USA > Vermont > Rutland County > The history of Rutland county, Vermont; civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military, pt 2 > Part 34
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RUTLAND.
RUTLAND. CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
1770. RUTLAND 1870.
Centennial Celebration of the Settlement of Rutland, Vt., October 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th, 1870, including the Addresses, Historical Papers, Poems. Responses at the Dinner Table, etc. Compiled by Chauncey K. Wil- liams. Rutland: Tuttle & Co., Printers, 1870.
OFFICERS OF THE CELEBRATION.
William Y. Ripley, President; Vice-Presi- dents, John B. Page, Francis Slason, John Cain, Luther Daniels, James Mc Connell, H. Henry Baxter, John Prout, Edwin Edgerton, Thomas T. Ormsbee, Lorenzo Sheldon, James Barrett, Charles Clement, Azor Capron, Wil- liam Y. W. Ripley ; Chauncy K. Williams, Recording Secretary ; Henry Hall, Correg- ponding Secretary ; Henry F. Field, Treas- urer ; Edward H. Ripley, Chief Marshal ; Levi G. Kingsley, John A. Salsbury, R. M. Cross, Assistant Marshals.
In the month of July, 1870, by notice, signed by several citizens and published in the Rutland Daily Herald, a meeting was called, which was largely attended and re- sulted in the determination to celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of the settlement of Rutland and in the choice of a Committee of arrangements.
This Committee organized by the election of William Y. Ripley, Chairman, Chauncy K. Williams, Recording Secretary, and Henry Hall, Corresponding Secretary, and appointed from their own number an Executive Com- mittee of thirteen, to whom they committed all the details of the celebration.
The Executive Committee consisted of Wil- liam Y. Ripley, President; Chauncy K. Wil- liams, Recording Secretary ; Henry Hall, Corresponding Secretary ; John Cain, Lorenzo Sheldon, Ben K. Chase, Horace H. Dyer, John M. Hall, Levi G Kingsley, George C. Hathaway, Henry R. Dyer, William Gil- more, and William Y. W. Ripley.
The following circular was issued by the General Committee, and by the Sub-Com- mittee of Reception and Invitation.
RUTLAND CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
To the former Residents of Rutland, Vt., and their descendants :
You are hereby cordially invited to attend and participate in the celebration of the ceu- tennial anniversary of the first settlement of | Psalm cxxii.
Rutland, to be held the 24, 3d, 4th and 5th days of October next. The order of exer- cises will be substantially as follows, viz.
Sunday Evening, Oct. 2d .- Sermon by the Rev. John Todd, D. D., of Pittsfield Mass., with appropriate music.
Monday Oct. 3d .- Reception of Guests.
In the evening, Old Folks' Concert, at the Opera Hall, in ancient costume, with ancient music, vocal and instrumental.
Tuesday Oct. 4th-Visit to the Quarries and other places of interest.
In the evening, Address by Henry Hall. Subject : "The Early History of Rutland." Address by Chauncy K. Williams. Subject : " The Ecclesiastical History of Rutland."
Wednesday Oct. 5th .- Forenoon. Proces- sion. Oration by Rev. James Davie Butler, LL. D., of Madison, Wisconsin. Poem by Mrs. Julia C. R. Dorr. Dinner in the pavil- ion.
Afternoon-Toasts, responses, addresses, anecdotes, biographies, etc.
Evening-Fireworks, Promenade Concert. It is desirable to know if your attendance is probable. Ancient documents and relics gladly received.
WILLIAM Y. RIPLEY, President. CHAUNCY K. WILLIAMS, Rec. Sec. HENRY HALL, Cor. Sec.
FIRST DAY.
The opening services connected with the Centennial Celebration of the settlement of Rutland took place at the Congregational Church, Sunday evening, Oct. 2, 1870. At an early hour the people began to assemble from all sections of the town, and from the neighboring towns, until the Church was filled long before the services commenced. At least 1500 persons were seated in the au- dience room. In the arch, in the rear of the pulpit, were the figures 1770-1870, wrought in evergreens. The former, trimmed with stars of white, emblematic of the past, and the latter with stars of red, emblematic of the active present. On the table, in front, were beautiful bouquets; others were distri- buted about the desk, and rare plants deco- rated the pulpit, giving an agreeable and cheerful appearance. Among these was par- ticularly noticeable a "Century Plant," & beautiful reminder of the Century the com- pletion of which was to be commemorated.
At 7} o'clock the services commenced with the rendering of a voluntary by the choir, accompanied by the children occupying the balcony, near to the orchestra.
Rev. James Davie Butler, I.L. D., of Mad- ison, Wisconsin, a native of the town, read
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" I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem."
The hymn was sung : " Lift up your heads eternal gates !" &c.
Prayer was offered by Rev. Aldace Walker, D. D., of Wallingford, formerly for many years the honored pastor of the Congregation- al Church in the West parish, and the hymn sung "Come sound his praise abroad," &c.
The venerable Rev. John Todd., D. D., of Pittsfield, Mass., native of Rutland, then delivered an eloquent discourse.
EXTRACTS FROM DR. TODD'S SERMON.
You are aware, my friends, that your beautiful town, lying under the shadows of the Green Mountains, far above the tide waters-now just one hundred years old- famed for its beautiful scenery-the quiet home of intelligence, refinement, and all that makes life pleasant, is destined very fast to lose its old appearance and change its charac- 'er. Enterprise has pushed business into it ; has been sleeping under your fields, 2 ; only for skill and labor to come with
: llet and the chisel and awaken it into
---
" want to take this occasion, of the birth wir, of the town, to recall to your minds the gospel has, through this and simuar towns, done for the world, and lead your thoughts to look on the fact that here is a Christian mountain town, which, for one century, has been throwing out its in- fluence-one town among the hundreds of similar ones in New England. I invite your thoughts to the sacred words, " The moun- tains shall bring peace to the people." * *
every particle of the hard rock which the lichen gnaws out, rolls down to fertilize the land; that the mountains are the physical sources of peace, the barriers of invasion from hostile armies, and thus bring " peace to the people;" and we know they are sources of peace in a moral sense, in that the human mind cannot but feel the effects of their lofty grandeur,-the passions hushed in their soli- tudes and silence. The last people with whom you would want to measure physical strength, or meet in battle, would be men who, from infancy, have breathed the moun- tain air. And in the intellectual and moral battles of life, they fall behind none. * *
But our text looks to something higher yet. The mountains where the Prophet saw, were gilded by the light of the latter day, and they became ennobled as does everything which the light touches. * * *
The tendency of the Gospel is to raise and dignify small things, so that the little chest, called the ark, shall be held in everlasting remembrance-so that the soiled and weary feet coming over the mountains to bring peace, shall " be beautiful"-so that a cross of wood shall be more honored than all the carvings of art-se that the volume contain- ing God's words shall be the book of the hu- man race. You will not then deem me per- verting that text, if I lead your minds at this time to consider the blessings which the Gospel conveys to the world by and through a single mountain town.
Many of our New England towns are one hundred years old at least. Many of our western towns are fifty years old-others not half of that ; but the time will come, when all this will be called the early history of our country, and all these cities and villages will seem to have been built at the same time, and the whole country settled together. What are a few centuries in a nation's life ?
Go back a century-when the white man plunged tremblingly into the forest, and came to the spot where the beautiful town now stands. His first object is to find a spring of water-near which he is to erect his little log cabin. There are no roads but the trail of the Indian. There are no neighbors-no for- ests yet cut down, no fields sown, no mills to grind his food or saw his lumber ; no trading post where he may relieve a want ; no phy- sician when he is sick ; no school for his child ;
Men have always loved mountains. Per- haps the reason is to be found in our natural love for what is grand, mysterious, solitary and unknown. We all know that there is no rank vegetation on their sides to decay, and, therefore, the air that plays around their tops is pure; that the streams that come from their heights, tinkling like the sound of golden balls in a silver cup, are so clear that they remind us of the river of life ; that the little lakes and reservoirs hid in the recesses of the mountains are the head-waters of fertility and beauty, as they grow into rivers ; that I no property by which he can supply his ne-
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cessities. When he buries his dead, Scores of towns feel the influence, and while he himself must make the coffin, dig his grave, they may envy you, are very sure to imi- tate you. . and without a bell to toll or a minister to offer a prayer, he must bury the dead under It is in these mountain towns that we look for strength, for defenders, when it is neces- sary to appeal to arms, and for defenders of education, morals, religion, and all that beau- tifies humanity. These are the best speci- mens of republicanism we have, and these are the true models of republics; and on these the great Republic of the world rests. * * * * * * the tall tree. The pioneer must struggle with poverty, take nature in the rough, let sun- shine into his house and heart by his own in- dustry and struggles. His food is the plain- est, his dress is the simplest, his home the most humble, and the only thing that cheers him is hope that his children will reap the benefit of all this self-denial. But the poor man brought his Bible with him, his educa- Another way by which "the mountains bring peace to the people," is by the men who are educated in these towns, and then emigrate all over the land and the world. . . tion with him, his shrewdness with him, and his brawny arm and cheerful courage. He must live and die poor. But the light of the Gospel shines upon the first dwelling that is We may dig out the marble and the iron with which our hills are stored; we may send the products of our machinery and spin- dles even into the deserts of Africa ; we may lay the ends of the earth under contribution for what we make, but this is not the peace that " the mountains bring to the people." Our glory is the men that we raise, the char- acter we send forth, the influence that we diffuse, the power that we impress upon oth- er little communities all over our country, and, indeed, all over the world. * * * reared, and that becomes a controling power in all the future history of the town. Go there a century after this. That beginning has become a mighty power. The same old mountains lift themselves up there, but the forests are gone, the pleasant roads and bridges are all built, and a town, growing, thriving, prosperous, is there. The fields are under high culture, the meadows glow with beauty, and the town sits like a queen crown- ed with a wreath of beauty.
The Christian home now stands where the bear lay down a century ago. Property is power, and property is the daughter of in- dustry. The people own the land in fee- simple, and till it with free labor. . . By this time, the town is surrounded by a cor . don of similar towns. . One town acts upon another ; make an improvement in one, . and you electrify all that surround you. . Each town is a little Republic by itself, and the most perfect Re- public. in the world. Public sentiment set- tles everything, and these sister-towns act and re-act upon each other as diamonds are polished by diamonds.
Rear a beautiful church, or any other per- fect edifice here and you will have men come from all parts of the land to view the model. Raise up a skillful surgeon here, and his fame will be known over half the continent. Educate an eloquent preacher here, and hun- dreds of churches will be turning their eyes towards him. Manufacture any one perfect article here, and it will go over the world. ยท Make a model school, or strike out in any direction in that which is valuable to the world, and your town becomes a power.
They come down upon the people as rain upon the mown grass, in the form of educa- tors and teachers, physicians, merchants, and lawyers and judges, and legislators, and Sab- bath School teachers, and preachers of the gospel. * * *
My dear friends,-just seventy years ago, wanting one week, there was a male child born in your village. He was carried away in the arms of his father, while an infant ; he was, at a very early day, left an orphan -he has battled with poverty and difficul- ties; he early laid himself on he altar of God, to live for the good of humanity ; he has seen many sorrows, but more joys; he has labored in his poor way, and with such talents as God gave him with his might ; but, Oh ! the sheaves he has been permitted to lay at the feet of the Master have been too few ; the good he has accomplished has been too small ; the zeal with which he has toiled has been too cold ; but though he can bring you but a few withered leaves to-night, he is grateful for the privilege of greeting you in your high prosperity, rejoicing with you in what your town has done for humanity, and though on- ly claiming to be one of the humblest sons
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whom you have sent out, gives thanks to God for the honor which no other man can ever have-that of preaching the first Cen- tennial sermon that can ever be preached in Rutland.
The concluding prayer was offered by Rev. James Davie Butler, the hymn, " From all that dwell below the skies, &c.," read by Rev. James Gibson Johnson, pastor of the Congre- gational church, sung by choir and con- gregation, and the congregation dismissed with benediction by Rev. Dr. Todd.
SECOND DAY.
Long before the appointed hour of 8 o'clock, P. M., the Opera House was filled to hear the addresses of Henry Hall, Esq., on the " Early History of Rutland," and of Chauncy K. Williams, Esq., on the " Ecclesiastical History of Rutland." The band played ; and the president of the occasion, Wm. Y. Ripley, Esq., introduced Rev. B. M. Hall, who offer- ed a prayer.
The president said that, as his voice would be inaudible to most of the hearers, he had prepared a few words of welcome, and would have them read. Gen. W. Y. W. Ripley took the paper and read the address of welcome.
Ladies and Gentlemen : It has been thought fit on this the hundredth anniversary of the settlement of our good old town of Rutland, to celebrate the event by inviting all the na- tives and former residents who have gone out from among us, with their descendants and our other friends, to meet us on this occasion. We thank you for your presence. We wel- come you most cordially to our bearths and to our homes. We welcome you to the scenes of your former joys and your former trials. We welcome you to the banks of the Otter, to the shadows of Killington and Pico. We welcome you to the green hills of Vermont, and though you will witness many sad changes, and miss many of the old landmarks and the familiar faces of loved and dear friends, we trust you will find many changes for the better, and hope that on the recurrence of the second centennial anniversary of the settlement of our town your great-grandchil- dren's children may, with the blessing of a good Providence, meet our great-grandchil- dren's children under the folds of our na- tional banner, spangled with an hundred stars, with our constitution unimpaired, with just and equal laws honestly administered, citizens of the freest, the happiest and the best country on the globe. We again greet you with a hearty and a cordial welcome.
Henry Hall being introduced to the audi- ence, addressed them as follows :
THE EARLY HISTORY OF RUTLAND.
On the 2d day of July, 1776, the old Contin- ental Congress voted unanimously in favor of National Independence. John Adams, attrib. uting to this vote the importance which the world has since appropriated to the renowned Declaration of Independence, adopted, two days later, wrote to his wife, on the 3d day of July as follows :
"The 2d day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by , succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated by sol- emn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this contin- ent to the other, from this time forward forev- ermore."
This notable prophecy expresses the Anglo- Saxton idea of patriotic celebrations: first, gratitude to Heaven; next, jubilant joyous- ness. Our national character adds another fea- ture, viz. speechifying-sometimes spread-eagle bombast, sometimes commanding eloquence. Town anniversaries add two other features. viz. social family visiting and local historic sketches.
Rutland rejoices in a name illustrious with the ducal coronet-the highest rank of a sub- ject-a name that has for ages flashed along the page of history, in the drama, on the bat- tle-field, and in the councils of a great nation- a name that was time-honored before William the Conqueror crossed the English Channel.
Different governments, at different times, claimed the right to rule over our hills and val- leys. Once, ere Rutland was, the lilies of France floated supreme on Lake Champlain, asserting and exercising sovereignty over the soil watered by the tributaries of that Lake. For several years the early settlers of Rutland looked fondly to the Lion and the Unicorn as the banner of their pride : for several years these early settlers shared with England the honor of calling Shakspeare and Milton fellow- countrymen. For 13 years Rutland owned and rendered fealty and allegiance only to the ban- nered pine of Vermont. And when the Stars and Stripes, Hail Columbia and Yankee Doo- dle properly became a part of our inheritance, Rutland was 21 years old, and her population 1450.
During the old colonial wars, no white man dwelt within our borders. During our four great national wars, Rutland bore the banner
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of freedom full high uplifted against foreign foe and domestic traitor, on many a fierce field, from the walls of Quebec to the halls of Mon- tezuma.
Once Rutland was famous for its pipe-clay and linseed oil-to-day Rutland sends her mar- ble westward and southward beyond the grave of De Soto, and eastward to the land of Colum- bus and Galileo, of Raphael and Michael An- gelo. Rutland seems a young town; yet she has a newspaper that rivals the London Times in age. Rutland is the grave of the grandfa- ther of one of the nation's greatest thinkers, Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Rutland has been the home of eminent men : Nathaniel Chipman, one of the ablest lawyers and statesmen of New England; his brother Daniel, eminent as a lawyer. pre-eminent for con- versational power; John A. Graham, the first lawyer located in Rutland-half dandy. half humbug, yet with talent enough to attain no- toriety in England and eminence in New York -Jesse Bnel, the founder of the Albany Cul. tivator; Thomas Green Fessenden. the bearer to England of Rutland's great philosophical blunder. From a London prison he sent forth his Hudibrastic poem ; he founded the New England Farmer, and was the friend of Haw- thorne. John Mattocks, the unlearned but ca- pable and eccentric judge; Samuel Williams, the studious philosopher and dignified histori an; Gov. Israel Smith, so successful in life, so sad near death : Charles K. Williams, so able, so learned, so uncorruptible, so charming in conversation, so kind and wise a friend in council; James Davie Butler, the mechanic, the merchant, the scholar, the wit ; the great land- holder, the energetic, the enterprising Moses Strong, who, it is claimed, married a descend- ant of Cotton Mather; the shrewd and capable Robert Pierpoint, descended from a favorite of- ficer of William the Conqueror ; the very able Robert Temple, of the same family as Lord Palmerston-like Gen. Me Clellan, a descendant of Gov. Bradford of the Mayflower-also a de- scendant of the good Godiva, wife of the Mer- cian Earl Leofric, the Saxon king-maker, one thousand years ago; George T. Hodges, the cautious, successful merchant, polished in his manners and prudent in his habits; William Page, the diligent attorney, the safe and up- right cashier ; Walter Colton, the popular au- thor, the Herald to Christendom of the discov- ery of California gold; James Meacham, the lovable man, the eloquent preacher; Edgar L. Ormsbee, brilliant with thought, the pioneer of
marble and railroad enterprise ; Solomon Foot, the prosperous politician, the president of con- ventions and senates : James Porter, the good physician ; Jesse Gove, the gentlemanly and genial clerk; Rodney C. Royce, the popular young lawyer ; Gershom Clreney, John Rug- gles, Edward Dyer, Avery Billings, Samuel Griggs. Benjamin Blanchard, the Meads. Chat- tertons, Reynolds, Purdys, Sheldons, Smiths, Reeds, Mc Connells, Barnes, Greens, Kelleys. Thralls, William Fay, Charles Burt, Benjamin Lord, Nichols Goddard, Nathan Osgood, Os- goods, Greenos, Parmers, and hosts of other noble citizens.
Nearly a century and a half ago, Rutland was the focus of Indian travel. Otter Creek to the north, Otter Creek to the south, Castle- ton River to the west, Cold River to the east, indicate the most convenient routes for travel or freight from Lake Champlain to Fort Dum- mer. Massachusetts sold her goods at Fort Dummer cheaper than the French sold in Can. ada ; hence a brisk trade across our State. In 1730 James Coss and 12 Caughnawara Indians arrived here in 7 days from Fort Dummer, com. ing by way of Black River, Plymouth Ponds and Cold River. They reach Otter Creek Sun !- day evening, May 3, 1730. Monday they made canoes. They were thus employed, when a squaw, left behind the day before, rejoined them with a newly born papoose on her back. Tuesday it rained. Wednesday they rowed 35 miles down Otter Creek. Coss' journal men- tions the two falls in this town, without com- ment. He calls Otter Creek black and deep, and praises the soil. Probably this was not the first visit of a white man to Rutland; for. in King Williams' wars soldiers passed from Mas- sachusetts to the Lake; but it is the first where we are able to identify the man and the time.
The French and Indian wars sweep the In- dian trade of Massachusetts out of existence. And now, instead of canoes laden with furs. tallow and goods, the war paint, tomahawks, scalping-knives, muskets, swords, British and French uniforms gleam through the foliage. all along our borders, from the roaring Winooski to the swift rushing, arrowy Wantastiquet. In- dian raid and English scout pass and repass the mountain gorges.
In 1748 sixty scouts came over from Black River-forty go down Otter Creek on the east side, and soon repass the mountains; twenty go north on the west side of Otter Creek. im- prudently expose themselves to the enemy at
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Crown Point, are swiftly pursued up Otter Creek, and down West River, and when thrown off their guard by being near home, they are ter- ribly defeated in Windham county.
Many a poor captive passes through our town to suffer for years in Canada. How ab- sorbing is our interest in the trials and hard- ships endured by the captives, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Howe! The grandfather of President Labaree was a fellow-captive with Mrs. John- son. This party dined in Rutland, at the junc- tion of East and Otter Creeks-the principal diet being sausages made of bear's meat.
In the year 1759 Rutland saw brave sights : 800 New Hampshire troops, with axe, shovel and hoe, cutting down trees and leveling hum- mocks, making a road from Charlestown, N. H., along Black River and Otter Creek, to Crown Point, N. Y.,-crossing Otter Creek at Centre Rutland-soon after 400 fat cattle, in five tired, on the suicide of his monarch, to the droves, going over this new road to diminish Welsh mountains. I have seen the original record of this survey, on one half sheet of fools- cap-over one hundred surveys, with points of compass. distances, currents, rapids, falls, afflu- ents and islands. His survey or measurement made Centre Rutland Fall 26 feet, and the Sutherland Fall 150 feet (the latter now estim- ated at 118 feet.) the scurvy at Crown Point. Toward the last of November came Major Rogers and his sur- viving heroes, nearly 100 in number. They had been absent from Crown Point 2 months ; they had destroyed that great pest to New England, the Indian village of St. Francis, on the St. Lawrence, near Three Rivers; they had been pursued by superior numbers, shot at and starved; they had recruited at Charles- town, and now were returning along the new military road to Crown Point, the headquarters of Gen. Amherst.
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