USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Yarmouth > The celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of old Yarmouth, Mass., including the present towns of Yarmouth and Dennis. September 1 and 3, 1889 > Part 9
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Dennis > The celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of old Yarmouth, Mass., including the present towns of Yarmouth and Dennis. September 1 and 3, 1889 > Part 9
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I crave your pardon, if I pause too long, Paying my tribute to the work and worth Of Yarmouth - nay - that limit were unjust, - Of Cape Cod seamen. Where in all the earth Can one find men of more heroic mould, More nobly brave ; and yet to honors due, Laying no claim, content with duty done ? Alas ! alas! that they are now so few.
She has had other sons, and has them still, To whom she well may turn with love and pride. In all the cities of the land they dwell, Even where the broad Pacific rolls its tide In through the Golden Gate. And some have brought Their wealth and their renown, and at her feet Have laid them, saying " Take and use, For since thou gavest us birth, it is but meet."
O Town beloved ! Thy children homeward turn, This birthday festival with thee to hold ; Some have been wanderers from thy hearthstone long, And some have seldom strayed beyond the fold ; But we are here, respondent to thy call, Thou hast an equal welcome for us all.
The years fly fast, and we are growing old, But thou art mistress of a secret rare ; Well dost thou keep the charm perennial, Thou dost not change except to grow more fair. To breathe again thy soft, salt air is bliss -- We look about us - is there aught we miss ?
The fields invite us, as they did of old, To gather Mayflowers in the springtime sweet, Or spicy swamp-pink with its odorous breath, Or blackberries ripening in midsummer's heat ; The rolling hills yet witness to the care, Of those who thought to plant the pine trees there.
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The quiet of the ponds in whose green depths, The darting pickerel lures the angler's rod, Is broken still by plash of gliding oars And merry shouts, and rooted in the sod, The water lily lifts its snowy cup Unto the sun, and yields its sweetness up.
And all along the shore the changeful sea, Stretches its shimmering lines, now faintly blue, Then bright'ning hour by hour, then dull and grey, Again as dark as is the violet's hue Lending to thee a grandeur and a grace, A semblance of illimitable space.
The long elm-shaded street its quiet keeps, The clustering church spires upward rise, and near The library and the school-house standing by, Proclaim the tempered spirit reigning here, The spirit shown in outward visible signs, That rings in Whittier's familiar lines.
We look about us : is there naught we miss ? Ah yes ! the faces that we used to see ; Alas ! the voices that we used to hear ; Are they not whispering messages to thee ? Are they not with thee on thy festal day, For who indeed, have loved thee more than they ?
Shades of the Fathers ! are they looking down, And with anointed vision do they see, From some far realm, beyond the ether blue, All that the future years shall bring to thee ? Perchance, perchance, we breathe in troubled cries, For we are blind, - the future hidden lies.
Now we are here; this is our brief day To dream, to work, to love, and to aspire : We fain would bring some birthday gift to thee ; What can we bring, save love and the desire Ever to grow more worthy for thy sake ! O, Mother Town ! accept the gift we make.
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The president in introducing the Rev. J. W. Dodge said, " The gentleman who will next address you needs no introduction from me. He will take for his subject, " The First church of Yarmouth " For more than twenty years he has been its beloved pastor, and we all of us know and re- spect him.
ADDRESS OF REV. JOHN W. DODGE.
I am truly proud to be associated with this most interest- ing and memorable occasion in the history of Old Yarmouth. For though not a native, a residence of twenty-one years is a virtual naturalization. If I could not say, as I have been saying during the preparation for this anniversary, "our fathers came here", I should feel like the hero of Dr. Hale's story, "that I was a man without a country". I have been long enough on Cape Cod, mingling with her people, and iden- tified with her life to feel that her interests are mine, and whenever I hear her spoken of in terms of disparagement my blood boils with indignation.
My topic is the old church of Yarmouth. And on this gala day in the old homestead, the grandmother church has the chair of honor. No tribute of respect would have been acceptable to our fathers that did not recognize the suprema- cy of the church. It was the topmost thing in life to them. It was in obedience to a conviction of this kind that, when it become necessary a few years ago to build a new meeting- house they located it on the highest hill in the town. There it stands as a beacon for sailors on the Bay, visible for many miles at sea as the Parthenon was visible to the sailors on the blue Aegean. They did not prize so much the pur- ple sunsets over the quiet summer waters that might be wit- nessed from its windows, or that they might almost descry from its tower, both the harbor where the Mayflower lay at Provincetown, and the Rock where the landing was made. It was even less a matter of thought that it would be hard work for successive generations to climb up Zion's hill to worship week by week. They were ready to face the sweep- ing blasts of the fierce Northers that almost lifted them from their feet, and they saw no good reason why their children should not be as hardy as themselves. The church was the inspirer of our fathers though all the self-sacrifices that we delight to recall and honor to-day. The church was before the town, the town was for the church. They came here to enjoy freedom to worship, and built the town around the
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church, as if to maintain and defend it. Though it is true that in this colony it was not required by law that voters should be members of the church, as it was in Massachusetts and New Haven, still they placed the standard of character necessary to entitle one to vote, so high that practically few others than church members could enjoy the privilege, and as a matter of history, the church has been to the life of the town, what the spinal chord is to the body. There has been shown here on a small scale, an illustration of what has recent- ly been said by one of our most able church historians, that the " church is the soul and spirit of all true civilization, of all true liberty, of all true knowledge." The life of the town, both public and private, has gathered about the life of this church. It has been the one essentially unchanging power through all the changes of the generations past.
But now, when you attempt to reproduce the facts of the past even for a succinct view, you find it has melted away as if it were a vision ; we do not know who composed this church in the beginning, nor how many of them there were, except by inference from the Colony Records. We have absolutely no data for determining the female membership. We do not know just where the old church stood, nor when it was built. We have no record of their creed or their cove- nant. We do have some report of their troubles, for they very soon got into hot water with their ministers, and the trouble lasted so long and gave them so much pain that since they got over it in 1667 they have been probably the most harmonious and peaceful church that could be found in the Commonwealth. There have been twelve ministers before the present incumbent, and they have been of as many types as the twelve apostles. The first three were English Univer- sity men, godly and useful. They brought the old world training with them, and were as good as the best of their contemporaries. Then came Cotton, grandson of the famous Boston minister and graduate of Harvard, a home product. Greenleaf of Newbury, also a graduate of Harvard, who was abreast of the times in one respect at least, that he was the father of thirteen children. After him, Thomas Smith, of Barnstable, who served on a small salary during the hard times of the French and Indian war. Grindal Rawson, the story teller and wit, who remarked, when no one could find the place in the burying-ground where Mr. Cotton's grave was, that "he was the only one of the first seven ministers whose dust was committed to the earth in Yarmouth, what-
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ever the ministers suffered here, the worm did not feed on them." We must infer that Mr. Rawson had a somewhat uncomfortable time. After him, came the enthusiastic young Mr. Green, the son of the Barnstable minister, who died at his post six years after, greatly lamented. This brings us to our modern times when Rev. Mr. Alden comes on the scene, a little man with his antique wig, small clothes and three- cornered hat, witty and wise. He worked through the time of the Revolutionary war. With him is associated the old, old meeting-house of the grandfathers, with its sounding-board, square pews, deacons' seat and spacious galleries. Then fol- lows Mr. Cogswell, first as colleague, and then a spastor alone. He is the reviver of the doctrine of the fathers, placing a catechism in every house. We remember him to-day as the devoted friend of education, the consolidator of the schools, who looked out that the young men of his congregation married orthodox wives and the girls good orthodox hus- bands ; who did so much towards securing a new church, and left means to perpetuate preaching in the same line of truth by a liberal legacy. Of the brethren who still survive I need not speak. They are doing good work elsewhere in the land. This church has been a teacher to mne, and through its history I have found the best introduction to general church history. The life of one church is like a geological section cut through the country, which shows the general character of the earth's crust. The course of the religious life of one church is an index of the movements that have taken place on the wider field. The first forty years con- nects us closely with the English Puritan history, for we had ministers trained under those influences. Then came the gradual decay of spiritual life here, as a part of the wide- spread retrogression in spiritual life generally. The pressure and trial of wars make their mark upon the church life, as do the colonization westward and subsequent revival periods. The church to-day is the outgrowth of the past. Hereditary influences have been at work developing a certain well- defined character. There has been less outside pressure, less to deflect us from the primitive Puritan type than in the newer parts of New England. The original stock has had the field to itself, still we have been in communication with the wide world by means of commerce, and though leading in earlier days a somewhat isolated life on one side, the broadening influences of intercourse with the world, by sea, have not been lost upon us.
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A history like this we celebrate to-day, affords an illus- tration of the mission of the country church. We naturally ask to-day what has this church done for the men and wo- men who have lived here through eight generations ? And the answer is, it has built up a sturdy, liberal, philanthropic, genial character. Its children have been equal to the work laid upon them. They could Christianize the Indians, or grapple with the problems of war or enterprise as they came up,- they are doing it now. I made a journey across the country a little while ago, and thought I would look up my parishioners. I found them in Chicago, in Kansas City, in Flagstaff, Arizona, in Denver and Golden and San Francisco. I said to myself, we are here on the rim of the continent, a little country church, but really our forces are deployed along a line that stretches from ocean to ocean. Does any one who visits us in the quiet of our ordinary days ask, what do you have to do with the seething life of this great nation ? We answer, my friend, we are training the men who are at the bottom, and the top, too, for that matter, of these great enterprises. It is quiet here, we have no looms, no bell rouses you at five in the morning, or whistle startles you at noon. But this is only home; our business is in Boston, in Chicago and San Francisco. Commonwealth Avenue is very quiet, almost as much so as Main Street, here, during office hours. Our men are at home to-day ; they throng this tent. Look around you here, this is Yarmouth as she is with her children at home. To keep up the supply of efficient workers at the front, is our mission still, we have been doing it for a quarter millennium, and we expect to keep on till the whole millennium is end- ed. The people that have descended from the Matthews, the Crowells, the Thachers, and the Ryders are to have as much influence on the character and life of the future, as their ancestors have had upon the past.
I will give you, Mr. President, this sentiment as I close. The old church of Yarmouth, the spiritual guide of the past, the inspirer of the present, the hope of the future, her spirit is everywhere, her heart is here.
The president then said: "Cape Cod has always been proud, and justly proud of its sea captains, a race of men, alas, . too fast disappearing, but we are thankful that there are some still with us today. I have now the pleasure of intro- ducing one of them to you, Capt. Thomas Prince Howes, of
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Dennis, and a better seaman never trod the quarter-deck of a ship."
CAPT. HOWES'S ADDRESS.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : It is not neces- sary for me to say that this has been a great and glorious day for Yarmouth and Dennis. I think you have all had a good time; as for myself, after hearing the encomium upon the men who founded Yarmouth, I feel some two inches tall- er than I did this morning, The hour is getting late, and I do not propose to weary you by going over what has already been said.
Our fathers made a wise selection of locality when they fixed on Yarmouth ; it had many varied advantages as a place of settlement. It was in close proximity by water to Plymouth, a safe harbor for vessels was close at hand ; Boston was within seven or eight hours' sail with a fair wind ; the ex- tensive salt marshes offered abundant fodder for their sheep and cattle ; fresh water everywhere, in ponds and springs and running brooks, was in abundant supply. Dennis joins in this celebration for the reason that for one hundred and fifty-four years it was a part of the town of Yarmouth; it included the ancient villages of Nobscussett, Sesuit, Quivet on the North side, and Bass Ponds on the South side ; two of the original grantees made their homes there, Thomas Howes and John Crowe, and I think they showed good judgment in selecting the eastern part as their future home. It is evi- dent they lost no time in laying the foundation of the new town : the church was at once gathered, constables were soon appointed and order reigned in the wilderness. That the men who founded this town came here with a sense of justice in their hearts is plainly to be seen in their treatment of the Indians, as well as in the readiness with which they submitted to a re-adjustment of their division of the lands and accepted the settlement by Miles Standish, without any complaint. Socrates said : " That state in which the citizens pay most respect to the laws, is in the best condition in peace, and invincible in war." Our fathers were a law-abiding peo- ple, with a spirit of reverence for justice, truth and religion ; a town founded by such men could not fail of having a his- tory to be proud of. The readiness with which our people have taken to the sea, has led me to fancy that perhaps some of the blood of those old Danish marauders who harried the East coast of England for two centuries, may have got mixed
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with that of Anglo Saxon ancestors, some of whom came from East Anglia, where the Vikings mostly settled. The division of the town took place in 1793; it was done by the mutual consent of both sections of the old town -it re- quired no lobbying at the State House to effect the separa- tion - and the two towns have always dwelt beside each other in peace and harmony. Abraham and Lot were not more determined to be at peace than the towns of Yarmouth and Dennis during their separate existence. Dennis has not had a long history - I can remember a large part of it - my father was born in Yarmouth, was nineteen years old when the town was divided. When Dennis was incorporated, our national flag bore fifteen stars, now forty-two are emblazon- ed thereon. Our Government was then so feeble that it sub- mitted to pay tribute to the Dey of Algiers, six thousand stand of arms and equipments to match. It was one of the fire- side stories of my childhood, that Mr. Reuben Taylor of Hock- onom, being chased by some of the boats of those Barbary Corsairs, fought them from the stern of his vessel with a single gun and with only the assistance of the cabin boy, the captain and crew having declined to fight, beat them off and saved the vessel from plunder and the crew from cap- tivity. Such was the condition of the United States Gov- ernment in 1793, not one hundred years ago. "There shall be a handful of corn on the earth upon the top of the moun- tains, the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon."
The nation then so weak, now rejoices " like a strong man to run a race." It may be claimed that Dennis, under the circumstances, has very fairly kept pace with the prog- ress of the country. We had no mail in 1793; we only had one meeting-house at that time. The schools were not of first quality, although the teachers were often men of college education, seldom anything but the three R's was taught. Boys hardly ever attended the summer schools af- ter reaching ten years of age ; after that'age they were sent to sea, or put at work on the farm. Now, happily, we have changed all that. The town is free from debt, five school-houses with fourteen schools afford means for the edu- cation of all the children. The poor are cared for, the labor of each benefits all ; four meeting-houses furnish preaching to all who have ears to hear, and hearts to profit by the spoken word, and we have the summer visitor whose gen- tle presence is like a bow of promise. We abate nothing of heart or hope for the future of our towns. Should the time,
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however, come, when their citizens shall cease to venerate the memories we this day celebrate, then the glory of this ancient town will have departed, and its last hour have struck.
The president then said : " There is one here who has well served this town and country on the battle field, and who has been honored in a neighboring state by a seat in her judiciary. I now have the pleasure of introducing to you, Judge Darius Baker, of Newport, R. I."
JUDGE BAKER'S ADDRESS.
Mr. President : "On the festal day of Old Yarmouth, which is the common mother of most of us now present, I may be pardoned if I boast that I was "to the manor born," and that for two hundred and fifty years my ancestors have lived and died within two or three miles of the spot where the first of them dwelt, Yelverton Crowe, the first settler, I believe, on the south side of this town. I should be unjust to you as well as to myself, if at this late hour, I attempted to say what I have had in mind to speak of, and I shall only express my gratification at being here and in being permitted to share with you the pleasures of this celebration. But I have a duty to another to perform. Some fifty years ago a young minister came to the town of Dennis and set- tled there, preaching one year on the north side of the town and afterwards at South Dennis. I refer to one who will doubtless be remembered by some of the older people here present, and whose memory is preserved in the names of some of the well-known citizens of these ancient towns. I mean the Rev. Thatcher Thayer. After a long and active life in the city of Newport, where he has been a great power for good, he now lives in quiet retirement, and owing to the condition of his health he is unable to be here, although it would have afforded him great pleasure to respond to your kind invitation in person. He has, however, written a few lines commemorative of this event, which, at his request, and with your permission, Mr. President, I will now read.
DR. THAYER'S LETTER. "MEMORIES OF FORTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO."
Yarmouth! Dennis! Not rich indeed in products of the soil - though reaping harvests from the sea and finding treasures in the sand - but fertile in men. A race of un- mixed English - their very names declaring their lineage - forms and features and complexion sometimes repeating their
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far-away Northmen descent, and one saw in some tall, vigo- rous, fair-haired, young seaman on his quarter-deck the very likeness of a youthful Viking, such as sailed these waters long before the Pilgrims came. A population wonderfully homogeneous, with no foreign element to disturb town meet- ings, conducting assemblies with instinct for parliamentary order and a long-inherited ability to debate and vote in har- monious sequence. No extremes of social condition where mushroom riches look down with pride and hopeless poverty looks up with bitterness; but diversified competence, where the humblest table could furnish at will a "quahaug chowder" that no New York or Paris cuisine could approach. No need of Socialistic theories to teach provision for each by consolidation of all; and keep men from having nothing by leaving them nothing to have - but a social system of natu- ral growth, where individual property was sacred and the in- dividual self was eminently distinct, while a wonderful ex- tent and replication of kindred acted with silent and effica- cious force to raise all to comfortable living, and many to high rank in their calling. There, too, were genuine homes, with family ties so strong that few wandered hopelessly from their attraction. In those dwellings by the sea the father was honored as in early New England, and the mother ruled with a gentle but undisputed sway -far worthier of woman than to vote with all creation and be decked with the "semi- lunar-fardel " of degrees.
If not many books were found in the houses, at least the poetry and essays were of severer taste than most of the authors who now usurp the place of Milton and Johnson and Addison. From earliest times the people maintained their schools, and it would have been hard to meet in Yar- mouth or Dennis any wholly illiterate. So, too, they sup- ported their churches, listened attentively to preaching and discussed the doctrine in intermission, as was the wont of their fathers before them. Here, too, lingered the blessed heritage from the Puritans - the Sabbath - and from many a family altar ascended unfailingly the offering of prayer. But my " Sentiment" is too long and I must stop, though it is tempting to dwell on scenes and persons of Yarmouth and Dennis in those past years.
Perhaps this view has been a little too rose-colored. If so, it must be pardoned to loving memories.
May God's blessing ever rest on these ancient towns !
THATCHER THAYER.
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Mr. E. D. Payne then called for three cheers for the President, which was responded to with enthusiasm.
Thus closed the exercises at the tent, and the assembly quietly dispersed. Many embraced the opportunity to re- visit the scenes of their childhood and to renew the friend- ship of days gone by. It was a frequent remark that the occasion had been in all respects most enjoyable, a red- letter day in the history of the town. No disorderly con- duct was observed during the day, nor the slightest appear- ance of drunkenness. -
In the evening a grand reception and ball were held at the Nobscussett House, Dennis. The house was tastefully decorated with flags and pendants, and brilliantly lighted for the occasion, the arrangements being carried out under the direction of Mr. John Simpkins, Mr. Albert C. Snow being floor director. The Boston Cadet Orchestra, Mr. J. T. Bald- win, director, furnished the music for the evening. The occasion was greatly enjoyed by the large company present, the most delightful feature of it being the reunion of old friends and acquaintances.
A display of fireworks, in both towns during the evening, formed a fitting conclusion to the celebration. Those in Yarmouth were exhibited in the vicinity of the tent, those in Dennis at the Nobscussett House. They were furnished by the Unexcelled Fireworks Company of New York under the direction of Mr. Alfred Gorham, and consisted of bombs, rockets, red and green fire, variegated batteries, geysers, with two set pieces, one of which displayed the motto " Yarmouth 1639 - 1889" with sunfire effects and fireworks whistles, winding up with a large set piece, with the motto " Good Night," with beautiful combinations.
Thus ended the Quarto-Millenial of the old town, to be ever after enshrined among the most delightful memories of those who participated in it. Most of the next day the flags
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spanned the streets, and the buildings retained their gay holiday attire as if loath to resume the plain work-day garb. The photographer was busy at many points, and thus we are enabled to reproduce to some extent a picture of character- istic scenes for the benefit of many whose hearts were there, but who were prevented from being present. And if, in turning from the heroic scenes of the earlier times to the quieter tasks of the present, a tinge of disappointment comes over us, we may console ourselves with the truth,
"The fathers sleep, but men remain As wise, as true, and brave as they ; Why count the loss and not the gain ? The best is that we have to-day."
1
VIEWS
YARMOUTH and DENNIS.
THE TENT.
SONS & DAUGHTERSOF
ARMOUTH, MERT
STON PROTOGRAVURE ( ..
ARCH AND HALLETT HOUSE.
BOSTON PHOTOARAVURE (S.
THE OLD CHURCH.
The Mill-Pond and Bay taken from near the site where Giles Hopkins built the first house erected in Yarmouth.
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE CO.
THE THACHER HOMESTEAD, BUILT IN 1680.
A MODERN COTTAGE.
BOSTON PRUTHORAV
THE CHANDLER GRAY HOUSE.
ON THIS SLOPE LIE BURIED THELAST NATIVE INDIANS
OF YARMOUTH
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE GO,
Indian Monument erected by Dr. Azariah Eldridge, on the border of Long Pond, South Yarmouth.
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE (
THE STURGIS HOUSE.
7
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE
AN INTERIOR OF 1750.
DOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE CO.
A CRANBERRY BOG.
web
Navalli
.Tr.
٨١١٠ ما
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE Q
WIND-MILL .- Built for Thomas Greenough in 1779. Located on the North Side of Yarmouth, afterward re- moved to the mouth of Bass River; again removed to its present location at Friends' Village.
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE
The Homestead of Enoch E. Chase; was first built in Marston's Mills about the year 1750, and was moved to West Yarmouth about 1768, by Thomas Black. It was bought by Anthony Chase in 1781, and bequeathed to his son, Enoch E. Chase, who was born March 4, 1804, and died in the same room in which he was born, August 21, 1887.
STON PHOTOGRAVURE Ca.
SALT-MILL .- South Yarmouth. Built during the War of 1812.
BOSTON PHOTONBAVURE Te.
SALT-WORKS .- South Yarmouth. Built during the War of 1812.
-
Grist-Mill in West Yarmouth. Built about 1775 and now owned by the heirs of Joshua Baker.
.
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE CO.
Howes House, Dennis, built about 1700 by Prince Howes, grandson of the first Thomas Howes and also grandson of Gov. Thomas Prince.
Hall House, Dennis, built about 1700 by Joseph Hall, and owned by the Hall family since its erection.
BOSTON PHOTOGRAVURE CO.
This house was built by Rev. Josiah Dennis, for whom the town was named, about 1735.
Sears House, East Dennis. It was built in 1711, by Capt. John Sears, and has been in the Sears family ever since.
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APPENDIX.
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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE PRESENTED TO THE TOWN FEBRUARY 10, 1890.
Your Committee beg leave to submit the following statement of the receipts and expenditures attending the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the town :
The Treasurer has received cash from the town of Yar- mouth, $1000.00
Contributions from individuals in Dennis, 492.00
From other sources, - 150.65
Total receipts, $1,642.65
The expenses of the Celebration were, $1,423.42
There has been paid on account of printing the pamphlet report of the Celebration, $103.50
Leaving balance of cash on hand, - 115.73
There is also an account due the Treasurer of - 8.75
To illustrate and to print the remaining portions of the pamphlet it will require some $300. Individuals have agreed to advance any sums that may be called for in addition to the money already in the Treasurer's hands. Should the sale of the pamphlets not be sufficient to repay the individ- uals the sums that they have advanced they will make no call on the town for such advances.
The Committee ask to be continued and report at some future meeting of the town.
H. C. THACHER, Chairman, for the Committee. The report was accepted and the committee continued.
On a motion made by Hon. Henry G. Crowell, the town passed a vote of thanks to the chairman for his efficient services, and to the citizens of Dennis, for their co-operation in the celebration.
A
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