CINTBNNIU CUBBKITION 
 
 WALDOBORO* 
 1873. 
 
THE 
 
 dei\tei\i\ikl delebfktion 
 
 
 MAINE. 
 
 JULY 4, 1873. 
 
 Published by Geoi^e Bliss. 
 
 BANGOR: 
 BENJ. A. BURR, PRINTER. 
 
 1873. Gk-'^ ■ 
 

PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 The act of incorporation of what is now the town of 
 Waldoboro', was granted by the General Court of Massa- 
 chusetts, on June 39th, i773* 
 
 It was suggested by some of our wide awake and pub- 
 lic spirited citizens that the one hundredth anniversai'y of 
 the incorporation of the town should receive a proper ob- 
 servance. Accordingly a public meeting was held at 
 Union Hall, and it was then and there decided to have a 
 Centennial Celebration, and a committee was chosen to 
 perfect all the necessary arrangements for accomplishing 
 this purpose. As the 29th of June occurred on Sunday, 
 it was decided to have the Ceremonies held on July 4th. 
 
 The following committees were nominated, to whose 
 untiring labor are we indebted for the Complete success 
 that crowned their eftbrts. 
 
 Upon General Management : — Rev. A. J. McLeod, 
 Henry A. Kennedy, Henry Farrington, E. R. Benner, 
 S. L. Miller, L. P. Haskell, George Bliss. 
 
 Upon Finances : — Henry Farrington, S. W. Jackson, 
 E. R. Benner, H. A. Kennedy. 
 
 Upon Subscriptions : — S. L. Miller, L. P. Haskell, 
 George Bliss, E. R. Benner. 
 
 Upon Correspondence, Invitations, and Address : 
 — Geoi-ge Bliss, Rev. A. J. McLeod. 
 
 Upon Music : — S. W. Jackson, Newell Winslow, 
 Mrs. Mary D. Clark. 
 
Upon Dinner: — Mrs. Benj. Roberts, Mrs. Geo. W. 
 Caldwell, Mrs. Ann Chapman, Mrs. George W. Young, 
 Mrs. Henry Farrington, Mrs. John Richards, Mrs. J. H. 
 Stanwood, Mrs. B. C. Mayo, Mrs. Horace Flanders, Mrs. 
 Milton Mclntyre, Mrs. William Welt, Mrs. Ward Adams. 
 
 Upon Procession : — -John Richards, L. P. Haskell, E. 
 R. Benner, Edwin O. Clark, Herman Kopperholdt, Jr., 
 George W. Sproul, S. L. Miller, Almore Kennedy. 
 
 Upon Decorations and Mottoes : — Mrs. Alden 
 Jackson, Miss Celeste Clark. 
 
 Upon Grove : — Henry A. Kennedy, Henry Farring- 
 ton, E. R. Benner. 
 
 Upon Fireworks : — L. P. Haskell. 
 
 Col. A. W. Bradbury, of Portland, consented to deliver 
 an Oration. Mrs. Ella A. Oakes, very kindly, furnished 
 the Centennial Hymn. 
 
 Smouses' Grove, on Main street, near the residence of 
 John A. Benner, was selected as the place for the Public 
 Services. A large stand was erected, and spacious tables 
 were built for the accommodation of all the invited guests. 
 Through the liberality of the good people of Waldoboro', 
 noted for their hospitalit}^, the tables were bountifully 
 laden with " good things " for the inner man. 
 
 In addition to a general request that all citizens and 
 former residents should be present upon that day and 
 take part in its festivities, the following invitation was 
 sent to all citizens above the age of 70, and to all absentees 
 whose names were furnished the Secretary, and from 
 many thus invited, letters were received breathing good 
 wishes for the success of the celebration, and the long 
 continued welfare of the town : 
 
5 
 
 (Form of Invitation.) 
 BROAD BAY PLANTATION, 1773 - - - - WALDOBORO', 1873. 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 ^ COMPLIMENTARY. 
 
 Waldoboro', June 36, 1S73. 
 
 To 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 The citizens of Waldoboro' will celebrate the one hun- 
 dredth anniversary of the incorporation of the Town, 
 July 4th, 1S73. Your presence, as one of the aged and 
 honored citizens of the town, is requested.' Conveyance 
 in the procession and entertainment at the Grove will be 
 furnished by the Committee. 
 
 If you accept, please notify me, and report at the Bap- 
 tist Vestry by 10 o'clock, morning of the 4th. 
 
 GEORGE BLISS, 
 
 Secretary of Committee. 
 
 The Waldoboro' Cornet Band, and Goshen Band were 
 engaged for the occasion. 
 
 The Thomaston Fire Companies accepted an Invitation 
 to join in the procession and brought with them the Dam- 
 arlscotta Cornet Band. Perhaps it would not be amiss in 
 this connection to express our high appreciation of the 
 character of the respective Engine Companies from Thom- 
 aston, who, both by their excellent deportment as visitors 
 at our Celebration, and as heroic firemen at the scene of 
 conflagration on the Centennial Day, won universal 
 respect and commendation. 
 
 The Committee on the Procession met with complete 
 
6 
 
 success in all of their arrangements. The very full ac- 
 count in the succeeding pages show how well they merit 
 the praise awarded them for their efficient services. Their 
 arrangements were admirable and the Military experience 
 of the Marshals enabled them to manoeuvre and march 
 their long lines promptly and without confusion. 
 
 At the request of the Committee the Superintendent of 
 the Knox & Lincoln Railroad granted half fare tickets, 
 thereby enabling thousands along the line of the road to 
 enjoy the festivities of the dav. 
 
 The Committee on Fire Works made every preparation 
 for a brilliant display, and had it not been for the violent 
 shower, their eftbi'ts would have been highly successful. 
 
 The difterent committees and citizens generally, labored 
 zealously to make the occasion one long to be remembered, 
 and to prepare a fitting reception for the invited guests, 
 sparing no pains to make the Celebration worthy of them- 
 selves and a credit to the place. 
 
 Their labors were crowned with success, and Waldo- 
 boro' and her guests had every reason to be satisfied 
 with her first Centennial Celebration. 
 
 As before stated, the anniversary occurred on Sunday, 
 June 29, 1S73, and the Rev. A.J. McLeod, Pastor of the 
 1st Congregational Church, deemed it highly appropriate 
 to the occasion to preach a sermon commemorative of 
 
 this event. 
 
 He decided to hold the services in the German Lutheran 
 
 Church, a building erected one hundred years ago and 
 now in good state of preservation. This Church was 
 filled to repletion, and large numbers were outside unable 
 to gain admittance. Rev. John Collins, Pastor of the 
 Methodist Church, assisted in the exercises. 
 
 As the Sermon contains much that is interesting, by 
 permission of Mr. McLeod I herewith publish it in full. 
 
CENTENNIAL SERMON. 
 
 BY REV. A. J. MCLEOD, 
 
 Pastor of the 1st Congregational Church, Waldobnro\ 
 Zechariah, 1st chap., 5tli verse: Your fathers, ivhere are they? 
 
 When I received the May number of our valuable and 
 most welcome visitor, " The Monthly News," I noticed 
 there an article stating that this day, the 29th of June, was 
 the Centennial of this town. And as is my custom I im- 
 mediately looked at the Calendar, and ascertained the fact, 
 that Commemoration Day would come on Sunday. I 
 then thought it might not be amiss to preach a sermon or 
 lecture on that occasion, believing that it would not be 
 time vmprofitably spent in calling to mind what little can 
 be gathered of the past. As my residence among you 
 has been short, and as there has but little been written of 
 the history of this town, it cannot be expected that I will 
 bring before you much, if anything, that is new. I am 
 largely indebted to our Monthly News, Church Records, 
 and one or two individuals, for what information I have 
 obtained. The prophecy of Zechariah from which my 
 text is taken, has reference to the re-building of the temple, 
 and their returning to worship in the Mount as did their 
 Fathers, and in consequence of his forcible representa- 
 tions, the building of the temple was resumed with re- 
 kindled zeal, and in it, " In the fulness of time appeared 
 the Desire of all Nations, " — and our prayer is, that from 
 what may be said this afternoon, there maybe a re-kindling 
 of zeal in tKe cause of our Redeemer, and a returning to 
 
8 
 
 the house of God. If not in this sanctuary, rendered 
 sacred by the feet of those holy men of God, who, with 
 untiring zeal, have marched with steady steps to their 
 home above, to the other Sanctuaries in this village, 
 where Sabbath after Sabbath, month after month, and year 
 year after, the truths as they are in Jesus are proclaimed. 
 I purpose accommodating the words of the text to the 
 present occasion, and shall suppose them to have direct 
 reference to this people, and to our fathers. If by so do- 
 ing I can awaken in the hearts of the people, the same 
 spirit our fathers exhibited, I shall consider my labor not 
 in vain. It cannot be expected that much can be given of 
 the history of one hundred years in one short sermon. 
 The most that can be done is simply glance at the past. 
 
 During the reign of George II, King of England, Gen. 
 Waldo, a native of England, who for some time had been 
 doing business in Boston, Mass., returned to his native 
 country, commissioned for the purpose of settling the dif- 
 ficulty which had arisen out of the patent granted John 
 Beauchamp and Thomas Leverett. He succeeded in so 
 doing. And as many in our day, so managed the affairs, 
 as to make the cost cover the patent, and in due time 
 obtained a title to the whole region known as Muscongus 
 Patent, his object then was to increase the value of his 
 land, and so held out sufficient inducement for forty Ger- 
 man families to leave their native shore, brave the perils 
 of the sea, in order that they might enter anew upon life 
 with higher hopes and richer expectations. They were 
 led to believe that they were leaving a land desolate, with 
 but few attachments, for one beyond even the grasp of 
 imagination. But what sad disappointments lay stretched 
 out before them. In the place of a large and populous 
 city — a dense wilderness ; in place of fields waving with 
 
corn, rocks of whose rough and hard crests, nothing they 
 then possessed could penetrate ; in phice of civiHzation 
 and culture. Savages seeking day by day for the poor inno- 
 cent and defenceless White man, in order that he might 
 fall upon them as birds of prey. When I think of the 
 imposition practiced upon these noble and true patriots, 
 the land promised them, though a wilderness, but which 
 they never received, and other things I might name, and 
 all that for personal aggrandizement, I cannot for one 
 moment doubt the doctrine of total depravity. 
 
 But hardships greater, and trials more difficult to bear 
 were yet in store for them. In 1746 this little band, after 
 suffering the hardships of winter, and erecting homes for 
 their wives and little ones, was attacked by the Indians, 
 who, as wild beasts had been prowling around their dwell- 
 ings, killing and carrying them nearly, if not all away. 
 But Waldo had too much at stake to be discouraged by 
 savages, and therefore, in 1748, obtained consent of some 
 twenty or thirty more German families to settle upon these 
 barren lands. And it is of these we are to speak, as they 
 are our ancestors. From these sprung our honoretl and 
 highly respected Conrad Heyer, who for so many years 
 listened to the truths as they are in Jesus, from this sacred 
 desk, who Sabbath after Sabbath, was found in his place 
 in yonder gallery, singing praises to his Redeemer in his 
 mother tongue, and laying by in store a good hope against 
 the day of his death. I think I can almost see the old 
 man, as he stood with his eyes heavenward, and with no 
 thought in his mind save that which would meet with the 
 approbation of his Master. And then, after living to an 
 age to which no other native born has ever arrived, to pass 
 gently down with a smile of resignation and joy upon his 
 countenance, bidding farewell to all below, and entering 
 
10 
 
 through tlie gate into the eternal City. And to-day, from 
 his high seat above, he lools:s down upon us as assembled 
 here, and rejoices anew in the blood of Christ, because 
 through that blood he has been washed from all his sins, 
 and made pure and fit for the heavenly Canaan, where 
 there is no going out, but a continual meeting of those 
 with whom he took sweet counsel, and associated here 
 below. 
 
 In 1753, Gen. Waldo's son visited Germany, for the 
 purpose of inducing others to come thither. The induce- 
 ments held out by him, like those of his father, were of a 
 sufficient nature to give impetus to some sixty families 
 more to leave their homes, and cast their lot on this " rough 
 and rock bound coast." Arriving as they did in the 
 month of September, they soon found themselves face to 
 face with one of our rough and hard winters. It is un- 
 necessary for me to portray their sutler ings, as you all 
 have of late read the heart rending account in our jour- 
 nal. After passing as they did through the trials of per- 
 secution in their German home for the religion of Christ, 
 and many, doubtless, of their fathers, fell for the cause of 
 truth and right, (for it is to be remembered those vv^ho 
 came to this country were followers of Luther and Zwin- 
 gle,) they must encounter here the same opposers of 
 truth. The Frencli Catholics, the meanest of Creation, 
 induced the Indians with whom they had things in com- 
 mon, and to ivhom they rightly belonged, to fall upon 
 these defenseless colonists, and the tomahawk and scalp- 
 ing knife were long wet with the crimson blood of the 
 slain. 
 
 In 1763 peace shed its quickening beams over these 
 "cast down, but not destro3'ed " colonists. But again 
 trouble was in store for them. Scarcely had they had 
 
11 
 
 time to dream of their once happy days, when the sun 
 went tranquilly down, when their right and title to the 
 little spot of land Waldo had given them, was disputed. 
 This avaricious man, as far as 1 am capable of learning, 
 believed at this time that he was owner of half of Maine, 
 and had a right to make a sheep-pasture of the other half. 
 But there were other men in the world at this time, and 
 they had a claim ; therefore Waldo's right to this portion 
 of New England was disputed, and by Massachusetts Leg- 
 islature its true boundaries fixed. On account of this, many 
 to whom Gen. Waldo had deeded land, had no legal claim, 
 ixud therefore their right was gone. The spot of land 
 they believed to be theirs and over which they had toiled, 
 and with the sweat of their brow endeavored to earn their 
 daily bread, now seemed to be taken from them. 
 
 In this troubled and perplexing state, these true hearted 
 men purchased their lands anew. And now another 
 must put in his claim, and so again they found themselves 
 in trouble, and so I might go on and show you in many 
 and various ways how the golden rule was violated 
 in reference to these early settlers. At last they could 
 bear it no longei", and so many of these colonists sold 
 what right they had to the land and left for the south. 
 Injured, oppressed, they could hold out no longer, and 
 therefore " shook off the dust of their feet as a testimony 
 against them." Oppression never meets with the smile 
 of heaven ; accordingly. Gen, Waldo, like Nebuchad- 
 nezzar of old, when surveying his possessions, was struck 
 with apoplexy and died immediately. 
 
 I have already said these colonists were true men, for 
 during the revolutionary struggle they stood out boldly for 
 liberty. Not a groan was borne along on the breeze from 
 this colony during that struggle, but with heart and hand 
 
12 
 
 united, with the roar of the cannon on either side, with 
 sword gleaming in sunhght, ready to drink their blood, 
 yet firmly they stood, resolved for fi-eedom, and with their 
 efforts combined with others it was accomplished. And 
 these are the men who were persecuted on every hand.* 
 These are the men \Yho had not where to lay their heads. 
 These are the men whose wives and children were obliged 
 to serve as slaves for the purpose of enriching the coffers 
 of others. 
 
 As vet I have said nothing as to the religion of this peo- 
 ple. Among them we find the followers of Luther and 
 Zwingle, the two great German reformers. They did not 
 come thither like our Pilgrim fathers, for the purpose of 
 worshipping God, but rather for increasing their 
 worldly goods. But no inducement held out could have 
 an influence until provisions had been made for the 
 preaching of the Gospel. But this, like all the other prom- 
 ises, was broken ; but their trust in God through Christ 
 could not be broken, and so they assembled vSabbath after 
 Sabbath for the worship of Jehovah, choosing John Ul- 
 mer as their leader. Out of their scanty means they 
 erected a house of worship, and in 1763 the house was 
 dedicated. Methinks I can almost see these servants of 
 God as they assembled at this house for the first time, to 
 hear the truths as they are in Jesus. How earnestly they 
 gaze at the preacher. How eagerly they catch the truth. 
 How comforting the thought as it reaches the heart of 
 these poor, heavy laden souls. " Come unto me, all ye 
 that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek 
 and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." 
 The return of spring, after the hardest and most dismal 
 winter they spent on this rugged coast, was not half so 
 
13 
 
 gratefully received as was the sound of the gospel ia this 
 new log-church. Although their Minister did not 
 prove true, yet God often brings good out of evil. But 
 I must pass on. 
 
 In 1773 the inhabitants of this plantation, then known 
 as Broad Bay, had so increased by emigrants from Ger- 
 many, and the descendants of the Pilgrims, that it was 
 thought best to incorporate it into a' town. Accordinglv, 
 June 29th, 1873, by an act of the Massachusetts legisla- 
 ture, their request was granted, and the town incorporated 
 by the name of Waldoborough ; and in the church held 
 dear by the people, the tirst town meeting assembled. 
 
 It is in honor of the act of the incorporation of this 
 town, that we have assembled here to-day, and for the pur- 
 pose of reviewing the past century. I purpose dividing 
 this century into decades, and shall simply call to vour 
 mind some of the more important events. The first dec- 
 ade is fraught with consequences of the most vital impor- 
 tance to this town, and to the whole republic. 
 
 The Revolutionary war, that great struggle for liberty. 
 I need but remind you of Lexington, April 19, 1775, when 
 the mist which for a long time had been hanging over this 
 country was lifted, and the great struggle was in full view. 
 Probably the youngest present is acquainted with it. The 
 cause of right and liberty was then at issue, and God 
 from his high seat, above looked down and smiled with 
 complacency, and the victory was ours. And where were 
 the oppressed inhabitants of this town ? They could not 
 be found in the companies reserved, neitht-r could they be 
 seen in the supernumerary rank ; but as men. filled with 
 the spirit of right, fired with love for their adopted country, 
 they were to be seen foremost in the rank. And at the 
 sound of the bugle, and the beat of the drum, forward 
 
14 
 
 they marched with firm and stead}' step^ until the goal 
 they reached ; and the banners they flung to the breeze, 
 and the shout of victory which went up on the air has 
 coursed its way to the remotest parts of om- world, and 
 nations have already arisen, and nations will yet be born 
 to bless our Independence Day. 
 
 During this decade nothing of interest appears in the; 
 church ; a death-like sleep seems to pervade it, and Zion 
 had occasion to '• hang her harps on the willows and 
 mourn because so few come to her solmen feasts," and all 
 through the so-called minister. The next decade enters 
 comparatively with a calm. Ship-building seemed to be 
 advancing, and a prosperous village was rearing itself on 
 both sides of the river ; nature seemed to wear her loveli- 
 est dress, and all appeared joyous and happy. But the 
 little Zion was not yet out of the wilderness. And here 
 I ought to say what needs to be said somewhere, — that 
 this people had erected another house of worship, on the 
 opposite side of the river — -whether they had abandoned 
 their first chuixh or not I do not know. 
 
 The date of the erection of this building is not known, 
 but probably not far from the Incorporation of the town. 
 There seems also to have been a change of pastors. Mr. 
 Croner ministered to them four yearrs, but his life was of 
 such a nature that the Redeemer's cause could gather no 
 life from him, and therefore remained in the same lethargic 
 state. But the third decade presents new life for this 
 persecuted and oft deceived people. Providence often 
 tries us. Christ tested the sincerity of the Syrophenician 
 woman, and then granted her request ; so he tested this 
 people, and then gave them the desire of their hearts. 
 But before speaking of the Rev. F. A. R. B. Ritz, I wish 
 to call your attention to the house in which we are assem- 
 
15 
 
 bled to-day. Somewhere during the close of the last and 
 the beginning of this decade, the church deemed it best 
 to have a more central place of worship. Accordingly 
 they took down the building erected on the East side of 
 the river, and removed it to the spot where we to-day have 
 assembled'; so while this building has not been here one 
 hundred years, yet its timbers and nails have been conse- 
 crated to God more than a century, and could we meet in 
 a more suitable place on this day.'' As I look upon these 
 walls to-day, I am carried back to the days when our fa- 
 thers suffered persecution. I think also of the processions 
 that have passed in and out of these portals ; the young, 
 the old, the gay, the beautiful, the care worn, the earth 
 weary. All our public buildings combined would not be- 
 gin to hold them. This altar, how many have come at 
 the three great epochs of life, the babe for baptism, the 
 youth for the bridal, the white haired man or woman for 
 the last sad rites upon earth. How many a saint in glory 
 took their first step heavenward within these consecrated 
 walls. Unseen worshipers conie flitting in and out of her 
 doors, a silent, ghostly number. On earth, in bodily pres- 
 ence, they are seen no more. And how soon will the 
 same be said of us all. Only in the second temple of the 
 New Jerusalem, shall congregations never break up. This 
 old Church stands here to-day a monument of her former 
 greatness. As one gazes on these straight back pews, on 
 the jaiL-like pulpit in which I find myself, .with its sound- 
 ing board suggesting the sword of Damocles suspended 
 by a single hair, and looking as if it might at any moment 
 topple over on the preacher's head ; I say all these things 
 carry us back to the days of our fathers, and my prayer is 
 that as long as nails will fasten wood together, although 
 the living truth may not statedly be heard witliin these 
 
16 
 
 walls, yet may she remain, and may those in whose care 
 she is intrusted ever feel it not only a duty, but a privilege 
 to bestow upon her the care necessary for her preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 I now come to the settlement of F. A. R. B. Ritz, who 
 upon the recommejidation of the Pennsylvania Synod, was 
 called to the pastorate of this Church in 179=^. He was 
 a man who had not only a liberal education, but had it 
 sanctified by the Spirit of the Redeemer. Unlike his 
 predecessors, he had the love of souls at heart. He deter- 
 mined to know nothing save "Jesus Christ and him cruci- 
 fied." The little flock, though long deceived, soon saw that 
 Gt)d had sent them a man after his own heart, and the 
 song of joy and gladness was now beginning to be sung. 
 Zion had not longer to mourn, and her harps were soon 
 taken down from the willows. The mourning was no 
 longer heard because so few came to her solemn feasts, 
 but Sabbath after Sabbath the courts of the Lord were 
 filled, and sinners were heard enquiring their way. Joy 
 was heard among the angels because sinners Were turn- 
 ing to God. The new Pastor's heart was encouraged, for 
 he saw that the people were hungering and thirsting after 
 the word of life. The next ten years presents some hard- 
 ships again for their Zion. The first eight are years of 
 growth and prosperity. The people are encouraged, the 
 town prosperous, and as far as the mind of man is capable of 
 determining, nothing but prosperity for the future, seemed 
 to await them. But in iSir their beloved Pastor was 
 taken from them bv death. This bereavement and disap- 
 pointment was sudden. They expected that he was to be 
 with them to the end, as is generally the case, l)ut God 
 works for his own glory, and they must submit to disap- 
 pointment. 
 
17 
 
 But while he is taken from them, his good life and acts 
 live on. And as we look at his life and Works we can 
 but say : 
 
 " Servant of God, well done ! 
 
 Rest from thy loved employ ; 
 The battle fought, the victory won, 
 Enter thy Master's joy." 
 
 But God, had not ordained to leave this flock without a 
 shepherd long, for the next year he sent them Rev. J. W. 
 Starman, with whom many of you were acquainted. In 
 this decade, also, the Congregational Church was formed, 
 1807, Aug. 6, and John R. Cutting was ordained and in^ 
 stalled pastor, Aug. 19th. " He remained its pastor five 
 years. During those years there seems to be little or no 
 growth in her, owing, doubtless, to the same cause which 
 crippled the growth of the early German Church. When 
 Mr. Cutting was ordained and installed, I am credibly 
 informed that the services were on a platform erected for 
 the occasion, on the ground now occupied by Mr. Augus- 
 tus Welts' house. The reason for so doing, I presume, 
 was on account of not having house room enough to ac- 
 commodate those who had assembled to witness the 
 ceremonies. 
 
 The next ten years opened with Mr. Starman as Pastor 
 of the Lutheran Church, and the Congregational pulpit 
 vacant. Mr. Starman, though a man I believe after God's 
 own heart, yet had a small congregation, and that, owing 
 to his not being able then to preach in the then spoken 
 language. It was quite natural for the lambs to seek a 
 shepherd, who, when he called them by name, they could 
 understand and follow, and which, as has been said by one, 
 and that wisely, too, was the cause of the death of this 
 church. In 1816, Mr. D. M. Mitchell was called to and 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 accepted the pastorate of the Congregational Church, and 
 in this house was he set apart for the work of the Minis- 
 try. I think of my predecessor to-day. I think of the 
 noble and good work he accomplished here. I think of 
 those who, through his instrumentality, were led to conse- 
 crate themselves to the cause of the Redeemer, and are 
 now left for me to encourage and strengthen on their heav- 
 enly way. I think of the crown he now wears, and of 
 the jewels he is continually adding to that crown as one 
 after another of the inhabitants of this town pass off this 
 stage of action, and enter the eternal world ; and when 
 asked, who first led them to think of this world with all 
 its glories and blessings, they point to the man who so 
 faitlifully served God here below, and who so long re- 
 mained the pastor of the church of which / am his un- 
 worthy successor. 
 
 The next decade opens with comj^aratively little that I 
 can here note. The gospel as preached by the two ser- 
 vants of Christ — Mr. Starman and Mr. Mitchell — is being 
 owned of God in the conversion of souls. The Congre- 
 gational Church, more especially, is continually receiving 
 to her membership, we trust of such as shall be saved ! 
 Mr. Starman at this time accomplished a great work. In 
 June, 1S29, he was enabled to write to the two branches of 
 the German Church. And here you may perhaps ask for 
 the difference of belief in these churches. I will tell you 
 in as few words as possible. Those who separated from 
 the Romish Church in the i6th century, are divided by 
 the German historians into two general classes. The Lu- 
 theran and the Reformed. And here let me correct a 
 prevalent mistake, and that is, that the reformation com- 
 menced with Luther. It commenced with Zwingle, a pas- 
 tor of Switzerland, who was confined to the little canto of 
 
19 
 
 Zurich, and who also was slain in the war of 1530, which 
 the Roman Catholics had waged against the reformers. 
 
 Luther immediately appeared on the stage and gave it 
 new impetus, and through his indomitable will it was 
 spread throughout Germany, the only difference be- 
 tween the two reformers being this : Luther believed that 
 Christ's body and blood was really present in the euchai'- 
 ist, while Zwingle believed that it simply symbolized 
 Christ's broken body and shed blood, and on account of 
 this difference there arose the two churches — the Lu- 
 theran and the Reformed. Much pains was taken to har- 
 monize them, but all to no purpose. However, I do not 
 believe that they, like our Churches at the present day, ex- 
 clude from the Kingdom of Heaven all those who do not 
 subscribe to their articles of faith. 
 
 But what the early reformers failed to do in Germany, 
 our departed brother accomplished here, with those who 
 had left the Old World, and pitched their tent in this por- 
 tion of the New ; for as I have already said, in 1S39 the 
 barrier existing between these two Churches was removed, 
 and together with body, soul and spirit united, they sat 
 down and partook of these sacred emblems which so forci- 
 bly bring to our minds the dying love of Jesus. And who 
 can doubt, that as they arose with heart and hand united, 
 these were the very sentiments they expressed in thought 
 if not in word : 
 
 Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
 
 That were a present far too small ; 
 Love, so amazing, so divine. 
 
 Demands my soul, my life, my all. 
 
 We come now to the seventh decade. During this, Mr. 
 Mitchell's health failing him, and after losing a part of 
 
20 
 
 his family, it was thought best by him to tendei' his resig- 
 nation and seek another field of labor. 
 
 With this man of God, many of you were acquainted 
 and the impressions left ujDon your hearts by him, speak, 
 louder and more forcibly than any thing 1 can here say. 
 The saddened hearts that left the house of God on the an^ 
 nouncement of that resignation, were fresh in the heart of 
 the beloved pastor during life. The love existing in the 
 church and parish was mutual, and it was with a struggle 
 that he left his beloved charge ; and so it is often the case 
 with Ministers at the present day. Many things may. 
 point to another field of labor, yet the attachments formed 
 make it hard. When we are called to part, it gives us 
 inward pain. But it is our duty to labor where we can 
 accomplish the most for Christ. I do not believe it to be 
 a minister's duty to labor in a community until he shall 
 have crippled his powers, and then go down in decrepi- 
 tude to an early grave. He is to remember the field is 
 the world, and it is his duty to use every lawful means 
 in order that he may labor in this field many years. Mr. 
 Mitchell's health was of such a nature that he felt the 
 work here could be more successfully carried on by an- 
 other, and so lett the field. During this decade the Rev. 
 John Dodge was called and settled as the Pastor of the 
 Congregational Church. The Baptist Church was also 
 organized, and now for the first time in the history of this 
 town, were there three distinct denominations — Lutheran, 
 Congregationalist and Baptist. But I must pass on lest I 
 tire you. The next ten years we find fraught with trials, 
 harder to be borne, than for some time had existed in this 
 beautiful town. In 1S46, a fire broke out, destroying a 
 part of the then prosperous town. At this time, ship- 
 building was extensively carried on, and this place had 
 
21 
 
 become the grand centre, this side the Kennebec ; so 
 much so, that the whole district* had taken the name of 
 Waldoboro' District. It was the grand centre of all the 
 neighboring towns, and one of the first, if not the first 
 depot for wood and bark, at that time ; and in the busi- 
 ness part of this then prosperous town, the population of 
 which, was 4199, the devouring element was discovered 
 carrying destruction with it, and robbing men of their 
 hard earned property. Of course, this could not but car- 
 ry sorrow to many hearts, and rob them of that deter- 
 mined self-will, which these men possessed. But it was 
 only for a season. They soon determined to rebuild the 
 waste places, and no longer to mourn over their blighted 
 prospects. Accordingly in the space of a few years, the 
 village appeared, not as before, but far better, for in place 
 of buildings hardly suitable for business, appeared the 
 large and commodious stores, suited for any and every kind 
 of business. 
 
 The old church had found it necessary to disband. 
 Their numbers had become so small, that it was impossi- 
 ble for them to hold out sufficient inducement for the New 
 York synod to feel justified in aiding them as a church, 
 and so the Rev. Dr. , who had been sent by the syn- 
 od to which this church belonged, deemed it best for them 
 to unite with the Congregational Church, and so some of 
 them did ; others went elsewhere, and the church was 
 scattered. Rev. Mr. Starman's health failed him, and so 
 it was impossible for him to disciiarge the duties de- 
 volving upon a Pastor in a place like this. But I w^ould 
 not have you think that this church is dead to-day, though 
 as an organization she has ceased to be for twenty-three 
 years. This old church is destined to live as long as time 
 shall last. It is the good we do that lives after us, and my 
 
22 
 
 friends, eternity itself can only reveal the good that has 
 been done here. The streams which have sprung from 
 this fountain will flow on and on, until they have fertil- 
 ized the wastes of generations yet unborn. 
 
 The next decade is before us, and Mr. Dodge, on ac- 
 count of ill health, is obliged to resign his pastorate. 
 This pastorate, as that of Mr. Mitchell, has been owned 
 of God, in the conversion of many souls. In 1854, Rev. 
 H. M. Stone was called and accepted the pastorate of 
 said Congregational Church. It was this year that the 
 great fire occurred here, carrying nothing but desolation 
 to all around. You remember the circumstances connect- 
 ed therewith. Children seeking in vain for bread ; fa- 
 thers and mothers rushing here and there, that they might 
 free themselves from the fire fiend, and seek shelter for 
 themselves and their loved ones. I am credibly informed 
 that in less than one hour, the whole business part of the 
 village was one sheet of fire, and nothing could be done 
 to stay its pi^ogress. I need not speak of blighted pros- 
 pects — I need not speak of what you were then called to 
 endure, for the scene, and the circumstance connected with 
 it, are as fresh in the memory of many of you, to-day, as 
 when it occurred ; I therefore leave it with you to reflect 
 upon. During this year, the aged and much beloved Ger- 
 man Pastor laid aside tliis mortal, that he might put on 
 the immortal. His labor was finished here below, and 
 with a holy joy, he entered into that rest prepared for 
 him since the foundation of the world. His remains were 
 laid by the side of his predecessor — Ritz, in the cemetery 
 in which we to-day have assembled, and the citizens of 
 this place have suitably shown their respect, by erecting, 
 in memory of these sainted servants of God, a monument, 
 as a testimony of their respect, and of the high esteem in 
 
28 
 
 which they were held. God, also, during this year, poured 
 out his spirit upon the people of this place, and many 
 were enabled to consecrate themselves to him, and to his 
 people, by his will. 
 
 During the next few years, the people were prospered, 
 and soon repaired the waste places. The Methodist 
 Church formed. The population of the town was now 
 larger than at any time previous or since, being about 
 4600 ; ship building as before was in full blast, and all ap- 
 peared prosperous. Bricks were largely substituted for 
 wood, and soon the town presented its present appear- 
 ance. Of the last decade, I have little to say ; things I am 
 informed, are not now as they formerly were. Business, 
 however, is now looking up, and we trust the town soon 
 may present her usual go-a-headitiveness. 
 
 And now, in summing up what I have gone over, I can- 
 not but ask the question which I have used as a text, 
 " Your fathers, v/here are they" ? and the spirit which 
 they manifested, where is it? To the house of God they 
 assembled. Sabbath after Sabbath, and with one accord, in 
 one place they prayed for heavenly aid. To God they 
 looked with cheerfulness and trust, believing that He, and 
 He alone, would grant them the power they needed, in 
 their exigency, and by that power, which he granted them, 
 they were enabled to overcome their mightiest foes. But 
 with the majority of the citizens of this town, to-day, how 
 is it.'' Can you see one of those sights which heaven used 
 to smile upon, fathers and mothers, riding miles, in order 
 that they might attend Divine worship ? How is it } I ask. 
 Permit me to answer. Within the sound of the preach- 
 er's voice, living, as it were, under the very shadow of the 
 house of God, where Sabbath after Sabbath, the truths as 
 they are in Jesus, are proclaimed ; there are many who 
 
24 
 
 turn a deaf ear, and are not found within her portals, from 
 one year's end to another. Your fathers, where are they ? 
 They are gone to their eternal reward. They died, many 
 of them triumphant, declaring that this was the way, and 
 inviting you to walk in it. The preaching of the Gospel 
 had its desired effect, and many of them were turned from 
 darkness, to light. Their preacher's heart was continually 
 encouraged, by seeing them consecrate themselves to 
 Christ. O, would to God, that my congregation was 
 made up to-day, with hearts similar to those which our 
 fathers possessed. Then would I feel that my preaching 
 did not fall by the way side, nor into stony ground, nor 
 among thorns, but into good ground, and the yield would 
 be an hundred fold. Listen, my friends, for one moment, 
 to the truth, which is able to make you wise unto salva^ 
 tion. Christ, by his spii'it, is speaking to you this day, 
 in this old house where your fathers worshiped. He is 
 laying before you every motive in his power, consistent 
 with his free spirit, to draw you to him. and you are 
 refusing. O, how long shall this continue } I beseech you 
 to break aloof from the chains by which Satan has so 
 long bound you, and receive the ingrafted word which 
 alone is able to make you wise vmto salvation. 
 
 Our fathers, where are they? Where are those who 
 mingled with such intense interest in the scenes of June 
 29, 1773 •'' -^^^ — ^^^ i" eternity ! not one present to-day, to 
 tell us of the joys and sorrows of that occasion. Not 
 one present to encourage us in our pilgrimage through 
 life. Not one present to mark the spot where they com- 
 menced the heavenly course ; and one hundred years from 
 to-day, where shall we be, who now compose this far dif- 
 ferent assembly? All, all — every one — in eternity. As 
 spirits redeemed by the blood of Christ, regenerated by 
 
25 
 
 the Holy Ghost, may we all be around the throiie of God 
 and the Lamb. And this is the end for which we labor. 
 This is the end for which we preach the Gospel. Know- 
 ing as we do, that on earth we are probationers, and that 
 this is the only time given for repentance, therefore we 
 present the gospel and the love of it to you, beseeching 
 you, in Christ's stead, " be ye reconciled to God". Awake, 
 then, thou sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ 
 will give you life. 
 
 For the Financial success of this Celebration, we are 
 indebted to the liberality of the following well known 
 public spirited citizens : 
 
 NAMES OF 
 
 Joseph Clark & Son. 
 Henry Kennedy & Co. 
 John D. Miller & Co. 
 Charles Comery. 
 William F. Storer. 
 S. W. Jackson. 
 H. H. Lovell. 
 Augustus Welt. 
 George D. Smouse. 
 Heni'y Farrington. 
 S. L. Miller. 
 E. R, Benner. 
 L. P. Haskell. 
 George Bliss. 
 A. J. McLeod. 
 
 CONTRIBUTORS. 
 
 William J. Young. 
 J. W. Hall. 
 W. M. Herbert. 
 J. T. Gay. 
 A. W. Clark. 
 H. B. Rawson. 
 W. E. Clark. 
 L. L. Lambert. 
 O. S. Head. 
 J. E. Miller. 
 J. H. Slanwood. 
 Wm. G. Waltz. 
 Eugene Storer. 
 A. Leach. 
 A. H. Lane. 
 
26 
 
 T. and H. J. Benner. 
 
 Simon Benner. 
 
 John Sides. 
 
 Hovey & Potter. 
 
 William Fish. 
 
 T. D. Currier. 
 
 Newell Winslow & Sons. 
 
 Isaac W. Comery. 
 
 A. R.. Reed. 
 H. M. Folsom. 
 E. V. Philbrook. 
 D. M. Stahl. 
 
 J. P. Glidden. 
 
 B. C. Mayo. 
 B. B. Haskell. 
 Benner and Mathews. 
 Isaac G. Eugley. 
 James Schwartz. 
 George W. Caldwell. 
 George Allen. 
 
 A. B. Austin & Co. 
 Richards & Storer. 
 A. T. Webb. 
 Charles S. Soule. 
 D. H. Pulsifer. 
 S. P. Kaler. 
 M. M. Richards. 
 
 Frank Bulfinch. 
 Richard Welt. 
 
 E. N. Nelson. 
 D. W. Demuth. 
 James A. Sampson. 
 W. B. Ludwig. 
 Otis Little. 
 
 John L. Allen. 
 
 F. A. Lambert. 
 W. L. Mathews. 
 
 C. D. Jones. 
 Geo. W. Young. 
 Osgood Miller. 
 George L. Storer. 
 
 J. F. Marshall. 
 
 D. W. Meserve. 
 Gorham H. Feyler. 
 J. D. Johnson. 
 Ward Adams. 
 Allen Hall. 
 
 H.J. A. Simmons. 
 
 E. N. Tebbetts. 
 
 F. L. Hastings. 
 T. F. Turner. 
 Solomon Welt. 
 J. K, Willett. 
 Christopher Feyler. 
 
 JULY 4, 1873. 
 
 The ushering in of our Centennial Anniversary was 
 signalled by the ringing of bells — booming of cannon — 
 and yelling of a thousand youthful male voices, which 
 
27 
 
 unmistakably shew that they were alive, and to be par- 
 takers in the scenes of the day. Soon after, the streets, 
 avenues, and walks began to fill with people, anxious 
 to enjoy the long expected holiday. 
 
 Crowds of visitors came into town by railroad, stages, 
 carriages, yachts and other available conveyances, to join 
 in the festivities of the day ; the movements of those seek- 
 ing favorable points for viewing the procession of the dif- 
 ferent companies, schools and societies ; the reception of 
 companies from adjoining towns, the music by the difler- 
 ent bands ; the elegantly decorated buildings, and the 
 flags conspicuously waving everywhere, in the bright and 
 dazzling sunlight, all together gave the place an unwonted 
 air of rejoicing. 
 
 The intense interest felt in the occasion of so large an 
 assemblage, assisted by the excellent management of the 
 police, prevented any approach toward disturbance, and 
 all were refreshingly jolly, and even natured while wait- 
 ing for the beginning of the official exercises. This was 
 not long deferred. With commendable promptness, the 
 Marshals of the day caused order to come out of the 
 seeming chaos, and marching their divisions as previous- 
 ly arranged, organized and caused to be in locomotion, 
 a procession over a mile in length, described in the re- 
 port of the " Monthly News " as follows : 
 
 THE PROCESSION. 
 The procession was formed at Farrington's Corner, 
 with the right resting on Main street, in the following or- 
 der : — 
 
 Chief Marshal — John Richards. 
 Aids, 
 
 Henry Farrington, Daniel W. Demuth, C. D.Jones, T. F. 
 Turner. 
 
28 
 
 Waldoboro' Cornet Band. 
 Company of soldiers in Continental uniform, numbering 
 forty muskets, acting as escort. 
 Orator of the Day in carriage. 
 Municipal Authorities. 
 Aged Citizens in carriages. 
 A large boat drawn by four horses. This boat contained 
 thirty-eight young ladies, dressed in white and crowned 
 with wreaths, representing tlie Goddess of Liberty and 
 the States of the Union. The boat was beautifully 
 decorated. From the mast depended festoons of ever- 
 green, and on the sides were inscribed, " Peace with all 
 nations," and " God bless our homes." On the stern, 
 *' Waldoboro', 1773." 
 
 Damariscotta Cornet Band. 
 
 State of Maine Engine Co., of Thomaston. 
 
 Eureka Engine Co., of Thomaston. 
 
 Juvenile Engine Co., of Thomaston. 
 
 Triumph Engine Co., of Waldoboro'. 
 
 Boat, drawn by two horses, containing thirteen boys, rep- 
 resenting the Navy. This boat bore the motto, " Don't 
 give up the ship ! " 
 
 Goshen Drum Corps. 
 Woodbury Lodge, Good Templars. 
 
 Medomak Lodge Good Templars. 
 
 Broad Bay Lodge Good Templars. 
 
 N. Medomak Lodge Good Templars. 
 
 Company of Mechanics, carrying the implements of their 
 
 trade. 
 
29 
 
 Trade Representations. 
 
 Wagon of J. Clark & Son — ^a pyramid of ship models, 
 surmounted by a miniature full rigged ship. 
 
 Wagon representing the business of the Waldoboro' Sus- 
 pender Company. 
 
 Wagon of H. M. Folsom & Co., loaded with boxes of 
 Blake's Bitters. 
 
 A Sprague Mowing Machine, drawn by a span of black 
 horses, representing the business of Richards & Storer. 
 Sabbath Schools. 
 Citizens and public generally. 
 
 While the procession was moving, a national salute 
 was being fired at Frock's Ledge. Some idea of the ex- 
 tent of the procession may be formed from the fact, that 
 when the head had turned into Jefterson Street, the rear 
 had not left Farrington's Corner. As the column moved 
 down Main Street, which was lined with spectators, the 
 waving flags and banners, the antique dress of the Conti- 
 nentals, the bright uniforms of the firemen, and gayly 
 decorated carriages, presented a most pleasing spectacle. 
 Just as the procession moved from Farrington's Corner, 
 fire was discovered in the house of Newell Winslow, Esq., 
 and, as it was located upon the route of the march, the 
 head of the column was halted at the residence of John 
 Sides, and the fire companies sent to the rescue. They 
 arrived too late to save the building but did much toward 
 subduing the flames, and preventing the destruction of 
 Benjamin Genthner's residence and other adjacent build- 
 ings. At I :3o P. M., the firemen had become exhausted, 
 and the well dressed spectators could not be induced to re- 
 lieve them for fear of soiling their " Sunday clothes." Ac- 
 
30 
 
 cordingly the Continentals were ordered to the "front," and 
 at a " double quick" went to the relief of the men at the 
 brakes. At 2 P. M., the fire was completely under sub- 
 jection, and the procession was reformed and marched 
 without any further interruption to the grove ; where the 
 invited guests, to the number of three hundred, partook 
 of a sumptuous collation, after which several hundred 
 spectators were treated in the same manner. 
 
 EXERCISES AT THE GROVE. . 
 
 The assembly was called to order by Rev. A. J. Mc- 
 Leod, Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, and 
 Rev. John Collins invoked the blessing of the Almighty 
 upon the occasion. 
 
 The Chairman, then, in an appropriate manner, intro- 
 duced Henry Farrington, Esq., as President. George 
 Bliss was appointed Secretary, and the following aged 
 citizens, Vice-Presidents : Frederic Castner (Waldoboro's 
 oldest citizen), Jacob Shuman, Charles Hoftses, Jacob 
 Burkett, John Hahn, Alfred Hovey, John Palmer, Henry 
 Weaver, Joseph Grotpn, John Bulfinch, Wm. White, 
 Chas. Sweetland, John A. Haupt, Christopher Newbert 
 and Cornelius Heyer. 
 
 The exercises proceeded as follows : 
 
 Music by Waldoboro' Cornet Band. 
 Reading the Act of Incorporation from the first record 
 book of the Town. 
 
31 
 
 The Centennial Hymn, written for the occasion, was 
 sung to the air of Old Hutidred, with accompaniment by 
 the Bands. It was as follows : 
 
 CENTENNIAL HYMN. 
 
 BY MRS. E. A. OAKES. 
 
 Father of Love ! a hundred years 
 
 Are as a day before thy sight ; 
 To us how vast the time appears. 
 
 How great the change attends their flight. 
 
 A hundred years ! the watchful stars 
 
 Kept vigil then o'er forest wild ; 
 Saw here the first rude homestead reared, 
 
 And smiled upon the infant child. 
 
 A century gone ! the swelling tide 
 Of busy life its heartstrings thrills ; 
 
 JVow thriving town and happy homes 
 Are cradled by the shelt'ring hills. 
 
 A hundred years ! we reap the fruit, 
 With grateful hearts we meet to-day ; 
 
 'Neath grand old trees, whose whisp'ring leaves 
 Tell of our fathers passed away. 
 
 Saviour of men ! be Thou our guide, 
 
 Through changing scenes of life to come ; 
 
 And by thine all-sustaining power, 
 Help us to crown what they begun. 
 
32 
 
 The President then announced the Orator of the day, 
 Col. A. W. Bradbury, of Porthmd, who delivered the 
 following : 
 
 ORATION, 
 
 My Friends and Fellow Countrymen : 
 
 Each recurring natal day brings to every person of 
 reflecting mind, a season of meditation. This is commonly 
 the time of i^etrospection, of introspection and of earnest 
 looking into the future. The man who means to do his 
 whole duty in the vast, mysterious system of which he is 
 a part, (how large or how small he cannot know) will 
 I'eview the year which has gone and which has become 
 for him a history of the past, scanning the course over 
 which he has passed, carefully and critically — seeking out 
 his errors to correct them — noting his shortcomings to 
 make them up — and recognizing any good and worthy 
 thing he may have done, to take from it fresh hope and 
 new courage for the years to come. 
 
 He will look into himself, and if he does his duty, will 
 subject himself to the most rigid scrutiny. How has he 
 failed? How has he succeeded? These (in their broad- 
 est field of inquiry) are the questions for him. I say in 
 their broadest field of inquiry, for, to the man who means 
 to do his whole duty, these questions go beyond mere busi- 
 ness, political or social success, or failure. He will con- 
 sider the motives by which he has been actuated, as well 
 as the means and appliances which he has used, and even 
 from prudential, if not from higher considerations, will he 
 weigh well the cause from which he traces every result. 
 
 And then, in the full light of the experience of the past, 
 
after unvesei"ved communion with his own heart and soul, 
 humbly, prayerfully, watchfully, he will gird him up and 
 take his staff' for the laborious journey of another year. 
 
 I am not speaking of men who look upon the earth as 
 a pleasure ground, upon life as a carnival and upon eter- 
 nity not at all ; but of earnest, thoughtful men, who sin- 
 cerely and fairly try to comprehend their part in the great 
 mystery of life, and then to act it conscientiously. It might 
 be said that I am confining myself to a comparatively 
 small portion of our 2:>eople at large in thus addressing my- 
 self; but that would show a shallow and superficial ac- 
 quaintance with the hearts and minds of men. It is not 
 your open and loud-mouthed reformer, nor is it of neces- 
 sity your neighbor who wears the mien of sanctity and 
 does conspicuous alms, nor is it always the really good 
 who make up all the "earnest, thoughtful men, who sin- 
 cerely and fairly try to comprehend their part in the great 
 mj'stery of life and then to act it conscientiously." It is 
 the people — the mass of the people who do so try ; and 
 when they fail, it only leaves to us another mystery which 
 we may hope to know when all things are more clear to 
 our imperfect vision. 
 
 If this proposition be not true, then we are all wrong ; 
 and the people have no right to govern. If we are to ap- 
 jDeal to the individual alone, the masses must be subjected 
 to his individual will ; or if we are to look only to the few 
 as thinking, conscientious men, then the aristocracy should 
 direct aflairs and the unieasoning, unthinking populace 
 should obey, and it would be for their welfare to obey. 
 We are seeking the best form of government, and it is for 
 our interest to consider whether we are, en masse., capa- 
 ble of learning the lessons of the past and applying them 
 to the uses of the future ; or whether we must rely upon 
 
34 
 
 the learning and understanding of some one man or some 
 limited and small number of men, to learn for us the lesson 
 and to make for us the application. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true that the masses of the people are 
 ordinarily somewhat inert. They incline to look to their 
 leaders rather than to judge for themselves. If the leader 
 has a power which he has inherited, and is one of a long- 
 time race of rulers, custom and " the divinity that doth so 
 hedge a king" leaves the people happy in being well ruled, 
 and more grieved than angered at a not too weighty bur- 
 den of oppression. I think, indeed, that after the right to 
 reign is established, the people like to feel and to acknowl- 
 edge a slight sense of subordination, although thev may 
 not like to confess it. It is natural enough. It is absurd 
 to say that all men are created equal — unless it mean that 
 they all have souls alike worth saving, and perhaps we 
 should scarcely be willing to agree to that. We all ac- 
 knowledge our superiors, and look up to and admire them. 
 We reverence their piety, their charity and the purity of 
 their lives ; we are bound in a magic chain by their tower- 
 ing eflbrts of intellect and the subtle power of their elo- 
 quence. Even to their physical superiority, when exer- 
 cised in the cause of what we think the right, we clamor 
 our applause. 
 
 The orator is borne from the theatre of his great foren- 
 sic effort upon the shoulders of the people ; the church 
 doors of the popular divine are besieged by the eager 
 throng who cannot gain admittance ; the conqueror re- 
 turning from the devastated field must loose his horses ; 
 and his triumphal chariot is drawn by the shouting mul- 
 titude. Who is not happy at the friendly nod and extend- 
 ed hand of the great man ! Who so independent as to 
 despise a recognition from one of the Princes of tlie earth ! 
 
And do we cheapen ourselves in this? Far from it. It 
 would be weak in us not to recognize and look up to 
 power ; it would be churlish in us not to feel gratitude at 
 the kindness of those whom the force of circumstance has 
 placed above us. I may have occasion to discuss this 
 question farther, if a reasonable task upon your attention 
 will allow, for I am no leveller ; and while I believe I 
 am a true Democrat (I use the term in no partisan sense) 
 I am far from having any faith in what has been known 
 as "pure democracy." I respect authority ; and without 
 such respect — genuine, honest and loyal — I believe there 
 can be no stability in a government springing directly 
 from the people. And if the government be not directly 
 from the people, there must be justice upon the one part, 
 and obedience — which justice almost always insures — up- 
 on the other, to keep firm the foundation of the govern- 
 mental system. 
 
 Our respect for authority does not degrade us. Hero 
 worship does not diminish our self respect. We obey the 
 law ; and look with jealousy upon any infringement of it ; 
 for we know it protects us, and anything which strikes it 
 down or belittles it, goes to imperil our lives and property 
 and to impair our rights : and with no less satisfiiction do 
 we contemplate the men and the memories of the men, 
 who had been foremost in giving us the rights and privi- 
 leges which we are so happy in possessing. 
 
 But, to return to our proposition : it is, after all, the 
 mass of the people upon whom we rely, and in whose 
 fidelity we have the most abiding fnith. Rulers may err ; 
 Governors may be despotic ; Monarchs may forget in their 
 pleasures the wants of their subjects; Ministers may use 
 their power to rob — for a time — the people of their rights ; 
 but we turn — we, Americans — not instinctively, nor con- 
 
36 
 
 scientiously, as tlie term is commonly used, but by educa- 
 tion in the hard school of which our ancestors were first 
 the pupils and then the masters — to the sovereign people, 
 the source of power, and to them do we appeal for justice. 
 
 The people of America may be sometimes dull to hear ; 
 but, depend upon it, a grievous wrong inflicted upon any 
 class, or portion of our citizens, will burst and throb upon 
 the palpitating air until it strikes the ear and heart of every 
 freeman in the land ; and then we know that the wrong 
 must be righted- Our people have never yet failed : and, 
 please God and our stout hearts, they never shall ! 
 
 If, now, we have established our faith in the people, let 
 us leave the minor and insignificant birthday of the indi- 
 vidual ; and, taking him along with us, only as the type 
 of the thoughtful and earnest community of which he is a 
 part, proceed to discuss the grave and important questions 
 which arise upon such an occasion as this. 
 
 The limited time allotted me for preparation has not 
 permitted me to go so fully and accurately into the hisiory 
 of Waldoborough as 1 should be glad to do. But, some- 
 what more than most communities, you have lived within 
 yourselves ; your legends, traditions and history, are well 
 known and well loved by you ; and nowhere in New 
 England do I know the spirit of earnest historical inquiry 
 and research so stimulated and aroused as among the peo- 
 ple dwelling upon this part of our coast. 
 
 Indeed, the faithful and intelligent examination now be- 
 ing made into old and recondite evidences of the rise and 
 growth of the settlements hereabout — together with the 
 physical discoveries which have been made and which are 
 not yet finished, but still progressing, are of so striking 
 and convincing a character as to lead us to believe, that 
 history may have been mystified — to put it mildly — and 
 
37 
 
 that the ftill development of the inquiries, now on foot, 
 mny result in the yielding to us of some early honors with 
 which, heretofore, we have never been accredited. 
 
 Pride of ancestry is no mean pride, even in our democrat- 
 ic days. It as well becomes the simple citizen of the Re- 
 public as the titled lord to trace back and be proud of the 
 stock from which he springs. And if he do not find his 
 ancient progenitor with a coronet upon his haughty brow, 
 or the bespangled sycophant about a dissolute court, how 
 much prouder may he well be, to find him a brave, true, 
 resolute, God-tearing man, who, with his own clear head 
 and sinewy hands wrought out, in a harsh and inhospiti- 
 ble wilderness, independence for himself, for his children 
 and for all the successors of his race. 
 
 From such sturdy stock are you descended, and it cannot 
 fail to be to you a source of satisfaction, as it is a mark of 
 honor, that, in this generation with its fondness for extrav- 
 agance and display, its greed of princely wealth, its 
 ostentation and its tendency to the centralization of power, 
 you have preserved in large measure the simplicity of 
 your lives and the purity of your love for the government 
 of the Fathers of our Country. 
 
 The first settlement of the western portion of our New 
 England coast appears to have been made as early as 1607, 
 under the direction of the Plymouth Company of England, 
 conspicuous among the leaders in which were Lord John 
 Popham, Chief Justice of England, and Sir Fernando 
 Gorges, well known among the earliest and most efliicient 
 patrons of schemes of discovery and colonization. Mon- 
 hegan was well known to navigators and there the expe- 
 dition touched on its way to found the Sagadahoc Colony. 
 But this colony did not endure. Disheartened by the 
 rigors of the climate and the privations to which they 
 
as 
 
 Were subjected, they made their way the followhig year 
 to their homes in Enj^land. 
 
 In 1S14, Capt. John Smith visited this same region upon 
 a tracUng voyage, but no colony was formed until Monhe- 
 gan \NX% pcrmajtetttly peopled in 1S22, 
 
 Williamson says : 
 
 "We call those settlements /^/-w^fltwc;?/, which are con- 
 *' tinned from year to year, without interruption, and 
 *' although we find not, in the annals of the times, pre- 
 *' cisely in what year or by what persons, habitations for 
 *' families, or homesteads, were first formed upon Arrow- 
 *' sick Island, or upon the main land at Sagadahock, at 
 " Sheepscot, at Damariscotta, at Pemaquid and St. George's 
 *' river, yet we are under the necessity of concluding that 
 " it must have been as early as the present year. The 
 '• harbours, headlands and rivers had rendered this section 
 *' uncommonly attractive to Europeans; the remains of 
 *'chimnies and vestiges of dwelling-places were strongly 
 *' marked with antiquity, and it is said that there are, only 
 *' seven years after this, 'eighty-four families besides fish- 
 *' ermen dwelling upon the shores of this region.' " 
 
 And the Duke de Rochefoucault Liancourt in his 
 " Travels" says : 
 
 " Some attempt to settle a colony in the vicinity of New 
 *' Castle were made by the Dutch hi 1625, and even at 
 *'the early period of 1607, ^"^'^ without effect." 
 
 Whatever the present preserved annals of those times 
 may show, there is little or no doubt, as has been inti- 
 mated, that the explorations and discoveries at Pemaquid 
 and other points upon the coast point chiefly to a greater 
 antiquity than the older historians were aware of; and we 
 may rest confident that the able and unceasing efforts of 
 the Maine Historical Society will unearth much ancient 
 
39 
 
 and valuable material for hi&tory, which has not yet come 
 to the general attention of the people of the State. It is 
 not, however, my purpose, nor within my province, to 
 discuss these questions. 
 
 Waldoborough, it is generally supposed, was inhabited 
 by a German colony in 1740? but they appear to have been 
 driven away or destroyed in the Spanish and Indian wars 
 which followed, apd it was not until 174S, after the treaty 
 of Aix-la-Chappelle that the settlement was established 
 upon a firm and enduring foundation. The success of this 
 colony as a German colony is undoubtedly due to a great 
 extent to the energy, perseverance and persuasiveness of 
 General Waldo, owner of the great Waldo ( or as it was 
 then known, Muscongus) Patent, and of his son, Samuel, 
 who enthusiastically aided his father in all his projects of 
 colonization. Accordingly, in furtherance of their plans 
 for peopling and making productive the lands covered by 
 the Patent — some thirty miles square, bounded on the 
 East by the Penobscot and on the West by the ISIedomak — 
 Samuel Waldo visited Germany in 1852-3, and by dint of 
 glowing proclamations issued in their own language, 
 large offers of grants of land and plentiful promises of 
 assistance upon their arrival, induced some fifteen hundred 
 souls to remove from Germany and take up their abode 
 at Broad Bay, now the present town of Waldoboro. 
 
 It would be rare enough to find a landed proprietor 
 keeping all his promises to his tenants ; and the settlers 
 upon the Waldo grant found no exception to the general 
 rule. Their sufferings and disappointments would have 
 appalled less hardy and determined spirits. Left upon an 
 unknown shore, the vast ocean rolling between them and 
 the homes they had left behind them, the pathless forests 
 filled with savage foes girding them in ; without horses, 
 
40 
 
 clothing, food ; with difficult communication with neigh- 
 boring settlements ; speaking, too, a language strange to 
 other colonists upon the coast, what wonder if thev, like 
 the Sagadahoc colony, had become disheartened and re- 
 turned to the home of their nativity ! But they appear to 
 have had no thought of that. They were not driven 
 away from their native land. They went of their own 
 accord, and they went to stay. It was no holiday excur- 
 sion which took them from out the confines of a hiGfh and 
 refined civilization and set them down within these rude, 
 uncultivated borders. With the deliberation and reflection 
 peculiar to their race, they had made up their minds and 
 laid out their course. They were of too stern stuft' to 
 sicken at the first signs of suflering and danger. The 
 magnitude of the difficulties they encountered only gave 
 them the more stubborn courage to resist and defeat 
 them ; and though sore and wearied with the contest, they 
 persevered unto victory and gave you the tctwn whose 
 centennial we celebrate to-day. You may well be proud 
 of the stock from which you spring; and you may well 
 be prouder still if you have kept alive WMthin yourselves 
 the virtues of your ancestors, and held firm to the noble 
 example they set for 3'ou. It is easy to do well when all 
 the signs are propitious; but it is sublime in the midst of 
 impending ruin, with the darkness of destruction thick- 
 ening about and brooding down, to stand with the face 
 firm set against all dangers, trusting only in the Lord God 
 above and in the strength whicli he has given. So stood 
 each one of your ancestors. 
 
 '' Xon viiltus instnntis tyranni 
 Mente qnatit soli<la, * "* * * 
 
 * * * * ■ * * * 
 
 Si fracius illabatur orl)i>!, 
 Iinpavidum ferieut ruina.'." 
 
 In 1755, the French and Indian war broke out and for 
 five years kept the young colony in constant dread. 
 
41 
 
 The horrors of the Indian wars are too well known to 
 need description. Strong men trembled not for themselves, 
 but for their wives and the innocent babes upon their 
 bosoms. The settler left his cabin with the rising sun, 
 fearing to find it ashes when he returned at night. The 
 fond wife watched him as he strode away with axe and 
 rifle — a prayer in her heart that some lurking savage 
 might not snatch from her her protector — the father of her 
 children. The shrill war whoop quavered through the 
 frightened midnight air and the lurid glare of burning 
 buildings gave light to scenes of butchery and torture. 
 These were indeed the " times that tried men's souls." 
 Shall the principles for which these heroes fought be ever 
 forgotten by their ungrateful descendants.'' 
 
 From 1760 until 1773, the settlers fought their way with 
 varied fortune, not only against the obstacles presented by 
 the character of the country, but against the injustice and 
 cupidity of those who were bound by every tie of honor 
 and good faith to protect them in their property and give 
 them when possible a helping hand. In this year (1773) 
 a large number of families — some historians have it as 
 high as three hundred — having been, obliged once to re- 
 purchase their lands, and finding that they still held them 
 by an insecure tenure ; confounded, disappointed and out- 
 raged at the criminal carelessness or deliberate fraud of 
 those who had drawn them from their houses with spe- 
 cious promises, withdrew from Broad Bay and set sail for 
 North Carolina, where they joined a colony of their own 
 countrymen, and there most of them permanently remained. 
 
 Much as their departure was regretted by their friends 
 who stayed behind, and urgent as were the entreaties to 
 prevail upon them to stay, the remaining settlers were not 
 disheartened, for in that same year Waldoborough was in- 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 corporated. In that same month of June, i773i ^"""^ town 
 of Belfast was also incorporated, the land upon which it 
 stands being a part of the Waldo Patent, and having been 
 purchased by a company in 1765 at the price of 20 cents 
 an acre. 
 
 From the day of incorporation down to the present 
 time, the history of the town has been accurately pre- 
 served upon an unbroken record, and there is much to 
 which it would be both pleasant and profitable to refer. 
 It has been said that a man should have a good knowl- 
 edge of all history, an intimate knowledge of the history 
 of his own country and a perfect knowledge of the history 
 of his own time. This may not be within the grasp of 
 every one ; but no man can be so situated that he may not, 
 if he will, obtain a perfect knowledge of the history of his 
 own town ; and in tracing the history of our ancient do- 
 minions, there will be found tinge of romance enough to 
 tempt the most careless reader, if once he ventures to ap- 
 proach the historic muse. 
 
 Tyrannous exaction upon the part of the mother coun- 
 try had begun, at the time of the incorporation of this 
 town, to fan the flame of indignation, which soon broke 
 out in open fury and resulted in the Independence of the 
 colonies. England could not comprehend the sturdy spirit 
 of resistance to aggression which entered so largely into 
 the character of our ancestors. It sent a large portion of 
 them from British soil to the New Continent. Their en- 
 tire lives in their new homes had been devoted to resist- 
 ance to aggression, and the struggle to overcome stubborn 
 resistance against themselves. They had resisted the in- 
 clemency of a rigorous climate, and the subtle malignity 
 of a savage foe. They had made the forests to bow down 
 before them, and had tamed the cataract to do their bid- 
 
43 
 
 ding. Prosperity had rewarded their eflbrts, but luxury 
 and sloth had not yet crept upon them to weaken their 
 hands or to corrupt their hearts. They were even stronger 
 and better in every sense than when they were trying the 
 experiment of colonization, for they saw the work of their 
 hands and had confidence added to renewed courage. 
 
 This was the people of all others upon the face of the 
 earth to fight for and gain its independence. Serfs, slaves, 
 a 'people long held in bondage, used to bend the knee and 
 feci the galling yoke upon the lowly neck will do great 
 deeds sometimes, and struggle with terrific strength to 
 burst their bonds ; but it is spasmodic, undirected, lacking 
 judgment ; a furious torrent of madness and despair. It 
 may rend a State, depose a despot, overturn a dynasty ; 
 but then it is exhausted, and knows not how to use its 
 power. We see this in »South America, in Mexico, in 
 both the Indies, in Spain. Their revolutions are fruitless. 
 They shed blood and accomplish nothing. 
 
 Our men of the American Revolution, had always walked 
 upright before God and man, upon a free soil which had 
 bloomed and blossomed by their own toil ; under a free 
 sky which their own ringing axes had cleared the right to 
 look up to from their cabins and their corn fields. 
 
 No despot had ever ground them down with heavy 
 tithes and starving rents. No little bell had ever tinkled 
 "Bastille" to them. No Lord or Governor had ever had 
 the hardihood to follow his hounds over their planted 
 fields, or offer rank and wealth for the dishonor of a wife 
 or child. They were not fighting to recover their lost lib- 
 erty, nor to regain a freedom which they had given up. 
 They were fighting to preserve a liberty and to retain a 
 freedom with which they had never parted ; which they 
 
44 
 
 had never undervalued, and -which were as dear to them 
 as life itself. 
 
 They were rather a grim and grizzly, and certainly a 
 decidedly stifi-backed race — these ancestors of ours. Some- 
 times their portraits repel me, and I turn for the relief of 
 softer lines, of brighter colors, of grace and elegance and 
 beauty. One wants to see, occasionally, a saucy feather, 
 in a jaunty hat, sweeping a roguish face, to pass a jest and 
 be merry, for we have not long to live. But I would^ as 
 soon think of kicking a foot ball, of a Sunday, up the 
 broad isle of a kirk, as of laughing in the presence of those 
 square-mouthed, close-cropped, stern-eyed Puritans who 
 look down upon us from the canvas ; and, though con- 
 scious of no very evil deed to warrant condign punish- 
 ment, I always feel a rubbing at the ankles and a twitch- 
 ing at the ears as I look at them. It was a fault of their 
 character that they were harsh, relentless, proscriptive and 
 tyrannical. The freedom they would have for themselves, 
 they would not grant to others. They would bear but 
 little, while they exacted much. Some of their petty acts 
 of discipline seem childish to us : as that a good young 
 lad and comely lass for walking quietly beneath the trees 
 a Sunday afternoon, should be publicly reprimanded be- 
 fore the congregation the next week ; or that a sailor just 
 from sea should be fined for kissing his wife of a Sunday. 
 
 In truth — to be fair about it — for all ordinary uses, I 
 prefer some other than the Puritan of Plymouth Rock, if 
 I am selecting a companion, or choosing out a bosom 
 friend. 
 
 You are, most of you, and all your founders were of 
 different stock ; and while the German settlers stood shoul- 
 der to shoulder with the Puritans of the North and the 
 cavaliers of the South, and were always in the front rank 
 
45 
 
 for every good work, they partook rather of the freedom 
 and good temper of the hitter than of the austerity and 
 gloominess of the former. 
 
 It is possible to be just without being brutal ; to be pious 
 without cant ; to be fair and strict Vvithout austerity, and 
 to be patriotic without being regicides. There are many 
 who think Cromwell, with his pocket parliament and 
 mock court, as guilty of the murder of Charles the Firstj 
 as was John Wilkes Booth of the murder of Abraham 
 Lincoln. 
 
 The descendants of the Puritans, however, deserve un- 
 stinted praise for the valor, wisdom and patriotism which 
 they displayed in our struggle for independence. They 
 were somewhat softened from the sternness of the first 
 who landed on the famous rock, for they had been their 
 own masters, in the full enjoyment of civil and religious 
 liberty a century and a half before the troubles with the 
 mother country began. They had lost, in good part, the 
 bloodthirstiness of the Cromwellian epoch, and the better 
 traits of their character have been fully called out and de- 
 veloped in their new homes. 
 
 The Germans do not appear to have been ever deeply 
 imbued with the spirit of discovery, or the restlessness of 
 emigration and colonization. They came hither long after 
 the discovery of the country, and upon the supposition 
 that a certain preparation had been made for them ; and 
 now, though the influx from Germany to this country is 
 large, the people come at the behest of their friends al- 
 ready settled, and rarely establish themselves far from the 
 borders of civilization. 
 
 Germany has sought conquest, and oftentimes in her 
 history, with marvelous brilliancy and success, but I am 
 not aware that she has ever made systematic effort to im- 
 
46 
 
 plant a German speaking race beyond her European 
 boundaries. Her Emperors, a thousand years ago, had 
 in their grasp all the authority ever exercised by the 
 Cajsars, and in more modern times, her arms have carried 
 terror into the remotest corners of the then known world. 
 Her last achievements are fresh in all your minds. Uhlans 
 galloping through the streets laid out by Baron Haussman, 
 and the proud French capital laid under contribution by 
 United Germany, present the most remarkable and inef- 
 faceable picture of the age. In the composition and 
 management of their armies, the Germans show the same 
 intelligent patience and fiiithful care — even to the minutest 
 detail— which have made them renowned in the pursuits 
 of peace as well as glorious in the records of war. Her 
 Universities are the acknowledged seats of learning in 
 Europe. She has given systems of philosophy to the whole 
 world. Under her fostering care, polite literature, poetry, 
 music, the arts and sciences, have attained the highest 
 degree of perfection. Her schools are taken as models, 
 far and wide. The products of her looms and the work 
 of her artizans are sought for every where, and every 
 thing she does is done thoroughly and well. 
 
 The German has wonderful facility and adaptability. 
 He learns more of our language in three months than we 
 can learn of his in a year, and ours is the more difficult, 
 by far. I have myself observed individual Germans with 
 admiration, and no little envy. One of many I call to 
 mind — an humble drawer of beer in a neighboring city. 
 He spoke most of the languages of continental Europe ; no 
 musical instrument was too difficult for him ; he was an ac- 
 complished fencer and his game of chess was unequalled in 
 this State ; he painted portraits in oils, and within a year 
 I have seen, upon his brief visit here from Europe, whither 
 
47 
 
 he had returned, two life size pencil dravvinj^s of charac-* 
 ter scenes from Faust, the work of his hand' and of won- 
 derful beauty and artistic merit. I think it is from the 
 readiness with which the German turns his hand to any- 
 thing, that he rather shuns the rude life of the Frontier 
 and hugs the centres of industry where he finds more 
 scope for the exercise of his ready ingenuity. 
 
 But enough of the stocli from wdiich this ancient town 
 was founded. Many of you here now, are from other 
 races and by constant intercourse you have become, to a 
 great extent, assimilated. 
 
 This great gathering around me, unexampled in the 
 history of the region round about, gives clearest proof of 
 the great interest which all the people feel in this most 
 important celebration ; and my tongue falters, in view of 
 the grave moment of this time to all of us, as I advance 
 to the practical questions which press upon us to-day. 
 
 We celebrate your hundreth anniversary and the ninety- 
 seventh of our national Independence. Turn back your 
 eyes one hundred years, to the days when, few and feeble, 
 we were struggling for existence. Some large towns, 
 many straggling and widely separated hamlets, a simple 
 people possessing scarcely any of the advantages which 
 modern science has blessed us with, and covering but a 
 small fraction of the territory which we now occupy, 
 calmly preparing to meet in a contest for independence, 
 the most powerful nation upon the face of the globe. 
 How sublime the spectacle ! How hard to comprehend ! 
 On the one side, a firm, consolidated government; states- 
 men of world-wide renown ; a navy and merchant marine, 
 the pride of its possessors, and the envy of all others ; 
 educated and experienced officers, and an army of trained 
 soldiers who had proved their discipline and valor on 
 
48 
 
 every battle field upon the continent and in the British 
 possessions : On the other side, a colonial government 
 still under the control of England ; statesmen who had 
 not had the opportunity and were yet to prove themselves ; 
 no navy of their own and a limited number of coasting 
 vessels ; an untrained and ill-equipped militia eked out by 
 boys who had seen a little Indian warfare. 
 
 Thus stood the combatants. To what in all history can 
 we liken their attitude ! Miltiades, at Marathon, had the 
 advantage of position, and made one decisive battle ; 
 Leonidas, at ThermopyliE, had the narrow pass to aid 
 him ; even the brave "Horatius, who kept the bridge so 
 well," had but a span to hold, and good old father Tiber 
 at his back. 
 
 It would seem to us as if the colonists could have been 
 destroyed in detail — band after band — village after vil- 
 lage — and the Royal Exchequer have never felt the ex- 
 penses of the war. 
 
 But within their souls burned bright the sacred flame 
 of Liberty. Their love of country gave wisdom to their 
 heads, courage to their hearts and strength to their sinews. 
 The wife restrained her tears, buckled her good man's 
 belt and sent him onward with a smile. The gray-haired 
 sire and aged dame stretched forth their withered hands 
 upon the bowed head of their only son, and bade him "Go, 
 and God speed ;" the blushing maiden plighted her troth 
 upon the eve of battle, and with trembling heart named 
 their next meeting " after the victory ;" boys of tender age, 
 bidden to stay at home, crept softly out under the protect- 
 ing shades of night, and with their little bird guns, hied 
 them to the camp. I remember to have gathered with his 
 grandchildren about the chair of an aged grandsire, who 
 long since sleeps with his fathers, and to have heard him 
 
49 
 
 tell how a famous general took him upon his knee, patted 
 his curly head, and told him if he ivojild go with the 
 troops, he must go as drummer boy ; and so he did. 
 
 When, lost in admiration, we gaze upon the picture of 
 this fervent, devoted people, so terribly in earnest and so 
 unhesitating in self-sacrifice, out of thick wonderment 
 and muddled speculation is strained clear to our compre- 
 hension the reason of our Revolutionary triumph. 
 
 Stand where you are to-day, and review your military 
 history of a hundred years. Another war with England ; 
 a succession of Indian wars ; a war with Mexico, and oh ! 
 cruel shame ! a fratricidal war which has shed more blood 
 and wasted more treasure than all the rest combined. 
 These you have passed through and the Republic exists. 
 Is it the Republic for which your ancestors lived and died, 
 and for which their descendants have freely shed their 
 blood ? 
 
 Look, now, about you, and pass before your eyes your 
 entire history from the time of your toundation. See how, 
 from rude and humble contrivances, science has wrought 
 from the spirit of invention a thousand right hands where 
 you had but one. See how the power of steam has anni- 
 hilated distance, and how your thoughts are borne upon 
 the wings of the lightning from zone to zone. Where once 
 the tired feet threaded the trail through the solemn woods, 
 the whirr of the partridge is echoed by the scream of the 
 locomotive, and the stillness of the primeval forest is 
 broken by the clattering car. Instead of the frail shallops 
 in which you crept timidly from headland to headland, 
 you launch your stately ships upon the heaving bosom of 
 the ocean, and their broad, white wings are spread over 
 every sea. You have made the running waters to do your 
 bidding, and the sibilant saw sings for you the song which 
 industry loves to hear. Villainous saltpeter hath been put 
 
 7 
 
50 
 
 to peaceful purposes ; and out of the rigid bowels of the 
 earth, purges minerals to increase your wealth. Where 
 the smoke of the early settlers' fires rose timid of the scent 
 of some unscrupulous foe, your hearths now burn brightly 
 in the full consciousness of protected liberty. Your fields 
 labor — heavy with grain ; and your peaceful flocks nip 
 the crisp herbage in profound security. 
 
 You are reapingof the good seed sown by your fathers. 
 The fruit of their toil, their self-sacrifice, their noble de- 
 votion to the cause of liberty, you are garnering. Look 
 well about you, upon every hand, and assure yourselves 
 that you are transmitting the like to your descendants. 
 Have you done your best to maintain the purity of the 
 Republic? Do you hold your representatives (for you 
 are the rulers) to a full account of the trust you have re- 
 posed in them .'' Are you earnest to establish peace and 
 good government in ever\' section of your country.'' When 
 you know that murder, theft, bribery and corruption are 
 running riot in the land, do you set your faces firmly 
 against them — not passively and grieving at our disgrace — 
 but as your fathers set their faces agamst wrong — with the 
 stern determination to right it ! Shall sloth and the languor 
 which unbroken prosperity too often breeds, emasculate 
 the American youth, and dim, in them, the luster of the 
 American name.'' 
 
 These are some of the questions you are to ask your- 
 selves upon this, your natal day. This grand celebration 
 of your centennial, of which you are so justly proud, is not 
 mere pomp — sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. It has 
 deep meaning in it, and is a day of reflection for us all. 
 
 I see about me aged citizens — sages who have for many 
 years contributed their wisdom to your counsels, and given 
 their intellects and their labors to your service. Their 
 hoary locks and venerable countenances attest their iaith- 
 
51 
 
 fulness which covers many years. Listen to the voice 
 " w^hich comes down to us from a former generation." It 
 is the voice of unwritten history, and speaks the words of 
 uninscribed experience. 
 
 With these fair maidens, maidens more fair than the 
 roses they twine, rests a vast responsibility. They are 
 not to be always children — they are to be sweethearts, 
 wives and mothers. To-day they represent Liberty and 
 the perfect union of all the States. May they never for- 
 get this occasion ; but, whatever the vicissitudes of time 
 may bring to our belov'ed country, may they never forget 
 that they represent "• Liberty and Union, Now and For- 
 ever, one and inseparable." 
 
 Men of Waldodoro ! Looking down the dim, receding 
 vista of the past, you may see, in motley procession, a 
 thronging host of historic characters. 
 
 With but little intervening space, stalk the saviors and 
 destroyers of their country. Eternal sunshine settles on 
 the heads of one, infernal darkness clouds the other's brow, 
 and as they part, a downward beckoning hand draws some 
 to Hades, — an angel's smile takes others to the stars. 
 
 You will so live a patriotic life, that, out of the vast 
 
 eternity, your grave progenitors will look down upon you 
 
 with complacency ; knowing that you heed the motto of 
 
 great Cato : 
 
 A day, an hour of virtuoiis liberty, 
 la worth a whole eternity of boiiilage. 
 
 Col. Bradbury's most admirable oration occupied one 
 hour. The exercises at the grove were concluded by the 
 bands playing "America." The procession then re-formed 
 and marched to Water street, where it was disbanded. 
 Frequent showers during the evening so interfered with 
 the display of fireworks that only one-half the suppl}' was 
 used. The scene about the depot from 9 till 10 P. M., 
 
53 
 
 was a lively one. With the exception of the lire, the day 
 passed off without disturbance of any kind, and it is a 
 credit to Waldodoro* that such an occasion was celebrated 
 without the usual accompaniment of drunkenness and 
 rowdyism. 
 
 ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 An interesting feature of the meeting at the grove was 
 the presence upon the &tand of Mr. John Light, of Noble- 
 boro', a native of this town, now one hundred and one 
 years old — the only man present who was living when 
 Waldoboro' was incorporated. This aged and highly 
 respectable man, after living to see his native town cele- 
 brate its Centennial Anniversary and joining in the exer- 
 cises of the day, seemed to have his strength renewed, but 
 it was otherwise ordered. He died September 27, 1873., 
 aged loi years. His remains were followed to the grave 
 by a large circle of mourning relatives and friends. 
 
 Mr. Charles G. Chase, foreman of State of Maine En- 
 gine Co., was prostrated by work and heat at the fire and 
 remained at the residence of Mr. J. A. Benner until Sat- 
 urday, when he was removed to Thomaston. He has so far 
 recovered as to be able to attend to his work at the prison. 
 Edwin O. Clark and D. H. Pulsifer, of this place, were 
 severely injured at the fire by the coupling of hose, which 
 fell from the roof of Genthner^s house. Mr. Winslow, 
 whose house was burned, was leader, of the Waldoboro' 
 Cornet Band, and two of his sons were with him ; another 
 son was in the ranks of the Continentals, and three of his 
 daughters represented States in the boat. 
 
 While the whole procession was in a state of confusion, 
 it was refreshing to see the firmness of the boys who 
 manned the boat, and who, Cassabianca like, stuck to 
 their motto — "Don't give up the ship !" 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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