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 19
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"The kindest man, The best-conditioned and unwearied spirit In doing courtesies; and one in whom The ancient Roman honour more appears, Than any that draws breath in Italy."
Upon no one outside those who were nearest and dearest to him did this stroke of death coming in the darkness fall with a greater shock, to no one did it bring more heartfelt sorrow than to the man who, under the Constitution and the laws, was to succeed him. To the Vice President, hand in hand with grief, came heavy responsibility. The United States must never be without a President and that first duty must be performed at once. Without delay, that duty was per- formed. There in a quiet Vermont village the Vice President took the oath administered by his father. The Chief Magistrate of the United States must be at the seat of government and that next duty was also performed at once, and the man so suddenly made President by the decree of Providence went swiftly and quickly to Washington. The second imperative duty was met and performed. Perhaps you wonder why I dwell upon this incident which went by without comment and
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was taken by everyone as a matter of course. That is the very reason why I speak of it, because it was taken as a matter of course by the American people. Pause a moment and reflect. The greatest office in the world of men, as I esteem it, passed in an instant from one man to another and, while sorrow and mourning spread to every nook and corner of the country, there was not a ripple of excitement seen or a voice or question heard as to the change in the Chief Magistracy, throughout the length and breadth of this great land. An event, which in some countries might have meant revolution, passed here in perfect silence and complete acceptance. What a tribute to the strength of our government, the people's government; what a splendid evidence of the ingrained, deep-rooted reverence for the law and order which are the bulwarks of freedom!
If in the divine wisdom this heavy sorrow was fated to come upon us, we may deem ourselves highly fortunate in the man upon whom the great responsibility under the terms of the Constitution was thus suddenly imposed. President Coolidge is one of our own, our very own. We know him and honor him and believe in him, and the trust we feel in him will, we are sure, soon be shared by the whole country. Sprung in unbroken descent from the men and women who settled and built up New England, it is needless to say that he is a thorough American in the broadest and finest sense of the word. Born on a farm, educated at one of our best colleges, trained to a great profession, he has been a reader of books, a student of men and of history and, what is even more full of meaning, he is a thinker, capable not only of in- dependent but, what is equally important, of connected thought, upon every subject to which he addresses himself. He is a man of dis- tinguished ability, wise, careful and courageous, of unblemished char- acter in private and in public life, experienced in dealing with grave questions of state. It would be strange indeed if we who know him best did not feel an assured confidence in his power to render the highest service to the entire country without either fear or favor. In 1802, at the time of the short breathing space granted by the Treaty of Amiens in the midst of the world wars brought on by the French Revolution, at that moment, Wordsworth, oppressed by forebodings as to conditions in England, wrote one of his noblest sonnets. In that sonnet occur these familiar lines:
"Plain living and high thinking are no more: The homely beauty of the good old cause Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence, And pure religion breathing household laws."
We all, I hope, believe that the loss of the great virtues bewailed by Wordsworth in 1802 is not true of the American people either in the past or in the present, despite the tangled problems of our industrial civilization and the restless, uneasy quiverings left by the World War in our social and political body. But of this we can be perfectly sure, that the virtues, the threatened departure of which so saddened the
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great English poet, are all treasured possessions of President Cool- idge. "Plain living and high thinking" are conspicuously his; noth- ing is nearer to his heart than the "good old cause" of ordered liberty and human freedom; while "pure religion breathing household laws" is part of his whole life. Such a man can be trusted with entire confidence.
Out of our great sorrow as a nation comes another thought touching closely the welfare of the Republic to which President Hard- ing was devoted heart and soul. The attitude of the American people during the slow-passing hours as the funeral train crossed the continent and the vision of the people when on Friday they met in their churches of all creeds and beneath the open sky and gave their prayers and uttered their farewell as the body of their President was placed in the tomb constituted An Act of Solemn Veneration to the memory of the lamented dead which could not be surpassed.
I saw only a small part of the vast gathering of people who came forth in all the wide lands between the oceans to do honor to their chief, but the deep significance of the spectacle was everywhere the same. From beginning to end, I watched the long line of figures and faces visible beneath the lights. It was an imposing and most impres- sive sight, one never to be forgotten. I kept saying to myself, "What brings them here, what are their thoughts, what their feelings," for I knew that this was but the end of a line precisely the same which had stood in like silence in every village, every town, every city, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. . Certainly it was not curiosity which summoned them to the darkened streets. To those people, so gathered and so silent there at midnight, there was no room or place for such a motive. What, then, was the impelling force ? To the brave woman so suddenly bereft, the light of whose life had in one ter- rible moment gone out forever, the sympathy of all those waiting, silent people went forth from their hearts and many eyes were wet with tears as they pictured her in her great loneliness, solitary in the garden of life so suddenly changed for her into a desert. . . Yet it seemed to me, as one in feeling with those who were massed to- gether in their thousands as the dead passed on before them, that behind the sorrow and mourning, both as true as truth's simplicity, lay yet another motive, unformulated, undefined, perhaps, but none the less real and powerful. This was the thought deep down in their hearts of the country which had just been bereaved of a good and faithful servant, whom all alike loved and honored. In the grasp of a great emotion, the pleasures and the sports, the struggles and con- flicts of trade and business and politics, all dropped away just as they had done when the American people and their soldiers and sailors arose in their might and went forth independent and unbound to defend American rights and turn the scale in the greatest of wars in behalf of freedom and civilization. Now stirred to the depths by a great sorrow, they bowed their heads in grief, but they knew that the slow-marching procession before them, more imposing in its
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utter simplicity than the funeral pomp of kings, meant to them far more than their eyes beheld. It was a moment:
"When the ploughshare of deeper passion Tears down to our primitive rock."
* * *
In that instant, so rare, so impressive, we are suddenly made to feel that with a people capable of such emotion the government they have made, the state they have erected, will be always secure. Watch- fulness there must ever be, vigilance must never flag, the sentries must not sleep upon their posts, but the lights of hope and faith shine clear and strong. Sursum Corda: In the moments of doubt and discouragement remember the cry of the Psalmist, "Lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." Always keep sacred the great gift of freedom which is yours, and remember "it ain't a gift that tarries long in the hand of a coward." You are one of the heirs of western civilization. A Great Inheritance. Stand by it and defend it. Do not forget your past and your traditions. Do not forget that no fostering care has ever protected or upheld you in your march through the centuries. Your advance, your achievements are all your own. To your own selves be true and all will then be well. The history of Rome, with all its splendor and its guilt, with all its victories and all its achievements, is not written on the walls of the Cloaca Maxima, nor will that of America be made in the purlieus of society nor in the dark chambers of those who would wreck and ruin. The work of America has been to build and, without classes, without differences of race or creed, it is the duty of all to stand close-knit together and simply as 'Americans to march forward. Give no ear to the plotters of destruction. We are a nation of builders and the doleful prophets of despair are not for us. Put your utmost trust in America. There will be no failure if we but believe with all our heart and all our strength in our country and her government. As the funeral train of our beloved President drew near the White House and these thoughts came thick and fast upon me, I raised my eyes and there above the evanescent lights contrived by man I saw in the dark vault of illimitable space the unchanging glory of the stars."
Kipling's dictum to the contrary, east and west meet, at times, on common ground, especially when extolling the sur- passing beauties of the North Shore. In introducing the succeed- ing speaker the mayor said :
"Massachusetts has been honored in it senators. A senator from Massachusetts once said, 'The farmers are the founders of civiliza- tion.' That was Daniel Webster. We like to change it and to say, 'The farmers and the fishermen are the founders of civilization.' I know the fishermen love the farmers as brothers.
We have with us this afternoon a distinguished member of the
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United States Senate, a representative of the great West, of the farmers of the great West. In a somewhat joking vein I asked that he explain the Farmers' bloc. I have the great privilege and honor to introduce to the guests at this luncheon the Junior United States Senator from Kansas, the Hon. Arthur Capper."
Senator Capper was most cordially greeted, his message being as follows :
"Mayor MacInnis and friends: I come from a state having a population of about two million people, a people who probably have done less fishing and yet drink more pure, unadulterated water than the people of any other state in the Union. I come from a state that has three times the area of Massachusetts, and yet within its borders we have no body of water as large as your beautiful Glouces- ter bay. I have been asked to say something about fishermen and farmers. I am utterly unable to qualify as a speaker here on any subject pertaining to fishing. The fact is, I am unable to under- stand some of the Gloucester vernacular. For instance, I have heard reference repeatedly to something they call the 'three mile limit.' Then I hear others talking in a most excited way about 'bands of pirates' who seem to be seeking valuable treasure of some sort along your coast. This is all strange language to me. But there is one combination that Kansas and Gloucester might work out most suc- cessfully :- Let Kansas provide the loaves and Gloucester the fishes.
It's a very interesting and unique city, this 300-year-old city of Gloucester, and I've come to the conclusion since my arrival here, and this is my first visit, that there is but one Gloucester as I've so often heard. It is with greatest pleasure I bring a message of con- gratulations and good wishes to the people of Gloucester on the oc- casion of this very wonderful celebration. It is so unique and so different from any thing else I've ever attended. We know very little about fishing craft, but I remember many years ago, we had prairie schooners out in our state and they told me some of these prairie schooners came from Eastern States even as far away as Massa- chusetts. But the prairie schooner is no longer seen in Kansas and now the Easterners come to our state in automobiles and airplanes.
We have thousands of good people, former citizens of Gloucester and of Massachusetts, living in Kansas, and let me tell you they are among our best citizens, law respecting, God fearing men and women. A few months ago I was invited to attend a reunion of former Massachusetts citizens in my home town, the state capital. A toast was proposed by the President of the organization. All the guests arose and the toast master, raising his glass of water, said: 'Here's to Massachusetts, God bless her, we'll never go back on her nor to her.' The Massachusetts folks in Kansas are still loyal to their old home state.
We have made progress out in Kansas. I would like to have all of you come to an anniversary celebration in my State. If the Mayor of Topeka was to conscript the services of all the people of
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Topeka and of all the cities around us, and tell the people to provide fish for a Mayor's banquet, I am afraid there would not be enough to feed even half the guests. But you would be well fed never- theless and you would find a friendly lot of folks. However, I don't want you to wait for the 300th Anniversary to come to Kansas, be- cause we are still a young state. .
This is my first visit to the North Shore of Massachusetts. I find your people not so different after all from the Kansas people. We seem to be committed to the same high ideals, and have very much the same aspirations, in both Kansas and Massachusetts. I find in both states the people standing for thorough going American princi- ples and ideals. If we could see each other oftener, know each other better, have a better understanding of each other's problems, it would be better for everyone. I think we would find that after all, we are not so far apart, as some of us had thought.
Let me say this about Gloucester. I have traveled along this Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, and have traveled the Gulf coast from Florida to Texas, and the Pacific coast from Seattle to Lower California. Let me tell you that you have here the most picturesque seaport in all America. I have been in every state in this Union, and I say with great pleasure that nowhere have I found people, friendlier, more cordial or kindlier. In no city that I have visited is the welcome to a stranger warmer than right here in Gloucester.
It is particularly gratifying to me that I have the honor and pleasure today of appearing before you with my distinguished col- league, your able and faithful United States Senator, Henry Cabot Lodge. He is our trusted leader in Washington; we have the highest respect and regard for him. He is one of America's most illustrious citizens. I am pleased also that it has been my privilege to come to the home town of your distinguished Congressman, Col. Andrew. I am glad to tell you that you have one of the most popular con- gressmen in Washington. He has made friends rapidly and stands well with everybody. In conclusion let me bring to you all a message of heartiest good will: I want to give your Mayor a genuine Kansas hand shake, a hand shake straight from the shoulder, and an ex- pression of good will right from the heart. I express the sentiments of two million Kansas people, when I say that we wish for all the people of Gloucester, the largest measure of happiness and prosperity, and good luck that can possibly come to any American people."
The Mayor-
"For the last speaker at this luncheon, I want to introduce one of our own, he is the Congressman from this district, and he has been, I might say the heart and soul of this Anniversary celebration. No task has been too big and no job has been too small for him. Without further ado I want to introduce my personal friend, and your friend, and the Representative, a distinguished successor to a dis- tinguished line from the 6th District, Essex County, the Hon. and Col. A. Piatt Andrew.
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OFFICIALS-GRAND PARADE Commander E. GILBERT WINCHESTER, Col. Allen Post 45, G. A. R. Grand Marshal
JOHN A. RADCLIFFE Chief Marshal CAPT. JOHN F. BICKFORD Aide to Grand Marshal (Naval Congressional Medal of Honor Man, Kearsarge-Alabama Fight)
WILLIAM T. GAMAGE Marshal
Fourth Division
DR. ELMER W. BABSON Marshal Third Division
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Col. Andrew spoke eloquently as follows :
"Mr. Mayor, guests and friends :- There are scores of American cities vastly bigger and richer than Gloucester, but there is no other which makes such an appeal to the imagination and heart of the country. Our affection for places depends very little upon the number of their inhabitants, the quantity of their chimneys, the height of their buildings, or the size of their payrolls. The little town of Bethlehem touched the heart of the world far more profoundly than the great imperial cities of Carthage and Rome. And Gloucester touches the heart of America more deeply than does any great metropolitan center like New York or Chicago or San Francisco. Our feelings are instinctively drawn to those corners of the earth where beauty dwells, where exalted memories linger, where men have faced the doom of fate with courage and vision and indomitable will. Such a corner of the earth is Gloucester. Poets without number have contemplated her granite shores, her windswept moors, her horizon reaching out to the rim of the world, and have seen in them and felt about them very much what the first settlers must have seen and felt three hundred years ago. Artists with pen and brush have sensed the romance and the beauty of her winding streets, the crowded inlets of her many-masted harbor, her gray old wharves, the picturesque accumulations of her past three hundred years. Writers of world-wide fame have carried to the uttermost ends of the earth the story of her sturdy people, their adventures and their daring, their simple elemental virtues, their heroic and three century old struggle with the sea. This little old fishing town of Gloucester is perhaps more widely known and better loved than any other town of its size in the world. It is but natural that distinguished men have come from the West and from the East, from the Nation and from the Commonwealth to pay her tribute. The heart of the whole American nation beats today with sympathetic pride as Gloucester commemorates the three hundredth returning anniversary of her birth."
In conclusion Col. Andrew read the following message from President Coolidge :
"I am grateful to you for recalling to my attention at this moment the tercentenary anniversary of Gloucester which is to be celebrated this week. I had hoped for the pleasure of participating in this commemoration, a hope that is now disappointed. At a time when there is so much of concern about the maritime interests of our country, it would have been especially a pleasure to meet the people of that old seafaring community, to recall somewhat of their past glories, to receive inspiration from the hope that our ancient place may be again secured among the merchant shipping nations and to revive the memories which have attended 300 years of Massachusetts history around Cape Ann."
CALVIN COOLIDGE.
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THE ANNIVERSARY PARADE
At two in the afternoon came the grand anniversary parade, one of the finest spectacles of the kind witnessed in this section.
There were four divisions, the first military and naval ; second, veteran and patriotic organizations; third, civic and fra- ternal orders; fourth, the historical tableaux and floats, the whole about two miles long.
Preparations for this event had been made for several months and the result measured up fully to the effort put forth, the aggregation presenting a pleasing and varied ensemble of color and contrast. Maj. John A. Radcliffe was the chairman who worked untiringly for this splendid spectacular success.
To Col. Allen Post 45, G. A. R., was accorded the honor of naming the grand marshal and aids, a signal evidence of the esteem in which this last of the "Old Guard" of '61-65 is held. They were heartily applauded all along the line. E. Gilbert Win- chester, commander of the post was grand marshal and his aide was John F. Bickford, a Congressional Naval medal of honor man, a distinction won in the historic fight between the U. S. S. Kearsarge and the Confederate commerce destroyer Alabama. In their car was Mrs. Gladys E. Sylvester, as "Columbia."
The chief marshal was Maj. John A. Radcliffe with Col. John W. Prentiss as chief of staff.
Among the pleasing features were the floats prepared by the historical tableaux committee, Mrs. Nellie M. Parsons, chair- man, which were the subject of much favorable comment for their fidelity and dramatic conception.
Floats one and two, the first showing the coming of Cham- plain, in 1606, and the second, the clash between Myles Standish and Capt. Hewes, at Fisherman's field, centered around well known incidents.
Float three was a marching tableau and depicted Richard Blynman, who came here in 1642, preaching to the early settlers. Float four was a representation of the first recorded romance on Cape Ann, that of Jeffrey, or Geoffrey Parsons, the young fisher- man, who lived near Fisherman's field, who, one summer day in 1657, sailed into the inner harbor and landed at Vincent's point, the home of William Vinson or Vincent. Here was a spring famed for the coolness of its water and Jeffrey kneeled down be- side it to slake his thirst, but not before he had been espied by Sarah Vincent, the daughter of the house, who brought the
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stranger a gourd from which to drink. Of course they were married and lived happily afterwards. In this scene, the part of Sarah Vincent was assumed by Elizabeth Rowe and that of Jeffrey Parsons, by Roger O. Parsons, both lineal descendants of Jeffrey and Sarah.
The "Origin of the Schooner," time 1713, depicted Andrew Robinson, an East Gloucester shipwright, in his shop, busily en- gaged in drawing the plans of an originally designed craft and hull which when built, was called a schooner, and became the universal fishing craft. Grouped about was the daughter of Robinson, fishermen and others interested in the development of the plan.
So great was the distress of the inhabitants during the latter part of the Revolutionary war that, despite the prevailing poverty of the colonists, the tale of the extremity of the people of Glouces- ter, as related by Rev. John Murray, was such that Gen. Wash- ington and his officers were moved to subscribe a fund for their relief. The float depicted this incident.
The float of the Civil war period was a representation of the patriotic women of the town, picking lint and rolling bandages for the soldiers.
The procession of 500 school children was also notable. They were afoot, all gaily costumed, carrying American flags, some trundling wheelbarrows, the girls with toy baby carriages and dollies, others with balloons, the whole presentation being one of the features of the parade. Ralph P. Ireland, principal of the Collins school, was the chairman of this committee assisted by the teachers of the public schools.
FORMATION OF PARADE
Platoon of police, commanded by Sergeant William L. Alphen and consisting of Patrolmen Flaherty, Garland, Foley, Costa, McLeod and Charles O'Maley.
Salem Cadet Band, 25 pieces, Jean Missud, band leader.
Grand Marshal E. Gilbert Winchester, commander of Col. Allen Post 45, G. A. R., in decorated automobiles, accompanied by Captain John F. Bickford, and Mrs. Gladys E. Sylvester as Columbia. Four mounted aids, Col. Charles F. Wonson and Eugene R. Lord, representing the Spanish War veterans and Irving Morris and Charles E. Rice, representing the World War veterans.
Four automobiles containing Grand Army veterans, "the boys of '61," Sidney Parsons, William D. Lufkin, Francis Davis, William F. Marston, Henry Harrison, A. Piatt Andrew of Laporte, Indiana; Nathaniel Allen, Charles Wilson, Leonard Burnham, Joseph A. Moore,
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William L. Robinson, Leonard S. Day, John Venance, Sidney Hutchins, Henry Swett, B. Frank Payson, Mr. Kessler of Laporte, Indiana, Arthur E. Herrick, an honorary member of the Post, also L. B. Blais- dell, Commander; John T. Lovett, Stephen D. Kennett, E. C. Flanders, E. G. Bly and John Nealand, all of C. R. Mudge Post, 109 of Merrimac, as aides.
Chief Marshal John A. Radcliffe.
Chief of Staff, Col. John W. Prentiss.
Aides-Col. Harry C. Chase, state quartermaster; Lieut. Col. Roger Eckfelt, Major William Howe, Major Albert Harrington, Capt. George Dawson, Capt. Gammell, Lieut. Fred Howe, former battalion adjutant, 15th infantry, M. S. G., Capt. Samuel L. Dunlop, U. S. A .; Lieut. William F. Moore, Lieut. Pierce N. Hodgkins, Major Michel Jacobs, Captain John J. Egan, former surgeon 15th infantry, M. S. G., Lieut. J. Dunton Sharman, Canadian army. Orderly, Arthur W. Her- rick; Bugler, Simeon B. Young.
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