USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1873 > Part 16
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HOMESTEAD OF JOHN A. AND ALBERT L. PARKHURST.
The names of the soldiers sent from Dunstable into the late war are as follows : -
ANDERSON, HENRY, private, three years, Thirty-second Regiment. BAKER, ESAU, served one year in the navy.
BARNES, JAMES, served one year in the navy.
BEAN, FRANCIS, enlisted for three years Dec. 19, 1863 ; mustered in Jan. 5, 1864, private, Company B, Fifty-ninth Regiment.
BRADY, FREDERICK, private, three years, Twenty-second Regiment.
BURROWS, CHARLES, volunteer, three years, private, Company K, Four- teenth Regiment.
BUTTERFIELD, DEXTER, enlisted and mustered in Oct. 14, 1861, three years, private, Company A, Second Regiment ; made a sergeant June 1, 1864 ; discharged Oct. 14, 1864.
CARKIN, HARRISON, volunteer, private, Company C, Fourteenth Regiment, U. S. A.
CHEEVER, ALVIN, enlisted and mustered in Aug. 31, 1862, for nine months, Company A, Sixth Regiment.
CONWAY, MICHAEL, private, mustered in Aug. 14, 1862, three years, Company G, Forty-first Regiment.
193
SOLDIERS IN THE LATE WAR.
1865]
CURRIER, WARREN, 2d, enlisted and mustered in July 11, 1865, three years, Fifth Battery.
DAGLISH, JOHN J., enlisted and mustered in for one year Feb. 21, 1865, Company F, Thirty-eighth Regiment.
DALYN, SIMON, private for three years, mustered in Aug. 14, 1862, Company G, Forty-first Regiment.
DAVIS, ANCIL, private, nine months ; enlisted Oct. 12, and mustered in Oct. 17, 1862, Company G, Fifty-third Regiment ; died of chronic dysentery at Baton Rouge, July 1, 1863.
DAVIS, JAMES A., enlisted and mustered in as a private for three years, Oct. 14, 1861, Company A, Second Regiment ; wounded at the battle of Antietam and discharged ; re-enlisted for one year, Dec 30, 1864, Company E, Cavalry Frontier Service.
DONAHUE, PATRICK, enlisted and mustered in July 14, 1865, for three years, Fourteenth Battery.
DOULEY, JOSEPH, enlisted and mustered in Aug. 31, 1861, nine months, Company B, Sixth Regiment ; discharged Nov. 2, 1862, for disa- bility.
DOYLE, JAMES, private, three years, Fifteenth Battery.
ELDREDGE, FRANK W., private, three years, Twenty-sixth Regiment. FARRAR, EDWARD, private, three years, Fifteenth Battery.
FINLEY, MICHAEL, three years, mustered in Aug. 14, 1862, Company G, Forty-first Regiment.
FLETCHER, ALBERT W., private, enlisted Sept. 2, 1862, for nine months, Company D, Fifty-third Regiment. On the night previous to the battle of Port Hudson he gave his knapsack and money to a wounded comrade, to be conveyed to his mother in the event of his being killed in the battle. He was last seen amongst his company bravely making the charge in the sanguinary contest of June 14, 1863. What more noble record could be made of him ?
Foss, CHARLES V., private, three years, Company B, Fifty-ninth Regi- ment ; enlisted Dec. 19, 1863 ; mustered in Jan. 5, 1864.
GILSON, JAMES H., volunteer, private, mustered in Aug. 6, 1864, for three years, Company K, Thirty-third Regiment ; farmer.
HARTWELL, ALONZO, private, three years, Company B, Fifty-ninth Regi- ment ; enlisted Dec. 19, 1863.
HARTWELL, WARREN, private, three years, Company B, Fifty-ninth Regi- ment ; enlisted Dec. 19, 1863.
HICKEY, JAMES, enlisted Aug. 13, 1864, private, three years, Second Massachusetts Cavalry.
HINDS, HIRAM H., enlisted Aug. 8, 1864, Reserve Veteran Corps.
HOBBS, GEORGE, three years, Fifteenth Battery.
HUNTER, GEORGE, volunteer, private, three years, Company K, Fourteenth Regiment.
13
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1865
INGALLS, JAMES S., volunteer, three years, Company C, Twenty-sixth Regiment ; discharged and died at New Orleans.
JACKSON, EDWARD P., private, nine months, enlisted Sept. 26, 1862, Company D, Forty-fifth Regiment ; he was promoted to a corporal.
JAQUES, JOSIAH S., Company K, Thirty-third Regiment, three years ; mustered in Aug. 6, 1862.
JONES, CORMELY R., three years, enlisted and mustered in Aug. 8, 1864, Reserve Veteran Corps.
KAHOE, MICHAEL, private, three years, Eleventh Regiment ; enlisted Aug. 16, 1864.
KELLEIKY, JAMES, three years, Twenty-eighth Regiment.
KEYES, PEABODY, volunteer, three years, Twenty-sixth Regiment.
KEYES, SAMUEL P., volunteer, private, mustered for three years, Dec. 20, 1861, New Hampshire Eighth Regiment.
KNIGHTS, ISAAC S., private, enlisted for three years, Jan. 2, 1864, Fifty- ninth Regiment.
LYONS, THOMAS, private, nine months ; enlisted Aug. 31, 1862, Company K, Sixth Regiment.
MARSHALL, GEORGE E., volunteer, private, three years, Company H, New Hampshire Seventh Regiment ; enlisted and was mustered in Oct. 14, 1861. He died at Charleston, S. C., July 24, 1863, of wounds received at the storming of Fort Wagner six days previous. He was a prisoner at the time of his death.
MAYO, WILLARD M., enlisted as a private and volunteer Oct. 14, 1861, in Company H, New Hampshire Seventh Regiment, and was killed July 18, 1863, at the storming of Fort Wagner, in Charleston Harbor. MURRAY, MICHAEL, enlisted and was mustered in Aug. 19, 1864, Com- pany G, Seventeenth Regiment.
OSBORNE, PRESCOTT E., private, three years, Twenty-sixth Regiment.
PAGE, DAVID H., private, volunteer, three years, Company C, Twenty- sixth Regiment. Died at New Orleans, Aug. 30, 1863, of dysentery. PARKER, LUTHER S., private, volunteer, three years, Company C, Twenty- sixth Regiment.
PEARL, GILMAN A., Company B, Fifty-ninth Regiment ; enlisted as a private for three years, Dec. 19, 1863 ; mustered in Jan. 5, 1864.
PEVEY, LYMAN E., enlisted March 4, 1865, for three years, Detachment of Ordnance, Arsenal, Watertown.
POOL, LEONARD H., enlisted Aug. 8, 1864, for three years, Reserve Veteran Corps.
RAUPUCK, HAROLD A., three years, navy.
RICH, EVERETT, was mustered in March 11, 1862, three years, navy.
ROBERTSON, WILLIAM, private, three years, Fifteenth Battery.
ROBINSON, JOHN, two years, navy.
RUSMUSSEN, CHRISTIAN, two years, navy.
SHORT, WILLIAM, Company B, Sixth Regiment, nine months ; enlisted
195
SOLDIERS IN THE LATE WAR.
1865]
Aug. 31, 1862, and was discharged at the expiration of his service, June 3, 1863.
STEVENS, KIMBALL A., private, Company B, Sixth Regiment ; enlisted for nine months, Aug. 31, 1862.
STICKNEY, HENRY, private, Company G, Thirty-third Regiment, mustered in Aug. 11, 1862, and died at Falmouth, Va., Jan. 20, 1863.
STYLES, JOHN, enlisted Aug. 8, 1864, for three years, Third Regiment of Infantry.
TAYLOR, GEORGE E., private, three years, Company A, Second Regiment ; he enlisted Oct. 14, 1861, and died at Frederick, Md., Feb. 8, 1862. TEAGREAN, JOHN N., enlisted for three years in the Sixty-second Regi- ment.
WELCH, PATRICK, volunteer, three years, Company G, Forty-first Regi- ment.
WHITE, LUCIUS, volunteer, private, three years, Company D, Eleventh Regiment Regular Infantry ; wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, and died on the day following.
WILKINS, LUTHER, private, Company D, Fifty-third Regiment, nine months ; enlisted Oct. 12, 1862 ; returned home with his regiment, and was discharged Sept. 2, 1863.
WILKINS, LUTHER E, enlisted for nine months as a private, Company D, Fifty-third Regiment, Oct. 12, 1862. He was in the battle of Port Hudson, returned home with his regiment, and was discharged Sept. 2, 1863.
Total, 64.
Among those belonging to the town who enlisted in other places were, -
WILLIAM W. CUMMINGS, First Minnesota Regiment.
HIRAM R. KENDALL.
ALFRED G. PARKHURST, Sixth Massachusetts Regiment.
CHARLES R. SWALLOW.
RICHARD H. KNIGHTS.
The town under two calls paid $3, 100 for bounties.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1867
CHAPTER XII.
DISMISSAL OF THE REV. WILLIAM C. JACKSON. - APPROPRIATIONS FOR SCHOOLS. - THE REV. EDWARD P. KINGSBURY ORDAINED. - HIS EARLY DEATH. - THE REV. CHARLES ROCKWELL EMPLOYED. - HE IS FOL- LOWED BY THE REV. FRANKLIN D. AUSTIN. - THE NASHUA, ACTON, AND BOSTON RAILROAD OPENED. - CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. - THE COM- MITTEE CHOSEN FOR A BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. - PREPARATIONS FOR THE SAME. - THE BEAUTY OF THE DAY. - THE PROCESSION. - THE ORATION. - THE DINNER, SONGS, AND SPEECHES FOLLOWING.
"They are not fond of great changes, and to mere innovations they are decidedly averse. Their first desire is to give their children a good education, and to maintain the literary and religious institutions of the commonwealth. They acknowledge the importance of useful employ- ment for all classes and ages, and are desirous that their children should acquire early habits of study and industry." ALDEN BRADFORD.
" We boast not the olive, we want not the vine, For the orange and citron we do not repine ; We look at no climate with envious eyes, For what Nature refuses, our labor supplies." SILAS P. HOLBROOK.
J. C. WOODWARD was chosen town clerk in 1866, and the sum of $525 was appropriated for the support of the five pub- lic schools.
In 1867 Libni Parker, Freeman L. Robbins, and Thomas F. Cheney were chosen selectmen, and $700 were devoted to the support of the public schools.
The Rev. William C. Jackson,* at his own request, was dis-
* He was born in Eaton (now Madison), N. H., Feb. 7, 1808 ; Dartmouth Col- lege, 1831 ; Andover, 1835. He married, Sept. 9 of that year, Mrs. Mary A. Sawyer, of Westminster, and they sailed from Boston, Dec. 4, for the mission in Turkey. After spending a few months in Constantinople, they went to Trebi- zond on the Black Sea, where they continued to labor until September, 1839, when they commenced a station at Erzeroom. Here they remained until June, 1845, when the severe illness of Mrs. Jackson necessitated their return to
197
AN ACCIDENT.
1869]
missed from the pastorate of the church, Nov. 13, 1867, the cause assigned being want of adequate support, and the people were for a while destitute of a settled pastor. Mr. Jackson served the town faithfully, and one or more revivals of religion occurred under his ministry. He was long a faithful mission- ary in Asiatic Turkey, and was subsequently settled over the church in Lincoln, Mass. He has a fine musical taste and is the composer of the beautiful tune of "Lincoln," on the one hundred and forty-fourth page of the New Congregational Hymn and Tune Book. He is now settled at Brentwood, N. H.
The interest due the citizens of the town on money loaned for the war was $493.35.
In the year following (1868), the sum of $700 was voted for schools, and of $400 for roads and bridges. James T. Burnap was chosen one of the school committee for three years.
It was voted " to put that fish law in force." Benjamin French was moderator of the annual town meeting.
George W. Woods, son of Isaac and Eliza Woods, and aged forty years, had his skull fractured by the fall of a tree, Dec. 20, and died in consequence a few days afterwards.
In 1869 Henry J. Tolles was the town clerk, and the town was enjoying great prosperity. It voted $800 for schools, and also not to abolish school districts, as recommended by the State Board of Education.
Eri Dinwiddie Raymond, son of Liberty C. and Sarah (Spaulding) Raymond, of Dunstable, was accidentally drowned while bathing in the Merrimack River, at Lowell, on the 27th of June. He was seventeen years, four months, and six days old.
The Rev. Edward P. Kingsbury, of Newton, and a graduate of Andover Theological Seminary, was ordained but not installed over the church on the 28th of November, the Rev. Eben B. Foster, D. D., of Lowell, preaching the sermon.
Dexter Putnam Proctor, son of Jasper Pope and Mary
America. In April, 1847, Mr. Jackson was installed over the church in Lincoln, where he continued as pastor until October, 1858. He commenced his labors in Brentwood, N. H., in the month of June, 1870. His children are Mary Rice, Edward Payson, Julia Sawyer, Charlotte E., Abbie Isabella, George W., and Florence Clough.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
Proctor, died Jan. 16, in consequence of injuries received from a falling tree. He was forty-one years old.
The number of inhabitants in 1870 was four hundred and seventy-one; of legal voters, one hundred and twenty-eight. Among the town officers this year, Henry J. Tolles was chosen town clerk, D. F. Rideaut, constable, and George P. Wright, the pound-keeper. The cost of clearing the roads of snow the preceding winter was $126.46. The sum of $800 was appropriated for schools, and it was voted "to clear the bury- ing-ground at Meeting-House Hill " of bushes.
Mr. Kingsbury continued to supply the pulpit acceptably until March 12, 1871, when declining health compelled him to. retire. He died two weeks afterwards at his home in Newton Centre, beloved and lamented by all who knew him.
The Rev. Charles Rockwell, at a salary of $600 per annum and the use of the parsonage, supplied the pulpit from May 4, 1871, to May 1, 1873.
The town gave in 1871 fifty gubernatorial votes for John Quincy Adams, and forty-four for William B. Washburn, who was elected.
In 1872 Benjamin French, Esq., was chosen moderator of the annual meeting, and Libni Parker was appointed to meas- ure wood and bark, of which articles a considerable amount was yearly furnished for market. The sum of $800 was applied to the support of the five public schools, and of $500 for repairing the highways and bridges.
The valuation of the town this year was $326, 185.22.
In January of 1873 Samuel S. Taylor and Jacob Parkhurst were chosen deacons, and the Rev. Franklin D. Austin, born in Becket, and educated at Union College and Auburn Theo- logical Seminary, was employed as a stated supply, July I, at the same salary that was paid to Mr. Rockwell. The number of members belonging to the church at the commencement of the year was sixty-five, of whom forty-five were females.
The town officers for 1873 were Freeman L. Robbins, moderator of the annual meeting ; Henry J. Tolles, town clerk ; Washington E. Blood, Ira B. Hall, and Benjamin French, selectmen, assessors, and overseers of the poor ; Libni Parker,
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INTELLECTUAL IMPROVEMENT.
1873]
town treasurer ; Ira B. Hall, town constable ; Freeman L. Rob- bins, superintending school committee; and L. Herman Parker, collector of taxes. The town voted $2,000 to defray the annual expenses, $900 of which were for the public schools, and $500 for the repairing of highways and bridges.
Lieut. Francis Fletcher, son of Thomas, grandson of Dea. Joseph Fletcher, and a valued citizen, died July 28, at the advanced age of eighty-five years.
Miss Sarah E. Blood, sister of Washington E. Blood, and aged thirty-seven years, was accidentally killed on the fourth day of August by a train of cars on the Worcester and Nashua Railroad. She had gone out to pick berries for the tea-table, and while on the track was unconscious of the approach of the train.
The Nashua, Acton, and Boston Railroad, running by Flat Rock Hill, along the valley of Salmon Brook centrally through the town, and leaving it at Massapoag Pond, was opened for travel in June, 1873. The ceremony of breaking the ground for this road took place at Wall Hill in December, 1871, when speeches were made by the Hon. Levi Wallace, of Pepperell, James T. Burnap, first superintendent of the road, and others, after which the company partook of a collation provided by the ladies of Dunstable. The occasion was enlivened by salutes from a cannon, probably the first one ever heard near Massapoag Pond, and by music from the Dunstable Cornet Band. The depot is about one half of a mile west of Dunsta- ble Centre, ard Mr. Thomas F. Cheney is the depot master. By this road the town is well accommodated ; since its con- struction, property has advanced in value and the activities of the people have been quickened.
Although the people of Dunstable are noted for industry and sobriety, still, as in other New England towns, they now and then break up the monotony of every-day life by recreation and amusement, and I record with pleasure that these are of a character more intellectual and elevated than were those in which the people of the olden times engaged. A course of lyceum lectures is generally well sustained during the winter season, and the people, both old and young, spend
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
much more time than the preceding generation did in reading the magazines and daily journals. In the summer season, several families visit the sea-shore or the mountains for diver- sion ; and in the autumn, the agricultural fair, in place of the old militia muster, with its many demoralizing influences, engages the attention. From it, Dunstable has borne away many a handsome prize. For athletic sports or games of chance, the people have but little inclination ; the farm affords a sufficient amount of exercise for the body, and men who till the soil do not love to risk, in any kind of gambling, the money for which they work so hard. Music and flowers are con- siderably cultivated ; it seems, indeed, to be the constant aim of every parent to make the home attractive, the home circle good, and consequently happy.
The spirit of republican simplicity, to a remarkable extent, prevails, and what is called family pride is, perhaps, less observable here than in any other town in the county. It is said that if a lady of Dunstable has a party, she invites her neighbors in the order in which they live, until her house is
LIBNI PARKER'S HOUSE AND HALL.
full, esteeming one as worthy of her attention as another. The people, in general, own the estates on which they dwell,
201
BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
1873]
and had much rather take than give a mortgage. They seldom run into debt, and prefer a large barn to a gaudily furnished parlor. There is but little foreign element, and but one pauper in town. The public meetings are generally held in a con- venient hall in the possession of Mr. Libni Parker, and built by Mr. Jephtha Cummings. Beneath it are the post-office and the only store in town, both of which are in charge of Mr. L. Herman Parker, who, with his father, Mr. Libni Parker, occupies the house represented on the opposite page.
As 1873 was the two hundredth year from the original settlement or incorporation of the town, it was voted in a legal meeting of the citizens, held in March, to appropriate $500 for a bi-centennial celebration, to be observed on Wednesday, the seventeenth day of September following. Josiah C. Proctor, Esq., Dexter Butterfield, James M. Swallow, Jonas Spaulding, and John A. Parkhurst were chosen a committee to make ar- rangements. To this committee were added William N. Kemp, Washington E. Blood, Ira B. Hall, Benjamin French, Esq., and George W. Fletcher. This committee received a present,
HOMESTEAD OF BENJAMIN FRENCH, ESQ.
unsolicited, of $50 from Dexter Roby, of Boston, $50 from A. N. Swallow, of Charlestown, and $20 from Hiram Kemp,
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1873
of Boston, all sons of Dunstable, to aid in defraying the expenses of the celebration. Benjamin French, Esq., was appointed chairman of the Committee of Arrangements.
Printed letters of invitation, as given below, were sent out to those specially interested in the welfare of the town :-
BI-CENTENARY OF DUNSTABLE.
1673-1873. DUNSTABLE, MASS., Aug. 28, 1873.
REV. ELIAS NASON :
Dear Sir, - On the seventeenth of September next this town will cele- brate the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the town. We most cordially invite you to be present on the occasion.
Yours respectfully, BENJAMIN FRENCH, Chairman of Committee.
As the time for the anniversary * approached, the town became thoroughly alive in making preparations for the reception of its sons and daughters from abroad, and for the festivities of the occasion. Josiah C. Proctor, Esq., was appointed president of the day, together with Isaac O. Taylor and Jonas C. Kendall, as vice-presidents ; Benjamin French, chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, Dexter Butter-
* The following is a copy of the printed programme for the occasion : -
BI-CENTENNIAL OF DUNSTABLE. Wednesday, Sept. 17th, '73. 1673-1873.
PROGRAMME.
The Procession will form at the Depot at ten o'clock A. M., and march to the Common.
Exercises on the Common.
I. Reading of Scripture and Prayer, by Rev. Mr. AUSTIN.
2. Music by the Band.
3. Song of Welcome.
4. Oration, by GEO. B. LORING.
5. Singing by the CLARK FAMILY (New Ipswich).
6. Original Song, composed by Mrs. MARIA A. WHITCOMB.
7. Music by the Bands.
Dinner at I o'clock P. M., in the Tent.
8. Voluntary Toasts, Speeches, Poems, Singing, and Music by the Bands.
9. Parting Hymn, composed by Mrs. CHARLES ROCKWELL.
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WELCOME 10 THE GROUNDS.
1873]
field, chief marshal, together with James A. Davis and Andrew J. Woodward, assistants. Dr. George B. Loring was invited to deliver the oration, and Yale's mammoth tent, with C. E. Reed, of Boston, as caterer, was engaged for the occasion. Nothing was omitted on the part of the gentlemen and ladies of Dunstable to make the celebration a success.
The 17th of September opened splendidly, and at ten o'clock a procession was formed at the railroad station, which proceeded to the centre of the town in the following order : -
Dexter Butterfield, marshal of the day, and aids, with the Dunstable Cornet Band ; two four-horse barouches, one con- taining Gov. William B. Washburn, the Hon. George S. Bout- well, the Hon. George B. Loring, with Josiah C. Proctor, Esq., president of the day ; the other barouche containing the Hon. E. Rockwood Hoar, of Concord, Gen. Israel Hunt, of Nashua, together with Messrs. Isaac O. Taylor and Jonas C. Kendall, vice-presidents of the day. Then came in order, Capt. Chris- topher Roby's company of cavalry with seventy sabres, fol- lowed by the Pepperell Engine Company, No. I, thirty-three men, with the Pepperell Cornet Band, and citizens in carriages and on foot.
A beautiful stand for the speakers had been erected on the south side of the broad Common, and a large number of con- venient seats provided. Appropriate mottoes covered the sides of the platform, and above it were seen the cordial words, " WELCOME HOME." The dates 1673-1873, in wreaths of flowers, ornamented the speaker's desk. Flags were flying, in every direction, and salutes from a piece of artillery announced the arrival of the long procession at the scene of the celebration. Never before had old Dunstable Common been so beautifully decorated, or been visited by such a throng of people. It is estimated that as many as 3,000 were present.
The services were opened by the reading of selections from the Scriptures, and a prayer by the Rev. Franklin D. Austin. These were followed by spirited music from the Dunstable Cornet Band, and an original song of welcome, beautifully sung by the Clark family of New Ipswich. Josiah C. Proctor, Esq., then, in a few well-chosen words, extended a cordial wel-
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
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come to the vast assemblage, and read the resolution of the town in respect to the celebration. He then introduced the Hon. George B. Loring, as the orator of the occasion. This gentleman, rising, delivered an historical address in his usual happy and effective manner, commanding for an hour and a half the earnest attention of the audience. At the conclusion of the oration, the Clark family sang effectively " The Star Spangled Banner." This was followed by an original song, composed by Mrs. Maria A. Whitcomb, and by enlivening music from the Dunstable and Pepperell cornet bands.
SONG BY MRS. M. A. WHITCOMB.
SUNG BY THE DUNSTABLE CORNET BAND.
Tune, " YANKEE DOODLE."
This town was all a forest deep, Two hundred years ago, sir ; The vales were low, the hills were steep, And streamlets wandered through, sir.
Chorus : Yankee doodle, this the place, Yankee doodle dandy ; We like the good, old-fashioned days, The people were so handy.
A few brave men, a pilgrim band, Sought this far-off location ; They saw it was a goodly land, And here they fixed their station. Chorus :
From time to time the settlers came, And built as they were able ; At length the town must have a name, And so t'was called DUNSTABLE. Chorus :
No draught from China's sultry land Was seen at morn or e'en, sir ; The " black cow " gave a beverage bland, Few drank black tea or green, sir. Chorus :
1
1873]
POEM BY MRS. ROCKWELL.
205
In homespun were the people dressed, Of woollen, tow, or linen,
Their Sunday suits, which were their best, Were nicely made by women.
Chorus :
The girls could wash and brew and bake, And also were good spinners ; The maids could ply the hoe and rake, While matrons cooked the dinners.
Chorus : Yankee doodle, this the place, Yankee doodle dandy ; We like the good, old-fashioned days, The people were so handy.
After the services were finished at the rostrum, and the people had spent some time in congratulations and in reme- niscences of the olden times, they repaired to the mammoth tent erected on the spacious lawn south of the Common to par- take, as many as could, of the banquet prepared by Mr. Reed. The Rev. Mr. M. Smith, of Tyngsborough, invoked the divine blessing, and about an hour was spent in partaking of the bountiful repast. When this was finished, and the Pepperell Band had performed an inspiring piece of music, the president of the day introduced felicitously Mr. O. C. Moore, as the toast-master of the anniversary. Having made a few remarks, he announced as the first toast : " Old Dunstable ! she divided her estate among ten sons, and to-day she calls them home and bids them welcome." The response was in the form of the following original poem, written by Mrs. Mary Rockwell, and read by Mr. James T. Burnap :-
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