USA > New York > Onondaga County > Pompey > Re-union of the sons and daughters of the old town of Pompey > Part 6
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Mr. President-sometimes the question of our birth is in- vested with peculiar interest. I remember not long since of hearing of a speech made by one of our citizens, (a friend of mine), who had occasion to allude to his parentage, and the stock from which he came. He said that on his mother's side he came from Plymouth Rock-that on his father's side he came from Blarney Castle, and he gloried as well he might that this union produced sons and danghters worthy of memorable sires. (Laughter) This speech was called out in a political contest of great excitement. I shall not refer to the questions at issue, we came here to lay aside and bury politics, this day we flock around this common altar, and know nothing beyound the words, loveliness and women- and on that altar we swear allegiance. Not long after this speech I was called upon to address a public meeting, in which seemed to me if there was any thing to be proud of in stock and ancestral glory, I was entitled to a small share, and said to my hearers that on my father's side, I boasted of Scotch descent, and that my forefathers came to this country from the romantic hills of Scotland, about 250 years ago. That on my mother's side, was German, and rejoiced in the good old Dutch appellation of Van attached to the name of my mother and her ancestry. My audience was pretty well attended by Irish citizens, and I added playfully, that I came very near being born an Irishman-one of my anditors who was a native of the green Isle, demanded of me in his own peculiar brogue, "How is that?" To which I replied, I was born on St. Patrick's day. (Laughter). My friends, the thought now strikes me how much glory it would have been to me, if I could on this occasion claim I had running in my veins the Scotch, German and Irish blood, and then on top of all, been born on these hills of old Pom- pey. (Laughter and applause).
You, Mr. Chairman, knew well when you called me to this platform, that nothing could intimidate me from telling the most solemn truth, relating to the sons and daughters. (Laughter). I invoke the women of Pompey who have got
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husbands in the valleys to stand by me and fortify every word spoken as being true as gospel. (Laughter). Sir, I speak from sweet experience on the subject of this toast. My wife is here present and if she was in the habit of speech making, she, too, might speak of her experience. She has graciously permitted me to speak for both of us, and we here rejoice together with you on the success of the sons and daughters, and sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law of Pompey.
We mourn over the fate of one poor Pompey boy who came to this re-union after many years of absence, and who ventured to kiss one of the fair daughters of Pompey, but his pleasure was nipped in the bud by being uneeremon- iously introduced to her husband, and then made a second effort to kiss the daughter of her whom he had first attempted to kiss, when again he was introduced to the husband of the daughter. Our friend had evidently kept no note of time, and exclaimed much to our merriment that he would shortly go home and kiss the mother and daughter he had left behind him, both of whom were Pompey-ites of blessed memory. (Laughter). Fellow citizens of Pompey, may God bless your town, may God bless your men and women, and may God bless the girls of the town of Pom- pey. (Applause).
At the conclusion of Mr. Noxon's speech, President Wood, in proposing the next sentiment, said :- A speech was made a few days ago in the British House of Lords, by that distinguished man, Earl De Grey, which has been trans- mitted to us by telegraph, under the Atlantic Ocean, a sen- timent in which is very appropriate to be used on this oc- casion, and a fit one to call out one of the noble sons of Pompey. It is this :- " The American Members of the Joint High Commission ; they were men of business, knew what they wanted, and asked for it,"-and (added the chair- man) got it I call upon the Hon. George H. Williams to respond.
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MR. WILLIAMS' RESPONSE.
Mr. Chairman Ladies and Gentlemen :-
I have exhausted the time to which I am entitled on this occasion already ; and I have heard others refer to many incidents in the history of this town with great pleasure. All professions and all trades, and all sections of the country are represented here to-day. They all ought to have an opportunity to speak to you, and you ought to have an op- portunity to hear them. It is not right that any one person should monopolize the time. I shall, therefore, do little more than to express my acknowledgements for the com- pliment which was implied in the sentiment proposed by the chairman.
To adjust understandingly the complicated question, aris- ing between two great, free and powerful nations, is, of course, a business attended with no little difficulty. Fortu- nately for both countries, the British Commissioners came to the consideration of the questions involved in a spirit of candor and fairness; and the American Commissioners cu- deavored to meet them upon the same ground. No doubt many of our countrymen feel as though enough was not conceded by the representatives of the British government. But a question appears very different when both sides are thoroughly argued instead of only one. Proceeding to a consideration of the difficulties between the two countries, of course the arguments and the reasons by which the British government is influenced in her actions were presented to our minds in a most forcible and persuasive manner. and we endeavored to meet these arguments and these reasons by showing the claims of our country growing out of the conduct of Great Britain during the late rebellion. Our effort was to make a treaty consistent with the interest, the (lignity, and the honor of this nation, and conducive to the best interests of the whole world. (Applause.) We sup- posed that the question was simply one of skillful negotia- tion, as of a war between the two countries. Manifestly
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every expedient had been exhausted for the purpose of ad- justing the questions between these two nations, and this Commission was the only peaceful mode that was left for their settlement. Had those Commissioners failed to agree, then the two countries must necessarily have resorted to the sword for the settlement of these great questions. Our true policy is peace. Our country at this time is not prepared for war. War would have inflated our currency ; war would have increased our taxes ; war would have depreciated our public securities, to say nothing of the sufferings and sor- rows, the vices and crimes that follow in the footsteps of war.
I am happy, fellow citizens, that the services which I rendered upon that Commission have redounded to the advantage of this country and to the advantage of the world. That is compensation enough for me. I think the. universal acceptance of this treaty in both countries, without any considerable distinction on party grounds, is evidence that the Commissioners struck as near as possible the golden mean upon these questions.
I find, however, that I am, contrary to my determination, making a speech. (Cries of " Go on.") I am proud and happy, fellow-citizens, to meet you here to-day. I am proud to have been a resident of the town of Pompey, and to have been a son of the great Empire State. While I had the honor to hold a seat in the Senate, there were nine mem- bers of that body who were born in the State of New York, and this is a State, on account of its size, its population, its wealth, and its power, entitled to such a representation in the Senate of the United States.
I met here persons from all parts of the country; some have come from the north, some from the south, some from the east, some from the west to greet each other; to revive the reminiscences of early days. I have come from the hot atmosphere of Washington to look upon the green trees and the waning fields once more, and breathe again the
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pure fresh air of Pompey Hill. Ladies and gentlemen, I can hardly express the feelings that I entertain upon this vecasion. But I am rejoiced at this opportunity of meeting once more so many of my friends of Pompey, and I express the earnest hope that all honor, happiness and prosperity may attend them through the future days of their lives. (Ap- plause).
The President then read the following :-
Pompey Academy-A light set upon a hill, which has spread its effulgence afar.
And said : "I call upon the Hon. LeRoy Morgan to re- spond, an honorable descendant of this old town, and now Judge of the Supreme Court, living in the city of Syracuse :"
JUDGE MORGAN'S RESPONSE.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Fellow Tournsmen-
I wish it was in my power to make my voice heard over this vast congregation. I think I would give you some of the history of the carly struggles of the young men who graduated from Pompey Academy, some of whom have since become the most distinguished men in the State and nation. But my voice is entirely inadequate to be heard for a dis- tance. I shall therefore, content myself with saying a very few things. It would have been gratifying to me to have held a class meeting somewhere in this vicinity, and to have had cach old resident of this town, who has become dis- tinguished and who now resides abroad, tell you his carly ex- perience, and to tell you how he contrived when a young man to win his way into public favor, and finally, to attain the highest positions known to our government.
Now, our forefathers who emigrated to this town, mostly from the Eastern States, built wisely, wiser, perhaps, than they knew. One of the first things they did was to endow an institution for the education of their children.
If you want to know why it is that Pompey has produced so many eminent men, go back to your fathers; ask them
4
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what it meant after they emigrated, when they collected to- gether in council to forecast the future! They first collect- ed themselves together and built up this Seminary of learn- ing or Academy, which, for a long time, was the only one within reach.
Well, we all remember that our fathers, many of them were poor-many of us were born-of "poor, but respecta- ble parents."
How was it that we were enabled to educate ourselves ? It was by working in summer and teaching school in win- ter, thus mostly paying our own way with the wages which we were able to earn by our own labor. Now, it is not a miracle that Pompey should be the most distinguished town in the State; there is no great end attained without some adequate cause to produce it ; and the only reasons that you can give as to the origin of the great fame which your own town has reached in her distinguished sons, flowed naturally from the incipient steps which your fathers took at that early day in building up the institution called the Pompey Acade- my, then the great nursery of learning.
You sent your boys, or rather they sent themselves, to that institution until they arrived at an age suitable to enter upon the business of life. One would seek one vocation, another another, and occasionally a man desired to become a lawyer. Many of such applied to be admitted to a clerk- ship with a distinguished lawyer of this village,-and I am proud to mention his name,-Daniel Gott, who always held ont his kindly hand and received every applicant that came to him with the patronage of a father.
Many men, distinguished now, can go back to their carly history, and remember with a kind recollection his man- hood. They always admired his talents; and they cannot but recollect with gratitude the kindly good feelings, he al- ways manifested towards the young men of the country. It is not best Mr. President, by any means, that I should oc- cupy much time. I have said perhaps all that is necessary to say.
ENDICLIT &. O LITH. NY
John F. Seymour
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I am proud that I was born in Pompey. A certificate showing we graduated from Pompey Academy has become- a sort of title of nobility which we love to carry around with 118.
I see before me "Great Pomp," and there is " Little- Pomp,"-Horatio Seymour and John F. Seymour, born in this town; their early life spent here. They left here at an early day and took up their residence in Utica, and their name of " Pomp" followed them. I should like to hear now from the younger "Little Pomp." But if he is little, gen- tlemen, he has got a heart as large as any man in this crowd.
There are a great many from whom I would like to hear. I see here several distinguished men who left at an early day. Let them step up here and tell you their experience: and I think when one of the graduates of the Pompey Acad- emy who has actually won his way to fame, gets upon this- stand and tells you his whole experience, every young man of ambition will know exactly how to go and do likewise .. (Applause.)
He closed by calling on John F. Seymour. Mr. Seymour came out after repeated calls, and spoke as follows :-
REMARKS OF JOHN F. SEYMOUR.
I was a child, Mr. Chairman, when tossed upon the top of a wagon load of furniture and carried from this place to Utica, but I recollect my playmates, the village green, the old Church, and the garden and brook behind my Father's house, and I can with truth, repeat Hood's beautiful lines ..
I remember, I remember, The house where I was born, The little window where the sun C'ame peeping in at morn.
I remember, I remember, The fir trees dark and high ; I used to think their slender tops, Were close against the sky.
It was a childish ignorance, But now 'tis little joy
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To know I'm farther off from heaven Than when I was a boy.
" Pompey Hill," as a name is not attractive. It is a com- mon saying that school masters have been abroad in this land, and some may think that this, and similar names are their stately, pedantic steppings. We will do them the credit to believe they would have chosen the descriptive and more appropriate Indian, rather than unmeaning Latin and Greek words. We regret that our Surveyor-General, Sim- eon De Witt, has fastened the worn out names of the old world upon our towns and villages, but when we look at these meadows dotted with cattle and sheltering woods, at the fields of waving barley, and the pure streams of water, which with beautiful falls, leap down yon hill-sides into the valleys far below us, then the feelings of home, and nativity become masters of us, and we exclaim with all our hearts,
Thy name I love, I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods, and templed hills.
What a crowd of people throng up here to-day, who with me, feel more than we have the power to express.
What a multitude have lived here and called it home, and then have gone forth reaping success in every department of life, in every portion of our country. I think I know the reason of this success. I might not care to mention it much abroad, but the truth is, the first settlers were brought up on potash. The thick forests which covered these hills were cut down, and burned, and their ashes converted into potash. Potash paid for their farms, potash bought flour and mer- chandise of every sort, it was the staple, the money of this country, and the people who could live on potash, could live on anything and anywhere, and so when they went down into the valleys, they swept everything before them. Some of us, Mr. Chairman, were born a little too late for that potash !
As this is an occasion when records are sought and made of all the families which have resided here, I will briefly
.
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mention that of my father, Henry Seymour. He was a son of Moses Seymour, of Litchfield, Conn., his wife the only child of Jonathan Forman, of Middletown Point, New Jer- sey, her mother was a Ledyard, of New London, Conn. The children left by my father and mother were six, this was their original number, and death has not broken it, the gray hand of time has scarcely touched the eldest, and all of them are in the midst of their several family circles, with almost the full health and strength of youth. In the order of their ages, they are as follows : Mary, the wife of Rutger B. Mil- ler, of Utica, Horatio Seymour, of Utica, Sophia, the wife of Edward F. Shonnard, of Yonkers, John F. Seymour, of Utica, Helen Clarissa, widow of Ledyard Lincklaen, of Cazenovia, and Julia, the wife of Roscoe Conkling, of Utica. We trace back to these hills many of the tastes and princi- ples of our lives, not only to that Academy founded and sus- tained by a noble race of men, but to a home influence, maintained by a noble race of mothers, and we must not on this occasion fail to pay our tribute to such women, who were help's meet for such men. They were the descen- dants of revolutionary heroes, and knew more of genuine elegance and honest poverty than most of the present day. If they had fewer books than we, they knew more of what was in them. They were familiar with the best English au- thors of the time, both of prose and poetry. With fewer schools they gave more personal attention to the education and discipline of their children. They were not ashamed of work, but were taught to be as skillful in the kitchen as in all the graces and refinements which adorn social life: the same hands which were accustomed to the choicest books and the rarest flowers, nursed the sick, and prepared tables which would excite the envy of an epicure.
If fortune favored them they avoided all display of any disparity between themselves and their neighbors, and they endeavored by self-denial to build up instead of dragging down their husbands. Their toil on these hills did not un- fit them for any place in life elsewhere. They may have
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heard and known less of what are now called the rights of women, but they knew as much, if not more, of their duties. Believing their highest sphere was that of true wives and faithful mothers, they were rewarded by the admiration and devotion of men, and by children who gather here to-day to pay a tribute to their worth, and influence, more noble and lasting, than any which can be won in a political arena.
The President then read the following sentiment.
The City of Syracuse-Pompey greets her younger though more ambitious sister on this glad and festive occasion. Though above her abrays, we consent to stand on a level with her to-day.
In obedience to loud calls, Hon. D. G. Fort, of Oswego, took the stand, and delivered the following address.
MR. FORT'S RESPONSE.
My Old Friends und Neighbors :
I can hardly understand upon what principle I have been sandwiched in here to-day, between Governors and Senators and Judges, to make a speech, unless it is upon the princi- ple that the painter, when he makes a picture, paints upon the background something dark, that the picture itself may be more distinctly seen. It is almost forty years since first I came among this people. I brought with me few years, little knowledge, and less experience. My lot was cast upon these hills, with parents who had come out West to seek their fortune. I was educated in these schools-long live the memory of the old academy there; I have worshipped in your churches, and some of my kindred are sleeping in yon- der cemetery. My lot is now cast among others, and stand- ing here to-day, I say with pleasure, that no memories of my past life come home to me stronger or furnish keener emo- tions of pleasure than those connected with my residence among this people and the anticipation of occasional returns here. I remember, also, when a boy, and first began to have youthful aspirations and build air castles of what I would be in the world. In the neighborhood where I lived
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was a man-doubtless many of you will remember him- who spent his summers upon the Erie Canal as captain of a line boat, an occupation much more honorable then than now, and his winters with his family in their country home. Evening after evening have I sat and listened to his well- told stories of startling adventures and experience in the life which he had chosen. My mind filled with delight at the greatness that he had achieved, and I then resolved that when sufficient years and wisdom had gathered around my head, I would strive for the same high position that he oc- cupied. But, as many have found, I too found that fre- quently " the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee." Many years have come and gone since then, I have never forgotten the ambition of my early life ; but alas, alas, the dream of my childhood has never been realized and it seems to me to-day to be further off than ever before. (Applause). "Man proposes, but God disposes." I look around upon this vast audience, and endeavor to find the faces of those that were so familiar to us in the days that are past. Thanks to a kind Providence, they are not all gone. A few still remain, like ancient landmarks in the well-set- tled country, but they are fast growing less, and soon we shall find them, " like angels's visits, few and far between." I ask myself, "Where, where are the friends that to me were so dear ?" and the answer comes swelling up, some have gone away from us, many of them are lying in yonder church-yard, sleeping quietly, and the remainder have come out here to-day, with warm hearts and whitening locks to welcome Pompey's children home again. All that remains now of many warm hearts that beat with life and love a few years ago, is the stone in yonder cemetery, marking the place where they sleep. May the grass grow green and fresh over their graves, and may the memory of their many acts of love and kindness be as fresh and enduring in the hearts of their children. Here again we meet under these old shades, while familiar voices of the past call up recollections that long since had slumbered in forgetfulness. It is a source of pride
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and gratification that we who have always pursued the com- mon and private walks of life, can point to so many old friends from this town who have achieved the greatness which has been denied to us ; but here we meet to-day: and meet as brothers ; here for once we meet upon one common level, as we sit and chat around the old hearthstones and these well-filled tables. But boys and times have changed since then; years ago we were in the habit of greeting the boys or Pompey Hill as Horatio, George, Charley, Leroy, Lucien and Henry ; but to-day when we speak to Horatio, we must take off our hat and address him as Governor, and George, who used to be so well acquainted with all of us, comes here to-day from the golden shore, and we must greet him as Senator of the United States ; while Charles, Leroy and Lucien, have dropped the old names that we used to give them, and come here to be introduced to our people as Judge : and the epulets on Henry's shoulders speak to us of noble service he has rendered his country, and bid us address him only as General. Well, well, boys! you have done nobly. Although we belong to the class where high privates are always needed, we can assure you that while our children cannot hear their fathers called "Governor," "Senator," "Judge," or "General," it is with pride that we tell them that we were once permitted to attend school and play marbles with boys who have since achieved that high dis- tinction. But I must stop. I will, however, tell you that I well remember a lesson that was taught me in yonder Acad- emy by Mr. Stebbins, an old teacher there. I am not going to let this vast audience pass from here without endeavoring to press upon them the lesson he taught me. He was trying to teach his class what so many of us have tried to teach others-not to talk too much. (Laughter). The doctrine he held out to his class was, if we would only sit still and " look wise," we might pass off for great men ; whereas, if we undertook to talk, we must talk sense, for nonsense would surely expose shallowness. I remember the story he illus- trated it by. He said there was a certain man who had a
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son who was a fool. One day the man was to be visited by his minister and a deacon in the church; he told his son, "Now, John, when these visitors come, don't you speak a word ; it don't make any matter what they may say to you, don't you speak a word to them." The boy promised ; the visitors came. In the afternoon the father had occasion to leave the room, and the visitors began to talk to the boy, but not a word would he answer. At last one of them re- marked, " I believe our brother has one son that is a fool, and I guess this is the one." The boy jumped up and rushed to his father, saying, "Father, father, they have found it out, and I never said a word!" (Laughter). Just here I am reminded that perhaps I had better make a per- sonal application of this lesson to myself. (Laughter). If I had kept still, and tried to look wise in silence, perhaps some of these strangers might have taken me for a Governor or a Judge, but inasmuch as I have not done that, I will do the next best thing and leave the floor for some one who is to follow. (Applause).
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