USA > Rhode Island > Bristol County > Bristol > Celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town of Bristol, Rhode Island : September 24th, A.D. 1880 > Part 9
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don't strike me as just the fair thing. Cannot you correct the blunder? (Laughter. ) By the way he was about twenty-eight years of age when he entered into this enter- prise, but I learn that although selling out, he never lost his interest in the town of Bristol. He kept it alive all his days, and he presented to you in those early years a bell which, as you were then a small people and had not the benefit of a tall steeple, was swung up in some tree which my records tell me was on the northwest corner of State and High streets, within sight and sound, I believe, of this place. It was swung in a tree-and that suggests to me some incidents in the history of my own town of Salem, where in 1662 cer- tain bells of another kind, sometimes called beldames, were hanged upon trees. It is pretty well known that our good old town is renowned for the persecution of persons alleged to have been wizards and witches, who were accused, tried, condemned, and hanged. And not only did they hang the he-witches, but they hung she-witches, including one Mrs. Bridget (Oliver) Bishop, one of our tribe ; and it is on record that they squeezed to death a certain Goodman Giles Corey, by enclosing him between mother earth and a stone-laden plank, as though it were possible to exterminate witchcraft by neck-roping, or by killing weight. Why, my friends, the witchery of Salem women has been transmitted all along its subsequent history, and prevails in full force to this day, and there is no respectable young man who reaches the age of twenty years, without being "bewitched " as I was sixty years ago. I know it is so, and bear personal testimony to the fact. Now the later and latter witches, distinguished for intellect and for beauty, and practical common sense, have never objected to the process of squeezing, if performed with a reasonable degree of pressure, the squeezers gently tempering the force to the squeezees, and not overdoing the thing.
Well, your Nathaniel Oliver also appeared in behalf of your town at the General Court of Massachusetts, and re-
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mained during all his life (dying in 1707) a fast friend of the town of Bristol. Moreover he was a man of energetic pluck. There was no cowardice in him-no shrinking from princi- ples. He was of just that class which the President of Brown University so admirably portrayed at to-day's dinner, and when that tyrant Andros got to be very obnoxious, Nathaniel Oliver, with his brother-in-law, Col. John Eyre, and eleven others (thirteen in all) drew up a protest and demanded a surrender by Andros of all power that he held under the Crown. Sir Edmund had to take refuge within the fort at Boston. Nathaniel Oliver, with his brother-in-law, bore the summons for his surrender, presented it to him, and he suc- cumbed. He yielded, and resigned the Governorship of Massachusetts. Now I like to think of an ancestor who would do a thing of that sort without fear or favor. If you feel any gratitude toward him, I feel a great pride in him. Let me say to you, if you have any pleasure in it, that the family of Oliver in the eastern part of Massachusetts has been connected by relationship and historic association with all the ancient families of that commonwealth.
Nathan Hayman, to whom Nathaniel Oliver sold out, came here, lived here, and died here, leaving no issue, as far as I can learn. He lies buried about six feet from the east wall of the Eastern Cemetery, and buried there, his grave-stone, I understand, was found and turned to account as a useful point by which to verify the location of the avenues and streets of your beautiful town.
So, then, in memory of your and my Nathaniel Oliver, and in memory of Nathan Hayman, I dedicate this tree and plant it. May the dews and waters of heaven, the warmth of a genial sun, and the blessing of a divine Providence, cause the tree to take root and grow, and live to shelter those of your descendants who may take refuge beneath its boughs.
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At the conclusion of the address and whilst the earth was being placed about the roots of the tree, a selection of music was rendered by the Boston Cadet Band.
THE STEPHEN BURTON TREE.
The tree cast of the centre of the Common was next planted. The chairman introduced the speaker as follows :
We have been unable to find any descendant from Stephen Burton to dedicate this tree to his memory, but would intro- duce to you our townsman, Wilfred H. Munro, who has kindly consented to speak to us in his behalf.
ADDRESS OF WILFRED H. MUNRO.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen :- As the name of Stephen Burton is pronounced, there rises before my eyes the figure of a tall and slender man, whose appearance is in marked contrast with that of his two more prominent asso- ciates. He does not show the intense vitality and the impe- rious will which every action of Byfield proclaims ; neither does he possess the great executive ability which is manifest in the casy bearing of Walley. His brow is scamed with the lines of anxious thought ; his face is pale and thin ; his bent head and stooping shoulders indicate the scholar rather than the man of business, while his restless eye and sallow cheek hint at the existence of some trouble which he is vainly seek- ing to avoid.
The rays of the setting sun warn me that I must attempt only the briefest possible sketch of the carcer of Mr. Burton. He was the most scholarly man of the four proprietors, and is said to have been educated at the University of Oxford. Beyond this we know almost nothing of his life in England and in this country, until his name appears as one of the pur- chasers of the Mount Hope lands. He was the first record- ing officer of the county of Bristol. In his office of Clerk of
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the Peace, he exercised the functions which are now divided among several different officers. He was at the same time Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Register of Probate, and Register of Deeds. The care with which he performed the duties of his position is indicated in his clear and beauti- ful handwriting, and the fact that he was five times chosen to represent the town at the General Court of Massachusetts, shows how highly he was esteemed by his fellow townsmen. Quiet and retiring in disposition, he seems to have had no share in the disputes in which his associates were often in- volved. Against the mental disorder which was preying upon him, he struggled manfully until the last year of his life, but being at last unnerved by its constant attacks, neg- lected his business and became only the wreck of his former self. Death came mercifully to his relief before his reason gave way under the terrible strain. He died on the 22d of July, 1693, the only one of the four original proprietors who ended his days in Bristol. Byfield, Walley and Oliver all died in Boston. His house stood upon Burton street, until it was burned by the British troops in 1777.
The elm which is here planted to his memory fitly typifies his character. Symmetrical is its form, and fair appears its promise, but ere long its limbs will begin to droop as did the spirit of him whom it commemorates, under the weight of the trouble which at last wore his life away. It will not command our admiration and respect, as will the massive strength of the Byfield oak, but its slender limbs will ever appeal touchingly to us for sympathy, even as the gentle nature of Burton appealed to the kindly feelings of our ances- tors two hundred years ago.
THE JOHN WALLEY TREE.
The tree south of the centre of the Common came next in turn. As in the former case, the committee was unable to obtain the services of any descendant of John Walley for this
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interesting duty, being disappointed in their hopes that Hon. Wendell Phillips, or Henshaw B. Walley, of Boston, as such, would be present ; but sickness prevented, and the duty of the occasion was discharged by William J. Miller, of Bris- tol, R. I., as follows :
ADDRESS OF WILLIAM J. MILLER.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen :- The proprie- tor in whose honor we plant this tree is JOHN WALLEY. Mr. Walley was an earnest co-worker with Byfield and his associates in the settlement of the town, and took a leading part in the affairs of both church and State. His father was Rev. Thomas Walley, of London, at one time rector of St. Mary's, Whitechapel, and who, with seven other divines, arrived at Boston, from London, in the "Society," Capt. Pierce, on the 24th of May, 1663. He died March 24th, 1678, aged 61 years.
John came to this country before his father, and settled in Boston. He removed from Boston to Bristol in 1680. The substantial structure that he built, and in which he resided, is still standing on the north side of State street, and is known as the Walley House. While a resident of Boston he was successfully engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was for a time Judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, and a member of the Governor's Council. In 1690, ten years after he had become a resident of Bristol, he commanded the land forces in the expedition of Sir William Phipps against Canada, and published a journal of the same. In the latter part of his life he returned to Boston from Bristol, and died there on the 11th of January, 1712, aged 68 years.
His biographer says: "The high trusts imposed by his country were discharged with ability and fidelity. To his wisdom as a councillor and his impartiality as a judge, he added an uncommon sweetness and candor of spirit, and the various virtues of the Christian. His faith was justified by his integrity, his works of piety and charity."
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THE NATHANIEL BYFIELD TREE.
The tree west of the centre of the Common was next in turn, and in this case the committee was as fortunate as in the first planted. They had secured the services of Hon. Francis Brinley, of Newport, five removes from Nathaniel Byfield, who, in the following address, dedicated the tree to his ancestor :
.ADDRESS OF HON. FRANCIS BRINLEY.
When in the gladsome days of youth I used to contem- plate with honest pride the old family portrait of Judge Byfield, it never flitted across my mind that I should be invited to participate in ceremonies designed to commemorate the settlement of this ancient town, of which he was one of the original founders. Yet such is the curious mutation of human events, that here I stand environed by the sunny landscape, and the sparkling waters, whose combined charms, two hundred years ago, attracted his observant eye, and induced him to make this picturesque spot his chosen home. Here I am almost in sight of the place where stood his modest mansion, and of the secluded grave in which he reverently laid the loved and the lost.
I am aware of the necessity of reducing to shape compact what I have to say in regard to Nathaniel Byfield. I will endeavor to comply with the proprieties of the occasion, and content myself with but little more than an enumeration of some of his distinguishing characteristics, and of his public honors.
He was born in England in the year 1653. His father was the Rev. Richard Byfield, the laborious, faithful pastor of Long Dutton in Surrey, and one of the divines of the famous " Westminster Assembly." His mother was of the noted family of the Juxons. He was the youngest of twenty-one
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children, and one of the sixteen who, on bright and calm Sabbath mornings, followed their pious parents to the house of public worship. How irresistably spring to mind the lines of Coleridge :
" (), sweeter than the marriage feast, 'Tis sweeter far to me, To walk beside thee to the kirk With a goodly company ; To walk together to the kirk And all together pray. While each to his Great Father bends-
Old men, and babes, and loving friends, And youths and maidens gay."
I have not been able to detect even a glimmering of the motives which prompted him to leave the delights of the domestic hearth for the hardships of a residence in this west- ern world. Probably it was the early manifestation of that activity and spirit of enterprise which were so strikingly exhibited in his subsequent career. He arrived in Boston in the year 1674. About a year thereafter he married Deborah Clarke, an estimable gentlewoman of Boston, with whom he lived most happily for over forty years. She died much lamented in 1717.
Judge Byfield was married twice, his second wife being (to use a phrase applied to her) " the honorable and devout daughter" of Governor Leverett.
By his first wife there were five, his only children, three of whom died when young ; the other two lived to be mar- ried, the younger one to Lieut .- Gov. Tailer, and the other to Edward Lyde, Esq., of Boston. A daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lyde married Col. Francis Brinley, of Roxbury, my great-grandfather.
Not long after the termination of King Philip's war, the General Court of Massachusetts appointed a committee to sell the Mount Hope lands, and on the 14th of September, 1680, they were conveyed to John Walley, Nathaniel By- field, Stephen Barton, and Nathaniel Oliver, all of Boston.
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Byfield removed to this place the year of its incorporation as the town of Bristol. Here he lived until the year 1724, when, by reason of his advanced age, he concluded to return to Boston, his first home, where he died on the 6th of June, 1733, in the 80th year of his age.
He was a devout Christian. The love of religion, which was impressed upon him in youth by his exemplary parents, was never effaced. It guided him through his long life, and will account for the respect and confidence which his very presence inspired.
Before the tapering spires of churches invaded the blue sky of Bristol, the doors of his house were always open to those who wished to worship God in sincerity and truth. When a Congregational Society was duly organized here, he presented to it a communion service, which is yet preserved for the sacred use for which it was intended.
On the return of Judge Byfield to Boston, he joined the Society of which the Rev. Charles Chauncy and the Rev. Thomas Foxcroft were the joint pastors. The former preached a sermon on the death of Judge Byfield, which was printed in 1733, together with a valuable prefix by Mr. Fox- croft. Both of these clergymen testify to the profound relig- ious character and the diffusive benevolence of Judge Byfield, who made it a rule for forty years, annually to give away, or pay, as he preferred to say, a certain portion of his income for charitable purposes.
Byfield, like the eminent author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, showed by his example that he consid- ered a citizen soldiery the cheapest and safest defence of nat- ural freedom. Gibbon, in his autobiography, states with apparent satisfaction, that the information he obtained as a member of a militia company enabled him to comprehend, appreciate, and describe the complex organizations of the vast armies of Imperial Rome. It is most probable that the habits of order, regularity and exactitude which Byfield acquired in the ranks, or as an officer up to the rank of Col-
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onel, were carried by him to the performances of all official duties, and to the management of his private affairs. So wisely did he conduct the latter, that he accumulated a hand- some estate, for those days, which he liberally used. It may be said of him, as Gibbon states of Antoninus Pius, "he en- joyed with moderation the conveniences of his fortune, and the innocent pleasures of society."
Colonel Byfield, as an additional proof of his high estimate of the citizen soldiery, presented to the first military com- pany of Bristol a costly stand of colors, to this day carefully preserved with the archives of the town.
He was an ardent, active and efficient politician of conser- vative principles. But he was not so rigid and exclusive as to prevent him from accepting a new idea, or fresh sugges- tion, merely because it did not present itself in an antique garb. He was conservative, but reasonably progressive. For several years he represented Bristol in the General Court, and was elected Speaker of the House of Representa- tives. He enjoyed a similar honor when a Representative from Boston. He was a patriotic and experienced states- man.
It should always be passed to his credit that he deprecated the witchcraft delusion, and denounced those who were active in the trial and conviction of the unfortunate accused.
His judicial career was most remarkable. For thirty-eight years he sat as Chief of the Court of Sessions of the Peace and Common Pleas for the county of Bristol, as he did two years for the county of Suffolk. From 1702 to 1710 he was Judge of Probate for the county of Bristol. He received five several commissions as Judge of the Vice Admiralty, from three sovereigns of England-from King William, from Queen Anne, and from King George II. So that for years he was Judge of Probate, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and of the Admiralty at the same day.
In those days the community was not overwhelmed by that cataclysm of Law Reports which now so cruelly affects
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both the bench and the bar. Hence very little is preserved of his judicial opinions. I chance, however, to possess one of them in his own clear hand-writing, attested by his signa- ture, which, for perspicuity of style and legal acumen, would not discredit any jurist.
Not one of his decrees was overruled by appeal to the home tribunals.
Finally, in my judgment, one of the most valuable of his varied excellences was his early and energetic labors as an advocate of public schools, or popular education. He be- lieved, and acted on the conviction, that if the youth of a community were shrouded in intellectual darkness, the result would be as detrimental to the common weal as the destruc- tion of the spring would be fatal to the year. In grateful recognition of his important services on this interesting sub- ject, a parish, or precinct, in the county of Essex, in Massa- chusetts, was named for him. "The Byfield Academy," there established, is still a valuable seminary of learning. A similar memorial to his merit is the tasteful Byfield school- house of Bristol.
His generous anxiety for the prosperity of this town was not limited to the laying out of spacious, commodious, and ornamental streets, or the giving of ample grounds for the public convenience or necessities, but was illustrated by his liberal donation of lands for educational purposes, the benefits of which stand confessed to this hour.
I cannot do better than to repeat the lines which were inscribed on his tombstone in the Granary burying ground, Boston, and which were composed by the Rev. Matthew Byles. They are an epitome of his life, and a rare specimen of elegiac composition :
" Byfield, beneath, in peaceful slumber lies ; Byfield, the good, the active and the wise; His manly form contained an equal mind, Faithful to God and generous to mankind. High in his country's honors long he stood,
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Succour'd distress and gave the hungry food.
In justice steady, in devotion warm, A loyal subject and a patriot firm, Through every stage his dauntless soul was tried- Great while he lived, but greater when he died."
May the trees we plant here to-day, as a sylvan tribute to the memory of the founders of Bristol, sink their roots deep into its soil, and as they advance to the maturity of luxuriant foliage, may their whispering branches become inspired like the sacred oak of Dodona, and oracularly predict the perpe- tuity of the principles and institutions of the fathers, and the permanence of this, "The Beautiful Gate" of the glorious State of Rhode Island.
The chairman concluded the ceremony by explaining that the first three trees planted were native elms, and the last an oak grown from an acorn that fell from a tree planted by Nathaniel Byfield, under whose shade he had passed many an hour as he sat at his own door and looked across the water to our side of the harbor.
At the close, and while the final act of planting was being done, the evening salute and ringing of the town bells began. No more appropriate act could have been suggested ; for with the loud voiced cannon and glad sound of bells, we committed to the God of nature our offerings to the memory of the orig- inal proprietors of the town, that in their growth we may ever have a reminder of those who first planted this beautiful town.
CLOSING OBSERVANCES.
Scarcely had the guns of the Bristol Artillery " thundered forth their reverberating benediction," ere the Common was deserted. Gov. Littlefield and staff were escorted to the mansion of Col. S. Pomroy Colt, and other distinguished guests took carriages for the depot, to take the Providence train.
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The Light Infantry Veterans, with the National Band, after having spent the day at the pleasant seaside residence of Col. A. C. Eddy, " whose generous hospitality and assiduous attentions to their inner comfort stamped him as a princely entertainer and glorious comrade," (says the correspondent of the Providence Journal, and to which, all who have enjoyed the hospitality of Col. Eddy, and his estimable lady, will most heartily subscribe), marched to the depot, and embarked for home.
In the evening, many of the residences of citizens were again illuminated, fire-works were displayed, and large crowds filled the streets of the town. Soon after eight o'clock the mammoth tent on the Common, which was bril- liantly lighted with "Electric Lights," was thronged with people, to hear the grand concerts of the Boston Cadet and Bristol Bands.
The programme of selections by the organizations, who played alternately to the great gratification of the appre- ciative audience, was as follows :
BOSTON CADET BAND.
1. Overture-Stradella Flotaw.
2. Potpourri of Favorite Airs Henry.
3. Tuba Solo-Graf Arthur Graf.
4. Selections from Nabuco Verdi.
5. Concert Waltzes-Wiener Kinder By Strauss.
6. Grand Selections from Il Trovatore Verdi.
7. Piccolo Solo, andante with schezo movement-De Carlo . . August Daun.
BRISTOL CORNET BAND.
1. Collingwood Quickstep ... Pettee.
2. Schottische-Dancing in the Barn J. B. Claus.
3. Waltzes-Sounds from the North Zikoff.
4. Overture-Luspiel. . Keler Beler.
5. Galop-Phonograph Fox.
6. Selection-Linda. Donnizetti.
7. Qickstep-To the Front Newton.
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During the evening elegant receptions to Gov. Littlefield and staff, and distinguished guests, were held at the residences of Cols. S. Pomroy and Le Baron B. Colt, "and Col. A. C. Eddy, and those gentlemen vied with each other in the elab- orateness of their collations, and generous welcome to their guests."
We may be pardoned if we add the following closing com- ments of the Journal on our celebration :
" It is a fact that, notwithstanding the presence of nearly twelve thousand people in the town during the day, but a single case of drunkenness was reported, and no unseemly dis- turbances or serious accidents occurred, which certainly speaks volumes for the residents, as well as the strangers attend- ing the celebration. The 10.15 P. M. train for Providence left the depot with fourteen heavily-loaded cars, many standing on the platforms, but all were safely carried to their destination. And so ended the memorable observance of Bristol's natal day, and Old Bristol has earned a reputation for public spirit and lavish hospitality which the lapse of years can never efface from the memories of her non-resident sons and daugh- ters, and those who visited the beautiful and historic town for the first time."
BI-CENTENNIAL OF BRISTOL.
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The following ode, from the pen of Mrs. T. DeW. COLT, was written to be sung by the school children on the day of the celebration, but was received by the committee too late for the purpose :
FOR THE BI-CENTENNIAL.
A grand old sturdy race, Were our forefathers dear, In council firm, in battle bold, Unmoved by doubt or fear.
Inured to pain and toil, Where duty calls they go; . Their strong right arm could rend an oak, Or fell an Indian foe.
Their houses rude and bare, Soft luxury disown, No modern elegance was their's, Not e'en a TELEPHONE.
Strong in defence of right, Tho' sometimes hard and cold, Our fathers bravely fought the fight In the dark days of old.
And to their children left A heritage secure, Founded on reason, faith and love, And morals sweet and pure.
Then let each voice to-day, In song triumphant rise To the Great Father, who bestows All blessings that we prize.
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Our lives from danger free, Our bodies warmed and fed, Our minds enriched by knowledge from The living and the dead.
But let us now beware The " serpent" of our time; Disguised in fairest form, he throws On us his filthy shine.
Through pleasure, power and ease, He lures us from the road, The only safe and narrow path That leads straight up to God.
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