USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Windsor > The centennial at Windsor, Vermont, July 4, 1876 : being a record of the proceedings at the celebration; and containing the address and poem then delivered; also a view of Windsor as it now is > Part 2
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" The memory of those heroes who fought and bled that we may be free and independent - May we have virtue to preserve the legacy they left us."
" The President of the United States - Honor and respect to the office - Justice and impartiality to the man."
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" The freedom of the Press- Ever sacred and inviolable. It is the palladium of our rights and liberties - a terror only to the intolerant and wicked."
"The memory of those that fell in defence of the Union -
. Gashed with honorable scars,
' Low in Glory's Jap they lic,
"Tho' they fell, they fell like stars
'Streaming splendor thro' the sky.'"
"The dead who have fallen in the late war -
' How sleep the dead who sink to rest. By all their Country's wishes blest.'"
VOLUNTEER TOASTS.
" The surviving soldiers of the late war - We backed them up as they went to the front, we respect and honor them on their vic- torious return."
"The ladies who have assisted in the arrangements for this Celebration - Without them we could do nothing, with them we can do anything."
"The Orator of the day - A son of Windsor that gladdens the old mother."
"Our Poct -A songster whose notes are loyal and welcome as his boyhood's, after twenty-five years of familiarity with foreign airs."
"The Citizens of Windsor- The scenes of to-day prove that the spirit of the fathers still lives."
" The Second Centennial of Windsor, and of the Country - . God bless those who behold it !"
The Marshals of the day made a fine appearance, handsomely mounted upon spirited horses, gaily caparisoned to match the ap- propriate dress of their riders. The hearts of the oldl veterans bounded as they stepped lightly to the music of the rattling drums of their comrades. The artillery, drawn by four horses, wheeled into position, and then came, as seemed most appropriate, the la- dies of the "Soldiers' Aid Society," for they are, as the banner presented to them said, "always and everywhere the soldier's friend." The Windsor Cornet Band does itself credit wherever it goes, and on this occasion it discoursed sweet and lively music and added much to the pleasure of all. As we looked on the forms of the veterans of 1812, we were carried back to the time when these men and their comrades answered the call of "all to the borders." The lady, gracefully riding alone, aptly represented Vermont, the
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first independent State. The ladies representing the original thirteen States were dressed in unique and appropriate costumes ; those representing the present thirty-eight, in white with badges, all making a very fine appearance.
The firemen are a hale and hearty crew, well qualified for their work, and have already shown that their "pleasure is where duty calls." The ox-cart, and saddle-horse with the pillion, were a most amusing feature of the procession. The cart was drawn by a handsome pair of red oxen, owned by Chas. H. Dudley, and filled with people both young and old. From the babe in arms the line of ascent was closely filled even to the grandame, in her antique scoop bonnet, who kept a watchful eye on her eldest daughter "tending " the baby that struggled manfully with the huge calash which the young matron wore in endeavoring to find his ma. The patriarchal head of the family walked by the side of his team, and in stentorian tones shouted, "Whoa, haw thar Bright !" The sad- dle-horse carried a peculiar couple, seemingly borrowed from the past, when carriages were an unknown institution, and economy would admit of but one horse for two persons, as the American people had not acquired the habit of being "fast." Upon the large, quiet horse was mounted a young lady dressed in the height of fashion a hundred years ago. On her head was a large straw bonnet, profusely covered with roses, while around her neck was a broad Elizabethan ruff. In front of her rode a young man dressed in the garb of the early pioneer - slouch hat, hunting shirt, kuce breeches, leggings and moccasins. Across the pommel of his sad- dle was carried a rifle, and in his belt a large knife. Thus armed and equipped, he was ready to give the compliments of 1776.
Major Fay's dashing turnout made a fine appearance, and was a good representation of to-day. The gun was handled with true military precision, by those who had acquired skill in the service, it being fired from two to four times per minute. The bells rang as joyfully in their peals as when, thirteen years ago, they rang ont the glad news of the fall of Vicksburg.
Upon the soldiers' banner were inscribed the names of thirty-one battles, in which the troops here assembled to-day were engag- ed, from Big Bethel to Appomattox Court House.
Much gratification is felt and expressed at the energy and har- mony displayed in the preparations. The ladies particularly de-
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serving of mention in connection with the preparations for repre- sentations of the States are Mrs. Henry Poor, Mrs. Henry Thomp- son, Mrs. Rollin Amsden, Mrs. Henry Tupper.
THE HALL OF ANTIQUITIES.
The Committee on Antiquities showed much enterprise in the collection of articles of "ye olden tyme." The articles were all systematically arranged in the Town Hall, which they had deco- rated with flags, bunting and evergreen, while in the center was a large gilded star, representing Vermont, which has the political signification of the " star that never sets." The number of the articles was much larger than it was thought could be collected, and many of them were of great curiosity, and of much worth. We should like to have mentioned each article, with the owner's name, but found it to be impracticable, as so many were brought in on the morning of the Fourth, and it was impossible to classify them before they were taken away. A few of the articles, however, are here noticed :- Pair of slippers, seventy-five years old, gold ring and silver pepper-box, both over one hundred years old, from Miss Lucy Ellen Pettes; arm-chair and saucepan, over one hundred years old, from Mrs. J. Wellington Thompson; Bible, over eighty years, from Mrs. H. D. Stone; wine glass, one hundred and fifty years, pocket-book, one hundred, Deed, given in 1751, from Mrs. Susan Adams; bedspread made by Mrs. Johonnot, in her eight- eenth year, from Mrs. D. T. Martin ; punch-bowl and wine de- canter, two hundred years old, from Mrs. Thomas Fullerton; pew- ter porringer, one hundred years old, from D. A. Barnard; fire- screen, worked by Mrs. Eunice Morgan, seventy years ago, from Miss Sophia Hall; Col. Jesse Lull's sword, cane and shoe-buckles, one hundred years old, from Ransom Thomas; knee-buckles which Jas. Garvin rode seventy-eight miles to purchase, from M. L. Perham; two pictures belonging to the first child born in Wind- sor, from M. O. Perkins; Bible printed in 1739, formerly owned by Hannah Parkhurst, and bought by her father in Boston, Dec. 26, 1742, now the property of Alfred C. Chadborn, of Cornish, N. H .; the waist of Molly Stark's wedding dress-yellow silk-
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from H. P. McClary; tea chest brought from China before the Revolutionary War, by Fisher Ames, holding just one pound, also set of razors used by Rev. Samuel Shuttleworth, a hundred years ago, from Capt. Danforth Brown; Ethan Allen's old gun-In the year 1776, Ethan Allen left this gun at a blacksmith's, for repairs, taking with him the gun belonging to the blacksmith, and prom- ised to exchange again upon his return. Mr. Allen never return- ed, and the gun has remained in the family ever since, it now be- ing the property of the grandson, Mr. Underhill of Rutland, and was procured for exhibition here by Mr. P. P. Story.
The hall was full throughout the day with people interested in the examination of the old-time articles. Much credit is due Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Eggleston for their services in personating George and Martha Washington, which they did to the great satisfaction of all.
THE FIRE-WORKS.
The fire-works, under the direction of the efficient committee, displayed, in the evening, on the grounds east of the railroad sta- . tion, owned by H. Everett, Esq., of Council Bluffs, Iowa, were · magnificent, and the pleasure of the crowd assembled to witness them would have been complete if a torrent of rain had not inter- rupted, after the second main piece, and compelled the imme- diate lighting of the remaining .pieces for a sudden show of all at once.
As things were, the finale was grand and made even sublime by the intermingling roar of the blazing twelve-pounder, so skilfully managed by Capt. Malcolm Pollard and his aids, and by the trum- pet notes of the Windsor Cornet Band, even in the pelting rain. On Wednesday evening, the balance of the minor works was ex- hibited to a large number of people who were delighted with the exhibition, and who appreciated the services of the committee who have spent much time and labor on this important part of the fes- tivities of the day. The Band sang an original National Hymn.
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The following letters were received in response to invita- tions by the Citizens' Committee to participate in the exercises of the day:
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT SMITH.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, HANOVER, N. H. July 3, 1876.)
HIRAM HARLOW, EsQ.,
President of the Citizens' Committee.
My Dear Sir :- I have received through yourself and J. B. Farus- worth, Esq., Secretary, a courteous invitation of the Committee to at- tend, as guest of the Town, your Centennial Celebration. I very much regret that my engagements are such as to forbid a compliance with that request.
Though not a native of your town, I think I may call myself a Windsor boy. From my fourteenth year to my nineteenth, I resided in your village, learning the art and mystery of printing in the office of one of your worthiest citizens, Simeon Ide, Esq. After that period, I was favored with a protracted course of Academical, Collegiate and Pro- fessional training. But I can truly and gratefully say, that if I have ever done any thing for the welfare of my fellow men, it is, in no small degree owing to those Windsor influences under which so many of my early years were passed. I include among them the influence of my old master Mr. Ide ; of my venerated Pastor the late Dr. John Wheeler; of other noble men, not a few, whose fame have passed from earth-the Curtises, the Coolidges, the Stones, and their compeers, whose memory is still fresh in the hearts of not a few among you. I should love to speak of them at your festival ; but I can only give you as a sentiment :
The noble fathers of your town -may their mantles rest upon the children, even to the third and fourth generation.
Yours most truly, ASA D. SMITH.
LETTER FROM MAJ. BOYNTON.
NEWBURGH, N. Y., June 25, 1876.
COL. HIRAM HARLOW, Pres.,
J. B. FARNSWORTH, Sec.
Gentlemen :- Your invitation to me to participate as a guest in the town of Windsor, at the approaching Centennial Anniversary of the Fourth of July, was received to day. I regret that a prior engagement to participate in the public celebration in this city, ou that occasion, renders my absence unavoidable. As time will not permit me to pre- pare some reminiscences of my old home, I beg you to accept the fol- lowing sentiment as a substitute :
The day on Mount Calvary and the Fourth of July - One redeemed a world from sin, the other redeemed a nation from slavery.
I am very respectfully,
EDWARD C. BOYNTON. Born at Windsor, 1824.
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LETTER FROM HON. V. B. HORTON.
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POMEROY, OHIO, June 28, 1876.
II. HARLOW, Esq., Pres.,
J. B. FARNSWORTH, Esq., Sec'y.
Dear Sirs :- I desire to express my thanks for the invitation of my native town to join the people in the. Centennial celebration of the Fourth of July. It would afford me great satisfaction to be present on that interesting occasion, and to look again upon the beautiful scenery which surrounds Windsor. This, however, is out of my power, and I must content myself with thanks for the invitation, and good wishes for the success of the celebration and the enjoyment of all who are present. Very truly yours,
V. B. HORTON.
LETTER FROM JAMES L. HOWARD, ESQ.
HARTFORD, CONN., 3rd July, 1876.
HIRAM HARLOW, Pres.,
J. B. FARNSWORTH, Sec'y,
Citizens' Committee, Windsor.
Gentlemen :- Your kind invitation to be present and participate in the celebration of the Fourth came duly to hand, and would have re- ceived an earlier acknowledgment, had I not hoped, until to-day, to be present. Circumstances will prevent, and I can only express my disap- pointment on many accounts. I left Windsor, my birth-place, at an · early age, and, though I call to mind vividly many of the then leading citizens, not many reminiscences, interesting to the public, are retained by me; but I have always felt an interest in my birth-place, have watched the events in her history, and now feel towards her the senti- ment of a son for his mother. Having, in politics, ever been a Repub- lican, I have rejoiced in good old Vermont as the "star that never sets," especially, as in her steadfastness of character, she has shown in this that high quality which always commands the highest respect. Wishing you all the best of times in your celebration,
I am, with great respect, yours sincerely, JAMES L. HOWARD.
LETTER FROM HORACE EVERETT, ESQ.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, June 29, 1876.
HON. HIRAM HARLOW, Windsor.
My Dear Sir :- Your kind invitation of the 20th is at hand, and it is with many regrets that I am compelled to forego the pleasure of be- ing with you on the Fourth of July, which I hope will be a memorable day in the history of Windsor. It is now thirty-seven years since I took my final departure from my early home to seek my fortune in other lands. In all the vicissitudes of these many years, there has been scarcely a day that my thoughts have not wandered back to " delight-
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ful " Windsor, to its clear waters and mountain brooks, its forests and fields, its lovely drives, its grand mountain, and noble river,- all hal- lowed to me by associations and memories dear and enduring. Aside from these natural features, which have made our village so familiar to artists of our day, and so loved by its inhabitants, there are other causes for the early celebrity of the town which I fear will soon pass away, unless some historian shall at once write its history. The materials are abundant, for there is no town in New England that has contained so many original characters, men of decided power, men who could found a State. From 1780 to 1830, a period of fifty years, there was a host of remarkable men in Windsor ( as, indeed, there are some at the pres- ent day ), whose characters and lives are well known to its present citi- zens. I well remember Judge Jacobs, Parson Shuttleworth, Mr. Hayes, old Mr. Johonnot, Gen. Forbes, the Lulls. the Petteses, the three Lev- eretts, Judge Aikens, Judge Hubbard, Judge Paine, Tom Emerson, Gen. Phelps, Dr. Torrey, Dr. Green, father and son, the Coolidges, Captain Lord, John Lord, Mr. Campbell, Sam Patrick, the Trasks ( Dr. Nahum and Ezra ), Parsons Wheeler, Howard, Tracy, and Richards, Tom Boynton, old Marsh, Mr. Merrifield, Mr. Barlow, Mr. Cooper, and my honored father, all now passed away. These were remarkable men, and with many others not named, both dead and living, gave Windsor a high, distinguished reputation. So preserve the history of these men. May we not hope that my friend, George Wardner, who is so familiar with their lives and character, and so peculiarly qualified by his mem- ory and narrative powers, will give us a Centennial History of Windsor that shall make its reputation national ? With my thanks for your po- lite invitation, and regrets that I cannot be with you, I remain,
Yours, with respect,
HORACE EVERETT.
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Historical Address.
BY SEWALL S. CUTTING, D. D.
MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW CITIZENS ; LADIES AND GENTLE- MEN :- We celebrate the Centennial Fourth of July around our an- cestral seats. Along with the commemoration of our National In- dependence, we commemorate the settlement of Windsor. We are here, some of us never exiles from the hearths of our fathers,- some of us returned from the long wanderings of many years. We keep this great festival here, impelled by an instinct which conse- crates the scenes of infancy and youth, - which, by the aid of the imagination, repeoples these dear, familiar spots with the forms of those who have long since passed to their graves, and renders the earth to whose keeping their dust is committed as shrines to the loving veneration of pilgrims. We are assembled to exchange congratulations upon an occasion the repetition of which no one of us can hope to behold, - to recount, as we may be able, the events and changes of a century,- and most of all to celebrate the chat- acter and virtues of those departed ancestors from whom we re- ceive the heritage which surrounds and blesses their children.
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Let us rejoice that we are assembled amid some things which cannot change. The stately pines which made these meadows dark with their interlacing branches, passed away for purposes of com- . merce or the King's Navy, before the oldest of us opened our eyes on the light,- the maple and beech and birch of these uplands yielded early to the necessities of the rapidly growing village, to be replaced in the lapse of time by the more orderly and artificial, but not less beautiful array of foliage which makes Windsor the pride of her children and the admiration of strangers. These are changes. But the river which runs at our feet was as silvery, as arrowy, when its current wearied the ascending flat-boats of our ancestors as it is to-day,- as beantiful to the eyes of the first children that sported in its waters as it was to our own. The hills which nature gave to Cornish, when, more generous to us, she gave to us the meadows, constitute now as then the fringe of perpetual beauty on our castern horizon,- and there, monarch of the mountains, still stands as then the lofty Ascutney, now cover- ing its brow with clouds, now aglow in the morning or evening sun, and now dark, solemn and grand in the moonlight as if itself a conscious worshipper beneath the vault of heaven. These are the unchangeable outward features of nature, which never pass from the memory of son or daughter of Windsor. However remote- ly we wander, fancy restores to us these waters, these hills, and this mountain, and binds our hearts to the spot which gave us birth. Surrounded by these scenes to-day, we worship as in a temple not made with hands ;- we consecrate this festal occasion as well by adoration of the Divine Architect as by pious remem- brances of His Providence, lifting up to heaven our common acclaim, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty,-just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.".
If, as we enter upon the topics which are for a while to occupy our attention, I may be pardoned a personal allusion, it must be to offer my thanks for the kind remembrance of a long-absent son of Windsor which has called me to the service I am here to per- form. Removed from you at first in my childhood, I was only an occasional sojourner here during the period of my youth. For more than forty years which have elapsed since that period, it has been my fortune to look upon Windsor scarcely more than once in a decade. Those amid these familiar scenes to whom I am person- ally known must be few indeed. The many who constituted the
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living, active Windsor of my day, are in distant places or slumber- ing with the dead. I thank you that I have not been forgotten. You might have summoned to this duty sons of Windsor better able to perform it, but none who could bring to his native State or native town, or to a service like this, a more loyal heart. Proud of the States which have given me a welcome and a home, of Massachu- setts first in letters and in the arts of mechanical industry, of New York first in commerce and in the vigorous application of wealth to national growth and expansion, I am prouder still of these interior hills and valleys, where if there are fewer instances of distinguished culture there is an unsurpassed general intelligence, and where if commerce has given no great towns and abounding wealth, plenty bas diffused more widely the quiet and satisfactory gifts of compe- tence and contentment, - a region where a state of society prevails in which man is of more account than the accidents of his condi- tion, and from which are forever issuing intellects and hearts which exalt and adorn our national life. Let this devotion be my plea for your attention, and the shelter beneath which I may ask the forbear- ance of your criticism.
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It will not be expected that I should occupy the portion of time allotted to me in presenting to you a history of the town, or even in gatliering up its leading historical incidents. My task, less honorable than this, must be more general and comprehensive. I must seek rather the conditions under which the character of the earlier inhabitants was formed, and by which the changes of a century have been determined. I should be glad, likewise, to suggest some of the problems of society which we commit to the solution of those who shall follow us at the distance of another hundred years. I must, however, leave these problems rather to sug- gest themselves. I think it will appear that the settlement of this town was coeval with the dawn of a new historical period, -that local circumstances and the circumstances of the world favored the development of lofty impulses and the performance of noble deeds, and that the celebration of the virtues of our ancestors, due to a grateful appreciation of their character, may well become to us a stimulus to social, patriotic and religious duty.
Character is the sum of internal forces and of outward conditions. Given a New England people of the middle of the eighteenth cer .- tury, setting northward from Massachusetts and Connecticut to find homes in the wilds of Vermont, the question is, what were the condi-
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tions which surrounded them, determining the character, and there- fore the destiny of themselves and their children ? I cannot pause to dwell on the hardships which they encountered, in felling forests, in rearing their humble dwellings, and in cultivating their stubborn fields, hardships which enured them to self-reliance, and developed the power of determined will and work. Man does not find the only or the chief aliments of his life in the narrow sphere of mere per- sonal experience and interests. He is a social and political being, moulded and swayed by the thoughts which fill the minds of great masses of men, of communities and of nations. ' Let us discover if we can what it was which thus filled the minds of our ancestors, what the topics which they discussed at their firesides and their public gatherings, and so find the springs and the power of their personal and social life.
Bear in mind then, first, that the settlement of this town was among the first fruits of the Peace of 1763. It was but a small event to stand in such a relation, but the relation was real. That the soldiers of the Colonies, returning from their campaigns on the Lakes and in Canada, had threaded their way through valleys of surpassing luxuriance and beauty, turning the footsteps of thou- sands to these regions as to a land of promise, is but the most super- ficial explanation of the settlement of Vermont. . The grander and more influential consideration was that the French were conquer- ed and expelled, and that the day of growth and expansion, waited for, longed for, hoped for, had dawned at last. Previous to the peace of 1763 the English population of America scarcely ventured beyond hearing of the roar of the ocean. Taken captive or massa- cred at Haverhill, at Deerfield, at Schenectady, on the Susquehan- na, on the Monongahela, on the Potomac, they lived in perpetual apprehension of the French and their savage allies, who pressed them to the narrow limits of the coast, and almost to the shelter of their maritime towns and ships of war. Every attempt of the English to force their way through the terrible barrier had hither- to failed, and even the war now gloriously ended, had begun in dis- asters which threatened to make this struggle as fruitless as all which had gone before it. To the well-founded view of the colo- nists, it was a struggle for liberty and life, for the freedom of Protestant worship against Catholic domination. It aroused every sentiment of loyalty, of patriotism, and of religion, and, though entered upon and conducted with faint conceptions of the vastness
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of the stake, it exalted a whole people to loftier thoughts and an intenser life. Its successful close had transcended all hope, French authority was extirpated, and a continent opened to the occupation of the English race. Such a war, so closed, heralded and determin- ed the settlement of this town. The first great expansion of the New England population outward, was in the direction of Vermont. When Capt. Steele Smith reached Windsor in 1764, more than one hundred towns within the present limits of this State had been chartered since the fall of Quebec in 1750. The men who settled Vermont had been participants in that great and decisive contest ; - they had shared in its perils and in its renown ; - its recollections and its motives filled their minds as an inspiration, and became the incitement and the power of their actions. Its long continuance, its doubtful conjunctures, and its more than magnificent close, hardened their sinews to any achievement, and filled them with that lofty confidence which is the precursor of success.
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