USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Westhampton > Memorial of the reunion of the natives of Westhampton, Mass., September 5, 1866 > Part 6
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" WELCOME HOME."
Ezra Munson Kingsley, Esq., of New York, presided at the tables with his accustomed urbanity and grace, and by his ap- propriate introduction of the speakers imparted great additional interest to the occasion. "The feast of reason and the flow of soul " were commenced by the President with the following
ADDRESS.
Ladies and Gentlemen :- Happy indeed must be the individu- al to-day, in whose mind originated the felicitous thought which has culminated in the scenes and festivities of this hour.
From divers pursuits and from widely scattered homes, re- sponsive to her call, we have come to pay our glad tribute of af- fection to " the mother of us all."
We are assembled on this bright morning of the young Au- tumn, beneath these our native skies, to hallow the memories of loved ones whose faces we shall see on earth no more ; to revive and perpetuate the acquaintances and friendships of our carly years, and at these ancestral fountains to fill again our cup of social joy.
It is fitting, on such an occasion, that we devoutly recognize the Divine Being, whose kind hand has sustained and brought us hitherto, and humbly invoke His blessing.
He then requested the Rev. George Lyman of Sutton, to lead in this act of devotion.
The collation was sumptuous ; and after the long session in the church, the President suggested that certain " internal im-
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provements " had become a matter of urgent necessity, and to them he desired the guests to give their immediate and undi- vided attention.
After the banquet was over, the President proceeded, with due deliberation as to the consequences, to " uncork the natives."
Rev. Tertius S. Clarke, D. D., of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was first called up.
He had a story to tell. When he was a boy in Westhampton, he, like all the other lads, was profoundly impressed by the great head of Squire Judd. The Squire was the maker and ex- pounder of the common law in the town, and many looked up to him with the greatest veneration and awe. An incident oc- curred in the old meeting house. Tythingmen had been ap- pointed to keep the boys in order in the galleries. On one oc- casion, his strong propensity to laugh came very near plunging him into the deepest disgrace and ruin. One of the tythingmen sported a large bandanna handkerchief, which he used to pull from his pocket on blowing his nose, which he did very frequent- ly, and with a loud noise. One of the boys, observing this fre- quent use of the immense " wiper," and wishing to have a little sport even in "meeting time," brought a pint of beans, and poured them into the man's pocket, on the top of the handker- chief, one end of which was hanging outside. The explosion soon occurred. The bandanna was suddenly pulled, the beans flew in all directions, and the church was thrown into great com- motion. The boy who put the beans into the pocket maintained the most imperturable gravity, while the boy Tertius burst out into a shout of laughter, being utterly unable to "hold in." The tythingman soon appeared and arrested the laughing lad, as the author of all the mischief. He was taken before Squire Judd, in a state of awful fear and trembling. Most unexpect- edly his life was spared, and he was let off with a reprimand never to do so again. He promised he would not, provided the boys did not bring any more beans.,
He also spoke of the prayers lie used to hear, which were often an hour in length, and though he was tired out and out again, he had the deepest respect for the veteran christians of those by- gone days.
This called the President to his feet. He could no more " hold in" than the youthful Tertius, and he must "tell a story," too. In those good old times, he said, the schools were always opened with prayer, and the masters had to " watch" as well as "pray." On one occasion, while the prayer was being made, an undevout boy was in the act of making some disturbance. The master 4
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stopped his prayer, caught the boy by the collar, brought him into the middle of the room, gave him a good sound flogging. and then resumed his praying where he left off!
Zenas M. Phelps, Esq., of Riverdale, N. Y., was next intro- duced, and said :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :- Public speaking is no part of my profession, and I know not that I can say any thing of interest on this occasion. Much has been well said in the historical address to which we have listened, and in the beautiful and touching poem by Prof. Montague ; and for my- self, I feel much obliged to our learned friends for their produc- tions, which I hope will be printed and handed down for the instruction of posterity.
In tracing back the family to which I belong, through more than seven generations, so far as I have ascertained, no one of them has been convicted of horse-stealing, of treason, or mur- der ; no one has been a tory, a rebel, or a copperhead. I am happy to say that it has been an honest, industrious, peaceable family ; generally intelligent, thoughtful and religious ; truc to its own convictions of truth and duty, and always on the side of liberty and law, both in the church and in the state.
My grandfather, Timothy Phelps, settled in this town in 1775, and shared in its privations, hardships and dangers. At first, he made this place his summer residence, coming out from Northampton early in the spring, and returning late in the fall through fear of the Indians, and various wild beasts. I have of- ten heard my grandmother say that she came from Northamp- ton, with her infant son Timothy and a calf on the same sled, while the cow was tied to a stake behind the sled, drawn by a yoke of oxen.
My grandfather was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and took part in putting down the Shays rebellion. My grand- mother was a very religious woman, and sometimes had charge of us boys on Sundays, and did what she could to keep us quiet and good. She told us scripture stories and taught us Watt's Psalms and Hymns, and the Catechism. She frequently told us of the two she bears that tore forty-two children, in the days of Elisha, and easily made us believe that there were two more, in the woods back of the house, that would tear us, if we played, Sunday. I was for a long time afraid of those two bears, and kept pretty quiet Sundays, I suppose ; but as my mind became more mature, and the woods were cleared up and light let in on the subject, the fear of the bears, and of many other dreadful things, gradually died away.
She had a way in which to encourage us to read the New Testament, which I mention for the benefit of other grandmoth-
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ers who stay at home with their grandchildren. In case we read two chapters well in the New Testament, she would allow us to read one story in her large Bible in the Apocrypha. In . this way, while yet boys, in addition to our knowledge of the New Testament, we learned about Tobit the son of Tobiel ; of Judith of "goodly countenance and very beautiful to behold ;" of Baruch and Susanna ; of Bel and the Dragon, and of the he- roic Maccabees. Although she was very religious and circum- spect in her ways, she never attained to the assurance of faitlı, till a short time before her death. Then she had no more doubts, and was bright and beautiful, and she gently passed away in the full confidence of a glorious immortality.
Jonathan Phelps, the son of my uncle Timothy, was the fa- ther of a son who became a martyr in the cause of liberty. Jonathan Walker Phelps, inspired by a love of liberty, enrolled himself among the patriots of his country, and sacrificed his life in putting down the late most wicked rebellion, and upholding the most beneficent government the sun ever shone upon. He fell in the darkest and most gloomy days of the Republic, pour- ing out his youthful blood for his country, as Webster says of Dr. Warren, before he knew whether it would fertilize a land of freedom or of bondage. Noble, youthful hero ! He fell to o soon for his family-too soon for glory ; but not too soon for his country. She required costly sacrifices, and he gave her lis all. Thy memory shall remain fresh in our hearts, and thy no- 'ble example shall be handed down in the family as a rich leg- acy of patriotism and devotion.
My father settled here on the old homestead, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. During the winter months he often taught school, and always with success. But circumstances overruled his inclinations, and compelled him to engage in pursuits for which he had little aptitude, and less disposition. In religion, he was a moderate Calvinist ; in the state, a Whig. Our mother survived him many years, to instruct us by her counsels, and to enrich us by her life.
Five of their eight children remain, and are here to-day to participate in this grand Reunion-in these sad and joyful mem- ories. Here was our early home. Here our thoughts delight to linger, and around this spot cluster many dear and sacred asso- ciations and memories. We love to come here, and go over the scenes of other days. We are not ashamed of our old native town, and we mean so to live that she shall not be ashamed of us. She has a noble record, and may safely challenge compari- son with any other town of her size, in industry, intelligence, patriotism and religion. She has always been true to the great cause of civil and religious liberty, and has steadfastly believed and fully vindicated the doctrine of a " church without a bishop, and a state without a king.".
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In the late dreadful conflict of principles and of arms, she was not wanting in duty and devotion to the Republic, and in the great work of Reconstruction, she will not abandon the great principles for which she fought, nor her tried and faithful allies in the South, to follow the counsels of a man who is making Union odious and Rebellion honorable; who promised to be the Moses of the Freedmen, but who is fast becoming the old Pha- roah of Egypt. No, my fellow townsmen. Stand fast by the loyal, Union men of the country. Let not the government be reconstructed in the interests of treason and rebellion, of bar- barism and slavery ; but in the interests of loyalty and consti- tutional liberty ; of universal education and impartial suffrage, and equal rights to all ; on the hard and solid basis of justice, of humanity, and of God. This accomplished, we shall be pre- pared for the mission which Divine Providence is opening upon us, and the Great Republic, disenthralled and regenerated, in- spired and guided by the spirit and principles of Christianity, shall move forward in the path of true glory and the grandest. noblest achievements.
"Westward the star of empire takes its way; The first four acts already past, The fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last."
Otis Clapp, Esq., said some of us would like to hear from the gentleman who first suggested the idea of this Reunion, Rev. George Lyman. Mr. Lyman responded, in substance, as follows :
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen :- As the gentleman who has called me up, has given me the credit of suggesting the idea of this meeting, you will permit me to say a few words by way of explanation. Some time since, in a conversation with my friend who has the honor of presiding on this occasion, held at his store in the city of New York, I suggested to him such a meeting as this. He entered into it at once, with his characteris- tic ardor. But, for reasons which need not be mentioned here, the project failed at that time.
A little more than a year ago, on my way to Saratoga, I fell in with my friend Rev. L. F. Clark, and with Mr. Clapp, whom I had not seen for many years, both of whom had just come from a visit to Westhampton. Conversation turning on the good old town, the idea of a meeting of this kind was again suggested, and became a subject of remark. A day or two af- ter, as we met at Saratoga, Mr. Clapp said to me that he had been thinking a good deal on the subject of our previous conver- sation, and thought the project might be carried into effect. Af- ter his return to Boston, he commenced a correspondence on the subject. And his persistent efforts, under some discourage-
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ments, were at length crowned with success. Though the idea of this Reunion may have been first suggested by me, the credit of carrying it into execution belongs to Mr. Clapp himself, rather than to me. "Honor to whom honor is due." Thus much as to the origin of this Reunion.
This, sir, is a memorable day to us, who are here assembled, and to all the people of this town. We, who have gone out from here, have come up to our Jerusalem, our holy mother, our alma mater, as much so as the college is the alma mater of the student-to our old hearth-stones and altars of worship, and to the graves of our fathers, to exchange greetings with each other, to renew the memories of other days, and to rekindle the fires of filial devotion. We have come, some of us, with our wives and children, as the tribes of Israel went up to their Jerusalem. We would teach our children to love the birthplace of their fa- thers and mothers. We have come with somewhat of that rev- erent and holy love, with which the pious Israelites went up to their Zion, on their great festal days. Though this large assem- bly is made up of many families and parts of families, coming from various places and from different directions, from the north and from the south, from the east and from the west, yet we meet here as one family, children of one mother, around these tables which she has bountifully spread for us. And here, in this family meeting around our mother's table, we may talk freely and familiarly together on matters and things in which we have a common interest. Outsiders, who are not of the fam- ily, may listen, but may not criticise.
Well then, after these preliminary remarks, I begin, as lovers are expected to do, by declaring my love for this my native town, and your native town. I could not respect myself if I did not love the mother that gave me birth, and nourished my infancy and childhood. I love these rugged hills and moun- tains, these woods and granite rocks, and these pure, sparkling streams. And, in saying this, I utter the common sentiment and feeling of all true and worthy sons and daughters of the town.
One of the most distinguished sons of this town, as a literary man, the late Rev. Sylvester Judd, author of " Margaret," and other works of fiction of acknowledged ability, whose home, af- ter his ninth year, was in Northampton, once wrote to a friend as follows :- " I always loved Westhampton. All my youth centres there. Northampton is nothing to me. I seem never to have lived there. In Westhampton I did live. I could die there." This extract is preserved in his published " Life and Character," written by Miss Arethusa Hall. My heart responds, and your hearts, I doubt not, respond to these sentiments.
I have reason to love Westhampton. It is not only my birth-
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place and the birthplace of my wife, but the birthplace of my parents and her parents also. And there, in yonder church- yard, they all lie, with our grand-parents also, on both sides, along with other kindred and friends, and school mates not a few. And there, too, are three little graves, dearer than all others.
"Seven are we; " "Three of us in the church-yard lie," And four are present here.
There is not, in the wide world, a spot so dear to me as this, which holds the precious dust of so many loved ones.
A thousand pleasant as well as sad recollections cluster around this home of our childhood, and endear it to us. They come up before me to-day, crowding full the chambers of memory.
The old school house yonder, now converted into a store, low many memories gather around it; the teachers with their vari- ous modes of discipline and ingenious punishments ; and the . schoolmates and classmates, too, sitting with folded hands, on the straight-backed benches ; and the boyish sports at "play- time " and "noon-time," hide-and-seek around the old meeting house, and in the horse sheds, and the mimic training and sham fights, with dry mullein stalks for guns. The militia trainings, too, with the wrestling matches and ball games on the very spot covered by this Pavilion ; and, last but not least, the Thanksgiv- ing festival, the great feast of the year, with its happy family gatherings at the old homestead, and the social cheer, and the elaborate dinner of roast beef and pork, and turkeys and chick- en pie, and pumpkin pie, and plumb pudding, ending-in the · days before the temperance reform-with the mug of flip, and followed with the family prayer, offered by the venerable patri- arch of the family ; with the turkey shootings, the day before and the day after Thanksgiving, at Norton's tavern ; and the sleigh rides, and evening parties and plays-all these pleasant memories abide with us in all our wanderings, and come back with us to-day, with renewed. freshness, gladdening our hearts, and shedding light and beauty over these rock-bound hills, and these humble dwellings.
"Oft in the stilly night, Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond memory brings the light Of other days around me.
The smiles, the tears of boyhood's years, The words of love then spoken, The eyes that shone, now dimmed and gone, The cheerful hearts now broken."
The fathers, too, of the olden time-we cannot forget them to-day ; those good nien and true, Deacon Edwards, Major Fish-
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er, Capt. Lyman, Capt. Cook, Mr. Wales, and others, who used to meet, some of them with their wives, at my grandfather Judd's, on Sunday noons, and talk of the weather, the births and deaths and marriages, of nothing more secular, and discuss the sermon over their nutcakes and cheese, and their tobacco pipes from the old red basket, which it was my duty to bring forth and set before them. These men were men of God, men of faith and prayer, who loved the house of God, from which rain and snow and wind seldom detained them. I remember, at one of the Sunday noon meetings of which I have spoken, hearing Deacon Edwards say, when speaking of his having been kept from church the Sabbath previous by snow drifts, which it was found impossible to break through, that he had been absent from church but once before for more than twenty years. I used to look upon him and upon others of those good old men, with pro- found veneration and awe. Deacon Edwards was one of the politest men I ever knew. He used to bow very gracefully to everybody whom he met, children as well others. Indeed, in point of manners, those times were better than these. Boys then were taught manners, and were accustomed to take off their hats and bow to their elders when they passed them in the streets ; and on going out of the school house, at the close of the school, we always turned square round and made our bow to the teacher.
It is sometimes said that the Puritan faith of our fathers was a sad faith, and tended to make them unsocial and gloomy. But these men were neither unsocial nor gloomy. They were thoughtful, serious men ; but at the same time were social, cheer- ful, genial. So they appeared to me. I was never repelled from them, but was rather drawn to them, and I used to listen to their cheerful and sometimes witty and humorous conversation. with wonder and delight.
The three leading men in the town, for nearly or quite half a century, were Parson Hale, Dr. Hooker and Squire Judd-the parson, the doctor and the squire-the first a minister, and both the others sons of ministers. To the latter, Sylvester Judd, Esq., my maternal grandfather, it may not be improper for me, on this occasion, designed in part to commemorate the fathers of the town, to pay a passing tribute of respect. I knew him well. After the death of his wife, in 1821, and his removal to the house built by him for his. son, Sylvester Judd, jr., and now occupied by Mr. Anson Chapman, in the centre of the town, my mother, then a widow, came to reside with him.
From that time until his death in 1832, for a period of more than ten years, his house was my home, and he stood to me in the place of a father.
He was the first justice of the peace in the town, and repre-
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sented the town for many years in the General Court, and was a member of the convention that met in 1779, to form a State Constitution. He was a good man, and an honorable man, of sterling integrity, and a firm friend of law and order. The son of a clergyman, Rev. Jonathan Judd, the first minister of Southampton, and trained under the careful and somewhat se- vere discipline practiced in ministers' families in those days, he was a man of deep religious principles, decidedly evangelical in his views of doctrine, and of sincere and exemplary but not demonstrative piety, adhering firmly to his convictions of truth and duty, whatever others might do.
In his manners and general bearing, he was a gentleman of the old school. Tall and portly, of dignified and commanding presence and somewhat stern, he was indeed, as Dr. Clarke has said, a terror to evil doers and roguish boys. And yet he was courteous and kind. To his minister, Parson Hale, of whom he was always a fast friend, he was uniformly respectful and deferen- tial, not forgetting to send him portions of the fattest of his herds and flocks. He was a noble man, and every year increases my ven- eration of his character. In some points of character and hab- its, he might have sat for the charming life-like picture which Dr. Holland has drawn of old Daniel Gray. In his family pray- ers which were long, and always offered in a standing posture, among other "old fashioned words and phrases," and "sacred texts " which have fixed themselves in my memory, were the fa- miliar words, " whom to know aright is life eternal." It may not be creditable to my understanding, but I used to wonder in my boyhood, who that Noah Wright-" know aright"-was. whose name was always introduced into the family prayer, and whose title to eternal life was secured. Venerable man !
"I see him now-his face and form and motions, Rising behind the straight-backed kitchen chair; I can remember how the sentence sounded, 'Help us, O Lord, to pray and not to faint;' And how 'the conquering and to conquer' rounded The loftier aspirations of the saint."
And I may add these words of confident hope in respect to him :
"If ever I shall win the home in heaven, For whose sweet rest I humbly hope and pray, In the great company of the forgiven, I shall be sure to find old Daniel Gray."
The amusing incidents related by Mr. Lyman moved Rev. T. S. Clarke to tell another " little story." When he was a boy, he said, there was only one democrat in Westhampton. He had heard so much of the exceeding wickedness of the democrats, that he regarded them with a feeling of horror. He had a strong
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desire to see one. At length his curosity became so intense, that he besought his father to let him go to the town meeting, that he might behold a real, live democrat, for democrats always attend town meetings, and especially if it rains. He went-he saw-when lo ! and behold, the democrat did not look like Beel- zebub, had neither hoofs, horns nor tail, nor went on all fours, but appeared like a human being !
C. P. Judd, Esq., of Boston, being called up, addressed the assembly in the following terms :
Mr. President :- It has been said that Westhampton is a good place to move away from ; and true it is that many persons have moved out of this town in times past. But I am always pleased to come here. I like to return to these hill tops and farm houses. They have a charm for me which neither time nor distance destroys. And to-day as I look forth upon the beanti- ful scenery spread out before us, and as I recall the events by which this town has been led onwards, I cannot think it will ever be deserted or abandoned. I believe the town has still a history before it, even more wonderful and interesting than its past history. The good seed sown here by our fathers will not be lost ; in the storehouse of the future its fruits will be largely developed.
Westhampton is said by some to be a dry old town, gone to seed, without any new life or enterprise, or go-ahead in it. But this is not so. This town is the leader in, if not the mother of .. some of the great projects which now agitate the public mind. We now hear a great deal about woman's rights, of her right to vote and hold office, and this idea is presented as a great novel- ty. Why, sir, years ago, some of the people of this town voted for my good aunt, Hannah Lyman, for the office of selectman, and they could not have voted for a better man. For if she had been elected, she, with her energy and habits of business, would have made the folks toe the mark, and no mistake. Again, we hear about the bloomer dress as a new notion, as something discovered by the reformers of our day. But. sir, the best bloomer dress ever invented was worn by our good grand- mothers long before the present agitators were born. Our fore- mothers both made and wore the real article, warm, loose, com- fortable, healthy ; and also a dress in which they could jump over a fence or stonewall, withont catching upon or being hung by the bags which fall down. like tag-locks, in the modern dress.
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