USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Acworth > History of Acworth, with the proceedings of the centennial anniversary, genealogical records, and register of farms > Part 2
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The custom of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the settle- ment of our towns and cities, and the formation of social and literary societies and institutions, is a beautiful and appropriate one, and in accordance with such a time-honored usage you have been invited to visit us this day, and participate in these memorial exercises.
We have met to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the settlement of the town-to do honor to the memory of those, who one hundred years ago, left home, and all its comforts, and in a wilderness laid the foundations of those new homes, and social institutions, which we of the present day enjoy. The presence of so many of the sons and daughters of Acworth with us to- day, gives us, I assure you, great satisfaction and pleasure.
While the occasion furnishes a favorable opportunity to renew old and form new acquaintances, which we trust, you will all fully improve, still the great end to be achieved in this centennial meeting, is to gather up and preserve in some suitable manner the unwritten and legendary history of the fathers and the mothers, that the future sons and daughters may better know and appreciate the hard labors, severe trials, and sterling worth of their ancestors, and to this duty, as well as pleasure, we most cordially welcome you.
A century has passed since the first settlers visited this town, and what a change has taken place! They saw before them only unbroken forests, and innumerable hardships. Their only welcome was the howls of wild beasts. While you who have come to day to visit the homes and friends of childhood, or the places where you spent the earlier scenes of manhood, are surrounded by the fruits of an hundred years of labor and civilization, and on all sides the warm hand of friendship extends to you a joyous welcome. The citizens have spared no labor or trouble to make this occasion one of pleasure, as well as profit to you.
A long order of exercises remind me that the mere formal words of wel- come must be brief and quickly spoken. Accept, therefore, friends, each and all of you, the kindly greetings and welcome of old Acworth, in the same generous spirit in which she tenders them to you, and when this day's work is completed, your pleasant visit ended, and you return to your homes, let not the memory of early days be forgotten, nor the old or new friendship cease.
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Centennial Address. ..
BY REV. GILES BAILEY, OF BELFAST, ME.
Mr. President, and Fellow-Citizens :- We meet to-day under circumstances of peculiar interest. The year is the first Centen- nial Anniversary of our dear old native town. From the East and the West, the North and the South, we have come, to join with the residents in doing her honor. On the old Common we grasp warm hands in friendly greeting. In these hospitable homes we recount the varied experiences of our lives, and revive the memories of long ago. In this sacred place, where most of us first heard the public teachings of the gospel, we unite in prayers and songs to the common Father, lifting our hearts in glad thanks- giving, that He has permitted us to see this day, and granted this meeting of old friends and fellow-townsmen.
A hundred years have passed since William Keyes, Samuel Har- per and others, made their home in the unbroken forests which then covered these hills and valleys. What momentous events have crowned the century ! The thirteen colonies, stretched along the Atlantic Coast, and on the eastern slope of the Alleghany Ridge, have swelled to thirty-six "free and independent States," leaving inhabited and uninhabited territory enough to form twice as many more. Our country's domain reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and, since the acquisition of Alaska, in a nearly unbroken chain, from the peninsula of California to the Arctic Ocean. Its population has increased from three millions to thirty- five millions. From a state of poverty it has come to rival in wealth the proudest of the nations of the Old World. During the period it has declared, and vindicated by force of arms, its independence of the mother country. It has successfully fought with the parent nation a second war, for the freedom of commerce
1
Yours Tauby ud g Bailey
THE r.W YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION
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and the right to traverse unimpeded the highway of the seas. It has waged a two years' conflict with the Mexican Republic, re- sulting in the acquisition of the richest mineral lands on the North American Continent. And it has just emerged from the most gigantic civil war the world ever saw, freed from the evil which precipitated the contest, purified of the stain which had made it a reproach to the cause of freedom, its territory intact, its prosperity unimpaired, and the power of its government vindicated and maintained.
Who shall rehearse the marvellous changes of these hundred years, the progress of the arts, the discoveries in the physical sciences, and the wonderful inventions, which have so quickened human activity and revolutionized social life? We tire in the vain attempt to recall them, and to comprehend the magnitude of their results. A few among us to-day have lived to see nearly all the changes which have transpired during the life of this town; but the most of those who enjoy the blessings of the hour, have come upon the stage during the latter half of the century. Of those who lived here fifty years ago, death has claimed the greater share.
The theme of the hour is predetermined. My remarks would be regarded as irrelevant to the occasion, were I to speak other- wise than of physical peculiarities of the town, its past history, the character of the fathers, and its present condition.
The cradle in which we were rocked was not one of luxury. The soil and climate of this region are not adapted to nurture an effeminate race. These hills are not fitted for the raising of those, whose distinguishing qualities are gentleness of manners and softness of character. The rough surface of the town could not be cultivated by gentlemen in kids; nor were the boys who grew up on these farms, likely to be noted for the whiteness of their hands. To fell the forests, and subdue the land in its primi- tive state, required a hardy energy, which would mark their general demeanor. Those who were accustomed to break the snow-drifts, on these highways, in the depths of New Hampshire winters, would not be likely to shrink before any conflict life might impose. An author, writing in 1821, said : " Few towns, if any, discover more marks of laborious industry." It was an industry, severe and constantly laborious, which could change the wilder- ness of a century ago, into the fruitful fields of the days of my boyhood. Nature was not lavish in her gifts of fertility to these
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granite hills ; but the energy of our fathers evoked from them enough to meet the demands of life. Though their toil was se- vere, the returns for their industry, if not greatly abundant, were yet sufficient to fill their homes with cheerfulness, and their hearts with gratitude to the Giver. The remark was often made in my younger days, that, though Acworth could not boast of her wealth, but few towns were so exempt from cases of abject poverty. The prayer of Agur seems to have been answered in behalf of this people : "Give me neither poverty nor riches ; feed me with food convenient for me ; lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord ? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."
With feelings of honest pride, we speak of such surroundings as those amid which we were reared, remembering that similar were the circumstances attending the early life of some of the foremost men of the age and nation. Very pertinent was the re- ply to the sneering inquiry, " What can you raise in New En- gland ?" " We raise men, sir !"
There is a remarkable tendency in this country, to the decay of old families and the disintegration of old estates. The constant transferrence of the hardy men of the country to the city, to fill the places of those who rot in its hot-beds, is required, to keep the currents of business from stagnating. The names once con- spicuous in the affairs of state and nation, are not the prominent ones of to-day. These hills and valleys are the nurseries, whence are transplanted the fresh young trees that flourish in the richer soil of more active business communities. Amid the rugged scenes of country life were reared the Websters, Casses, Wood- burys and Jacksons, of a former period, and the Douglasses, Lin- colns, Chases and Grants, of the present hour. Daniel, Webster is reported to have said, that New Hampshire was " a good State to emigrate from." With greater reverence for the place of our birth, we should say, that it is a good State in which to be born and reared.
The influences of the scenes of our early lives, live in our hearts to-day. Widely separated as our present residences may be ; whether living amid the rushing tides of a giant empire. at the West, under the sunny skies of a reconstructed South, in the rugged climate of "the New Dominion" of the British Provinces, or on the isle-studded shores of the Pine Tree State; we have been moulded in our characters by impressions received amid the
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hills and valleys of our native town. They have entered into the textures of our minds, and become a part of ourselves. We carry with us the events which occurred, and the scenes in which we. took an active part, in our younger days. Something of "Old Acworth " lives and breathes in us, wherever we are, and what- ever our characters in other respects.
The present contains the past. We of to-day are but the prod- uct of the centuries. All ages of men have conspired to mould and train us. They have united to give direction to our thoughts, and to shape our destinies. Especially is it true of the age and people who have just preceded us. They have left their impress on our minds and hearts. Something of those sturdy old men, whose shadows move before us as we look into the mirror of the past history, breathes within us. Their thoughts and words and deeds have contributed to make their descendants what they are ; and we of the present, in a certain measure, revive the thoughts and re-enact the deeds of our fathers. Rightly to interpret the present, we must know something of the past. Rightly to know ourselves, we must be able to decipher the hieroglyphics, written by those who preceded us, on the stage of active life. As he who would perceive the full meaning of the Christian religion must be- come familiar with that of Moses and the Jews, of which it is the outgrowth ; so also must he who would see the full significance of the time in which he lives, become acquainted with the spirit of the ages that preceded it.
I shall not attempt to give a detailed history of the town. That labor is to be performed by abler hands, and by those having bet- ter facilities for learning the facts. I shall only advert to some portions of that history, as serving to clucidate my theme.
Three waves of immigrants appear to have met in this town, and aided in its early settlement. The first was from Connecticut ; and probably, though of this I am not certain, it was composed of the descendants of those hardy pioneers, who at an earlier period, went from the vicinity of Boston, through the then unbroken wilderness, to plant that colony. The Harpers, the Silsbys, the Keyeses, the Chattertons and others, were of this class. On the earliest records of the town their names constantly occur, together with those of others, who came from the nearer settlements of the Massachusetts Bay Province. A tradition, years ago often re- peated, relates that the flourishing willows, near the brook that runs through the old Silsby farm, sprang from a rod, used as a
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staff and for the driving of cattle, by one of the family, on the journey from Windham, Connecticut. It may be so; though it mars the story somewhat, to have so many willows through the country claiming a similar origin.
These Connecticut people brought with them the peculiarities of the colony whence they came-the industrious habits and strong religious convictions, which gave character to the town. Its good name among the surrounding settlements is mainly to be ascribed to the strict morality and ardent piety of its first settlers. In 1771, the little community held its first town meeting at the house of Capt. Henry Silsby, and laid the foundation for that orderly management of town affairs, for which the place was long noted. With but two or three exceptions, the meetings were held at Capt. Silsby's house, till the first meeting-house was sufficiently com- pleted to be used for that purpose.
The next wave came from Londonderry, and was composed of the descendents of the old Scotch Presbyterians, who had left their native soil in Argyleshire, and settled in Ulster County, Ireland, in the early part of the seventeenth century. Their ancestors had not felt at home in Ireland. Rigidly adhering to the Reformed re- ligion, and intensely in earnest in their devotion to the teachings of their faith, they had little community of interest with the peo- ple of the island. The latter, though subject to the Protestant power, were yet as bitterly opposed to the Reformed. faith, as the Protestants were to Catholicism. The two races could not unite. They were opposed to each other, not only in religion, but in their habits and modes of thought and feeling. They had different ori- gins. They nursed in their hearts the recollection of centuries of enmity and strife. It is not strange that a portion of these people, thus surrounded by Catholics, and hemmed in by a ruder civiliza- tion than their own, should turn their thoughts to the New World, and seek a more congenial home, in its less genial climate, and on its less fertile soil. Providence led a large company of them, after spending an uncommonly inclement winter on the coast of Maine, to the town of Haverhill, on the Merrimack River. They heard of an unoccupied but excellent tract of land, fifteen miles distant, to which they directed their way. It was in the spring of 1719. Under the shade of an oak, they organized a church ac- cording to the prescribed forms, and elected their pastor. And there they laid the foundations of a community, which was des- tined to act an important part in the early history of the State,
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and to furnish some of its most prominent statesmen. The butter- nut, chestnut and walnut abounded, and the place had been called Nutfield. Very properly it took the name of Londonderry, from the place in Ulster County, Ireland, whence the settlers had come.
Some of the people of Londonderry came to Acworth, as early as 1772, and united with those who had already come from Con- necticut, in laying the foundations of the civil and religious privi- leges, with which the town has been for a century signally blest. Your Finlays, Dickeys, MeLures, McKeens, Andersons, Gilmores and others, are descendants of settlers from Londonderry. The immigrants from Ireland had brought the seed of the flax to their new home in America ; and the towns where they settled became noted for its culture, and the manufacture of linen fabrics. The spinning-wheel, turned by the foot, became an indispensable article of furniture in every family ; and there are not many of the older houses of Acworth, in which specimens of this antiquated imple- ment of home industry may not be found, stowed away in the garrets. To the Scotch-Irish settlers of New Hampshire, the country is also indebted for the potato, now so generally used in the homes of the rich and the poor alike.
These people agreed with the families from Connecticut, in ac- cepting the doctrines of the Westminster Catechism; but they differed in their views of ecclesiastical government. Naturally there were some jealousies between them. There were prejudices to be overcome, and conflicting interests to be harmonized. But the difficulties were not insurmountable ; they were gradually re- moved; and the two races united in their social and religious in- terests. It was a sturdy element that was thus introduced, and to it the town is greatly indebted for the development of its re- sources. It gave to the place a character somewhat marked and peculiar.
In 1635, some sixty families had come over from Yorkshire, England, and settled in Rowley, on the Merrimack. They had been manufacturers of woolen cloth in the old country, and they erected in Rowley the first woolen mill in America. Their de- scendants had spread over many towns in the vicinity. Many of them had made themselves homes in Francestown, Weare, Deering, New Boston, and Mount Vernon. Tradition tells us, that some of the Londonderry people, going to and returning from Acworth, gave so favorable a report of the facilities it afforded for making good farms, that many were induced to remove thither. This
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gave rise to the third wave, which came from Weare and vicinity, composed mostly of the descendants of the Yorkshire settlers, on the Merrimack, in Massachusetts. The Goves, the Baileys, one branch of the Carltons, the Dodges, Sargents, Atwoods, and Crams were among these settlers. This classification of the early inhabitants, of course, is not perfect. As the town increased in population, families came from many places far apart, influenced, it would seem, by that love of change and the hope of bettering their condition, inherent in our national character. These different peoples lived, for the most part, in harmony, side by side; during the war of Independence, they were united in their feelings for the cause of liberty ; they worshiped at the same altar; they inter- married and became a homogeneous people.
Our fathers were a God-fearing people; and in this, as in other respects, they were worthy descendants of their Puritan and Pres- byterian ancestors. One of the first objects of their solicitude was, to obtain the stated ministry of the gospel for themselves and children. Having held their first annual town-meeting, within three years of the coming of the first settlers, they called a special meeting in August, in the language of the warrant, " to fix and lay out a place for a meeting-house, if they shall think proper ; also, a convenient common thereto, and a burying-yard for said town." At the meeting, it was voted " that the meeting-house be set on ten acres of land," the boundaries of which were specified, "to be laid out in a square form ; and that the remaining part of the ten acres be appropriated for a burying-lot and commonage." Though so few in numbers and so feeble in means, yet they voted in 1774, " to send for Rev. George Gilmore, to come and preach with us one month or more, in order to settle with us in the work of the ministry." A church of eight persons had been formed, in March, 1773.
With feelings of deep sympathy we follow them in their efforts to secure a place of worship, where the incense of their hearts, united in the fear of God, and the love of Christ, should be offered ; and a pastor, who should teach them the truths of religion, and win them, by the example of his life, into the path of heaven. It was a time of peril and gloom. The troubles which resulted in the war of the Revolution were gathering, and the conflict soon burst upon the land, with all its horrors. The call for men soon reached the infant settlement, and taxes were laid which they found it difficult to meet. But while loyal to their country, they
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did not forget their allegiance to heaven. Liberty, without the blessings of the gospel, would be for them of little value ; and they counted all material interests, as not worthy to be compared with the riches of the Christian life and the hope of eternity. How to obtain the means to build a sanctuary to the Lord, and how secure the benefits of the preached word, were objects they ever kept in view. For twenty-one years, they prayed and en- deavored, before their first pastor, Rev. Thomas Archibald, was ordained and installed. During the period they had had preach- ing, some part of the time, nearly, if not quite, every year; and the number of their church-members had increased to fifty-eight.
The records of the town tell us with what solemnity they pro- ceeded in the matter of settling a minister. Everything was done decently and in order. May 18, 1779, they instructed a commit- tee to invite the candidate to preach on probation. July 25th, they voted to give him a call, and charged the committee to inform him of the proceedings. September 3d, as if to proceed in accord- ance with established usage, they voted "to unite with the church " in a form of call which is recorded at length. "In the most solemn manner, as in the presence of God, they invited, entreated and called upon him to take the pastoral care and charge over them, promising him due submission and love in the Lord, and also a comfortable support and maintenance." A committee of twelve was raised " to confer with the candidate and desire him to deliver his principles in writing." It was voted "to raise fifty pounds as a settlement, one-fourth part to be paid in gold or silver, and the remainder, equal to beef at twenty shillings per hundred weight, wheat at five shillings per bushel, rye at three shillings and six- pence, and flax and butter at seven pence ;" also, " to raise fifty pounds as salary," to be paid in the same way ; and " to add five pounds a year, till it amounts to seventy-five pounds, there to re- main during his ministerial relation."
October 7th, at another legal meeting, a day was appointed for the ordination, the council was agreed upon, and the requisite com- mittees chosen. At the next annual meeting, the expenses in- curred preliminary to the settlement and at the ordination, were provided for. These proceedings were in marked contrast with the levity, with which pastor and people now often come together. They looked upon the minister as the servant of Christ. They revered him for his high office ; and they felt that in listening to his teachings, and observing them, they would be blest. 4
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They were nearly as long in obtaining a place of worship. The frame of the first meeting-house was raised and probably covered, in 1784; but it was not completed, and the pews assigned, till 1787. By votes passed at several regular and special town-meet- ings, it appears that the glazing, plastering and joinering were done at different periods, as the people were able to pay for the work. No record shows it to have been formally dedicated. Its only consecration was in the hearts of those who met within its homely walls, for the worship of the Everlasting Father. I well remember the plain old structure; its box pews, with high banis- ters, over which I used to look in childish wonder, at the minister in the pulpit, and the singers in the galleries ; the seats, hung with hinges and turned up during prayer, and whose clatter at the close was the only audible response to the minister's amen; and the sounding-board, which I used to watch in constant terror, lest it should fall and crush the good man who stood beneath it! Without form or comeliness, and all destitute of beauty or grace of propor- tions, it was yet to many souls " none other but the house of God and the very gate of heaven." The worship within was quite as sincere, and quite as acceptable in the sight of God, as that which is offered in the costlier shrines of more modern times. Though the edifice was mean, yet many souls which bowed at its altar, were adorned with all the beauty and grace of the Redeemer's Kingdom.
The Lord's Day was kept with great strictness by these people. Whether beginning on Saturday night at sunset, or as now at mid- night, it was a season of profound solemnity. How still everything was! No sound of labor or of mirth was heard ; only the going to and returning from public worship, or the voice of prayer and praise. It was a day of rest for the body, and of refreshment for the soul. Many a person, whose residence has since been in crowded cities, where the Sabbath has become, in a great meas- ure, a day of physical and social relaxation, has longed for the delicious stillness, and devout musing on heavenly themes, which marked the Sabbaths of his childhood and youth.
Family worship was generally observed by the people of those early days. Even those who were not members of the church, and who had made no public profession of religion, were accus- tomed to meet around the family altar, and lift their hearts in sup- plication and thanksgiving. Their religion was one for the home as well as for the church, and all their labors were sanctified by
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prayer. It was sincere and heartfelt, pervading their thoughts, and giving color to their lives. No painful doubts or caviling questions disturbed their faith. They believed the Bible and the creed of their church, and only sought to live so that they might hear at last the welcome benediction, " Well done, good and faith- ful servants."
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