USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Ludlow > The history of Ludlow, Massachusetts > Part 37
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* See page 71
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laid tenderly away in a peaceful grave! The assembled crowds here, the martial array, the solemn music, and the sharp discharges of musketry at his burial, will never be forgotten .*
All these men whose names have been called died young, some on the field of battle, some in hospitals, and more still in the infamous rebel prison at Andersonville. But they lived not in vain. They actually achieved for themselves, in their short lives, a reputation to which but few comparatively attain. Until that granite shaft crumbles in dust their memories will survive, and their manly virtues be rehearsed.
Sleep. sleep, Be brave who -ink to rest With all your country's wishes blest.
LABOR AND ITS REWARDS
Thus far in my address have I confined myself chiefly to the past; to so much of the history of the century now ending as relates to this little rural town, and could be conveniently brought within the nar- row limits of an hour. Not being a prophet, I will make no attempt to forecast your future, farther than to say that, judging from the quiet annals we have reviewed, you may well hope hereafter to make steady progress-not, perhaps, larger in population nor in the factitious wealth and consequent distinction of cities, but in the increase of your fields and gardens, the enriching and beautifying of your homes, and what is better still, in giving expansion and efficacy to your religious and educational institutions.
The discounting banks from which your dividends are mostly to come, are those which God and nature have given you. - the gentle slopes of these hills and the fertile intervals of the living streams that flow around your farms. There you will find gold purer than in the mines of the mountains, and silver that is more satisfying. In these fruitful fields of yours the work of your hands will not fail of a rich reward. Be sure the time has gone by, or is swiftly passing, when men of intelligence indulge a prejudice against manual labor as being degrading. The union of hard work with self-respect and mental cul- ture may be seen all over our land; and he that would turn away from the plow and drop from his hands the axe and spade, that he may be a gentleman of leisure, a starched and perfumed creature, should be written down a slothful servant and sent to school to the insignificant ant as a teacher wise enough for him. The measuring off of calico and crinoline, the weighing of sugar and tea, or speculating on 'change in State and Wall streets, bring no enlargement of mind or conscious- ness of power,-do not make a robust body, nor particularly favor a healthful state of morals. All human growth of highest value, all upward and heavenward progress, come from struggling with difficulties,
* Sie biographical sketch, page 288.
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come from conflict, come from labor, from hard work. The kingdom of heaven, both here and hereafter, suffereth violence. Strive to enter in. No weak and puny effort will lift one to the skies. Toil is a necessity; earnest, persevering labor is indispensable, both to our living worthily and usefully here, and happily hereafter. Alas for the man the parasite that does nothing to increase the real wealth of the world. or add to the general sum of happiness. Every righteous verdict is, "Cast ve the unprofitable servant into outer darkness."
I know that the people of this town indorse these sentiments, both in their belief and practice; and I only desire to give emphasis to them and venture the prediction of their ultimate, universal acceptance.
HOPEFUL OL ILOOK
Looking now over broader fields, to the hopeful mind there are bright prospects and encouraging omens of better days, notwithstand- ing the dark clouds that flot at times over the vision, and carry despondency to timid souls. It cannot be that society is only sliding backward, and hurrying swiftly to the bad. I prefer to think, and with reason as well as in the light of revelation, that this old world of ours, ceaselessly swinging in its orbit, is making progress in the right direction: and that the present age, especially, into which all the past is pouring wisdom, may be justly characterized, for rapid growth, for large developments, for the diffusion of just sentiments, for the prac- tice of a broader philanthropy and a higher morality. True, the evidence is not in credit mobiliers, in sdary grabs, in frequent briberies and embezzlements, and numerous first-class frauds; but it is in the fact of their ready exposure, and the denunciation of such deeds, coming from all parties, and the solemn protests of every secular as well as religions journal in the land against them. These frequent criminal acts which make us blush for human kind, are no more numerous now that at any preceding period, other things being equal. But they are in the daylight now ; they cannot be covered up as formerly; a thousand voices that used to be silent cry out against them, and load down the winds with just complaints of the wrong. Every man, however obscure, thinks for himself, reads his daily paper, reasons on politics and religion, sees through the disguises and envelopments of pretended rank and equipage and renown, and measures others, of both high and low degree, by some just standard. The men of high repute never trembled as they do now for their sins done in secret. They are seen of men, and held to account, even by those whom they feign to despise.
Are there back-settings and counter-currents in the onflowing tide of good; or, at times, an apparent increase of immorality and evil? It has always been so. It is God's prerogative to evolve good from evil. The night precedes the day. The sharp drouths of last summer
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with a scanty harvest following, and our cold, backward spring, were prophetic of this beautiful summer, and an unusually fruitful autumn to come. The 17th of June on Bunker Hill was seemingly a disastrous day to the friends of popular institutions; and so were the 18th and 21st of July of Bull Run memory; but they hastened on brighter days than the sun had ever seen, and loosened chains, soon to fall off from both minds and bodies of long-suffering races, crushed to earth.
We are now a free people. Slaves cannot breathe here. Every man, white or black, may carve out his own fortune, may acquire prop- erty, may compete for office and honors, yea, even the highest in the land. irrespective of his birth or blood. Has there not been progress, then, in our civil polity? In no other period of our history couldl slavery be abolished, but the present.
In morals and religion, also, there are the same marked and encour- aging changes. Never has the religious element in our churches been so active and aggressive; never before was it clothed with sufficient power to carry forward the grand temperance reformation with such marvelous success until this year. Almost every State and County and Town is reached by this reform. God grant it so much success that soon, like slavery, it may be among the things of the past. I am glad to learn that even your old mother town is adopting the wise, safe practice of drinking pure, cold water; and that she may never want for it, asks of her fair daughter the privilege of constructing an unfailing reservoir between the rocky ramparts of your Mount Minca- chogue and Facing Hills,
Taking the progress of the past as a measure, with so much already done, and the prospects ever brightening, what will not another cen- tury do? Who says the world does not move? It does, and the pos- sibilities of the future, imagination fails to reach. The people that will live in 1974, on these hills and plains, and in these valleys, shall see the wilderness become as fruitful fields, the fields pleasant gar- dens, and quietness and assurance be theirs forever. While we do not expect to be present at the Bi-centennial they will celebrate, we send them happy greetings across the intervening space of the century to come.
A bow of promise spans the future. Better days than ever are dawning upon our country and the world; when all men's good shall be the rule of each, -
And universal peace Lie like a shaft of light across the land. And like a lane of beams athwart the sea, Through all the circle of the golden years.
Following the hour of earnest and appreciative attention, the clos- ing prayer was made by Rev. E. N. Pomeroy, pastor of the upper
HISTORY OF LUDLOW
Congregational Church in West Springfield, and the benediction wds pronounced by Rev. D. R. Austin.
Scarcely had the exercises closed when a terrific shower, whose thunderings had for some moments been muttering in the clouds, broke with torrents upon the assembly. All who could took care of them- selves inside the tents, while some hundreds hurried into the adjoining church, kindly opened on the occasion. The town house, horse-sheds, barns, and houses in the vicinity were overrun with refugees for a few moments, until the fury of the storm was expended.
It had been arranged to station the band outside the tent and have played a few stirring airs, to draw the people out, and then to form a procession, march to the music of a dirge to the cemetery, visit the graves of friends and then return to the tent in time to re-eat, and receive what the army of waiters might have to offer. But,
The best laid schemes of mice an' men Gang aft agley.
and so it was proved in this case. A dilemma was presented, but Luilow wit was not yet exhausted. Happy are they who, when their own plans fail, can adapt themselves to circumstances. The pleasant voice of the marshal was soon heard calling for the withdrawal of two hundred from the rear of the auditorium tent to the galleries of the town house, with which request the desired number soon complied, and the work of distribution of food commenced and continued for nearly an hour, the company meanwhile gathering together in knots and visiting to their hearts content. At last the keen appetite of the crowd was satiated, and they were ready for the after-dinner exercises.
The first toast, "The Governor of the Commonwealth," elicited the following letter:
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
EXECUTIVE DI PARTIMENI. Boston, 11th June, 1874.
Dear Sir: - I should be happy to accept your invitation to the Ludlow Centennial Celebration if I were not already engaged for the day on which it occurs. Therefore I must ask you to excuse me, and make my regrets to your committee.
Very truly yours, Thomas Talbot.
B. F. Burr, Esq. Secretary.
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The second toast, announced by Major Hubbard, toastmaster, "The land we love." received a response from Rev. D. R. Austin, who gave the necessary eulogy to the country, and then related personal remi- niscences of his ministry in the town.
"The Historian of the Day," called up Rev. Mr. Tuck, who spoke very pleasantly, gently touching up as he went along those newspapers which had forestalled him in making public the gist of his address.
"Home again," drew out Professor White, whose remarks we are happy to give in the speaker's own language:
Surrounded by those who but a little while ago were boys and girls with me, and are now developed into men and women filling with honor their places in society, I feel that I should be false to the best prompt- ings of our hearts, if I should neglect to refer to the faithful teachers whose careful investments in our young life have been so productive of good to us. To mention the names of Theodocia Howard, afterward the mother of one who has been an esteemed pastor in the town, and of George Booth, so long a pillar in the church and a citizen whom his townsmen delighted to honor, cannot, I am sure, fail to awaken in many hearts feelings of warm affection and high respect. Many others, of earlier or later times, equally worthy, are remembered doubtless with like affection by those whose lives have been enriched by their labors.
But I need make no apology in mentioning as worthy of peculiar honor the name of one young lady teacher of our time, who served us for a series of years with singleness of aim, and with remarkable energy and success. My old schoolmates here to-day will anticipate me in giving the name of Mary B. Newell, now Mrs. E. B. Scott, of Brant, Calumet County, Wis. In my recollections of our teachers, it is but justice to say, that Miss Nowell has ever occupied the central place. Nor does she lose this position when I enlarge the group by adding the honored and titled names of the teachers of my subsequent years. It must have been as early as 1830, when in the vigor and bloom of her young womanhood she was first introduced to us as our teacher. In despite of a strictness at which even those days sometimes demurred, she has always been nearest my ideal of a good teacher. No escape was there from sharp work in her school. If she could not instill wisdom into us by gentle means, none better than she knew how to whip it into her pupils, and there were, I think, few among us who did not, sooner or later, test the quality of the birch as plied by her hand, with moder- ation where that would do, but unsparingly if the case required it.
But whipping by no means describes her ustal method. With the instinct of a cultivated Christian young lady, and with rare skill, she
THISTORY OF LUDLOW
found the nobler side of ber pupils and awakened in them conscience and a love for their tasks, and then, by an enthusiasm that made her the very end odiment of life, she inspired as well as instructed her pupils, and so in a good degree made the daily work of that old schoolhouse a fine art.
Nor was this all. The pupils of Mary Nowell will never forget with what persevering endeavor she taught them to think. With a patience and fact that no dullness on our part could thwart, she made us under- derstand the distinction between the questions, What? How? and Why? and so led our little minds in the path of a true analysis, and contributed to our development more than could any amount of mere learning and saving lessons. Is it a wonder, then, that neither scores of years, not the rivers, mountains, and plains of a continent that for most of that time have intervened, have removed her from the place she had gained in our hearts? For one I can say that a feeling of grateful respect for her, and a desire to do her honor, placing her in this regard next in my heart to a mother, have been among the inspirations of my life.
Miss Newell, many years ago, removed to the West, where the con- tinuer to labor as a teacher till at past the age of sixty she was hap- pily married. At ber visit among us a few years since, with her husband, we, the boys and girls of her early days, were proud to find that single life had left no blight upon our dear old teacher. Loving and loved all the way by succeeding generations of young life, neither time nor occasion had she to try the experience of the "anxious and aimless." Fresh and fair, and in heart as young as ever, she furnished a practical refutation of the whim of writers of fiction, that only in wifehood and mother- hood can the charms of womanhood be preserved and find their fairest development.
The next toast was, "A name revered, Ebenezer B. Wright," to whose memory Rev. Simeon Miller gave a deserved testimonial.
"Our honored relic, the Old Meeting-house," brought to the front Hon. Edwin Booth, of Philadelphia, a native of the town, who had been desired to preface his remarks by reading a poem handed in anony- mously, which was as follows:
In good old times of which we read, Before the thought of gain and greed Had blunted all our finer feeling, Had set our better judgment reeling, There lived a very worthy dame. And Springfield they had called her name. In fashion then (now 'twould be fare) Her frequent offspring claimed her care.
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When they had strength and courage shown To manage matters of their own, She gave to each a plot of ground With woods enough to fence it round, And bade them wise as serpents be, For deadly foes they soon might see, Whose craft and cruelty combined To make them dreaded by mankind. In those old times of which I write, Were hearts like oak, and arms of might. The treacherous foe, subdued at last, Their watchings and their terror past, The people quiet tilled the ground, While plenteous peace their efforts crowned.
Thus of the mother, good and mikl; My theme shall be her youngest child But one, Ludlow (you've heard her name, With others, told on rolls of fame), Who took her time in seventy-four But annals show not at what hour. Her dowry gained was rather damp, Consisting of a cedar swamp: Such as it was she took with grace, And went to work to gain a place For self in records then kept well; How well she did those rolls must tell, Though rather green in gentler art, Yet claimed to have a clever start In farmer's skill and district schools, In which well taught are simpler rules; (But higher rank from out of town, For some at Westfield seek renown, And some at Wilbraham gather lore, To lay, 'chance, at a farmer's door.) She's managed well from year to year To fill the larder, held so dear ; Always was bread on pantry shelves, And needing ones might help themselves. Mayhap the pork would all give out, But then she'd catch the speckled trout; Turkeys and pigeons from the wood, Served up in shape, were very good; Ofttimes a deer, in forest found, Was easy game with gun and hound. She struggled on bravely, through trial and ill,
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And proved the old saw of a way and a will. The fixed up her kitchen so tidy and clean, Nor thought she not cared she for better. I ween; For weightier matters had filled up her head, And her sons into many a confab were led, On shearing the sheep and carding the wool, On weaving the cloth already to pull; "Young Zeke must have pants and Dan a new cont. And father's old waistcoat is nearly worn out, Poor Jerry must wait yet a year, perhaps two. Though his best Sunday breeches are just about through;" So with making and planning each hour would well fill, kach helping his brother with hearty good-will. But the year- sped away, and the factories soon Into garret- consigned wheel and clumsy hand-loom. Thus relieved, the good housewife could turn her attention To parlors and carpets of modern invention, Lach article extra she joined to her wares Increased much her labors, her trials, her care -; The sought all in vain to deliver her house From the speck of a fly or the tooth of a mouse; Till she sighed to return to those primitive times
When luxurious indulgences counted as crimes. But changes will come and she must keep pace, Or own up as beat in fashion's wild chase. The change most dear to farmer's heart I- that to chaise from clumsy cart. Hle drives to town from his plantation.
And thinks he makes a great sensation.
The horse the same, though seeming faster,
Do people think he is an Aster? Ili- produce waits, but now's no time;
Is not his turnout quite sublime? With nothing gained, and something spent.
Hi- chaise shown off, he rest- content.
We have the nicest water, we have the purest air.
Our home- may not be splendid, but they are very fair. If our water were not wholesome. Of our springs were less abundant. Madame S. would not be tempted To infringe the tenth commandment. But she seems to be forgetful That her name was once derived From the bounteous springs of water Found when Pynchon first arrived.
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So she comes to Ludlow. panting. Seizes now her flowing stream -. While the townsmen stand astounded Like a man in troubled dream -. Till the plan is all completed,
And the work is well begun:
But we now are ever hearing "What by Ludlow can be done?"
Shall we tax the thing in toto. Shall we tax the thing in part? There's a way to do it rightly. But at what point shall we start?
Springfield' - citizens are saying
That we find ourselves too late: That we should have given our veto At the very earliest date. Now the city-full is chuckling Over fortune'- quiet smile -.
Thinking she -hall soon have water Brought through pipe- so many miles.
Seems to me she soon will laugh from T'other corner of her mouth.
When the streamlets' onward moving Shall be stopped in time of drouth : For those brooks, so pure and limpid. Are not always found to flow. some completely dry in -ummer. Some are often very low :
So. ye city damsels, hasten. Washing up your costly laces;
Whence will come the needed torrent- For the cleansing of your faces?
We may all be croaking plowmen. Hardly worth a thought or care. But. O denizens of Sprin_field. Hear us. when we cry "Beware"
Mr. Booth then spoke on the theme assigned. alluding to the pecu- liarities of the church service when he was a boy, relating several inci- dents, much to the delight of the audience. and pleading for the pres- ervation of the time-honored structure.
"Our Aged Mother. the City of Springfield." was answered by Mayor J. M. Stebbins of that place, who resented the epithet applied, claiming that the City was never so young or thriving as to-day, and
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bearing the best of wishes to the town, complimenting the Artzens upon the sturdy worth of the denizens of Ludlow.
A sentiment from a citizen. "Springfield in 1774, Ludlow i 1871: 'She that watereth shall be watered also herself.'" pleasantly intro- duced the next toust
"Our Mother, boasting of riches and independence, must vet ask a drink of water from her child." This sentiment had been assigned to Hon. A. D. Briggs, of the Springfield Board of Water Commissioners. from whom the following letter was now read :
Springfield, June 15, 1874
J. P. Hubbard, Esq., Chairman :
My dear Sir: Your favor inviting me to respond to a "sentiment' at your Centennial Celebration on the seventeenth is at hand, for which I thank you, and regret that an engagement at Boston on that day obliges me to decline, but have done a better thing by you in securing as my substitute, Charles O. Chapin, Esq., the Chairman of our Board of Water Commissioners, who promises to be present and respond to the sentiment referred to in your letter.
It was said by one of the greatest men who ever lived that "he was born one hundred years old. and always grew younger and younger, until after fourscore years he died an impetuous boy!" For this occa- sion I propose as a sentiment: "Ludlow May she upon this, the one hundredth anniversary of her existence as a town, experience a new birth; and not only during fourscore years, but forever, continue to grow younger and younger, ever recollecting that the true greatness of a town consists, not in its breadth of territory, or the number of wealth of its people, but in its successful efforts to elevate and ennoble humanity."
Mr. Chapin, being introduced, said, very neatly :
The graceful allusion to the intimate relationship of Springhe! ! and Ludlow, that of parent and child, the tenderest of all ties, brings to mind the interesting and touching story of that dutiful and, of course. beautiful daughter, who, when her venerable father was in danger of famishing, bared her bysom to his aged lips and proffered him that sustenance without which he would have perished. There can be but one fault in this comparison, one variation from this parallelism, and that would arise from my inability to answer some carping critic or, possibly, some practical councilman from my own city, who may rise in his seat and confound me with the question, "How much d'd the old gentleman pay for this privilege?" History gives us no light on this point. But for the benefit of the alderman and the common council-
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man of the future, I would state that every item in the history of this transaction is recorded, and every dollar of expenditure is properly vouched for. And here let me say that I fear very many of the good people of Ludlow regard themselves as sinned against by the citizens of Springfield in general, by the Water Commissioners, all and singular, who are sinners above all their fellows, and by the chairman of the board, who must be the very chief of sinners. What audacity, what temerity must we possess to stand up before this orthodox community with such a characterization, such a stigma upon us! Why, sir, I should expect to see trooping in upon us from yonder quiet inclosure the outraged spirits of the "forefathers of the hamlet" to scourge us from this gather- ing of their children. We are no such men; we represent no such people. There is a charitable old adage which maintains that the devil is not so black as he has been painted. I trust we shall not prove so bad as you may have feared. I know there have been some misunderstandings. some differences of opinion, but time and a better acquaintance will soften all prejudice, make clear all misunderstandings, and help us to dwell together in peace and unity, and in the exercises of neighborly offices and good fellowship. To that end I will give as a sentiment: "Ludlow and Springfield Bound and comented together as they soon will be, may there be no break in the bonds, and may the record of all differences be writ only in water."
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