USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Falmouth > The celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, June 15, 1886 > Part 6
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Content with self, with fellow-man, with God. And while he toiled his daughter did not feel Too proud to turn the humble spinning-wheel, But to her task she turns with easy grace,- No bangs obscure the beauty of her face. Or at the loom she toils; and, as she flings The shuttle through the web, she blithely sings. Such pleasure took they in their daily care; Well pleased were they to freely breathe God's air Without ambition for great wealth and power, Content with blessings of the present hour.
But times have changed. My friends, to-day we stand With power and wealth displayed on every hand. The manner of our life is not the same; Other ambitions now our hearts inflame ! But, as we struggle, let us not ignore The debt we owe to those who've gone before. Remember the present is a link of gold Between the future and the days of old. Around us, as in joy we gather here. The spirits of the past are hovering near; Their eyes are on us. May we worthy be, O Falmouth, to be called the sons of thee! And be thou e'er the refuge of the brave, As long as o'er thee freedom's flag shall wave!
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The following toasts and responses had been prepared, but were omitted for lack of time :---
An early pioneer in the railroad express business, -A. D. Hatch, Esq.
The following are the remarks prepared by A. D. Hatch, Esq., of New Bedford, to have been given in response to the above toast, if there had been time :-
Friends, you may remember that Cowper has said, in one of his hymns, that
" God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."
We find ourselves here in this world, the great battlefield of life ; we are here in 1886, celebrating the Bi-centennial of this ancient town ; we are here in the beautiful month of June, the month of roses, in which nature has dressed herself in living colors. I can speak to you in love and admiration, in this my native town, only very briefly. We have been and are partners in joy and in sorrow, in trials and in success. We cannot but raise our voices in hymns of praise to Almighty God that we live to see this day, and on this occa- sion we may look to the past, the present, and the future.
I learn that in the year 1662, or near that time, Mrs. Jonathan Hatch gave birth to the first white child born in this town, and his name was Moses. Whether he was born on a bed of bulrushes, or under a boat, I cannot inform you, as I was not present on that inter- esting occasion,-yet I claim to be a direct lineal descendant from the family of Jonathan Hatch, whose blood has coursed through the veins of generations of his numerous descendants.
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The fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, of other names, who lived in those times, although struggling with hardship and ad- versity, served God and kept his commandments. They enjoyed faith, works, morality and religion ; they did not hold Christ off at arm's length, doubting his assurance of life ; they believed they were to be saved by the love of God through Jesus Christ. The purity of their lives and the excellence of their character should and does com- mand our admiration. They have all long since passed away from this earth, and the leaves of many autumns and the snows of many winters have fallen gently upon their graves. They rest from their labors, and their works do follow them, and I have faith to believe that at this very hour their spirits are basking in the sunshine of God's eternal day.
Well, my friends, may we have thankful hearts that we live to see the progress and enjoy the prosperity of our town, which has pro- duced its full share of men and women distinguished for intelligence and industry. No town on the New England coast has more pleasant surroundings than you have. The beautiful range of hills that over- look the waters of your bay, reflects the last rays of the setting sun as it sinks below the western horizon. You have for your comfort and convenience one of the best managed railroads in the old Bay State. You have steamboats, telegraph, and a telephone managed by the Moses Hatch of the present. And I believe you will join with me in hoping and trusting in God that, long after the green turf shall have grown over our graves, the work of progress, intelligence, indus- try, and enterprise may be continued and upheld by our children and
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our children's children to the end of time. I close with this sen- timent :-
The present fathers and mothers of Falmouth-May the manly qualities of their fathers, and the Christian virtues of their mothers, descend to their sons and their daughters through coming generations.
Cape Cod, the good right arm of Massachusetts-Despite her sandy soil, exporting her best of all products,-noble sons and daughters.
RESPONSE OF HON. CHAS. F. SWIFT OF YARMOUTH.
MR. PRESIDENT :-
I thank you for the opportunity of meeting with my fellow-towns- men around the family hearthstone to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the municipal existence of the town. Especially pleasant is it to those of us who, when boys, went forth to other scenes and duties, to recall the familiar places and personages con- nected with those by-gone times ; the localities of our youthful sports ; the sites of the old school-houses ; of that academy, bearing now an honored Falmouth, name, where some of us acquired our little stock of classical lore ---
" the school-boy spot
We ne'er forget, though there we are forgot."
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You bid me, however, speak for a larger constituency than the town ; for those worthies whom Cape Cod has contributed to the stock of great names and great examples. Would that time and my own powers of expression would enable me to do full justice to the grateful task-for the subject is one filled with both inspiration and cheer. From the earliest portion of the colonial period to these hal- cyon days of the republic's existence, the men who have been trained and sent forth from the Cape, have been among the first in council, in deliberation, in command. In the old Indian and French wars their valor and skill were conspicuous. A Cape Indian was the first to enter the grand battery at Louisburg, the strongest fortress in America, in the war of 1744-8, the capture of this stronghold putting an end to the conflict.
The eloquence of that gifted son of Barnstable, James Otis, Junior, against the Writs of Assistance, led John Adams to exclaim, " then and there was Independence born !" His father, Col. James Otis,-a less eloquent, but an equally eminent and patriotic citizen -was the senior member of the Council when Hutchinson was driven from power, and for many months, by reason of his position, exercised, with the highest wisdom and sagacity, the great powers of chief executive magistrate of the State during that transcendentally important crisis in our history. As great in action, as was the younger Otis in expression and exposition, was another Revolutionary charac- ter from the good old Cape Cod stock-Isaac Sears, the patriot of New York-whose vigilance detected the secret machinations of the royal emissaries in that city, and whose magnetic leadership and con- tagious patriotism inspired the people to successful resistance.
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In the history of American jurisprudence, where shall we find a better example of wisdom, learning, and the mastery of great legal principles, than were combined in that other son of the Cape, Judge Lemuel Shaw?
The orator of the day has spoken in fitting terms of eulogy of one of Falmouth's sons, Samuel Lewis,-the Horace Mann of Ohio -whose labors as the first Superintendent of Public Instruction of that great Commonwealth, are bearing fruit in the able men whom she has given to the nation-the best "Ohio idea" being, to provide for the education of all classes of her people-and thus, though dead, the works of this son of yours speak to this and succeeding gen- erations.
The recital would still be incomplete without mention of the merchant princes and trained business men whom the Cape has sent forth to the marts of trade and commerce-the Sturgises, the Searses, the Brookses, the Swifts, the Hallets, and a host of others, whose honor and probity have been as conspicuous as their enterprise and success. Nor should we forget, in this connection, to speak of her intrepid mariners, who have carried the flag of the Union to every clime and every shore, whose keels have vexed every sea, who have grappled with the leviathan of the ocean in his native element, and brought to our doors the treasures of the Indies and the East.
I speak of these things, Mr. President, not in a spirit of boasting and vain-glory, but because the full understanding of them is essential to properly estimate the character of the founders of the Cape, and because these men and their achievements were the fruitage of the
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moral, political and social institutions which they established, and their successors perpetuated, "on these borders of the sea."
Our Wanderers-The sons and daughters of Falmouth who have wandered from the home, but ever loyal to their native soil, return to-day to celebrate with us the birthday of the town.
RESPONSE BY REV. E. D. HALL, PASTOR OF ST. PAUL'S M. E. CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, R. I.
MR. PRESIDENT, SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF FALMOUTH- :
We meet in this place of historic and personal interest, some of us coming from a distance, after long separation. We gather here not because this is a place of imperial power adorned with palaces as the capital of State, but because to us this is the one best place in all the earth. Here reposes the dust of our fathers and mothers, an honored ancestry, who gave birth to the civilization and influence which has had much to do in making us what we are and shall be.
The Moslem does not seek the tomb of Mohammed, nor the Hindoo the shrine of his saint from the sheer blindness of supersti- tion, but from an instinctive and passionate devotion to the past, memorized by history.
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Instinctively as well as intelligently we come to celebrate the might, intelligence, and strength of honored sires, amid the scenes and on the grounds they cultivated, where they walked and talked, and under the shadow of the hills and trees where they lived, to us their dwelling place is sacred by antiquity, the destruction of every tree, the changing of every watercourse, the removal of the houses in which they lived, and tombs in which they sleep, though made by the arm of improvement, does violence to our sacred affection, and mem- ory dwells with strong affection within the precincts of this grand old town. It enters even the waste places and moss-covered habitations which time has effaced, and calls back those who once lived, but long since have departed. We meet as members of the same brotherhood and family to recount familiar histories, renew old asso- ciations, form new acquaintances ; our hearts are stirred, and the love of home revived ; appropriately the town is decorated with the red, white and blue, and the fairest and the best of everything is put forth to memorize the day of its nativity.
On these heavily-laden tables no historic "fatted calf" greets us as returning wanderers, and, forsooth, we are not prodigals, driven by penury and husks back to seek a living with our elder brothers, who at home are living sumptuously, as idicated by this grand reception.
The fortunes which we bore from our native town were the prin- ciples of virtue and integrity as taught by our common ancestry, and these have sustained us and successfully aided us to cope with diffi- culty and triumph in the warfare of faith, thought and opinion.
These returning daughters, endowed with the same principles, were induced by Cupid's devices to wander into other towns and
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embellish other society and grace other homes ; but they come with joy to-day to celebrate this occasion, bringing their children with them.
Some of us have been out on the ocean, battling with its waves, seeking its treasures, or binding nations together in the bonds of commerce. Some have been practicing the mechanical arts amid the noise of machinery and the clamor of business, the selling of merchandise, and tilling of the soil. Some have been disciplining the mind teaching in schools ; others, in professional life, have been solving the mysteries of medical and theological science, moulding mind and heart, forming character which is influencing national and eternal destiny.
As returning ones, we now stand in the presence of our friends, and on our native soil. Memory gives a magic touch to the heart and clothes the scene with the hue of grandeur, and the friends of home looked just as when we left them, only with forms more noble, and faces brighter ; these old familiar fields look greener, the streams murmur louder, and the whole town, out in her best, is better- looking than ever ; and there stands Lawrence Academy to memorize the scenes of other years, of school days " by-gone," as if to welcome all its wanderers on their return ; while the old Town Hall serves its purpose now in bringing back the March-meeting days, which in enthusiasm were equal to the Fourth of July. It was there that our fathers and brothers, with wisdom and eloquence, fought the battles which sustained the interest and safety of the township, involving questions of importance, such as taxation, or, perchance, a discussion
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would arise upon the herring fishery, or the bounty on crows or foxes, electrifying the assembly.
Those were halcyon days to us boys,-our wants were limited to the amount of possession. We went to March meeting in the morn- ing with fifteen or twenty-five cents in hand, purchased our dinner and other condiments, at the various out-of-door restaurants, and car- ried some change home at night to put in the savings-bank.
Since then, some of the landmarks have gone, and many voices are hushed to sleep, and your spirit of enterprise has erected a noble and ornamental structure in which to hold your councils; it is an adornment to the town and a credit to this generation. Sacred are the memories of our Falmouth home, and gladly would we linger here, or come and celebrate another occasion like this, but such are the conditions of human life, that we must separate and leave to others this inspiring privilege "a hundred years to come," while, in our remaining pilgrimage, may we find the better country, which has possessions to make us all rich ; mansions, to give us all a home ; comforts, to supply all our wants. It is the Wanderer's Home, where friends await us all with a welcome, and the Divine Friend has pro- vided for us all a glorious reception.
The men of the sea-The icebergs of the North and the currents of the Southern seas know them, and we, too, know them, a com- pany of brave, large-souled men, to whom the town is greatly in- debted for its prosperity.
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RESPONSE OF CAPT. THOMAS H. LAWRENCE.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :-
It has been said that "brevity is the soul of wit." If that be so, my response to this sentiment on behalf of the men of the sea of this good old town, will be little else but wit, for I propose to be very brief.
The men of the sea of Falmouth (by whom I include both the present and the absent) are not known for their words, but for their deeds. They believe in the good old Scripture lesson (forever new) that "by their fruits ye shall know them." If they have borne no fruit, they have been but cumberers of the ground. Let us see, Mr. President, what are some of the fruits they have borne in the past.
They have had absolute control of millions of other people's property, without one single breach of trust. Can there be better fruit ?
They have added millions to the wealth of the State and nation. They have added hundreds of thousands to the wealth of their native town, in all parts of which may be seen monuments of their enterprise and thrift, and they have redeemed the estates of their fathers to a greater extent than any other class.
They have trained up and disciplined a body of men second to none in the world, to do efficient service on our merchant marine and in our navy. They have reclaimed from lives of misery and crime hundreds of fugitives from justice,-thieves, burglars, forgers ; in short, criminals of almost every hue, who have fled to the sea to escape the just punishment for their misdeeds, and by a long course
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of strict discipline, coupled with prompt and unquestioned obedience, and the respect for superiors required on shipboard, they have been converted from outlaws to citizens, and thus made useful in their call- ing as mariners. The men of the sea of Falmouth have been eminent as producers, not transferring from one pocket to another that which has been already produced, but by screening salt water (so to speak) , taking that which no man ever owned, they have contributed their full share to the world's wealth. As to the fruit they are now bearing as citizens of the town, State, and the United States, their work on the sea done, they are willing to be judged by others ; but, Mr. Presi- dent, as I am speaking on their behalf, I trust I shall not be consid- ered egotistic when I assert that they are still bearing fruit. They are useful members of the communities in which they live, honest, tem- perate, and industrious.
In the support of churches and schools they are almost a unit. They are just, generous, and charitable.
In loyalty to the dear old flag, and in love of country, they are in the first rank. Patriotism is a part of their nature. They are lovers of peace and good order. They love good, honest government, and they vote always and everywhere for such men as His Excellency George D. Robinson.
As a class, they exert a healthy moral influence, and in all respects maintain characters that will not be a reproach to their posterity. They mean that the world shall be better for their having lived in it, and they desire that the rising generation will emulate their virtues but shun their vices.
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TOWN OF FALMOUTH.
Mr. President, on behalf of the men of the sea of Falmouth, I thank you for the honorable mention you have made of them.
The men of 1812-Worthy sons of worthy sires ; when danger threatened their town, they hastened to defend it.
In response to this toast, the veterans, quite a number of whom were seated upon the platform, were expected to rise.
The soldiers of 1861-Falmouth still finds her sons loyal to the principles imparted by the fathers, and history records their valor on many a battlefield, in defense of the Union.
RESPONSE OF MR. ELIJAH SWIFT OF EAU CLAIRE, WIS.
I thank you, Mr. President, for your courteous invitation to speak a word in response to this kind recognition of the Falmouth " boys in blue."
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200TH ANNIVERSARY.
As the children of the town assemble, or come from the scattered homes of their pilgrimage, to the memorial feast of this ancient town, within the borders of the good Old Colony, it is not the accident of birth, merely, that brings to the partakers pleasurable pride and eager rejoicing. It is the fact of an honored past,-worthy of record as a stimulus to the present ; it is pride in a noble ancestry ; it is the de- sire to keep unforgotten our vital connection with those who did so well among their brethren in laying the foundations of the republic.
And who were those dozen men, who, with their wives and little ones, came coasting along the shores of yonder sound, over two hun- dred years ago, and pulled up their boats just below,-entering upon, what seemed to them, a goodly land?
Were they men of martial experience or training, fond of the pomp and circumstance of war? Nay-they were pre-eminently men of peace, seekers after tranquil repose, and for many years they lived upon the green plains of these shores, and among the bordering hills and woodlands, at peace,-Friend and Calvinist alike,-with the red men and with their countrymen of the neighboring colony.
Nevertheless, they had brought with them, and they carried along through generations, an innate spirit of personal liberty and governmental freedom, a spirit which had found utterance in the grand old constitution of England, but which in this new land drank in a deeper inspiration, and assumed forms to which the mother-land was a stranger.
This spirit was, too, one of self-sacrifice. It found expression amid the scenes of the Revolution,-in Colonel Dimmock's minute men, ready at a moment to strike in defense of the right, and to dare
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on land or sea. It found expression during the war of 1812, in the ceaseless vigilance of these well-guarded coasts, in the daring attack upon the enemy's privateers, in Gunner Crocker's well-pointed four- pounders, which inspired the hostile barges with a salutary fear, and in many homes, too, where wives and mothers held midnight vigils for the husband or son away on perilous enterprise.
This spirit, thank God, has never died out, and when, in the hour of supreme peril, your sons, a quarter of a century ago, were called to defend, with their brethren, the endangered national life and our dearest liberties, what could they have done other than that they did ? They were no adventurers ; it was not they ; it was the outgoing of your soul, of your life, good old Falmouth !
Stories told by mothers, the grandsire's recollections, the patriotic teaching of your schools sowed the seed, and when the kindling eye betrayed parental pride in giving the son, while the moistened cheek was showing parental solicitude, who that could go to the front,-the place of dangerous duty,-did not ?
I think, comrades here present, that we may claim that we tried faithfully to do our duty and to be true to those principles taught in this goodly town.
And now, upon this memorial day, I must mention the name of one of Falmouth's sons in the late war ; not by way of comparison, but as a type of Falmouth men.
While on special service, I chanced to meet him being borne to the rear, and had the privilege, in some slight degree, of ministering to his necessities. Quiet and timid by nature, and weakened by dis- ease, yet fired with a proud determination to do his full duty, he had
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persistently pressed to the front when urged to remain behind for recov- ering of health, but at last perforce he fell out by the way. His soul gazed wistfully out of full-orbed, lustrous eyes as he recognized the fact that he could do no more for his country.
The remains of Horace E. Lewis now rest in a soldier's grave on the shores of the Gulf, and his pure spirit has gone to God who gave it.
And thus, fellow-townsmen, may it ever be. May the spirit of the fathers and noble mothers of this town be never lost, and the memories of those who "builded better than they knew" flourish in perennial verdure !
The past ministers of Falmouth-With fidelity and diligence they delivered their message of Divine truth, and they led their flock on the way to heaven.
RESPONSE BY REV. H. K. CRAIG.
Falmouth has reason to cherish with affection and reverence the memory of its ministry in the past. The foundations of the town were laid in Christian principles, and a vital element in its history down to the present time has been a regard for religious institutions. The early records, both of the town and the churches, are incomplete,
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and there are some names of those that have done pastoral service here that are names merely, and suggest no distinct personality ; but we are certainly warranted in saying that, as a class, the ministers of Fal- mouth have been men of strong convictions and finished scholarship, and especially of warm earnestness and devotion to practical work. The three denominations-the Congregational, the Methodist, and the Episcopal-which have established churches within the limits of the town, have each been represented by men of great respectability, and I do not recall the name of any minister in the years gone by of whom the town has cause to be ashamed. A word in response to the sentiment may not be out of place from me, having reference to some of those who have done pastoral duty in the original church of the town, now known as the First Congregational church. The Rev. Samuel Palmer was ordained over this church in April, 1731, and held the office until his death, in 1775, this pastorate of forty-four years being the longest in the history of the town. Judging from the church record, which furnishes about the only material, so far as I know, for forming acquaintance with the man, we should say that it was a faith- ful and fruitful ministry. Evidently great attention was paid to church discipline, and members kept a careful watch upon each others' con- duct. Every little while there occurs some entry similar to the fol- lowing :- " March 14, 1745. At a church meeting an information of Brother Joseph Childs against Brother Hatch Rowley was considered, wherein complaint was made that Brother Hatch Rowley, some time in the winter, when he and others were catching bass, appeared to have drank more strong drink than was convenient, and that in a matter relating to fishing he had trespassed upon the law of truth,
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