USA > Maine > Washington County > Machias > Memorial of the centennial anniversary of the settlement of Machias > Part 6
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The first settlers of Machias, as a true off-shoot of the Puri- tan stock, possessed all their sterling virtues, and early laid in their midst the foundations of those institutions which render New England the glory of the political and moral world.
They suffered with more than human fortitude, and died with the heroism of martyrs, that this fair domain might for- ever be devoted to freedom, religion and education, not to despotism, atheism and ignorance ; to popular self-govern- ment, and individual equal rights, not to an oligarchy, indi-
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vidual subjugation and caste, to man's highest development, not to his most abject debasement
Heroic men ; it is fitting that their posterity do not forget that every stone in this temple of Liberty which they have transmitted to us, has been hewn with the battle-axe, cement- ed with their blood, adorned with the priceless jewels, dis- tilled in the anguish of widows and orphans, and consecrat- ed by the martyrdom of the noblest of spirits.
I cannot close without tendering to you my heartfelt thanks for honoring me by extending so flattering and un- deserved an invitation.
I am, Gentlemen, With sincere respect, Your Ob't. Servant, Z. A. SMITH.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Leonard Scott, Esq., New York.
NEW YORK, May 9th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
I acknowledge, with many thanks, the receipt of your invitation to participate in the Centennial Celebration of the first settlement of the Old Town of Machias, and I greatly regret that my health will not permit me to accept it. Though not a native or ever a resident of Machias, I have always felt a lively interest in its history, from the fact that my Grand Parents, both on the paternal and maternal side, were among its first settlers. I believe that my grand- father, Samuel Scott, and Benj. Berry were the first white men that ever entered Machias harbour and explored its Rivers, Lakes and Forests, and that their report of its many natural advantages induced the little Colony of Sixteen to
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move their families, to what was then literally a howling wilderness, and brave its perils from savage wild beast and more savage man. My grand-father, Sylvanus Scott, settled on what was, and is still, I believe, known as the Rim. Dur- ing the Revolutionary War, all his property was destroyed by the British in one of their forays up the River, and his family, a sick wife and eleven daughters, driven into the woods for shelter. From their hiding-place they saw the torch applied to their dwelling and the work of destruction made complete. The frame of the building still stands which my grand-father afterwards fashioned with his own hands and erected on or near the site of the former dwelling, and is, with its more recent covering, now owned, I believe, by Mr. S. H. Talbot of East Machias.
Several of my uncles took an active part in the war of the Revolution. My uncle, John Scott, was a Lieutenant under Col. Benj. Foster. His brother Jesse, was taken prisoner near St. John, and kept in close confinement all one winter. Still another brother, Simeon, was shot and scalped some- where on the St. John River by an American Tory ! My father, Mark Scott, though at the time but a mere lad, was one of a party under command of Capt. Ephraim Chase, which captured a boat's crew from a British vessel who had come on shore for wood and water, in the Machias harbour.
These facts I give from memory as they were related to me by my parents, thirty or forty years ago. I cannot vouch for their entire accuracy, but I have no doubt they are substantially true, and will be corroborated by such of the old settlers of Machias, or their immediate descendants, as may yet remain to remember and relate the incidents of those stirring times.
I am proud to be a descendant of the race of hardy pi- oneers and patriots who settled your famous old town, and I hope the coming Celebration will do fitting honor to their
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memory and their virtues, and serve to inspire their des- cendants with a determination to emulate them. Surely the struggle which our beloved country is now passing through, demands as much at our hands.
Very Respectfully Yours, LEONARD SCOTT.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Prof. Samuel Harris, of Bangor Theological Seminary.
BANGOR, Maine, May 11th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
I received your circular inviting me to attend the Centennial Celebration of the settlement of Machias. I en- deavored to make arrangements to leave my engagements here and be present ; and supposed I had succeeded. But I find my plans frustrated and I must give up the anticipat- ed pleasure of being with you. Accept the assurance of my constant and loving remembrance of the place of my birth.
It had always seemed to me that I was surrounded in my boyhood by men and women of mark. This may be partly owing to the fact that men and women, like trees, rivers, mountains, and everything, appear larger to us in childhood. But I am satisfied it is not all to be explained as an illusion of this sort. I cannot be mistaken that I have known there -women, whose characters if delineated, would place them in the foreground of excellence and nobleness : and men of regal natural endowments, such as Dr. Brown calls "a solar man, of ample nature-soul, body and spirit." I have notic- ed that it fares with men as it does with trees. If they grow crowded together in a city, like trees in a forest, they have individually but little spread and are all shaped very
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much alike. But if they grow in the country, like trees in the open land, they spread wide ; every one grows with a shape of his own, and pushes out without hindrance, the knotty and gnarly peculiarities of his nature. The very iso- lation of our native town has doubtless contributed to the growth of strongly marked characters.
The fathers of our town, animated by the genuine New England spirit, early secured the services of a Christian minister. Mr. Lyon must have been a superior man. His patriotic activity in the Revolution has doubtless been com- memorated in the historical oration of the day. He was also an author. Among my earliest recollections is that of a well worn copy of his book kept in a drawer of my mo- ther's bureau, and often read by her with delight. Some two years ago, an old gentleman died here, who, after his wife's death a year before, had removed from Massachusetts to Bangor to spend his last days with his relatives. After his death, the lady, at whose house he died, wished me to see a book which had a wonderful claim for him. For many years his wife had read in it to him every day; and after coming here he was not willing to let a day pass without hearing some passage from it. She produced the book, and it was Mr. Lyon's.
There is much in the history of our native town of which we have just reason to be proud. It holds a high rank among the towns of the State in what it has done for edu- cation and temperance, and generally in the intelligence and virtue of its population. May its prosperity always rest on the solid foundations of intelligence, virtue, and religion.
What wonderful changes have taken place since the first settlers landed at Machias one hundred years ago. Very. soon they met, and nobly met. the troubles of the Revolution, and witnessed the birth of this nation and the establishment of this free government, of which Jeff. Davis said, only three
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months before he was leading the Rebellion against it, that "it was the best in its constitution of all governments. and had been the best administered, and had conferred the most benefits on the people." Our town is on a remote frontier, yet it participates in the glory and strength of the American Union, and derives from it advantages in more respects than can be reckoned. Not to speak of other benefits. the value of the Union to every village in it is beyond all estimate in this one particular, as a guaranty of peace. It guarantees to us that we and our fellow-townsmen in California and Washington shall not be citizens of States foreign and some- times hostile to each other, but that we and they, though separated by the breadth of the continent, shall be in sym- pathy as fellow-citizens and look up with a common pride to the same glorious flag. Europe, divided into many nations and obliged by perpetual struggles to maintain the balance of power, has scarcely known a complete cessation of War in a thousand years. Our Union gives us the best possible guaranty of peace over the immense area which it covers. It thus gives us in the outset an advantage which Europe has not attained through centuries of blood. It opens to this nation an opportunity which no other nation ever had, to avoid wasting its strength in War, to grow great by the arts of peace, by developing the resources of a continent, and, what is more, developing humanity itself. In this sin- gle particular no mind can estimate its value to us and to the world. To citizenship in this glorious Union we were born. By every obligation we are bound to transmit this more than royal birth-right, unimpaired, to our posterity.
When a future generation shall celebrate the second cen- tennial of the settlement of Machias, may they see the Amer- ican Union unbroken, the old flag still floating crowded with its multiplied stars, and all about them the prosperity and power which shall be the fruits of a hundred years more of
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national union and growth. And as now we look back with pride on the patriotic energy of the first inhabitants of Ma- chias in the Revolution, so may they then be able to look back with pride on our fidelity, zeal and devotedness in re- sisting the rebellion which now assails the nation's life.
With the renewed assurance of my hearty interest in the prosperity of my native town, I am, gentlemen,
With much respect, sincerely yours, SAMUEL HARRIS.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Hon. James Savage, of Boston, Mass.
BOSTON, May 7th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
I take great pleasure in making this acknowledge- ment of the honor you have done me by the invitation, re- ceived last week, to partake with you in the services and festivities of the Centennial Celebration on the 20th inst., of the settlement of Machias ; and know how kindly you will ac- cept the apology for my absence, on such an interesting occa- sion, that arises from the fact of the near approach of my eightieth year. Always have I felt a regard for the town, as my two married sisters resided there, when it was the most eastern corporation of the United States, one the wife of the first Sheriff in your County, and as two years of my youth were passed at the village of Western Falls sixty-four and sixty-five years ago. To the municipal prosperity of a place, with which I have many agreeable associations, ever will be united the sincere wishes of happiness to its peo- ple.
From your obliged servant.
JAMES SAVAGE.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
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From Hon. John A. Poor, Portland, Maine.
PORTLAND, Maine, May 16th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
I am honored by an invitation to participate in the services of the Celebration on the 20th inst., of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the settlement of the old town of Machias,-and to honor the establishment of those munici- pal, ecclesiastical, and social institutions, to which the citiz- ens of the five towns, now embraced within the limits of the ancient municipality of Machias, owe so much of intellectual and moral culture.
I regret that unavoidable absence from the State, pre- cludes the possibility of my attendance on this interesting occasion, and learning more fully as to the experience, the trials and the hardships of those brave men and women of the fifteen families, who one hundred years ago, permanent- ly established institutions of government on the then ex- treme Eastern Frontier of New England settlements, and whose heroic achievements in. 1777 illustrated the genius and the courage of the New England Character.
A few years ago, while pursuing some investigations in the Library of the New York Historical Society, a gentle- man of New York, similarly engaged, learning I was from Maine, procured an introduction for the purpose of reading to me Lossing's account of the repulse of the British fleet at Machias-then just issued from the press ; which he receiv- ed with a feeling of incredulity. I referred him to the full account in the collections of the Maine Historical Society, and assured him of its reliability. He declared it the most brilliant achievement in the annals of war, one that must make the place and the actors honored and renowned forever.
Fully sympathising with the feeling thus expressed, I re- gret extremely, that I cannot visit the spot made memora-
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ble by acts of heroic daring and of sublime courage, worthy of a heroic race, in a heroic age-and of doing homage to the memory of the actors in that great event ; and of know- ing more fully their immediate descendants, who inherit their virtues and their courage. The time is not very distant when the one hundredth Anniversaries of the events of 1775 and 1777 will call for proper observance.
But the History of Machias goes back to a still earlier date, than the advent of the Scarborough families ; the Hundredth Anniversy of whose settlement you so worthily honor. It was visited by Champlain in 1604. It was an English trading station in 1633. Thither Isaac Allerton of Plymouth, and Richard Vines of Saco, sent their ships to traffic with the natives-It was taken from the English in 1633 by order of Governor La Tour-It was an important station under the French in 1693, by the name of Majois when La Mothe Cardillac held sway in Acadia-and it has at all times played an important part in the shifting fortunes of Eastern New England and of Acadia, to say nothing of the ante-European history traced upon the records of its sea-shore.
The Machias of 1763 was one of the early fruits of the conquest of Canada, and the overthrow of the French power in the New World. The capture of Quebec in 1759, was followed by the final surrender of Canada to England by the Definitive Treaty of Peace in 1763. This gave peace along our borders, and immigration followed from other portions of New England. The settlement of Machias therefore is due to that great conquest by Wolfe, which gave the Con- tinent to our race, and changed the history of the world.
But I refrain from the further pursuit of topics so inter- esting. I desire only to express my gratification as a na- tive and a citizen of Maine, at any exhibition of respect for a noble and heroic ancestry-that development of the "his-
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toric sense" of which your celebration is a patriotic and striking example.
Maine is that region of North America most coveted by the commercial powers of Europe in the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries. Spain, France, Holland, and England, respectively claimed it, and it finally became the cause of strife, the battle-ground of religions and races, between France and England, ending in the triumph of the latter .- Its geographical position, and its physical features, render- ed its possession essential to the dominant race in the New World ; and with the development of American civilization, Maine shall yet reach that eminence of position in contrast. with other sections of the Continent, assigned to it, by the Father of English Colonization in America, when he set on foot the plans of Empire, which has given to our race the Continent of North America.
With the highest respect, I remain your friend, &c., JOHN A. POOR.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Nathan Longfellow, Jr., of Haverhill, Mass. HAVERHILL, April, 30th, 1863.
RESPECTED FRIENDS :-
I received your kind invitation to be present at your celebration to be holden on the 20th of May; and feel myself highly honored to be remembered by you, and should be happy to be present if it was possible.
And while we look back to our fore-fathers with pride in view of their patriotism and steadfast adherence to princi- ple, let us not forget that on our own shoulders has fallen a
:
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burden heavier than theirs, and with a holy trust in God let us stand manfully for our freedom and independence, not only from foreign interference, but from foes at home who would destroy the best government the sun ever shone upon. Maine has spoken so that the world can understand that she is not tired of the holy institutions bequeathed to us, and Machias is shedding the blood of her sons that these princi- ples may prevail all over our land.
With great respect, yours, NATHAN LONGFELLOW. JR. Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Rev. Amos Brown, of Havanna, N. Y.
HAVANNA, N. Y., May 8th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
I have received the note in which you invite me to participate in the services and festivities, to attend the Cel- ebration of the one hundredth Anniversary of the settlement of the old township of Machias, and thank you for it.
Permit me to say, that I often revert, with great satisfac- tion, to the fact of my brief residence among you, and am made glad at every assurance of your prosperity.
It was once my privilege to recount, in a sermon, the vir- tues and heroic deeds of your ancestors. They have been but rarely surpassed.
Just now, however, such practices as those of your fathers, to which in your celebration you will recur, do, as you are aware, stand largely for a reproach; and because of such, a forcible division of our Union is threatened by means of which New England is to be left out in the cold. I trust the recollection of this fact will not lessen your gratitude that you have such an ancestry, but will rather
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add zest to your occasion, and lead you in full faith in the God of your fathers to purpose henceforth as in the past, the old family bible, the church on the hill-side, and the school house by it, shall receive your firm support.
I am, gentlemen, very truly yours, AMOS BROWN.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Jonathan D. Parker, Esq., of Steuben.
STEUBEN, May 14th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
Yours of the 15th, informing me that the "citizens of the old Township of Machias will celebrate the Hundredth Anniversary of its Settlement on the 20th of May next," and inviting me to participate in the services and festivities of the occasion, was most unexpectedly and gratefully received. Gratefully, not only for the honor of the invitation, but also, for the respectful language in which it was expressed, espe- cially as I am not a native of Machias, or even a resident there, except for a short time, in the year of 1819 at East Machias.
But, Gentlemen, I regret to say, I shall not be able to leave home to attend. I regret it, as it would afford so much pleasure to meet old acquaintances, to see so many distin- guished persons, I might never otherwise see-to hear the many interesting ideas, that will be expressed-to partici- pate in the joys and festivities of the day. But above all, that I shall be deprived of lending my feeble aid and influ- ence, in encouraging individuals, families and communities, in cherishing a reverence for the names, and virtuous deeds, of our ancestors, the want of which, may have had too much to do with our present unhappy condition as a nation.
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Perhaps I may have an undue love of statistical studies. I trust, and do not doubt, but you will have a very interest- ing Anniversary, and may it lead all who may only hear or read of the exercises, to treasure up memorials of individu- als, families and communities, and thus aid the Historian, and make the influence of the occasion last through all time.
With great respect for your constituents, and for you, gen- tlemen, personally,
I am yours truly, J. D. PARKER.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Leonard C. Bowles, Esq., Boston, Mass.
BOSTON. Mass., May 12th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
I received your circular inviting me, as one of the natives of the old town of Machias, to attend the Centennial Anniversary of the settlement of the town, on the 20th inst. It would afford me much satisfaction to be there at that time, but I fear other engagements will prevent my atten- dance. I have not visited my native town but five times since I left there, fifty years ago last autumn, for this city, where I have resided ever since. Great changes have taken place during that period in my father's family, I being the only member left ; and no doubt similar changes have oc- curred in the families with whom I associated in my youth ; and were I now to revisit my birth-place I should probably feel like a "stranger in a strange land ;" but that would not prevent my accepting your polite invitation, did not other reasons and circumstances deprive me of the pleasure of meeting with you on that interesting occasion.
You may, if you think proper, offer the following senti- ment at the collation :
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The early settlers of the old town of Machias: Descended from good Puritan ancestors, and some of them soldiers of the Revolution, who faithfully served their country-may their memories ever be held by their descendants, with grateful remembrance.
Very respectfully yours, LEONARD C. BOWLES.
Messrs. Harris &c., Committee.
From Josiah Harris Talbot, Esq., of Minnesota.
ST. ANTHONY, Minnesota, May 7th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
Your invitation to be present at the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the settlement of our native town, is just received.
It would afford me great pleasure to be one of the number of those who will assist by their presence and their talents, to celebrate the day, but the great distance which separates us must be my excuse to you and the ground on which I must console myself for my absence.
I have lived just half of the century during which Ma- chias has been forming her history, and though I have been a resident of the town less than half my life, my absence has not destroyed my interest in her welfare. Nor do I fail to cherish my share of the just pride which all her children are entitled to feel in the more brilliant points of her his- tory, in which she is by no means deficient. She may well point with laudable pride to the heroic and chivalrous resis- tance of her sons to British invasion, during the early strug- gle of our infant nation for independance ; an episode in that war, which, considering her isolated position, her defen-
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seless condition, her deficiency in arms and ammunition, her small number of able-bodied men, was not exceeded in gal- lantry and bravery by any act of that war. Though her numbers were small, yet, what men she had were no "car- pet knights," her early inhabitants being unsurpassed in physical proportions and power, by any class of people with whom I have met in twenty-one of our States which I have visited, not excepting the far famed sons of Kentucky.
That the day will be rich in social and intellectual enjoy- ment to those who have the privilege of being present, I cannot doubt and most ardently hope.
Though unable to be with you, you have my hearty ap- proval and sympathy in your object. I send you the follow- ing sentiment :
The old town of Machias, May the memory of her early inhabitants be held in such respect and veneration as their enterprise, energy and bravery so justly deserve, and their noble qualities continue to be emulated by their descendants.
Yours very respectfully,
JOSIAH H. TALBOT.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From John M. O' Brien, Esq., of Brunswick, Me. BRUNSWICK, May 11th, 1863.
GENTLEMEN :-
In reply to your invitation to attend your Centennial Celebration, I must decline to attend personally on account of my age.
It must be, I think, seventy years since my father took me, when a child, with him on a voyage from Newburyport to Machias. From this lapse of years you may well infer the sufficiency of my reason for a personal non-attendance.
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While noticing your increase of municipalities from one to five, a thought occurred to me which I have put into the form of a sentiment, which, if you think proper, and fitting time and place occur, may be named as my contribution on this interesting occasion:
The Machiases of 1863: May their progress, especially their progress in Morals and Religion, be in a ratio still greater than the municipal increase of the Machias of 1763.
With best wishes and prayers for your individual and so- cial welfare,
Yours respectfully, JOHN M. O'BRIEN.
Messrs. Harris, &c., Committee.
From Lieut. Col. Thomas H. Talbot, of the 1st Rey. Heavy Artillery, Maine Volunteers.
FORT ALEXANDER, near Washington, D. C., May 15th, 1863. S GENTLEMEN :-
I duly received your invitation to be present and participate in the Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the settlement of Machias. Nothing would give me greater satisfaction than to look into the faces, and listen to the voices of such as survive of the well-remembered and rever- ed men and women among whom I grew to manhood, but imperative duty detains me at my present post. I do not however forget the debt of gratitude I owe my native town for what it contributed to whatever is estimable in that manhood. There overlaid the sterile soil upon which we were born a more fertile seed-field, in which the teachings of the pulpit, the school and the fireside germinated and bore fruit; and we, who esteem ourselves happy in our birth-place, looking back can see how all these instructions
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