USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Jaffrey > Jaffrey centennial : proceedings of the centennial celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Jaffrey, N.H., August 20, 1873 > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02942 9393
Gc 974.202 J18jc Jaffrey centennial
Centennial.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
entennial
Celebration
OF THE
ONE HUNDREDTH
ANNIVERSARY
OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE
Town of Jaffrey, N. H.,
AUGUST 20, 1873.
PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION BY THIE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.
WINCHENDON : PRINTED BY F. W. WARD & CO. 1873.
-0
Centennial.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
entennial Celebration 8
OF THE
ONE UNDREDTH
ANNIVERSARY
OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE
Town of Jaffrey, N. H.,
AUGUST 20. 1873.
PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION BY THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENT
WINCHENDON : PRINTED BY F. W. WARD & CO. 1873.
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS.
T the Annual Town Meeting, March 8th. 1870, pursuant to an article in the warrant, voted that John Fox, Joseph P .. Frost, Addison Prescott, David C. Chamberlain and Rufus Case, be a committee to collect facts in reference to mak- ing preparations for a Centennial celebration August 17th, 1878. and said committee appointed, as assistants, one person in cach School District, viz : - Benjamin Cutter, Geo. A. Underwood, Addison J. Adams, Ambrus W. Spaulding, Lewis L. Pierce, Franklin H. Cutter, Clarence S. Bailey, Joseph W. Fassett, John S. Lawrence, John Frost, Benj. Pierce, Benjamin Prescott and Lewis S. Jaquith.
At the annual Town Meeting, March 12th, 1872, consequent to an article in the warrant, a vote was passed to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the Town, and chose John Fox, Addison Prescott, Benjamin Pierce, Lewis S. Jaquith, Julius Cutter and Franklin H. Cutter a committee to carry the same into effect.
November 5th, 1872, the town voted that the committee chos- en to make the necessary preparation for the approaching Con- tennial anniversary of the town, be authorized to fill all vacan- cies which may occur in said committee.
Subsequently John Fox and Lewis S. Jaquith withdrew, and the vacancies were filled by George A. Underwood and Lewis 1. Pierce.
The committee organized by choosing Lewis L. Pierce, corres- ponding Secretary and Clerk ; Franklin H. Cutter, Chairman, and Julius Cutter, Treasurer; commencing their duties by eu- gaging an orator and poet.
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
At the Annual Meeting, March 11th, 1873, the town voted to celebrate its centennial anniversary at the centre of the town ; also, that the Committee of Arrangements and Selectmen be a committee to determine in what way the collation should be pro- vided, - said committee deciding it should be furnished gratuit- ously, and to carry the same into effect, the committee of ar- rangements appointed Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Fassett, Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Sawyer, Mr. & Mrs. John A. Cutter, Mr. & Mrs. John S. Dutton, Mr. Henry Chamberlain, Mr. & Mrs. Frederic 'Spaulding, Mr. & Mrs. Addison J. Adams, Mr. & Mrs. Ambrus W. Spaulding, Mr. & Mrs. Daniel P. Adams, Mr. & Mrs. Mar- shall C. Adams, Mr. & Mrs. Levi E. Brigham, Mr. & Mrs. Abram B. Davis, Mr. & Mrs. Bejamin F. Lawrence, Mr. & Mrs. John E. Baldwin, Mr. &. Mrs. Lucius A. Cutter, Mr. & Mrs. Joel H. Poole, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Davis, Mr. & Mrs. Henry M. Stearns, Mr. Samuel Jewell, Mr. Fred J. Lawrence, Mr. & Mrs. Michael D. Fitzgerald, Mr. & Mrs. Edward H. Crowe, Mr. & Mrs. Selah Lovejoy, Mr. &. Mrs. Hosea B. Aldrich, Mr. & Mrs. David A. Cutler, Mr. & Mrs. Sylvester P. Towne, Mr. & Mrs. Oliver H. Brown, Mr. & Mrs. Liberty Mower, and Mr. & Mrs. Thos. Upton as a soliciting and table committee, who perform- ed their duties in a highly commendable manner, and the result was, the multitude that came, were bountifully supplied with substantial and delicate food, with an abundance of ice-water. Tea, coffee, lemonade, foaming soda &c., were obtained by pass- ing into side tents.
The committee of arrangements appointed James S. Lacy, Austin E. Spaulding and Benjamin Pierce to arrange a choir of singers for the centennial day ; also made choice of Franklin H. Cutter, Esq., President ; Dr. John Fox, Peter Upton, Esq., Col. Samuel Ryan, Ex-Consul Chas. H. Powers, Capt. John A. Cut- ter, Henry C. French, Alfred Sawyer, Ambrus W. Spaulding, Col. James L. Bolster, Vice-Presidents; Capt. George A. Un- derwood, Marshal; he appointing Joseph W. Fassett, Jonas C. Rice, Henry B. Wheeler, Esq., Aids, for the day.
The expenses of the celebration were paid by subscription, as will herein be shown.
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
A letter of invitation was issued by the committee, printed on eight hundred Postal Cards, copied as follows :
"JAFFREY CENTENNIAL."
" The One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Jaffrey, N. H., occurs this year. It is proposed to celebrate the event on the twentieth day of August, with appro- priate ceremonies. The Sons and Daughters of Jaffrey, and all former residents are cordially invited to be present and take part in commemorating the day."
FRANKLIN H. CUTTER, ) ADDISON PRESCOTT, BENJAMIN PIERCE, JULIUS CUTTER, GEO. A. UNDERWOOD, LEWIS L. PIERCE, 7
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.
JAFFREY, JULY 26th, 1873.
This letter was, by the committee, sent to all parts of the country, to former residents of the town.
As the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town occurred on Sunday, August 17th, it was decided to cele- brate on the Wednesday following.
The day proved favorable. At an early hour, from all quar- ters, crowds assembled at the place of meeting to the number of five thousand or more. Many friendly and hearty greetings were passed between those who had long been separated, and were now permitted to take each other by the hand.
A mammoth tent covering 150 by 60 feet of ground, was erected in close connection to the " old town house." An am- ple platform, measuring forty by fifteen feet, was covered by a nice piano, large reporters' table, and settees for one hundred and fifty persons ; the "auditorium " proper having seats for more than three thousand people.
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
"THE DAY'S DOINGS."
The component parts of a long and eye-pleasing procession - Captain George A. Underwood, Chief Marshal ; J. W. Fassett, J. C. Rice, H. B. Wheeler, Assistants-formed at three different points. Having been brought together on time, it moved from the vicinity of J. T. Bigelow's store at 9 A. M., in the following order : 1 - Peterboro' Cavalry Company, Capt. D. M. White, 55 men ; 2-East Jaffrey Cornet Band, G. W. Capen, Leader, 20 pieces; 3-Contoocook Fire Engine Company, Liberty Town, Foreman, 40 uniforms ; 4-President of the day, Orator, Toastmaster, and Chaplain ; 5-The Vice-Presidents ; 6-Com- mittee of Arrangements ; 7 - Invited guests expected to respond to sentiments ; 8-Choir, marshaled by J. S. Lacy, 30 strong ; 9-Loyal Veterans, Lieut. Wm. Robbins, Commander ; 10- Four horse wagon with four generations of the Rice family, and a banner lettered " Mrs. Dorcas Rice-104 yrs .- the oldest la- dy in New Hampshire ;" 11-23 young ladies (conducted by John E. Baldwin) representing Cheshire County by carrying elegant banners, cach respectively inscribed with the name of a single town; 12-Teachers and scholars of thirteen district schools with handsomely mottoed and numbered standards; 13 - Citizens generally. Having marched and counter-marched perhaps a half mile, the procession (except the Cavalry which left for East Jaffrey depot to escort soon-to-arrive members of the Boston city government) entered the tent which proved of insuf- ficient capacity for the occasion, many hundreds being obliged, nolens volens, to remain outside. Precisely at ten o'clock, Chief Marshal Underwood felicitously introduced Franklin H. Cutter, Esq., President of the day, who forcibly enunciated the subjoined
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- I congratulate you upon this event- ful occasion - this celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversa- ry of the Incorporation of the Town of Jaffrey. I congratulate you at our re-union under so favorable circumstances here at the foot of old time-worn Monadnock. Since that incorporation day,
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
one hundred years ago, which bears the prominent place on the pag- es of our town's history, this earth has made thirty-six thousand, five hundred and twenty-four daily revolutions, and oftimes has the morning sun kissed the brow of Grand Old Monadno .. k. nature's pride, lighting up the hills with rosy glow, then beaming down into the valleys draped with shadows till nature has chang- ed her sable robe of night for that of the sun's molten golden light. Then came the mid-day with all its meridian glory, and as many times that sun has cast its evening shades on the hill-sides and left its last ray on that same mountain's brow, reflecting up- on the sky most gorgeous hues of flame-color and crimson, im- perceptibly deepening into the purple tinge of evening.
To the Sons and Daughters of those who have occupied these granite hills in days gone by - the statesman, the lawyer, the preacher, the doctor - and to all, those in every station of life, coming from the colder climes of the North, from the South where the orange trees in fragrance bloom, from the East where the angry Atlantic lashes the rock-bound shore with its turbu- lent waters, from the broad prairies of the West, dotted here and there with mammoth fields of wheat, corn and other grain, on to the shores of the mighty Pacific, - we give you all a most cordial welcome upon this festival day to our hearths where the fire goeth not out and hospitality ever reigneth; to the homes of your ancestors, the places of your childhood about which so many tender recollections cluster, as we sing
" How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view ; The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wild-wood. And every loved spot which my infancy knew ; The wide spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it, The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell;
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,
And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well."
We welcome you back to witness the beautiful scenery of Jaf- frey ; to look upon our mountain in all its magnificence and grandeur ; to follow its winding streams and from their pure waters catch the spotted trout suited to the most fastidious taste ; to walk in the old grave-yard and gaze upon those tomb-stones which denote the spot where our fathers rest. Our neighbors
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
and friends we welcome you to participate in the festivities of this occasion. We give you all a friendly grip of the hand, in- vite you to take part in this Centennial Celebration and thank God that we are here to speak one to another of days gone by and spend a short time together with the memories of Auld Lang Syne. May blessings rest upon this day and the town of Jaffrey, her sons and daughters, through all coming centuries. .
Applause having subsided, the band played "Keller's 'Amer- ican Hymn " in good style, when Rev. Rufus Case, pastor of the First Congregational Church at Jaffrey Centre, offered an excel- lent prayer, after which the choir, led by Prof. Geo. Foster, of Keene, harmoniously vocalized an original
"SONG OF WELCOME."
BY MISS ALMEDA M. SMITH.
Back from the prairied West,
Dear kindred, welcome home; This native soil you blest, Ere tempted far to roam. Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills. Her rocky vales and sparkling rills.
Back from the South's fair Jand, Back from the holly's shade, Welcome to join our band, From every hill and glade. Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills, Her rocky vales and sparkling rills.
O'er ocean's waters blue We bid you come once more ;
Our hearts are faithful, true, As in the days of yore. Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills. Her rocky vales and sparkling rills.
Come, join our festal throng, 'Neath stern Monadnock's brow ; Our hearts to day are strong
In friendship pure, I trow. Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills, Her rocky vales and sparkling rills.
A century ago Your fathers trod this soil ; The gray old rocks we know Bear witness of their toil.
Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills, Her rocky vales and sparkling rills.
With thankful hearts we bow To God, our Father, Friend, That here we meet e'en now,
And our glad greetings blend. Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills, Her rocky vale and sparkling rills.
We welcome you again To your dear native land ; Join in our sweet refrain
With voice and heart and hand. Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills, Her rocky vales and sparkling rills .
President Cutter then came forward and said, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- It is with great satisfaction that I have the pleas- ure of introducing to you as Orator of the Day, a native of Jaf- frey. The venerable gentleman has lived nearly half a score of years more than the number allotted to man, and is thoroughly
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
acquainted with the carly history of this town. He has served his native State, New Hampshire, as Chief Justice for a series of ycars, and to him the jurists of our State have looked for counsel. He has also been a guiding star in the legal profession of our sis- ter State where he now resides. Well can we afford to listen at this time to the HON. JOEL PARKER, of Cambridge, Massachu- setts, whom I now introduce to you.
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS.
BY HON. JOEL PARKER, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
FELLOW CITIZENS, FRIENDS ; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : - Some threescore years since, a favorite piece for declamation by the junior school-boys commenced with this couplet :
"You'd scarce expect one of my age. To speak in public on the stage."
When I received the invitation of the Committee of Arrange- ments, to deliver an Address, at the close of a century, more than threc-quarters of which I represent, so far as years are concern- ed, in my own person, I was forcibly reminded of this school-boy exercise, and strongly tempted, reversing its significance, to make it the basis of my reply.
But the after-thought was, that upon such occasions, reminis- cences are generally acceptable, even if they are trivial, and that. perhaps, urged by such a complimentary requisition, I owed it to the Town of my birth, to waive my claim to exemption, make my " last appearance " on this occasion, and tell what I know, little though it may be, of its early history.
Little enough it is, in fact, for the years of my carly youth were passed in the remote sechision of the Northeastern cor- ner of the township, -and with only a few intervening years in the centre, my personal knowledge respecting its people, and its affairs, has been only through occasional visits.
If, " sixty years since" I had had even a remote suspicion. that I might stand here today, to discourse respecting the first
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
inhabitancy of this town, and its incorporation, I would have come to you this morning with a portfolio full of notations re- specting its ancient history. Having no such premonition, many of the incidents of its early days have escaped from my grasp, - and the sources from which alone information respect- ing them could have been derived are gone forever. The Cen- tury which is commemorated has, in the course of nature, car- ried away the Fathers who saw the inception of the settlement here, with those who immediately followed and were conversant, with things done and transacted within its borders.
Even in regard to a much later date; a few only of that peri- od seem to stand, somewhat like the servants of Job, who came from different quarters and said, one after another, -" I alone am escaped to tell thee;"-and doubtful upon whom I should charge the duty of having greater knowledge than I ought to have respecting the first half of the century, and thereby release myself from the conscription, by presenting a substitute, my con- clusion, at last, led me, in obedience to the requisition, to come before you at the present time, and ask your indulgence for the deficiencies which you will perceive in what I have to offer for your acceptance.
The great antiquity of the Township where we are assembled does not admit of a doubt.
It seems to be the better opinion, that in the creation of the world, granite was first formed. We are assured that granite appears to be the fundamental rock of the earth's crust, and that " wherever we reach the base of the stratified rocks, we find them resting upon granite."
This being so, it follows that New Hampshire is entitled to the credit of being part of the earliest creation. And that Jaf- frey had a larger interest in that creation than any of her neigh- bors, is shown by the fact, that on the subsequent partition, the larger portion of the Monadnock was assigned to her.
It is one of the jests about Father Sprague, as he was called, long the minister of Dublin, that discoursing one day upon faith, and quoting the passage of Scripture respecting its power
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
to remove mountains, he turned his eye, through the window. to the mass of granite in full view, and expressed a doubt wheth- er that applied to the Monadnock.
If there have been any very great changes in the structure of the earth here, since the period of creation, they are not chroni- cled. The Monadnock exhibits no evidence of disturbance, by faith, or by volcanic influences. The only fires have been upon its exterior surface. At the settlement of the Township it must have been covered, nearly to its summit, with a dense forest. Some of my earliest recollections are of fires on its sides, which furnished pillars of smoke by day, and of fire by night, sufficient to have guided the children of Israel, if their path to the prom- ised land had lain in this vicinity. These fires left a tangled windfall, and a " bald rock," as it was called, at the top,-which was perhaps bare before that time. Possibly they are responsi- ble, in some measure, for my inability to hunt up a respectable bear story, as a part of the minor history of the town.
But if the mountain has not changed its local habitation, the town has its geologic and historic problem, of a different charac- ter, in the meadow lying just east of this village. Some twenty years since, in one of my occasional visits to Jaffrey. I found Dr. Fox engaged in removing large pine stumps, with roots of great size and length, from his portion of the meadow, on the westerly side, and he showed me, at the distance of a rod or two from the upland, small pieces of wood bearing evidence of hav- ing been cut by the beavers, and supposed to be parts of a bear- er dam, taken from a depth of some five feet below the surface. There were sticks of yellow birch and of alder abont three or four inches in diameter, cut at the ends by a grooved instrument.
It was not surprising that the beavers should have had a hab- itation in that vicinity. In fact, recent inquiries show that this town must have been a favorite locality with them. But it was a mystery how, in the present conformation of the land, there could have been a beaver dam in that spot.
Recently it was determined to have a further examination. and it was soon ascertained that there had been a beaver dam at the outlet of the meadow, on the Southeast, near Mr. Cutter's
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
tannery, -in the place which any sagacious beaver might have designated for a dam,-and the conclusion was readily reached, that what had been discovered by Dr. Fox was the remains of a beaver's cabin, on the Westerly shore of the pond which must have been formed by this dam. And so it proved. Selecting a spot a short distance from that opened by Dr. Fox, we struck another cabin, shown clearly to be such, by finding the beaver's bed, composed of small twigs, leaves and grass, well constructed in layers, - the general color being of a light orange when taken out, but becoming dark very soon, on exposure to the air. Many of the leaves were of perfect form, so that the kinds could be distinguished; and a small beech-nut was found between the sheets, probably not stowed away for use but taken up with the leaves in forming the bed.
All mystery about the formation of a beaver dam was solved, but there was a marvel remaining. The beaver's bed was about seven feet below the surface, and when made must have been in a dry position, and above the surface of a pond. By what pro- cess of accretion had this pond been filled, and some seven feet of mud deposited above the bed? On testing the depth of the mud with a pole, it was found to be about thirteen feet. In the centre of the meadow it must be much more.
The surrounding hills, at the present time, do not give evi- dence that great aid in filling could have been derived from them, - indicating that the basin must have filled itself, to a great ex- tent, from its own resources. Sufficient material must perhaps have been washed in for the commencement of the process.
Dr. Fox states, that in clearing his meadow of these stumps and roots, he dug down into the mud in some places to the depth of ten feet ; and that he found three tiers of large pine stumps, perhaps none directly over the others, but on three dif- ferent levels,- one at the surface, the second about a foot below the bottom roots of the first, and the third about the same dis- tance below the second, bringing the third about on the level with the beaver's cabin .- The trees were very large pines, gen- erally three or four feet in diameter, and similar in the several tiers.
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
This statement is supplemented by Benjamin Cutter, Esq., who says, that in clearing his part of the meadow, he dug cross ditches, - and that at the intersection he found three large stumps in a perpendicular line, - the upper one directly above the other two, - the two upper of pines, one to two feet in diam- eter, - the lower apparently of birch and about one foot, - and that there were pine stumps at the surface, near, or quite, four feet in diameter, within, probably, ten rods.
That trees grow and decay is no marvel. But three succes- sive generations of them, so to speak, situated on the same spot. and attaining th's gigantic size, and on such a wet soil, formed to a great extent by their own decay, are not often seen or heard of, - never before to my knowledge.
Centuries seem to be comprised in this problem. Pine trees four fect in diameter do not grow in a short period, and when grown it requires some time to resolve them by a natural process of decay, into good meadow mud, capable of sustaining another like growth.
I can hardly assign less than five hundred years, perhaps it may be a thousand. - as a time when this beaver's cabin was erected and his bed made. How much longer. and how many tiers of pine trees there may have been below those discovered" is not very material.
If any one is disposed to cavil about the exact period, I have no objection to discount a century or so ; but I cannot consent to give up any of the stumps, because as they stand, or rather stood, - the town may stump all the towns in the region round about, to show anything bigger, of that description.
It needs not that I should say to you, that it was persevering industry and diligent hard labor which subdued the forest here. and converted so large a portion of the township into reasonably fertile fields.
It must be admitted that the surface is somewhat uneven. - I should be unwilling to apply the term rough to the township. or to any body or thing connected with it. - And there are some stones scattered here and there, notwithstanding the " heaps of
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JAFFREY CENTENNIAL.
'em " piled up in the fields, in times past, by the boys, somewhat to their disgust when they wanted to "go a fishing."
But this is a world of compensations. Pure air, pure water, and good drainage, are conducive to good health, and good mor- als ; and it is but just to say, that this is a place where a man, under ordinary circumstances, may expect to " live out half his days," and even something more, if careful about his habits.
A party to ascend the Monadnock, after " haying time," was one of the recreations many years since ; - but who could then imagine, that our beloved Town, with its uneven surface, would become a celebrated resort for the seekers after health, and for the lovers of quiet and of the picturesque, and that the writers of prose, and eke of poetry, would come hither, not merely to get a larger view ef the world than they ever had before, but to make it a dwelling, and a habitation, and a shelter against the heats of summer, and perhaps the storms of adverse fortune .*
Respecting the minor incidents of the early history of the town, little can now be known, for the reasons suggested.
It is said that there were settlers here prior to seventeen hun- dred and forty-nine. If so, they were occupants without even color of title, and doubtless did not remain.
If we desire to derive a title otherwise than from the original granite, we may trace it through the Right in the Crown of Great Britian by Discovery. - The grant of King James I, to the Council of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, in England. -The grant of that corporation to Capt. John Mason. - A devise by him to his grandson Robert Tufton, who took the name of Mason. - Thence as an entailed estate, through several de- scents to his great-grandson John Tufton Mason, -- and after a re- covery his conveyance in 1746, to Theodore Atkinson and
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