USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > The book of the three hundredth anniversary observance of the foundation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony at Cape Ann in 1623 and the fiftieth year of the incorporation of Gloucester as a city > Part 11
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MY OWN AMERICA WORDS AND MUSIC BY REUBEN BROOKS
To thee, my own America I pledge my heart and hand To thee my life-long loyalty, My own, my native land.
Chorus
America! America!
Beloved home to me,
May God, who led Thy patriot sons Forever keep thee free.
Then true to my inheritance That cost my fathers' blood, Keep me, O God and help me serve, My country's highest good.
THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO WORDS AND MUSIC BY OSBORNE W. LANE
From far across the sea they came those sturdy folk of yore, Through storm and calm their fate unknown
They reached our rocky shore,
How dreary must have been their lot when first they landed here On every side a barren waste no friendly voice to cheer.
They struggled on from day to day, no task too hard to bear, That generations yet to come might in their good works share.
Chorus
Three hundred years ago they landed on our shore In Him they put their trust to guide-to guide them safely o'er. Let us rejoice and sing, give thanks to Him above. Who gave us all a home our city that we love.
Three hundred years is but a day, time still is rolling on; That noble band of pioneers long since has passed and gone. What changes all around we see- behold our city grand. No place more beautiful than here beside old ocean's strand. On this our anniversary, we'll make one grand display, To be remembered years to come when we have passed away.
Both these composers, natives of the cape, were prominently identified with the 250th anniversary of incorporation exercises, Mr. Brooks being the designer of the beautiful arch which was erected in Old Town House Square, and Mr. Lane the composer of
MISS DOROTHY BURNHAM Chairman Committee Marking Histor- ical Places MISS ABBY F. RUST Chairman Committee on Historical Es- says, Public Schools-Odist at Literary Exercises
MRS. ISAIAH W. EMERSON Chairman Scout Activities
MRS. GUY S. SWETT Chairman Committee on Children's
Fete
MRS. NELLIE M. PARSONS Chairman Historical Tableaux Com- mittee MRS JOHN P. MELANSON Chairman on Decorative Autos Com- mittee
-
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the music of "The Granite Shores of Old Cape Ann," written by the late Henry C. L. Haskell and sung on that occasion.
THE CARILLON CONCERT AT THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE GOOD VOYAGE
The community singing concluded, a carillon concert was given at the church of "Our Lady of the Good Voyage" the house of worship of the Portuguese people, by George B. Stevens, carilloneur.
This, too, was a notable and novel event and was anticipated with pleasure by thousands. The carillon of twenty-five bells set up in 1922, since increased to thirty-one, was the first of the kind installed in this country. They were cast in Loughboro, England, and were secured mainly through the efforts of the late Father Francisco Vieria De Bem, then pastor of the church and Colonel A. Piatt Andrew, who is greatly interested in this form of church music.
Naturally their installation, given publicity by the press, at- tracted country-wide attention. Many who came did so with the express purpose of hearing the carillon and frequent programs rendered thereon were a source of great pleasure, it being the first opportunity afforded in the New World to listen to that ap- pealing and mystical harmony made familiar in literature in the "Belfry of Bruges" and other poems. The program :
Hymn to the Holy Name, "Lead, Kindly Light" (In Memoriam)
Cardinal O'Connell Dykes
Hymn to the Holy Cross
Litany for all Souls
Cardinal O'Connell Schubert
Hymn to the Cross and Flag
Cardinal O'Connell
Portuguese Hymn, "Adeste Fideles"
Sicilian Hymn, "O Sanctissima" Ave Maria Arcadelt
Ave Mavis Stella
Blumenthal
The Virgin's Slumber Song
Max Reger
Chimes of Gloucester, (England) Cathedral
"My Heart ever Faithful" from "Pentecost" Cantata Bach
"Glory to God in the Highest" Pergolesi
Prayer of Thanksgiving Kremser-Noble
Vesper Hymn, "Now on Sea and Land Descending"
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THE REUNION OF RETURNED SONS AND DAUGHTERS
Among the events of the 250th anniversary none evoked more pleasing memories than the reunion of returned sons and daughters. At that time a movement had been inaugurated for an "Old Home Week" in New England, the principal fea- ture of which comprehended the return of natives who had gone forth from the ancestral rooftree carving out new homes for them- selves in the length and breadth of this broad land.
So an occasion of such outstanding note as the Tercentenary became the call for a pilgrimage to the old home, for a reunion of bloodkin, a renewal of old acquaintances and a strengthen- ing, at the fountain head, of those ideals and principles which have made this nation great.
The chairmanship of this important committee was assigned to William E. Kerr and, during the Fall and Winter of 1922-23, more than 3,000 invitations were sent to the sons and daughters of the Cape scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific and beyond.
The responses were numerous and heartily sympathetic and many, unable to attend, expressed deep regret at their inability to be present.
This pleasing feature was held in the large tent in the Park in the evening. The enclosure was packed to its capacity.
Many were the impromptu reunions, and pleased recognitions of former friends and acquaintances the passage of time failing to obliterate the well remembered voices and lineaments. The following was the program of the evening :
1. Selection by Waino Band
2. Community Singing
3. Assembly called to order by William E. Kerr, Chairman
4. Invocation, Rev. A. A. Madsen
5. Community Singing
6. Prayer, Rev. John Brainerd Wilson
7. Instrumental Duet, Jacobson Brothers
8. Address, Mayor William J. MacInnis
9. Solo, "Three Hundred Years Ago" E. Alan Brown assisted by Community Chorus
10. Roll Call by states and brief responses from Gloucester's visiting Children
11. Community Singing
12. Benediction, Rev. Myles D. Kiley, P. R. Music, Waino Band, John A. Jacobson, Leader Conductor, Community Singing, E. Alan Brown
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Active in welcoming the arriving throngs were a number of ladies who wore as an insignia blue ribbons inscribed, "300th, Welcome," in red print, who distributed registration and "Howdy" cards under the direction of Mr. Kerr and Lawrence J. Hart, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. The group includ- ed Misses Ethel Corcoran, Hortense Harris, Anna Harris, Betty Ward, Amy Potter, Abbie F. Rust, Maud B. Wetherell, Martha Low, Susanne S. Center, Georgia Friend, Madeline Silva, Mary Nelson, Lucretia Collins, Helen Collins, Eleanor Friend, Mildred Goslin, Margaret Goslin, Saima Walkama, Annie Steinberg, Irene Rice, Alice Neilsen, Lelia Hammond, May Hammond, Katherine Hammond, Martha Burnham and Girl Scouts Virginia Pettingill and Dorothy Bloomberg. Master Leonard Burnham assisted in distributing literature. Edward K. Burnham directed the seating arrangements.
Chairman Kerr made the following welcoming address :
"Friends, visiting sons and daughters of old Cape Ann, local sons and daughters of old Cape Ann, and guests, we have assembled here this evening in order to give you a hearty sincere and cordial wel- come. And to also furnish to you as visiting sons and daughters of dear old Gloucester an opportunity to bask in the sunshine of each other's countenances to join in song, to receive the warm handclasp and to extend friendly greetings with new and old-time friends.
It is always a joyous occasion when a scattered family is reunited without distinction, except what age establishes, the aristocracy of gray hairs, which all of us in due time inherit and which none of us are eager to anticipate. We are met here in a common bond of brotherhood and sisterhood and although, perhaps we may differ as to creed or politics or whether we be garbed in coarse sackcloth or arrayed in gorgeous splendor there is a quickening of the pulse and strumming of the heart strings when we unite in joyous song and have the privilege and pleasure of meeting each other once again. You have come back representing many of the various states of this great union. And on behalf of this committee I wish to express to you the keen pleasure that has been afforded us not only in the re- ceipt of the post cards you have returned with their fine expressions thereon but also by your presence here this evening.
We hope that your sojourn in dear old Gloucester will be as pleasant and as enjoyable to you as it is to us and that you, as we, may ever treasure and hold in sacred remembrance the joys and pleasures and the memories of this occasion which is a part of the exercises in commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of the settle- ment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the 50th birthday of the incorporation of the City of Gloucester. There have been passed among you cards which we would ask you to kindly sign. Those cards will be taken up by the young ladies and will be filed so that any of
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you who desire to find out where others are located here in Glouces- ter during their stay they may do so in the tent on Western Avenue. Will you kindly all sign the cards and have them ready for the young ladies when they pass through. At the close of the exercises we de- sire to have you all really visit and get acquainted and for that reason we have also given you the "Howdy" card which we would ask you to also sign and pin to your apparel because some of you may not have the names which people were accustomed to know you by. Some of you may possibly have changed, in so far as the ladies are concerned and perhaps some of them may have passed from your recollection. Will you also kindly sign those cards and see that they are prominently placed. After these exercises don't forget we desire to have a real old-fashioned meeting."
The Invocation was by Rev. A. A. Madsen, Ph. D., was as follows :
"Let us bow in prayer. O Thou eternal God, eternal in the heavens who hast not only made this beauteous shore and the ocean which surrounds us but hast made all places and all men. We give Thee hearty thanks this night for this reunion which has come to the sons and daughters of old Gloucester. We give Thee thanks that our lives have found us in blessed places and that among all the places which Thou hast created for man Thou hast made it possible for us to dwell here, for some to be born and bred upon these rocky shores, to some to pass into other parts of the world's life and service and we thank Thee, O God, this night, that these many sons and daughters of Gloucester friends and guests, as well as those who now enjoy this life here, have been able to gather together on this 300th Anniversary to here give thanks to Thee for all Thy bounty. We pray, O God, that this spirit of fellowship and fraternity which prevails upon this splendid occasion may become the spirit of our great earth and of all peoples and as we tonight remember no differences of creed or race, no differences whatever among the children who have come here to do honor to our city, grant, O Father, that the spirit may continue to prevail. We pray that this occasion may be blest with Thy spirit and that Thy presence in this very fellowship of soul with soul we may realize how deep is the life within us that Thou hast placed there. And the love and justice and kindness that is in every heart is the fundamental thing in life. Be with us in this hour, O God, and bless every son and daughter of Gloucester assembled here that in the spirit we may be united. In the years that are to follow in the promises of this auspicious occasion may be fulfilled in the glorious outcomings of a greater and more splendid future. This we ask in the name of our Master, Christ of Galilee who called to his service the fishermen of old and calls today the fishermen of Glouces- ter."
Then came community singing after which Rev. John Brainerd Wilson, pastor of the Chapel Street Baptist church de- livered a prayer.
HON. CHARLES HOMER BARRETT Chairman Executive Committee
CAPT. JOHN E. PARKER Chairman Public Safety Committee WALTER C. KING, Esq.
Chairman
Sunday Historical
Service
Committee
HAROLD H. PARSONS Secretary Executive Committee
CLIFFORD B. TERRY, Esq. Chairman Committee on Publication of Book of Anniversary
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"Almighty God and loving Heavenly Father we turn ourselves to Thee in reverence and praise. We thank Thee for this day; for the bright sunlight of the morning that greeted our waking eyes and that seemed to tell us that the everlasting light was with us still, Thy blessed presence, a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide us still as thou didst our fathers and Israel of old.
We bless Thee that thou dost call up the generations that are gone, as in a dream, and we witness the panorama, and the lives of the past live again to us their children. As we listen backward through memory and reflection may we hear the voices of those who here before us heard the call of duty and in humble circumstances went forth to try their souls; may we listen reverently and in this our day and generation imitate their virtues and go forth to try our souls.
In thy Providence our fathers built this city long, long years ago and through its busy streets they hurried to and fro and from its wharves they sailed away through gentle breeze and gale and storm that they might furnish food from the sea for the nourishment of man and maintain the loved and devoted wife and little ones in the humble home upon these shores. We bow our heads in sorrowing gratitude as we reflect upon the sacrifice that has been entailed that we might live. We remember before Thee those who were lost at sea and sank into its depths without a grave unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown. We remember too before Thee the bleeding hearts in all these homes of sacrifice who, in the fear and love of God, endeavored, with Thy help and grace to keep the home together and thus to carry on.
We thank Thee that from this place a gentler and truer faith went out into all the land; that Thou art the Father of all and that by all the discipline of this world and of the world to come Thou art able to bring all mankind into harmony and happiness and service and love, till all that makes a man as revealed in Jesus Thy son shall be seen in all Thy children.
We bless Thee that heaven is great enough to contain all Thy children and Thou art great enough to minister to them forever.
We bless Thee that, as we reflect on this occasion by faith, we see that the number in heaven has been augmented by the passing thither of those who were dear to us in these earthly homes, fathers, and mothers, and children, we have committed them to Thee.
And if Thou dost suffer us to remain a while longer on the earth, help us to play the man; temper to us every experience; give us the courage that we need; may we shrink from no dangers and fear no hardships that are necessary to bring in the better world. Help us to see the new Gloucester which Thou art seeking to bring down from God out of heaven and to establish on these shores. If it shall be given us to remain amidst these scenes of rugged beauty, to engage in our toil, may our work be inspired of Thee. May we have strength and insight and sympathy to make our homes enduring, and fore- tastes of the home in heaven. May our business be done not primarily for gain, but for service, that we and our fellow men may have the fellowship of varied talent and skill until the beauty of the sky and
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the ocean and this shore shall be reflected in us to whom has come the heavenly vision.
To those of us who are called to go away from these anniversary scenes, and take up the work of life elsewhere, we pray Thee, help us to obey this vision that comes before us now, that we all may find our fitting place and render the service that becomes us as Thy children and helps us to live as one family on earth and in heaven.
Forgive us our sins, forgive us if we have not sought thus to live. Help us to see the men we might have been and be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget.
As we gaze into the future, and the coming generations rise be- fore us we pray Thee for our children as we place them upon our shoulders; grant, we pray Thee that they may see farther than we have seen and that they may accomplish more than we have wrought. And as they shall take up the work that we lay down may they realize they too are sowing their lives in the furrows of humanity and may the harvest bring more happiness and purity and service and love as an inheritance to the generations yet unborn.
We ask and offer in the name of our Lord, Jesus, the Master of the ages. Amen.
MAYOR'S ADDRESS
"Dear friends, this is a very happy occasion for me and for the people of Gloucester to have home here so many of those whom the city may well call sons and daughters and it gives me infinite pleasure at this time to extend if I might call it an official welcome home to those people who have come not to a city not of their own, but to a city which belongs to them. A city which belongs not only to those who inhabit it but those who belong here by any connection or tie. We are proud to have you here with us and we look to a week of very pleasant communion.
The coming of the absent sons and daughters has been a matter very much on the minds of the committee during the time which this Anniversary has been planned, and I know from communication with the committee of the thousands of cards and letters which have been sent from Gloucester to those who are here tonight.
I hope that you will find the Gloucester of today to your liking. I hope that the committee and the atmosphere and the people and their conduct will all appeal to you. I know that you have visualized the city; I hope that you will find that your vision is what you expected it would be.
We are gathered tonight on a historic spot. Three hundred years ago the company of men landed here on this very field and started here a venture in business and government and that business, the fish- ing industry, has been continued here uninterruptedly for 300 years and the government which was started here finally merged into the
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Massachusetts Bay Colony and finally became the commonwealth of Massachusetts. And I say with a pardonable pride the finest common- wealth in the finest country in the world. You judge the people of a city not only by those who reside in a city, not only by the influence which they have upon their own city, but by the influence which the sons and daughters have who have gone forth from a city to the utter- most parts of the world.
I wonder if there is any human influence greater which we could extend not only on the United States but upon various countries of the world on the part of the sons and daughters of Gloucester who have gone forth from this ancient city and have given the people outside the benefit of what they obtained here. During the course of 300 years this influence must be tremendous and if we look upon it in any light under what tremendous obligation are the other parts of the world to this old city of Gloucester, small community it might be, powerful in influence, built here 300 years ago by men who dared to leave a country and come to a barren waste.
Gloucester of the future, what can we say for it? Only it will be what the people make it. We send forth year after year our own sons and daughters somewhat regretfully, it is true, but because of the needs of a larger sphere of influence, may we not feel proud that what they learn here, they inherit here; they bring with them to the places which they go and exercise an influence which cannot but be beneficial to the parts to which they go.
And in closing, I wish to bring to you the greetings of the people of Gloucester and hope that you will find everything as you wish it and when you go back to your homes, if you do leave us, you will take with you the pleasantest of memories."
Patrick M. Longan, a Gloucester boy returning from the far west was chosen to respond for the visiting sons and daughters. His address was most happily phrased and was in accord with the spirit of the occasion. He spoke substantially as follows :
Chairman, and my fellow citizens, now that women suffrage pre- vails, the same welcome of greeting is to the ladies as well as to the gentlemen.
It is a great pleasure but a greater privilege to come from a long distance such as I have to return to the place of my birth and to be present during the time that it will be celebrating its 300th Anniver- sary. A great deal has been written and a great deal has been said about old Gloucester and her sons and her daughters. Many of her sons and daughters have strayed far from the hearthstone and prac- tically all of them have brought back to their old birthplace honors because of the fact that they were born in this city and under cir- cumstances that call for the best there is in man and woman to sur- vive the struggle in the great world but regardless of the achieve- ments or successes that may have been made abroad no success is so great as that which you who have stayed here and kept the old place
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together reflect because your opportunities and your efforts have been greater while opportunity may have been less. The great tri- bute is not to those who go out but to those who stay and hold the place together. I have been about somewhat myself and I would not be vain upon this occasion. Five minutes ago I had no thought that I would be here on this platform but since I am here I want to say to you in all solemnity and with all the feeling possible to command that no son or daughter of any place upon the North American continent has so much to be proud of as those who have sprung from this old rockribbed, rockbound place and no son or daughter in any place upon the continent reflects the strong character, the stick-to-it-iveness the determination to overcome obstacles and to fight out as those who have left here and those who have stayed here. The battle of those who have stayed here is incomparable but because of that fact and because of the knowledge of those who go out that back here are those who fight it out to the last those who go abroad must also do so.
My friends we've had a great many events which have made us proud. We've a reputation over all the world for doing things. About three years ago about 75 miles from any habitation out in the wilder- ness with perhaps 25 men around me with a camp fire burning we got a newspaper printed in San Antonio, Texas, and in it it had the proud news that Marty Welch had won the cup from the Delawana. Before that had been declared there was a great deal of discussion but when it came, to be able to talk about the vessels and the crews and the commanders, it was worth something and for some days that event alone was a topic 3,000 miles from here where no white man had been before. That was the credit of Gloucester and she had many such events.
Mr. Chairman, I'm glad to be here and I'm glad I traveled so far and I intend to stay here for the whole show and any person, no matter who, who hasn't got the feeling that he is back home again and glad to be here, hasn't the Gloucester spirit."
The benediction was pronounced by Rev. Myles D. Kiley P. R. of St. Ann's church :
"I am grateful for the opportunity given me to say a word of welcome to you who have returned to honor your native city, and to bring the good influence of your lives to be an inspiration to those who are still struggling with the problems of life in the place where you first learned them. It is gratifying to note that all the exercises of this civic celebration begin and end with prayer. My prayer is that while here in the place in which you first learned to lisp the name of God you may recall your early days and let those reflections bring forth into clearer view your obligations to your Creator. The will of
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the Creator is necessarily the law of His creation, and hence God is by reason of His perfections, a moral Governor. Reason and Revela- tion both point to the obligation of doing the will of the Creator, and in this the hope is born that doing the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven, the happiness that comes to us through reunion and companionship with our fellow beings on earth, may not end with time, but be changed into blissful association with the Saints in heaven, our true home, and be continued through eternity."
CHAPTER IV
MONDAY AUGUST 27-THIE BONFIRE-SALUTE FROM THE NAVAL SHIPS-FISHERMAN'S RACE POSTPONED-RECEPTION TO SIR THOMAS LIPTON-HISTORICAL AND LITERARY EXERCISES
THE BONFIRE
T HE echo of the last stroke of the midnight hour had hardly died before the secular activities of the week began. The "curtain raiser" was the bonfire.
A pyramid of tarred barrels, some 75 feet high, on Stage head was fired, the flames shot skyward rapidly illuminating the harbor and adjacent territory. Clark's band discoursed patriotic music and the acclaim of the assembled thousands testified to the spirit of the occasion. It was several hours before the mass was reduced to embers after which the throng wended its way home- ward. City engineer John H. Griffin had charge of this feature.
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