USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Chester > History of Chester, New Hampshire, including Auburn : a supplement to the History of old Chester, published in 1869 > Part 8
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Auburn > History of Chester, New Hampshire, including Auburn : a supplement to the History of old Chester, published in 1869 > Part 8
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Of Grandfather Morse our history tells more, 'Gainst England he fought, a record made. Here, in seventy-five, came one of Scotland's best men, God's truth, Father Bell never ceased to defend.
This is your birthday, the two hundredth time, Both friendship and love have full sway,
And so I am wishing for you in this rhyme Many happy returns of the day ! God bless you and keep you, oh birthplace of mine, God bless, and through you let His truth ever shine.
I would I might bring you rich treasures of gold As my pledge of devotion to you,
But I bring you the wish, you shall never grow old Your sons and your daughters be true. So, I'll greet once more in the old-fashioned way, Dear Chester, many happy returns of the day! .
THE PRESIDENT .- Candia, the second child of the old town, is represented today by one of its native sons, who later was for many years a resident of Chester, Dr. Ralph H. Barker, now of Derry.
DR. BARKER.
Mr. Chairman and Friends : As I rise to speak I am reminded of the woman who was suffering with pleurisy; every breath she drew caused her great pain, and she said to her husband, "I cannot breathe,"
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and he feelingly replied, "Don't try to." When Mr. Wilcomb asked me to make a speech I replied that I couldn't but he said I must.
I know Chester in the summer and I know her beautiful winters, they are four months long and six feet deep. I am familiar with her roads, many of which I have helped plow out, although I have never had the honor of being appointed road agent. I was born in Candia and at a very early age my parents moved to another town, but after receiving my medical college and hospital courses I chose Chester to three other towns, and I never regretted doing so, and during the eleven years I lived here I acknowledge your hospitality and cordial encouragement and help by your generosity toward me. Knowing Chester people as I do from my own personal observation and here today and at other times, I feel confident I can say that Chester history is not yet written, that God will raise up men and women for the future to do their part and fill their part in the world, as she has in the past.
THE PRESIDENT .- Raymond closely followed Candia in leaving the parental roof and as its representative today I present to you Rev. Abner M. Osgood.
REV. MR. OSGOOD.
Ladies and Gentlemen: There is something especially delightful and yet terrifying about a golden wedding, because all the families- all the members of the families not only extend congratulations to one another but to their venerable mother. And so as one of the children, the Town of Raymond, I extend to you our congratulations, our dear mother, the Town of Chester. And as we feel that whatever has been our participation in any of the wars was not due to ourselves but to our mother spirit, so we have come, not to boast concerning our special deeds, but we place whatever of crowns may be ours at your feet, dear mother Chester, and would crown you as our fair queen of the four-fold wedding day. Someone has said: "If I were to breathe but four breaths one of them I would choose to be in the sacred precincts of home, another would be in some fair gorge in our beauti- ful White Mountains, another would be at the sea and another would be in old Faneuil Hall." Dear old Mother Town of Chester. When the fire was burning in the old fireplace as the shadows of evening came down, and the ghosts seemed to be all around, our hearts got very near together. And this scenery that comes from the open hand of God, and the waves of the sounding sea, speak to us with the very heart of God and emphasize to us again the service of our own loyal men and women, not only in this recent war, but also during the other wars.
May I call your attention to the fact that Raymond is represented here today by a member of the Grand Army of the Republic who is one hundred and three years old, representing not only Raymond alone, but you, the mother of Raymond.
It seems to me then that as we came out with your blessing one hundred and fifty years ago to set up housekeeping for ourselves, not so far away but that we could come back and see our mother once in a while, perhaps we received from you the spirit of that beautiful poem by Whittier ; when he said:
"I know not where His islands lift their fronded palms in air ; I only know I cannot drift beyond His loving care."
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And someone says: "You said the second verse first." Here is the first part; and all honor to our mother, to Chester town:
"And so beside the Silent Sea I wait the muffled oar; No harm can ever come to me, on ocean or on shore."
And that is the word from your third child, Raymond, to the mother of us all on this, your four-fold wedding day.
THE PRESIDENT .- Another daughter of the town is on our list to respond with a poem and I present to you Mrs. Elizabeth (Fitz) Hill of Derry.
MRS. HILL.
This is surely a time when we feel that we have a right to indulge all our pride of ancestry. Someone has said that one live friend is worth more than all our departed ancestors, but I like the feeling that when we do well or ill we honor or dishonor the names which we inherit. Of my own family on the paternal and maternal sides, the Fitzes, the Dearborns, the Hazeltons and the Emersons, the progenitors settled in Chester, within a few years after the incorporation of the town. From among them came missionaries, preachers, a lawyer and successful teachers. And those who did their life work here were the staunch, honest, thrifty, right thinking. God-fearing up-builders of this town to honor in this celebration.
A few years ago I wrote a poem on my old home and it may find a response in the hearts of others who cherish the same affection for their ancestral homes which prompted the writing of these lines.
JUST ONCE MORE.
Having passed to life's meridian Journeying on the other side, Far and farther in the distance Pleasant scenes of youth abide.
When our life seems like a desert We but pilgrims struggling o'er Turn we as to an oasis To the cherished scenes of yore.
Wearied with the heat of struggle 'Mid the busy cares of life, Thinking as the twilight gathers Of a coming day of strife.
Then once more the thought comes o'er us Of our happy, early home ; Just once more we'd cross its threshold And feel we ne'er should roam.
Once more we'd come with eager zest About the supper board, Hear the loved voices mingling there All making sweet accord.
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CELEBRATION OF 200TH ANNIVERSARY
When lamps are lighted of that bond, Once more we'd form a part And feel the warmth of mother love A sister's tender heart.
See father with his paper, Listening to the story of the day, Now and then his counsel giving In his wise and tender way.
When evening wanes, once more we'd say To each dear one "good night" In our old room in childhood's sleep, Then rest till morning light.
We long to walk the cool green lane That leads by the pasture gate, Then to the field where cowslips grow And the tangled grape-vines wait.
Beyond the cranberry meadow In autumn lies rich in glow ; And close by here are bushes tall Where choicest blueberries grow.
To swing once more in father's barn Would sweep far away each care, While sunset views from the great west door Rival sunsets anywhere.
No sympathy like that of old, No touch like mother's hand, No voices blend in key of love Like those, in any land.
Ah, not in vain we say "once more," We know the best shall last, Home love that made those scenes so dear Is not forever past.
But in those mansions waiting us, Where all is perfect love. We'll find this crowning joy of home Blending with that above.
THE PRESIDENT .- As our next speaker I present Mr. Eugene W. Watkins of New York City, a son-in-law of the town.
MR. WATKINS.
When I saw my name as one of the speakers I noticed with a little relief that it was away at the bottom of the list. And in view of the length of the program I thought certainly they would not get to me, but they have. I am simply going to say that I will follow the suggestion of the little boy who was at a Sunday School conference. It had been a long session, an interesting session. There had been many speakers and the good people had gotten tired, especially the little folks. Finally a stranger was introduced and he said: "Well,
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HISTORY OF CHESTER
boys and girls, what shall I say?" and unfortunately for him he hesitated, when this little fellow piped up and said: "Say amen and sit down." I am not going to hesitate because someone will say: "Say amen and sit down."
A notion came to me a little while ago that I would like to know how many Chesters there were in the United States, so I got a govern- ment book and looked them up and how many do you suppose I found? I was amazed to find that forty of the forty-eight states have named a town Chester; and a greater surprise came to me when I discovered only 38 Washingtons. There are two more Chesters in this country than Washingtons. So I said "there must be a good many people in this country that love Chester." And I said: "So do I love Chester, but the one I love best is Chester, New Hampshire," and I am going to tell you why. One reason is I found my wife here, I came up here to find her, and it has been a blessed thing to me, for whatever I have attempted in life has been due to her.
There is one other reason why I love Chester. I have a friend in New York, an elder in a Presbyterian Church, and he made this statement : He said that not long ago the Presbyterians had a con- ference down in Virginia. He was a delegate, and he said there were many there and they were entertained with true hospitality in the Southern manner and had a beautiful collation several times a day. But he said there was one thing that impressed them as superior and that was the icecream, and so he asked a man who made it. He said it is made by an old colored mammy. So he took him out to her and he said: "How do you make it, tell me?" And she told one thing and another, and then said: "The real secret is that I set the freezer up against the Presbyterian Meeting House and let it freeze." I don't believe you could freeze it against the Congregational or Baptist churches, they are socially democratic.
A little boy in Sunday School was asked, or the class was asked: "Who made these beautiful hills, these valleys, these streams, these trees and bright flowers, and provided this rare and pure atmosphere up here, scholars ? Someone tell me who made these beautiful things." There was no response, and she said: "There is a little stranger back there, a new scholar. Little boy, tell me who you think it was." And the little boy said: "Please teacher, I don't know, I have only been here three weeks." Well, we know who made Chester, New Hamp- shire. It was made by the Divine Teacher. I know one reason why I loved this beautiful, God made town. It is not like some Chesters I know, contaminated by the smoke and the gases of big factories and by the debasing nations of a foreign population, it is still a God made town, and I love it and love to come here on every occasion. Good friends and citizens of Chester, keep it a God made town, keep it as it is, and you will certainly continue to live up to the traditions of the best New England towns. Do it, and you will be contributing in the future as in the past to the welfare of the grandest, most prosperous nation on the face of the globe. God bless you.
Mr. Harris M. West, representing the younger element was presented and spoke briefly, and a lengthy letter, in reminiscent vein, from Charles A. Wilcomb of Fullerton, Cal., was read in part by Rev. Chester J. Wilcomb.
THE PRESIDENT .- As the concluding speaker I present Mandeville A. Moore, Esq., a native son, now of Boston. Mr. Moore said in part :
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
William B. Wason
George Sherman West
HERBERT H. TRUE Chief Marshal of Parade
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CELEBRATION OF 200TH ANNIVERSARY
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :- There is something sublime in the significance of this occasion. For the moment, I would forget the present, and stepping behind the wings of that remote stage of action, watch the actors in that drama which in those early days meant life. In the foreground of the picture, I would place a rainbow as a symbol of promise. Beneath the arch the emblems Faith, Hope, Charity. In the background the trackless forest, unbroken except by a few rude log-cabins, and a church. Looking, in fancy, into the faces of those early pioneers, I seem to see written on those faces deep wisdom, heroic courage and unyielding firmness to improve the con- ditions surrounding them.
The present sons and daughters of Chester may read its history without shame or humiliation and look forward with cheer and exultation. The beautiful situation and environment of Chester has never been challenged, the "Mecca" today for the home coming of its sons and daughters to pay a righteous tribute to their honored ancestry.
What New England heart does not throb with emotion as it dwells upon the struggle and triumphs of our forbears? It remains for us to remember that Chester of the present owes its distinction to having produced men and women whose names have become immortalized in the history of our state and nation. Their power to act on other minds was the key to their success. They stood for patriotism and integrity in church and state.
Six generations of our kindred have walked these highways- climbed these rugged hills-passed through these valleys and basked in their sunshine. All hail to our glorious old home! We bedeck you with laurels of love and crown you with garlands of admiration. Here we were born. Here we dreamed the dreams of childhood. We return to give thee homage as the pilgrim comes to his shrine.
We listen still to the echo's thrill Of Two Hundred years today, May the "Bells of Time" on earth still chime When we have passed away.
THE PRESIDENT .- "The shouting and the tumult dies, The captains and the kings depart,"
and in a few hours this celebration will be a matter of history, and few present will be privileged to participate in a like observance. As we go forth to resume our usual avocations let it be with higher ideals and a resolution to emulate the activity, energy and integrity of the fathers.
We met with joyful anticipations and part, I trust, with a feeling that our expectations have been fully realized.
The concluding feature of the celebration was an Historical Pageant which depicted in an attractive and interesting manner numerous scenes illustrating traditional recorded events in the early life of the town.
The author of the Pageant was Mrs. Mary Stuart Mac- Murphy of Derry and it was presented under the supervision of Mrs. Helen L. Klauber of Newburyport, Mass., as General Director, assisted by Mrs. Walter P. Tenney as Local Director, with music by Nevers' Orchestra, a large number being in attendance.
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HISTORY OF CHESTER
August 24, 1922.
My Dear Mr. Wilcomb :-
Circumstances have arisen that will make it impossible for me to attend the Celebration in Chester. I have looked forward to this event all summer as one of the most important and interesting ex- periences in recent years and I regret more than I can say that I must miss it.
The old town of Chester has always had a warm place in my heart from my earliest remembrance. In childhood I often came here to visit my grandmother and in boyhood my long summer vacation was spent here and I became familiar with all its natural attractions of fields and woods, blueberry pastures and swimming pools and it seemed as much like Heaven as any earthly abode could be. It was at this time that I tucked "Chester" into my name because of my love of the place, not having been given a middle name.
The town of Chester is still very dear to me, not only because of my happy associations with it, but because it was the birthplace of my father and the home for so many years of my father and mother. The house built by my grandfather in 1800 is gone and those who were the older generation in my boyhood have passed away, but memory restores the picture of former years and I constantly live over again with delight the life of long ago.
While I cannot be with you to help celebrate the Anniversary, I wish that my friends in Chester might know how deeply I am in sympathy with it and how sincere my affection of the place.
Believe me, with much regard,
Most truly yours, DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH.
Paris, France, July 8th, 1922.
Dear Mr. Wilcomb :-
Both Mr. Edward Tuck and I have received the interesting an- nouncement of the programme for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of Chester, and we both regret that we cannot attend the exercises. But 3000 miles of water and hundreds of leagues of land divide us. Our hearts, however, are with you all, and our best wishes for a happy celebration of the event.
As I remember the history of the early days, Mr. Tuck's ancestor, the Rev. John Tucke, declined to accept the position of pastor of the Congregational Church at Chester, feeling it his duty to reclaim the heathen on the Isles of Shoals. My grandfather, Hon. Amos Tuck, sent my mother to a girls' school at Chester in the late 40's, while he was a member of Congress, and I have often heard her describe the town life of that time. My other grandfather, Benjamin Brown French (nephew of Rev. Francis Brown, President of Dartmouth College and son of Hon. Daniel French) was born there Sept. 4th, 1800, and married the daughter of Chief Justice Richardson in 1825; and my father, Francis O. French, was born in the Richardson house at Chester on Sept. 12th, 1837. So I feel that Chester is my home town, and anything that will promote its welfare always will be of interest to me.
J still possess the botanical collection made by my great grand- father, Chief Justice Wm. Merchant Richardson, and some of his books, although his law library he left to Harvard College.
Let us hope the weather will be beautiful during the celebration,
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CELEBRATION OF 200TH ANNIVERSARY
and that the exercises may be worthy of the best traditions of the town, and that you will all enjoy a happy time.
Yours sincerely, AMOS TUCK FRENCH.
TELEGRAM.
From Washington, D. C.
To A. H. Wilcomb, Chester, N. H.
I have delayed answering your most kind invitation to be present at the 200th Anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Chester hoping I might find it possible to accept your hospitality. You of course must know that National conditions have made it almost im- perative for members of the senate to be in Washington this summer.
Our work is not yet over, and under the circumstances, feel I must advise you of my inability to accept your invitation.
All New Hampshire is proud of the attainment of the men and women of Chester. Regret that I cannot be with you and take this opportunity to extend my most cordial greetings and best wishes for a most enjoyable and successful anniversary.
HENRY W. KEYES, U. S. Senator.
UNITED STATES SENATE. Committee on Printing. 0 25 August, 1922.
Dear Mr. Wilcomb :
I am leaving Washington tonight for Maine and will not be able to attend the Bi-Centennial Celebration to be held in Chester next week.
I regret this exceedingly because I had looked forward to the pleasure not only of meeting good friends and loyal constituents in your fine old hill town but also because I have been most desirous of hearing your grand old man, Congressman Hazelton, in the principal historical address which he is to deliver on Monday.
Please accept my best wishes for the success of the celebration, give my compliments to the people of your town, and take for old Chester my constant hope that her years of the future may be as satisfactory and helpful as in her glorious past.
Sincerely yours,
GEO. H. MOSES.
Mr. Arthur H. Wilcomb,
Chester, N. H.
THE FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL WASHINGTON
July 8, 1922.
Hon. Arthur H. Wilcomb,
Chester, New Hampshire.
Dear Mr. Wilcomb :
It will be a delightful occasion when old Chester observes its 200th Anniversary. That is a long span of years. Too unmindful are we of what history means to us, or should mean to us. Not sufficiently high
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HISTORY OF CHESTER
do we appraise the value of a long line of worthy ancestors and en- nobling traditions. We are steadier in the present, and have more power to go ahead if we avail ourselves of the momentum of the past.
I am sure a town does itself great credit when it takes a day to throw on the screen of the present beautiful pictures of bygone days.
Yours with kind regards,
JOHN H. BARTLETT.
CHESTER.
Our Childhood home among New Hampshire's hills ! Thou art a type of all New England's best ;
Thy very name our hearts with pleasure fills,
Dear Chester, fortress, safety, home and rest.
No innovations crude nor structures high
Have come to hide or mar the landscape fair ;
No clouds of dismal smoke obscure the sky,
No deafening sounds arise to rend the air.
We love thy winding roads and murm'ring brooks ; The swaying elms and softly sighing pines ; The unfrequented paths and shady nooks;
The distant hills of blue with wavelike lines.
In early spring we roam thy vales and hills Where trailing arbutus is always found; On August days we seek thy shady rills
Along whose banks bright card'nal flowers abound.
Thy children here at home and from afar This day all holy and apart would make,
That nothing sordid their communion mar,
While they with joy a feast of love partake.
Our Chester, thee we love and venerate :
Full twenty decades have their courses run
Since thou wert born; and now we celebrate
Thy birth and all the honors thou hast won.
-Charles Warren Kimball, Pen Yan, N. Y.
GREETING.
The village calls its sons and daughters home, However far their busy footsteps roam, Inviting them beneath the kindly trees
Their souls with retrospect and hope to please.
They come, though faltering some, though others strong. The years, two hundred, gaze the ranks along, And fancy draws us back to early days,
And holds the sires' virtues up to praise. How strong the will, the industry how great, On country soil that plies its labor late, That finds contentment in a narrow sphere,
With Nature's comradeship throughout the year ; That knows, if one would eat, he first must work, And holds in deep contempt the hands that shirk!
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CELEBRATION OF 200TH ANNIVERSARY
May peace upon this street abound, pervade these lanes, The breeze blow gently as the daylight wanes,
And on these fields ancestral feet have trod Rest constantly the benison of God.
The absent ones send yearning thoughts to thee,
Fair upland village, with thy welcome free.
Unseen, we taste with zest the rural fare;
Unseen our lungs inhale thy wholesome air.
Unseen thy speakers' wit we overhear.
The distance vanishes-and we are near !
-Rev. William Tenney Bartley, Canaan, N. Y.
Letters expressing regret at not being able to attend the Celebra- tion were received from Frank D. Bell, Bridgeport Conn .; Mrs. Juliet (Tenney) Brand, Oberlin, Ohio; Jay W. Chase, Parker, So. Dakota; Russell M. Everett, Newark, N. J .; Henry I. Hazelton, New York City; Lewis H. and John E. Kimball, (telegram) and Clifford E. Richardson, Calif .; Hon. John Mitchell, Oakland, Calif .; Ira H. Morse, Lowell, Mass .; Curtis Hidden Page, London, Eng .; Albert W. Shaw, Mansfield, Ohio, and George W. Morrill, Dept. Adjt., American Legion, Concord.
The Historical Committee had an exceedingly interesting and in- structive exhibit, occupying two rooms in the Stevens Memorial. Indian relics, antiques from the Griffin Museum of Auburn, ancient articles of household furnishings and industrial implements from numerous contributors made a display that was highly creditable to the labors of the committee.
In the Governor John Bell house, a portion of which was the home of the Rev. Ebeneezer Flagg, a large collection of interesting and valuable historic articles was exhibited. Among them were the desk and chair used by "Parson" Flagg and an early record book of the Congregational Church of which he was the pastor for fifty-seven years. A national flag containing only twenty-two stars, documents issued by Governors Benning and John Wentworth, a letter signed by King George in 1758 and household furnishings of early by-gone days attracted much attention. The house is now owned by Mr. George A. Emerson and exhibits were gathered and shown by Prof. and Mrs. Jason T. Draper of Holyoke, Mass.
A well-equipped hospital tent was an important feature of the occasion and the services of the members of the Hospital and Public Comfort Committee are deserving of mention, as numerous cases re- ceived highly appreciated attention during the celebration.
The signs that identified historic spots, nearly fifty in number, and the large banners were a gift from the Granite State Spring Water Co. of Atkinson. They added greatly to the success of the celebration.
The cutting of the inscription over the gate-way of the old "Town Pound" was done gratuitously by Palmer & Garmon of Manchester.
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