USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Marlborough > Historical reminiscences of the early times in Marlborough, Massachusetts : and prominent events from 1860 to 1910, including brief allusions to many individuals and an account of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town > Part 31
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old flag stands for liberty. From the past we may learn important lessons. We go forth to trust on the foundation laid by others. Go forth to work for better things ! Go forth to be benefited by their lives and, like them, be remembered by what we have done."
AT ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
At St. Mary's church, Rev. Fr. Caisse gave an impressive service and called attention to the anniversary, saying he was glad to be one living today in Marlborough.
AT THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
From Rev. Nellie M. Opdale of the Universalist church : "' A city set on a hill cannot be hid.' It is good that man should take pride in his ancestry when that ancestry has been fruitful of good works ; not that pride is ever of itself commendable, but that knowledge of ancestral courage, loy- alty, patriotism and piety is rich soil for the bringing forth of an abundant harvest of similar characteristics, if only the right seed be sown at the right season. So today I rejoice with you in this 250th anniversary celebration of the founding of your city, especially because it furnishes a most excellent opportunity for turning the pages of history backward and reading again in the light of modern needs and ambitions the story of heroism, loyalty and deep conviction of duty, writ large thereon. For it is such a story and written in letters that the years, with their varied experiences and accumulating knowledge bring out in ever bolder relief It is as though we were permitted to stand on a mountain top and view in one picture the wide spreading valley at its foot. The vision cannot differentiate this particular section from that particular section, this river from that river, this village even, from that village. All that it beholds is the harmony and beauty and immense vitality of the whole, as a whole, and the soul cries out in its joy, 'Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem ! Praise thy God, O Zion !' So it is when the searchlight of Time is thrown back upon the pages of history. The whole is brought out into the light as a whole. Not the tribulations of this particular season, or the abund- ance of that particular harvest-not the wisdom of this particular man or the folly or avarice of that, not the piety of one time over against the worldliness and disputation of another-such distinctions are all blended
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until what is seen is the result, and in this case, as I have tried patiently and diligently and without prejudice to view it, it is such a picture as no child of Marlborough need to apologize for, but rather one which should be the pride and aim of all to duplicate. We are told that the causes which control the development of character are threefold : domes- tic, political and religious-the home, the state and the church. Let us then view this city of ours that is set on a hill from the three view points and see what we shall behold.
"The entire colonial history of Marlborough may be said to have been domestic, inasmuch as it represented the attempt of her people to establish for themselves a permanent abiding place ; to build dwellings ; to incor- porate themselves into a community. Now beholding it from afar as we do today what shall we report as our vision from this view point ? Courage and Honor. We have no reason to believe that any other motive other than the desire to establish for themselves homes, prompted the settlement of this particular section of our Commonwealth. We find the new comers very early apportioning the land to the various householders and thus tending to make permanent their settlement.
". We are glad to note they accepted the Indians as their legitimate neighbors at that time. The Indians had the orchards, the Indians had the tilled fields ; the white man had all these yet to provide for himself, and to his honor, be it said, he did not provide them by stealing from his red neighbor, but by his own toil. Here we see courage. Not only the courage that hews out of a forest a habitation or that tills and tends to make the wilderness to blossom as the rose, but the courage that keeps within bounds avarice and greed, when just over the picket is the man who knows not civilization or personal holdings. When these neighbors became enemies, allies perhaps of the bitterest foe the early Massachu- setts colonists ever had to battle with, for we must remember that Marl- borough was on the frontier in those days, these settlers still remembered and respected the metes and bounds and made no attempt to take that which was their neighbors. And the terror of those days with the hero- ism displayed by the men and women, ploughed a deep furrow in Marlborough's history. For as the historian says, 'It was not a mere question of yielding or holding a certain amount of territory-not of vindicating some point of honor, or of redressing some known wrong. No, the issue involved considerations of a more vital character. It was a question of life or death to the feeble colonies. The frontier towns were excellent points of attack. Scarcely were the smouldering fires of one settlement extinguished before the midnight gloom was lighted by
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the blaze of another. And small predatory parties looked about almost every settlement, cutting off a laborer here and there, burning solitary houses and destroying or carrying the families into captivity. '
" In all this suffering as well as in the acts of bravery the people of Marlborough had their part, and when we remember how contact and warfare with savagery begets and stimulates savagery, we really marvel that 'after the war was over some of the Marlborough Indians were permitted to return to their former place of abode,' remaining in peace the rest of their days, and that the white man, remembered his white blood sufficiently to pay his savage and cruel neighbor thirty-one pounds for his land.
"In those days of early settlement and intimate relation with a savage and wholly unknown people, in a country remote from old centers of civilization where men and women in large measure were returning to first principles to exist at all, it is a cause for pride that where the historic landscape must necessarily be greatly obscured, courage and honor as characteristics of the people and their deeds, stand out in bold relief. What do we behold when we view the early history of Marlborough from the political eminence? We see patriotism and loyalty. We have noted the people's heroic defence of their homes when attacked by Indian foes and we have said it was for their very lives they fought ; but now we come to a defence of another sort. The defence of their civil and political life as individuals and as a corporate body. The citizens of Marlborough were loyal to the mother country in all her numerous cam- paigns from 1722 to 1763; and in the French and Indian War, it has been thought the hardships of these New England colonies were even greater than those they endured during the Revolution.
" We may form some idea of the danger apprehended by the fact that not only were the able-bodied and active organized for service in the field in that service, but the aged and those otherwise exempt were organized as an alarm list. And in all the expeditions of that terrible time the names of Marlborough's sons may be found-two entire com- panies from Marlborough marching to the relief of Fort William Henry. As one would expect from men thus trained to defence, when the time came to defend their own rights, even against the mother country, they would know how to do it and would not be lacking in valor, and history shows us that such was the case. Marlborough was loyal to the first move made for independence showing her loyalty by endorsing the action of the Massachusetts Legislature in petitioning the Crown for an annul- ment of the Stamp Act; nor was she afraid to declare a boycott against
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merchants who imported their goods, even declaring them and those who purchased them to be 'enemies to their country and posterity and that they ought to be treated as such. '
" At the convention held in Concord, August, 1774, Marlborough was represented by several delegates and the town lost no time in in- structing its selectmen 'to make an addition to the town's stock of ammunition, powder, bullets and flint.' It also adopted measures to carry into effect the recommendations of the Continental and Provincial Congress, raised a company of minute-men, provided for their drill and discipline, offering them a bounty provided they were called into the ser- vice. And when the shot was fired that was heard round the the world, 190 of Marlborough's sons, and your forebears, dropped their plows, seized their muskets and started to share in the fight for liberty. The seven years that follow mark the period of our national struggle, in which, Marlborough, by her loyalty, proved her patriotism. At a meeting held May 28, 1776, the town voted ' If the Honorable Continental Con- gress shall, for the safety of the United Colonies, declare them indepen- dent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, we, the inhabitants of Marl- borough will solemnly engage, with our lives and fortunes, to support them in the measure ; ' and well did she fulfill her pledge. Massachusetts did more in men and money, during this struggle, than any other colony and just what proportion, of that, was Marlborough's contribution we cannot say, but that she strained every nerve to supply her quota of troops and bear her share of the burdens we may be very sure. The history of our Civil War is so recent, there can be no doubt concerning Marl- borough's patriotism then. The first company that volunteered to go to her country's defense in the Civil War from Marlborough was formed from her Irish citizens. That fact should be remembered when we speak of our alien citizenship. Patriotism and loyalty, even unto death ; this is what we see when we view the political history of Marlborough's past.
" Religion and education stand out prominently in the historic land- scape of all New England, Marlborough, like all the other Massachusetts colonies. The historian says of these Puritan ancestors that 'as a class they possessed marked traits of character. Upon the known firmness of the English, as a people, was engrafted an unwavering religious faith that gave them a fixed and steadfast purpose from which they could not be induced to swerve. Their religion was of the strict and austere type, which naturally leaves its impress upon the character. They had, for a long period, been disciplined in the school of affliction which strengthened
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their faith and and confirmed their fortitude. The persecutions to which they had been subjected had driven from them the timid, or drawn from them the men of easy virture, so that the remainder of the sect were like pure metal, purged from the dross by the refiner's fire, and consolidated by the hammer and the anvil.' From such religious stock did the early settlers of Massachusetts come. Hence we may expect to find them at the very beginning of their settlement, making ample pro- vision for the minister who should be the shepherd of the flock. So, in the Marlborough settlement, at the first meeting of the incorporated town, provision was made for the maintenance of the minister, and later when the land was apportioned, thirty acres was set aside for his portion. The next year a house was built for his use, even before the meeting house itself had been provided and they were not niggardly in their plans, as it appears that they patterned this parsonage after the residence 'of the wealthiest and most learned man in the place.' It was thirty years later before a schoolmaster was engaged and two years following before a school house was built. In 1767, about five years after the meeting house was built and the religious life of the people established, we find that the church numbered one hundred and sixty-four members, seventy- nine of whom were men and eighty-five women. More women than men, even in that day, when to enjoy the privilege of the franchise, one had to be a church member."
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 1910.
There was little need for arousing Marlborough's citizens this morn- ing, although there was much uneasiness over the weather which had interfered with two of the four days set apart for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of Marlborough. When, heralded by the booming of the national salute of twenty-one guns mounted on the summit of Boyd's hill, all the church bells and fire alarm sounders were rung, above all the tolling of the John Brown bell, and the sun burst forth on the gala day of the celebration, the greatest day Marlborough has ever recorded in its history, the hopes of all rose high.
A conservative estimate of the number of persons in Marlborough
424 MARLBOROUGH BOARD OF ALDERMEN, 1910
DANIEL F. O'CONNOR
JAMES F. MAHONEY
F. W. BANISTER, Chairman
CYPRIEN MARTIN
WILLARD A. WALKER
FRANK W. HORNE
DANIEL J. CRONIN
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today was 40,000. Every one of the city's population of 15,000 was here. Every car and every train coming into the city unloaded thousands of people imbued with the spirit of the day. People gathered here from all parts of the world, many of whom not being here for years before took this opportunity to visit their birthplace. Schoolmates who had not seen each other for fifty years met and brought back old memories. The streets were crowded with people, laughing and chatting and jostling one another good naturedly. Private detectives from Boston remarked that never in all their experience did they find so little for complaint. Al- though a licensed city, not a case of downright drunkenness was found, no thefts, no rowdyism. The city seemed to take pride in uniting in all that which would be a credit to her. Decorations of such profu- sion were never seen here before. Private houses, shops, factories and business blocks were all in holiday raiment, even the telegraph and tele- phone poles were wound around with the national colors and the sight was indeed impressive, Especially attractive was the City Hall building, the Central Fire Station, the public library, the high school and high school common, all on Main street in the heart of the business section.
An immense throng gathered at the station to meet the Sixth Regi- ment when it arrived. The regiment detrained in sections and received a big ovation from the multitude.
Seventeen guns announced the arrival of Governor and Mrs. Eben S. Draper in an automobile from Hopedale shortly after the Sixth Regi- ment had assembled at the station. This is the first time a regiment of soldiers has visited this city since 1890. The entire regiment com- mandeal by Colonel George W. Priest of Fitchburg, saluted the Gover- nor as he drove past.
Mayor and Mrs. John F. Fitzgerald of Boston, arrived shortly afterward. With Governor and Mrs. Draper they went to City Hall, where they were welcomed by Mayor J. J. Shaughnessy, who was wait- ing their arrival with several other distinguished guests. . General W. H. Brigham was among the early arrivals and went directly to the City Hall. Committees were appointed as follows :
To receive special guests, Mrs. J. J. Shaughnessy, Mrs. D. Howard Fletcher, Mrs. C. L. Cutler, Jr., Mrs. J. F. J. Otterson, Mrs. J. A. O'Connell, Mrs. Frank Sawin, Miss Josephine O'Brien, Miss Ida Bon- ville, Mrs. Esther McNally, Mrs. Fred H. Fay, Mrs. F. B. Morse. Committee to escort lady guests to the reviewing stand, Miss Ethel Proc- tor Miss Nora Dee, Miss Celia LeBrun, Miss Mary Campbell, Miss Maud Egan. Reception of guests at the New Haven station, E. O.
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MARLBOROUGH COMMON COUNCIL, 1910
GARDNER H. CARPENTER
CARL E. WALKER
JAMES M. HURLEY
JOHN F. MANNION
JOHN B. ARCHAMBEAULT
GEO. G. GIGNAC, Chairman
ALFRED G. BOUDREAU
FRANK H. FORTIER
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MARLBOROUGH COMMON COUNCIL, 1910-Continued
GEORGE L. BIGELOW
SAMUEL L. CHURCHILL
EDWIN W. LADD
SAMUEL H. THOMPSON
H. WESLEY HOLYOKE
WILLIAM D. LEE
LOUIS F. PUTNAM. Clerk
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Brigham, Maurice Wyzanski, Dr. R. O. Clark, L. F. Farley, Miss Lillian Holden, Miss Marie Holden. North station, B. & M., A. N. Payne, E. E. Allen, A. Beauregard, J. O. Bailey, T. A. Giblin and Miss Alice Springer. Lincoln and Mechanic street station of the B. & W. railroad, W. H. Murphy, George R. S. Lippard, J. P. Wood, John J. Cassidy, C. A. Cook. Fairbanks corner, B. & W , L. F. Putnam, Cyprien Simoneau, T. H. O'Halloran, Winfield Temple, Miss Clarice Noel, Miss Pearl Parker.
At 8 o'clock this morning there was a concert by the Marlboro brass band, Robert W. Bird, director, the opening march being written for the occasion by Joseph A. Millington, supervisor of music in the public schools. Seated upon an immense stand erected on the High School common 1,200 school children under the direction of Prof. Millington rendered " Battle Hymn of the Republic," ." Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," "Praise Ye the Father " and " America." "A living flag," represented by the children, and highly complimented by Governor Dra- per in his address, which followed the school children's exercises, was a vivid representation of patriotism long to be remembered. At the con- clusion of the governor's address to the children, the parade was started from city hall and moved down Main street to Maple, Warren, Church, East Main, Main, Mechanic, Lincoln, Pleasant, Elm, Broad, West Main, Main, past the reviewing stand on the High School common in the the heart of the city, where it was reviewed by several hundred of the city's guests.
The procession, which was three miles long, took over an hour to cover the entire route and was the longest parade that Marlborough ever saw and one in which the civic side was represented as well as the mili- tary. The parade was headed by the entire Sixth Regiment of Infantry, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. Near the head of the line rode Briga- dier General Henry Parsons, a former commander of the regiment. Gov- ernor Draper and the state delegation occupied places of honor near the head of the procession. In addition to the military it included trade dis- plays and moving exhibits of Marlborough's manufactories. Practically every organization and society in the city was represented. In the trades part of the parade was represented about every business concern in the city and some of the displays were most attractive. There were also a large number of historical and allegorical floats which created much eulogistic comment and the thousands who lined the route of procession looked on dumbfounded at the scenes of bewildering splendor which con- tinually passed before their gaze. An interesting feature was the May-
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or's club, including about all of the present chief magistrates of cities in the state and practically all living ex-mayors of Massachusetts. Con- spicuous was a goodly number of senators and representatives in auto- mobiles.
Individual sanitary drinking cups were provided by the Women's club along the line of parade, from the stands where the W. C. T. U. served water. One of the pleasing features of the grand parade in the morning was the reception accorded the Governor by the children of St. Ann's Academy. The pupils were grouped on the beautiful and spacious lawn in front of the academy, and, under the direction of the good Sisters, sang the " Star Spangled Banner". So pleased was His Excellency, the Governor, with this unlooked-for reception that he asked his carriage to be stopped and the entire procession to be halted while he expressed his tenderest appreciation of the beautiful tribute given to the national flag. The prettiest scene in the entire parade took place at the triumphal arch erected on Broad street where sixteen young girls, dressed entirely in white showered flowers upon Governor Draper as he passed. The Governor gracefully acknowledged the floral shower, and with the other guests was kept busy doffing his hat to the applauding crowds. Every point of vantage from which some glimpse of the guests could be had was quickly snapped up by some eager spectator. The windows in the houses and stores were filled with people and there was plenty of ap- plause for the more distinguished personages and for the more striking features presented by the floats. Weather conditions were ideal. The sun shone brilliantly and the entire scene presented a gorgeous spectacle. Multi-colored confetti was hurled from the windows and rained down upon those in the parade like a snow storm in colors.
The principal feature of the celebration, and the one to which the multitude had looked forward with greatest expectations was the civic and military parade which took place in the forenoon of the 13th. The formation of the parade was as follows :
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ARTHUR C. LAMSON Chief Marshal Military and Civic Parade
Platoon of mounted police, John F. Mitchell, city marshal. Officers G. D. Brigham, Hugh McNiff and P. H. Loftus.
Arthur C. Lamson, chief marshal.
Charles F. McCarthy, chief of staff. Staff,
George A. Stacy, John M. Carpenter, Orion A. Morton, Raoul H. Beaudreau, Clarence E. Searles, Frank L. Gage, Charles F. Holyoke, Charles B. Eager, Edgar Weeks, Frank S. Rock, Dr. Wm. S. Richardson, Thomas M. Dacey.
Emile J. Dufresne, musician.
FIRST DIVISION.
Marshal, Major F. G. Taylor.
Staff-Colonel A. M. Mossman, Harmon C. Skinner. Sixth Regiment Staff-Colonel George H. Priest. Riding also at the head of the Regiment was General Henry Parsons, of this city, former com- mander of the Regiment, a guest of Colonel Priest.
Sixth Regiment Band of Fitchburg, 25 pieces, G. A. Patz, leader. Sixth Regiment of Infantry, M. N. G.
B Battery of Worcester, Capt. E. W. Wheeler, 30 men.
The following guests and prominent citizens occupied the carriages and autos in the parade :
First Carriage-Mayor John J. Shaughnessy, Governor Eben S. Draper, General W. H. Brigham.
Second Carriage-Lieutenant-Governor L. A. Frothingham, Judge J. W. McDonald, (president of the day), Hon. Charles S. Hamlin (orator), Major Talbot Aldrich.
Third Carriage-Hon. S. H. Howe, (first mayor of city), Sheriff J. A. Fairbairn, Cambridge, Capt. H. L. Brown.
Fourth Carriage-Hon. W. N. Davenport, Hon. J. T. Coughlin, Mayor of Fall River, Mayor John F. Fitzgerald of Boston, Waldo L. Stone.
Fifth Carriage-Dr. E. G. Hoitt, (sixth mayor of Marlborough), Hon. J. J. Higgins, Somerville, District Attorney of Middlesex County.
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Sixth Carriage-Hon. W. B. Morse, (eighth mayor of Marl- borough), Hon. J. L. Harvey, (Senator Fifth Middlesex District), Hon. C. H. Porter, Quincy, Hon. C. H. Grimmons, Somerville.
Seventh Carriage-Hon. F. R. S. Mildon (ninth mayor of Marl- borough) Hon. C. E. Hatfield, (Mayor of Newton), County Commis- sioner Levi S. Gould, Malden, County Treasurer J. O. Hayden, Somer- ville.
Eighth Carriage-Hon. E. F. Brown, (eleventh mayor of Marl- borough), Hon M. F. O'Connell, (Mayor of Fitchburg) County Com- missioner C. H. Richardson, Lowell, County Commissioner C. B. Williams of Wayland.
Ninth Carriage-Alderman Frank W. Banister, Hon. E. A. Walker, (Mayor of Waltham), Harry L. Rice, Boston, Charles E. Bennett.
Tenth Carriage-George G. Gignac, (president of the Common Council), Hon. W. S. Woods, George A. Haynes, Sudbury, Rev. W. H. Flynn.
Eleventh Carriage-Alderman J. F. Mahoney, Hon. Charles Bruce, (Mayor of Everett ), Charles W. Curtis, (resident manager of Rice & Hutchins), Henry Cook, Northboro.
Twelfth Carriage-Alderman Cyprien Martin, Hon. George F. Fall, (Mayor of Malden), William H. Lord.
Thirteenth Carriage-Alderman W. A. Walker, Hon. R. E. Burke, Newburyport, Amory Maynard, Maynard, M. Burke.
Fourteenth Carriage-Alderman D. J. Cronin, Hon. C. N. Frost, Rev. W. H. Finnick, James P. Steele, president of the Board of Trade.
Fifteenth Carriage-Councilman G. H. Carpenter, Councilman C. S. Walker, Hon. Eugene Moore, (Mayor of Melrose.), Thomas F. Mahoney.
Sixteenth Carriage-Ex-Mayor John F. Hurley of Salem, Fred O. Welsh, F. M. Harrington, Postmaster Jonh S. Fay.
Auto-Councilman J. F. Hurley, Councilman J. F. Mannion, Edward L. Bigelow.
Auto-Councilman J. B. Archambeault, Evangeliste Beaudreau, Judge W. M. Adams, Framingham, John A. O'Connell.
Auto-Councilman F. H. Fortier, Councilman Alfred G. Beau- dreau, T. W. Trow, Hon. Guy Cox, Boston.
Auto-Councilman George L. Bigelow, D. W. Cosgrove, Council- man S. L. Churchill, T. J. Falvy.
Auto-Councilman S. H. Thompson, Councilman E. W. Ladd.
Auto-Councilman W. D. Lee, Councilman Wesley Holyoke, A. D. Gleason.
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Auto-John Brown, Edwin Rice, W. R. Witherbee, J. B. Fuller, Frank Knapp, (members of Marlborough Cornet Band 1860, who played at the 200th anniversary of the incorporation. )
Members of the Legislature in automobiles-Hon. Lewis Burman, Boston ; Hon. George H. Newhall, Lynn ; Hon. D. E. Denney, Wor- cester ; Rep. F. O. Emerson, Boston; Rep. T. J. Mead, Brockton ; Rep. Wm. G. Graham, Lawrence; Rep. Frank H. Pope, George L. Dow, David C. Ahearn.
Marlboro Brass Band, Robert W. Bird, leader, 30 men.
John A. Rawlins Post 43, G. A. R., George S. Parker, commander. F. C. Curtis Camp, Sons of Veterans, Capt. William M. Brigham. A Co., Pontifical Zouaves, A. Thiverge, commander. Division 16, A. O. H., John A. Cratty, president, 100 men. Garde d'Honneur drum corps, Adelard Monte, leader, 30 men.
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