USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time : with a concise history of the aborigines of New England, and their wars with the English, &c. > Part 25
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' The annual celebrations of the landing of the fathers on this memorable ground, have been uniformly regarded with com- placency. Statesmen, sages, and scholars, the busy and the contemplative, the aged and the young, all delight to participate in the pious recollections with which you are animated.
'The toils and perils of suffering virtue-the objects and aims, the struggles and the rewards of the pilgrims, furnish a most instructive lesson, and are reviewed with tender emotions. In them the painter finds a subject for the happiest effort of his pencil-poetry offers her garland, and the sons of genius are emulous of your appointment to the principal performance of the day. This is no common holiday. On the present occa- sion, the completion of the second century since the landing of our fathers, the impressions habitually connected with your cel- ebrations assume a deeper interest. Visitors from every direc- tion repair to your respected residence, and many of the fair daughters of the land, regardless of the severity of the season, express a kindred spirit with the wives and daughters of the pilgrims, and unite in your reverential homage. Scenes, which are to you familiar, attract the attention of your guests. They gaze on the wintry wave which dashes on your shore, for there they seem to espy the approaching shallops; and on that shore they trace, in imagination, the footsteps of the unsheltered wanderers. They survey the streams, and drink at the springs which invited the weary exiles here to commence their settle- ment. They ascend the height, where yet are seen the out- lines of the first footsteps of the Pilgrims, and their first place
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of worship. There rest the remains of the departed worthies. No monument to their memory appears in the hallowed ground; but every heart erects a monument, while it dwells with holy musings on the life and death of the righteous, on the sure re- surrection of the just.
' It is a happy privilege to live to witness this day, and to unite with kindred minds in its services. To the Pilgrim So- ciety is committed the dignified trust of perpetuating these filial observances. Under such auspices, we are assured that these annual solemnities will ever preserve their just and appropriate character. Most cordially, gentlemen, do we wish prosperity and honor to your institution.
' The purposes of its establishment are generous and elevat- ed. They touch the heart, and open to the intellectual view the most impressive considerations; for truth, freedom, patriotism, social order, religion, all the lofty aims and characteristics of humanity, are associated with the objects of your society, and with the incidents which we are assembled to commemorate. Your recollections will attest that this is no exaggeration, and what we have this day heard affords abundant confirmation of the rich variety which the ' short and simple annals of the poor' can furnish for the exercise of intellectual energy and discrim- inating observation. We have witnessed the affecting and sub- lime reflection presented to a devout and benevolent mind, from the brief history of our ancestors; and the auspicious conse- quences, springing from the most humble beginnings, are con- soling to every friend of man, and encouraging to the cause of truth and virtue.
' The ' stricken deer that left the herd ' were not destined to perish; the wilderness and the solitary place are glad for them, and the desert blossoms as the rose.'
The Rev. Dr. Kendall, one of the trustees of the Pilgrim Society, by their request, and in their behalf, replied with great feeling and propriety. He spoke of the great respectability and utility of the Historical Society, by the instrumentality of which, so much that was important and interesting in the early history of the country, and particularly of the adventures and principles of the pilgrim fathers, was collected and preserved. In referring to the virtues and sufferings, the faith and piety of our fathers, he paid a just tribute to their precious memories; and expressed a hope, that these celebrations, devoted to the recollection of their services.in the cause of religion and the rights of conscience, would have the happy effect of strengthen- ing our love of pure and unadulterated christianity, and increas- ing our attachment to the correct principles, the moral habits,
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and social virtues, the civil and religious institutions of the puri- tan founders of New England, to whose zeal and firmness and perseverance we owe so much.
The Hon. Mr. Lincoln, one of the vice-presidents, of the American Antiquarian Society, also offered congratulations to the members of the Pilgrim Society, and made the following address:
MR. PRESIDENT,-The American Antiquarian Society, by their attending officers and members, beg to be indulged the pleasure of publicly proffering the most cordial congratulations to the Pilgrim Society, upon their organization, and upon the auspicious circumstances under which they are convened on this highly interesting occasion. The spot endeared by all the associated recollections of the first landing of our forefathers, is best consecrated to their fame, by the joyous commemoration of their valor and virtues, and a grateful recognition of the priva- tions they patiently endured, and of the work they gloriously accomplished. Two centuries have now passed since in the rigor of an inclement season, in the desolation of a wilderness, amidst savages and beasts of prey, the tread of Christians im- pressed these shores with the first footsteps of civilization. The hazard in corporeal existence which they incurred, the struggle for self-preservation which they maintained, their undaunted energy in danger, their unbending integrity in temptation, their pious resignation in suffering, their fear and worship of God, and their regard for and love of each other, are themes, which on every occasion of remembrance, swell with enthusiastic ad- miration the hearts of their descendants. Forever cherished. be these recollections! Forever honored be the names and char- acters of the pilgrims! On every recurring anniversary of their landing may this first scene of their trials and their sufferings, their conflicts and their endurance, be hallowed by the personal homage of those who are worthy to inherit the rich fruits of their triumph. May the Pilgrim Society eminently flourish, and with its success may public gratitude be excited towards all those enlightened, munificent and patriotic men whose merits and exertions the occasion has hitherto been had in honor, and who are now associated to make the record of that occasion permanent.'
By the request of the president, Mr. Secretary Bradford, a trustee of the Pilgrim Society addressed the officers and mem- bers of the Antiquarian Society, who were present, as a dele- gation specially appointed, and observed that the honorable notice taken of the Pilgrim Society, and the approbation ex- pressed as to its views and objects, were highly gratifying to the
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members of the association; that the generous congratulations, tendered on the occasion, were cordially reciprocated; that the best wishes of the friends of our forefathers attended the Amer- ican Antiquarian Society for success in their honorable purpos- es and expressed a hope that the result of their several asso- ciations would be a more extensive and efficient sentiment in favor of the civil and religious institutions of our beloved country.
Mr. B's reply was made without opportunity for preparation. The above-mentioned societies had been invited by the Pilgrim Society to attend the celebration.
A splendid ball in the evening closed the festivities of this memorable day. The company was numerous beyond any ever recollected to have been convened in that place.
The hall was decorated with great taste, and the costume of the ladies was at once beautiful and uniform, as if there had been an understanding to avoid mere show and expense, and to study appropriate simplicity united with real elegance; and it was indeed a pleasant scene, where we might look around on a company of six hundred of different ages, among whom inno- cent mirth, and social feelings were so eminently prevalent. And it is highly satisfactory to reflect that the amusements, such as these, where excess is avoided and the more sober spirit sheds an influence to restrain all improper levity, are not incom- patible with a love of genuine virtue and respect for the stern characters of our pious and venerated ancestors.
The inhabitants of this most ancient town in New England were highly gratified by the collection of respectable citizens from all parts of the state; and those who made this pleasant pilgrimage to the rock of our fathers were equally gratified by the attention, civility and hospitality shown them by the families residing on this consecrated spot. The object of the Pilgrim Society was highly approved, and many new members were added on the 22d inst.
Mr. Webster's Oration soon passed through three editions, and the generous spirited author would not appropriate any part of the profits of the copy right to himself, but presented it as a donation to the Pilgrim Society, by which one hundred dollars were added to its funds.
1821 .- January 10. Expired in this town, the Hon. Joshua Thomas. He was born in 1751, and was descended from one of the most respectable families in the colony, his ancestor be- ing William Thomas, of Marshfield, who was a particular friend of governor Winslow, and settled near him.
Judge Thomas was the son of Dr. William Thomas, an em-
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inent physician in this town, who lived to an advanced age. The following sketch of our distinguished townsman is taken from the Collections of the Historical Society, vol. x. 2d series.
'Mr. Thomas received his education at Harvard University, and was considered one of the first scholars in the large class of which he was a member. He was particularly distinguished for a flowing and elegant style of writing, and in subsequent periods of his life he gave repeated evidence of this happy talent. He was graduated in July, 1772. After passing a few months in teaching youth, (an employment in which, formerly, some of the best scholars in the state engaged for a short period, on leaving the university,) he gave his attention to theological studies, with a view to the clerical profession. But he was never employed in its public services. The political contro- versy with Great Britain, which was now becoming highly in- teresting and approaching to a crisis, seems to have engaged his chief attention, as it did that of other patriots of that event- ful period. He was adjutant of a regiment of newly organized militia, raised in Plymouth county in the autumn of 1774; and, at their request he delivered a public address on the political state of the country, which was received with great approba- tion and applause.
' In April, 1775, soon after the battle of Lexington, Col. John Thomas, of Kingston, who had been an officer in 1758, raised a regiment, and marched, with others, to Roxbury. Here he acted for some months, as commander of the several regiments encamped at that place, with the rank of General, while Gen. Ward was commander in chief of the Massachusetts troops, until the arrival of General Washington, in July following, who had received a commission to command the American forces of all the colonies. Mr. Thomas was aid to General Thomas at this period, and for this campaign; and his intelligence and ac- tivity rendered him highly useful to the General, and the divi- sion under his command.
' In the same capacity he accompanied General Thomas, in the spring of 1776, to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, who was entrusted with the chief command of the American troops in that quarter. After a few months service on that expedition, General Thomas died, and the command devolved on General Schuyler, of New York. Major Thomas then left the army and returned to his native town where he en- gaged in the study of the law, and was occasionally employed by government in various agencies for the public service; but did not again go into the field.
' In the year 1781, he was elected a representative from Ply-
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mouth, and after serving the town in this capacity for several years, he was chosen one of the senators for that county, and, in 1792, was appointed judge of probate on the decease of the Hon. Joseph Cushing. This office he sustained until his death, a period of twenty-nine years; and its various duties were dis- charged with a correctness and integrity, with an impartiality and patience never exceeded, perhaps by any one, and which secured to him the esteem and respect of the whole county. There was much amenity in his manners, and such a spirit of accommodation in the discharge of his official duties, as well as in the private circle, that all who associated with him, either for public business or social converse, were pleased and delighted. His memory was uncommonly retentive, and he was full of an- ecdotes calculated to illustrate the opinions and manners of men of former days, particularly of the patriots and statesmen of 1775. He was fond of perusing the works of ethical and the- ological writers. His reading was very extensive on these subjects. He was well acquainted with the various systems of theology in the christian world; but gave his decided prefer- ence to that, which is now denominated unitarian and liberal. He went to the fountain of inspiration for his religious senti- ments; he admitted no other authority as decisive but the bible; and this, he believed, every one was bound to examine and in- terpret for himself; yet he approved, generally, of the writings of Price, and Watson, of Mayhew, Chauncy, and others of their catholic views. In his political character he ranked among the ardent friends of rational freedom, and was a true disciple of the Washington school. Though an enemy to ar- bitrary rulers, who forgot right and attempted to exercise ille- gal and unconstitutional power, he was a firm supporter of all legitimate authority, and a ready advocate of law and order. In the various critical periods of the commonwealth, during his active life, he united his efforts, with other good men, in vindi- cating correct constitutional principles, in opposition to popular excitements and party feelings.
' His qualities, as a parent, neighbor and friend, were pe- culiarly happy and commendable. He was indulgent, mild, generous, disinterested. As a lawyer, also, he shared largely in the esteem and confidence of the people. He was too hon- orable to impose on the ignorant, or to exact even the usual fees for professional business of the poorer classes. He was many years president of the bar in Plymouth county; and the following vote, passed, unanimously, at the first court holden in that county, after his decease, fully shows the high» estima- tion, which his brethren of the profession had of his talents
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and character. " The bar, taking into consideration the af- flicting dispensation of Providence, in removing by death, their highly respectable president, the Hon. Joshua Thomas, distinguished by his literary and legal acquirements, his moral and social virtues, and with a deep sense of the loss which the community in general have sustained by this melancholy event, do resolve, that they will, in token of their respect for his memory, wear crape from this time to the end of the next term of the supreme judicial court for this county."
' The honorable notice taken of our friend by Judge Putnam, at a session of the supreme judicial court in Plymouth, in May, 1821, at the first term thereof in the new court house, is worthy of preservation. " Alas! that our joy, on this interest- ing occasion, should be mixed with grief for the loss of that excellent and venerable man, who presided in your courts, and was so long the widow's friend, and father of the fatherless. This temple of justice is but one of the durable proofs of his influence, and of the never-failing confidence, which your peo- ple had in his integrity and judgment. His respected name will descend with distinguished honor to posterity ; but the benignity of his countenance and manners can be properly es- timated only by those, who had the happiness to know him. If he were here to-day, he would rejoice with you, because he would have believed that this well-timed liberality will be pro- ductive of lasting honor and benefit to the country, as well as to the state. He was fully impressed with that veneration for the laws and for the magistracy, which will ever be associated with these walls."
' When a Bible Society was formed in the counties of Ply- mouth and Norfolk, in 1814, he was chosen president, and so continued to the time of his death. He was also president of the Pilgrim Society, and his death is deeply lamented by all its members. The regrets of the Historical Society are mingled with those of others, with whom he was associated for useful and patriotic purposes; and they improve the earliest opportu- nity to record this sketch of his character and services from a respectful regard for his memory, and as an incitement to others to honorable exertion for the good of the public and of posterity.'
Judge Thomas married Isabella Stevenson; and their de- scendants were John Boies, William, and Joshua Barker.
The town purchased of the court of sessions of the county, the old court house, for the sum of $2,000, to be appropriated as a Town House.
April .- The town voted that the court of sessions of the 2.1
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county may make any walks or improvement on the town's land in front of the new court house, or in any way ornament the same with trees or posts, &c., leaving a sufficient road open on each side; but no building whatever to be erected on the land.
May 29 .- The town voted to instruct their representative in general court to use every reasonable effort for better regulat- ing and diminishing the sale and use of spirituous liquors, and for preventing pauperism.
Voted, also, that the selectmen be requested to address the selectmen of the several towns in the county, furnishing them with a copy of the above vote, and request their co-operation therewith; either on their own responsibility, or by laying the subject before their several towns respectively.
1822 .- The town voted to petition the legislature to pass a law prohibiting fires in the woods by coal-pits in Plymouth, Sandwich, Carver, Wareham and Kingston.
Mr. Ichabod Shaw died this year, aged eighty-seven. He was descended from John Shaw, of an ancient and respectable family, who was among our first settlers, and located himself in Middleborough. He was an ingenious and industrious ar- tist, possessing a sagacious mind, and was held in regard for his friendly and social qualities. He was strongly attached to the names of the pilgrim fathers, and was himself an exempli- fier of their simple manners and virtues. He married a daugh- ter of deacon John Atwood of this town, and was the parent of five sons and seven daughters.
1823 .- December 22. This day brings us to the 203d year since the landing of the pilgrims in this place. The semi- annual meeting of the Pilgrim Society was held, agreeably to the provision of their constitution. The interesting associations and pleasing recollections of the occasion were awakened and indulged, but the appropriate public performances were dis- pensed with.
1824 .- January 26. At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town, it was voted to petition congress for aid in repairing the beach. The petition expresses grateful acknowledgements for the appropriations heretofore made, for surveying and securing the harbor of Plymouth; after which it proceeds to represent, ' that since the landing of our ancestors in 1620, this beach has been gradually wasting. From the year 1784 to the pre- sent time, repairs have been necessary for its preservation; and since the year 1806, the sum of $40,000 has been expended in repairing it. This sum has been raised by grants from this state, by contributions of individuals, and by taxes assessed on
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your memorialists. The repairs thus made, have hitherto warranted the belief, that with our means, though small, we should be able to preserve it without further aid from the pub- lic; such, however, has been the destruction, by the late vio- lent storms, of the northern extremity of the beach, heretofore considered the most permanent, as well as the most important, and where repairs have not been considered requisite, that your memorialists are satisfied it is wholly beyond their means to make the repairs necessary to preserve it.
'Your memorialists forbear to describe the distress that the destruction of this beach will bring upon the inhabitants of the ports of Plymouth and Kingston, in the loss of their property and employments; nor would they particularly remind you of the hopeless situation in which our numerous class of fisher- men would thereby be placed, who, from their youth, have had no other employment than in the fisheries; but they would most respectfully place the merits of their appeal on the importance of this harbor to the commerce, navigation and revenue of the country.
' There are now, belonging to the ports of Plymouth and Kingston, two ships, fourteen brigs, sixty-five schooners, and fifteen sloops, measuring 8,228 tons, which vessels are em- ployed partly in foreign trade, partly in the coasting trade, and partly in the whale, cod, and mackerel fisheries.
' The amount of duties secured on imports in the district of Plymouth within the last three years, is $65,574 67, four-fifths of which amount were secured on importations at this port. This harbor is often frequented by vessels, when by adverse winds they are driven from their ports of destination north of this district; and, during the inclement seasons of the year, vessels are often saved from shipwreck by entering it. It is also of great national importance in time of war. It is the only harbor, south of Boston, in the Massachusetts Bay, em- bracing a sea coast of more than one hundred and fifty miles, in which vessels can then anchor in safety from the enemy. During the wars in which this country has been engaged, a large amount of property has been saved to individuals, and of revenue to the government, which, without this safe retreat, would have been lost. During the last war, many vessels were thus saved. The duties arising on the cargoes of two vessels amounted to $154,836 21, which, without this harbor, would have inevitably fallen into the hands of the enemy. From March, 1813, to May, 1814, was perhaps the most gloomy pe- riod of the war. The ships of the enemy were almost con- stantly cruising in the Massachusetts Bay. Yet, during this
.
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short and perilous period, the duties secured at this port on the cargoes of vessels, that escaped the ships of the enemy and found safety in this harbor, amounted to the sum of $20,318 32. By the public surveys it also appears, that ships of the line can anchor with safety in this harbor, which may be considered as increasing the interest the public have in its preservation.
' Your memorialists, having thus briefly stated the import- ance of this harbor to themselves and the public, and their ina- bility to make the repairs on the beach which are necessary to its preservation, do pray your honorable body to take the sub- ject into consideration, and to grant them such aid in repairing it, as to your wisdom may appear proper.' Subsequent to this memorial, Congress made grants amounting to $43,566, for the repairs. See under head Beach.
Monumental Edifice. September 1 .- The funds of the Pil- grim Society being thought sufficient to warrant the trustees in commencing the building of a monumental edifice, the cor- ner-stone was this day laid, with appropriate solemnities. This edifice is to be seventy by forty feet, with walls of unwrought, split granite; the height from the top of the foundation to the eave cornice, being about thirty-three feet, forms two stories. The lower room is to be about ten feet in the clear of the ceil- ing; and the upper to the impost moulding about twenty feet, to which being added the curve of the ceiling, is about twenty- three feet. The present contract extends no farther than to enclose the main building. It is intended, as soon as the state of the funds will justify, to form the front by an addition of about twenty feet, with a double tier of steps, having entrance to the upper room, and by descent to the lower. The front will be finished with a Doric portico on four columns, of about twenty feet in height, the base of which will be from three to four feet above the level of the street. The situation presents a full view of the outer harbor.
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