USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Dunbarton > Record of the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Dunbarton, N.H., on Wednesday, September 13, 1865 > Part 7
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I am not aware that any Dunbarton graduate has entered the medical profession, and as another speaks for that profes- sion, I will not take up your time by any further allusion to our native physicians.
Very likely some names belonging to the above lists have been overlooked. If so, I trust you will pardon the omission as it is through lack of information and not design.
Such is the educational record of our native town, and such are the minds which have mingled, from time to time, with this people during the period of their development and culture. The unconscious tuition of such intercourse is not without a significance and power, which should not be over- looked, nor unrecognized in our estimate of the causes which have made Dunbarton what she is. Did time permit, it would be both appropriate and pleasant to notice some of the elect Ladies, who have gone forth from these hills and valleys and been the joy and light of many households in various commonwealths of this glorious Union, now redeemed and disenthralled from the curse and stigma of slavery. Would that they and their husbands and children were present, but they cannot be gathered, for it would be necessary to sum- mon some of them from not only distant States, but also to call them from Syria and Persia and Asia Minor.
In conclusion, I cannot forbear to make one suggestive enquiry. Shall this audience disperse and this Centennial Celebration become a subject of historic record, and nothing be done to indicate to posterity that such an assembly had ever been convened ? Shall no memorial of our gratitude for the countless blessings we have received, as a town, dur- ing the first century of its history, be left behind, and no monument be reared to express our appreciation of the value of our present happy condition, and indicate a desire for the increase and perpetuity of the agencies for good that the past and present generations have enjoyed ? I seem to see in your countenances an expression of a noble and generous response to the suggestion. Let that monument be such as will best express our conviction of the true interests of those who succeed us, and contribute most directly and effectually to secure those interests, would seem to be the utterance of you all. If so, what can be more appropriate for the purpose than the establishment of the Dunbarton Classic School, at which the present and future youth of this town may receive an academic education preparatory to college, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, or the activities of business life. The upper
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story of the old meeting house would furnish a fine room 40 x 50, 12 feet high, and the lower story of the same dimensions will be all that the town needs for its public meetings. Let the town, as a corporation, give the porch and upper story to the Trustees of said D. C. S. The expense of fitting it up would be very small. The school needs $5000 permanent funds to supplement the tuition income. Such a monument would be worthy of its builders, and an object of delightful contemplation to the sons and daughters of Dunbarton the world over. I shall be happy to contribute to the enterprise if it is deemed advisable to undertake it. Let me say to you, from my distant home, that my life experience of almost threescore years has been an ample confirmation of the seemingly paradoxical scripture utterance, " there is that scattereth and yet increaseth." Many have found that with- holding from good causes and philanthropic enterprises more than was meet, has tended to poverty. " It is more blessed to give than to receive." These are the Lord's stocks and are always in the market with this general coupon attached, " he that soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully." (See Appendix.)
Note. The Editor is responsible for many of the above statistics, having made them as accurate as he could, at the request of Prof. Mills. The following correction was received after the above was in print. Hosea Wheeler was born in 1791. Was pastor of the Baptist church in Newburyport, Mass., for five years. Died at Eastport, Maine.
No. 6. The Baptist church of Dunbarton ; she cherishes the memory of her former pastors with fraternal and chris- tian regard. She has not forgotten the name of a Mason and a Pillsbury who have gone to their rest, nor a Wescott, a Walker, a Hodge and a Poland who still survive, and also oth- ers, who as stewards of the grace of God, prepared and Cooked food for the flock that was well seasoned and fit to be Eaton. The Baptists of Dunbarton, while tenaciously adhering to the Bible truth, that God only can give the increase, are, never- theless, willing to acknowledge that much in their present hopeful condition and encouraging prospects, is due to the past labors of a faithful ministry.
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Response by Rev. Stephen Pillsbury, pastor of the Baptist church of Dunbarton.
Mr. Pillsbury commenced by saying he had hoped some former pastor would be present to respond in behalf of the Baptist church, but as no one had appeared, he would endeavor to supply the deficiency as best he could.
The Baptist church of Dunbarton was organized Dec. 15, 1828. It was composed of nineteen members who had been dismissed from the Goffstown and Bow churches for that purpose. The interest that led to this step was the result of the labors of a young man by the name of Isaac Wescott. He taught school at the East part of the town, near the resi- dences of most of these members, and about this time com- menced exercising his gift in preaching. The meetings were first held in a school-house, but that was soon filled to over- flowing. They were then removed to a large shop owned by John Gould, Esq., and erected for a blacksmith shop, but never occupied for that purpose. Many persons are now living at the East part of the town (Mountalona,) who used to sit in that shop and listen to the preaching of young Wescott, who already evinced superior abilities for the ministerial profes- sion.
Not long after this, a meeting-house was built by a Mr. Elliott for the Baptist church and society. I am unable to learn from the records the precise time when it was completed, but it was duly occupied by the Baptist Society. It is the same house that now stands there, a short distance from Gould's corner and nearly opposite the residence of Thomas Johnson, Esq.
While Mr. Wescott remained, the house was crowded with eager listeners, people came from all sections, and some from as far off as Amoskeag, to hear the earnest young preacher. Mr. Wescott continued his labors until near the beginning of the year 1831, when he left and removed to Vermont. He has since proved one of our strongest and most successful preachers and pastors, and is now settled over a large church in the city of New York.
After Mr. Wescott left, it seems the church remained with- out a settled minister until the Spring of 1835, but was sup- plied a part of the time by a Mr. Ellis and a Mr. Strong. In the Spring of 1835, the church called and settled as its pas- tor, Rev. Stephen Pillsbury, who continued to labor with them nearly four years, or until about the beginning of the year
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1839. During his ministrations the church enjoyed a revival of religion and a good degree of prosperity.
After Mr. Pillsbury left, the church seems to have remained without a settled minister till the Spring of 1843; but was supplied by different persons, and in the mean time enjoyed two considerable seasons of revival, the first in the Autumn of 1839, which seemed to spring from a prayer-meeting estab- lished by three brethren agreeing to meet together and pray for the conversion of sinners. Soon the Spirit of the Lord was poured out and souls were converted, and, as a result, twenty-two were baptized into the fellowship of the church.
During this season the church was supplied a part of the time by Horace Eaton, then a student at New Hampton. After him I find the names of a Mr. Walker and a Mr. Pear- son, and also Mr. Pillsbury, the former pastor, supplied the desk half of the time during the season of 1841.
In the Fall of 1842 the church was blessed with another revival of religion, which seemed to have some connection with the labors of Rev. Mr. Knapp, in Concord. In October a protracted meeting was held, conversions followed, and nine- teen were added to the church by baptism. During this time the church was without a regular pastor. In March, 1843, Rev. Abner Mason was called to ordination and settled as pas- tor.
For reasons which do not appear, this pastorate was short. In 1845-6 a Rev. Mr. Smith is spoken of as the minister.
In the Spring of 1847 the meetings were removed from the old house at Mountalona to a Hall which, with a lot of ground, had been purchased at the centre of the town. Rev. J. W. Poland supplied the desk during the sea- son. In 1848 the church engaged the services of Rev. H. D. Hodge, as pastor, and during this year the society built a new meeting-house upon the site of the old Hall at the Centre, and in November the meetings were moved into it. Owing to some dissatisfaction growing out of the building of the meeting-house, Mr. Hodge, ( whose labors, it seems, were very acceptable to the church generally,) did not remain longer than the year 1848.
In the Spring of 1849, Rev. Samuel Cook became the pas- tor of the church, and continued so until near 1854. Some- time during this year, (1854,) Rev. Horace Eaton commenced his labors with the church. He continued its pastor till the Spring of 1859.
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In 1860 the church was supplied by Rev. J. M. Coburn, and in February, 1861, Washington L. Coburn, (brother of the former,) was called to ordination and settled as the pastor.
For reasons which do not appear in the records, this pas- torate was also a very short one.
In the Spring of 1862, Rev. John Peacock, the evangelist, was engaged as a supply. He continued to supply the church until September, 1863. During his ministrations, in the fall of 1862, the church was much revived ; some ten or twenty persons were hopefully converted and united with the church by baptism.
In September, 1863, the present pastor, Rev. Stephen Pills- bury, (son of the Rev. Stephen Pillsbury who was settled in 1835,) commenced his labors. He labored about a year as a licentiate from the New London Baptist church, and in Octo- ber, 1864, was ordained and settled as pastor. In the Spring of 1864 the church enjoyed another refreshing season of revi- val ; as a result of which eleven new members were added by baptism and experience.
It appears by the records that the church has had, during its thirty-seven years of existence, some severe trials of disci- pline, and many changes of pastors and ministers, yet it has never been long without the preached word. It has also had five or six special seasons of revival, in all of which some seventy new members were brought into the church. It has also had at other times, the usual experience of additions of individuals by baptism and letter ; and losses by removal and death. These losses have been so numerous that from nine- teen it has increased to only seventy-three, its present num- ber.
Mr. President, in the sentiment of the toast referring to our church and society, its present condition is spoken of as hope- ful and prosperous. I think it may truly be said to be so, compared with many former periods of its history. As an evidence of this I will mention, first, a willingness to give the minister a comfortable support. Secondly, a disposition to recognize its obligations to contribute to the various objects of benevolence, also a willingness to incur additional expense to procure help from abroad to sustain a series of meetings and a special effort for a revival of God's work. Thirdly, a state of union and harmony between the members of the church, and lastly, the good feeling that seems to be existing between the two denominations in the town.
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In conclusion, let me express the confident hope, that they will ever continue to work harmoniously together, that what- ever jealousies may have existed in the past, they will now be forgotten, and this day the hatchet be buried out of sight for- ever; that henceforth the various members of the two socie- ties will always be ready to bid each other God-speed in all their efforts to save souls and build up the cause of Christ.
Let me also express the hope that in 1965 the whole ground will be occupied, that " every house will be a house of prayer," and the two denominations be two only in name; thus answering the end of the prayer of our Savior, "That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
No. 7. Ancient and Modern Travel ;- The Bridle path and embroidered Pillion, versus the Railway and the cush- ioned Car.
Response by Ex. Gov. Gilmore :
CONCORD, N. H., Sept. 12, 1865.
Rev. Silvanus Hayward, Chairman Centennial Committee, Dunbarton, N. H.
MY DEAR SIR :- Since I wrote you accepting your kind in.vi- tation to be present at the centennial celebration of the settle- ment of Dunbarton, I have been so seriously ill that I have hardly been able to attend to business at all. Of course cares have accumulated and duties been neglected which tax my returning strength to the utmost, and I greatly fear that "the rail-way car" will engross all my energies to-morrow, to the utter exclusion of the "embroidered pillion." In other words, I fear that I shall be compelled to deny myself the pleasure of mingling with my friends and fellow citizens on an occasion of so much interest to them and to myself.
I cannot claim to be more than half a native of Dunbarton ; but that, you will recollect, is my "better half." I have known the town intimately, sympathized heartily in its great prosperity, and done what I might to promote its welfare dur- ing one third of the period whose lapse you commemorate.
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The appropriate sentiment to which you invite me to respond, recalls the circumstances in which I first became acquainted with your beautiful and thrifty neighborhoods; the tedious miles of staging which then separated you from the outside world ; and all the wonderful changes, not alone in our modes of communication, but in our habits of thought and ways of living, which the last generation has witnessed.
With such memories thronging upon me, and so many ties of interest and affection binding me to your people, it is hard for me to confess my inability to participate in your commem- orative services ; but I cannot grant myself this day's enjoy- ment without imperilling interests which are not my own. Will you do me the kindness to explain to your citizens the cause of my absence and assure them of my desire that their prosperity in the future may be as steady, substantial and sat- isfactory as in the past.
Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, J. A. GILMORE.
No. 8. Our Native Physicians :- Dunbarton, the honored birth-place of many professional children-but through the pure air of her hills, and the pure morals of her inhabitants, offering but small inducements to her doctors and lawyers to practice upon their own townsmen.
Response by J. L. Colby, M. D., Harlem, N. Y.
In responding to this sentiment we may say of our venera- ble mother town as Daniel Webster said of the State, it is a good place from which to emigrate. She has given sound minds in sound bodies to hundreds who are now devoting their healthy and mature energies to the interests of other com- munities, but will never forget the hale and honored matron in whose mountain cradle they were rocked.
The temperance of the community never perilled by a tav- ern or grog-shop, (at least in my recollection,) and the good temper of the people never tampered with by a resident law-
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yer, (we intend no reflection upon the legal profession, ) have made our town conspicuous as a city set upon a hill. For nearly three quarters of a century the people sat in great har- mony under the ministrations of the pious and beloved Dr. Harris, and Putnam, the venerable survivor whom we would congratulate in his long continued and successful ministry ; and even in their division into two congregations under the respected clergymen now occupying the pulpits, the same good feeling is preserved.
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Among the deceased members of the medical profession of our old town, we would mention with profound respect the excellent Drs. Clement and Stearns, my old preceptor and true friend, who devoted so many years of unremunerated professional toil among their own townsmen.
Of other deceased members of the profession, the names of Mills and Rider will be held in honorable recollection.
We mention with pride Dr. David P. Goodhue who is yield- ing his professional skill to his country's service as a surgeon in the navy ; and Gilman Leach devoting his energies to the interest of the community near my own fleld of labor, we would not forget.
Friend Story, my old associate in the study of medicine, has withdrawn from the profession he practiced with so much success, as the people of Hooksett, Manchester and Massachus- etts well know, and retiring to his numerous flocks in Weare, having ceased to be doctor, deals now more in "greenbacks" than plasters ; and in palatable bank-drafts, not nauseating draughts of the shops.
For my medical brother now bestowing his valuable ser- vices upon the residents of the town,* we offer both our hearty congratulations and liveliest sympathies. He could not have chosen a more picturesque home, a more delightful, social circle in which to move, nor a more limited field for the display of professional skill. We would wish for him the highest success compatible with the continued good health of the community.
May the old town during the next century be as honored in her children as she honors them with her unspotted record ; and while she gives them a healthful berth in her airy hills, may she as generously as heretofore, offer their services for the good of the whole country.
*Dr. Colby was probably unaware of the fact that there has been no physician resident In Dunbarton for nearly ten years past. (En.)
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Permit me to offer the following sentiments :
Present clergy of Dunbarton. May the mantle of the early clergy descend upon the present clergy, making them if pos- sible, more eminent in piety and usefulness ; and may the sympathy uniting them with the people among whom they la- bor, be like that which existed in olden time.
The kindred. professions, Divinity, Law and Physic, alike founded for the protection and advancement of human . wel- fare : May they never be diverted from their true and holy calling.
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No. 9. Dunbarton Farmers ;- Noted for broad shoulders and broad lands, for hard hands and hard cash, for good morals and good stock, for tender consciences and tender beef. No town can boast of better farmers, and no farmers of a better town.
The early farmers of Dunbarton ;- our ancestors, brave, honest and true. Their privations and virtues should ever be remembered with filial love and gratitude. May we, their sons and daughters, emulate their principles and do what in us lies to add to the fair fame of our dear old native town.
Response by Charles G. B. Ryder, Esq.
The Bible teaches us that agriculture was the first employ- ment of mankind. That God made Adam and Eve and placed them in a garden to till and to dress it. And the cul- tivation of the soil has been the leading pursuit of the whole human race up to the present time. It has not only been the leading, but it is among the most honorable, the most healthy and the most independent of all pursuits to which man has given liis attention.
True, there have been offshoots, some have gone into me- chanical, commercial and professional engagements, while others, unwilling to wait so slow a process, have plunged themselves into all the uncertainties of speculation. Yet the intelligent and industrious farmer is the sovereign of them all. He wields a sceptre to which all must bend. He holds the
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balance of the life and comfort of the world in his stalwart hand. None can exist without the proceeds of his toil. It is he who virtually feeds and clothes the whole human family. Cities spring from the traffic in the products of his labor, commerce is the legitimate offspring of his industry. Neither armies nor fleets can exist without his aid, as we have seen during the past four years, and the day is past when the tiller of the soil is to be confounded with the sod which he turns with his plow. It is true the men of science and of letters are good in their places, and do much towards promoting the happiness and prosperity of the world. But the farmer is master of the most needful of toils and the most serviceable of products. Yet he should be learned in his profession, and when this is the case, how vast is the field for study. It is no less than " the earth and the fullness thereof."
Dunbarton is and always has been exclusively an agricul- tural town. We have now and then a carpenter, a black- smith and a shoemaker, but they are more or less connected with the cultivation of the soil. No one of them would hardly attempt to gain a living by his own particular busi- ness.
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We are as " a city set upon a hill, which cannot be hid." Surrounded by rivers, not a drop of which has ever washed a grain of sand from among these rocks. The shrill whistle of the iron horse may be heard in every direction, but he never yet has ventured to travel these hills with his heavy tread, or to spout his hot and fetid breath along these valleys.
We are farmers, and as such our interests are bound up in the great interests of agriculture. No lawyer with his legal documents, or doctor with his pills and physic dare to intrude upon this sacred soil. The people are too honest for the one, too healthy for the other. Even the minister, man of letters as he is, finds but one single boon companion, and they two tread these hills in one solitary pair.
The first settlers of this town were farmers. Men of indom- itable energy and perseverance, men who feared no hard- ships, were ready to brave all dangers, men of sterling worth. Had they not been such, a Putney and a Rogers would never have left the pleasant fields and the, then, comparative com- forts of old Rumford, for the sterile and uninviting surround- ings of " Great Meadow." Nor would a Page, a Stinson, and others equally fearless, have left their homes and their friends in Londonderry, crossed the beautiful and fertile valley of the Merrimack, and the easily cultivated plains of Goffstown to
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make for themselves homes in the western wilds of the town, far from each other, where the echoing sounds of the wood- man's axe had never been heard, with bears, catamounts and wolves, their associates by night, their guns and other weapons of defence, their only reliable friends by day. Such was the character of those brave men who first settled in these val- leys. Those too, who at a later day cleared these hills, made these farms and erected these dwellings, possessed that same invincible spirit which characterized those who had lived here before them. That same energy and perseverance may be ours, but we need to pass through the same trying ordeal to know our own characters.
But what a change, in the farming interests of this town, has a hundred years wrought. These hills were then covered with their native forests, standing in all their primeval gran- deur. These farms were then in a great measure unoccupied. The timber of which these pleasant dwellings are made had never received the jar of the pioneer's axe. Now we see beautiful fields, which have been made productive by the energy and labors of those who have taken an active part in . the great drama of life since that period, covered with luxu- riant corn and waving grain. We see elegant farm houses and commodious barns built upon the most improved modern plans. We sce these churches, too, from the spire of one of which, every Lord's day morning, may be heard the peals of the Sabbath bell, echoing and re-echoing over these hills and through these vales, calling together those, who with willing feet, would come to worship at the shrine of Jehovah. In- stead of the log hut with its single room, entrance and win- dow, may be seen the school-house with open doors and its many reminiscences of other days, inviting thither our chil- dren that they may get to themselves knowledge, which shall prepare them for usefulness in future life. What improve- ments in our farms, also, may be noticod as having been made from time to time. Fences have been built, trees planted, meadows, otherwise unproductive, have been reclaimed, now , yielding a rich reward for the support of the beast of the field.
In the products of the farm also, a great advance has been made, even within the recollection of those here present. Among the more substantial fruits, the first of all of which is the apple, we have the delicious Baldwin, the crispy and juicy Gravenstein, sweet enough, sour enough, and pleasant enough to satisfy the taste of any epicure, besides others " too
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