USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Amherst > Celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Amherst, New Hampshire June 17, 1910, including the proceedings of the committee, addresses and other exercises of the occasion > Part 6
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WARREN UPHAM
Assistant on the Geographical Survey of N. IL .. 1875-78 ; of Minnesota, 1879-85 and 1893-94; and of the United States, 1885-95. Secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society since Nov. 1, 1895.
a large part of a lifetime, and therefore this historic town has called together her sons and daughters to review her achievements and prog- ress. It is a time for the old to renew the acquaintance and friend- ships of their youth, and for the young to look forward with eager anticipation of the work that they will take up.
From the North Star State in the center of this continent, where the Mississippi river has its sources, I have come as one of the child- ren of Amherst, to bring my tribute of affection for my native town.
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In one of its homes, and in one of its schools, I was nurtured and taught. The love and careful training of my parents and teachers I now most fully understand and value, when they are recalled in mem- ory across the intervening fifty years.
It is a great pleasure to return to the old homestead farm, to meet my kindred there and in other homes near, and to see the Souhegan river, Baboosic pond, Walnut hill, and all the hills and mountains around Amherst.
With deepest gratitude I remember the home life of fifty years ago and the precepts and example of father and mother, brothers and sisters. Industry was learned there in the tasks of every day. Trust in God was taught by the family worship each morning and evening.
Next to the influences of the home were those of the district school, which I also shall always gladly remember for the benefits received from teachers and schoolmates. One of the chief motives for com- ing to this reunion was the expectation of again seeing many of the old schoolmates and neighbors here today.
Similar to these daily influences of the home and school were those of the church and Sunday School, which likewise had a large share in moulding the character of the people who have made the history of this town. or who went forth to find their work elsewhere.
While we speak and sing the praises of our grand old town, I have wished thus to recall somewhat of its home life, and of the educa- tion received here from the school and the church. I believe that all who have been so taught and brought up here will join in this tribute of honor and thanks to our parents and teachers. Let the present homes of Amherst and those yet to be founded, treasure as their best possession the principles and practice of our fathers and mothers fifty years ago.
What I have endeavored to say so earnestly and heartily that it will be remembered and lived by the young people of Amherst today, and through all succeeding time, has been better written by Payne in the song, "Home, Sweet Home," by Burns in "The Cotter's Satur- day Night," by Gray in his "Elegy in a Country Church Yard," and in the fifth commandment of the Decalogue, which was given not only for one nation but for all the earth and for all time.
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GOV. HENRY B. QUINBY.
Address of Governor Quinby.
Governor Quinby said in part :
New Hampshire takes pride in her noble ancestry, being a daugh- ter of Massachusetts, and she is proud of her progeny of attractive and historic cities, towns and villages ; cities, towns and villages with splendid records for good government and for the production of great men ; men who have made fadeless history for our state as patriots and as statesmen and who have done their full share in making New Hampshire one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of states.
It is very gratifying to know that history's pages have inscribed upon them what Amherst was, what she is and what she has done; those priceless records are preserved, and will, I doubt not, be pre- sented to us by one to whom their preparation and presentation are labors of love; and I will not trespass to any extent upon his field, leaving the life history of this beautiful town to be treated by him who has made it a study.
It will be enough for me to say that Amherst, formerly comprising also Mont Vernon and Milford, and which was chartered by Benning Wentworth, for 25 years royal governor of this commonwealth, has played an important part in making our state one of influence and in giving it a high position among the states of our union.
Exceeded in 1790 but by few towns in the state in population, she contributed liberally of her brave men to the French and Indian wars, the Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War and also to civil life many who won laurels for town, state and nation.
Amherst has a right to rejoice on this the 150th anniversary of her natal day and as chief executive of New Hampshire .- which she has so signally honored in war and in peace. I extend to her and to you her loyal citizens, my sincere congratulations.
REV. JOHN PEACOCK, EVANGELIST
Born in Amherst, May 3, 1804 and died there June 13, 1876. Baptized at Milford Dec. 29, 1823. Licensed to preach by the Milford church in 1828. Ordained as an Evangelist in Canaan, N. H., Aug. 25, 1830, and spent a long life with marked success in his chosen calling, mostly in Maine and New Hampshire. "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord and their works do follow them."
THE TOWN AND THE STATE.
Address by Ex-Mayor Jeremiah J. Doyle of Nashua.
Mr. Doyle said in part :
Under our form of government. every sub-division of the body pol- itic adds strength to the whole governmental structure. The Union is divided into states and the states in turn are divided into counties, which are further sub-divided into cities and towns. Upon a founda- tion then of smaller communities rests the government. It does not follow that great centers of population are important features in making up a more desirable form of central government because the
HON. JEREMIAH J. DOYI.E.
smaller communities as frequently contribute to the might and main of the state.
Each town is but an individual in the great family, called the state and as different members of human family have peculiar characteris- tics which distinguish one from another, so towns are similarly en- dowed. The peculiarities and characteristics of towns are as marked as are those of individuals. Taught by bitter experiences in the earliest days of our republic, towns adopted measures for protection against their enemies. Individually they planned for their self pro- tection : collectively they made protection more certain and the spir- it of those days has remained though the necessity for it has disap- peared. The spirit which in earlier days was ardent in the cause of liberty has outlived the war of 17;6 and is today stronger if anything than it was then. The desire for liberty when oppression is felt in
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all its cruelty may be strong but ardor and patriotism manifested in times of peace and quiet is the stronger spirit and the one which commands the respect and admiration of all. In the great centers of population people congregate together attracted by commercialism. Greater opportunity to labor for wages, more and better facilities for employment, more convenient arrangements for schools and other similar duties for one's children as well as her attractive features are all causes which lead people to live in the greater cities. Their sur- roundings, mode of living and the alleged advantages of advanced civilization, there to be found in plenty, all tend to make people for- get the more vital principles. Where can be found a more powerful manifestation of the love of liberty and its appurtenances than in that spirit which surrounds the great interest taken in public mat- ters connected with the proper guidance and government of towns? Where is the more interest shown, in cities or in towns, in public af- fairs? Every public question touching upon the welfare of a town is debated and discussed fully, and that spirit is what makes the town meeting what it is.
The spirit that pervades these numerous little republics is what makes the state solid and sound. The make-up of our town inhabi- tants is responsible for the policy of the state as a whole in no mean degree. Independence, public spirit, aggressiveness and good com- mon sense characterize our townspeople. Questions arise and are settled without recourse to, or the hampering effects of, any outside consideration. The good of the community is the first and last req- uisite. Nothing else enters in. Such being the quality and char- acter of the town in itself, great must be the benefit to the state as a proper result. Again, the town gives full allegiance to the higher government, fulfilling its duty towards the state, as one of its com- ponent parts. The state then as a body economie or body industrial grows up in the cooperation of men to supply their wants and satisfy their desires. The greater the independence, public spirit and ag- gressiveness in each individual member, the greater these qualities in the town, the greater the public spirit of the state. Some towns are marked for the remarkable thrift of their inhabitants ; others for wealth ; others for civic pride in local affairs, the beautifying of their highways and private locations. Towns that occuyy enviable positions in the political sphere, because of some especial attribute, merit such prominence because of some especial quality of its inhab- itants. In communities where one finds a greater number of careless, thoughtless, easy going individuals, progress is retarded and but little is accomplished while on the contrary, where we find a preponderence of public-spirited citizens who have the very best interests of their town at heart as well as their own individual betterment, we find a town that is celebrated for its political advancement.
When we find a town that for a succession of generations has been prominently identified with public progress, civic advancement and uninterupted performance of every public duty to the nation as well as to the state, when we know that a town has for a century and a half responded to every call and always stood in the very fore-front among its sister towns in promptness and value of public service, we know then that such a proud showing is not the result of geograph- ical location but the result of the brawn, the muscle and manhood of those who make up its inhabitants.
When a town has for such a space of time furnished to the higher fields of activity and to the higher government men who have com- manded the respect and the admiration of their fellow men who have excelled in the professions, the arts and in short in all walks of life, then we know what manner of men must be the body politic of the
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BAPTIST CHURCH
town that claims them and sent them forth to battle and do their life's work either at home or abroad.
Such a town is Amherst. From the time when the great and gen- eral court, as it was styled, of Massachusetts, granted to the surviv- ors of the Indian war against Philip, down to the present day, Am- herst has had a history that may well be regarded with extreme pride.
We are told that the original settlers came from Massachusetts and brought with them the customs which prevailed at that time, in- cluding simplicity of dress, plain and substantial fare, with none of the luxuries of life.
From that time progress was the watchword, meeting houses were built, bridges were made, highways laid out, grist mills erected and advance along similar lines was rapid. In 1760 the charter was signed by Benning Wentworth, governor of the province and the name of Amherst was taken. There meetings were held and the progress of the town became more marked. Upon a division of the province of New Hampshire into five counties, in 1771 Amherst was selected as a shire town and acquired a degree of importance hither- to unknown.
When hostilities broke out between America and England in 1775 Amherst was represented at a convention held in Exeter. As an in- dication of the attitude of the people of Amherst of that day, it is well to consider the instructions given to their delegates to that con- vention which were "To use their endeavors to secure peace and good order in the town and use their utmost efforts to diffuse peace
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and good order throughout the community and to excite in the minds of the people a due respect to all just measures that might be recom- mended by the grand congress of Philadelphia." Even in those days, "Peace and good order in the town" were considered of para- mount importance, a fact which indicates to our minds that public duties were considered all important.
It is unnecessary to relate that Amherst furnished its full quota of men for military service, because too well is known what history has recorded upon this point. While that war was in progress Amherst suffered the hardships and difficulties that were generally endured by the people of New Hampshire. Soon, however, progress once again was in order and Amherst took the lead among its neighbors. It had its difficulties. its problems to work out, its public questions to settle which it always did in no uncertain manner. It has consistent. ly maintained its distinctive position among New Hampshire towns and it seems to be a sufficient word of praise to refer to Amherst as a "good old town." Today Amherst stands without a peer among the towns in Hillsborough County, quiet, sane and conservative.
It is blessed with great natural advantages for agriculture. Its schools are second to none as proven by the success in life achieved by those whose early education was obtained here. It is free from the contaminating influences of close association with larger commu- nities, and as a consequence its tone of morals is one of the best. Its men are men of principle, integrity and honor. It is particularly free from crime or vice. Its standard of life is the highest.
I need not particularize nor go into a detailed account of its histo- ry. Others can do that better than I. I can say however that such a town as Amherst is of invaluable value and benefit to the State of New Hampshire. It is one of the principal foundation stones of the state Its influence is felt in its surrounding towns and is felt in the state's political position.
New Hampshire would be better had it more towns similar to Am- herst. New Hampshire would do well to follow the example Am- herst has set in its own important public questions Amherst may well be proud of her record and of the achievements and loyalty of her people. It is a matter to take pride in, that her record speaks so well for her. The many years of continued prominence must satisty the most exacting. Amherst has always done well, and everything points to a most successful and prosperous future. You are entitled to the congratulations and compliments of the state of New Hamp- shire as one of her best equipped and best behaved children, and I know that on this day there is in the minds of the people, far and wide, a deep seated sentiment and feeling for this good old town and its people all of which is merited.
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Address of Ex-Governor John McLane.
I desire to make my grateful acknowledgnient to your Committee for the courtesy of an invitation which permits me to be present and join with you in the observance of this interesting and historical anni- versary.
HION. JOHN MCLANE
I bring to you the cordial greetings of all the citizens of Milford on this, your One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of your organiza- tion as a town. The fact that Milford was once a part of Amherst makes this occasion of especial interest to us. Please accept our felicitations and congratulations upon your prosperity and splendid historical achievement throughout the whole long existence of this typical unit of our great Republic. Others may perhaps boast of a larger growth on account of the accident of location, but no town can with truth maintain that in the essentials of real progress and growth they have done better than the old town of Amherst. You have lived and wrought in the true spirit of the Pilgrim and the Puritan; you are a living tribute to them and serve to hold in perpetuity for the present
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and those who shall come after, the character, courage and example of those who gave birth to liberty on our soil and secured political freedom and independence to themselves and their posterity. Their descendents and those not their descendents are today grateful for the inestimable blessings bequeathed to them by the fathers and founders of this town who one hundred and fifty years ago unfurled the standard of their faith. We cherish their memories and learn again the lessons of their trials and triumphs. They endured the pri- vations of a new Country ; they kept the faith not alone for them- selves but for mankind ; they looked forward, not backward. It was to escape the past and its environments that led them from home and ties and kindred. Their opportunity was the new field. Their hope and faith the future which under God they were to make for them- selves. For this they suffered, for this they builded and they builded well and strong.
It has been said that New England blood flows through the veins of one-fourth of our entire population. But New England character and New England civilization course through every vein and artery of the Republic, and if the New Englanders are not everywhere found their light illumines the pathway of our progress, and their aims and ideas permeate and strengthen our whole political structure. They have fought and bled upon every battlefield of the Nation, from Concord and Bunker Hill, where so many brave Amherst men met a glorious death, to Gettysburg and Appomattox. They have shaped largely the course of the Republic in the past It will be well for the Republic if their influence shall be felt and enforced in its course in the future. What has been gained through centuries of struggle and sacrifice must be kept and preserved. The future must be worthy of the glories which have gone before. This is our trust. Nothing must be abated of vigilance or duty on our part that we may hand down this priceless hereitage unimpaired to our children. Nothing gives greater hope of the future than genuine respect and affectionate reverence for that which is noble and good in the past May you good people of Amherst be as prosperous and happy in the future as your past has been just and honorable.
Address of Rev. Henry Porter Peck.
I am happy to bring to her mother, the greetings of her younger daughter, Mont Vernon, and to say in answer to Governor McLane. so evidently unread in her history, that Amherst used to consider her so well worth saving that she as repeatedly refused to let her go as
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REV. HENRY PORTER PECK
ever Pharoah did the Children of Israel. Mont Vernon pleaded and begged to be allowed to build her own houses for worship and civic government, but in vain until appealing to the state, she at last se- cured her release. Her mother loved her so well, her apron strings were so strong and so tightly drawn, that her first meeting house, whose huge timbers still form the framework of our fine Town Hall, was not built until the Revolution, nor was she allowed to govern herself until the beginning of the nineteenth century. But such mother-love made the daughter nervous. and for a time seems to have been so little reciprocated that she looked down from her lofty eminence and called her mother "Sodom," and declared she could see the smoke of her torment arising every frosty morning. One of Mont Vernon's sons, in those days, being asked to give a toast at a dinner, proposed the following :
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"Amherst, with a big church and tall steeple,
An Armenian preacher and accursed people!"
But all this happened to our ancestors amid the pioneer condition of a hundred years ago and happily is long since forgotten by their successors. Once free to work out her own salvation, and patriotical- ly taking her name from the home of Washington, Mont Vernon went on her quiet way with unfailing industry and success, trans- forming her forests into productive farms, introducing such manu- facturing as times and conditions permitted, and finally, because she was wise enough to choose a site beautiful for situation and fit to be the joy of the whole earth, is being crowned with hotels and cottages and is destined to become more and more the delightful summer home of those who would escape the heat and burden of the lowlands.
It is good, however, in common with you and all the goodly towns of New England, to bear witness to the fact that we have built the house of all our material prosperity upon two pillars, Religion and Education. The old church, in its new and beautiful home still beckons us to Heaven, and the old Academy building, with its new use for the Stearns School, still points to its many graduate's records of service at home and abroad, and looks to future influence of the same character.
Thus with all our getting we have striven most of all for Goodness and Truth and upon these ideals we hope to build a prosperous fu- ture.
But on this Red Letter day, the 150th anniversary of your birth, we do not forget that you are our mother-but that for you, we should not have been. As we look forth toward the southland from the lofty brow of Prospect Hill, a thousand feet above the sea, the view can hardly be surpassed-the endless variety of forest tops over which the cloud shadows pass and play, interspersed with countless fields and homes, spires and chimneys of cities and towns, even to the glittering dome of New England's capitol-of all this the eye never wearies and the spirit never tires-but we do not forget that in the foreground, at our very feet, like a beautiful gem in its setting of emerald, shines forever our mother-"Amherst, Sweet Am- herst, Lovliest village of the plain."
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Address of William G. David.
My subject appears so big, and would lead me back so far into the misty past, that I am disposed to the opinion that a qualifying phrase must have been inadvertently omitted. The David family, as we know, had its beginning about 3,000 years ago, when a certain young sheep-herder had a personal encounter with a bad, big man from Gath. It seems to me that I am desired to deal with a more peaceful valley than that bloodstained one of Elah, and that it is the David family in relation to Amherst with which I am to concern myself.
I am glad of this, for to my boyish imagination there was a fas- cination about Amherst that, try as I would, I could not associate with the scenes and heroes of the Old Testament. Amherst was a mysterious, far-away center, from which radiated all that was good and deligthful, and among my earliest and fondest recol- lections are the almost annual pilgrimages to this mecca of the youthful elect. If I was good I might perhaps go to Amherst, while any tendency to misconduct needed only a reproving glance and the word "Amherst" to bring me back to the paths of recti- tude.
Summer after summer one or more of the three boys that com- prised my father's family would be started off for Amherst. Here at the knee of my grandmother I learned to read and write; here 1 first went to school; hore I caught my first fish; here, too, I learned that a New England Sunday of those days, with its al- most continuous service from 10 to 3, was no haleyon holiday for a boy with a fish pole and birds' nests to look after. Here, too, it seemed to me, I passed most of my time in the very uncongenial occupation of changing my stockings, for, boy-like, I could not keep away from the meadow and the brook, and my grandmother, with thoughtful solicitude for my health, always felt of my legs and feet whenever she could get her hands on me, which was none too often- and always found them. wet. That was my only sorrow; the rest was happiness unalloyed, and I think that even to this day, to the friends of my childhood, Amherst is a blessed spot, where the sun shines brighter, the trout grow bigger, and the people are kinder than anywhere else in the world -for I used to tell them so. And in later years it has been my too in- frequent good fortune to sometimes come from the cares of active life to pass a few days among the scenes of my youthful joys. The joys are still here, not quite the same, and some only in recollection, but the wide-opening doors of the old home have not rusted on their hinges; there are still welcoming voices; the brook still winds through the meadow and the trout ponds still nestle under the hill. A few years ago, upon a visit, one of my first questions of John was: "Are there any trout in the brook?" The answer was dubions, discouraging, negative; but I thought I knew better and was ont early the next morning and fished the brook faithfully, but withont success. As a last resort I crept
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