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 17
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a di abled limb. But the work of education goes on, the religions inthiences prevail, the labor for temperance is nustinted, the work of the land is for good, the devotees of crime are constantly fleeing be- fore the honest wrath of the people. Throughout the public mind there runs the desire for good, - a desire born of the instinctive love of rectitude and honesty and honor, and requiring the stimulus of eult- ute, and the support of the schools alone.
With a love of freedom goes a sense of rectitnde; with the practice of freedom goes a practice of integrity. And while men may differ as to the best method of reaching the highest develop- mert, they agree that vice is hateful, and that virtue minst in the end mevail. The American statute-book is a record of honest endeavor for the public good. Every attempt to make it - the text-book of iniquity has thuis Bo failed.
And so, when De Tocqueville fifty years ago analyzed the char- arter of the American democracy, he had behind him the contests of the carly constitutional period, and the immediate controversies which ambittered those early times. And yet he discovered the determina- tion in the hands of the proph to see that justice and right should prevail. And taking his sta id with the mural population, framing his mind to the instincts or right which filled the breast, & those vlo found strength in the lap of Nature, he inferred it was a love of the Land and it division or subdivision which gave us our strength. It: on. lay a more modern observer has endeavored to analyze do American commonwealth from the standpoint of English experi- shee. Devoid of a broad faith in the people, he devotes himself to the machinery of the government under which they live. He deals with that organization which controls the policy of the town, the state, the republic, and records the accounts of the labor agitations in Pittsbing and Chicago, drawn from a partisan sheet. as samples of the governing power of our people.
To the Frenchman, democracy meant "the power of man over la . accidents." To the Englishman it meand the fatih endeavors of the people to tale themselves. To the Frenchmade it meant it sle- cessful attempt to apply the principles of individual independence to the work of governing. To the Englishman it meant the failure of a society and state withont social distinction.
All now, citizens of Haverhill, let me congratulate yon on being an independent civil organization, an independent town, in an independent state, in an independent country. Ihuesca you grow from a small town, forn by religious controversies to a commanding industrial metropolis, endowed with school and dicke and cu ill
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institutions, and presenting an example of thrift and energy and intelligence, wide-spread and universal. Out of a society like yours may come the representatives of a free republic, who at home will discharge their duty faithfully and well, and abroad will bear wit- ness to the intelligence and skill of those whose characteristics they bear into foreign lands.
And now a word with regard to the official standing of our officials in foreign courts. By custom and law, even in times of extreme republican simplicity, the rank of an ambassador has been withhell from any American diplomatie agent. In the midst of ceremonies which are inevitable abroad, the absence of this designa- tion prevents the American from taking bis stand among the highest diplomatie officers, and styjects him to apparent neglect. That this should cose there can be no doubt, or there should be none, and I speak this word for those long-suffering citizens who are ready to serve their country by leaving it, and who deserve all the considera- tion which can be bestowed upon a body of faithful public servants. ( Great applause. )
The toastmaster then continued : -
We had hoped to have with us the Governo: of the Gratuite State, but we welcome a gentleman sent as his representative, a native of Haverhill. You will see that Governor Goodell has taken ad maage of the recent decision of the Supreme Court, and has sent an original package of his special Porter in order that he might be with us in spirit if not in person.
I will call on Gen. Howard L. Porter to answer to the sentiment, -" The State of New Hampshire: "
" Land of the forest and rock, Of dark-blue lake and mighty river, Of mountains icared alott to mock The storm's career, the hghtiang's shock."
General Porter said : --
New Hampshire has a vital interest in the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Haverhill. Her history bas In en so closely linked with your own, for many years, that we almost forget geographical bounds to-day, as we recall the mutual expe- riences which have come to us, through comna scial relations, as well as in the interests of a common country, droagh every period of our national history.
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t have been asked to present the compliments of His Excellency, Governor D. H. Goodell, whose heart is with you in this celebration, und who would more fittingly and eloquently respond to this toast than I can possibly do. His enterprising nature would appreciate your growth and prosperity, and prompt him to enter fully into the spirit of this anniversary. As he must delegate a citizen at this time to bear a message from New Hampshire, I am obeying his call as I return to the home of my boyhood to respond to the State of my
New Hampshire has entered so fully into the warp and woof of Haverhill's prosperity, that it is difficult to determine the proportion of eredit to which each is entitled in the successful result which has been attained I remember well the days when the greater part of the shoes sold by Haverhill manufacturers were made by hand in New Hampshire. Upon the invention and inti bo tion of shoe machinery her sans were quick to see the advantage of concentra- tion, and, attracted by your favorable le ction, and be wini city,
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many left the little " country shop" never V. return, bringing with them the benefit of a practical education at the beach.
How well they have succeeded you know even better than 1. Some are classed among your largest manufacturers to-day. As one who has been identified with shoe manufacturing elsewhere, for nearly a quarter of a century, I desire on this occasion to endorse the universal testimony regarding the great skill, energy, and high sense of honor which characterize the prominent business men of Haver- hill, not only in the manufacture of shoes, but also in the various branches of business for which your city i noted. Such character- isties are bound to win, and I predict, for the future, growth much more rapid than in the past. Possessing. as you do, the model factories of the world, with wetkiden of rare skill, the only question seems to be of finding a competing city to act as a stimmen- to greater progress. Today Haverhill has the lead.
But many of your citizens have been connected with New Hamp- shire by other than business relations. Who shall say how much Phillips Exeter Academy of Dartmouth College has contributed to the Korrelation and character-building of some of your sous? Hav- ing acquired a taste Ihr more than could be of toned in your high school, they are in . included in the alumni of b to These institu- tions.
Daronouth, especially, is entitled to a large share in the reputa- tim which some of Haverhill's distinguished sans have won. I have oms time to mention the names of Longley. Ames, Marsh, White, and Noves. If we forget for a time that Bradford is not really a part of Haverhill, we might add the names of Greenleaf and Cogswell, as representing her alumni who in professional life have reflected credit upon their Alma Mater.
1 desire, also, to mention the fact that your most successful busi- ness man, E. J. M. Hale, graduated from Dartmouth ; and as in the future you may look upon his gifts, which are for the benefit and ele- vation of your entire community, especially those of the public library and city hospital, -- pause for a moment to consider how much of this charity was inspired by his training and education in New Hampshire.
Let us glance backward into history and briefly recall some of the mutual experiences of Haveitall and New Hampshire. What has each been to the other?
It is unnecessary for me to refer to the earlier alliances of eolo- nial history, which have been so fully recaibut by the orator of the day. Pennacook and Pentucket each brive tin ir mona ints to commemo-
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rate the exploit of Hannah Daston, while the earlier histories of Dover, Exeter, and Newmarket reveal evidences of a very close the which then existed. This tie was born of a common danger, but for this very reason it was of the most enduring nature.
Men from Haverhill, in 1726, moved into the wilderness and established there a settlement, which is now known as the city of Coneord. One of their first recorded actions was to build a structure which might serve two purposes, -that of a church in which to wor- ship God, and a fort to afford protection from the Indians. Thus was founded the capital of our State, the city of my adoption. She is proud of her descent from Haverlall, and the hneal descendants of Capt. Ebenezer Eastman, Jam . Pecker, and the Ayers still reside in our midst, with a loyal memory of the past, and these families have representatives in this banquet room to-day.
Haverhill is justly proud of having a full company of militia at Bunker Hill. Do you know that the powder which was used at Bunker Hill was captured by New Hampshire men at Fort William and Mary. in Portsmouth harbor, in December, 1771, and was carried tot Tannage, un en cart awat fund hiven by New Hampshire men ; and thus our State has the honor of making the first aoor vive move- ment in the War of the Revolution ? On that eventiul night one hundred men, under John Langdon and Sullivan, captured and carried away a hundred barrels of powder. When Massachusetts Loop at Bunker Hill had exhausted their part of this ammunition, after a brave resistance to superior numbers, and were compelled to retreat, Stark's New Hampshire Regiment, from behind the rail fence on the left, mowed down the British Grenadie's who were advancing in close formation. The New Hampshire men saved Prescott's com- mand, to which the Haverhill company was attached, from rout and probable annihilation, and then retired in good order from the field.
As a loyal son of Haverhill, I am proud of her record during the dark days of '61. Yet at this period, also, her experiences were very closely allied with those of New Hampshire. Her business men, having large amounts of money due them from the South, with the threatening clouds of financial disaster hanging over them, never wavered in their devotion to the I'nion. Out of a total population of less than ten thousand souls, thirteen bundred volunteers re- spoaded to the various calls for troops.
From Bull Run to Appomattox, Haverhill sokhers were brigaded with men of New Hampshire. Their lives was offered on the same sacrificial altar, their blood flowed in this wane battles, and, to
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my personal knowledge, men from both States were buried in one grave.
Even nature seems to have bound us together with her loveliest tie. The river, whose beanties have been so vividly pictured by your own poet, Whittier, flows through the heart of New Hampshire, and to-day its every ripple seems to beat you a message from your loyal sons, whose homes are now scattered along its banks, among our granite hills, or upon the shores of our most noted lake.
In closing, I know of no more appropriate expression of the devotion which we feel for grand old Haverhill, than to use that which has been given to us by your own poet : -
" Oh, never may a son of thine, Where'er his wandering stops inchne, forget the sky that bent above His boyhood, like a dream of love" ( Hearty applause. )
Mr. How then said : --
It is our privilege to have with us a descendant . one of the signers of the deed of purchase, whereby Pentucket was transferred from the ladians to the early settlers. He is called, I am told, " Honest John Davis, the best man in Rhode Island." I would re- spectraly call upon him, as Governor of the State, to respond to the following toast, -- " Rhode Island : The spirit of liberty, civil free- dom, and religious toleration -- the principles which the exiled set- thers of the State represented two hundred and fifty years ago - are now become the corner-stones of our Republic."
Governor Davis responded in the following manner : -
Mr. Chairman and Fellow-citizens of Haver hill, - For more reasons than I can well express, I thank you f'n yom courtesy to my State, myself and friends.
The bright little, tight little State of Rhode Island, our Venice of the West, folding within her bosom the blue waters of her own Narragansett, studded with isles of emerald, and bordered with plan- tatious of bloom, - a land from whose shores the sails of commerce are spread to the breezes of every sea, bearing to and fro ships laden with the wealth of every clime ; a land where water falls are turned to toil, and the echoes of industry make the air youil with the music of prosperity, - needs no commentation from m :.
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Rhode Island, like a diamond between upper and nether mill- stones, writes her character at every point of contact, and sparkles with the grind.
Territorially as small as she could well be made by sister colonies, she compensated by breadth, depth, and elasticity of men- tal vigor, and spirit, for her poverty of acres, and has compassed and clothed the earth with her immortal principles of "soul-liberty " and rights of individual opinion, until in truth it may be said of her that " the stone which the builders rejected has been made the head of the corner," in the great temple of freedom, our Union of States.
It is not for me, here, to attempt to do Rhode Island justice. If you would know of her blessings and benedictions, her love of independence, freedom, liberty, and loyalty, visit her people in their homes.
For this occasion; I am not here to enlogize Rhode Island, but to pay reverence to the memory of ancestors of mine who were of the original planters of this ancient town. To-day my mind turns to traditions which, with all the semblance of recollections, link me to
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this, their settlement, and persuade me that, for this celebration, I am one of them and of you.
True, one problem, - one of the few problems which the " Con- cord School of Philosophy " (of which we have all heard so much ) has not conclusively demonstrated, - is the proposition of a " previous existence "; and yet there come, and will come to all, in hours of reverie, certain strange, weird, spectral impressions of a previous consciousness drifting through the brain, - seemingly gleams of the light of other days let in upon the heart, to comfort it in age, perchance to assure it of life in years to come.
Such impressions, like dreams, are upon me. So strongly did the sacrifices and devotion of our fathers, here, impress me, that their toils and faith, like sacraments were made a part of their offspring's life, blood, and being, and so remain to this time.
Traditions, yes, traditions ! How well do I recall the chill Oe- tober evenings, when, husking the harvest corn, my father, - myself his only companion, -to beguile the weary hours, taught me to call the stars by name and tell the hour by night, with many a tale of Charles's Wain and the sweet influences of the Pleiades in harvest time, until my young eyelids drooped with sleep. And then the ever-potent story of Haverhill, and Haverhill's perils in our fathers' time, of Indian ambush, and uncles slain in combat, was sure to wake me, and send the blood, swift kindling with imagination, from heart to lip, or made me an eager listener, until old Haverhill came to be, to me, the land of romance and tragedy : and all the toils and trials of our ancestors revived, and lived again in me, and cleave to my memory still.
But enough of this. Many years had rolled their circling seasons round since father and son sat husking corn by night, yet still the thrill of those stories survived like an enchantment, and a desire to see the land, and prove the substance or shadow of the legends, was upon me; but how, or when, or where? Surely, thought I, " with a will, a way will be found." I know one who sat upon the high seat with Whittier, and thought to get him to interest the Quaker Poet to give me an hour, and then I might know of a truth the foundation of our traditions; but no! the answer came : " He is too old to make new acquaintances," - and thus it was that I made my first entrance into this town, four years since, alone, un- knowu.
By myself was Heft to conjure up, of the inner light, and ret- rospective thought, the spot where the first roof-tree was raised, and the first threshold laid, which sheltered and led up to the family
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hearthstone here : left alone to listen for the echoes of the axe-falls which in my forefathers' hands first broke the solitudes of primeval woods.
Yet had I not come in vain : whether looking or listening, I stood midst brothers mawares; the hills and the valleys and the river were as of old, - and, climbing to the topmost height of the . Ox Common," I watched and saw the sun sink to his place in the west, while lengthening shadows dissolved in the coming darkness, as my fathers had seen them more than two centuries ago. And the heart queried : " Do man and his generations. like the light and the shadows, sink and fade, to rise and appear again on the morrow, the same, day after day ?" And pausing for anewer, the fresh sea- winds of evening, streaming through the dry grass at my feet, whis- pered soft and lo: . The same, - the same, until the last, - the
With the night-fall, I turned my steps to the streets of your now busy city, where a good Samaritan found me, and told me of your later days of prosperity. And thus on, step by step, until the stranger of l'on youts since is ago af of the city, - tome a pleasant and most significant exemplification of the injunction to "1. kind to the stranger within the gates, for peradventne thou angst enter- ti in a brother unawares."
Fellow-citizens of Haverhill, God grant that as it hath been with you and me, and as it was with our fathers, so may it ever be with the people of this ancient town, that they may make it a house ot refuge to the stranger, where good-fellowship bounds.
And now, when the next quadra-millennial shall come to he hore celebrated with all the disclosures of its coming time, when we are gone to our fathers, may we not, - indeed, shall we not, - in the prisons of our descendants, be here to see ? Who can tell us? Who will be here then to tell of us? Life - what is it? This only we know : we are all brethren, -offspring of Him whose thoughts are Creatures animate : children of His care. destinel to come and go, generation by generation, until, in the fulness of time. we all rest in that Nirvana, the bosom of God. Until then, friends, farewell ! (Applause. )
Mr. How then proposed the next toast in these words : ---
No feature in New England life stands out more prominently than that of the Home. The family life of New England is the rock, out of which have been hewn the solid mer sud women of das enth
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Try. I propose, - " The Colonial Families of Haverhill : Their best monument is the virtue of their children and the prosperity of their town."
We feel ourselves greatly honored in having with us a most worthy descendant of one of these families, which, to quote from our latest historian, " was in position, in prestige, official station and education, the most distinguished family of the town." You will gladly welcome the Hon. Leverett Saltonstall of Boston.
The Honorable Mr. Saltonstall said :
I am greatly honored in being called upon to respond to the west for the old colonial homes and families, and 1 - 1 deep emotion ih d'ang so; for though not a Haverhill boy, yet Han next to it, and have more of old llaveslull in me than most of those here present, being. as I am, directly descended from Rev. John Ward, William Whate, and Simon Wainwright, as well as from d. 1 1 g line of good men whose name I bear, original settlers and towaste not Haverhill
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Would that I could say at least a few words about all those good men who lived here in the olden time, and whose descendants are here to-day in such goodly numbers to take a full draught of that in- spiration which fills the air on an occasion like this! Should I at- tempt it, however, my brief remarks would swell to the size of one of those old sermons which used to keep our poor ancestors shivering in their nusheathed, unheated, barn-like churches for half a day, and sent them away in a state of exaltation, after prayers which kept them standing an hour or more.
Two hundred and fifty years carries us away back to the very be- gumming of things, to a day which was only twenty years after the landing of the Pilgrims, twelve after the arrival of Governor Endicott, and ten from that lovely June day when Governor Winthrop and Sir Richard Salton, odi sailed into Salem harbor. after their long, tem- pestous voyage of many weeks in the " Arabella," with their company, from whom so many of us are descended.
Can we ever cease to wonder that any amount of religious perse- ention could have driven those people - many of them cultivated and is the times and tender werden simusel to later -Iran the comforts and luxuries of their homes in Old England, which the, a dearly loved, across the storng ocean, in small, over-crowded vessels, such as a sailor would nowadays laugh to look at, and consider it a huge joke to be asked to navigate, that they might settle in a howling wildemes , with its endless tracts of dark forest inhabited by the will beast and savage Indian ?
But what always seems to me so inexplicable is why, with so much land about them, they should have always beru pushing farther und farther into the wilderness; why, for instance, John Ward, Willian White, and that brave handful of men should have gone so far away from Ispwich for a settlement. It was, however, all a part of the design of that great " Wonder-working Providence," which impelled devout men to achieve so much, without themselves foresceing the best results of their sacrifices.
The minister in those days was a sme attendant upon a new settlement, though not a pioneer; but the Rev. John Ward was it natural leader of men, -- son of that Nathaniel Wand. first minister of Ipswich, who was anthor of " The Simple Gobbler of Agawam," which excited so much attention in its day both bers and in England, but better known as the author of " The Body of liberties,' a work was considered to have been the foundation of our whole system of colonial laws. John Ward inherited his father's fine intellect and stalwart character, and was a ran man. Brave. adventurous, and
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highly educated, with his Bible, his axe, and his gun. he brought his young wife and his little company into the forest, settled this beauti- ful site on the banks of the lovely Merrimack, and never took a step backward, but continued to the end of his long and eventful life to be the guide, protector, and religious teacher of the little band who accompanied him with trusting love and deep respect.
Nathaniel Saltonstall, who married Rev. John Ward's daughter Elizabeth, was grandson of Sir Richard and son et Richard of Ipswich, who took part with the people against the " Standing Council," and was first to oppose the introduction into the Colony of negroes as daves. He was for thirty-two years recorder of Haverhill, and re- meant to sit as judge at the trial of those unfortunate persons ac- med of witchcraft during the threadtul delusion of 1692. He was colored of the Essex Regiment, as was his sop Richard, and both of them had to bear their part in defending the town against those dreadful attacks by Indians, which for nearly fifty years marked Haverhill as the gateway of death and destruction. And Colonel Richard's sou, Judge Richard, who was also colonel of the regiment, and var Judge's son, Do tor Nathaniel, my grandfather, lived here all their lives, and my b mored father till he was twenty-free yeats oll six generations of them, all good men and true. h o took their tall share in all the town affairs, and who were, I believe, beloved and respected by their townsmen.
Nor should I forget to mention that great and good man, loquent and learned minister, and eminent statesman, Gurdon Saltonstall, son of Colonel Nathaniel, who was born and lived in Hla- ver hill until he entered the ministry. He was settled at New London, and became successor to Winthrop as governor of Connecticut, which office be filled for sixteen successive years, until his death. Beloved as few have been before or since, the laws of the Colony which forbade the election of a minister were changed that he might be made govemor. His name is not forgotten in Connecticut to-day.
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