USA > Maine > Oxford County > Norway > Centennial history of Norway, Oxford County, Maine, 1786-1886, including an account of the early grants and purchases, sketches of the grantees, early settlers, and prominent residents, etc., with genealogical registers, and an appendix > Part 38
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town continue to speak of it as Fuller's Corner. Mr. Swift was suc- ceeded here by his only son, Newton Swift, who afterward moved to Bethel Hill, and died there. E. R. Merrill went into trade in another store at Swift's Corner about the year 1851.
The first blacksmith at Fuller's Corner was Daniel Town, who came here from Andover, Massachusetts, in 1808. He continued the work for a long time, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, P. D. Judkins. Stephen Latham came from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, soon after Town came, put up a small shop near the Corner, and commenced the manufacture of wrought nails. He made his nails largely of old iron, and had all he could do to supply the wants of the town. Cut nails were not much known in those days. Mr. Latham was employed by Major Cummings to make nails for building the meeting-house, and many other buildings erected by him.
FROST'S CORNER.
This little hamlet which has sprung up on the western shore of the Great Pond, and which now has a post-office, known as Norway Lake, was begun in 1823. Job E. Stevens then put up a little store here, which was the first building erected at that place. The next building was a blacksmith shop, put up in 1829, by William Foster. Mr. Foster worked in this shop many years, and afterward William Hayes occupied it ; he also kept a tavern. John B. Ford, from the town of Gray, suc- ceeded Mr. Stevens in the store at this place, and the locality then took the name of Ford's Corner, by which it was known for many years. Mr. Ford did a flourishing business. The present name is in honor of William Frost 2d, who traded here a long time.
NOBLE'S CORNER.
Noble's Corner, situated in the north part of the town, was begun soon after the present traveled road to Greenwood was built. This drew the travel somewhat away from Swift's Corner, and Nathan Noble put up a store here and went into trade. A small hamlet sprang up here around the store, but it never was much of a business place. The North Norway post-office has sometimes been kept here, having passed from Swift's Corner to this place and back, on several occasions.
CHAPTER XXXII.
NORWAY CENTENNIAL.
SEPTEMBER eighth, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, was a red-letter day in the history of Norway. On that day was celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town. The matter had been talked of for years, and the people had looked forward to this day with pleasant anticipations of a grand reunion of the sons and daughters of Norway, and their hopes were more than realized. The weather was faultless and the committee of arrangements which had been at work through the season, had left nothing undone that could add interest to the important occasion. The programme had been carefully arranged, and the proceedings were not marred by any interruption, but were carried out with deliberation and precision. The day was ushered in with the firing of cannon, the ringing of bells, and the blowing of whistles, and early in the day the streets of the Village were thronged with people. The decorations were very elaborate. Nearly every householder had thrown sprays of bright color over his home, the stores and public buildings were masses of red, white, and blue, radiant arches spanned the streets, the flags of all nations glittered in long waving rows among the elms, but the color in the crowd out- shone the colors in the air. A few figures may express better than rhetoric the extent of ribbons and shoulder-knots which this fair town tied on herself on this festal day. The decorations included, twenty- five hundred yards of straight bunting, red, white, and blue; twenty- five hundred yards of colored streamers; thirteen strings of the flags of all nations, embracing two hundred pieces; two thousand Japanese lanterns.
The citizens spent five or six hundred dollars in this kind of adorn- ment. The decorator was George Nelson Beals of the Boston Decorat-
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ing Company, and by working all Tuesday night he was unable to fill the orders of the people who surrounded him when he arrived and clamored for bright fixings. A great wave of enthusiasm seemed to sweep over the town on the eve of its centennial.
The most elaborately decorated building was Norway Hall, which was trimmed outside and inside. On the front of the building were festoons of red, white, and blue bunting, and rows of floral shields, in the center of which was a large National emblem - the same device which was made for the foreign exhibition in Boston two years before.
A conspicuous feature of the interior was a mammoth banner of crim- son and gold, which hung over the stage, and was inscribed " 1786- Centennial of Norway - 1886." Back of this banner were festoons of moss paper and a field of stars and stripes. Shields were arrayed around the sides of the hall, and streamers drooped from the center- piece to these shields. On the rear wall were the State seal of Maine and the United States coat of arms. The front of the stage itself was covered with fresco draperies and moss paper. The gallery facades were draped with red and white stripes.
Near the Oxford County Advertiser office was a great arch of ever- green and colors. The entrance to the grove and the speakers' stand were also decorated. Flags swung over every street and from nearly every building.
The procession was formed at nine o'clock. The first division was formed on Main Street, the right resting on the head of Deering Street; the second on Deering Street, the right resting on Main Street; the third on Whitman Street, the right resting on Main Street; the fourth on Water Street, the right resting on Main Street; the fifth on Pleasant Street, right resting on Main Street.
William C. Cole was the Chief Marshal of the procession. His aids were W. A. Ripley, and Dr. B. F. Bradbury.
The column was headed by ten mounted police, and the Norway Brass Band, A. E. Norseworth, leader. Escort was done by the hand- some Norway Light Infantry, Captain George R. Howe commanding. Following the Infantry came Canton Wildey of Odd Fellows, of Nor- way, and Canton Worombus, of Lewiston, in their elegant black and purple regalia. Pennesseewassee Knights of Pythias, of Norway,
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escorted the red plumes and brilliant marching body of Damon Division Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, of Lewiston, with the Portland Drum Corps, thirteen men and drum major. The veterans of Harry Rust Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Norway, marched in the line. Governor Robie and his uniformed staff, invited guests in carriages, and the Sunday-schools of Norway, formed the second division. The Sun- day-schools rode in one great chariot. A pyramid of four seats on each of two sides was built on a heavy truck, and was gaily trimmed. Ninety singing and prettily costumed children formed the pleasing picture on the pyramid.
The Grangers of Norway had the third division, and made a fine show. They had three mounted officers, and ten teams in which the several degrees of the order were represented.
Chandler's (Portland) Band headed the trades division; and the music and the show were equally good. The business men of Norway made a grand demonstration. They entered into it with the zeal they show in every good enterprise. The biggest display was made by Mr. C. B. Cummings, who exhibited six teams, representing the various kinds of business in which he is engaged-saw-mill, "pancake" or ground leather factory, flour, feed, and boxes. Others in the line were E. W. Howe, carpets, etc .; J. Clark, boots and shoes; J. F. Allen, boots and shoes; F. H. Noyes, groceries; C. S. Cummings, furniture; S. L. Crockett, druggist; Whitcomb & Smiley, groceries, etc .; S. B. & Z. S. Prince, fancy goods; E. E. Millett, boots and shoes; Webb & Wake- field, clothing; N. Hatch, picture frames, etc .; C. N. Tubbs & Com- pany, groceries, etc .; A. D. & F. T. True, groceries; A. J. Nevers, fancy groceries, soaps, etc .; P. W. Judkins, clothing; Mrs. M. E. Woodsum, millinery ; Gilbert & Foss, groceries, etc .; C. E. Rines, Nor- way bakery; J. C. Bennett & Company, meats ; B. F. Spinney & Com- pany, Norway shoe factory ; S. D. Andrews & Company, pancake factory; J. A. Bolster & Son, marblework; Noyes' drug store; Elias Woodsum, model of a steamer, manned; Winslow Packing Company, corn factory.
A representation of the first house built in Norway, was in the pro- cession ; also the Oxford Bear Engine Company, and their hand fire
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engine. A band of a dozen Indians on horseback, rode in the proces- sion. Their faces were painted, and they looked like veritable savages. The second platoon of the First Maine Battery, from Brunswick, with two shining brass pieces, nobly formed the left of the line.
It was a grand procession, nearly a mile and a half long. The route of the procession was through Main, Fair, Paris, Winter, Beal, Lynn, Main, Pleasant, Water, Bridge to Main street, where the line was dismissed.
The literary exercises were had at Ordway's Grove and were opened by an overture from Chandler's Band. Rev. A. Wiswall of Norway offered the following prayer : -
O thou who art supreme in Heaven and earth, before whose throne in ceaseless throng the centuries roll in grand review! Worthy art thou of adoration, praise, and glory unmeasured from thy lowly subjects, and such we would render unto thee at this time.
And first, O thou God of nations, we thank thee for thy goodness to this our land, for the freedom which thou hast given to us, the prosperity which has been ours, for the stretch of territory, and strength of numbers and boundless resources which are ours from thee. Thanks unto thee also for thy care of us as a State ; for increasing wealth and enlarging influ- ences among the sisterhood of States; for the loyalty of this our State, for its stability, for its strength of temperance principles, for its attractive scenery.
But more than all on this eventful day wilt thou accept our thanks, thou beneficent Father, for thy kind remembrance of this our loved township, the anniversary of whose birth we cele- brate today. Through all this cycle of one hundred years thy good spirit hast beckoned us on. We thank thee for this. We thank thee for the brave ancestry of these who, gathered here today, gratefully recall the early struggles of their fathers, the result of whose labors fill the paths of today with blessings. We thank thee for the examples of frugality, and patient endeavor and industry left us by these pioneers, and our desire is that we may profit by them.
Accept our thanks also we beseech thee, our Father, for the progress which has expanded from what these absent ones began, that from their scattered clearings have developed these luxuriant farms, and that from their few and scantily furnished dwellings has evolved this beautiful and flourishing village, that schools and churches have multiplied, and industries abound in our midst, and that our streets resound not only to the tread of fifties and hundreds but of thousands.
And now Almighty God, our Father, while we thank thee for the past, we desire rightly and reverently to implore these for the future. Wilt thou help us to be deserving of thy future care and love. Help us to emulate the nobler qualities of our forefathers. Wilt thou still enhance the resources of this community. May added wheels of industry find their impulse in the already busy stream flowing past our doors. Keep thou from us we implore thee, merciful Father, all pestilence and epidemic. Grant that temperance and sobriety may always prevail in our midst. Prosper we pray thee all in professional and mercantile life and all in the common walks of life. May our schools send forth those whose influence may be
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felt for good in the world. May our churches rapidly win the hearts of this people from the allurements of sin and its consequences to love of God and its blessings. May our children grow up in loyalty to the government, reverence for the truth, respect for parents and teach- ers and civil institutions.
And now, O Lord our God, we desire to ask for thy blessing on the proceedings of this our one hundredth birthday. Accept our thanks for this clear sky above our heads. Bless, we pray thee, the exercises of the day. Lend thy kindly aid to the President and to the orator of the day. We invoke thy blessing likewise upon thy servant the Governor of our State, provi- dentially present with us, and upon all associated with him in office, and upon all these distinguished visitors and guests. Allow no accident we pray thee to mar these festal scenes. Let gladness fill our every heart. Remember all absent children of these hills and vales, present in heart with us today though absent in body. Gather us all again into thine eternal presence, when the scenes of earth have passed away, into the Celestial City where separation shall never occur ; and thine shall be the praise and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The following ode, composed for the occasion by Mrs. Elliot Smith of Norway, was sung to the tune of America by a chorus of two hun- dred voices.
Hills where the North winds sweep, Land where our fathers sleep, Thy children come ; Who love thy rocky hills, Thy lakes and mountain rills,
Thy woods where echo trills A welcome home.
Peace to our fathers' sleep, Who sowed the sheaves we reap With song, today; Sheaves of a hundred years, Freedom through blood and tears ! O, bold, brave pioneers ! Our fathers - they.
Wave high the banners then, Sing o'er their deeds again, And tell their fame; Who stood on Bunker's height, When Charlestown's lurid light, Burst on the startled sight Her fun'ral flame.
Their sons were brave as they, When British war-ship lay Off Preble Fort ; Her broadside toward the town
With wide-mouthed cannons frown ! Men rushed our hills adown, To guard the port.
Crowns for the Martyrs' graves, Who died to free the slaves ; We bring today For them a laurel wreath, Who faced the foe, and Death From hot-mouthed cannons' breath, In war's dread fray.
1
O Time ! Sweep all the tears, From out the hundred years, On this glad day ; Sing loud ye lakes and rills ! Break forth, O vales and hills ! Till every bosom thrills And joins the lay.
Let songs of praise arise, To God who rules the skies, And lights our way ; May the next Century Unseal the mystery, And Science find the key Tolife for aye.
·
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The address of welcome by the President of the day, Arthur E. Deni- son of Boston, formerly of Norway, was as follows : -
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : - By the assignment of the Committee having this celebration in charge, it is my agreeable duty to extend the welcome of this ancient town to all its wanderers, its guests, its citizens, and all who are here, whether drawn hither by the love akin to that which children feel for the mother who bore them, by a neighborly satisfaction in the material prosperity of this place, or by whatever motive you are prompted to come, in response to the generous invitation of good old Norway.
In the performance of this duty I may be permitted to say, that while circumstances have called me to other scenes, to perform my allotted part in the great drama of life, and my name is no longer enrolled as an active citizen of this community, yet your Committee, well knowing how warmly my heart beats in love for this place where my boyhood and early man- hood were so pleasantly spent, have complimented me in a peculiarly pleasing way which I deeply feel and for which to them and you, in anticipation of your kindly forbearance, I return my sincere thanks.
A beautiful custom is observed in some parts of the country, by which when a newly married couple return from their wedding journey a cordial home coming celebration takes place. The friends who were present at the marriage feast, and who bade the happy pair God speed as they took their departure amid showers of rice, old boots, and congratulations, again assemble in full numbers to declare their hope and expectation that all their remaining journey in life may be passed amid scenes as pleasant, surroundings as joyous, and under skies as cloudless as those from which they have so recently returned. So, old Norway, fresh from her pilgrimage of a hundred years (a short journey in the life of an active community) has sent forth her greeting to all who love her in any degree, to all who are bound to her by any tie, to all who wish her continued prosperity, to be present at this home coming, to unite with her in recalling the past, in renewing old friendships and forming new ones, in recounting the doings and sayings, the triumphs and trials of those who laid the foundations of this prosperous community and of those who, in these later days, went forth in time of need to do gallant service on the battle field and yield up life itself to preserve intact and hand down to a thousand generations that which has been so securely laid. Today Norway opens wide her arms to gather you all into her cordial embrace, and welcome you to her heart of hearts, which during all your wanderings has constantly throbbed with the tenderness of a mother, in love and good wishes for your welfare; she opens wide her homes, whose latch- strings have always hung outside her doors for her children, and bids you enter there and drink in anew, the inspirations which the hopes of the loved ones, and the prayers of the saintly ones, have kindled in your breasts ere you struggled with the great harsh world beyond their holy portals; she bids you enter the sacred precincts of the dead scattered here and there through her borders, and as you stand with uncovered head and trembling lip before resting-places of saints and heroes, of the friends of your youth, and of those bound to you by the nearer and dearer ties of kindred, be uplifted into nobler purposes and holier desires, as you contemplate the manly virtues, and forget the petty faults, of those who gave you life ; she spreads out for constant delight the same lake, fair and beautiful as any of those renowned in song or story or legend, by whose shores the first settler erected his humble «cabin, the same entrancing stretches of landscape, unfolded to your delighted vision from her
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many hills, the same blue sky which has bent in constant blessing over the place favored of God and man, to the enjoyment of all which long absence can but have given an added zest, and constant familiarity with which breeds renewed appreciation.
But, my friends, real hearty sincere welcome does not express itself in set phrase or pre- pared speech, and you will not judge the depth of Norway's greeting to these festivities by the inadequate words I utter on behalf of the friends at home, but by the warm grasp of the hands that greet you, by the tearful eye that can scarce restrain its overflow, so joyous is this day, by the voice that dares scarcely speak, lest it break into sobbings, instead of words, so great is the tenderness of the meeting with you again at the old hearthstone. Accept, however these words of mine as but the formal expression of welcome befitting this occasion. Rejoice with us in our prosperity, and be glad that we have no adversity for which we claim your sympathy. Enter with full hearts into the opportunities of the hour, and when you depart may you carry with you such memories of this Centennial, as will be a constant theme of delightful reminiscence. Come again to our bi-centennial one hundred years hence, and until then may peace, prosperity and happiness attend us all.
A Poem of Welcome by Miss Anna Florence Hayden, was the next in order. Miss Hayden is a native of Norway, a descendant on the maternal side, of Samuel Ames, the early settler, and a graduate of the Salem Normal School.
POEM OF WELCOME.
BY ANNA F. HAYDEN.
The verdant grove, the waters blue, The circling hills which round us stand, In their own language, fondly breathe A welcome to our native land ; Proud to respond we hasten here, As children to a mother's call, Our Norway ! what a world of pride And love this name reveals to all.
Its rich associations boast More than an hundred years can hold; Counted by joys and deeds and lives, Today we celebrate ten fold A sturdy band, wearied with war, First found by Pennesseewassee's shore, In this fair vale, a home of peace When hardships of the strife were o'er.
Strong hearts and willing hands were theirs To wield the ax or till the soil, And from the depths of forest shades Grew fields of plenty for their toil ; Brave souls and true have followed them, Ready to serve their country's need, A sterling stock throughout the years, Renowned by many a kindly deed.
From other scenes today we come, Brothers and sisters, parents dear,
Old friends and schoolmates meet once more In gladsome, hearty greeting here; Playmates who wandered o'er these fields, In bygone years - now aged men
And matrons gray - in sweet converse Recall those childhood hours again.
The schoolhouse upon yonder hill, The children gathered there at morn, The teacher's voice, the calling bell, Those care-free days,-forever gone, All come again, fresh and undimmed Until but yesterday it seems, Together there with common task, We dreamed our happy, youthful dreams.
We miss some loved ones from this throng, Some hands we cannot clasp today, Yet in the old familiar place And in our hearts they live alway ;
Voices now silent speak again, Faces long vanished seem to come
At memory's bidding to our side, And softly whisper, " Welcome home."
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Now strangers pass the well known spot, New faces at the open door,
The merry group once sheltered there Shall cross its threshold never more ; Then here's a tear for Auld Lang Syne, A heartfelt sigh for mother's kiss, A long farewell to loving scenes Of childhood's innocence and bliss.
A hundred years have passed away Since first the forest solitude Welcomed our fathers to its shade, Offered an habitation rude ; A hundred years have passed away, And now upon their well-earned ground With loyal hearts of joy and pride We hail the birthday of our town.
The same bright sun doth still pursue His never changing course on high, The moon sheds forth her rays by night, And stars still glimmer in the sky ; With wonted steps the seasons come And go as in the days of yore,
The rippling streams with music free
Still glide along the well known shore.
But lo ! like magic come to view
Fair homes, green gardens, flowery lawns, And many an old remembered tree
Which with its grace the scene adorns. What thought, what toil, what patient care Has changed the gloomy wilderness
To pleasant paths blooming and fair !
One hundred years ! a glance around, We see the rugged wooded hills,
The village with its tapering spires, The meadows by the limpid rills ; All things seem beautiful and grand, Throughout this bright and joyous earth
Where can we find a lovlier spot Than this blest place which gave us birth ?
This day shall bring unto our lives The old times long gone by,
Shall call us unto memory's land, Where many cherished treasures lie ; And tender ties of childhood's hour, Renewed today with silent tears
Shall bless us with a gentler grace .
Throughout the scenes of coming years.
JUDGE VIRGIN'S ORATION.
. The Oration by Hon. William Wirt Virgin, formerly of Norway, now one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, was the next exercise, and the reading of his scholarly and interesting production, was listened to with profound attention. It was as follows :-
In the latter part of February, some five and thirty years ago, as an experienced hunter together with myself and two other amateurs, mounted on snow-shoes, with packs on our backs and guns in our hands, stood on the bleak pinnacle of old "Bald Face," resting a few minutes there, from our weary matutinal tramp up its eastern slope preparatory to scouring the tributary waters of "Wild River" in the valley beyond, in quest of deer, I asked the old hunter why he led his hound, why he did not unloose him and let him " beat the bush " all around and thus help us hunt. " Because," he answered, "although Carlo has caught a few deer in his life, he is by training as well as by instinct a fox-hound; and if I should remove the rope, he would go off on the first fox track he might come to, and we should no longer have his services in hunting deer."
Although that was quite a different occasion from the present, still, I have taken a hint from that; for although in my younger days, I, on a few occasions, addressed large audiences
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on the popular subjects of the day, still for the most of my manhood's days and especially during the last fourteen years, my audiences have comprised only twelve men and my addresses have been confined to some grave branches of the law; and I feared, therefore, that unless I tethered myself by a written address, I might forget the themes appropriate to this occasion, strike off on some fresh track of the law, and thus leave you to hunt alone along the banks of that great stream of time which flows through the deep and silent valley of the past in quest of instructive lessons to be gleaned from the severe experiences and bright examples of those generations "whose forms your eyes have not seen and whose voices your ears have not heard, but all which they did and thought and suffered make you what you are, and should bind you to them by ties whose number and strength no human mind can estimate, and which no human arm can break."
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