USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > The celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, August 16, 1844 > Part 10
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REV. THOMAS COBBEIT'S HOUSE.
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ADDRESS OF COL. LUTHIER CALDWELL.
We have exhausted the day, the dinner, ourselves, and, very nearly, the audience.
Now I am to speak of our absent fellow-townsmen. Per- haps you will expect me to say something about Ipswich being a good place to emigrate from ; but I will not say that, because Ipswich is a good place to emigrate to, and a very desirable place to live in. "Young man, go West," said Horace Greeley ; but Mr. Greeley had never visited Ipswich, or he would have said, "Young man, go to Ipswich." It should be remembered that our fathers who came to America were obliged to land on the coast : the rich lands of the in- terior were closed to them. On all the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Florida, there is no more pleasant or healthy place than Ipswich, nor one on the seashore line more fertile, or containing more natural beauties, or greater advantages. Mr. President, I know something of the coast from Maine to Florida ; I have been along its entire extent, and I know of no more beautiful place along the whole eastern coast of the United States than here. If our ancestors had sought for some place, if they had known as thoroughly as we know the Atlantic coast to-day, they could have entered no more beautiful harbor, they could have found no more fruitful fields, than you find here in old Ipswich. To those of us who have wandered away, these attractions of the town are ever present in mind wherever we go. To those of you who have remained, and kept green the graves of our venerable sires, and cultivated the ancestral farms, Pope's words are appropriate : -
" Happy the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground.
" Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire, Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter, fire."
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THE TOWN OF IPSWICH.
Mr. President, this has been a red-letter day, indeed, for old Ipswich. Her sons have come from near and afar; and friendly greetings between those long absent and separated, has been one of the marked features of this notable occas- ion. The town has been hardly able to hold all the thou- sands gathered within her fold. The decorations of both public and private buildings have been general and in good taste. The grand old elms which ornament the streets on every side, stretching out their broad-armed branches over our heads, as if invoking countless blessings thereon, stand like
" Sentinels to guard enchanted land."
The summer foliage of the trees and herbage never looked fairer and fresher; and the beauty of the town in all its parts, draped, and in its holiday attire, makes the visit of your absent sons a luxury and joy, and an event long to be remembered with just pride. Also especially to be con- mended was the soldierly bearing and military discipline of the veterans of "Grand Army " boys, whose appearance, with full ranks of the Ipswich and Essex posts, has been the proudest and most honorable feature of all the incidents of this great and brilliant celebration. In closing these brief remarks, permit me, in behalf of your absent sons, to thank and compliment you, Mr. President, the committee, and the people of this dear old town, on the success of this anniver- sary of its incorporation.
THE TOAST-MASTER. - We would like a further response from Rev. R. S. RUST.
RESPONSE OF REV. R. S. RUST.
MR. PRESIDENT, - At this late hour I beg to be excused. I want to show that there is one descendant of Ipswich that is not an everlasting talking-machine.
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ADDRESS OF MR. FRANCIS R. APPLETON.
THE TOAST-MASTER. - We have another toast that surely is very apt. We have been talking about the virtues of the men of old Ipswich. It would be very ungallant in us not to remember that there were women in the olden time. Though they lived in log-cabins, and their hands handled the loom and the knitting-needle, and they dressed in homespun, they were ladies every inch. And though these sons of those old worthies may not inherit the olden virtues, certainly we may not say of the daughters of those olden ladies, that they are not their peers every whit. In response to this toast,
" The Ladies of Ipswich,"
we would be pleased to hear from Mr. FRANCIS R. APPLETON.
All the adjacent seats on the platform being occu- pied by ladies, Mr. Appleton, on rising, assured the audience of a short speech, by calling attention to the fact that he was already in the midst of his sub- ject. Mr. Appleton then spoke as follows : -
ADDRESS OF MR. FRANCIS R. APPLETON.
MR. PRESIDENT, - When, in the course of events, a man finds himself about to pay his addresses to one lady in par- ticular, there is for him uncertainty and trepidation enough about it. Now, at your invitation, sir, I make bold to offer my lips to salute such an array of loveliness as my modesty never dreamed of. But who could be backward when the ladies of Ipswich summon him to arms ? This is a compli- cated and difficult question, - how to treat our girls ? It was in the endeavor to solve the problem of how to treat his girl, that a young man in a near town was filled with con-
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sternation and dismay at reading the words over a confec- tioner's door : " Ice-cream, one dollar per gal !"
I will not presume to draw a picture of any Ipswich ladies who, all about us to-day, have enlisted our hearts. However skilful my pencil, the features might not resemble the mini- ature each one of you men carries in his heart ; and the ladies themselves, in their dissatisfaction, might destroy the portrait and the artist besides.
The general part of this interesting subject, Mr. President, I will leave to its own bewildering cloud of fascination and delusion, with the ancient remark, " If woman is a conun- drum we cannot guess, we will at least never give her up."
It is to the daughters of Ipswich that I come to make my bow to-day, for myself, and for you, Mr. President, and for all of us. These are the jewels that old Ipswich bids us behold. Though I have admired them long, I have never been allowed to tell my love till now. It is impossible to look upon the women of Ipswich, who delight us to-day, without a thought - and that a most reverent one - of the honored women of the olden time. As I have listened to- day to accounts of the austere and sombre character of the Puritan fathers, I am reminded of the witty remark of Mr. Choate, himself a son of Ipswich, and whom we all miss here to-day, to the effect, that, in his opinion, the Puritan mothers deserve more consideration of us than the Puritan fathers, because they had to endure not only all the Puri- tan fathers had to endure, but they had to endure the Puri- tan fathers themselves.
The virtues of these Puritan mothers were great and high. How well have their descendants testified to that noble heri- tage ! On that shaft yonder are inscribed the names of dead heroes. Between and about the engraved roll there is an- other writing, - a record above the engraver's art to express. It is the devotion and sacrifice of the mothers, the wives, and sweethearts to whom those brave men belonged.
Dame Ipswich is pre-eminently our mother to-day, as, clothed in her lasting beauty, she sits offering hospitality
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LETTER FROM IPSWICHI, ENGLAND.
and welcome. Since her last birthday meeting, a genera- tion of sons and daughters has been born unto her, has looked upon her brown hills, walked her streets, and many of them passed out the other side. It is your high office, Mr. President, on this occasion, as on the former, to stand by the side of the old lady, and, acting as her chamberlain, to introduce her returning children. I am sure you, in common with us all, wish that we might put our arms about her Great Neck, to show our filial love.
As she grows weightier with years and importance, and, in the time to come, fairer and rounder with increasing and ever-honorable maternity, may God bless the fair women who become her daughters !
BAND. - " The Girl I left behind Me."
THE TOAST-MASTER. - Our old mother is also a dutiful daughter, and she sent her respects to, old Ipswich over the sea; and a very pleasant response has come, in the shape of a letter from the Mayor of Ipswich, in which he says, -
LETTER FROM THE MAYOR OF IPSWICH, ENGLAND.
IPSWICHI, July 29, 1884.
DEAR SIR, - I regret it is not in my power to be present at the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Ipswich, Mass., as my mayoralty duties entirely prevent my being absent from home for any long period during my year of office. I should have returned thanks for old Ipswich among some of the descendants of those who emi- grated from their native land in order that they might have free- dom to carry out their political and religious opinions, which was denied them in England. Being a descendant in a direct line from Philip Henry, I can fully sympathize with your Puritan fathers, who endured persecution because they desired to carry out their own views ; and admire their adherence to those glorious principles which actuated Cromwell, Hampden, and that noble
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TIIE TOWN OF IPSWICHI.
band who fought for their liberties, rather than bend and be trodden down by our Stuart kings.
Wishing that your enterprising town may increase and prosper, and ever be celebrated for its civil and religious liberty,
Yours faithfully,
JOHN MAY, Mayor of Ipswich, England.
JOHN HEARD, Esq., of the Committee of Arrangements.
To-day has brought us a cablegram from the cor- poration of Ipswich as follows : -
TELEGRAM FROM IPSWICH, ENGLAND. [RECEIVED AT 9.27 A.M., AUG. 16, 1884.]
AUG. 15, 1884.
The Corporation of Ipswich, England, send their hearty congratu- lations to the Corporation of Ipswich, Mass., on the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of their incorporation, and wish them continued prosperity.
MAYOR OF IPSWICH, ENGLAND.
May I ask the band to play " God save the Queen " ?
The band played " God save the Queen."
THE TOAST-MASTER. - We come now to the last toast on this occasion, which is,
" The Survivors of the Last Celebration, 1834."
I invite a response from one of those who partici- pated in that celebration, the Hon. S. H. PHILLIPS.
ADDRESS OF HON. S. H. PHILLIPS.
MR. PRESIDENT, - I must say it is not very exhilarating, when the lengthening shadows of evening remind us of the close of the day, to be called upon to play the part of an old
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ADDRESS OF HON. S. HI. PHILLIPS.
man. As I remember matters fifty years ago, the people whom we were called upon to stand aside for were the sur- viving soldiers of the Revolution, - those decrepit old men who were handed into carriages, and who hield canes in their hands as they tottered towards them. Well, now, I hope I have not quite come to that. But, Mr. President, I think I have a right to say, if you will call upon me as a veteran, that I am only a veteran by brevet: I am not a veteran in the line of commission at all. I have got some good fight in me yet. And yet it is literally true, and just exactly and only literally true, that I was present at your celebration fifty years ago. It came about in the most natural way in the world. I remember one evening old Mr. John White Treadwell, a native of Ipswich, and an old friend of my father, came into my father's house and said, "You must all go to the Ipswich celebration this year. Haven't you got anything to do with Ipswich ?"- " Yes," said my father : " my mother is a descendant of an Ipswich family." [She was a descendant of the Simple Cobbler of Agawam; but I didn't know that then.] "But," said Mr. Treadwell, "you must go." They decided to go. Like an impertinent little fellow, I said, " Can't I go too ?" I felt as innocent and unsophisticated as Oliver Twist when he asked for more. " What in the world can we do with you ?" said my honored parent. "Well, I guess I can go."-" No," said my father : "you will be terribly in the way." Then my old grand- mother chimed in, and said, "Perhaps that boy, if he wants to go so much, ought to have a chance. You ought to give him an opportunity to go. What he sees he will remember, and perhaps he will tell about it twenty or thirty years hence." So they gave in, these two old gentlemen : they could not stand my grandmother's real Ipswich spirit. She was an Appleton, and proud of her Ipswich descent. I inter- jected that the celebration would occur on my birthday, and by teasing I got a chance to come to Ipswich. Well, the day came around, and early in the morning we started off for Ipswich. There were no railroads in those days : at
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THE TOWN OF IPSWICHI.
any rate, none in Essex County, - no railroad at all, -and we made the journey from Salem to Ipswich in a one-horse chaise. We got to Ipswich. It was not such a gala-day as we celebrate to-day, and yet we felt pretty grand. And what did I especially notice everywhere as I looked around ? Salem men - Salem men here, and Salem men there. I may call names now, because it was a good while ago, - Mr. William Lummus, and then old Mr. Jesse Smith the watch- maker. Said I to my father, "Do all the Salem people live in Ipswich ?"- "No," he replied; " but most of the Ipswich people go to Salem." I have two old gentlemen in mind now. There is one of them [pointing to Mr. Jeremiah S. Perkins]: they have been sitting opposite me at the table. They were old men fifty years ago. They are the kind of old men you want to bring up. Fifty years ago that was an old man. He used to make my clothes, I believe.
MR. PERKINS. - Yes, sir.
MR. PHILLIPS. - Well, those were the men that we found here.
I will try to tell you a little more about that celebration, if I can remember it with exactness. My grandmother told me to remember it twenty or thirty years. We got into the procession. I never was in one before in my life. I thought it almost too ridiculous for anything. One kind young gentleman, however, took me by the hand and said, " You can walk in right behind the old folks." There I saw the chief marshal of the day, Colonel Miller, a gentleman I remember seeing about Salem when he was an officer of the Salem Cadets. I remember him by the red coat he wore when he trained : I don't remember much except that. He was the chief marshal of the day. I got into the church. Another young gentleman, I don't know who it was, took me by the hand and led me in. I had not been in the church long, before the services commenced. It was an old- fashioned church, with square pews with little railings on top. Before long, crack, crack, went the galleries! I never knew such a commotion. Everybody jumped. What they
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ADDRESS OF HON. S. H. PHILLIPS.
were jumping for I didn't know; but I feel very sure I did some of the jumping myself, for I found myself in a little pew, with an old Revolutionary soldier sitting at my side. He said, " My little friend, what would n't I give if I were as nimble as you are ! I wish I could go over a pew-rail as quick as you." Then I heard somebody calling out terribly for Colonel Kimball. I didn't know what Colonel Kimball had to do with it; but I remember that pretty soon Mr. J. Choate Kimball came along, and they brought in two great pieces of joist, and caused them to be placed up under the gallery to shore it up. Then, after it was all comfortable, Colonel Kimball, I fancy it was, or some such man, got up, and said the gallery was perfectly safe, and there was no danger, and we sat down and tried to be calm ; for even all the ecclesiastical learning of Dr. Dana, and the astounding eloquence of Mr. Choate, were not enough to keep us quiet in the excitement. I stood it as well as I could. I had seen Mr. Choate in Salem before that. I thought he was a most extraordinary man. What glossy curly black hair he had ! How he curled up his lower lip ! How he pounded that old pulpit ! He was an energetic speaker, I can tell you. Well, I listened and listened, and I did wish it would end. I thought I would never go to another Ipswich celebration as long as I lived. But still I suppose it was all very fine. Everybody else said it was, and so I suppose it was. Well, the thing ended finally, and then we went out.
Then there was to be a dinner. The dinner was laid somewhere about where this tent is pitched now ; but every- thing was on a smaller scale. When I got out there, my much respected parent showed by strong signs that he wished that little boy of his had staid at home; for, of all the elephants on a small scale, he was about the worst - always in the way, always asking questions. "Little folks should be seen, and not heard." I perceived that he wished I was at home : still I fought my way. I meant to see the celebration out, and I did. My father rather excused himself from going to the dinner at all. He could not go because he had got to
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THE TOWN OF IPSWICII.
take care of me. Then old Judge Cummings, -don't any of you remember Judge Cummings ? [A voice, "Yes, sir."]-a man of most benign appearance, a man who always had a care for little boys, - he came up and patted me on the head, and said, "I think the boy ought to have a chance too." I looked at him with wonder, admiration, love, and praise. I never saw a man I admired as much in my life as I did that man. I was going to get something to eat. He had a very old- fashioned look, a commanding figure, curly brown hair, an immense frill to his shirt, and a very grand and airy ap- pearance in every way. He took me by one hand, and my respected parent took me by the other, and in we went and sat down to dinner. I suppose it was first-rate. I suppose it tasted about as well to me as it would have done to Lieu- tenant Greely's poor Arctic voyagers. It seemed to me to be the grandest dinner I ever had in my life. I ate everything that was in front of me. I particularly remember old Mr. Lord, your much respected Register of Probate down here so many years. He presided. He had then a most venerable aspect : I believe he was always that kind of a man, and always looked venerable. He produced some pears, and gave us a history of the old pear-tree on which they grew. I wish I had some of the pears now. But we got through with the dinner. I had never been to a public dinner before, and I didn't know what they were made of, or what people had to eat. I supposed everybody was as hungry as I was, and was expected to eat as much as I did. But " the feast of reason and the flow of soul" was something I did not appreciate until much later in life. This " feast of reason and the flow of soul" began ; and old men whose names have passed away, whose faces are lost sight of, but whose memory lives in the grate- ful affections of the people of this county, got up one after another, and spoke about old times. I remember Mr. Sal- tonstall, not our friend here to-day, but his distinguished father, - I remember how he spoke with earnestness and clearness, looking right out at the end of the tent where a cloth was pinned on with the inscription: "In General Court,
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ADDRESS OF HON. S. H. PHILLIPS.
August 5, 1634 (old style), Voted that Agawam be called Ipswich." " That," Mr. Saltonstall said, "is commonplace enough, and yet, after all, it was the day of the foundation of a town as distinguished and as worthy in New England annals as any town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." I remember distinctly Mr. Saltonstall's allusion to that. Two or three others spoke. Finally Mr. Choate spoke. I remember the Salem people : I do not remember those that were not Salem people. At last Mr. Choate got going again. Well, I thought, if he were not the queerest man ! I have seen him a good deal since; but he did seem to me then the queerest man I ever put eyes on. I never heard a man that could roll off the words as fast as he did and tell such stories. He told one story (one gentleman here says my father told it; but he did not) - I remember some story of this kind, of the old worthies, old Puritan worthies. An old man had been taunting a minister (perhaps it was old Ward, the Simple Cobbler of Agawam), an energetic old minister of the day, because things didn't go very well with him. Finally they got mixed up in a wrestling-match, and the minister threw the old man over the fence. I said, "Did they have such ministers in those days ?"-"Well," Judge Cummings said, " they had different ministers in those days, and, if you ever come here to another centennial, you will find that the people that you meet here another day will be a good deal different from what we are." I believe it has been said here to-day that Governor Winthrop came here on one occasion "to exer- cise by way of prophecy." Judge Cummings must have been exercising himself " by way of prophecy " on that occasion. It seems as if he had spoken the truth, as I look back to-day upon all which has occurred. How much food there is for reflection for all of us ! How much has come to pass within a few years ! and within fifty years how very much !
I said, when I began, that there was no railroad at the time we first came to Ipswich. There was a railroad partly opened between Boston and Newton, on the road to Worcester. In the course of that dinner it was the subject of conversation as 9
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THE TOWN OF IPSWICHI.
one of the current events of the day. The gentlemen around us talked about it as an occasion of some importance; but they came to the conclusion that the railroad would not come to much. It would be pretty hard to make a railroad which would be self-sustaining ; and in this country, at least, to say nothing of England, the idea of making a railroad profitable was absolutely out of the question.
So much for the wisdom of the great men of those days. Why, I think that if the worthy fathers of the County of Essex could revisit this world once more, and take part in the festivities of this occasion, and consider the events which are transpiring all around us, they would pause in solemn awe while they contemplated the growth of this country, the development of its material wealth, the marvellous achieve- ments in science, the enlargement of human liberty every- where, and the general advancement of the human race. In view of the solemnity of this occasion, looking forward to the distant future for what may transpire hereafter, with a deep feeling of reverence for the past, and an all-abiding faith in the all-hail hereafter, let us leave it to those who may speak in this place fifty years hence to delineate the next chapter in the progress of Ipswich.
TELEGRAM TO IPSWICH, ENGLAND.
MR. SAYWARD. - It has been suggested that a re- sponse should be made by this assembly to the tele- gram which has been received from England, and Mr. HEARD proposes this : -
To the Mayor of Ipswich, England.
AUG. 16, 1884.
The town of Ipswich, celebrating its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, sends thanks to Mother Ipswich for her kindly greeting, and best wishes for her continued prosperity.
The telegram was accepted by the audience.
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CLOSING EXERCISE.
CLOSING EXERCISE.
THE TOAST-MASTER. - We will now close our fes- tivities by a selection from the band : "Auld Lang Syne."
The band played "Auld Lang Syne," and, while the audience was separating, played a march.
SELECTIONS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
AUGUSTA, ME., Aug. 12, 1884.
MR. SAYWARD, Chairman of the Committee of Invitation.
DEAR SIR, - It is with sincere regret that I find myself unable to be present at the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Ipswich.
Personally I have the most agreeable associations with your town, and by marriage I have a right to sit at your board. My children inherit the blood of two families who were among the original colonists that pitched their tents at Ipswich.
With such ample reason for deep interest in your town, I need not assure you of the great pleasure it would give me to join in your celebration, if my engagements would permit me to leave Maine at this time.
Very sincerely, JAMES G. BLAINE.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, PENSION OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 7, 1884.
GEORGE E. FARLEY, Esq., Secretary, etc., Ipswich, Mass.
DEAR SIR, -I have your invitation of the 29th of July to attend the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Ipswich, and regret very much my inability to be with you. I regret it the more, as my maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Wade, is identified with the early history of the place, having resided there during and prior to the Revolution- ary War, in which he took a prominent part. He was, I believe, a minute-man at Bunker Hill, and afterwards served as colonel or
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THE TOWN OF IPSWICHI.
lieutenant-colonel on the staff of one of the general officers, and was at one time, I think, temporarily in command of West Point, after the desertion of Arnold.
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