USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Lancaster > The one hundred & fiftieth anniversary of Lancaster, New Hampshire, 1764-1914; the official report of the celebration held in August, nineteen hundred and fourteen; > Part 5
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GRAVE HEN AND W
HOT
THE SONY
1
Sculptor, Anna Vaughn Hyatt, New York
The Memorial
Landscape Architect, Marcus H. Dall, Brookline, Mass.
ANNIVERSARY
were chaperones. The other pupils were Kenneth Parsons, Gordon Holbrook, Hollis Hartford, Isadore Winer and William Munsey. The float was drawn by four white horses with Stephen C. Smith (Lunenburg, Vermont) as driver. The float was made by the Thompson Manufacturing Company.
Third Grade Float. This was a representation of "The Old Woman in the Shoe," the little school children representing the children of the "Old Woman," impersonated by Marguerite S. Armstrong. The huge black shoe was eight by sixteen feet. The children were dressed in gay colors and were playing with their dolls, Teddybears and toys. Marguerite Armstrong was seated in the shoe, dressed in a quaint, old-fashioned gown, holding Doris Mooney who nonchalantly munched a cookie while the "old woman" wielded a switch of fagots. Hanson Twitchell's dog was another member of the family, and not in the least disturbed at his surroundings. The float, which was curtained in red, white and blue, was made by the Thomp- son Manufacturing Company and was drawn by four black horses, driven by Frank Nadeau. The little children were Henry Gonya, Marion Boyle, Bernice Munn, Donald Savage, Blanche Gilbert, Beth Willoughby, Brendon Donnelly, Adessie Dow, Lawrence Smith, Helen Coe, and Delaney Kenney.
"Cinderella in Flowerland." The float conveyed many of the little ones who had presented the fairy story the evening before at the Park. The floor of the float was covered with green to represent grass and it was curtained with green cloth, caught up in large scallops, held in place by evergreen boughs. It was decorated with evergreen trees and large vases filled with stalks of hollyhocks. Six large baskets of flowers were suspended from the sides of the float. The boys and girls sat about under the trees or chatted with their chaperones, Miss Lulu Currier and Miss Vivian Lovejoy (Brandon, Conn.). The float was drawn by four black horses driven by Frank Moulton.
The following were in the float: Anna Smith, Margaret Keir, Alice Hening, Beatrice Gregory, Lila Johnson, Evelyn
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McMann, Mildred Donahue, Kathleen Bernier, Elizabeth Gillespie, Ruth Kingsley, Ida Currie, Ethel Parsons, Anna Colby, Dorothy Schurman, Roxanna O'Dowd, Olive Simonds, Evelyn Gillespie, Genevieve O'Dowd, Kathleen McGoldrick, Doris Stone, Merrill Shurtleff, Jr., Peter Trainor, Herbert Lewis, Muriel Covell, Evelyn Hill.
"Old Homestead." This float carried the cast that so suc- cessfully presented the rural drama for the benefit of Unity Club's Memorial Fund. To the front, mounted on a white horse, rode Carmen Amadon, banner boy. The float was the representation of the first scene of "Old Homestead" with the Company gathered about the well. The scene was set in each detail as when produced. About the well were Eb Ganzy (Roy Barnett), Ricketty Ann (Miss Olive McMann), and the tennis players, impersonated by Glenn Mills, Miss Priscilla Bass, Miss Edith Currier, Miss Ethel McNab and Miss Florence Droney. The float itself was draped with green bunting and from one side, below the stage, hung the banner, "THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET THAT HUNG IN THE WELL," and upon the opposite side of the banner, "How DEAR TO MY HEART ARE THE SCENES OF MY CHILDHOOD." Walking hand- in-hand behind the float were the two characters, Cy Prime (Ralph Shute) and Seth Perkins (Carl Simonds). The float was drawn by four black horses, blanketed.
Following them in an old-fashioned phaeton drawn by a large black horse drove "Uncle Josh" (H. F. Olmstead) and "Aunt Tilda" (Mrs. George Barnett). All the characters were costumed.
(Editor's Note .- The description of the floats is based upon data pro- vided by those in charge of each float. The names were given by those best in a position to guarantee their accuracy. Every effort has been made to prevent error, and to include every person connected with the va- rious floats.)
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Presentation of the Memorial
Part I-Honoring the Pioneers
Ten years before the Anniversary, and almost simultaneous with its organization, the Unity Club conceived the plan of establishing a fund for a Memorial to the Founders to be presented to Lancaster upon the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of her Settlement. The culmination of a worthy project ten years from its conception means much to those that have nurtured and fostered it until the idea has become a reality, and hence Unity Club well deserved the ideal con- ditions existing at midday on Wednesday when the Stars and Stripes were lifted from the mound, revealing the Memorial with which Lancaster perpetuates the Anniversary by sub- stantial tribute in stone and bronze to "The Brave Men and Women Who Redeemed Lancaster from the Wilderness."
The dedication of the Memorial was one of the most import- ant features of the Anniversary, and that it was so considered was signified by the large company that met on the northern corner of the Park and expectantly awaited the lifting of the veil.
Within a temporary enclosure a platform had been erected and here were seated the President of the Day, Hon. Irving W. Drew, and the Memorial Committee of Unity Club, compris- ing Mrs. Jett L. Bass (ex-officio), Mrs. Chester B. Jordan, Mrs. William P. Buckley, Mrs. Fred B. Spaulding, Mrs. James W. Weeks, Miss Mary Ladd and Miss Mary Nye Brackett, chairman. A basket of white blossoms spoke ten- derly of an earnest co-laborer, Mrs. William H. Leith, who
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passed beyond before the work was completed. Others upon the platform were Senator John W. Weeks, Judge Albert R. Savage, Emmons Stockwell Smith, Emmons Stockwell Smith, Jr., Hon. Frank Smith (who died October 6, 1914, closing a business career of over sixty years in Lancaster), and the Board of Selectmen, Ivan W. Quimby, C. E. Moses and W. D. Pinkham. Especially honored guests were Emmons Selden Freeman of Lancaster, whose mother was Mercy Stockwell, a daughter of Emmons and Ruth Page Stock- well; Ruth Page Gardner, daughter of Alfred and Frances Stockwell Gardner, a great-great-great-granddaugh- ter of Emmons and Ruth Stockwell; Mrs. Martha Bucknam Jacobs, granddaughter of Edwards and Susanna Page Bucknam, and her granddaughter, Helen Weeks Bailey.
Grouped about the monument was a band of women, devoted daughters of Lancaster, witnessing the climax to their undertaking. The little knots of green and white ribbon distinguished them as members of Unity Club, whose work neither began nor ended with the dedication of the Memorial, but touches every phase of life in Lancaster, responding to appeals from civic, religious, educational and social move- ments. Through the presidencies of Mrs. Chester B. Jordan, Mrs. William P. Buckley, Mrs. George E. Morse (deceased), Mrs. Burleigh Roberts, Mrs. Frederick Holton, Mrs. George F. Morris, Mrs. Harry B. Carpenter, Mrs. Fred B. Spaulding and Mrs. Jett L. Bass, it has been a power for good in the community, exerting an influence that has been felt in the public life of the Town, in the homes and in the schools. The Anniversary itself received its first real impetus from Unity Club, furthered by an address to them in 1912 by the late former governor Chester B. Jordan, who lived to see the hope fulfilled.
Unity Club's history is a story of worthy endeavor, of achieve- ment and of united action. It has not been content to live with the authors, poets and historians, to admire at a dis- tance the works of painters and sculptors, to listen to the
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OLIVE. BRANCH CHAL TER 4 NO.1.
Camp Fires Eastern Star Unity Club
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master compositions of a Mendelssohn or a Beethoven, or to tour the world in travel papers, but its chief work, whether by intent or otherwise, has been the making of a better Lancaster. Thus it was that all by common consent marked this as Unity Club's hour; and it was an hour of triumph.
The President of the Day opened the exercises promptly at noon and dwelt briefly upon the constructive work of Unity Club. He introduced in an appropriate manner the faithful chairman of the Memorial Committee, Miss Mary Nye Brackett, who told the interested assembly of the pioneers and why Unity Club had elected to honor them.
Pausing in the midst of her remarks, the speaker awaited Master Emmons Stockwell Smith, Jr., of Washington, D. C., the son of one of the largest contributors to the Memorial, who lifted the flag revealing the fox in bronze upon the boulder. Mrs. C. B. Jordan, the first president of Unity Club, turned the rods freeing the water which flowed into the fountain. The venerable Mr. Freeman, oldest living grandchild of Emmons Stockwell, was elected to dedicate this Memorial to the pioneers, than whom none took higher rank for courage and resourcefulness than his grandmother, Ruth Page Stockwell. Master Emmons S. Smith, Jr., filled a goblet with the water and passed it to Mr. Freeman, who christened the Memorial with the words, "I dedicate this monument to my ancestors."
After little Ruth Stockwell Gardner had scattered water lilies in the basin of the fountain, Miss Brackett resumed her remarks and made the formal presentation.
Chairman Quimby of the Board of Selectmen replied with remarks commendatory of the Club, and accepted the Memo- rial. At the same time he acknowledged a gift from John H. Emerson of a marker for the location of the first meetinghouse. Mr. Quimby was followed by Mrs. Persis Thompson Babcock of New York, one of Lancaster's sweetest singers, who ren- ered "The End of a Perfect Day," and when the large audi- ence requested more, sang as delightfully, "Remembrance."
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These impressive exercises were not yet at an end, for still another step was to be taken into the days of the pioneers when the resourceful Edwards Bucknam was plotting land, ministering to the sick, and harvesting crops. Mr. Drew introduced Helen Weeks Bailey, the young daughter of Louis G. Bailey, who, standing beside her worthy grandmother, Mrs. Martha Bucknam Jacobs, presented to the town, in behalf of her grandmother, the compass used by Edwards Bucknam in making the original survey of Lancaster. Miss Helen said:
"This compass which belonged to my great-great-grand- father, Gen. Edwards Bucknam, with which he surveyed and lotted the Town of Lancaster and other towns in this vicinity, I now present to the Town of Lancaster in the name of my grandmother, Mrs. Martha Bucknam Jacobs, his only living granddaughter."
The impressive ceremony was completed when Mr. Quimby accepted for the Town the compass, which is in perfect con- dition and bears the date of its manufacture, in London, in 1754.
Thus ended the formal dedication of the Memorial, testi- fying that Lancaster has not forgotten her debt to her ances- tors. He that visits Lancaster may read upon the bronze tablet the inscription :-
"To Honor the Brave Men and Women Who Redeemed Lancaster from the Wilderness This Memorial is Dedicated By the Loyal Sons and Daughters At the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Town July 6, 1763."
Immediately following the exercises there was a desire to see more of the Memorial, and crowds remained while men, women and children drank from the fountain of the pure crystal water that Lancaster enjoys in such abundance.
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It was especially fitting that at the conclusion of these exer- cises there was no break in the program, but that the spirit kindled earlier in the day by the parade and kept alive by the dedication should not be dimmed until the exercises of the afternoon. Hence nothing could have been more fitting than the "picnic lunch" in the shadow of the Memorial, on this Park bordered by Church, School and Library, each peculiarly new within a few years, and its outlook of valley and mountain. The beautiful Park with its velvety lawn, studded by young trees, soon entertained as merry a band of picnickers as ever opened hampers. It was just one big family in which one member was the equal of another. Men of rank and position ate sandwiches with as much enjoyment and abandon as any school boy on the grounds. Countless little groups dotted the Park, and guests and hosts talked over the celebration or re- called former days as they emptied the baskets. Lemonade and coffee were dispensed freely and when the invitations "lunch with us" became so numerous that the baskets were emptied too quickly the many temporary eating booths border- ing the Park were called in consultation.
The noon-day hour of Wednesday was complete in instruc- tion, sociability and reminiscence and one of the not-to-be- forgotten chapters of the Anniversary.
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Part II-Dedication Addresses
PRESENTATION BY MARY NYE BRACKETT.
Mr. President, Fellow-Citizens, Comrades, Old Home Comers, and the Stranger within our gates :-
We hail you with pleasure. We welcome you with outstretched hand on this occasion!
Celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of any event occurs but once in the lifetime of an individual. Even the anniversary which completes a span of only fifty years finds but few who were active partici- pants in the first event to hail the rounding out of that period.
To those here assembled to-day, August, 1764, is a mere matter of history, a point of time in the dim and distant past, forgotten altogether by many, and veiled in the glamor of romance by those whose thoughts occasionally turn backward over the long road since traversed.
But as we, gathered here to-day, live and move in the glad sunshine of this year of grace, 1914, so in the year 1764 lived and moved and acted their part in the great drama of life, for which "all the world's a stage, " people in whose veins the red blood coursed as freely, in whose hearts the passions of life were as strong and as virile as in our own to-day.
"For we are the same our fathers have been, We see the same sights our fathers have seen, We drink the same stream, and view the same sun, And run the same course, our fathers have run,-
"The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think; From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink, To the life we are clinging, they also would cling, But it speeds for us all, like a bird on the wing."
As we turn our thoughts backward for a few moments over a century and a half, let us concentrate them upon one scene-a scene simple and pastoral, far removed from the rush and turmoil of life, which even in that day and even in this new land were stirring the lives of many and bearing them onward to the great climax of 1776.
This quiet scene, far reaching in results, was enacted within our own borders, beneath the shadow of our own loved mountains, beside the rippling of our beautiful river.
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C
Senator John W. Weeks
ANNIVERSARY
Only a few brave hearts, only a few strong hands, and one courageous woman, facing the terrors of the wilderness, blazing their way through untracked forests to find hundreds of miles from home a resting place in an unknown country.
That similar scenes were of constant occurrence at that period, when the pioneers in southern New England were pushing further and further into the unexplored lands to the north and to the west, that they were enacted for centuries with even more tragic setting, as the bones crumbling to dust on the trackless deserts of the sunset lands attest, does not detract from the courage or the fame of the first settlers of the Town of Lancaster.
History and tradition agree that in the year 1763 this town was chartered, its boundaries charted and fixed, and the first white men to occupy the land built upon the Holton meadow a rude log house which gave them shelter during the storms and stress of a northern winter. These two men, David Page, Jr., and Emmons Stockwell, were the pioneers, the heroes whose praises we sing, whose deeds we celebrate to-day. Not to the heroes alone do we offer praise, but to one heroine-Ruth Page-the first white woman who at the age of eighteen came with her father in the summer of 1764, found here her home and, marrying Emmons Stockwell, became the mother of fifteen children, became with him the founder of the family whose descendants are now scattered throughout the length and breadth of our land, whose blood permeates and enriches the veins of men and women who have done and are still doing valiant service in the battle of life.
Was she not heroic? When after the first two years of discouragement, caused by the failure of crops, and bitter cold winters, her father, brother and husband would have turned their faces southward, and gone back to their old home in Massachusetts, Ruth Page Stockwell, the brave, the courageous, calling upon all her powers of persuasion, pleaded with them to try once more, and finally prevailed. They remained. Their fate was then and there fixed, and through a century and a half her descendants have peopled this land.
Another family founded at this time was that of Edwards Bucknam, who married Susanna Page, followed his father-in-law to the new land, and became a leading spirit in all enterprises for the improvement and progress of the home of his adoption. Ten children were born to this worthy couple, and they no less than the descendants of Emmons Stockwell have left their impress upon the Town. In truth, the names of Page, Stockwell and Bucknam are indissolubly bound together as the trio, who above all others, should be honored as the first settlers; the pioneers who pierced the clouds that veiled the promised land.
A century passed away. Not one of those who lived at the period we have touched upon were with us; but the Town had grown and flourished, and descendants of the pioneers numbered hundreds.
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In 1864 by a great gathering upon this field, the centennial of the settle- ment of the Town was celebrated, the sons and daughters of Lancaster coming from far and near to pay homage at the home of their ancestors.
At this time, as a thank offering, a sum of money was contributed, which formed the nucleus of the fund later used to purchase the land now bearing the name Centennial Park. This domain in the centre of our Town, set apart for the benefit of all, was given as a tribute of admiration for the early settlers, and respect for their descendants.
Ten years ago a few ladies met and formed a club whose name is Unity. We were few in number, but great in aspiration. We had small means at our command, but a will to overcome all obstacles, and we worked in Unity.
The first year, 1904, led by our president, we assumed and carried through the first "Old Home" day observance in the Town. It was a success! A success socially and a success financially,-inasmuch as when the festivi- ties were over, and the bills paid, there were twenty dollars to our credit. At the suggestion of our leader, Mrs. Jordan, that sum was set aside, and added to, as opportunity offered, with the end in view of placing upon Centennial Park a memorial to those pioneers; not alone Page, Stockwell and Bucknam, but to all the brave men and women who, through the first century of Lancaster's existence, struggled with the forces of nature, and made them their servant.
Our plan at first was a simple one, a massive granite boulder bearing a tablet or plate of dedication. We slowly added to our fund and last year (1913) were in a financial condition to execute our plan, when by the generosity of Mr. Emmons Stockwell Smith of Washington, and other loyal lovers of Lancaster, we were enabled to elaborate our scheme, and add a fine piece of bronze to our boulder. In the hands of artists this tribute was developed, to keep before the mind of each succeeding generation, the coming of the white man to this region, to this Town, known to New Eng- land as LANCASTER, New Hampshire.
Mr. Chairman of the board of Selectmen: You see before you the Memorial erected by Unity Club, to perpetuate the memory of the pioneers. It stands at the entrance to Centennial Park dedicating that also, to the first settlers. It will serve to introduce our village to strangers, and speaks of the age and prosperity of the Town.
There is nothing foreign in material or construction: the base is from our own granite hills, enduring from "everlasting unto everlasting." The water descends from our own azure mountains, clear and limpid as the air, pure and sweet as morning dew. In imperishable bronze is typified the animal life of this region, harmless and full of grace, wild and free as the eagle of the air.
To me has fallen the high honor of presenting it to the Town, and it is with great pleasure I now give to you and your associates and successors, this
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work of nature and of art, the product of a woman's hand, the gift of women to their beloved Town.
Mr. Chairman: In behalf of Unity Club, and with a sigh of relief, I now place the responsibility of preservation and maintenance in your keeping.
ACCEPTANCE BY IVAN W. QUIMBY.
Mr. President: It is beyond dispute that of all the local organizations in Lancaster, that of the Unity Club stands pre-eminent for the uplift and progress of the community. Organized but a few years ago, the Club has worked for all that is good, good morals, good streets, good roads, clean parks and cemeteries, good schools, and all the clean and good things that go towards making a better people and town. Just to express a thought, a little time ago, several years perhaps, the members of the Club had a vision appear to them, and in that vision they saw a memorial to the pioneers of Lancaster placed on this Park, to be erected and paid for entirely by their own endeavors; a committee was appointed and there began the accumulation of a fund, which steadily grew, aided by generous contributions from former residents, to the end that now, on this One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary, we see the vision realized- the finished monument. The Club has accomplished many great things, the greatest of all being the memorial we are dedicating. All Lancaster people join in praise of its Unity Club.
It is a fitting memorial to those worthy men and women who located and builded a town in this beautiful Connecticut Valley, out of which early work has grown the Lancaster of to-day, of which we all are so justly proud.
To the Unity Club as a whole, to the members of the Committee es- pecially, much credit must be given, but to you, Miss Brackett, as head of the Committee, is due the greater honor of carrying out the thought and scope of the project. The Selectmen, in behalf of the Town of Lancaster, thank you sincerely and heartily. We accept your munificent gift, and promise you that the Town will care for and preserve it for all time.
Mr. President: The Selectmen also wish at this time publicly to acknowledge another gift to the Town. A tablet in granite marking the site of the first meeting-house erected in Lancaster, on Soldier's Park, or Meeting House Common, as it was formerly called. The tablet bears the following inscription, "Here stood the first church of Lancaster, built in 1794, Rev. Joseph Willard pastor for 28 years. A soldier of the Revolu- tion."
The donor is Mr. John H. Emerson, a descendant of the older residents. We thank him and accept his thoughtful and generous gift, and assure him that it will receive due care.
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The Literary Exercises
I N 1864 the One Hundredth Anniversary of Lancaster was celebrated. Then, as now, a new interest in beloved Lan- caster was kindled and her sons and daughters purchased the land upon which the exercises had been held and pre- sented it to Lancaster, to be known as Centennial Park.
After the lapse of half a century, another generation of the same blood gathered upon this now historic spot to listen once more to the story of the Stockwells, the Pages and the Bucknams. The intervening years had marked an epoch of world-wide achievement and while little in common use at that period had not been supplanted by modern invention, charac- ter and virtues survive through ages, and the passing of another half century had not altered the perseverance, courage and fortitude of the Founders of Lancaster nor diminished the honor in which they are held by their descendants.
They willed wisely in 1864. The Park with its attractive lawn and growing elms testifies to the care given by an appreciative people. To the rear stands the new High School building, considered a model for its purposes. At its side is the old Court House, not in use but maintained in good repair. On the north side is the Congregational Church edifice, also new, and upon the south the William D. Weeks Memorial Library. Amid such a surrounding rests Centennial Park. One might believe that Lancaster had builded about this beautiful Park those temples that stand for the highest com- munity development. Centennial Park and its environment ever arrest attention. Upon this Wednesday afternoon it was
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