USA > New York > Delaware County > Delaware County, New York, history of the century, 1797-1897, centennial celebration, June 9 and 10, 1897 > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
If I'm not very much mistaken,
It is a rare and novel relic,
In truth a genuine old antique. I read it o'er with greatest care,
But whence it came I'm not aware.
I trust you'll get the book and read it.
E'en though it's stale to our time critic.
But of the nineteenth century
It's a curious epitome.
That it is old, you'll give it credit,
Because it's not in the " phonetic."
(I simply stop right here to state You will not find It up to date.) From it I gather the impression.
And so will you on careful reading
( That is, of course, providing You comprehend the spelling). That in eighteen hundred ninety-seven
Delhi had some sort of celebration-
That many people met up there. From every part of Delaware : They read some scraps of history.
And dilated on their glory,
And how they'd reached the summit By excellence of wit. What was its purpose, I don't know.
Because it was so long ago. Yet 'tis true they held this celebration, Per se, for mutual admiration. And I give it to you gratis They boasted of their "status," But what they had to brag about,
228
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Or why they did so jump and shout, Is what we can't exactly know, Because it was so long ago, In nineteen hundred ninety-seven, Existing by the grace of Heaven,
We can't conceive as you well know,
Why these old things were ever so. It seems, in those old-fashioned days, The people had peculiar ways Of doing things from hand to hand That we, you know, can't understand.
They had something ealled a "phone" By which they talked from home to home; They had a wire, or some such matter,
They used for lack of something better,
And these were stretched on sticks, they say,
In a peculiar sort of way.
Now these old things we can't conceive,
Nor seareely in our mind believe. Why such crude things were e'er in use,
We can't our minds quite disabuse. Why, now we talk with men in Mars, They called it then one of the stars ; When we converse right through the air
We can't see why they used a wire. As I read backward to that time I'm quite bewildered in my mind. They talked of gold and silver, 'Twould any mind bewilder,
They talked about the ratio,
And the consequential value.
Now we're making gold and silver, As you'll well remember, By a well-known composition
Of this century's invention.
They talked of the precious metal, And of the monetary evil.
Gold seemed to them great virtue bear
Because it was so very rare.
But since we've got to making it At a reasonably fair profit, We keep the ratio as we want By the working of the plant. Our mills are running on full time Aud our output of gold is fine : And our trade's expanding fast- This year greater than the last.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Our commerce with all people far and wide Exalts our nation's pride. Our ambassador at North Pole Reports a good condition as a whole; We've nothing from that part to fear.
Except an early frost this year.
No doubt that our reciprocity Has much advanced us in that country.
The delicacies that they produce,
Exchanged with us for things of use.
As we look back a hundred years It fills our eyes with scalding tears. Our fathers in their vain, boasted role,
Did never, never take the " pole," And yet, with great solemnity,
On the record placed their own stupidity.
Then they had a long contention
O'er the question of combustion,
By burning wood or coals, 'twould seem,
( Or did I learn it in a dream, )
Why, ever since I can remember,
We made our fuel out of water.
The date of this discovery
Is not now in my memory.
But we have no contention
O'er a coal trust combination.
Why I should reckon not,
When we make the water boil the pot.
To extract the fire from water
Is a very simple matter,
And 'tis queer this thing they didn't know,
Only a hundred years ago.
It didn't even have a mention
At that wondrous celebration.
Yet the fullness of their wisdom
They related with great unetion.
And prated of their knowledge
Got in common school and college-
That the summit of their wisdom
Covered all things 'neath the sun.
We extend to them our pity In the line of Christian duty, Beyond our wildest imagination
Is the picture of their ignorance. Things that to thom seemed credulous Are plain as noonday sun to us ; They were not of the twentieth century,
230
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Therefore not as wise as we. I will not be an unfair critic. They thought they knew things that they didn't, A common thing, e'en now, we must admit, So we will not in judgment on them sit. Our fathers were a fairish class,
Considering they were in the past. They sermonized on the " world "
As though in that all things were told.
They wisely talked about some planet And through a spy-glass thought they saw it, But whether it was land or ocean, They didn't have the slightest notion : By the way, I'm just reminded.
And I panse right here to stato it.
Our annual coming great event
( See special small bills freely sent ) The vestibuled excursion ont to Mars,
On the modern airship " Golden Stars," I am not the company's agent. But I freely recommend it ; The rates are low and very fair.
( No extra charge for best of air ) :
I was out there in the month of May
Upon the vessel . Windy Way." The people there are much like us. This I observed in a town caucus.
It gave me quite a homelike feeling To mark the quantum of their stealing. They are very active after spoil And quite averse to hardy toil.
So we can call the Marsden "brother" In any sort or kind of weather.
The men of Mars are peaceably inclined,
And by the name are very much maligned. They were then holding a convention
To effect an arbitration With their neighbors in the " Milky Way " At some early future day.
We came back by way of Jupiter,
But owing to distress of weather- The wind was blowing south by west
Our captain thought it was not best
We did not make a landing. Which was quite disappointing ;
But we made the port of Venus
And 'twas there the boys all left us. They said they'd take the next ship back. But they didn't, that's a fact.
I think they found an Oklahoma In the goddess' fair country. And I'm strong of the opinion That they settled in that nation. How little did our fathers know, Only a hundred years ago.
DELAWARE CULNE CENTENNIAL
ELAW NEPRE
CENTENNO
0
1.ORGE COUNTY CENTENNIAL
Pres
DELHI, N. Y. VUTE 9-10, 1897.
O DELHI, N. Y.
DELHI, N. Y.
JUNE 9- 10. 1697.
"OH 1-15, 1897.
HONORARY
CENTENNIAL
0
DELAL N. Y.
CENTENNIAL
Grand Marshal
ENTERRIAL
DELHI, N. Y.
JUNE 9-19, 1897.
Centenn il Badges worn : y the Officers of the Delhi Celebration.
ASSISTANT MARSHAL
233
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Address by Hon. Chas. Z. Lincoln,
OF ALBANY. N. Y.
MR. PRESIDENT. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : At the outset I want to express my gratitude to your distinguished citizen and my good friend Mr. Crosby. for inviting me to attend this celebration. It was not until yesterday that I felt. sure that I could be here, but now I am ready to say that I count this one of the fortunate occasions of my life. As I have sat here to-day and listened to the histories of your various towns, and the development and growth of this vemuty, my patriotism has been stirred, my love of country has grown, and my respret for American citizenship has increased. 1 am very glad to-night that I am able to make this visit to Delaware county.
I am not a son of Delaware county. I am not even a brother-in-law. More than that, Iam not even a son of New York. 1 first saw the light of day in old Vermont, and for more than forty years my father and mother have slept beneath her sod. But I came to this State when a child, and I have lived here ever since. This has been my State. I have taken an interest in all her affairs, I have become proud of her history, I have become proud of her station as the Empire State of this great union ; and as I have studied her history and watched her development. I have become more and more proud to be a citizen of the State of New York.
There are some things about the State of New York to which it might be well for us to call attention. I recall the fact that back in 1683 a Colonial Assembly was held, and passed what it called a "charter of liberties." In that charter of liberties it declared that the government rested finally with the " people met in general assembly." You who have read that history romem- ber that King James objected to those words, " the people, " because, he said, they were not in any other constitution in America. So the State of New York. or colony of New York, was first in the declaration of a government by the people. Not from old Massachusetts, not from Delaware, not from Virginia. but from the old Dutch and English settlement of New York, first came into our constitutional history those great words, "the people." the keystone of popular government. It is worth while for us to remember this as we think of the development of our liberty, and of all the free institutions which we so mueh enjoy.
It seems incongruous that I should be called on to say anything here. This is a family reunion, and I am a stranger to you, this is my first visit to Delaware county, but I had had the pleasure and the honor of being acquainted with a few of your citizens, so that when Mr. Crosby invited me to come I con- -ented, not only to visit with him and other citizens with whom I am ac- Atnainted, hut that I might take in the full meaning of a great occasion like this in Delaware county. But, after all, it may be proper that I. a stranger to you, should come here and say a few words of greeting. My home is in the county of Cattaraugus, We cannot have a centennial in Cattaraugus in twenty years, but I want to take this occasion to invite you to come and help us cele- brate when we do hold it. It makes me feel young, looking at this celebration
13
234
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
to-night from the standpoint of Cattaraugus. It was not until the next year after this county was organized, that the first white settlement was made in Cattaraugus county, and then a few Quakers went up the Allegany river and settled just over the line in what is now the southern part of our county. You trace your history back farther than the organization of the county, because you go back with the history of the State itself, and to the colony of New York. I bring to you to-night the greeting of Cattaraugus, greeting you and congratulating you upon this auspicious event, that you have come up through these years, and that Delaware county has developed so grandly that to-night you are able to celebrate with proper pride this great history of yours which we have heard recounted to-day.
You do not expect me to give any of the history of Delaware county. Your own people will do that. But I count you a part of the State of New York; you belong to the same family of smaller commonwealths to which I belong. Cattaraugus and Delaware are only parts of this great State of New York; smaller divisions, originating from the English habit of dividing the common- wealth into smaller municipalities. We have our county government as you have yours, and our general development has been substantially the same.
The other day I found in the State Library the history of Delaware county, written by Jay Gould, and I found it a very interesting book. One little item in that book attracted my attention ; no one has referred to it to-day, and it seems to me to be of some significance. On the third of October, 1797, the seal of the old Court of Common Pleas was established by an order of that court. The emblem put on that seal was a stream of water issning from a high mountain. That seal was changed only two or three years afterwards. Mr. Gould remarked of that original seal that it was emblematic of the surface and general features of the county. I find in it a much deeper meaning than that. A stream of water issuing from a high mountain. A mountain indicates strength and stability, and those have been characteristics of Delaware county in all this century. A stream of water represents life, power, progress and influence, and all those characteristics have also marked Delaware county in all these years. It is like that stream which Ezekiel saw in that wonderful vision. When he first measured it, it was only ankle deep; the next time, it was up to the knees; the next, it was up to the loins; until now it is so broad and deep that it is immeasurable. You cannot measure the influence which has gone out from Delaware county. We have had some account of it to-day as we have heard of your great men, of your noble women, of the men who have gone out spreading this influence far and wide, even around the globe, and into remote hemispheres, and upon the islands of the sea. Everywhere this force has gone, illustrating the emblem of water issuing out of a high mountain, carrying with it everywhere influences which shall never stop, and rannot stop, because measured only by eternity. That was a significant sug- gestion to me, and if I were now a citizen of Delaware county I should regret that that first seal was ever changed. It was of deeper signifieaner than the historian suggested.
Emerson wrote an essay on " The Uses of Great Men," in which he said that the search after a great man was the dream of youth, and the most
235
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
serious ocenpation of manhood. We have been going over to-day, some of ns listening, others in fact, the history of Delaware county, and while we have not been purposely searching for great mon, we have been finding great men all along this strong line from the earliest days until now. We find men who are great, great in their patriotism, great in their devotion to principle, great in their love of education, great in every department of human effort ; great men who established the county of Delaware and made it strong, and firm, and stable, as indicated by that first emblem upon that old county seal, repro- sented by a high mountain and a living, growing stream.
Shortly after I came to the bar an incident occurred in England that made a very profound impression on my mind. It was the expiration of a lease which had been given a thousand years before. Think of it ! A lease a thons- and years old. And yet, when the lease expired, the people who were entitled to the reversion of the land upon the expiration of the lease were on hand ready to take their property. That incident, more than any human language ean convey, illustrated the strength and the stability of English institutions. That incident showed that the England of Alfred, of William the Conqueror, of Elizabeth, and of Cromwell, is also the England of Victoria. It showed also that the England of Hastings, and of Runnymene, and of Marston Moor, is the England of Waterloo. It showed also that the England of Spencer, and of Shakespeare, and of Milton is the England of Tennyson. It showed that the England of those old days had continued practically unchanged, here and there modify ing its form of government slightly, but all the while the same grand old England. The Plantagenets, and the Tudors, and the Stuarts, and the Brunswicks, and finally the Hanovers, have occupied the throne of Eng- Innd, but it is old England still. As I have thought of that thousand years lease the question has occurred to me, Will this nation last a thousand years? Why not? We are told that history repeats itself. That is true to a limited degree, but I do not believe it is true of nations. Nations do not repeat them- selves. There was only one Babylon; there was only one Greece, the mother of arts and literature. The Greece of to-day is not the Greece of Solon and Perieles. There was only one Rome ; although it existed for fifteen centuries, the Rome of to-day is not the Rome of Cursar, and of Cicero, and of Justinian. But the England of to-day stands as the development of peculiar principles and institutions. What reason is there to suppose that this nation may not last a thousand years, and more than a thousand years? It would depend. of course, upon the people who come after us. First upon what we do, then upon what those do who may follow us.
While that lease was lying in somebody's possession, working ont its pur- pose during those ten centuries, it saw many important events. So, this county, white only a hundred years old, has seen many important events, and many great changes in the history of the world.
When your county was organized, there were only three cities in the State ;- New York, Hudson and Albany. Now we have forty-one cities, and we have one city next to the largest on the globe, and one which, long before the expiration of the next century will, I believe, be the first city in the world. Your county to-day possesses a larger population than there was in the entire
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
State of New York when your county was organized. There are more people in the State of New York to-day, and Governor Black is Chief Magistrate of a larger population, than there was in the entire union when Thomas Jefferson was elected President. We count our wealth by billions ; we count our popu- lation by millions. We have become in fact, and we are destined to remain, the Empire State of this great nation. All this development has come about while you have been progressing, and developing, and making this particular part of the State a strong, stalwart, stable county.
This county in its development has seen three complete and revised con- stitutions adopted ; it has had occasion to observe that New York has been the pioneer in great legislation, in great legal reform, and other States have been copying from us all these years. New York stands to-day, not only in these material respects that I have mentioned. but in other respects, in law, and legal and constitutional reform, the greatest State, and the great example of all the States of the Union. You in Delaware county share all this. You have helped to produce it. We are all together a part of this great coninion- wealth. Yon had your share in it, and we have all had our share in it, and we have a right to feel to-night proud of our constitution, proud of the results of constitutional government, proud of this material prosperity, proud of the character of our citizens, proud of the condition of our citizenship, and proud of all these things which go to make up this beneficent institution which we call American civilization.
Now, these institutions which we boast so much of have come down to us from our fathers. Webster made the remark that these institutions which we have are ours "to enjoy, to preserve, and to transmit." Ours to enjoy: we enjoy them day by day. Ours to preserve, and see that our posterity takes them from us untarnished. Ours to transmit to remotest generations, these institutions which have built up this nation and made us what we are. And Webster made this further remark, that if. under such favorable conditions as had existed and did then exist in his day in this country, for the establishment of a government by the people, and for the people, if a free republican govern- ment could not be maintained under those conditions, it could not be main- tained at all. We believe it is here to be maintained through the cycles of the ages, with all these institutions of civil and religious liberty which we are so proud of to-night, and which we glory in as we stand here at the close of this first century of your county.
We stand here to-night on the pinnacle of this century. We look down into the past and we see those men struggling through hardships and priva- tions to build this nation, and to establish these institutions : and this genera- tion is responsible not only to the past, to see that we properly preserve and take care of the institutions which we have received from it, but responsible for the future, that we may be able to transmit to our posterity and to generations yet unborn these institutions which we believe are destined to make and to continue to make this American nation the flower of the world in all ages.
But there are people coming after us. We have heard a little to-night of the next century. What shall our greeting be to-night to the men and women of 1997? They will look back upon this occasion; they will read the book
237
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
which your president has suggested will be printed, containing the speeches and the histories which we have heard here, and they will look into it to ste what sort of men and women lived in Delaware county at this time, and what kind of institutions you had. They will look to see what kind of a constitu- tion you had, whether it expressed the very highest form of government, and whether it was calculated to produce the very best citizenship, and whether it was intended to bring about the greatest happiness of the people. They will consider all these institutions, and they will consider us personally to see how much of our personality, and how much personal character we put into these institutions which we are to hand down to them. The responsibility means inch as we stand here at the close of one century, and look into another, and look down the aisles of time until we see the end of that century, and in imag- ination behold that centennial a hundred years from now. What will it he? Imagination is unequal to the task of portraying what that centennial will be, what institutions it will find, what conditions of people will be there found, and what sort of government they will enjoy ; and whether they will so modify the government as to lose sight of the cardinal principles upon which our institutions are based. Those things will demand their attention, but it is our duty to see that we hand down to them these institutions in the very best con- dition possible.
You remember that remarkable oration by Daniel Webster upon the two hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, in which. after going over the ground of the development of the causes which led to the colonization of America, and the formation of this government, he turned his face toward the future, and he wondered what we should be able to say to those projde winning after us a century later. And as he dwelt upon that future, and upon those conditions which he could barely describe, he exclaimed : " Advance, then. Se future generations. We welcome you as you rise to take the places which we now till, and where we are now passing and shall soon have passed our brief human duration. We welcome you to the pleasant land of our fath- ers: we welcome you to these healthful skies and these verdant fields: we greet your accession to this blessed inheritance which we have enjoyed ; wo welcome you to the blessings of good government and religious liberty ; we welcome you to the treasures of science and the delights of learning; we wel- rome you to the transcendent bliss of domestic life. the happiness of kindred, of parents, and children: we welcome you to the immeasurable blessings of rational existence, the immortal hope of Christianity, and the light of ever- lasting truth."
To-night, fellow citizens, let that For the greeting which we send to the men and women of 1997, and let us hand down to them these institutions untar- nished, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and then they will look hack upon us and call us blessed, and as they recount in their histories the deeds of 1897 they will thank us that we have preserved for them. as Webster said, and transmitted to them, these institutions without fault and without blemish, so that they could enjoy them, improve them, build upon them, make human life better, and better still; make human life more happy in all its developments, and make themselves the greatest nation which the world has ever seen.
238
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Having now presented the principal addresses, papers and let- ters prepared for this occasion-excepting Dr. Murray's sketch of the Anti-Rent war, which follows,-it is in order to give an outline of the other exercises of the celebration.
The efforts of the committee on relics were rewarded by a large and exceedingly interesting collection of articles, implements, uten- sils, souvenirs and curios gathered during the years of the century. This exhibit was nicely displayed in the grand jury room of the court house, and throngs of people enjoyed a visit to that museum of ancient handiwork and genius. There were many contributions from nearly all parts of the county, but the towns of Bovina, Delhi, Kortright and Roxbury were most numerously represented. The largest individual exhibits were from W. B. Peters of Bloomville, Edmund L. Fish of Fish Eddy, A. M. Warner of Stamford and Admiral Gillis of Delhi.
In the collection of W. B. Peters was an exceptionally good showing of Indian relics, all found in the town of Kortright. Among these were stone arrow heads, knives and tools used by the primitive sons of the forest at the beginning of the century, a scalp hook which his grandfather captured with twelve bloody scalps hanging thereon. He also had an admirable collection of rare books, of valnable coins, and musical instruments.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.