USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > History of Newburyport, Mass., 1764-1905, Volume I > Part 33
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July 4, 1837, was celebrated by a federal salute at sunrise, a procession under escort of the Newburyport Artillery company, the gathering of children connected with the public schools on the mall, the reading of the declaration of inde- pendence by Robert Cross, Esq., and the delivery, in the Pleasant Street meeting house, of an oration by John Quincy Adams, ex-president of the United States.1 In the evening the distinguished statesman received his friends and acquaint- ances at a public reception in the town hall.
Monday, July 5, 1841, was celebrated by the Washington Total Abstinence society of Newburyport. Public exercises were held in a grove on the turnpike, near the head of State street, where the declaration of independence was read by Samuel L. Caldwell and patriotic addresses were made by prominent friends of the society residing in Boston and else- where.
1 This oration was subsequently published in pamphlet form. The original manuscript, in the hand-writing of Mr. Adams, is now in the Newburyport Pub- lic Library.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
The celebration of July 4, 1842, was arranged by a commit- tee appointed by the above-named society. A procession, under the escort of the Newburyport Artillery company, marched from the mall to the meeting house on Prospect street, where public services were held. A collation was afterwards served in the town hall.
July 4, 1843, the members of the Washington Total Abstin- ence society, escorted by the Newburyport Artillery company, proceeded to the meeting house on Federal street, where an orig- inal hymn, composed for the occasion by Miss Hannah F. Gould, was sung, and an address delivered by John Coombs, Esq. In the evening, a musical entertainment, followed by a dinner, was given in one of the unfinished rooms of the James Steam Mill on Charles street.
July 4, 1844, the members of the Newburyport fire depart- ment, with their fire engines and hose carriages, marched through the principal streets of the town to the meeting house on Titcomb street, where Hon. Ebenezer Bradbury delivered an address on the importance of maintaining a well-organized fire department. In the evening, there was a display of fire- works on the mall.
July 4, 1848, the selectmen of the town, Revolutionary soldiers, Marine society, Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance, members of the fire department and citizens generally were escorted by the Washington Light Guard from the court house on the mall to the meeting house on Pleasant street, where prayer was offered by Rev. Thomas W. Higginson, an ode, written by Miss Hannah F. Gould, sung by a select choir, and an oration delivered by Hon. Henry W. Kinsman. In the evening there was music on the mall and fireworks on the westerly side of the pond.
July 4, 1850, the selectmen and other officers of the town, with members of the fire department, Marine and Humane societies, St. Mark's Lodge of Master Masons, Odd Fellows and a procession of young ladies, bearing flowers representing the seasons, etc., were escorted by the Washington Light Guard from the mall down High to Federal street, and thence through Middle, State and Pleasant streets to the corner of
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Green street and Brown square where the corner-stone of the new town hall was laid, with imposing ceremonies, and Hon. Caleb Cushing delivered an appropriate address. In the evening there was a display of fireworks on the mall.
After the annexation of a part of the town of Newbury to Newburyport in April, 1851, " An Act to establish the city of Newburyport " was passed by the General Court and accepted by the inhabitants of the last-named town on the third day of June. On the fourth day of July, following, the city officials of Newburyport, with the members of the fire depart- ment, Masonic lodges, benevolent associations, mounted truck- men, and a cavalcade of citizens were escorted by the Washing- ton Light Guard to the meeting house on Pleasant street, where a large choir, under the direction of Moses D. Randall, sang several appropriate selections, Joshua D. Robinson read an original ode, and Richard Frothingham, Jr., Esq., of Charlestown delivered an oration. In the evening there was a display of fireworks on the westerly side of Frog pond.
On the morning of July fifth, the floral procession, post- poned on account of the threatening weather and muddy con- dition of the streets from July fourth, was escorted through the principal streets of the city to the residence of the mayor, Hon. Caleb Cushing, where a collation was provided for all who had helped to make the celebration interesting and at- tractive.
Monday, July 5, 1852, the Cushing Guard, previously known as the Washington Light Guard, escorted through the principal streets of the city a procession composed of the members of the city government, the fire department, children connected with the public schools, in open carriages and carts decorated with ferns and flowers, tradesmen with samples of their merchandise, artisans working at their trades, and mount- ed truckmen in white frocks. In the evening, there was a display of fireworks, under the direction of Edmund Bartlet, Jr., on the westerly side of Frog pond,
The celebration of July 4, 1854, was unusually attractive. The sons and daughters of Newburyport, residing in the New England states and elsewhere, formed organizations and came
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home to participate in the celebration. Under escort of the Cushing Guard, Capt. Jabez L. Pearson, and the New- buryport Veteran Artillery association, Maj. Ebenezer Brad- bury, commanding, the delegates from Bangor, Portsmouth, Boston, New York and other cities and towns, members of the fire department, tradesmen and artisans, ship carpenters, joiners and painters, marched from the southeasterly end of Bartlet mall down High street to Federal street, through Orange, Essex and State streets to High street, up High to Kent street, countermarching down High to Market street, through Washington and Green streets to the meeting house on Pleasant street where a song of welcome, written by Hon. George Lunt, was sung, the declaration of independence read by Hiram B. Haskell, and an address appropriate to the occasion delivered by Rev. George D. Wildes. Dinner was served in a tent erected on a vacant lot of land at the corner of Congress and Olive streets. Hon. Moses Davenport, mayor of the city, presided and when the viands had been disposed of introduced Philip K. Hills, Esq., who proposed the first regular toast, which was responded to by Hon. George Lunt of Boston. Subsequently, speeches were made by Cornelius C. Felton, professor of Greek in Harvard University, Rev. Thomas M. Clark of Hartford, Conn., Col. Samuel Swett of Boston, Rev. Samuel L. Caldwell of Bangor, Maine, and Hon. Caleb Cushing, attorney-general of the United States. In the evening there was a levee in City hall, and fireworks on the mall.I
Since 1855, the anniversary of American independence has been annually celebrated in Newburyport by the ringing of bells, firing of salutes and other expressions of joy, without civic or military display except on a few special occasions.
July 4, 1865, the members of the city government, with the soldiers and sailors who had returned to Newburyport, after service in the army or navy during the civil war, officers and members of the fire-engine and hook and ladder companies, tradesmen and manufacturers, were escorted by the Newbury-
1 A full account of this celebration was published in pamphlet form by order of the city council in 1854.
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port Veteran Artillery association and the City Cadets, through the principal streets of the city to the meeting house on Pleasant street, where the declaration of independence was read by Albert Hale, Esq., and an address, appropriate to the occasion, delivered by Hon. George B. Loring.
At the close of this address, the city government and invited guests, including the soldiers and sailors who had served in the war, were escorted to City hall, where dinner was provided for seven hundred and fifty persons. After the tables had been cleared and cigars lighted, Hon. George W. Jackman, Jr., mayor of the city, welcomed the veterans in a brief speech, and subsequently Hon. George B. Loring, Rev. Samuel J. Spalding, Col. Eben F. Stone, Maj. Ben: Perley Poore, Capt. George W. Creasey, Col. Frederick J. Coffin and others re- sponded to toasts given in honor of "The Army of the Gulf," " The Navy," " The Army of the Potomac," and "The Army of the James."
The one-hundredth anniversary of American independence was celebrated July 4, 1876, with unusual pomp and cere- mony. A national salute was fired at sunrise and the heavy artillery guns were then taken to Parker river and another salute fired near the landing place of the first settlers of New- bury. A procession, two miles long, composed of the officers and men of the Grand Army of the Republic residing in New- bury and Newburyport, Masonic lodges and benevolent associ- ations, tradesmen and mechanics, pupils of the public schools in carriages, farmers and milkmen from Newbury dressed in fantastic costumes, with wagons and carts loaded with farm produce and decorated with flags and flowers, was escorted by the Cushing Guards and the City Cadets through certain des- ignated streets from Broad street, in Newburyport, to "Trayne- ing Green," in Newbury. At the close of the morning parade, dinner was served in a tent, near Parker river, where in the afternoon, Capt. Luther Dame read the declaration of inde- pendence and David L. Withington, Esq., delivered an interest- ing historical address. On the mall, in Newburyport, amuse- ments were provided for the children connected with the public schools and two velocipede boats, loaded with passen-
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gers, made frequent trips from one end of the pond to the other, while the Newburyport and Amesbury bands enlivened the occasion with strains of martial music.
July 4, 1893, the officers and members of the Grand Army of the Republic, with the city government in carriages, benev- olent and Masonic associations, tradesmen and manufacturers were escorted by a battalion of the Massachusetts Volunteer militia, through certain designated streets, from Bromfield street in ward one to Woodland street in ward six and thence to Brown square, where a platform had been erected and an open-air meeting organized, Hon. Orrin J. Gurney, mayor of the city, presiding. Enoch C. Adams, principal of the Newburyport High school, read the declaration of inde- pendence, Kellar's American Hymn was sung by a chorus of male voices, and Rev. Samuel C. Beane, representing William H. Swasey, Esq., presented, at his request and in his name, to the city of Newburyport the statue of William Lloyd Gar- rison, designed and modeled by David M. French of New- buryport. The mayor accepted the gift in a few well-chosen words, and then introduced Hon. Frederick T. Greenhalge of Lowell, who delivered an eloquent and appropriate historical address. The festivities of the day closed with a display of fireworks on March's hill in the evening.
July 4, 1902, the Boys' Brigade of Belleville escorted the members of the Grand Army of the Republic connected with the A. W. Bartlett Post, No. 49, of Newburyport, the Charles Sumner Post, No. 101, of Groveland, the E. P. Wallace Post, No. 122, of Amesbury, the Everett Peabody Post, No. 108, of Georgetown, the General James Appleton Post, No. 128, of Ipswich, the John A. Logan Post, No. 127, of Seabrook, N. H., and the mayor and invited guests, in carriages, from City hall to Atkinson common, where an open-air meeting was held, Walter B. Hopkinson, president of the monument association, presiding. Prayer was offered by Rev. George H. Miner, and Williard J. Hale, Esq., read the speech made by Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg November 19, 1863. A choir of male and female voices sang " To thee, Oh Country,"
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OTHER ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
and Joseph B. Eaton, secretary of the monument association, gave a brief account of the work that had been done by mem- bers of that organization. "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean" was sung by the children connected with the Forrester street and Ashland street grammar schools, and the statue on Atkin- son common, designed and modeled by Mrs. Theo Alice (Rug- gles) Kitson,' was presented to the city of Newburyport by Mr. Hopkinson and accepted by Hon. Moses Brown, mayor. John E. Gilman, past-department-commander of the Grand Army of Massachusetts, then delivered an interesting patriotic address after which America was sung by the choir and Rev. Mr. Miner pronounced the benediction.
OTHER ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Newburyport held March 23, 1835, a committee, consisting of Jeremiah Nelson, Edward S. Rand, Nathan Follansbee, John Bradbury, Robert Jenkins, Nathaniel Foster, Amos Toppan, Henry Frothingham, John Osgood and Caleb Cushing, was appointed to confer with com- mittees appointed by the towns of Newbury and West New- bury to arrange for the celebration of the second centennial anniversary of the settlement made at Parker river, in 1635.2 The programme finally agreed upon provided for a salute at sunrise, May 26, 1835, a procession, an oration and a din- ner to be followed by a levee in the evening. Col. Jeremiah Colman was appointed chief-marshall and, with his advice and assistance, the route of the procession was determined upon, and announced in the newspapers of the day.
At nine o'clock, on the morning of May twenty-sixth, the selectmen of Newbury, Newburyport and West Newbury, ministers residing in the above-named towns, members of the Marine society, Humane society and other organizations, were escorted by the Newburyport Artillery and the Byfield Rifle company from the Newbury town house on the turn- pike, now State street, in Newburyport, to High street and
I See pp. 220 and 221.
2 Newburyport Town Records, vol. III., p. 327.
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thence down High to Federal street, through Federal and Middle streets to Market square and thence through Merri- mack, Market and Berry streets to the meeting house on Pleasant street, where an ode and a hymn, written for the oc- casion by Hon. George Lunt, were sung and an appropriate address delivered by Hon. Caleb Cushing.
Dinner was served, at two o'clock, in a temporary pavilion erected near the Newbury town house, to seven or eight hun- dred invited guests. Hon. Ebenezer Moseley presided at the exercises that followed the dinner and Lieutenant-Governor Amstrong, Hon. Edward Everett, Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, Hon. Caleb Cushing, Hon. George Lunt and other dis- tinguished gentlemen responded to the toasts that were pro- posed.
The Boston Brass Band, then a new organization, the first in the United States to use the trumpet, bugle, trombone and other brass instruments, furnished the music for the parade and for the dinner.
In the evening, there was a levee at the town hall, on State street, in Newburyport, where old furniture, portraits and paintings were displayed and tea served to the distinguished guests by ladies dressed in the costumes of 1776.
The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement. of Newbury was celebrated June 10, 1885. Exercises were held on the morning of that day in City hall, Newburyport. A large choir, under the direction of Norman McLeod, sang " The Heavens are Telling " from " The Creation," by Haydn, and the national hymn, "To Thee Oh Country," set to music by Eichberg. Mrs. Louisa Parsons (Stone) Hopkins read an original ode and Samuel Colcord Bartlett, D.D., LL.D., president of Dartmouth College, delivered an interesting historical address.
At two o'clock a possession was formed in front of City hall, and the members of the Historical Society of Old New- bury, with invited guests, in carriages, and the children con- nected with the public schools of Newbury, West Newbury and Newburyport were escorted by companies A and B of the Eighth regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer militia to a
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OTHER ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
large tent erected on March's field near the head of Bromfield street, where dinner was served, and speeches made by Hon. Albert E. Pillsbury, Hon. George B. Loring, Hon. William W. Crapo, Hon. Charles S. Bradley, Lieut. Adolphus W. Greeley, Hon. Eben F. Stone, James Parton and others prominent in public life.
In the evening a promenade concert and reception in City hall was attended by a large number of citizens and distin- guished strangers who came to listen to the music and examine the portraits of ministers, merchants, shipmasters, lawyers and ladies, that had been gathered by a committee appointed for that purpose and hung on the walls of the council chamber.I
The ceremonies and festivities that marked the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the city government of Newburyport were unusually interesting and attractive. Ser- vices appropriate to the occasion were held in all the churches Sunday morning, June 23, 1901, and in the evening a large audience assembled in City hall to listen to the singing of hymns of praise and thanksgiving by the Choral Union and the delivery of an address on the commercial and industrial life of Newburyport by George Frederick Stone of Chicago.
Monday morning, June twenty-fourth, a salute of fifty guns at sunrise was followed by the ringing of all the church bells in the city. An hour or two later, the United States battle- ship Massachusetts, under the command of Capt. H. N. Man- ney, arrived at the mouth of the Merrimack river, and a committee appointed for that purpose went out in the Steamer Cygnet to invite the officers and men on board the Massachusetts to join in the parade the following day. At half-past ten o'clock, Hon. Albert E. Pillsbury of Boston de- livered an interesting historical address to a large audience in City hall. At two o'clock, dinner was served in the Armory building on Merrimack street, Hon. Moses Brown, mayor of
1 A full report of the proceedings on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Newbury including the historical address and after-dinner speeches, was published in 1885 by order of the Historical Society of Old New- bury .
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the city, presiding. After hunger and thirst were appeased, the Orpheus Club quartette sang several spirited songs, and speeches were made by Hon. John L. Bates, lieutenant-gov- ernor, Hon. William H. Moody, representative to congress from the Sixth Massachusetts district, Hon. Augustus P. Gardner, state senator from the Third Essex district, Hon. Albert E. Pillsbury, orator of the day, Hon. Harvey N. Shepard, Hon. William Reed and many others.
Tuesday morning, June twenty-fifth, the members of the city government, with invited guests, in carriages, the board of engineers and members of the fire department, with fire en- gines and hose carriages, benevolent societies and other associ- ations, children connected with the public schools, and trades- men and manufacturers, were escorted by a naval battalion from the battleship Massachusetts, the First battalion of the Eighth regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer militia, and rep- resentatives of the Grand Army of the Republic, from the southeasterly end of Bartlet mall, through the principal streets of the city to Market square, where the procession was dis- missed. In the evening, there was a display of fireworks on the westerly side of Frog pond.
The celebration closed with a parade of firemen from Low- ell, Lawrence, Cambridge, Chelsea and other cities and towns, Wednesday morning, June twenty-sixth, and the trial of the engines belonging to the several veteran associations, in a friendly contest, on Pond street in the afternoon.I
POLITICAL GATHERINGS.
August 28, 1840, delegates from every town in Essex coun- ty assembled at the court house in Newburyport to nominate suitable persons to represent the county in the state senate. After several ballotings the delegates selected Daniel P. King of Danvers, David Choate of Essex, Amos Abbott of Andover, Stephen Oliver of Lynn, and Henry W. Kinsman of New- buryport to be supported by the voters of the Whig party at
1 For additional facts and details relating to the celebration of the fiftieth anni- versary of the organization of the city government of Newburyport see pamphlet published by order of the city council in 1901.
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the election to be held in November, and adopted resolutions expressing their hearty approbation of the speeches made and sentiments expressed by their representative in congress, Hon. Caleb Cushing.
While this convention was in session delegations from towns in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex counties, accompanied by several bands of music, were escorted by the Newburyport Artillery company, the Salem Mechanics Light Infantry, the Topsfield Warren Blues, the Haverhill Light Infantry and the Bradford Light Infantry, through the principal streets of the town to Brown square, where a platform had been erected, and speeches were made by Hon. Caleb Cushing, Governor Kent of Maine, Hon. Leverett Saltonstall and Hon. Daniel Webster.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the procession re-formed in front of the court house, on the mall, and proceeded to the Bartlet steam mill, then nearly completed, where tables were set in the unoccupied second story of the building, and plates laid for the accommodation of two thousand subscribers to the dinner.
In the evening, a promenade concert and reception, attended by at least three thousand ladies and gentlemen, was held in the lower story of the mill which was elaborately decorated for the occasion.
Hon. Caleb Cushing, representative to congress from the Third Essex district, returning from his official duties in Washington, arrived in Newburyport on the evening of the twenty-ninth day of September, 1842. He was received with shouts of " Welcome," the ringing of bells, and the booming of cannon, and invited to speak to the assembled multitude from a temporary platform erected near the railroad station. He consented to make a brief address in which he defended, with great ability, the policy adopted by President Tyler in the administration of public affairs. At the close of the speech he was warmly commended " for daring, like Mr. Webster, to act for his country and his party."
On the seventh day of October following, he discussed with
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HISTORY OF NEWBURYPORT
great acceptance the political questions of the day, before an audience that filled the meeting house on Prospect street to overflowing.
On the evening of the seventh day of November, 1844, a notable political meeting was held in the second story of the James steam mill, then nearly ready to receive machinery for the manufacture of cotton cloth. The room was well lighted and decorated with flags for the occasion. Eloquent and im- pressive speeches were delivered by Hon. Leverett Saltonstall and Hon. Daniel Webster.I
The news of the election of Gen. Zachary Taylor as presi- dent and Millard Fillmore as vice president of the United States was received in Newburyport with great joy, and preparations were promptly made to celebrate the event with a brilliant torchlight procession. On Wednesday evening, November 22, 1848, public buildings and private dwelling houses and stores were illuminated and various organizations, bearing transparancies and banners, marched through the streets of the town that were ablaze with fireworks and rock- ets. The rejoicing continued late into the night and closed with a substantial supper, at which popular political songs were sung in Washington hall.2
PUBLIC RECEPTIONS.
Hon. Caleb Cushing, who had served with distinction as attorney-general of the United States, left Washington, D. C., at the close of Franklin Pierce's administration to resume the practice of law in Boston. A committee was appointed to meet him there and tender him a public reception in Newbury- port. This expression of respect and esteem was gratefully accepted. He left Boston at twelve o'clock, Thursday, April 23, 1857, and was received with a national salute on his arrival at the Eastern Railroad depot in Newburyport. He was es- corted to City hall, where an address of welcome was delivered by Hon. Moses Davenport, to which he responded in an elo- quent speech.
1 Newburyport Herald, November 12, 1844.
2 Newburyport Herald, November 24 and 28, 1848.
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PUBLIC RECEPTIONS
The exercises of the day closed with a reception and levee in the evening, which was enlivened by music and dancing. A brilliant company of ladies and gentleman from Newburyport and neighboring cities and towns enjoyed the festivities until a late hour.
The return of the survivors of the Arctic expedition, under the command of Lieut. Adolphus W. Greeley, was an event of extraordinary interest to the inhabitants of Newburyport. The story of their perils and sufferings awakened deep and wide-spread sympathy, and a committee was appointed to make arrangements for the reception of Lieutenant Greeley on his arrival home. Plans were matured and preparations made for a reception worthy of the occasion.
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