USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Acworth > History of Acworth, with the proceedings of the centennial anniversary, genealogical records, and register of farms > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
But the influence of Mr. Cooke was not confined to the pulpit. He was the faithful and devoted pastor, as well as the able and instructive preacher. The families that constituted his charges were often favored with his pres- ence, and he was never an unwelcome visitor. He knew how to adapt his counsels and instructions to the different circumstances of those whom he met. The aged and the young, the rich and the poor, the sorrowful and the joyful- all alike shared his sympathies, his kind wishes and his prayers, and he left behind him an influence for good, on all who were disposed rightly to im- prove it. Nor was the influence of Mr. Cooke confined to his own immedi- ate parish. It was felt through the surrounding towns and through the State, so that to the name of Rev. Mr. Cooke of Acworth, was attached an idea of respectability and usefulness in the cause of religion which the names of com- paratively few carry with them. On all public religious occasions, his pres- ence was always greeted with pleasure, and he wielded a power hardly second to any one else. It is an honor to the town that such a man once lived and moved among the people.
Leaving Aeworth in 1829, he was installed over the church and society in Lebanon, N. H. After a successful pastorate of nineteen years, he was dismissed and removed to Amherst, Mass., to spend his last days. Here, however, he was not idle. He continued to preach as occasion required, and labored in various other ways, to serve his Lord and Master. His death took place in Amherst, April 28, 1853, in his seventy-second year. During his sickness, he was entirely resigned to the will of his heavenly Father; and the same religion, which, for so many years, he had urged upon others, was his solace and comfort in the departing hour.
Permit me to add, amid all the scenes through which he passed after leav- ing Acworth, he could not forget the people of his early espousals. Hc cherished them in an affectionate and grateful remembrance, and one of his last requests was, that his remains might be conveyed to Acworth and find their resting-place, among his former friends and parishioners. His re- quest was complied with, and the noble monument, reared by the hands of affection and friendship, marks the spot where his ashes will sleep till the glorious morning of the resurrection. With emotions unutterable, have I stood at the head of that grave and called to mind the. virtues of the man who slumbers there.
84
THE CENTENNIAL.
And though dead, he yet speaks. He speaks in the bright example he set, still fresh in the minds of some who hear me, in the cherished remem- brances of him which we are permitted to recall this day, and in the wide influence he exerted, which ceases not to be felt for good, in respect to the intelligence, the morals and the religion of this town. He speaks to the aged, to the middle aged, and the young, to the vast crowd assembled here, and admonishes all to do with their might, what their hands find to do, serv- ing God and their generation faithfully, that they may be prepared for the great exchange so near at hand.
The following ode was then sung by the choir and audience :
ODE.
TUNE .- America.
Our father's God ! We raise To Him a song of praise ; Our tribute bring. A hundred years doth prove, By mercies from above The wisdom and the love Of God our King.
Remembrance loves to dwell On light and shade, which fell On hopes and fears. The storied past we trace, Search records old apace, In mem'ry's glass we gaze Through by-gone years.
The mem'ry of our sires, Lit by affections' fires, How bright it glows ! Men of a sterling mould, Outweighing all the gold, In fairy tales e'er told To soothe our woes.
Our dear old town ! How grand The views of mountain land, Which here we meet. We love these rugged hills, These vales our fathers tilled, These woods the wild birds filled With carols sweet.
Here, we were taught Ilis Name, And why a Saviour came
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION
Avah E Cummings"
85
ODE-REMARKS BY DR. A. R. CUMMINGS.
Peace, joy to bring.
Here, at the eventide, And by a mother's side Lessons, we've learned, which bide Beyond life's spring.
Our native town ! How dear Each purling brook so clear, Each dale and steep.
But there's a dearer spot,
Than rock, or rill, or cot,
Which ne'er can be forgot- Where loved ones sleep.
The dead ! Our buried dead ! Within their em'rald bed . Unmoved they lie. Loved forms, we've oft caresscd,
Dear ones, who gave life zest,
Life's labors o'er-they rest. Unconsciously.
And when our spirits wait, Before the pearly gates, (No joy like this-) May each this plaudit hear ; Servant well done. Nor tear,
Nor sin, nor parting here- But endless bliss.
The following sentiment was responded to by Dr. A. R. Cum- mings of Claremont :
" Our Native Physicians-Partaking of the nature of their ancestors, success has crowned their efforts."
Mr. President and Fellow-Citizens :- I am one of the favored seventeen physicians who drew their first inspiration from the hills and dales of this our native town.
Dr. Theophilus Wilson, one of your distinguished sons, eminent in his profession, settled at Cazenovia, N. Y .; there he died, and was buried in his adopted town.
He was succeeded by Dr. Jonathan Silsby, also a native of Acworth. He was a ripe scholar. He also died at Cazenovia.
Dr. John Hemphill, son of Joseph Hemphill, is now living on the banks of the Ohio River.
Dr. William Grout, son of William Grout, is now an active practitioner in Loraine County, Ohio. He had the largest practice in the county in 1850; is an eminent citizen and an active Christian man.
S6
THE CENTENNIAL.
Dr. Milton Parker resides in Chicago, Ill. He was the first man in Sulli- van County that diagnosed diseases of the chest by auscultation and percus- sion. He is a man of wealth, and is an eminent surgeon in Chicago.
Dr. Nedom L. Angier of Atlanta, Ga., has been a successful practi- tioner in his adopted State, has accumulated a large fortune, and is well known throughout the South as a politician and an active business man.
Dr. Joseph Woodbury, son of Joseph Woodbury, is a practicing physician in Georgia.
Drs. James Wilson, Joel Angier, Isaac Gates, Phinehas Cooke and Os- borne Brown, I do not know their personal history.
Dr. Hiram Clark, son of Capt. Robert Clark, died in Kansas. He was a scholar, and very much of a gentleman.
Dr. Milton P. Hayward is an active practitioner in Oberlin, Ohio.
Last, but not by any means least, we have our two army surgeons. Dr. N. Grout Brooks, son of Dr. Lyman Brooks, who enlisted as surgeon in the Sixteenth Vermont Regiment. He served his country in her hour of peril, in her hospitals and on the tented fields to the entire satisfaction of his supe- rior officers. Dr. Sylvester Campbell, son of Horace Campbell, enlisted as surgeon in the Sixteenth New Hampshire Regiment. He died in a military hospital in Louisiana, a triumphant Christian death, and we have no doubt he is now praising God, with all the heavenly hosts. He was called the " good physician." His remains were brought to Acworth, and now lie mouldering in your cemetery.
Fathers and mothers, with palpitating hearts, you call these your sons, and well do they deserve the name, for they took their lives in their hands and went forth from your " Granite Hills " to relieve suffering humanity, and well have they fulfilled their mission.
These, your sons, are known on the shores of the Great Northern Lakes, and at the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Moun- tains. These are some of the brightest stars in the medical profession. Their efforts have been crowned with success, they have gained for them- selves lasting glory.
The next sentiment was responded to by Rev. George Cooke of Winchester, Mass .:
" The Sons and Daughters of Acworth-They do honor to every profession, manifest skill in every trade, add grace to the home-circle, and are to be found in every section of our country."
Mr. President :- Called upon to respond to a sentiment so complimentary to the sons and daughters of Acworth, it would be very grateful to me to refer to chapter and page, bearing records of their history, or, at least, through intimate personal acquaintance, to be able to trace individuals, from their birth and childhood, amid these beautiful hills, through the school, the col-
S7
REMARKS BY REV. GEORGE COOKE.
lege, the profession or the workshop, the business house, or that grandest, purest, safest, best of all occupations, the ploughing, sowing, reaping work, which is nearest to nature, and truest to her unadulterated nobility. Nothing could be more grateful to one, intelligent in this history, appreciative of the toils, the waitings, and the conquests of worthy action, and sympathetic in the details of personal progress, than to dwell at least upon the salient points in the lives of these " honorable," " skillful " and " graceful" sons and daughters of our native town.
Personally only an adopted son, and having passed here but the brief portion of my childhood, between the ages of three and sixteen, I am grateful for the honor of an invitation to speak at all. among my betters, at this family meeting. This adoption derives significance, however, from the fact of my father's rela- tions to this community during the period of its development into one of the most substantial and prosperous towns in this Commonwealth. Many here to- day will unite with me in the reflection, that no one would have entered into the festivities and reminiscences of this occasion (could he have lived to see it) more heartily, tenderly, joyously, yet devoutly, than my own revered father.
With inspiration from this reflection, I cannot feel that I am out of place or that I have nothing to say, while permitted to stand among you, recog- nized as a son of Acworth .. . When De Quincy had attained his high literary reputation, a friend requested of him a few of the facts of his early history, briefly and chronologically stated. The substance of his reply was that the world were chiefly concerned with what he became, and it mattered little that the inevitable facts of birth, nursery and school-life, of the robbery of orchards, and the catalogue of common incidents usually summoned to explain how he became a man, should all be assumed, taken for granted, and omitted from history as simply impertinent. And that it might be further assumed that the race of youngsters might be divided into two grand classes, those who would aspire to be hanged, and those who would content them- selves with deserving to be.
Such a sentiment may seem shockingly out of harmony with a centennial celebration, yet something is suggested, which partially reduces the crisp and saucy language of De Quincy. We are not so dependent, as we may some- times think, upon the details of personal history in the measurement of char- acter and its origin. Who needs the diary of the life of an oak ? or even to wait until the woodman's axe has revealed the rings which mark its annual progress from the acorn to maturity. The first leaf must have been that of an oak ; the branch must have been true to its origin ; the sturdy trunk and broad spreading top, occasionally seen, even if at intervals of many years, inform us fully of the character of the tree and the nature of the soil which could have produced it. The lilies of the meadow, similarly proclaim the fitness of their birth and culture, the fidelity to nature's laws, which has per- fected and glorified their beauty.
The elements of muscle and character found on such high, round and fer-
88
THE CENTENNIAL.
tile hills, interlaced with silver streams, enameled with nature's purest em- erald, where the school and the church are worked with the industry and fidelity required of the plough and the hoe,-where the family altar sanctifies the heavenly-appointed domestic relations,-where the deep things of na- ture and of religion possess the intellect and the heart, all-invigorating, chastening, quiekening, ennobling powers,-on such a field, with such adju- tants, the elements of physical and moral manhood must thrive.
It is a bounty of nature and Providence to be born upon ground like this, here to be brought into struggles, even it may be, for food and clothing,-here to be buffeted by physical hardships, bent and swayed by strong winds,- here to do battle with the real, long before the seductive incomings of the ideals of the more frivolous fashionable life can color the fountains of thought and wholesome passion. . . . It is a blessing which many a son and daughter of Acworth, in distant fields, has learned gratefully to recognize, to have had their lives anchored here.
The sentiment which the committee have prepared for us, requires us to indulge in a little self-adulation, as the sons and daughters, who have (in the text) so honored their home. Hence we are fairly entitled to say, this, our birthplace, is the home of the oak, a little rough and shaggy in its dress, but having-what a trunk ! What strong arms ! What might and majesty of character ! This, too, is the home of the fresh, cool, trim, symmetrical beach, a tree to wear modestly the most exquisitely fashioned and delicately tinted foliage in early summer, and to stand its ground, in easy defiance of all the blasts of winter. Of the maple, and whether it be hard or soft, tall or short, with fibres straight and of milky whiteness, or curled and twisted into fantastic figures, with the hues of an angry hardihood, still yields inex- haustible stores of sweetness and beauty, ever dispensing consolations and gathering glories unrivaled to its final coronation. Nor must we forget that it is also the home of the pliant, tough, magisterial birch, which stands in convenient proximity to our school houses, to remind us of lessons necessary to the grand dignities of life, and to suggest better than patented medicine, for all vices and rebellions.
It is only such hard woods as these that can combine strength and beauty of finish. In character the material must be first of all, of sufficient firmness, sound at the heart, and built up with no loose or soft integument, in order that the friction of contact with strong men, the sand-paper chafing of jeal- ous rivals, the steel-burnishing of social criticism, and the final, most delicate touches of art and grace may bring out a substantial, pure, brilliant, perfect man or woman. Why, then, should not the starting-point be such ground as this ?
Fifty years ago, when my father had trained me to " speak a piece," he selected for that purpose these lines of Pope commencing,
" "Tis from high life, high characters are drawn,
A saint in crape, is twice a saint in lawn."
89
REMARKS BY REV. GEORGE COOKE-SONG.
He brought me forward at the school visitations, to speak the piece, perhaps as an example of a boy's duty in the matter of school declamation. On one occasion at the school-house on Derry Hill, I had among my auditors Captain Dickey, whose massive, astute Scotch character is still remembered well among us, and after my boyish spouting, he called me to him, laid his broad hand upon my head, and with a voice so grand and impressive that it still rings in my ears, said, " Me little mon ! d'ye understand what you've spoken ? " My feeble response was, "yes sir." " And d'ye believe it?" " I don't know sir "-" Don't ye know it's a lie " ? I was too much fright- ened to answer and he continued with an energy of utterance few men ever equalled, "My mon, never d'ye believe ony nonsense the like o' that little speech ! I tell ye a mon's a mon wherever ye find him."
The following song composed by Mrs. M. L. Silsby Johnson, was now sung by the choir.
OUR ACWORTH HOME. TUNE-Brattlestreet. Amid New Hampshire's thousand hills- Which stud its surface o'er ; That ope their hearts to crystal rills, And bend to lakelet shore- Encradled safe, by rocks, and trees, O'erspread with splendent dome ; Refreshed and charmed with purest breeze- Is our Dear Acworth Home.
Bright are its snows, as moonlight beams, When met by sunrise sheen ; Its verdure now, in beauty seems, As part of Eden's green. And some who rest in battle mound, And 'neath the light sea-foam ; Their last heart-yearnings centered round This Pleasant Acworth Home.
Its hills are set with beryl bright, A royal hall would grace ; And crystals clear as limped light, Just touched with golden trace. To gems that crown a monarch's head, Our eyes will careless roam ; With loyal hearts, we prouder tread Our Jeweled Acworth Home.
The dew falls here, in tears at eve, On graves of those we love ; And we, who at their stillness grieve, Keep watch and ward above. 12
90
THE CENTENNIAL.
Now they look down through starry eyes, On all the paths we come, And know, how near to Heaven now lies Their Olden Acworth Home.
The sentiment, " Sons of Acworth-Graduates of Dartmouth and other Colleges," was responded to by Prof. Hiram Orcutt, Principal of Tilden Female Seminary, West Lebanon, N. H .:
Mr. President :- I speak in behalf of comparatively few of the sons of Acworth. Of all who have been born during these hundred years, less than thirty have graduated from any of our colleges. In point of numbers, therefore, we are an unimportant class. But I would not speak of ourselves, but in defence of the college, against the prejudice which is met in almost every community, and is a source of discouragement to those, who would pursue a liberal course of study.
"The college," it is said, "is an aristocratie institution, and those who re- sort to it are " too indolent to work." No criticism was ever more false or un- just. Indolence finds no rest or comfort within college walls. If, " too lazy to work," the young man would seek any other course of life, rather than come under the severe discipline, and endure the exhausting labor which the college imposes and demands."
And there is no institution in the nation, whose influence reaches and blesses so many families and individuals as the American College. This beneficial influence is brought to bear directly upon the people, through the learned professions. The college creates and sustains the professions of Law, Medicine, Teaching and the Gospel Ministry. Hence all the benefits re- sulting from the professional and personal labors of these educated men, flow directly from the college.
Again, the college is the source of all the lower grades of schools. Com- mon schools, never have, never will and never can flourish, without the col- lege. Our fathers first planted the college and afterwards public schools. The latter flowed from the former, as streams from the fountain. This ele- vating influence always descends from the higher to the lower, never ascends from the lower to the higher. The profounder learning of the college, gives tone and sentiment to the public mind, and nourishes and sustains popular education among the masses. The college matures and develops the science which is learned in our elementary schools, and educates, directly or indirectly, all our teachers, and authors in every department of learning. The "Ele- mentary Spelling Book " for instance, requires all the discipline and knowl- edge the college can impart, to compose and adapt it to its use.
An English periodical once spoke of Daniel Webster, as the great Amer- ican statesman and the author of " Webster's Dictionary." Mr. Webster in referring to the blunder soon afterwards, sportively remarked, " I the au- thor of Webster's Dictionary ! Why, I could not have made Webster's
Hiram Orcutt.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION
91
REMARKS BY PROF. HIRAM ORCUTT.
Spelling Book." And this was true, as he had not devoted himself to this department of learning. And yet millions of our countrymen have obtained the first elements of their education from this single book. And the maps and charts in daily use in our common schools could not be made by one in a thousand of all our public teachers. They require the highest mathematical knowledge and skill for their construction. And hence it is true, that the college produces and sustains our Common Schools, Academies and Semina- ries. They would not have existed, and could not long be sustained without the college.
Then it must follow that all our sons, and daughters are college educated. This higher Institution has allured them forward, and helped them onward. It is the fountain whose streams irrigate and fertilize the whole community.
Some of your sons have followed up the stream only to the common school. Others have stopped at the Academy, and still others have gone further, and drank at the college spring, and whatever the amount of learning they have obtained, either from school or from books, it is a collegiate educa- tion. And it is frequently true that " self-made men," (indeed every man is self-made who is made at all,) who have never entered college, receive from it more benefit than others, who have enjoyed all its advantages. We are then indebted to the college indirectly, for all that pertains to our Christian civilization.
Shall we reject the ocean because we are not engaged in navigation, or because we cannot fill our dish directly from the sea ? Shall we be satisfied with the rain that distills so gently upon the fields, and the spring that gushes from the hill-side ? These daily supply our wants, but whence comes the water which falls from the clouds, and supplies the springs and streams, so necessary for the comfort and existence of man ? Without the ocean we could have no rain, no springs, no rills, no rivulets, no rivers. And so the college. Dry up this fountain, and the streams of knowledge would soon be dry also. Our public schools would be closed, instruction would cease, and ere long our civilization would give place to semi-barbarism.
Shall we blot out the sun from the Heavens, because we enjoy but little of its direct light, and influence ? We may be satisfied with twilight and moonshine, the mere refractions and reflections of the glorious luminary of day. But the sun is the source of all light. Extinguish that and total darkness would ensue. So of the college, as the source of moral and intel- lectual light. Destroy this luminary and the darkness of ignorance, supersti- tion, and barbarism would in time cover the nation as a black mantle.
And still again, the farmer and mechanic are dependent upon the college for the science of their arts. The implements and tools in common use, could never have been constructed, without the aid of a high degree of sci- entific knowledge. Mere skill and experience could never make the modern plow, or axe. What improvements during the last hundred years ! The man, who should be found using the plow of fifty years ago, would be re-
92
THE CENTENNIAL.
garded as almost a barbarian. Compare the axe of to-day with the stone hatchet of the North American Indian. No living white man could make that stone hatchet. It was the highest reach of human skill unaided by science.
And even the arts, which science has already invented would die out without the continued aid of the college. The Pyramids and Temples of Egypt have survived the science and skill which erected them. And China, where science was cultivated ages ago, has made no progress in the arts since science died out. All improvement is at a stand still, as a natural conse- quence. " Science is the fountain of art ; experience and skill are its chan- nels." Dry up the fountain and the channels will no longer be filled.
Judge ye, therefore, whether your sons who have pursued a collegiate and professional course of life, are worthy of their noble parentage, and have done honor or dishonor to their native town.
The next sentiment, was responded to by George R. Brown, Esq., of Newport, and was as follows :
" Our Common Schools-A noble legacy, bequeathed to ns by our ancestors. To their success, has the town been much indebted for its prosperty. May it be their good fortune to continue to grow in excellence, till none but model ones are to be found to bless our native town."
Mr. President :- I have a mind to make the most popular speech of the day, that is, say nothing, but since the occasion is one of a hundred years, and the sentiment tendered me is one of much gravity, I will waive the greatest brevity, Shakespeare's " soul of wit," and claim your indulgence a few moments. Not having time, to elaborate upon the good and ill, the merit amd demerit attending our schools, I must proceed to the point at once.
Our common schools ! what are they ? Institutions established by law for the education of our youth. That our system of common schools was trans- mitted to us by our ancestors, we are happy to acknowledge, that in our schools we all received instruction in the rudiments of learning, is a fact we each can testify from experience.
The present improved state of society is the legitimate effects of some power- ful salutary cause ; and that cause is principally our common schools. Pub- lie prosperity, private happiness, the price of liberty, the security of life and prosperity and the social condition, in a free country like onrs, depend chiefly upon the intelligence of the people. The truth of this proposition is so evident, that no process of reasoning or demonstration can make it plainer ; thorcfore, it is an axiom, and established principle in the art of all good gov- ernments. Where do the people receive the principal and most difficult part of their learning ? History answers "at the common schools." "They are the college of the masses." Our academies, and institutions dedicated to the use of students acquiring a knowledge of the languages and sciences, are the exception, and comparatively few attend them. Could they flourish
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.