USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Jaffrey > Jaffrey centennial : proceedings of the centennial celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Jaffrey, N.H., August 20, 1873 > Part 8
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istry, how conceive and support a free and enlightened govern- ment ?- without the ministry of the divine Word, how would you make, mould and educate its legislators and judges ? .
You study this subject, and it will be seen that our govern- ment -the best this side of heaven and founded on God's im- partial rule, could not carry out its principles,-could not secure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to man, without the min- istry - the preaching of the Gospel. Without the christian Clergy men could not be qualified to respect constituted author- ities and administer laws. Without the ministry, man is not ca- pable of self-government. Without the ministry of the Gospel, Kingdoms and nations could not be kept from the inroads of passion, taint, corruption and ruin. Sodom, and Gomorah, Nin- evah and Babylon, Egypt and Jerusalem, Greece, Carthage and Rome, attest with overwhelming evidence the awful consequen- ces, in their complete destruction, of rejecting the ministry of patriarchs, and prophets, of Christ and the Apostles.
Thus we see that the richest, proudest, and most cultivated nations, with all their forts and navies, with all their schools, arts and sciences, have been swept from the face of the earth, because they refused the preaching of the great and good who were sent unto them. Remove a nation's honor, justice and virtue, which are the results of preaching and sanctuary privile- ges, and you take away every band that can hold her together, and remove all the elements of her life.
A christian Clergy educate into society, all her convictions and understandings of moral obligations and accountability. They lift men to clear conceptions of duty to themselves, to those around them and to God; and thus hold society in com- pact and contract. The christian Clergy are the conquering and aggressive forces on infidelity, and the absorbing army of all idoliatry and its baleful effects. The gospel ministry imparts the needed means, and grace required by all men to escape death and acquire life, to pass from the ruins and woes of earth to the orders and joys of blessed character. Preaching bears away our iniquity, absorbs all sin and evil, cleanses the spirit, renews
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the affections ; bears all men from darkness to light, and makes man at-onc-ment with God. Through ministering, Christ made his disciples the light of the world. And the Clergy have borne on that light which lighteth every man that cometh, and which is pressing every person with the necessity of repentance and re- generation. They aid, increase, and vitalize the information about the resurrection, which inspires all men to a higher life. The gospel ministry imparts the light and truth and intuition, which cannot be read from books, cannot be discovered in the best composition, cannot be rendered by the ablest stenographer, cannot be written by the most versatile genius possessed with the most copious vocabulary. Never forget then, that it was the living soul in what Demothenes said, that moved the Athenians ; it was the immortal spirit in the utterances of Cicero, that thril- led the Senate ; it was the flashing of undying light in the eye and mien of Patrick Henry that held our Fathers spell-bound at the birth of Liberty; it was the soul of Paul in the intense, con- centrated, and burning truths, flashing out and shimmering in lines of fire, by which the great Apostle entranced the wisdom and learning of Rome and Athens ! And it is the eye, and the spirit, and the light of the clergy which are required to combine and concen trate, and intensify the doctrines, the precepts, and examples of Christ until you are swept into purity, into sympho- ny with peace, with spiritual passion and power, and the ener- gies of everlasting life.
In such an hour of endless impressions, souls are born, affec- tions renewed, hearts regenerated, and all of society moves up from barbarism to God and Christ. In such an hour the Clergy- man is no longer a preucher merely, but humanity itself, -tram- pled, torn, bleeding, yet beautiful, - starting one glorious mo- ment in her terrible ruin, with herhand lifted to the blue heav- ens over her heroic DEAD, and affirming her Great Oath, in the elemental life that is Christ to live.
I would bear to you at last then, in the urn of remembrance, ashes from the fires of the wondrous dead, to intensify your sense of the importance and worth of the christian clergy of the past and of today.
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May you work for and with them as you would wish to have done when you look back on earth and the loved ones you leave behind, then will you receive in some measure the glorious an- swer of life's great prayer. And when you come to the congre- gation of silence, -
They, who stand around your grave, Will rank you nobly.
SENTIMENT No. 11. - "Jaffrey -Her Past and Her Pres- ent." Response by Dr. Daniel B. Cutter, of Peterboro', N. H.
Mr. President : - It affords me great pleasure to meet you and my former associates, here today. Few indeed are our numbers, so few, that today in this vast congregation here assem- bled, I recognize only here and there a familiar face. Time has made such sad inroad into our numbers, that I feel like a stranger in my own native town. The old Church, the place where our fathers worshiped, in gone by days, now stands a memo- rial of its former greatness, but the sound of the gospel is there no longer heard. Minister and people lie buried together in yonder grave-yard, silent in the sleep of death. For ever sa- cred be their ashes. To commemorate the doings of these men is the occasion of our meeting here today. A little more than 100 years ago, the place, on which we now stand, and its sur- rounding as far as the eye can reach, was an unbroken forest. On the banks of the Contoocook grew the lofty pine, while on the hills and in the valleys grew a variety of hard wood, fir and hemlock; the mountain, which now presents a bare rock, was covered with spruce. From its side flowed numerous rippling streams, which, after passing through bog and swamp, united their flowing waters and formed the Contoocook river. The in- habitants of this, then wild domain, was the moose, the deer, the bear and the wolf, together with the wild turkey and the pat- ridge. The streams were filled with trout, and the ponds with pickerel. Over this wild domain, in majestic grandeur, then clad with fir, now bald with age, peered the lofty Monadnock, surveying the vast territory around, watching the progress of events, as the white man, here and there, made inroads in his wild domain. Such was Jaffrey, when in 1752, Moses Stick-
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ney, Richard Peabody, and seven others, made an attempt at settlement in the Southeast part of the town. Through fear of the Indians, they all soon left except one of their number, known as Capt. Platts. During their stay, on Dee. 9th, 1753, Moses Stickney had a son born, whose name was Simon, who is sup- posed to be the first white child born in Jaffrey. He never after resided there, but returned with his father to Boxford, Mass., and on maturity, settled in Holden, and afterwards removed to New Haven, Vt., and died in 1791. He left three daughters.
The next attempt at settlement was made by a colony of hardy adventurers from Londonderry, encouraged probably by their brethren, who had previously made a settlement in Peterboro', an adjoining township. But few of these. however had the hard- ihood to remain as permanent settlers. After enduring the hardships and privations of a pioneer life for a time, they sold their rights to a Massachusetts colony, mostly from Essex and Middlesex Counties. These were the men, who on the 14th of September 1773, met and organized the town. This was done by virtue of a charter granted by his Excellency, John Went- worth, then Governor of the Province of New Hampshire, and Council, at Portsmouth, August 17th, 1773, who changed the original name, Middle Monadnock No. 2, to Jaffrey, in honor of George Jaffrey, Esq., one of the original proprietors. The first town meeting was held at the house of Francis Wright, Inn- keeper, situated on Lot No. 14, Range 8. A second meeting was held at the same place, on the 28th of the same month, and £80 L. M. was voted for the repairing of roads, and C6 L. M. for preaching. No church was then built. They had preaching probably, in some private house. The next year, 1774, the town voted to build a meeting-house. Voted to raise said house in June, 1775. This was the first year of the Revolutionary War, one battle had already been fought, another was pending ; 16 of their men were in the field, and while raising the church, it is said, the sound of the cannon was heard from Bunker Hill. Actuated by a sense of duty, they did not despond, but readily obeyed the call of their Country : men, money, provisions, and munitions of war, were promptly furnished, and when we learn
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that a town of only 351 inhabitants furnished 72 men during the. war, we cannot be surprised at their success in that war.
During seven long and perilous years, they met the requir- ments of their country, and through the blessing of God, triumph- ed at last, and laid the foundation of her future greatness. We, their descendants, may well feel proud of such fathers, and moth- ers too, who, if they were not in the battle field, were in other fields, doing no less glorious service for their God, and their country. During all this period of war and suffering, the church was not only raised, but so far completed as to be made use of for public worship. With the men of that time, a neglect of re- ligious duty would have been fatal, in their minds, to their suc- cess in battle. They relied on the God of heaven, and acted under a sense of His presence, feeling sure of victory only through His aid and with His blessing.
In 1780 a church was organized, and on December 10, 1782, the Rev. Laban Ainsworth was ordained their pastor ; who, dur- ing an extraordinary long life, administered to the wants of this people, in all matters pertaining to religious duty. In person he was of medium height, in appearance dignified, in deportment affable, which together with an intellectual superiority, enabled . him to command the love and respect of his fellow men. He was the ruling power of the church, the district school, and I might say, the town. For a long series of years he was the Superintending School Committee, whose frequent visits and sage counsel I well remember. In the early days of the town, the education of their children was .a matter of interest. In 1775, £8 lawful money was voted for a school. No school- houses were then built. Where the school was taught is a mat- ter of conjecture. School-houses, school-teachers and school- books were rare things in those days. The Bible, the psalm- book and the primer were almost the only books in their pos- session. With such means, it must have required the ingenu- ity of a mother to teach their children to read.
The Spelling-book, Reader and Arithmetic at length made their appearance. With a determination admirable, and pa- tience remarkable, they overcame every obstacle, established schools, educated their children, furnished the world with 25
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College Graduates, besides many more who qualified themselves for a professional life by an Academical education. Jaffrey has furnished Pastors for the Church, Counselors for the Bar, and Physicians for the sick. One of her sons, has been honored with the seat of Chief Justice in his own State, while another is a distinguished Missionary in Ceylon.
The clouds of war at length pass away ;- the sushine of peace blesses the land. The farmer returns to the plough, the me- chanic to his work-shop, the merchant to his counter, the swords are beat into ploughshares, and bayonets into reaping hooks, and the people hope to learn war no more.
A new era has now commenced ; the foot-paths gradually be- come passable roads ; the rude cabin a framed house ; the thatch- ed hovel a commodious barn ; the forest falls, upon its ashes the fertile field and the green meadows appear. The little school- house is seen here and there, by the side of the road. Grist- mills, saw-mills, stores and taverns-showing trade and travel- are now becoming common. Wheel carriages take the place of the saddle and the pillion, -the whole family cau now ride to church. The turnpike, the wonder of the age, is now built, opening the way for a stage coach from Boston to Wapole and back, twice a week, which in its turn, affords not only means of conveyance for passengers, but for a mail also, which is estab- lished, and a Post Office too ; letters can now be sent and re- ceived. The sons and daughters abroad, can exchange letters with their parents at home, and to cap. the climax. they can now take a Newspaper, one being published at Keene, in 1799.
The town is now in a healthy, thriving condition, all of the necessaries and conveniences of life are at command .- The farm- er can now sleep undisturbed by the howl of the wolf, prowl- ing around for the destruction of his flock, - his herd and flock are safe in the field by night as well as by day, - no more herd- ing or folding necessary. He is indeed lord of his own domain, independent of all monopolies.
We have now reached the present century, the age of scien- tific research, the age of invention, the age of high intellectual culture and refinement. The winds and the waves now obey
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the dictate of man, and are made subservient to his wishes. The lighning too at his command, carries intelligence at his bid- ding. Head work is the order of the day, and bodily labor dis- creditable. No means are spared in the culture of the intellect, and hardly any used for the improvement of the moral and phys- ical organization. Greatness has left the scat of goodness, and now sits in the lap of ease and luxury. We are now showered with blessings, but like Rome of old, are we not in danger of the Goths and Vandals ? Will not the extravagance of our times, so destructive to our offspring, open wide the door for the en- trance of another race that will supplant us ? Or do we look forward, with the expectation of Abraham of old, that our chil- dren and our children's children are to be the possessors of this gift of their fathers, through all coming generations? Do we rely on our intelligence ? so did Rome on her's. Do we rely on our own goodness ? so did the children of Abraham on their's. Both fell ! By obeying the precepts of the Lord, our fathers were blessed, and we, their descendants, can receive the same blessing, only by the same obedience. May we then emulate their vir- tues, and render due obedience to the precepts of our Heavenly Father.
SENTIMENT No. 12. - " The Homes of Our Youth." Ro- sponse by Rev. Andrew O. Warren, of Montrose. Pa.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen ; Fellow Townsmen : I do not come forward to make a speech at this hour, for I have none written. But I did think this morning that possibly I might find one here already written at my hands. If I were to speak at all, you would find that I was good in dispersing a crowd in that way.
But allow me to congratulate you, fellow townsmen, at this time, for the grand history of the past 100 years that is closed by this anniversary, and for its grander prophecy for the next century.
I feel it to be one of the proudest days of my life, that I am permitted to be here and to acknowledge this as my native place. Here indeed are " the dear homes of our youth." Here we be- gan our very being and laid the foundation for every superstruct-
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ure, - we have our record, morally, socially, intellectually and spiritually. My native place was in School District No. 4, and I hope I never have, nor shall be permitted to dishonor it. Well do I remember some of the old people in that section of the town, particularly one old Mr. Horton, who was favored far above the most of his neighbors by the Divine Being if we can believe his story. He said as he was working by his flat piece, the voice of the Lord came to him and said, "go preach my word to the people." At first he excused himself, but on the repetition of the call, he started out. Came to my father's house and talked to my good mother day after day. One Sunday he made an appointment at the school-house and I attended. Dur- ing his speech he said he should preach nothing that was not found between the lids of the Bible. But he soon began a ti- rade of abuse upon the " pocky cotton factories," and other cor- porations in the land, and declared his conviction that they would be the ruin of our country. But the country lives, -the cotton mills live and prosper, but Mr. Horton rests with his fathers.
I remember particularly my first Sunday school-teacher, Levi Fisk, Esq., and I never shall forget one remark made by him. He was a man of good judgment in most matters, yet he had his weak points. Speaking of Railroads, as one was then being talked of from Boston to Bellows Falls, one route might lay across some part of our town ; the old squire " said he would rath- er have three of the best farm buildings in town all destroyed by fire annually, to be replaced by taxes on the town, rather than have a Railroad in it." You of this hour do not concur in that opinion. If it were to be said now, no more cars would ever enter your town, you would seek and follow the cars wher- ever they went.
But I will not detain you. From " the homes of our youth," many of us have made a wide departure. Yet it is no matter where we may go in after time, we shall find no place around which cluster such hallowed memories as gather here. In mem- ory we see again the forms of our fathers and mothers, long since gone to their eternal rest, gliding in our midst. We hear
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their voices saying to us here, we lived, toiled and died to sow the seeds, the fruit of which, you, our children, are permitted this day to gather.
Mighty changes have marked the march of years that are past, but the record is good. Go forward still, with a stout heart and manly purpose, and you shall have a grander history to conclude 100 years from today. Not one of us shall see that distant time, save in promise, the reality of which we cannot doubt.
The whole field of my thought at this time is beautifully ex- pressed by the poet, if I am able to call the words to mind, thus :
Life is like a stately temple That is founded in the sea, Whose uprising fair proportions. Penetrate immensity ; Love the architect who builds it, Building it eternally.
Tome, standing in the present, As one waits beside a grave, Up the isles and to the altar Rolls the Past its solemn wave, With a murmer as of mourning, Undulating in the nave.
Pallid phantoms glide around me In the wrecks of hope and home ; Voices moan among the waters, Faces vanish in the foam ; But a peace, divine, unfailing, Writes its promise in the dome.
Cold the waters where my feet are, But my heart is strung anew, Tuned to Hope's profound vibration,
Pulsing all the ether through, For the seeking souls that ripen In a patience strong and true.
Hark ! the all-inspiring Angel Of the Future leads the choir; All the shadows of the temple Are illumed with living fire, And the bells above are waking Chimes of infinite desire.
For the strongest or the weakest There is no eternal fall ; Many graves and many mourners, But at last - the lifted pall ! For the highest and the lowest Blessed life containeth all.
O thou fair unfinished temple ! In unfathomed sea begun, Love, thy builder, shapes and lifts thee In the glory of the sun ; And the builder and the builded · To the pure in heart - are one.
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PARTING HYMN.
BY MISS HENRIETTA S. CUTTER.
AIR - " Auld Lang Syne."
The Band, Choir and audience unitedly swelling " the tide of song along.'
The shades of night are gathering fast, Round old Monadnock's brow,
While we must say the parting word, With friendship's hand clasp now ; While we must break the golden links That bind reunion's chain ;
Yet often memory 'll bear us back- Back to this day again.
Among the many gathered here Are those of sterling worth,
Upon whose brows the impress rests Of the great and good of earth ;
And with those passing down life's hill, Just coming up are some,
Whose laurel crown for worthy deeds In th'future must be won.
' Mid joys of this Centennial day, A silent tear we shed,
For parents, brothers, sisters, friends, Now sleeping with the dead
They've left to us the well-worn paths On life's great harvest field ;
May we the seed full carly sow, That th' grain may heavy yield.
One century henee - that future day Is only known to God; But WE shall rest all peacefully Beneath the flowering sod.
We've met today, and now we part - Now we must say " good-bye ;"
May Heaven's rich blessings on all rest - We'll meet again on high.
Peter Upton, Esq. moved that this meeting adjourn for one hundred years, and it was unanimously voted. Three cheers for "The One Hundredth Anniversary of the Town of Jaffrey" preceded a quiet dispersal of home-seeking strangers and towns- people from the soon. deserted canvass.
NOTE .- We are indebted to George Wilder Fox for a portion of this, (copied), as reported by him for the New Hampshire Sentinel.
The following letters were received from the absent sons of Jaffrey, who could not, for reasons therein specified, unite in the centennial exercises.
PITTSBURGH, PA., JULY 23, 1873. To Julius Cutter and Others. Committee :
GENTLEMEN :- I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter inviting me to be pres- ent at the Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Jaffrey. It would give me great pleasure to be there on an occasion of such interest to all natives of the dear old town; but the state of my health will not permit it. Wherever its sons and daughters may wander, or wherever dwell. their thoughts must frequently turn back with kindly regards, as mine do, to the home of childhood : and we are always glad to know that
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the friends we left behind us there still enjoy the thrift and com- forts that come by industry and skill, in the useful arts. God bless old Jaffrey, and its people.
Situated near the geographical centre of New England, that town well represents New England character and life; and its granite hills and towering mountain as well represent the old Granite State. It is New England in its purity ; and its charac- ter is strongly impressed upon its children. Wherever we may be, we are Americans and patriots ; attached to the homes of our adoption ; but Yankees still.
A Century is a long time. Yet the first settled ininister of the town lived in honor and esteem to see his centennial birthday. But how many events have occurred in that time ! A Century ago considerable portions of the thirty Indian tribes that once inhabited New England, were still within its borders. Now, none remain : and even their languages are all dead, or exist only on the silent pages of the Eliot Bible. A wide region has become a fruitful land, distinguished for industry and intelli- gence, and out from among you have gone very many, to people new regions towards the setting sun.
A Century hence, let Jaffrey again call together her children, and out from among a hundred and fifty millions people, stretch- ing quite across a continent, they will come; and will rejoice to find old Jaffrey still prosperous and happy.
Wishing you a large and pleasant meeting,
I am, Yours very truly, GEO. F. GILLMORE.
OBERLIN, OHIO, AUGUST 15, 1873. .
F. H. Cutter, and Others :
DEAR SIRS :- The card of invitation to the Jaffrey Centennial was duly received. I do not know of any- thing that would give me more pleasure than to attend this cele- bration, if I could afford the journey. Jaffrey is my birth-place, and the birth-place of my mother, and all my brothers and sis- ters but one. It is just a third of a century since my father, with nine children, removed to this place. With us came my father's father, and a brother and sister of my mother,-Thomas and Betsey Joslin. Of the fourteen, only my mother and three younger sisters and myself remain.
I have repeatedly visited Jaffrey, and renewed the impress- ions of early boyhood. There is no spot on carth so full of in-
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teresting associations and touching memories, as that mountain town. Every object, from the cloud capped Monadnock, to the old school-house and blacksmith shop at the middle of the town, is full of suggestions and tender interest. The very changeless- ness of the upper part of the town, is a gratification. It still stands as it appeared to my nine years old eyes, a third of a century ago; and I can but hope that it will remain so. I should delight to bring the greetings of my mother and our family to the friends of our childhood, and join in celebrating the birthday of the dear old town. If she is poor in soil, she is rich in the beauty and grandeur of her scenery, and rich in her children and grand-children, scattered over all the land. May your commem- oration be one worthy of the venerable mothers, and a satisfac- tion to all the sons and daughters who may gather from near and far. If any printed record is prepared, please send two or three copies to me, with my share of the expense.
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