USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > West Bridgewater > Proceedings of the 250th anniversary of Old Bridgewater, Mass. at West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, June 13, 1906 > Part 2
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250TH ANNIVERSARY
Address at Cary Monument. Rev. Seth C. Cary of Dorchester.
It is not only an honor but a privilege to stand here at this monument, erected to John Cary, the first official of this ancient town, and speak a word for his descendants. It is an auspicious day-the 250th anniversary of the incorporation of Old Bridge- water, now grown to three towns and a busy, bustling city.
It was hereabouts that John Cary lived and loved and labored. It was here that he exercised the office of the clerk of the corporation of the Duxbury New Plantation, and also per- formed the duties of constable, which was at that time "second only to that of governor." He was "the only officer in the town whose duty it was to execute the laws, and his power was almost absolute. He could arrest on suspicion, without pre. cept, a power scarcely allowed at the present day to the chief magistrate of a nation." It was here that he planned for home and church and state. It was here he lived and died ; and his descendants have erected a humble monument, to mark in a general way, and perpetuate a memorial of the virtues of a man, an officer and a citizen.
Now, the spirit that led these men to do these things was not bounded by the thought that it was simply a town they were founding, but rather it was to them a missionary work. It was first the family ; then the church ; then the school ; and then the State.
It is an old saying that New England has gained her wealth by building schoolhouses ; and in this presence I humbly beg leave to enlarge that thought a little and say : New England has gained her wealth by building schoolhouses and erecting monuments. But we need a few more. Will you allow me to mention two :
1 .- The old Keith house. This house should either be bought or at least suitably marked. Rev. James Keith of Aberdeen, Scotland, preached here for 56 years. The old house is still here and should become a Mecca to all Pilgrims.
2 .- The centre of this old town should be marked. It was
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the old "wear at Satucket" from which the limits of the town were to be established. They were "seven miles due east ; seven miles due west ; seven miles due north ; seven miles due south." That was old Bridgewater. Mark these by all means. Then give us a map of it, and you will have rendered a good service.
Address in Memory of Minister Keith. Rev. Sidney Keith Bond Perkins of Raynham.
To the children of the Bridgewaters and Brockton :
I hope this will be a happy day for you and one that you will long remember. I am given four minutes to address you in and what shall I say in that time ?
For a purpose I wish to refer to some things that may be you have thought of before. Mr. Daniel Chester French designed and carved from marble a statue to represent America. It consisted of a noble woman. Behind her is standing an Indian ; at her side is an artisan, one skilled in the manage- ment of machinery ; on the other side is an eagle-an American eagle, of course.
Now how well this represents the people of the Bridgewaters. The first settlers of Bridgewater were honest, upright men, so that when they came to settle here they bought the land for their ownership of the Indians at a fair price ; and their descen- dants have had the name of being honest, upright men and well educated. The Bridgewaters among all the towns in the State have had an honorable reputation. They have furnished gover- nors, congressmen and men to fill other high stations, and soldiers at their country's calls. They have manifested inge- nuity in iron works and in the perfection of the shoe. So in other branches of industry. They have been a moral people ; in every section they have maintained the public worship of God.
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Now, children, you wish to be able to take the places of those who are the good citizens of the towns in which you live. The good men and the good women will pass away, and will their places be well filled ? That depends on the course you pursue.
Let me mark it out for you in brief, what is the right course. At home you will be obedient to your parents and kind to each other and truthful. At school you will be indus- trious and try to learn your lessons. Some will give better recitations than others, but let everyone persevere and each will come out right. In your games be fair.
And now as to your habits. Let all intoxicating drinks alone and the deadly cigarette. I knew of a boy, once a fine scholar, who lost his mind and became an idiot through the use of cigarettes.
And now, finally, read the Bible. Its precepts are true, and the lives of the Christ and of the good men recorded are most worthy of study and imitation.
So will you have happy lives and be prepared to take the places of the fathers and mothers in your turn.
Address, Introducing Hon. Robert Orr Harris, President of the Day.
Hon. James Sidney Allen of Brockton, Chairman of Executive Committee.
Fellow citizens, this assembly has gathered to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the incorporation of Ancient Bridgewater as a township in 1656. It was divided afterwards into separate municipalities : North Bridgewater, 1821 ; West Bridgewater, 1822 ; East Bridgewater, 1823, leaving the South to retain the old name. Fifty years ago the people of these towns com- prising the greater part of the territory of the original town-
Robert O. Harris
B W Harris
Ellis Brett
Reu E B. Maglathlin
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ship, assembled where we are today, in the vicinity of the first settlement, in celebration of the second centennial.
It was a large and enthusiastic gathering promoted by volunteer committees of twelve men from each town. The expenses were met by equal town appropriations voted in legal town meetings. A book was published by that committee recording their work and a verbatim report of the proceedings of the celebration, including many local statistics. The commit- tee printed therein an address to those who may celebrate the third centennial.
Inasmuch as when that time arrives in 1956 every person now living who remembers the former celebration will have passed away, and there are many now present who remember or witnessed that occasion, a strong desire has been expressed to observe this year the quarter millennial, to view some of the ancient landmarks and historic spots associated with the homes of the proprietors of this Duxbury plantation of Bridgewater, so that not only the printed page, but the living voice may perpet- uate from one era to another the memories of the past.
Accordingly the Old Bridgewater Historical Society, which was organized in 1895, seeing no movement in this direction, took the initiative and began preparations for the events of this day.
It soon became apparent that a broader basis of action was wise and necessary. Appeals were made to the public, to the towns and city authorities for co-operation and financial aid. The towns voted $100 each and authorized their selectmen to represent them. Many citizens came forward to join in the preparations, also several ladies, officers and members of Daughters of the American Revolution.
The result has been the formation of a large Executive Committee, not less than seventy members, combining the original committee of the Historial Society, the selectmen, the citizens and ladies of Daughters of the American Revolution, many of whom have met often and worked constantly during recent months in making plans and perfecting arrangements for the occasion.
Ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate you upon the bright
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prospects before us on this auspicious morning. And now the high honor devolves on me as chairman of the Executive Com- mittee of Arrangements of introducing as president of the day who will direct the coming exercises, His Honor, Judge Robert Orr Harris of East Bridgewater.
ANNIVERSARY JUNE 1.150 1.1
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Address.
Hon. Robert Orr Harris of East Bridgewater, President of the Day.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Old Bridgewater His- torical Society, Citizens of Old Bridgewater: You and your friends from surrounding towns, Middleboro, Abington, Whit- man, Stoughton, Easton, some parts of which were once iucluded in the territory of Old Bridgewater, are gathered here today, moved by a common sentiment and bound by a common interest. In celebrating our anniversary we are commemorat- ing things that appeal to all New England hearts. The towns of this county are sisters, and have the family traditions. We celebrate because 250 years ago today this entry was made upon the records of the court at Plymouth : "Ordered, that henceforth Duxburrow New Plantation bee allowed to be a townshipe of yt selfe, destinct from Duxburrow, and to be called by the name of Bridgewater, provided that all publick rates bee borne by them with Duxburrow upon equal propor- tions."
We are met to celebrate this anniversary of that day ; to utter words of praise, for and thanks to the forefathers who had that entry made. It is not for me to enter upon a detailed his- torical account of them, their struggles, failures and achieve- ments. That will be for others to do. When the loving sons and daughters met fifty years ago today, it was the first Bridge water birthday party. They had much to talk about, much to take pride in and rejoice over. They gave thanks to the ances- tors for their courage, sturdiness and wisdom, but no person whose praises were sung was present to hear the song.
Today we have with us many who were present on that day and who can, for us, link the present with the past.
Their added fifty years of life have been years filled with marvels. No other fifty years of which known record exists have shown such progress in almost every department of life. In every department of endeavor that has for its object the
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bettering of material and physical conditions, science has demonstrated that everything obeys some law, which is con- stant, immutable, to be always relied upon. The scientific man now seeks only to know the law, that he may thereafter follow it. No miracles are looked for, but only knowledge of that long ago established and ordained, to await the finding of the patient searcher.
I have said that our progress had been great in almost all departments of life, and I said "almost" advisedly. That we have progressed in everything that pertains to material comfort is beyond question. That we have advanced in knowledge cannot be doubted for a moment. As our comfort and our knowledge have increased our opportunities for advancement in mental and moral power have increased also. Meeting as we do, to give honor and praise, both to the founders, who have passed to their reward, and those of the later generations, still with us, but whose sun is sinking into the west, is it not well to ask, "What do we really honor in them, and if the forefathers were here today what would they find praiseworthy in us ?" What was honorable in the father in the sight of men, must be honor- able in the son, and if the son will follow that which causes him to honor his father, he may be sure of honor in his turn. Why, then, do we celebrate this day ? Why do we invoke the Divine blessing upon this assembly ? Certainly not because fifty-four men decided to live in this particular spot of earth. Certainly not because we, their successors, have become to be quite com- fortable here. It cannot be that we are met to congratulate each other on our own achievements. Ah, no! The reason is deeper, broader and more permanent, and has really little to do with merely material things.
The character of the men, the ideas and principles that they stood for and maintained are what we honor. The ques- tion that we must ask ourselves is whether we can come to the ancestral home and say that that portion of our heritage is intact and bright.
These forefathers of ours were sturdy citizens of an older country, in which for a thousand years men had wrought and struggled to establish a civilized government, a system of laws,
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OLD BRIDGEWATER 1429541
and a rational religion. All the nations of the earth had con- tributed men and ideas to the making of the English people. A satisfactory and generally just system of laws for governing the ordinary daily affairs of the people had been worked out. I say worked out, because I mean that it was the result of trial and contest and of experiment to find the law which should be adopted and obeyed. Hard fighters had the English people been, not afraid of contest, if there was no other way to estab- lish the right. Religious intolerance drove them here, but when they came they brought a knowledge of government with them, and deep religious convictions, strengthened by years of adversity and trial. Stern and hard we sometimes call them. Harsh and narrow we call their religious views. Although such statements open a subject for debate, at this time we may agree that both are true. The important thing is, not what their views or faith were, but that they honestly had them, and lived to and by them. Their system of laws we have adopted and continued, and their basic ideas of government are ours. They adapted them here to new conditions, and we do the same from time to time. Their civic character showed itself in their civic laws, and we find in them the spirit of justice. The supreme test of religious conviction is the sacrifice one will make for it. Here we can find reason for honor. Strangers, in a strange land, with every material discomfort and disadvantage before them to be overcome, and every inducment to pursue physical good only, they had the wisdom to see that education and religion must be their foundation stones. The church and the schoolhouse were almost their first care. The very first, after the protection of their lives. Great sacrifices were made to build and maintain both. In the building and maintenance was their character and strong religious faith also built and maintained, almost as much as in their subsequent use. As greed and avarice grow with the pursuit of wealth for wealth's sake, so do the intellectual and moral virtues grow by constant cultivation.
1
The vital element was the high aim and purpose and the steady courage with which they sought to live up to their standard. Their church and their school were often heavy
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financial burdens, but they carried them with pride. They made no appeals to others to give them these things. They were their own, the product of their thought, their faith and toil.
To my mind, the New England school and church, so established and fostered, small and insignificant in size and architecture as they were, compared with the great temples of old religions, whose ruins are still to be seen and wondered at, were still greater monuments to a people's worth than those labored structures. They had found the law ; they strove to obey it.
This, then, is our heritage, and it is this that we honor. To you, still with us, who received the traditions, institutions and character of the fathers and have preserved them for us, we also give the meed of thanks.
To those who, though not of our immediate family lives, joined with our fathers and forefathers, wholeheartedly and sincerely, in their work, is also due their share of the thanks and honor.
What are we to take away from this meeting ? Are we to go away like the prodigal heir, who, having come into his fortune, pays perfunctory respect to his deceased ancestor and turns away to his pleasures and enjoyment of his wealth ? Shall we not rather recognize our privileges and duties and return to our daily occupations with a renewed determination to hold that which we have which is good, and in our day and time to advance and improve ?
Difficulties and dangers lie ahead of and around us. Today we are riding on the crest of a wave of material and financial prosperity almost appalling by its size and swift flight. Indus- tries of all kinds have developed to proportions so vast that the ordinary mind cannot grasp them. Fortunes such as the world has never seen have been and are accumulating. Private expenditures of more than princely prodigality are seen on every side. Men speak of millions where our forefathers spoke of pounds and shillings.
All this is well. I have no hatred for or envy of wealth. All generations have sought it; future generations all will.
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The manner and purpose of the search makes all the difference. Here, it seems to me, we may well stop and ponder over the question whether we are much, if any, in advance of our fore- bears; whether with all our wonderful, glorious advances in all other departments we have at all improved upon the standards of moral excellence and civic virtue. They brought here knowledge of a system of organized government, and skillfully adapted that system to meet the new conditions. They retained all that was best in the laws regulating all the ordinary affairs of men, rejecting everything that looked towards sovereignty, hereditary and class privilege, and substituting therefor government by the people, and choice of rulers. Through all the changes of and additions to the laws made by them runs the idea of the common weal. They had a new country to work in. So have we. They were a people who had to abandon their old homes and start anew in order to have opportunity to develop a country in which justice to all should be the rule, and which should have as its foundation morality and education. The country that they and their kinsmen in other places established has grown to a proud position among the nations of the earth and is extending its power for good or evil. Controlling, not only within but. outside our borders ; compelled, if not seeking, to extend our system of government ; holding it up to the world as a system to admire and to follow, we of this day and generation are in a new and strange country. We, too, have an organized government which has to meet and sustain the shock and strain of adaptation to new circumstances and conditions. We approve of and have followed the ideas of the fathers in the management of our own affairs.
In these times we are a bit dazzled and dizzy by the elec- tric lights and the chinking of the gold of a never-sleeping, hustling, driving and noisy prosperity. From a cautiously pro- gressive and prudent people we have changed to one a bit given to over-confidence, a little blatant, and tremendously active in all material lines. Peoples, like individuals, under such condi- tions, are apt to overlook those things which are of the heart and conscience. With great wealth is apt to come the secret entrance of privilege and selfishness and the exit of due regard
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for others. In our new world shall we say, "We will make all new," or shall we say, "As we give honor to the fathers for their virtues which we recognize as enduring qualities, so in our day and time will we follow the old law of justice, of mercy, of kindness and of courage in adversity ?"
That the latter will be our final choice I have no doubt. Traits of manliness, honesty and self-control, bred into a people by centuries of trial, are not lost speedily. The loss can only come by the process of decay, as the qualities only came by growth. Growth can be fostered, decay can be prevented, but righteous effort is required in either case.
In closing let me say a word to those who have come to us in later years. You know what we are honoring today. We are not claiming that our ancestors had all the virtue in the world, nor that we, their descendants, have received it from them. We only claim that they had honorable qualities, demon- strated and proved in midst of difficulties. We claim that those same qualities in any men, in any time, will leave enduring impress. The new comer of today is presently the old resident, and soon the ancestor. Future generations judge him at his real worth. It can do no man harm to think as to what he would like his descendants to think of him. Inscribe your names today upon the rolls now open, of those to whom the future is to give thanks and for whom anniversaries will be held. Consider that we are not bringing flattery to wealth and power, but giving honor to good men, who knew the right and, know- ing, dared maintain. The workman's coat has no terrors for us. We ask you not to come with parchments of nobility. We only ask consciences, sound sense, honest hearts and willing hands. With these you shall write your own patents of nobility, to be faithfully registered and preserved. The fathers found the laws. They lived by them, but under difficulties. We, in our day and time, know the laws, and our opportunities are greater. If, later, it can be said of us that we not only made life easier and more comfortable, but also extended the light and blessings of liberty to others, now struggling, we shall have honor, and the fathers still more. Should we fail in this and yield to the beguilement of wealth and avarice, losing sight of the old ideas,
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great will be our shame.
In different form, but with equal force, the temptation of the fathers is before us, to pursue only immediate, material good.
The need for the exercise of the old virtues is as great now as it was then. Dangers threaten, but they call not for armies or navies for their overcoming. Study good citizenship, which dares to stand and fight for the right, and will keep us where no foe without can harm us or make us afraid. Honesty, courage and fair-dealing. These make the law. We have not improved upon them. We may extend their application. As under them we have prospered in the past, is it not a sign unto us that under them we shall continue to, and without them shall utterly fail ?
HOME OF MAJ. I.D.BORRELL Bont 1613
1886
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Address.
Hon. Nathan Whitman Littlefield, Providence, Rhode Island, Orator of the Day.
In these fair fields, hard by the places where the first inhab- itants of Bridgewater reared their humble dwellings and house of worship, we have met to celebrate the quarter-millennial anniversary of the incorporation of the town. It is an occasion of unmingled joy and of gratitude to the God of our fathers
From out whose hand The centuries fall like grains of sand,
that the founding of this town was committed to brave, saga- cious, enterprising, liberty-loving, law-abiding and God-fearing men and women ; that the foundations of the municipal fabric which they laid in faith and hope, and cemented with their tears and blood, have endured firm and unshaken even unto the twelfth generation of their children ; that the superstructure of civil and religious institutions commenced by them has been raised and expanded into a vast fabric more fair and imposing than, perhaps, even they with their prophetic vision foresaw ; that civil and religious liberty and the right of local self-govern. ment which they established here still remain unimpaired, the richest possession of those who now occupy the land ; that neither the ferocity of Indian foes, nor French and Spanish ambitions, nor the unnatural malice of the rulers of the mother country prevailed against the steadfast courage and patriotism of those early settlers and their descendants in this and other New England towns ; that the sparsely settled town prospered and flourished and has become four populous and prosperous municipalities, and strangers from foreign lands attracted by the bright shining of the torch of liberty first lighted in this land, have flocked to these shores and to this region, that the fierce religious animosities which prevailed throughout Christendom in those early days have been supplanted by mutual respect and charity.
Hon. Nathan W. Littlefield, Orator of the_Day.
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Two questions naturally rise in the mind on such an occa- sion : Who were the founders of the town, and what led them to this place ?
The establishment of English colonies on the shores of the new world marked an epoch in the history of civilization. The exodus of the pilgrims from England to Holland and from Holland to Plymouth in America, was not sporadic nor fortui- tous. It was a link, and a most important one, in a chain of events reaching far back into the past and marking the progress of humanity in its strivings for intellectual, religious and political freedom.
It is impossible to understand the full significance of the movement which began in England and terminated on these shores, without a survey of the causes which produced and impelled it.
It is doubtful if men who were engaged in the movement comprehended all that it meant to them and to mankind, though they themselves were actuated by no sordid motives but by ambitions as pure and holy as ever stirred in the human breast, and by hopes and purposes far greater than the immediate and tangible result of their enterprise. They dreamed of a state wherein should dwell personal righteousness, as well as personal freedom, of a church purified and freed from the vain supersti- tions and errors which had gathered about the churches of the old world. But we, standing on the heights to which they aspired, and catching
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