USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > Historic Rehoboth: record of the dedication of Goff memorial hall, May 10th, A.D. 1886 > Part 3
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
Lexington ; Rev. Geo. H. Tilton and Mr. William W. Blanding of Rehoboth, and others.
The exercises began with singing " Master Great whose Power Almighty," by the Harmonic Male Quartette of Attleboro, and was followed by the invocation. The Pres- ident of the Antiquarian Society, Rev. Geo. H. Tilton, then gave the following
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE REHOBOTH ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY :
We are glad to welcome you, as you have come hither from so many different places on this auspicious day. The dedication of this goodly building marks an important era in the history of this ancient town.
The Rehoboth Antiquarian Society was organized on the 5th of March, 1884. The trustees entered at once upon the work of erecting a suitable building for the pur- poses of the Society. This building was completed in the autumn of 1885. A charter had been granted by the General Court in March of the same year.
The object of the society may be expressed in four particulars. In the first place there is the antiquarian department. This was the germ of the whole enterprise, the nucleus around which all the other ideas have clus- tered. It occurred to some of us that this old town was rich in historical and antiquarian relics which ought to be brought together and preserved. It was this object that gave the name to the Society. We have already a some- what valuable collection, and we trust that our friends, as they see what we have done, will have it in their hearts to add thereto.
Another object of the Society was to provide a suitable
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HISTORIC REHOBOTH.
hall in which we might hold our large public gatherings. The hall speaks for itself - a grand, central rallying place for the sons and daughters of Rehoboth on all great occa- sions. The Society has also provided a fine school room, hoping to secure the advantages of a high school for our children. For this object an ample appropriation, either public or private, is greatly needed.
Last, but not least, is our library department. We are delighted with our bright, cheery room, and we are grate- ful to our friends, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Bicknell, to whose generous interest in our enteprise we owe the Blanding Library. We extend to them a most cordial welcome.
There are various factors which enter into this great undertaking, which, we trust, has only begun its impor- tant educational work in this community. We must not fail to recognize the unfeigned interest of our own citi- zens who have contributed -some of them from their hard earnings - sums ranging from $10 up to $200. Like sums have also been donated by former residents of the town. Friends and helpers in this work, we bid you all welcome here to-day.
But with all our gifts combined we could never have built this elegant and commodious edifice. Some build- ing we should doubtless have had, but it would not have been the Goff Memorial. For this we are largely indebted to the munificence of Mr. Darius Goff. We had no sooner put our united sums into one side of the balance, when his contribution brought the other scale hard down, and it has been growing heavier ever since. We congratulate him that on this very spot where he was born - just 77 years ago - he is permitted to-day to join in the dedica- tion of the Goff Memorial. Sir, we bid you welcome, and of all your seventy-seven birthdays may this be the hap- piest and the best.
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
Rev. Mr. Tilton was followed by a statement from the Treasurer, giving the receipts and expenditures of the Society to the date of the dedication.
RECEIPTS.
Received by subscription
$8,820 00 From Mr. Darius Goff. $5,000 00
From citizens, former residents and friends .. 3,820 00
Of this sum the following donations have been received from non-residents:
From Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Reed. 150 00
.. Mrs. A. D. Lockwood and daughter ...
100 00
Mr. Cyrenus Wheeler, Jr.
100 00
Stephen S. Rich
50 00
66 John Baker.
50 00
John W. Davis.
50 00
16 Darius B. Davis.
50 00
Daniel N. Davis. 50 00
Samuel O. Case.
50 00
,٠
Charles H. Scott.
50 00
١١
David S. Ray.
50 00
Simeon Hunt, M. D.
50 00
Mrs. Laban Wheator 25 00
Mr. W. H. Whitaker
25 00
Jethniel Peck
25 00
Horton Brothers. 25 00
Smaller sums have been received from others.
Interest on deposit.
114 04
Received proceeds from entertainment for benefit of library ..
44 28
Received for use of hall.
5 00
66 from Farmers' Club, for use of Library.
7 00
subscription for library.
9 50
proceeds from entertainment for benefit of Antiquarian Society.
37 90
Total
$9,037 72
EXPENDITURES.
Paid for blank books, certificates, etc.
$38 25
W'm. R. Walker & Son, architects. 300 00
.. Lewis T. Hoar's Sons, contractors
5,499 71
.4 6 6 .. for laths 60 95
Charles H. Bryant, for plastering.
275 00
Wm. T. Dunwell, for painting.
190 00
Gustavus B. Peck, for lathing, etc.
36 50
Everett S. Horton
100 00
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
66 David S. Ray, furnace setting, etc. 294 05
66 George N. Goff, material and labor. 503 99
Carpenter & Bowen, two columns and plates 30 00
Harrison & Howard, for glazing.
12 50
.6 Charles Martin, mason.
32 18
James H. Horton, mason.
32 18
Providence Brown Stone Co
75 00
66
Otis and Jeremiah Horton
21 00
Manchester & Hudson.
45 08
Flint & Co., furniture for hall
155 00
66
A. G. Whitcomb, school furniture.
234 00
Whitmore & Couch, black boards
20 25
€€
French, Mackenzie & Co., book cases.
38 70
John R. Shirley, for chandeliers and lamps
100 75
E. L. Freeman & Co
37 74
for wall .
555 32
labor and sundry expenses
495 08
Total.
$8,982 23
Cash to balance.
55 49
$9,037 72
The contributions of Mr. Darius Goff. in giv-
ing and preparing the lot for the structure,
together with other gifts, make his entire
donation not less than $10,000.
WILLIAM W. BLANDING,
Treasurer.
Above is the report of the treasurer, just as it was read at the dedication exercises ; but in this record it seems but just to mention together, without distinction in amounts contributed, ALL who have given either of large or slender means toward this Memorial. The true measure of generosity is the measure of sacrifice, and judged by that criterion the least contributor may be equal in honor to the greatest. As will be seen, there are the names of the rich and the poor, the old and the young ; of men and women alike. Many are residents of Rehoboth and have wrought out their contribution from their ancestral acres ; others are sons and daughters of the ancient town, who have gained a competency in other municipalities ; others,
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
still, are related to Rehoboth by the bonds of mutual, industrial and commercial interests. To all alike, as members of a common household, an equal and impartial recognition is given in the appended
NAMES OF CONTRIBUTORS.
Darius Goff, Galen Pierce,
William L. Pierce,
J. Irving Chaffee,
Edward H. Horton,
Sylvester A. Miller,
Elizabeth B. Pierce,
Ellery Millard,
A. F. C. Monroe,
Stephen S. Rich,
Edgar Perry,
D. G. Horton,
E. A. Medbury,
H. N. Moulton,
Christopher Y. Brown,
John A. Earle,
Samuel O. Case, Jr.,
Dewit C. Carpenter,
Albert N. Bullock,
George H. Horton,
Julia B. Goff,
Charles L. Nash,
James Cornell,
Ellery Robinson,
Herbert L. Moulton,
Benjamin Horton,
W. E. Barrett & Co.,
Joseph R. Carpenter,
John Hunt,
J. Walter Bliss,
B. G. Goff,
Enoch Goff,
Catherine J. Hunt,
James P. Carpenter,
Hale S. Luther,
Williams Lake,
Farmers' Club,
Henry C. Goff,
Charles W. Goff,
Jennie P. Martin,
Thomas W. Carpenter,
John Baker.
Albert C. Mason,
WV. H. Whitaker,
Samuel L. Peck,
Johnson Black,
Samuel Remington,
John W. Davis,
George H. Tilton,
Mrs. Laban Wheaton,
Samuel L. Pierce,
George Baker, M. D.,
Darius B. Davis,
Simeon Hunt, M. D.,
T. W. Horton,
David S. Ray,
Eliza N. Allen, Avice Hicks,
John O. Horton,
Edwin F. Cushing,
Nathan E. Hicks,
Horton Brothers,
George W. Bowen,
John W. Watson,
Oliver Earle,
Charles L. Thomas, William Walker,
William B. Blanding,
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHÌ.
Gustavus B. Peck,
John W. Humphrey,
Jerry W. Horton,
Amanda M. Brown,
Albert C. Goff,
Joseph H. Pierce,
Mrs. Harriet N. Goff,
Paschal Allen,
Charles F. Viall,
Dexter W. Horton,
Mary B. Goff,
Henry T. Horton,
Capt. Isaiah L. Chase,
Paschal E. Wilmarth,
Thomas R. Salsbury,
Edward R. Bullock,
Belle H. Bryant,
Delight C. Read,
William Thatcher,
Royal C. Peck,
Tristram Thatcher,
Henry G. Read,
William H. Bowen,
Daniel N. Davis,
Stephen Carpenter,
Horace F. Carpenter,
Charles Perry,
Samuel O. Case,
George H. Goff,
Samuel R. Chaffee,
George Hathaway Goff,
Charles H. Scott,
Francis J. Wheeler,
William H. Marvel,
William H. Reed,
Elizabeth M. Anthony,
Jasper W. Wheeler,
Simeon Goff,
Frank E. Luther,
Peleg E. Francis,
Esek H. Pierce,
Almon A. Reed,
William B. Horton,
William H. Luther,
Zenas H. Goff,
Hezekiah Martin,
Nathan H. Horton,
Ellery L. Goff,
Nathaniel B. Horton,
Francis A. Bliss,
Betsy Carpenter,
Levi L. Luther,
Francis A. Marvel,
Welcome F. Horton,
John C. Marvel,
Cyrenus Wheeler, Jr.,
Joseph F. Earle,
J. W. Briggs,
James A. Eddy,
James M. Peck,
William W. Blanding,
Everett S. Horton,
Abram O. Blanding,
George N. Goff,
Sarah M. Bowen,
Henry Selaney,
Amanda Wheaton,
Horace Goff,
Elias Hathaway,
William H. Hopkins,
Danforth L. Cole,
Nathaniel M. Burr,
Jethnial Peck,
J. W. Buffington,
Ellen M. Marsh,
William W. Horton,
Mrs. Hannah Bliss,
Mrs. A. D. Lockwood and Daughters.
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
THE ORATION, BY HON. T. W. BICKNELL.
MR. PRESIDENT, - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :
An occasion of unusual interest and importance calls together this large assemblage in this old New England town to-day. The event justly commands the attention of all her citizens, and stirs a just pride in all hearts within her borders. All dedicatory services have a somewhat sacred significance, proportionate to the value of the work to be inaugurated, be it the dedication of a home, a store, a workshop, a mill, a school, a capitol, a church, a cathedral, or a temple ; all in their inner life and meaning stand for something which is helpful to man in his material, social, or soul concerns. The structures we rear, be they humble or costly, are the outer environment, which have much to do in the creation of the man, of society, the state, the church. They are in a sense the expression of the values men place on the offices for which these great institutions stand. Their absence shows the want of development in all that relates to the higher nature of man, his duties and his destiny. Stanley tells us that in his long journey across the Dark Continent he found only the embryo of the home, in the huts of the dwellers in the vast Congo valley, or on the borders of the Victoria Nyanza. The Apache chief mounts his Indian pony, followed by his family, his household goods ; all his wordly possessions are borne on the backs of the pack train. He pitches his tent at night, and in the morning folds his tent like the Arab and silently steals away. Dedications there are none, for there is nought to be dedicated, and no want which seeks satisfaction in the fixed home - the centre of all that is best in man, and about which clusters all that adds to his life's progress and happiness. How unlike this is
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the dear New England life into which we were born, and of which we have such occasion for honest con- gratulations !
On the deck of the May Flower were 101 loyal souls, sworn to stand or fall together in this new land. Between her decks was a cargo, the value of which far exceeds " the wealth of Ormus or of Ind, or where the gorgeous East with richest hand showers on her kings barbaric pearls and gold." The families on board represented the millions of happy homes which now distinguish our land above all others. Their children needed the guiding hand of education, and the school house was as natural an out- growth of the home as the children for which the school was created. As religion was the chief concern of these Pilgrim founders, the church was the essential expression and home of this band of faithful men and women, and as civil society was the bond of their faith in each other they built the town house and state house. There needed to be in old New England what exists in new New England so plentifully - these outer shrines, which should shelter the worshippers at the altars of home, the school, the state, the church.
The origin and structure of the beautiful edifice, which we meet to consecrate to-day, are blessed with happy auguries, which are full of good omens for the future. The conception and birth of the scheme were from the fruitful brain of the pastor of the Congregational Church of Rehoboth, a most worthy successor of Revs. Samuel Newman, David Turner, Robert Rogerson, Otis Thomp- son, John C. Paine, Charles P. Grosvenor, and others. While his presence forbids the utterances which are in all hearts, we can never cease to remember or to be grateful to the Rev. Geo. H. Tilton for his benevolent purpose,
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his practical plans, his contagious magnetism, his un- stinted labors, his unflagging zeal, and the wealth of his inventive resources in the leadership of this movement, which has culminated in this elegant public building. Did I say less than this at this opening hour, I should prove myself unworthy of the honor you have granted me as the speaker of the occasion.
Still further, how fortunate that Rehoboth, in the midst of so many loyal sons and daughters, had one whose bene- volence and ability responded so promptly and cheerfully to the wants of this community ; one, whose loyalty to a noble ancestry and devotion to his native town led him to aid most generously in the erection of this edifice, which as long as the "Goff Memorial" shall stand, will be a monument to well-directed industry, great business saga- city, and a life consecrated to the interests of his fellows. By this act our honored friend and benefactor wisely be- comes his own executor, setting a worthy example, so hon- orable and praiseworthy and not uncommon in these later days, by which other large-hearted and liberal-handed men may be inspired and guided to do likewise, in this and other places, in tribute to the ancestry that bore and the town that nurtured them. In behalf of this grateful people, I may wish for you the full enjoyment of all the good gifts your energy and business ability, with the blessing of Heaven, have brought you, a long continuance in the enjoyments of friendships fairly won, and a late return to Heaven.
As the constant drain is made from the country to the city, of its population, its enterprise and its wealth, it reminds one of the constant flow of the rivulets to the rivers, and of the rivers to the sea, carrying from hill and mountain slopes the rich soils, forming the alluvial
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
meadows and broad prairies which grow the world's harvests. Were there no returns of moisture in the evaporation of the ocean, which the winds carry in fogs, rains and snows to add new supplies to the unfailing springs among the hills, these fountains of fertility, of beauty, of growth, and of wealth to the valleys would cease. So there may be a just return of the blessings of wealth from wealth centres, by sending back to the sec- tions less favored by wealth the means which shall keep a healthy supply of intelligent population to make good the wear, the weakness and the decay of forces attendant on large populations and undue wealth.
And yet again we are all mindful of the consecrated gifts and deeds which have come from so many persons to supplement and crown the benevolence of the principal donor. You are all shareholders in a greater or smaller measure in this public building. The widow's mite, the gifts of children, the labors and prayers of all are so inter- linked and built into this edifice that it would fall to the ground a useless heap of rubbish without them. Its masonry and girders are Rehoboth stock. It is a matter of universal remark that the most beautiful ornamentation of this building is in the foundation stone, wrought from the quarries on Rocky Hill. Shall we not all agree that the spirit of the people, their deep interest in the work, and their generous gifts - proportionate to their ability - are also a solid and beautiful foundation which shall uphold and sustain this work throughout its future. We seem to see these toils and sacrifices and contributions transformed into hearts that shall protect the interests centered within these walls, and we also seem to see the coming generations, grateful for your deeds, and ever mindful of the service you are this day rendering, in
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more beautiful and honorable lives. To this end our labors are devoted and fortunately happy shall we be if this rich result shall follow.
There is great significance in the construction and uses of the building we dedicate to-day. The architect has arranged within these walls a commodious room for the Historic-Antiquarian Society of Rehoboth, another for a Public Library, a third for a Public High School, and over all as a superintendent and supporter of the other three, this public hall for the town's use, where its town meet- ings will be held, the town's business transacted, and the interests of the people discussed in lectures, debating clubs, farmers' associations, temperance unions, concerts, school exhibitions, and all other matters that will tend to regulate and elevate society. Like the fabled giant Briareus it is a living thing, having fifty heads and a hundred hands. It looks through its historic society into the past, and with its hands seizes all that the old time has to give. The school and the library have a forward look and grasp in fitting the boys and girls for the warfare of life, in the strength and protection of education; while the town, in its corporate life and work, represents the busy interests of the passing hour, debating, counselling, acting, and in its various agencies working the works of to-day. Of each of these plans I propose to speak briefly.
American life is now in a transition period ; old things are passing away, all things becoming new. We are to-day on a mount of vision, looking back into old Rehoboth of the past, and forward into the New Rehoboth of the future. Out of the old the new is born, and the laws of heredity are too compulsory to be set aside. There comes a time to every man and society when it is both wise and profitable to take a backward look. The poet's words are true-
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
"'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours, And ask them what report they've borne to Heaven, And how they might have borne more welcome news; Their answers form what men experience call."
Youth and prophecy have their eyes on the to-morrows of life-age and history on the yesterdays, while our yester- days and our to-morrows must find their full fruition in the results of our to-days. How beautifully this fact is illustrated in the almost historic painting of Malbone, our Newport artist, in the Three Graces, or as the Greeks personified them, Eunomia, Dice and Irene, in the Athe- næum at Providence. The artist's conception is to paint an ideal of life, and three female figures are presented, full of all the grace and loveliness art could give. The form on your right is glowing with beauty, and radiant with sublime hopefulness. She stands as the tpye of youth and the future. The central figure is severely earnest, devout, courageous, and this is manhood, and the present. The figure on the left has her head partially averted. She is serious, meditative, introspective, and represents age and the past. Each by herself is a study of the three important epochs of human life, and each has its lessons, but what the artist would tell us, it seems to me is this, that the perfect, the harmonious human life has in it, the hopefulness of youth, the earnestness of manhood, and the contemplativeness of age ; that the past must chasten the future, and that its lessons, its tradi- tions, its life, must be read and understood that we may most truly work the works of to-day. He who respects the past has the truest interest in the present, and the highest regard for the coming time. We may rejoice, therefore, that this dedication service relates to all that is worthy of possession in the treasures of the past, the active labors of the present, and the hopes of the future ;
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
and the Town Hall, the Antiquarian Society rooms, the Blanding Library and the School have each a place in this threefold mission of the town -preservation, protection, progress.
How intensely interesting is the history of towns and town life of old New England, and especially of this old town, and how delightful it is to review some of its half. forgotton pages, to draw lessons therefrom for present use. Here in this roomy place, breathing an atmosphere filled with the traditions of an earlier day, in the midst of the graves of an honored ancestry, looking upon some homes that far antedate the Revolution, and upon ances- tral estates which still bear the landmarks set by the early planters, our hearts are stirred by strange influences, and we must not forget old Rehoboth in our rejoicing over the new Rehoboth that is, and is to be. For two hundred and forty years it has stood for the principles of the founders of Plymouth Colony, of which it was an integral part. When Rehoboth received its charter in 1645, there were but ten towns within the jurisdiction of the Mother Colony - Plymouth, Duxbury, Scituate, Sandwich, Taun- ton, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Marshfield, Eastham, Rehoboth.
When Stephen Payne and William Carpenter made a journey to Plymouth in 1645, to secure articles of incor- poration for the Indian Seacunck, this was the western frontier town of Massachusetts. Wm. Blackston, the first white inhabitant of Rehoboth, dwelt in his Eutopian hermitage at a place called by him " Study Hill," on the Blackstone near the present village of Lonsdale.
Roger Williams, with his faithful followers dwelt as yet unrecognized, save as outlaws and reprobates, on the west bank of the peaceful Pawtucket, at the head of Nar- ragansett Bay. On the south the nearest dwellers were
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
the Wampanoags under the wise and pacific Massasoit, occupying the territory now known as Swanzca, Barring- ton, Warren and Bristol, after the deed of the ten mile purchase of Seekonk in 1641. A few of the first families of Taunton had settled along the banks of the Titicut, on the line of the route marked out by Bradford and Winslow on their first visit to Massasoit at Sowans in 1621. Here lay a great tract of unsettled country, with a good south- ern and western outlook, which bordered on Narragansett Bay with its fisheries and future commerce, and hither the family emigration, which set in in 1620 at Plymouth, continued to flow, to settle the waste places between the Titicut and the Pawtucket, and this family social exodus from England to America, the planting of the towns of Plymouth and the Bay Colonies, are the remarkable charac- teristics of this permanent occupation of New England. Rehoboth, the large place, was waiting the sifted wheat of three plantings.
As the unit of society is the individual, so the unit of civilization is the family, and to carry our arithmetic still further, the town is the unit of the American State. When the Northmen landed on our shores, so says the historian, only one woman attended these bold sea rovers. Men can discover continents alone, but they cannot found a state. To the Pilgrim and the Puritan, wife, children, house, home, family, church, were the most precious possessions. Nothing human could divorce ties which nature had so strongly woven. And whenever we think of our honored ancestry, it is not as individual adventurers ; but we see good-man. good-wife, and their children as the representatives of the great body of those who with them planted homes, families, society, civiliza- tion, in the Western world. They came together, or, if
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HISTORIC REHOBOTHI.
alone, to pioneer the way for wife and children or sweet- heart by the next ship, and they came to stay, as witness the names of the old families of Plymouth, Weymouth, Salem, Boston, Dorchester, in the leading circles of wealth and social position in all of these old towns. "Behold," says Dr. Bushnell, "the Mayflower, rounding now the southern cape of England, filled with husbands and wives and children ; families of righteous men, under covenant with God and each other to lay some good foundation for religion, engaged both to make and keep their own laws, expecting to supply their own wants and bear their own burdens, assisted by none but the God in whom they trust. Here are the hands of industry, the germs of liberty, the dear pledges of order, and the sacred beginnings of a home." Of such, only, could Mrs. Heman's inspired hymn have been written :
" There were men with hoary hair Amidst that pilgrim band; Why had they come to wither there. Away from their childhood's land ?
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