USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The story of a New England town; a record of the commemoration, July second and third, 1890 on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Haverhill, Massachusetts > Part 14
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"The memories of this last great struggle are still so fresh, and many of them still so painful ; every year at the call of the romrales of the Grand Army we so loyally revive them, as we place the flowers of affection upon the graves of the fallen brave, that I need not linger over them to-day. But speaking now for oll Haverhill on her two hundred and fiftieth anniver- sary, I cannot refrain from saying, that in the Civil War she was grundly, nobly worthy of her honorable history. On the moru- ing of the 19th of April, just eighty six years after the Batde of Lexington, came the first ringing call for troops. At once the whole community was roused to the highest pitch of ex-
. This is true for the most part of the exterior. Upon Nov. 6. 1888, a de- tractive condagiation destroyed the interior of the Town Hlad. of 1861, but left the w. Ils uninjured The work of restoration, including new root and tower and in- tetior, was imme lately begun, resulting in a City Hall for sarpassing its predeces- sot in beauty and convenience. The reconstructed building was first occupied Nov. 21, 1999
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citement. As in Revolutionary days, the a. " To Arms!" found the sons of Haverhill ready. The implement of toil were quickly exchanged tor the panoply of war, and before evening a full company of determined men, under Capt Carlos P. Messer, were on their way to Washington. This first uprising but fore- shadowed the loyal spirit which animate I Haverhill to the very close of the war.
In the unanimity of her efforts without regard to political affiliations, in the alacrity and unfahering steadfastness of her response to every call of the national goverment for men; in the solicitade and paternal interest with which she followed her soldiers to the field ; in the tenderness with which she ministered to their families at home; in the liberality of her citizens in offering their money, and in the more precious offerings of her sons upon scores of battle-fields, she paid to the full her tribute of patriotism and devotion. Thirteen houdred of her citizens, - S. venty five of this number being counnissioned officers, -- an estas of eighty-live beyond her quota, in different calistments, were at the front. Of these, the names of che hundred and eighty six, who never came back, may to-day be read upon her Soldiers' Monument. Though changed in outward appearance on. Ein habits of life, the same unconga salle love of liberty, the same un lying devotion to Fatherland, that throbbed in the breasts of the men of 1775, still survived in their descendants from 1861 to 1865.
Besides the enterprise which has contributed to the progress of the town, and the loyalty and public spirit that has given it a place in history, there are other, though less obtrusive agencies, to which our tribute of grateful recognition belongs. The Haverhill Female Benevolent Society, incorporated in 1818, has through all these years lightened heavy burdens of poverty and sickness, and made hundreds of households brighter through the Christlike ministrations of gentle womanhood. The Home for Aged Women, and the Elizabeth Home for homeless and neg- lated little ones, are eloquent witnesses that the men and women of Haverhill in the midst of their prosperity are still in vital
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sympathy with the friendless and unfortunat . and wise and generous in ministering to them. The latter, a generous gift of a brother and sister in memory of Elizabeth Maish, embalms a name and family that though every generation from the beginning of the town has acted an important part in the formation of its history. Nor can the coming ages forget the name of E. J. M. Hale, the successful manufacturer ; for ever il anon, to latest time, will they draw unfailing refreshment at the living springs of knowledge that were opened by his muni- ficence, in the gift to Haverhill of her splendid Public Library. Thi, generous benefaction was followed in 188] by another, the che for a City Hospital; to which was added, shortly after, by a provision of Mr. Hale's will, the sum of $50,000 for its endow- ment. Subsequently the site donated by Mi Hale was sold and the proceeds added to the endowment fund.
I know that one standing in my place should speak in no stintod terms of my :hong and olid men and women: the Porters, Charles and Eleazar; the Marshes, John and David; Moses Atwood, Phineas Carleton, James Gale, Moss Wingate, Ezekiel Dale, and many others, whose names I have not uttered, who lido lived here through the generations past, and whose sturdy descendants are scattered throughout this vast assemblage. But to do this worthily would far exceed the limits of the longest discourse.
Nor can I fittingly speak of those who m the walks of science and literature, philanthropy and statesmanship, have adorned our history, and helped to make the old town famous to the outer world. How could I, in any hurried sentences, com- memorate the sacrifices of the gentle Harriet Newell, whose quick car was first to catch the Macedonian try of the benighted, and who laid down her young life in India a martyr to mission- try toil? What justice could a page of eulogy do to the char- acter of John Greanleaf Whittier, and to the exquisite flowers of his wonderful genius ? -
"Down in the common .cil of song. They bloom the wide world over."
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How futile the attempt to estimate. in the briof space of a single moment, the long years of service unong as of such rare men and able ministers as Gyles Merrill. Benjamin Franklin Hosford, Arthur Savage Train, and Raymond Henry Seeley ; or of such physicians as Dr. Rufus Longley and the late lamented Growell. Nor shall I venture to characterize the ripe scholarship of Benjamin Greenleaf, the distinguished mathematician and "neator, of Charles Short of Columbia College, or of Dr. James R. Nichols, whose luminous expositions of science have found warm welcome in so many homes ; nor maoncion the service to policies and jurisprudence the town has rendered through her Stephen Minot and Isaac Antes, her John Farnum and James C. Momill. of to the hne arts through her Homy Bacon and Henry D. Morse. It would be invidious to select from the living, or I might offer my tribute of admiration to mmes prominent to-day in the national councils, and in the great universities of the lunt sho . fame and influents are our joy and crown.
The inauguration of the City Government in 1879, with Warner R. Whittier as the first Mayor, still with us in an honored old age, was the principal event in our history after the Civil War. It marked the beginning of great changes ; of a new ora et progress in Haverhill, the record of which would form a history in itself. Upon this period i shall not enter. And so, " with many words unspoken and many thoughts unsaid I must listen to my close." In the honorable history we have thus traversed together, that heart must be cold indeed which has not been touched with a sense of how noble is the heritage we have received from the past, and how correspondingly solemn are the obligations resting upon us. If in broadnes, of vision and in charity we regard ourselves as basing advanced beyond the Fachers, let us not forget the limitations and stubborn difficulties with which they struggled. Their honest, robast manhood, their faith and rugged virtues have never been surpassed. Be it ours to emulate their good qualities, and " transmit them an- impaired to our children!" We enter mon a new century under what matchless advantages, such as the generation pre-
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eeding never dreamed of ! What manner of men and women, and what a city ought we not to be, in point of moral attain- ment, intellectual and social worth, and material advancement ! Whatever of good or ill the coming years may have in store for us, we may surely gather strength as we cross their threshold, for over us has been uttered, in words that fall from one who, with garlands and singing robes about him, seems already setting forth to join the immortals, the fervent benediction of our sainted Whittier, -
" The singer of a farewell rhyme, Upon whose outmost verge of tinie The shades ofnight are falling down, I pray, God bless the good old town."
After Dr. Duncan's oration, which was not only complete, scholarly and eloquent, but thoroughly appreciated by the audi- Ttive, the Made Singing Societies rendered the hymn, " Now thank we all our Gel," accompanied by the City Band.
Now thank we all our God, With heart and hands and vores, Who wondrous things hath dom, In Whom His world rejoices ; Who from our mother's artis, Ilath blessed us on our way, With countless gifts of love And still is ours to-day.
O may this bounteous God Through all our life be near us With ever joyful hearts And blessed peace to cheer us ; And keep us in His grave, And guide us when perplexed And free us from all ills In this world and the next
All praise and thanks to God. The Father now be given, Thế Son, and Him who neige: With them in highest Il river,
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The One Eternal God, Whom earth and Heaven adore ; For thus it was, is now, And shall be ever more.
J. Che dia: (165-).
Mayor Burnham then said :
No citizen of Haverhill would have taken more interest in these exercises, or have been better qualified to aid us in them, than one who has passed through the gates into the Celestial City. Polished, educated, progressive, honest, digui- fed, urbane, and enttured he was every inch a man. Happy is the city which has such men to lose. Such a man was Dr. John Crowell. Though he was denied his long-cherished desire of participating with us to-day, his words, - yes, almost his last words, - written for this occasion, will be read, in accordance with his express wish. by Prof. John Wesley Churchill of An. dover, whom I have the honor to introduce.
Professor Churchill then read, in his usual grand and inspiring maner, the fine historical poem of Dr. Crowell :
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HISTORY IN VERSE.
BY DR. JOHN CROWELL.
Prelude. As on some hill-top's towering height The traveller pauses on Ina way, And gazes over the landscape bright. Reposing in the sunset ray
Sees lake and woodlund, roof and spile, The glory of the summer conl. Painted in tints of gold and fire ; -- So from the great world's basy riew i A prigrim throng today we roll And from the heights of memory Ma The glowing scenes of youth and has ... Pictured more bright, more deal, a .. .
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HAVERHILL. MANYACHTUSERS.
O sons and daughters, ste agall The smiling fields, the flowing d11 an ! Sing, sing again, the old ofrain, The early song of love's young dream ! Behold the faces that ye knew, Hear voices that ye used to hear. Clasp hands once more in friendship true, And sit awhile in social cheer.
Seek cool Kenoza's sheltered bass; Or roam beneath Ox Common's tives Or down the river's winding ways Spread the light canvas to the brave.
Come home, O boys and guis, once more ! Receive the welcome that we bring, Repeat the old tales over and over. And list the homely song I sing.
The Settlement.
Pentucket, nestling on the sunny hills
Adown whose gentle slope, the sparkhis rills Leup to the waters of the bramming th od,- Our river skirted with the fringing word Along its ereseent shore ; our joy and pride, As in its daily struggle with the tide, It calmly rolls to meet the waiting sca -- Phir village, in what goodly company.
What mighty force of thought, what thees of state And jar of thrones, what strife that sealed the fate Of monarchies, thy early dawn began. Foregleam of freedom, crowning gift to man !
In such an age, O fairest of the earth, Thy land, New England, had its holy birth !
in such an age, O city of our love, With men whom zeal, and grace, and valor prove, Began the fair proportions of the youth Foundation resting on eternal frath !
The Pioneers.
John Ward, the leader, reverend, brave, and true, And they, stern pioneers, the chosen tow, Loyal in soul, with steadlast purpose fired. By simple faith and holy zel inspired, Breasted the rigors of the story north, Into primeval woods pushed boldly forch.
BRADLEY'S MILL.
£ £
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Cleared the waste places, broke the struman soil, Raised the rude cabin, and, with romly toil, Of rough stones built the wide-mouthed chimney stack, And from the bull-side', slaty shale bres, ht back The solid hearth-stone, type of honily bhas, The wife's warm welcome, and sweet dal thood's kiss. Do men like these look back in doubt or tear. Though everything that manhood's hent holds dear Is staked in love of God ? Does Saxon Mood Infused with Puritanie zeal -- a flood Of life and valor - d'or turn thin and jale When tyrant kings of prelates lan it quail ? Of sterker stuff van made the munch 1. 1, Ti. . Lated, feared, rejected Putit m. Who with bold front resisted " stul.bom James," Whose flaming records held aloft the muitas Of such as Bostwick, Pryme, and Biator, maimed For high opinion's sake, but never shared, Evo while they link sy st and with Meaning cars, firma witness for truth the eigh all the years! ('ill thema fanatie, hard, intolerant, Cold, calvinistic, given to nasal cart ; Yet when oppression strikes at libetty. And brands it erime to hold the con out Loo free, I hold them fighting with a sturdy will. Whether at Westminster or Banker ilill.
Dissension.
O happy union of the chinch and state. When all men think alike! when no bold thought Rises for utterance, which, som er late. Shakes the foundations, howsouver wrought With precedent, with statenant, ar | with viveds. Greater than dogmas are the human no. 1 . Of souls that yearn for truth, who i ser o und ; And so the even, peace ful, stately way. Of our old fathers canty felt the sleaks Of Tervid teachers not ginte ortia vox. Whose feet were planted on the une rt up ground Ot do frine by Arminias taugla, in days When Calvin's dietum hell the church in awe.
Dear, reverend fathers, with the ir saintly ways, Their rigid maximus, solan fasts, who told The truth which Luther ant Melanetloom taught.
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By what strange logie did they seek to close The marvellous lips of Whitefield. him who wrought A work of love along our shores ! Or those Who followed Smith, the bold, the eloquent, - Why hinder their free speech or simple rites ?
God's truth is not in earthen vessel peat, And he who in the field of Naseby fights, And he who lifts his voice for liberty, Are one forevermore. This mighty lorec. Surging and rolling like a restless sea, Has wrought From servile bondage the divorce. " No tax on consciener and moreurb of speech, Free press and ballot to the end of time !" ~ This song with thrilling symphony shall reach Earth's farthest shore with its melodious chimie.
1775. - The Alarm.
"Iwas seventeen hundred and seventy-five (I've heard my grandsire name the day , - The bees wore humming in the hive, The bluebird rippled his early lay , The blossoms smiled in the peach-tice pay, In the warm south wind, that April day. But at noontide came a startled cry Adown the streets of the little town, - " Arm, minute men ! to the rescue Hly ! The Regulars march on Lexington, And the blood of our brother . this month, seen staining the sward of Confond (iron !" Such was the message of wild alann.
Then Brickett said : " Equip and arm ; We march to-night; we leave the farm, The forge, the mill ; fall into line. Vinl each man answer to call of h Ha !" A hundred men, e'er the sun went dann With stately tread, marched fearless on To avenge the dee lat Lexington.
Do yon ask who formed that noble band. Whose deed of daring filled the land : There was Emerson, calm and firm and grand, And Captain Sawyer, and Sergeant. Ayer, And Wingate, and Johnson, too, were that, And Clement, the affer, and " Drummer John." And a hundred others written down
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In the records dim of the carly town. flow well they served in the struggle lons How boldly they stood 'gainst British wron At Bunker Hill and Bennington, At Saratoga and Valley Forge, - Of the hunger and cold, and wounds and death,
All for the folly of Royal George, - Be the story told from age to age, In song of poet and word of sage.
And you, fair child, with tresses brown And hazel eyes of loving light.
Be proud of your old, ancestral town, And remember, when you are ol l and gas.
Tot I your elalien the deeds of that d'y Ail the fearless march of that April night
After the War. row, peace at last, with olive crown, Again her wealth of blessing brings And though the he restads of the town Her welcome voier in gladness rings. Great beyond all that prophet saw, The young republie glorious stands -- Gives larger freedom, broader law, And knowledge with her open hand. .
Come back, O sturdy veterans, come ! With laurels won in many a fight ; Build ye anew for love and h one, For freedom, truth, -- for God and right ! Yes, well ye wrought, with strength and grace, Till old waste places smiled again. And sunny hill-slopes showed apare Their waving fields of golden giain. How, at your call, the virgin soll, The silvery lake, poured loth then storea, Whale sped the rich results of toil On traffic's wings to distant shorea ! Thule pushes on with steady march. Busy the stately river flows, Ani, speeding 'neath its triple arch. Rejoicing to the oc si gues. Prosper, O happy villages ; In your plain toil and thrifty ways!
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The vital power that in you stis Shall thrill your sons to latest day The blood, the fire, the strength we boast, Are but transmitted blessings all ; Our highest graces, at the most, Are gifts that from your mantles fall.
Your record proudly we unfold, O White and Duncan, Marsh and Have ! The founders of our age of gold,
Honored of yore, as honored now.
Live d'er again, each noble natin ! This day, though ours, is yom , as well, Lo loing you meel of honest fte, Your worthy lives and deeds to tell.
Chand were the words your wisdom spoke, Kept safely through the ages down, O free from every foreign yohe, Self-governed. independen towa!
The Crisis.
When war's dark menace brooded der th land, When, 'gainst our Union, the fraternal Land Was lifted For destruction's fatal blow, And Sumter, trembling under fiery glos Of rebel shot, aroused the loyal North, -. True to their birthnight, with wis zoal poured forth Our noblest sons, the foremost in the light. As were their sires who fell on Banker's height, Shouting the Statesman's maxim d'er and d'er, " Union and Liberty, forevenmore !"
O bitter struggle! Stoutest hearts grew faint. O'er mother's anguish and the wi low's plaint, Yet never faltered at the Spartan west - On freedom's altar sacrifice the best !
The weary years bring bruk the star of peace ; From bondage and disunion, the release Electrities the land ; and rich with spar And honor come the heroes of the war. Made sacred by the richest bloed d'er shed Since our great Warren found a gory bed I.ul, gallant Bartlett. maimed but fightite; still ! Hail, brave young How, whose stora, andy the will Stirs up the pulses of last commitles all ... Fust in the front, che list to nobly fall !
Essix GAZETTE, APRIL 3, 1830. J. G. Wirstick, Epiron.
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Noble Grand Army, remnant true ard good ! In that fierce struggle how your ranks withstood The stout resistance of that wall of fire Raised by fraternal hand in deadly ire !
O worthy veterans, gray and scamed and scarred ! Shall stint of gold keep back you just reward ? No, by the wealth amassed by preci os Mood, Receive your right - a Nation's gratitude !
The Sons of Haverhill. (Whittier.)
Then child of Natu. . whose aitmed var 11 .- caught the sounds winch only farts lovir, Whose oye discerns the tints of cloud and real, Whose pencil paints them, or, in bold roliel, Spreads the broad canvas with the bouns divine Of truth's pure colors ! There, behold, tuy shine, Lighting the Nation with their stovky may ! the pot and nelplis ere a brighter day, A land rejoicing in the jubilant song Of states united, and the end of wrong.
O poet of our valley, hail to thee ! Beloved and honored over land and sea ! We proudly claim thee as our own. Thy Farth Was in our bordeis, but no spot of enth Con hold the prestige ot immortal Pode We crown thee Laureate, with no tichdi one ! This coronet we round thy temples bind : " For God and Truth, - a friend to all mankind !"
A nobile seion of that sturdy rie - The Huguenots, exiles from sunny Frat - Who on our shores found pure and happier chance, Here, where their bleeding fest lound asting-place, Greenleaf, who thought in muimbers, saw the day, And o'er his little kingdom held his away.
Then Short, his pupil, he who side by side. With Autlion held aloft Columbia's pride And gave her elassie halls a fair renown, - He, too, first saw the light in this our town Beside the sedgy shotes where M mimerk Sends to the sighing breeze sol music bach.
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The painter of the coast of brittany - Bacon, whose canvas glows with light of sea And scenes of quaint old Normandy ! Beside The pictures of Corot, it is our pride That his are glowing on the enduring walls Of the great aleoves in Art's proudest. hills. We boast his birth beneath fair Haverhill's skies, On this sweet slope that in our valley h .s.
O thou who comest as a sen and guest From the broad prairies of the West ! --- Another town the honor claims, But we rejoice that thy childish feet. Threaded rach Lew and narrow street.
There and thy boyhood saunter and play. Here didst thou doubt and question and stray, - O senator from Kansas !
Serenely great is he who holds
The bolts of Jove at his com mand, But gratis still, with hike supremacy. Is he who holds himself Ready in each emergency Through length and breadth of land, - O Senator from Kansas!
Retrospert.
0) worthy fathers, through the years look down, Behold the changes in the litthrown! How through the reaches of the crowdol streets The throbbing pulse of busy traffic beats. Where village cobblers plied their seaney trade And stout brogans and pumps and run-rounds made,
The walls of factories, block on block, arise; The whirling wheel in dizzying ein he's thes. And forms of grace, in love and she per are seen, In magie pouring trom the swift machine.
Behold the change from steam's Danslorang land ! See the quick transit over sea and land ! The subtle force in Frank hin's Leyden jar Thrills the long wire and drives the rapid car, Whispers its message, and with Washing tay Fills the dark spaces, turning night to d :
Se . the proud foree ; maler worth's coam a d. Evolving, shaping holding through the Lout;
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And from the hand thus filled with Maniane o's power There falls, olitimes, in full and plenteon shower, The gold that builds for famine, want and Wor. Through the dim corridors of wards ther : go The whispered blessings from the lips of pain. The dumb are made to speak ; the blind again See the glad sunlight; and the Treble mind And the lost reason, now, rejoicing lind New tongues, new voices, the benigman dower Which leads to life the consciousness of power.
See aleoves laden with the wealth of lore Kicher than Homer sung or Plato bore To rapt disciples on Athere's bright ! Fair Science spreads ber wings for lftier thght, And opte tube with broadened lens de serie The mystic wonders of the farthest skies ; And over all, free as the wind that blows From northern hills, to every chila there flaws The priceless blessing from the public school Hier Uitary the nes not ty marts role Nor wealth eas boast a force so strong ant ~real, Of home the safety, and the pride of state Behold around the globe the Hashing light Of Faith's glad message, glorious in its might To break oppression, ignorance, and wrong Gil: 1 day for which the world has wait of long !
The Future.
My country, glorious in thy youthful strength! Shall thy material splendor, through the length And breadth of thy domain, be all thy boast ? Shall wealth of mine, and field, and stretch of coast Complete the greatness ? Shall the love of place, And power, and pelf, and party strife disgrace Thy service? No, by all the joble Hood of heroes, who in the dark days withtoo i For conscience' sake the haughty sway of kings ! We build on firm foundation that which brings The solid structure rising from its base With tower and turret, filling the large spa w As igned to people boro to hold the rod Of power, for good of man, in fear of God
After Prof. Churchill's reading, the Male Singing Societies rendered . Comrades in Arms," by Adolphe Adam.
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COMRADES IN ARMA.
On the breeze a sound i stealing,
That sweetly cach car charms ;
Let no elamor, rudely pealing, Disturb the strain melodious,
Companions now in arms !
List, give ear, listen, Comrades in arms !
Dear land ! to thee our lips are breaching
A song of praise ; For thee our swords we are unsheatbing, Our arms we raise.
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