USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Sullivan > A history of the town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917, Volume I > Part 5
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But to return to those scenes of early days. I recall the sadness which came to our school by the death of Maria Baker, the daughter of Aaron Baker. I remem- ber how the whole community mourned the loss of "Uncle" Sam. Osgood, as every- body called him, our nearest neighbor; and also the mourning for the death of John Wilson, Esq., another neighbor. Thus, year after year, have we missed them, until, long since, we could all say, "Our fathers, where are they?" I also recall the Fourth of July, 1826, when one of the venerable citizens of the town (Dea. Josiah Seward) attended the laying of the corner stone of Bunker Hill Monument, wear- ing a coat which he had worn himself, in the battle, containing a hole which was pierced at that time by a British bullet. Lafayette was present on the occasion, and the day was further signalized by the deaths of two of the ex-Presidents, both of whom were signers of the Declaration of Independence. Five years later, a sad affliction came upon a family in town, a father and son dying of typhus fever. This affliction enlisted the sympathy of the whole town. Although a lad, I remem- ber going to that place to assist in harvesting the crop of uncut hay. These men were the son and grandson of the venerable soldier who attended the corner-stone ceremonies at Bunker Hill. In the days of which I am speaking, the lightning struck and burned the buildings on what was called the Sam. Seward place. My father was one of many who assisted in building a new barn, while some of you, who will be at the celebration, were in the field hoeing Mr. Nims's corn. Again, the buildings on the Tarbox place, in a neighboring town, were burned. A large delegation from Sullivan assisted in providing the new buildings. I went, with other boys, to help dig the potatoes. Such acts of neighborly kindness make me feel glad that I was born in Sullivan, and I sometimes think that if I had settled on the old homestead, instead of my more enterprising brother, I might have been there to-day.
"There is a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them as we may."
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CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY.
Sullivan was my home until 1835, then Jaffrey for three years, until I moved to Keene, early in 1839, where I remained until 1876, when I came to Michigan, a state which, outside of Detroit, was, in 1840, almost an unbroken wilderness, but which, at the last census, was the ninth in population in the Union, and will proba- bly, in the next census, be the seventh.
I am indeed glad that I spent my first twenty years in Sullivan; that the next three years were spent in Jaffrey; that thirty-seven years, the best part of my life, were spent in Keene; and that the last eleven years of my life have been in Grand Rapids, in Michigan; my Michigan, I am glad it is now.
Were it not for the fact that I have been so recently at my former home in New Hampshire, I should make an effort to be with you on the twenty-seventh. I wish to be remembered to any who may be present with whom I have been acquainted during my sixty years' residence in Cheshire County.
DAUPHIN W. COMSTOCK.
LETTER FROM CAPT. O. F. NIMS.
BOSTON, Sept. 10, 1887.
GENTLEMEN : - I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invita- tion to be present at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Sullivan, N. H.
The occasion is one that should interest all those who were born and bred there. It was there I spent my youth. It is where lie buried my parents and friends. Grief and pleasure crowd alternately on my mind as I wander back to the old town, where so many associations are sweet in remembrance. I hope a goodly number will be present, and that the occasion will be one long to be remembered with pleasure. I regret extremely to say that I cannot be present to enjoy the interesting ceremonies of the day. My business being urgent, and my not having anyone with me, forbid it. Please accept my thanks for your kind remembrance.
Very respectfully, your ob't servant, ORMOND F. NIMS.
Messrs. D. W. Rugg, Amos Wardwell, Fred A.
Wilson, Almon P. Tyler, Henry C. Rawson.
LETTER FROM MRS. S. D. STOW.
MT. HOLYOKE SEMINARY, SOUTH HADLEY, MASS., Sept. 20, 1887.
Committee of Arrangements for Sullivan Centennial :
GENTLEMEN :- Could I consistently accept your kind invitation for Sept. 27th, it would give me great pleasure, not only as a personal friend, but as the only living representative of the first family that occupied the present parsonage,- to meet the beloved people who were the cherished charge of my sainted husband. But present engagements permit me to extend only written messages. Please accept, therefore, hearty congratulations and sincere good wishes for the town of Sullivan. From your friend, · SARAH D. STOW.
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SECOND SENTIMENT :
OUR FOREFATHERS .- Though humble, yet they were virtuous. Let their sterling worth, industry, sobriety, and regard for honor be appreciated and imitated by their descendants.
The President called upon Orlando Mason, Esq., of Winchendon, Mass., a prominent business man of that town, to respond to this sentiment.
ADDRESS OF ORLANDO MASON, ESQ.
MR. PRESIDENT,-Fifty years ago, when entering my teens, I thought Sullivan a remarkable town. The people, the farms, the herds and flocks, seemed to me above the average ; and, as I listened to the addresses of your president and historian to-day, and partook of your bountiful dinner, my youthful dreams were fully confirmed.
Our forefathers were a noble race. History fails to give a parallel for such devotion to principles as is recorded of them. They left home and friends and fatherland, and crossed the pathless ocean, to found a nation where they could worship God according to the dictates of conscience. Pass- ing their trials and triumphs in the wars with England, we see them, by their representatives, drafting the Declaration of Independence. They knew, when they put their names to that immortal document, that it meant liberty or death. As one of their number said, " If we do not hang together, we shall hang separately." Eleven years later, was assembled in the same room another representative body of their number (among them were some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence), for the purpose of drafting a Constitution for the States. There were conflicting interests, and one of the thirteen states failed to be represented in the Convention. After laboring days and weeks without reaching any satis- factory results, Benjamin Franklin, then over eighty years of age, moved that thereafter the sessions be opened with prayer, saying, " I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more certain I am that God rules in the affairs of men."
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They labored other weeks and months and brought forth one of the most remarkable instruments the world has ever known. The adoption of the Constitution of the United States and the incorporation of the Town of Sullivan occurred the same month of the same year -one hundred years ago.
Our fathers were worthy sons of worthy sires. They arose early and toiled late, and ate the bread of carefulness. They purchased nothing they could raise or make, and allowed nothing to waste. Our mothers, too, of blessed memory, were like those of whom Solomon says, "She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands." While our fathers were felling the trees, or planting the crops, or caring for the herds and flocks, our mothers were carding the wool, and spinning the yarn, and weaving the cloth, and making the garments for the half-dozen, or half-score of children that God had given her, and for whom she was thankful, and never wished the number less. Our fathers were an intelli- gent people. They had not collegiate or academic advanta- ges, and their schools were of the primitive kind. Yet they appreciated them, and considered the school-master second only to the minister. They read and they thought. They read the history of their country till they knew it by heart. They read the weekly newspaper, advertisements and all. And they read that book which great minds of all ages have pronounced " the book of books"-the Bible ; and they drew from it lessons of wisdom, and integrity, and morality, which they practised in their lives and handed down to posterity. They were'a social people. When the corn and beans were in the chamber, and the potatoes, and apples, and beef, and pork, and cider were in the cellar, and the shed was filled with the best of cleft, dry, hard wood, they used often during the winter months to invite their friends to spend an afternoon and take an early tea ; and they discussed affairs of church, and town, and state, and nation ; while the children listened, or joined in the conversation.
They wished their children to be social, and occasionally the large kitchen, always neat, received an extra touch ; the
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white floor was sanded, the best of wood was on the open fire, an extra number of tallow candles were placed about the room, in iron or brass candle-sticks, and a row of boards on sap buckets served for seats, and the younger members of their families were invited for a social time. They sang songs, played games, and conversed with as much pleasure and profit as in gatherings at the present time.
Ruskins says, "It is better to be nobly remembered than nobly born." Our fathers came of good stock, they had good blood in their veins-let us, their children, see that they are nobly remembered. Let us, by our lives and the history of the town, hand down their virtues, not only to our children, but to our children's children yet unborn.
The audience then sang together the
CENTENNIAL ODE.
BY MRS. ELLEN S. (KEITH) EDWARDS. TUNE-"Auld Lang Syne."
Come let us now our voices raise, In songs of lofty cheer, To Him above, whose care and love Hath crowned with Peace the year,-
With peace and plenty, friends and home, To every heart so dear. Swell high the song ! Ye hills prolong The echoes far and near.
Let not a shade of sadness mar This festal day so fair ; Forget the tears; the flight of years Hath brought to each his share. Forget the sorrows of the past, Put toil and care away. Be every thought of bright hopes wrought This glad Centennial day.
THIRD SENTIMENT:
OUR FOREMOTHERS .- Their spinning wheels were their musical instruments ; their power looms were moved by their own muscles. No French cooking could have made more appetizing their frugal, yet excellent, meals.
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CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY.
In response to this sentiment, Mrs. Cynthia (Locke) Gerould, of Concord, N. H., widow of Rev. Moses Gerould, sent the following poem, written in her eighty-fourth year.
POEM BY MRS. CYNTHIA (LOCKE) GEROULD.
Don't look for a poem by one eighty-three,
Fit at all for either yourselves or for me. My hair is white as the snow that flies, And I'm older than most who've gone to the skies; But well I remember the days long ago, When over the hills and through the deep snow,
Not missing a day, to school we would go.
Our mothers then used the loom and the wheel, And around would fly the old clock-reel ; They bak'd and they churn'd, and made the good cheese, No new-fangl'd notions their muscles to ease. On Sunday, to "meeting" the people would go, And sit without stove when flying the snow ; A little foot-stove might warm the cold feet, And be handed along to another one's seat. The pews they were square, the seats they were hard, And children would squeak where panels were bar'd. At noon they would gather and talk of the news, And, afternoon, come again to their pews. Great changes have come, and the years gone by ; No longer the wheel and home-shuttle fly; But - noble is life - and noble are they Who've glean'd up their hist'ry for Century day. So joy do I give you from one of old stock, Who, living among. you, was- CYNTHIA LOCKE.
FOURTH SENTIMENT :
OUR CLERGYMEN - Our pulpits have been filled by consecrated and devoted men; and of those who have gone forth from our midst we hold in high esteem those who have labored with honor and success in the Christian ministry, many of whom passed to their well-earned rewards before the sun of their career had reached its zenith.
The Rev. T. S. Norton, of Dover, Mass., had been asked to respond to this sentiment. As the time was rapidly passing, and as he had taken a part in the morning exer- cises, he politely begged to be excused from speaking,
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that he might listen to some who might otherwise have no opportunity of being heard. His request was granted, but we publish, with pleasure, the address which he had intended to read.
ADDRESS OF THE REV. T. S. NORTON.
MR. PRESIDENT-I am called upon to respond to this sentiment. By our Clergymen I suppose are meant those who have occupied the pulpits of this town, and those who have been born or brought up here, and have gone out from us, and have labored in other fields.
Soon after the town was incorporated a few Christian people felt the need of the gospel ; but there was no house of worship and no minister, "and how should they hear without a preacher?" But where there is a will there is a way. For a few years they worshipped in a barn. In 1791-'92 a small house was erected on the hill. In those days the people " went up" to worship ; now they go down into the valleys. A church was organized with twenty-two members, and six pounds, or twenty dollars, were raised by the town for preaching. For six or seven years the pulpit was supplied by various individuals. The amount raised for preaching was gradually increased from year to year, until 1798, when the Rev. William Muzzy was ordained as pastor, at a salary of sixty-five pounds a year, or two hundred dol- lars, and thirty-five cords of wood. Remember, that the fire-places in those days would take in four or five-foot wood. Such an one was in use at the parsonage when I came to Sullivan in 1844. Mr. Muzzy was pastor twenty-nine years, the first and longest pastorate. But the people soon outgrew their house of worship, and another one. was built just back of where the Town Hall now stands, after the square-box- pew fashion. I remember preaching in this same house three years, and how some of the people were obliged to turn their backs on the preacher as they sat in their pews, and how the minister was far above his people, who were compelled to look up to their pastor in those days. This house was built
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CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY.
and dedicated in 1808. At the raising we are informed that a barrel of liquor was procured, and that the Rev. Mr. Muzzy offered prayer. Prayers and liquor ! How would that sound now, at this day? And yet, do we see very much improvement, when we pray for the destruction of the liquor traffic, and then vote for parties who sustain it? How- ever, "Our Clergy " are generally all right on this question. There are a few Dr. Crosbys that have not wheeled into line yet, but they are coming.
I cannot speak definitely of all the clergymen who have occupied these pulpits for the last century. Time would fail me to speak of Muzzy, of Peabody, of Wright, of Alvord, of Clark, of Norton, of Stinson, of Barber, of Stowe, of Fawcett, of Drake, of Thurston, of Phelps, and others, per- haps, that I have not mentioned, who have been pastors, or acting pastors, and many others who have supplied the pulpit during the intervals between the pastorates, for the last one hundred years, with varied success, of course, as in all other professions. But comparisons at this time and place would be invidious. I speak now of the ministry as a whole. It has been a success here in Sullivan, as this numerous com- pany here to-day will testify. Imagine what would have been the condition of this town, and what would have been the moral and spiritual state of many of this great concourse of people who have gone out from us and come back to us to-day, had it not been for "Our Clergy"? The ministry stands at the head of all other professions. It is God's plan of saving the world. "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," is the great command. Aside from those who have been pastors in this town, we should not forget to mention those who have gone out from us to preach the gospel in other places. My friend Seward will doubtless give you their names in his history of the town more accurately than I can, so I leave that for him. Some of them, as well as most of the pastors of this town, have gone to their reward. Others may be here to-day, to add their testimony to the value of the ministry. I speak now of all the denom-
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inations that have existed in town during the last century. I am not aware that but two denominations ever organized societies here, as yet. The Orthodox Congregationalists have organized two, and the Baptists one. In 1808 a Bap- tist society was formed, which was in existence when I came to town in 1844 ; but soon after, it being more central for worship, the society removed to Gilsum. Since then but one denomination has been sustained, though several families in town have been connected with other denominations. And I want to say, right here, that the most amicable relations have existed between them all. I speak for myself, with an experience of fourteen years among this people. While there was no other public meeting maintained on the Sab- bath, I considered every family in town as belonging to my parish, and I had it all my own way - and my way was to treat all families alike. In return, I was treated with the utmost kindness and cordiality. All the people spoke of me as " our pastor." Where will you find another town like Sullivan, where a minister has the whole town for his parish ? or where they treat a minister any better, if he behaves him- self? He never need be afraid of starving among such a people as this, though his salary be small. I was here four- teen years, and received as many annual donation visits, besides many other presents during the year. I wish I had been more worthy of them.
I tell you, friends, Sullivan is a good place to live in. This people was my first love, and I have not forgotten it. It is no wonder that I like to come back here, where I am cordially welcomed by every family. My children were born here. I am sorry that those who survive could not be here to-day to participate in these exercises. I would like to say much more, but time forbids. The Lord grant that your pulpits may continue to be filled with men worthy of their high calling, that in the great day of accounts it may appear that they have turned many to righteousness and will " shine as the stars forever and ever."
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CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY.
As a further response to this sentiment, we publish two letters. The Rev. A. B. Muzzey, the writer of the first, was a nephew of the first minister of the town (who then spelled the last name without the e). He was so much with his uncle as to seem like a Sullivan man. The second was written by the Rev. C. S. Locke, a nephew of the late Dea. C. P. Locke, in whose family he lived so long that we may properly claim him as a Sullivan man.
LETTER FROM THE REV. A. B. MUZZEY.
PEPPERELL, Mass., Sept. 17, 1887.
D. W. Rugg, Esq., Chairman of Committee of Arrangements of Centennial Celebration at Sullivan, N. H .:
DEAR SIR - Yours of the 14th instant reached me this morning. I have been confined at this place by sickness for nearly a month. As I see no prospect of immediate recovery, I regret that I must decline your honored invitation to take part in the centennial exercises. With deep interest in the occasion, I trust my place will be readily supplied, and that all the exercises of the day will pass with the success to be desired.
With great respect, very truly yours,
A. B. MUZZEY. .
LETTER FROM THE REV. C. S. LOCKE.
WEST DEDHAM, Mass., Sept. 21, 1887.
To Mr. D. W. Rugg :
DEAR SIR - I regret that other engagements will prevent me from being pres- ent at the Centennial Celebration in Sullivan, and from meeting its citizens on such a joyous occasion, and seeing its pleasant hills and valleys while decked in their gay autumnal colors. I will not, however, decline to respond to the sentiment to which you have kindly invited my attention. If, as well may be the case, some person should be found who will respond with the living voice, and who is better acquainted than myself with the clergymen who have ministered in Sullivan, or have been born there and settled in other places, I will cheerfully yield the plat- form in his favor.
I remember distinctly only three clergymen connected with the town - Rev. T. S. Norton, who was minister in Sullivan during my youth, Rev. Granville Wardwell, my schoolmate in Kimball Union Academy, and Rev. J. L. Seward, whose enthusiasm and love for his native town, and interest in its history, are well known to you. But while each minister of our good old town, or who has gone out from it, had his individual excellencies and peculiarities, we can safely say of all of them, that in the choice and exercise of their calling they were actuated by the highest motives. They took up the Master's work in the Master's spirit of self- denial, faith, devotion, and love for humanity. In former times the salaries of the
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clergy in country towns were very meagre, while their labors were incessant and varied. Two sermons must be ready for Sunday; preparation be made for evening conference on that day and on some week day; the Sunday School must be looked after, and teachers be provided and instructed ; parochial calls must be made, spec- ial visits be given to the poor, sick and aged; instructors be selected for the public and select schools, and supervision be given to the schools themselves, and pro- tection often be granted to those who were in any way particularly wretched, or suffering from injustice. In towns where inns were wanting, the traveller, and sometimes the tramp, sought and found refuge in the minister's house. Frequently the clergyman followed the example of Paul, working for his support with his own hands, not in tent-making indeed, but most frequently by holding the plow and wielding the axe, hoe and scythe. If distinguished for scholarship he would receive for a while into his household those students whose spirits were too exhuber- ant for the bounds of Dartmouth. More frequently, however, they gave, to the extent of their ability, gratuitous instruction to some poor boy of promising talents who wished to become a minister, or to some girl who aspired to usefulness as a teacher. The clergy, in old times as in the present, were firm believers in educa- tion, and would make great sacrifices to have their own children receive the best possible training. To those of their parishioners who would read they introduced papers and lent books, and made their homes centres of an intellectual as well as moral and religious influence, invaluable in times when public libraries and daily papers were unknown, and communication was unfrequent and slow. The clergy have been a great bulwark against the ignorance, superstition, narrowness, moral deterioration, and local feuds which are apt to be the bane of rural communities.
The tribute which Goldsmith gave in "The Deserted Village " to the country clergyman, is good for all times and towns, but what poet or orator has yet done justice to the clergyman's better-half, the refined, gentle, patient, loving, devoted woman, who has added to the combined duties of housekeeper, wife and mother, those that belong to the social head of the parish, whose diligent hand, working by the candle that goeth not out by night, made old garments look almost as good as new, and whose miraculous ingenuity would transform cream and codfish, or salt pork and patotoes into a meal that would put a cooking-school to shame,whose thoughtfulness and sympathy and little gifts of good things have cheered the sick and desponding, whose kindly smile and graceful address have won the heart of childhood, whose tact and good judgment have conciliated warring elements, whose fingers, as ready with the pen as deft at the needle, have, when the husband was worn out with arduous labor, written sermons that came from the heart and touched hearts that spoke again.
Whatever may be the case now, certainly in former times the minister and his wife gave themselves unreservedly to their religious and moral work. They thought not what they should get for themselves, but what they could do for others, and how to help to establish Christ's kingdom. Sullivan and the beautiful hill towns around, which have the Grand Monadnock for their sentinel, are intellectually and morally what they are, largely from their influence. Let us honor their memory. Let us do more; let us follow their example. C. S. LOCKE.
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