danvers has never been ashamed of her industrious and intelligent citizens, who have labored in the leather business, in all its various branches. She has often presented them with posts of honor and trust, and they in return have always been ready to sustain her interests, and have greatly contributed to her
172
wealth and prosperity. And may the time never arrive when our sons will be ashamed of this business, or Danvers will have reason to be ashamed of them.
The next sentiment announced was-
South Reading and Danvers-United by bands of iron, but still more strongly by the ties of friendship and mutual good will.
To the above, Hon. LILLEY EATON, of South Reading, remarked substantially as follows :-
I rise, Mr. President, obedient to your call, but not with the intention to inflict upon you a speech. I much prefer to save you from the tediousness, and myself from the mortification, of such an act at this late hour. I cannot, however, forbear to allude to the kind terms of your sentiment, which seems to call upon South Reading for a response, by assuring you that South Reading, and her good mother old Reading, cordially reciprocate the feelings of good will which you now express. They both rejoice in all the bonds of union which attach them to Dan- vers. They rejoice in the business relations,-those leathern cords, which bind them to each other by the ties of a mutual interest ; but they rejoice more, and chiefly, in those ties of friendship and good will which always have, and I trust always will, unite their respective in- habitants. Old Reading recollects the days of ancient times, and the people of former generations. She recalls to mind that from Salem- then including Danvers-from Lynn and from Ipswich, she formerly received the chief and best part of her permanent settlers. She also hopes, Mr. President, that you will not refuse to acknowledge in return, that while she has sent her rivers of population to Ipswich and Lynn, she has also done something by supplying with her little rivulets the villages and " Dishfulls " of Danvers.
If time permitted, I might go into particulars, and ask where Danvers obtained her UPTONS, but from old mother Reading ?- and the spirit of enterprise they have infused into your community ought to serve to bleach out any specks, if any could be found in her good name, and glue us more strongly together.
I might also ask you, Mr. President, where your ancestors, before the Revolution, would have obtained their leather gloves and small «clothes, had not WILLIAM POOLE, the leather-dresser of Reading, who was born there in 1726, emigrated to Danvers, and settled down by the side of Strong-water Brook? It was to his ancestor that the earliest settlers of Reading were indebted for the staff of life. JOHN POOLE was the first mill owner in Reading, and from his pond Pooles in abun- ·dance may be found sparkling all over the broad surface of our country.
I might go on and show you many other instances of family rela- tionship, but my purpose in rising is fulfilled when I propose the fol- lowing sentiment :
Danvers and Reading-May the iron bands, the leathern cords, and friendly ties, which now exist, continually grow stronger and stronger, so long as the waters run in our rivers or sparkle in the pools.
B. H. Thayer &eres Title Busture.
Jours Affectionately Fitch Poole
Died Jan.22.1838. Aged 66 year's.
173
JOHN WEBSTER, Esq., of Newmarket, N. H., one of the Vice- Presidents of the day, responded to the following :-
The Public Schools of Danvers-Excelsior their motto, their aim perfection.
Mr. President :- It is a source of satisfaction to those of us here present, who claim the old town of Danvers as the home of our child- hood, but whose lot in manhood has made them wanderers on the sea, or sojourners by the granite hills of the North, or the sunny climes of the South, to witness the evidences of prosperity and progress which we see around you.
By the unique and skilfully devised procession which has been escorted through your streets to-day, you have exhibited to us, Mr. President, the past in contrast with the present. We have seen the maiden and the matron of olden time, the witches of the past, as well as the witches of the present, the farmer and mechanic of old, with the rude implements of their pursuits, the gentleman citizen, with his long cue and hair, made white by fashion, not by age, the honest quaker, with no hybrid habiliments, the military officer, as much over covered with coat as deficient in his nether garment, the reverend clergyman, his parish then a life estate-all these, in the varied costume of the times, have been called up from the grave, and passed before us ;- still more, sir, distinguished and eloquent speakers, here present, have told us of your early history, of your deeds of bravery in defence of our country, and have traced your progress in population, in wealth, in enterprise, in intelligence from the time that was, to the time that is- they have told us of the public interest felt in your public schools, and of their present efficient condition-and, in the words of the sentiment which has now been proposed, that your motto is Excelsior, your aim so high even as perfection. It would have been interesting and in- structive, sir, if you could also have brought up from the oblivion of the past the school and the schoolmaster of the olden time, to pass ex- amination before us. It is not for me, Mr. President, to go any further into the past, than is within the knowledge of many others here present -say some thirty-five years ago.
There then stood by the side of the Old South Church a little one- story, one-room schoolhouse, known as Number One, in Danvers. At the time to which I refer, the teacher of this school was a quaint, eccentric, corpulent old gentleman * A broad rimmed hat, on which time had made wrinkles, as well as on the face of the wearer, a dark colored, broad skirted coat, somewhat seedy, while that part of his dress now called pants came only to the knees, and were ornamented with a huge buckle, his feet encased in a pair of coarse cow-hide shoes, or, at times, in boots of the same material, which came nigh to conjunc-
* Master Benj. Gile, whose virtues as well as eccentricities are well known to the inhabitants of Danvers. He was a brother to Rev. Dr. Gile, of Milton. After retiring from the office of teacher he was appointed to an office of trust in town, the duties of which he performed with great fidelity. He died April 16, 1834, aged 70, and caused the following line to be inscribed on his grave- stone, which stands in the Monumental Cemetery :- "I TAUGHT LITTLE CHILDREN TO READ."
174
tion with the nether garment, was the usual costume he wore, a fashion somewhat antecedent to the time of which I speak-all which gave him the appearance of a gentleman of the old school. And now, Mr. President, let me introduce you inside the schoolhouse aforesaid. It is a cold, winter morning-a little box cast-iron stove stands near the centre of the room-the seats around bear evident marks of that trait of character, industry-for which your people still maintain so favorable reputation-and true is the saying, sir, that " scissors cut as well as knives," for the side of the room occupied by the gentler sex, is not free from these marks of labor. Well, sir, the master stands at his desk, and the school is opened with the salutation,-Boys, I am 10,000 years old. You see I've got my old coat on to-day, and I always tell you, when you see that you must look out. I hope I shall not have to kill any of you to-day. The time at which I take you into the school, as I have said, was a cold, stormy morning in winter. The little stove is crammed with wood, and its influence, as the school opens, is only felt in its immediate vicinity. The snow drifts are too high for the girls to be out, and the boys are permitted to cluster round the stove, the usual routine of exercise omitted, and the morning hours devoted to reading the Bible ; such of the scholars reading a verse each, alternately, that choose to do so, while others, with the Bible at hand, are playing Pins-head to points-and others practising the in- structive lesson of Spin Sparrow-but, alas! for the lad who has not the right verse in succession, to read, if called to do so by our master ; the heavy cow-hide whip rings over the back of the unfortunate one, and a general whispering inquiry, from one to the other, is-Where is the place ?
In the course of instruction pursued by our teacher, it was a matter of no trifling importance that every one in the class should exactly toe the line or crack in the floor. Failing to do so, as was sometimes the case, it was no unheard of practice of the master to apply his huge shoulders, vigorously, to the one standing at the head, and a good pro- portion of the whole class were tumbled in a heap on the floor ; as you have seen, sir, a skilful player at ten pins, by striking the head one, score the other nine.
In addition to the distinctive names which parents usually give to their children, our teacher had quite a number of pupils that he dis- tinguished by favorite, additional titles of his own. One girl, now the wife of one of your wealthy citizens, was usually addressed as the girl who came out of the clouds ; one boy was called Wisdom, one Bona- parte, another Old Buck, &c.
Nor were the modes of punishment for school offences any less original, ingenious and impressive. Among these, were standing on the platform with a piece of wood partially split, which was placed across the nose of the offender, the effect of which was something like placing the nose in a vise. This was called wearing the spectacles, after wearing which an hour a boy could, undoubtedly, see to study better.
Holding a heavy stick of wood in the hand, with the arm extended perpendicularly, was another method of punishment, and others, still more original, were practised, which I will not take up your time in relating.
-
175
The course of instruction was limited to Reading, Spelling, Writing, and Arithmetic, in which latter branch our teacher was wonderfully skilled. Near the close of his administration, which continued several years, the first germ of progress began to be developed, a portion of the parents thinking it necessary their children should be taught English grammar. Murray's Grammar was accordingly introduced into the school as a reading book, and this was the method by which we were initiated into this mysterious science, and it may suffice to say-our knowledge of this branch was very soon fully up to the standard of perfection to which our teacher himself had arrived. The schoolmaster of the present applies the screw to develop the boy's brains, he of the past applied the cow-hide to develop marks on our backs. The teacher of to-day is inquisitive, he requires a Why or a Wherefore ; the former one never gave offence to his pupils in this way.
Well do I remember the fear that filled my youthful heart, at the oft-repeated warning given us to beware and dread the last day,-not of the duration of the world,-but the last day of school term. So im- pressed was I with the fear of what the cow-hide was to do, that I pre- vailed on my parents to allow me to be absent on this eventful day, and great was my astonishment, when meeting my school companions after the close, to hear how the day had been passed. The exercises were commenced with a spelling match ; two of the elder lads choos- ing, alternately, the most skilled in this important branch, and so down till rows were formed, facing each other for the battle, the whole length of the room. The crooked and uncouth words of the Dictiona- ry were selected for the contest, and the side, which had recorded against it the most errors, was pronounced the vanquished, and the victors were allowed to hurra, scream, shout, hiss, and stamp their feet and clap their hands, to their heart's content.
After this, all the jack-knives, tops, pop guns, spin sparrows, and other boyish valuables, which had been seized for their several offences during the year, were taken from the depot, the master's desk, thrown on the floor, and scrambled for by all the boys.
Mr. President, I have detained you longer than I intended. The imperfect sketch which I have given is no fancy, no embellished pic- ture of our school, as several I see present, who were fellow-pupils at the time, can bear me witness.
Sir, a distinguished writer has said, " to interpret the present thor- oughly, we must understand and unfold the past." The historian, the antiquary are searching the world over, among musty parchments and fragmentary documents, for record of deeds of the past. Should not the school and the teacher of other days be brought up to the light, that our youth may more highly estimate the advantages of the present ? Great men are giving the work of their heads and the work of their hands to popular education. Our towns, even those of limited, pecuniary means, are taxing themselves, with no grudging or stinted measure, for this object.
A history of the public schools of New England, their origin, their progress, their present condition, it seems to me, would be no unwel- come volume.
176
What the record will be of the schools of Danvers at a second cen- tennial celebration, is not for us to inquire. Only let your motto con- tinue to be " Excelsior, your aim perfection."
I close, sir, by proposing the following sentiment :
The Pupils of the Public Schools of Danvers-Let them profit by a compari- son of the present with the past, and make the best use of their increased advantages of instruction, always venerating those whose highest ambition it was, to " teach little children to read."
Rev. FRANK P. APPLETON rose, and spoke as follows :-
I am glad, Mr. President, to see that on this interesting occasion the public schools of Danvers have not been forgotten. Perhaps there is no feature of the day more full of beauty, meaning and hope than the long ranks of our public school children. They moved then as the ambassadors, the messengers, from us to the coming generation, those through whom the old men of the next centennial shall know us -the bond between us of the then Past, and those of the then Present -midway over a space we cannot cross. Through them our thought and life shall then speak. Their children telling of what we now do -their life stretching onward far beyond our own. The battle, God grant them faith to make it the victory, of life fast gathering around them. Was it not a touching thought, that of all those un- changed locks and faces, unworn by thought and care, not one could be remembered by the younger lives of the next centennial, other than as with whitened head and time-stamped brow ? Was it not a pleasant thought to have, that many of them would then be the venerated and the honored and the gratefully remembered ? Yes, they were those, around whom, in their utter unconsciousness, gathered the meaning, the virtue and the character of the second centennial. As children they were all this and more, but as representatives of the public schools, another and weightier meaning lay upon their presence. They spoke of what is to us, and I say it with due thought, of what is without reservation or exception the most pure, most Christian, therefore most powerful institution in our midst, worth all the rest ten times repeated. The most pure, powerful Christian institution in our midst-the Public School ; better and stronger than constitution, law or church. Yes, I am sure of that. You may say, without these last public schools would never have been. Be that as it may, here they are, and if thus born it will not be the first time the child has been better and nobler than the parent, and become in turn, guardian, sup- port and protector. Such our common schools now are. The founda- tion of our future prosperity-the one outward institution upon which all our others must depend, free from party or sectarian rule. Kept sa- credly free from all such poison, and the best trait in our New England character is that we, however else we differ and quarrel, join in guard- ing our schools against these Satans of public and social life. To the public school system I look as the last and best hope for our country and our race. There lies the heart of all republicanism, all true equality, and all free religion. And the more you do for that, the more I solemnly believe you do for God and man, and true duty. It
177
is a growing power, one whose calm and yet tremendous energy has never before been tried on earth : the great new feature of American civilization. With all its present errors,-for it is just dawning upon us now,-its spirit is right. And if I were to sum up in one sentence the word I would speak to the coming generation, I would say-BE TRUE TO CONSCIENCE AND YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
DR. EBENEZER HUNT responded to the following sentiment :-
The principle of Total Abstinence-It found its earliest friends and warmest advocates among the citizens of Danvers: they will be among the last to abandon it.
Mr. President :- It is with reluctance that I arise to respond to the sentiment just given ; not that I am not satisfied of its truth, but be- cause I feel confident that I shall not be able to do justice to the subject. It is not an easy task, especially for one unaccustomed to public speak- ing, in an after-dinner speech adequately to portray the labors and sacrifices of the early friends of temperance.
The evils intemperance is capable of inflicting on a community have; been so often and so ably described, that I shall be pardoned for not. touching upon that subject. And yet only those who have already passed the meridian of life know fully what it was and what it. threatened to become in the earlier days of the temperance movement .. It is difficult for those not living at the time to conceive of the strong. hold which the love of intoxicating drinks had taken upon the people indiscriminately. Though fashionable, how constant and how enormous in quantity was its consumption.
Only such can duly appreciate the honors due, and the gratitude which we ought to feel, for those who made the first successful effort to stem the torrent of evil which seemed destined to subvert and over- whelm the social fabric.
As early as the year 1817, if my memory serves me, a society was organized in the town of Danvers, having for its object the suppression of intemperance and its kindred vices. For more than twenty years this society waged an uncompromising and almost single-handed . combat against the giant evil. And may we not confidently assert that it is, under Providence, mainly owing to the action of this society, that Danvers, as regards temperance, is among the foremost if not the first town in the Commonwealth ?
Active in the organization of this society we find the names of Judge Holten, Rev. Messrs. Wadsworth, Walker and Chaplain, Dr. Torrey, Elijah Upton, Fitch Poole, Eleazer Putnam, Caleb Oakes, Ebenezer- Putnam, and Samuel Fowler. These were the early fathers of the society. Associated with them we find the names of younger men, but not less ardent friends of the cause : such as Jesse Putnam, Andrew Nichols, Archelaus Putnam, Elias Putnam, Arthur Drinkwater, Rufus Choate, John Peabody, Alfred Putnam, John Porter, and many others, some of whom, I rejoice to say, are now present, and others, although. dead, yet speak to us by their influence and example, urging us to renewed efforts in the cause in which they so faithfully and so success- fully labored.
23
178
It was no easy task in those early days of the temperance movement to face the frowns of public opinion, to bear the scoffs and sneers of the thoughtless and the indifferent, and to pursue a course so diamet- rically opposite to the fashion and the prevailing custom of the com- munity in which they lived. It is this consideration that should especially entitle them to our warmest gratitude and thanks.
It would be not a little creditable to these worthies, and to the town, if, when the true history of these events shall be written, it should appear that the Temperance Reformation, so called, which subsequently pervaded the whole length and breadth of the land with healing in its wings, at the time of the Washingtonian movement, and which carried in its train joy and gladness to so many hitherto wretched homes,- should have had its origin in the efforts of these early advocates of the cause. However this may be, they can never be deprived of the honor of having organized in Danvers the first permanent society for the suppression of intemperance, that, so far as has come to my knowledge, ever existed.
While we cherish the memory of these heroic and philanthropic men, let us be careful to imitate their example. Let us see to it that our efforts are not wanting to sustain and uphold our present anti-liquor law, from which so much is anticipated by the friends of temperance in this and the neighboring states. Let us do this, and the blessings of those that are ready to perish shall come upon us. And at the next Centennial Celebration in Danvers, long after we shall have gone to our reward, our names shall be freshly remembered along with those who have preceded us in the warfare against one of the monster evils of the age, and in meliorating the condition of mankind.
LETTERS.
There were numerous letters received and read, from gentlemen who were unable to be present.
A sentiment complimentary to ROBERT C. WINTHROP was responded to by the reading of a letter, from which the following is an extract :-
" Danvers has just reason to be proud of her history. After more than a hundred years of honorable connection with the ancient Town of Salem,-the very Plymouth of Massachusetts Colony, where John- son and Saltonstall and Winthrop landed, and where Endicott lived,- it has now enjoyed another Century of distinguished independent ex- istence.
The annals of the town, during the whole period, are replete with interesting incidents, and with the acts of patriotic men. As the birth- place of the lion-hearted Putnam, it would have no ordinary claim to the regard of us all. But Putnam seems only to have been a type of his towns-people, and the hills and plains of our Revolutionary struggle have borne frequent witness to the bravery of Danvers men.
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.