USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1896-1901 > Part 8
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HON. SHERMAN HOAR.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :- One of the best men that ever lived in the town of Concord was Dr. Josiah Bartlett. On one occasion he came home from a ride, having in his pocket a clipping from a Boston paper which stated that he had been killed in a railroad accident, and which gave a most interesting account of his character and virtues. The doctor sat down at his lunch table feeling very much as I do at this moment, after my introduction by your presiding officer. His daughter, Martha, saw a peculiar expression upon his face, and said to him : "What are you looking that way for?" The doctor pulled the clipping out of his pocket and said : "Look at that thing that I have got to live up to all the rest of my natural life."
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On an occasion of this kind every public speaker is expected to divide his speech into two parts : a humorous one and a quasi- reverential or serious one. Mr. George A. Marden has made the first part of my speech, and the Reverend Mr. Horton the latter part of my speech. It is but fair that I should say that two-thirds of the stories that George Marden has told you I told him while I sat by him at this dinner table. In return for that courtesy on the part of Mr. Marden, I am going to tell an anecdote about him. I came over to Westford the other day to look up some records, in order that if I had to speak today I should know something about what I had to speak about-a fairly important thing in a public speaker. I walked up and down your beautiful streets, a part of the time with an interesting citizen of Westford, who told me about some of the other speakers. During his conversation he said : "Did you ever hear George Marden talk? He is as full of ginger as a man can be. I should like to hear him dedicate a cemetery." Now, I have exactly the same desire in regard to Mr. Marden, for a cemetery is about the only thing I have not heard him dedicate in the last few years.
I have been very much pleased with the allusions to my pro- genitors which your presiding officer has made, and also to that touching allusion of his. on a former occasion, to my native town of Concord, in which he stated that we have a reformatory. That is about as much as ? Concordian can expect will be said in regard to Concord by any of the people in the surrounding towns. I think there is a little jealousy existing somewhere in regard to Concord. When I ran for Congress in the district in which Lexington was, they had so little idea of what a man from Concord could be that they gave a large and not altogether pleasing majority against me ; at Acton, where I spoke the other night, they announced that in the famous fight at the Old North Bridge, we of Concord merely had the land, while they furnished all the men ; and when I came over here to Westford, the other day, in order to prepare myself to speak to you on this occasion, I discovered that our famous Major John Buttrick had little to do with leading the militia down to the fight at the Old North Bridge, but that in reality the troops were led by John Robinson of Westford. Undoubtedly, some of you here in Westford imagine that Lieut .- Colonel Robinson set out from Westford on the morning of the 19th of April with a soul inspired by a great love of liberty, but while here the other day I
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learned that the real source of his courage was doughnuts. I have always wondered where our ancestors got their pluck to begin the Revolutionary war in the face of such odds, but now I know ; for I have learned that on the morning of the 19th of April, Mrs. Col. Robinson sent after her husband one bushel of her own doughnuts, in order that he and his friends might have them to eat for break- fast at Concord, before the battle began ; and now I can readily understand how anybody who had the pluck to undertake the digestion of a bushel of New England doughnuts could have the pluck to begin even a revolutionary war.
I like to think of two men who lived in your town at the out- break of the Revolution. I like to think of Lieutenant Colonel Robinson, and I like to think of that minister of yours who would not give up his English loyalty even when you all opposed him in it. There were many fine things in the character of the Americans of the Revolutionary war, and I think there is some- thing very fine in the character of those who are able to stand as did some of the loyalists of that time, clinging to their love for the mother country in the midst of the rebellious populace all about them. We do not agree with their ideas. Our ancestors did not agree with them. We cannot admit that those men were right ; but we can see that they were honest in their convictions, and that they were brave and loyal to the right as they saw it. I think that John Robinson and the Reverend Mr. Hall both had the same kind of English determination in following what they thought was right. The' Rev. Mr. Hall remained a loyalist, even at the loss of the good-will of his neighbors and of his place in the ministry. John Robinson became an American of Americans, and before the Westford militia met to go to Concord on the morning of April 19th, he went over to that town, and by the side of Isaac Davis walked down to the Concord bridge and there began the Revolutionary war, sacrificing everything for what he believed to be right.
If there is anything that I prefer in a public library it is an American alcove filled with the stories of what has been done for American liberty ; filled with stories of American sacrifices for the public safety, and with the lives of Americans who have defended and maintained what our ancestors fought for and secured. I would like to have in every country town some place where the boys and girls could go and find gathered there on a few shelves
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the best stories of American life. I have not a word to say derogatory to the English or to our other foreign relations. I like to think of the pluck displayed by the six hundred at Balaklava ; of the sterling patriotism of Blucher, the great Prussian who opposed Napoleon ; of the men in Russia willingly sacrificing their lives against the violent rule of oppression ; but I should like to have our American boys and girls learn first of all the lives and sacrifices of men who have given everything for the honor of this country and for her liberty and unity. I should like to have in every public library some place dedicated to the history of my country ; some place where the boys could go and learn what has been done to make this country great and glorious as she now is. I cannot believe that after our boys and girls know the story of what was done in the late war anyone can be found to say on Memorial day, "What is this all about ?" Neither do I believe that on that day we shall see young men going out to play baseball or golf, and absolutely failing to appreciate the significance of the day, its glory, and its pathos. I want to have our boys not only see the American flag over the school-house and the town-house and the library, but be taught what has made that flag as glorious as it is.
Whoever does noble work for the young in order that they may be better prepared when they grow up to understand and carry on the work the fathers have done before them; whoever out of his munificence helps to instruct and prepare the young for that work, is like the founder of your library - one of the best American citizens.
The Chairman : - The General Court of Massachusetts has always been foremost in the passage of laws for promoting the education and intelligence of the people. It has recently taken the lead of all states of the Union in legislation in behalf of free public libraries. We rejoice to have with us today a native of Westford who is a member of the Senate of Massachusetts. I have just asked him whether he descended from the illustrious poet, Robert Burns ; he says he has not had time to look it up. I am happy to introduce Senator George J. Burns.
HON. GEORGE J. BURNS.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : - I congratulate the citizens of Westford upon the acquisition of a public building
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that so successfully combines the two essential features of such a structure, utility and architectural beauty. You have a building that is appropriate to its place and to its purpose. You have a building that harmonizes well and enhances the attractions that an indulgent nature has so bountifully bestowed upon you. You have a beautiful gem in a beautiful setting. I congratulate you upon the local pride, upon the public spirit, that has made the day of its dedication a local holiday. I congratulate you that its donor is your son, and I congratulate him that you are his parent. His name adds renewed lustre to your honored town, and I venture that there is nothing in his life of which he is more proud than that Westford is his birthplace. It is impossible for us to entirely disassociate ourselves from our native town. Whether we will or not, our achievements are her glory, and she shares with us in the conse- quences of our failures and our misfortunes. I can, therefore, congratulate you and him upon the great and deserved success of his exemplary public and private life. I congratulate myself that I was born in the town he so honors and that so honors him, and I congratulate us all that his love and pride for his native town has found such a noble and fitting expression.
Of all the noble sentiments of which man is capable, that to which his selfish nature the most readily yields, and to which his highest attributes most nearly conform, the love of home and of native land is the most supreme. In my admiration for it I am in- clined to place it first in rank of the God-given qualities. Perhaps it is the author of our civilization. Without it I am unable to think of man as anything more than a savage.
We do well to cultivate in the hearts of our children a love and devotion to home, for the presence of that love makes the citi- zen and the absence of it leaves behind-the tramp. I believe that I am speaking the sentiments common to humanity when I say that there is nothing in this world so dear as the approbation of the place of our birth ; and if I may be pardoned for being a bit per- sonal, I desire to add that in the recent political controversy in which I had such a personal interest I watched nowhere for signs of approval with so much interest and anxiety as in the town where I was born, and for such as I here received I am under great obligations ; they are the sweetest and dearest memories of them all. Nothing that the world can give or take can rob us of affec-
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tion for our birthplace. While I left Westford at an age when it is presumed that the impressions of life have not been fixed in mem- ory, yet, nevertheless, I cannot hear the name of Westford men- tioned without my pulse being quickened and my deepest emotions stirred. I always claimed the right to call every son of Westford my friend and brother; and it was from those associations and with those associations that I first clasped the hand of your bene- factor beneath the Gilded Dome ten years ago as members of the Massachusetts Legislature. He always had my friendship, admi- ration and loving regard, and I always tried hard to deserve his.
It is impossible to overestimate or overstate the importance and influence of his gift to you ; it will always be associated in the minds of everyone with a spirit of philanthropy, of love of home, of devotion to humanity and to the cause of education. No person can enter its portals and not be benefited thereby. No castle of ancient time ever housed such distinguished tenants. No institu- tion of ancient or medieval times can be compared with it. In no convention of the world was there ever such an assembly of genius. Here you may commune freely with the greatest minds of the world, and can become intimate with the eminent of all time. Here you can stand in the presence of the greatest scenes that the history of man has ever enacted. Here you can unlock the secrets of the sciences and delve in nature's most profound secrets. There is no darkness but ignorance, and with such an institution in your midst, bigotry is utterly inexcusable and ignorance almost so.
May this gift brighten and broaden the pathways of your lives. May it ever be a sacred altar on which may be kept forever burn- ing the love for one another which its donor has for you. It is not a monument to the dead ; it is a benefaction to the living. It is not to perpetuate the memory of a man gone before ; it is to bless those who are living. May it strengthen your local pride; may it quicken toward this grand old town the love and obligation of all sons of Westford wherever they may be. May its noble and gen- erous donor be spared many years in which to enjoy the supreme satisfaction of realizing the gratitude and appreciation of his towns- men, and may we all for many years have before us the inspiration of his noble life, his kind and generous spirit.
The Chairman :- Our next speaker was for several years the beloved pastor of one of the religious societies in Westford, and his interest in our weifare is still strong and unabated. You will gladly listen to Rev. George H. Young, of Lawrence.
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REV® GEORGE H. YOUNG.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen :- I think it is a duty to this audience to let you into a secret. Every one of the speakers this afternoon received a note from a certain newspaper asking for their speech to be written out and sent to the newspaper before the celebration. When I got the programme, I looked at it and said, Of course they won't go as far down as the last letter of the alphabet and the thirteenth number of the programme ; so I didn't write out any speech. But the reason that Horton and Marden spoke so well was they had theirs all written out; if they were printed, there would be no space for mine.
As I walked out this morning, an hour and a half before Horton got up, I looked all through this lovely town, so familiar to me, and these streets, which were familiar in years gone by, and I said what a fearful pity it is that the Unitarian church is not to have a new minister ! How I should have liked to candidateagain ! But Buckshorn got ahead of me. I guess he is going to stay, and stay, and stay.
I began to ask myself this morning, What shall I congratulate these people on after I have done justice to the library ? As I went through the streets this forenoon I said to every Westford man or woman I met, "What a lovely day !" They looked at me as much as to say, What else do you expect in Westford? So I couldn't congratulate them on the weather. They seemed to think it the only 'sort of weather worthy of them.
When the President was congratulating this community on the gift of this library, he said it didn't come as the gift of a man who thought he couldn't hold onto his money any longer. I was trying to think why he couldn't hold onto it any longer ; knowing the theology of my good friend, I couldn't think that he was frightened into giving it away, like the poor fellow that said he had to give it away because he was afraid it would melt if he took it with him.
The President said something about not standing by the grave and trying to get some communication over to the spirit of this friend to express gratitude and appreciation for the giving of the gift. I bethought me of a fellow minister who had a little boy, and the little fellow thought he wanted to have a baby brother Our friend Beach was that man. The little boy said to him,
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"Papa, I am going to write a letter to God and say, 'Dear God, I want a baby brother ;' I am going to sign my name to it and I am going to put it there in the grave-yard. Do you think God will get it ?" Beach said-honest fellow that he is-more honest than some ministers are-"My little fellow, I have been trying to get communication through to headquarters all through the years. Try it." I want our friend, the generous giver of this beautiful gift, to understand that there will be communication gotten through to headquarters, not only today, but in all the years to come, because of his generosity and noble spirit.
I looked in the library last evening to see the pictures of those who have gone before, and hanging on those walls I saw the picture of that noble-spirited woman who for so many years did so much for this community. I said to myself what a blessing to this people when such a spirit's benediction will be upon this man for all time to come because of his generosity, because of his fostering interests for which she stood, because of his promoting that intellectual culture for which she labored.
It is indeed a beautiful building ; a building which shall stand as a memorial to his generosity ; which shall remind the men and the women and the boys and the girls in the future of what one man was glad to do when God gave him days here on the earth to enjoy this sight of his beautiful benefaction, an example, I trust, which may be catching.
The President said something about a new church. I am very certain that by and by it will be easier to build churches and build acadeinies and build schools-to build everything that is great and good in your town-because of the inspiration which this man has furnished to you here in public spirit.
I look back to those years in the past. I remember a town meeting out here close by where you are sitting now. There came up an article in the warrant as to the appropriation of a certain sum for the public library. An old farmer living in the outskirts-I am glad to have forgotten his name-arose and said, "I don't believe in nothing of this sort; I don't believe that we farmers out in the outskirts ought to be voting money for you people up here in the Centre, for stories for you to read." How beautiful the example, how beautiful the opposite spirit that is manifested here today ! And this gift which we celebrate is going to help to make that word impossible in your future as I know it is impossible today.
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So, friends, this word of mine is simply of congratulatiou to this dear old town-so dear to my own heart-to this dear old town for this most beautiful thing which our friend has been doing. He was asked if he wasn't sorry that the thing wasn't done ten years before. Why, God is going to give him ten years more-twenty years more-to enjoy this thing and the thanks of the community.
In closing let me say, God bless the donor of this beautiful gift which today we dedicate to education, to intellectual cultture, to religion, to public spirit, to all that is good.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
MIDDLESEX, SS.
To Eugene DeRoehn, one of the Constables of the Town of Westford, in said County,
GREETING :
You are hereby required in the name of the Commonwealth aforesaid, to notify and warn all the inhabitants of said Town qualified to vote in elections and also in Town affairs, to meet at the Town House, in said Westford, on Monday, the fifth day of April, being the first Monday in said month, at eight o'clock A. M. The polls will be opened at 8.15 o'clock A. M., and closed at one o'clock P. M. ; and they are then and there to act upon the following articles, to wit :
1st. To choose a Moderator.
2d. To see if the Town will determine the compensation of the Tax Collector, and act in relation to the same.
3d. To bring in their votes for Town Clerk, for one year ; one Selectman, one Overseer of Poor, one Assessor, two School Committee, one Commissioner of Public Burial Grounds, one Trustee of the Public Library, all for three years ; Town Treasurer, Collector of Taxes, two Constables, and one Auditor, all for one year; also to vote on the fol- lowing question : "Shall licenses be granted for the sale of intoxicating liquors in this town ?" all on one ballot.
4th. To hear the report of the Selectmen, and act in relation to the same.
5th. To hear the report of the Selectmen on Guide Boards, and act in relation to the same.
6th. To hear the report of the Overseers of the Poor, and act in relation to the same.
7th. To hear the report of the School Committee, and act in rela- tion to the same.
8th. To hear the report of the Trustees of the Public Library, and act in relation to the same.
9th. To hear the report of the Commissioners of Public Burial Grounds, and act in relation to the same.
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10th. To see if the Town will accept the report of the Auditor chosen to audit the accounts of the Town Officers, and act in relation to the same.
11th. To see if the Town will accept the List of Jurors as reported by the Selectmen, and act in relation to the same.
12th. To raise and appropriate money to repair Roads and Bridges.
13th. To raise and appropriate money for Town Debts and Charges.
14th. To raise and appropriate money for Public Schools.
15th. To raise and appropriate money to pay tuition of High School scholars, residents of the Town, at Westford Academy.
16th. To raise and appropriate money for support of Poor.
17th. To raise and appropriate money for School Text Books and Supplies.
18tb. To see if the Town will authorize the Town Treasurer, under the written direction of the Selectmen, to borrow money from time to time to meet the demands on the treasury, and act in relation to the same.
19th. To determine the manner of collecting taxes for the ensuing year, also the rate of interest on taxes remaining unpaid at a time to be fixed by vote of the Town, and when and how said taxes shall be paid into the treasury, and act in relation to the same.
20th. To choose all other Town Officers necessary to be chosen by hand vote, and act in relation to the same.
21st. By request of the Veteran Association, to see if the Town will appropriate the sum of Seventy-five Dollars ($75) to commemorate Memorial Day, and act in relation to the same.
22d. By request of the citizens of Graniteville and Forge Village to see if the Town will appropriate the sum of Fifty Dollars ($50) for the purpose of distributing books from the Public Library in these two villages, and act in rela ion to the same.
23d. By request of W. F. Balch, to see if the Town will appropri- ate the sum of Twenty-five Dollars ($25) for the purpose of distributing books from the Public Library in the south part of the Town, and act in relation to the same.
24th. By request of the School Committee, to see if the Town wil vote to close the Long-Sought-For School and authorize the School Committee to transport the pupils to the Wright School, and act in relation to the same.
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25th. By request of the same, to see if the Town will authorize or direct the School Committee to close the Minot's Corner School and transport the pupils to the Center schools, and act in relation to the same.
26th. By request of the same, to see if the Town will appropriate money for Transportation of Scholars, and act in relation to the same.
27th. By request of Thomas E. Symmes, to see if the Town will vote to substitute an out-door march under military rules in place of the ordinary recess in our public schools, and act in relation to the same.
28th. By request of the same, to see if the Town will vote to pro- vide a suitable number of single privy booths for each school, with a self registering apparatus accessible to the teacher, and act in relation to the same.
29th. By request of the same, to see if the Town will make an ade- quate appropriation for a trial of the provisions of the foregoing article, and act in relation to the same.
30th. To see what action the Town will take to enforce the law to prevent fishing on Sunday, and act in relation to the same.
31st. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to buy a piece of land near Graniteville to be used as a Public Dump, and act in relation to the same.
32d. To see if the Town will vote to'elect a Committee, consisting of one person from each School District, so called, to act with the Selectmen to investigate and report at the next annual meeting for the election of Town Officers, in regard to discontinuing any road or roads in Town as public ways, and act in relation to the same.
33d. To see what action the Town will take to comply with the order of the County Commissioners on relocating and widening streets, and act in relation to the same.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up true and attested copies at the Town House and each Depot in said Westford, eight days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
HEREOF FAIL NOT, and make return of this warrant with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of holding the meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands and seals, this twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and ninety-seven.
SHERMAN H. FLETCHER, GEORGE W. HEYWOOD, JULIAN A. CAMERON, Selectmen of Westford.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
Town of Westford, Mass.
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR ENDING MARCH 1, 1897.
OF
WESTFO
VMOJ
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