NEWTON CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL.  

.',‘‘:.:w- r‘
..w‘u'."
,. _‘

,«r H

‘aunlm,
.‘.....-
.... L.

,. a~  1».
~-r»;ulv::'> w ~~v;<:'“

.. ,.
‘.’:.'d.r.x
. .

[i
F1
I’,
' ‘ I.
,|h ,, :
... |".%z!§?.‘.‘,"IM I;
n Ilrwlhi I
U Ln 9 [I mu 41'

1 . £2-,:*.p'.'!r:; 1..
v-5 .- ,. ‘.a:g,;;z.,:.:. ;...r
V :1 ‘mt -. 1

K
I

'?
w""... .4,
N4 P L "H
|':3w‘:.:i$3: ‘I ‘H
- 1z......I..:.
‘~- .vq;':‘!

“V”!

H
mm
5:

#-

~ .t'n?' ’
V '*i«‘¥5*.‘;::;ze2.,.'
- NM‘

2.’
m
4
"r

1776. I876.

’TIIE3

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS

OF THE

CITY OF NEWTON,

ON THE

$e*z/e7zz‘ee7/zz% 0f 721726 mm’ the Fourth of 7%/y,

BY AND UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE
CITY OF NEWTON.

 

NEWTON:
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL.

I876.

From/‘¢Zz'2z Pressi
Rand, Avery, and Company,
II7 Fran/92292 Street,

Boston.

CONTENTS.

I

 

I PAGE
OFFICIAL ORDERS 9
REPORT  JOINT SPECIAI. COMMITTEE I5
EXERCISES ON THE SEVENTEENTI-I OF JUNE:-—

HYMN ' 29
INVOCATION 29
I SINGING,—- “HAIL COLUMBIA” go
PRAYER 3:
ORIGINAL HYMN 34
ADDRESS BY MAYOR ALDEN SPEARE 35
ADDRESS BY GOV. ALEXANDER I-I. RICE. 38
SINGING, -- “ BATTLE HYMN OF ’I‘HE REPUBLIC ” . 42_
READING OF ORIGINAL HYMN WRITTEN BY S. E. SMITH 43
HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY EX—MAYOR JAMES F. C. HYDE 44
SINGING, —-VVI-II'I‘TIER’S “CENTENNIAL HYMN” 74
ORIGINAL POEM BY REV. I. N. TARBOX . . . . . . . 74‘

PRESENTATION OF CRAYON PORTRAIT OF COL. JOSEPH WARD, BY MR.
WILLIAM C. BATES

SINGING. ---— “AMERICA ” .

BENEDICTION BY REV. HENRY MACKAY .. . . . . . .

' CORRESPONDENCE

85
85
89

CONTENTS.

EXERCISES ON THE FOURTH OF JULY:-—

MUSICAL SELECTIONS . . . . .
READING OF PRESIDENT’S PROCLAMATION ..
HYMN . W’ . . .
READING OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
SONG, —_-“THE BATTLE-CRY OF FREEDOM” .
MAYOR"s ADDRESS . . . . . .
ORATION BY HON. JOHN C. PARK . . .
ORIGINAL POEM BY J. L. ORDWAY .
REPRESENTATION OF HISTORICAL “SCENES BY
OTHERS . . . ' . . ‘ . . '
DOXOLOGY . ’.

BENEDICTION . . . .
APPENDIX :--

NOTES . . , .

OFFICERS OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT

HISTORY OE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF NEWTON

g I G O 0

SCHOOL - CHILDREN

PAGE

I04

I04

. IO6

. IO6

IO6

. I06

. IO9

AND

I22

. I41

I55
I6I

OFFICIAL ORDERS.

 

OFFICIAL ORDERS. A

 

CITY or NEWTON.

IN BOARD or MAYOR AND ALDERMEN, Feb. 28, 1876.
0m’ered, That, in View of the peculiar interest attending this centennial
year of our national history, a Joint Special Committee of Five (two Aldermen
and three Councilmen) be appointed to make such preliminary arrangements
as in their judgment may seem fit, for the appropriate celebration by the City
authorities of the coming anniversary of July 4, I876, and make report thereon.

In accordance with the above vote, passed in concurrence, the
following joint Special Committee was appointed : --

Boczrdaf AZzZe2wze7z.——-G. D. GILMAN, JAMES F. EDMANDS.
Beam’ of Common C'ozmcz'Z. —-- J. STURGIS POTTER, RUFUS "IVIOULTON,
D. S. SIMPSON. ’

4 A true copy of order and action thereon.
/1z‘z‘e.s*z',
ED. 0. CI-IILDS, C'z'§‘y Clerk.

10 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

V CITY or NEWTON.

IN. BOARD or MAYOR AND ALDERMEN,
WEST NEWTON, March 15,1876.

E The Joint Special Committee on the matter of the celebration of this
centennial year in the national history would offer the following
report:---~

They recommend as follows: That the City Government take meas-
ures, through a Joint Special Committee, for the proper observance of
the Seventeenth of June prom, that being the day when the Freemen
of the town of Newton in 1776 voted, in town meeting assembled, “that

they will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes, to support the

measures of independence.” ,

That such celebration shall be held in some large hall, and consist of
addresses, music, &c., appropriate to the occasion.

They would also recommend, that, on the Fourth of July pr0.x., the
bells in the different wards be rung, morning, noon, and night, the N a-
tional flag be displayed on all public flagstaffs, under the direction of the
usual committee.

Also, that, so far as may be practicable, the restriction on firing can-

non, fire-crackers, fireworks, &c., be removed forthat clay.

CITY OF NEWTON.
IN BOARD or MAYOR AND ALDERMEN,
, March 15, I876.

»'§Om’erm’, That the Joint Special Committee, to whom was referred the matter
of the celebration of this centennial year, be and the same are made a com-
mittee to carry out the recommendations made in their report tothe City
Council, this I 5th»of March, 1876.

A true copy of order adopted in concurrence April 3, I876.
Az‘z‘es2‘,
EDWIN O. CI-IILDS, Czlry Cler/2.

EEP 0127 0E 701./vr SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 11

' ‘_ CITY OF NEWTON.
IN BOARD or MAYOR AND ALDERMEN,
June 19, I876.

Orrlerea’, That the Joint Special Committee having in charge the Centennial
celebrations of the Seventeenth of June and Fourth of July be and are in—
structed to procure copies of the public addresses that have been or may be
made, with the correspondence thereto appertaining, and prepare the same for
publication, that copies may be transmitted to Washington as requested by his
Excellency the President of _the United States, and one copy to be sent to
the office of the clerk of the county. .

That five hundred copies of the same, to be known as the,“Newton Cen-
tennial Memorial” volume, be printed, and the standing Committee on Printing
be charged with carrying out this portion of this order.

A true copy of order, adopted by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, ‘June
I9, 1876, and by the Common Council, in concurrence, June 26, I876.

Az‘z‘esz‘,
EDWINO. CI-IILDS, Cizjy Czar/a.

REPORT OF JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE. I

REPORT OF JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE.

CITY HALL, WEST NEWTON, Sept. 4, 1876.

To THE CITY COUNCIL or THE CITY or NEWTON:
The Joint Special Committee to whom were intrusted the arrangements
for the proper observance of the centennial celebrationof the Seventeenth

of June, the Fourth of July, and the preparation of the Centennial Me-
morial Volume, would respectfully submit the following report :i -—

Your Committee have endeavored to carry out what they understood

to be the wishes of our citizens, as expressed by the unanimous votes of
both branches of the City Council, that these anniversaries should be
duly observed and worthily honored.

It is not our province to make any lengthy reference in this place to
the exciting events and stirring deeds of one hundred years ago: that

I belongs more properly to the historian. We may be permitted, however,

to remark, that history shows that the freemen of Newton of 1776 were
fully alive to the great occasion that appealed to their patriotism, and
were not unconscious of the dangers that threatened the life of the Colo»
nies. Knowing all, they dared bravely for the right.

“ They little thought how pure a light
With years should gather round that day,
How love should keep their memories bright,

How wide a realm their sons should sway.”
BRYANT.

16 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

Living as they did within’ sight and hearing of the neighboring city
of Boston, in constant communication with the leaders in the cause of
Liberty, --— Newton’s sons among them,—————it is not strange that their sym-
pathies were moved to send a timely force of a company of men, officered
by their brave Jackson and Richardson, to share in the fight at Concord
and Lexington on the 19th of April, 1775, when that shot was fired
which was “heard round the world.”

Knowing, as the people did, of the battle of Bunker Hill,»---by the
echoes of the cannon which could be heard in their homes, and by the
smoke of the great conflagration attending it, which could be seen from
their hill~tops,-—-—-it is not a matter of wonder that the brave hearts of
Newton were fired with the determination to solemnly engage with their
lives and fortunesto support the measures in behalf of the cause of
freedom.

It was but across the Charles River, in the adjoining town of Water-
town, that the members of the Colonial Assembly held their sessions,
having been compelled to leave Boston 5 and it may safely be assumed
that the men of Newton had often contributed by their presence, as
they did by their purses, to strengthen the hands and stimulate the
hearts of their chosen leaders, in their endeavors to guide the people of
the different colonies towards the goal of a united and independent
nation. , C

We know the friendship of Washington for our own Joseph Ward;
and it may be that the silent influence of the commander—in-chief was
felt by those of our townsmen who saw and met him in" his visits to
Watertown, whither he came to confer with the patriots there assem——
bled.

The century has passed. Those worthy men, who did well their part
in the great struggle, who laid all theypossessecl upon the altar for the
good of country, now rest in the hallowed ground of the old cemetery.
Precious are their memories, and grateful children and children’s chil-
dren shall ever perpetuate them.

REPORT OF 70f[VT SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 17

“They went where duty seemed to call ; . ,
They scarcely asked the reason. why :
They only knew they could but die,

And death was not the worst of all.

Of man for man the sacrifice,
Unstained by blood save theirs, they gave :
The flowers that blossomed from their grave
Have sown themselves beneath all skies.”
 WHITTIER.

V Not far offl in the new cemetery, is a monument, upon the front of
which is inscribed the words “In memoriam perpetuarn ;” and upon the
entablature is carved the motto, “Pro patria mortui sunt,” above the
names of the brave men of Newton who offered up their lives in the
cause of freedom and the union. These silently tell the story, that
worthy sons of noble sires have followed the self-sacrificing spirit of
the fathers, and have shown ‘how sweet it was “for one’s country to
die,” and that, when the national life was again assailed, brave men
were not found wanting for a second deliverance. When the call came
to them, in the words of one of the poets of our own city, —-~--_

‘‘ The sons of Newton like their sires arise,
And march, as did of old the minute—rnen,
To find the nearest spot where danger lies.

And each true heart, and every noble soul,
Like the brave heroes of an earlier day,
Are ever first and foremost in the tray,
When duty calls the roll,

And honor leads the way.”
ORDWAY.

13     THE NE WTO./V CENTENNIAL.

THE S.EVENTEEN'I‘I-I or JUNE.

His Excellency ALEXANDER H. RICE, the Governor of the Common-

wealth, who is a native of Newton, was invited to deliver the opening ‘

address of the Centennial Celebration of the Seventeenth of June.
Ex~—Mayor I-Ion. JAMES F. C. I-IVDE, a descendant of a patriotic actor in

the scenes to be commemorated, was requested to tell the story of that

day in connection with a brief glance at the history of the town,--its

trials, struggles, and triumphs, for the past two hundred years.

Rev. I. N. TARBOX, D. D., a respected citizen of our town and city,
was selected as the poet of the occasion.

Each most acceptably fulfilled the part assigned to him in the Cele»
bration, which was especially observed in commemoration of the actiori
of the town government of one hundred years ago.

Saturday the Seventeenth of June, 1876, will be pleasantly remembered
as a day of especial interest in the history of Newton.

Suitable preparations were made for an appropriate observance by
the people of the city, of the anniversary of the day when the freemen
of Newton, in town meeting assembled, declared in favor of the inde-
pendence of the Colonies from the rulelof Great Britain by the fol-
lowing resolution:——

“JUNE I7, 1776. At a town meeting the inhabitants of Newton, duly warned and
regularly assembled at our meeting-house, on Monday, the seventeenth clay of June,
A.D. I776, to act on sundry articles mentioned in the warrant, reference thereto being
had may more fully appear. Capt. john Woodward was chosen Moderator of said
meeting.

“ After some debate on the second article in the warrant, the question was put, that,
in case the Honorable -Continental Congress should, for the safety of the American

Colonies, declare them independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, whether the in-.

habitants of this town will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them
in the measure; and the vote passed unanimously in the affirmative.

“ABRAHAM FULLER, Town czert».’=

, The clay was one of the finest of a beautiful’ season, and was greatly

REPORT OF 370]./VT SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 19

enjoyed by the large numbers of our citizens and others who improved it
as a day of recreation.

Throughout the city, various historical points were marked with appro-
priate inscriptions. The old houses, objects of special interest, were
decked with bunting; several of the churches were very tastefully deco-
rated, and bore inscriptions giving the dates of their organization, &c.;
and many flags were displayed in honor of the celebration. Salutes were
fired at intervals, by various parties in different wards, and the city was
almost wholly given over to holiday observances.

At six o’clocl<., P.M., the public ceremonies began with an open—air
concert in front of Nonanturn Hall, by the Newton City Band, twenty-
five pieces, C. A. Eaton, leader. Meanwhile the Claflin Guards, Capt. F.
N. Brown, the Charles Ward Post, “‘ G. A. R.,” D. A. Conant, commander
and the members of the City Government, assembled in Nonantum Hall.
At ten minutes past seven, P.M , His Excellency Gov. Alexander H. Rice,
accompanied by the members of his staff in 'uniform,—--«who had been
met at the depot by the Committee of Arrangements with carriages,--
entered the hall, and were received by the Guards with the military
honors due to the rank of the distinguished visitors.

Being escorted to the reception-rooms, his Excellency was received in
behalf of the city, by his Honor Mayor Alden Speare, and the members
of the City Council, and, after a. brief interchange of congratulations,
a procession was formed, and proceeded to Eliot Hall, Ward Seven, in the
following order :,—

Platoon of Police.
Newton City Band.
City Marshal R. L. Hinds.
His Excellency Gov. Alexander I-I. Rice, and his Honor Mayor Alden Speare.
Members of the Governor’s Staff.
Members of the Committee of Arrangements.
Members of the Board of Aldermen.
Members of the Common Council.
Claflin Guards, Capt. F. N. Brown.
Charles Ward Post, G. A. R., D. A. Conant, Commander.
Police.

go o i THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

The doors of the hall, the largest audience-room in the city, with
accommodations on the floor for a thousand persons, were opened to the
public at seven o’clocl<, RM.

The gallery had been reserved for the ladies of the members of the
City Government, the School Committee and their ladies, and the daugh-
ters of the descendants of the old residents. Among these honored
guests, were three grandchildren of Col. Joseph Ward.

Seated upon the right of the platform were the invited guests, -—--- the
seats of honor being reserved for the descendants of the Revolutionary
heroes, whose patriotic actions this celebration was designed especially
to commemorate.

A guard of honor covering these representatives of the ancient worthies
was maintained by members of the Claflin Guards during the exercises of
the evening. '

On the left of the platform were the seats of the members of the City
Government, heads of departments, Chairman of the Public Library, of
the School Committee, of the Board of Assessors, of the Water Commis-

T sioners, and others connected officially with the city.

By special invitation, the honorable and venerable gentlemen Seth
Davis, Esq., and Marshall S. Rice, Esq., who for many years have been
identified with the interests of the ‘old town and new city, were also
present.

Seats were also assigned to the selectmen of Lexington and Concord,
in recognition of the cordiality and good feeling that have ever existed
between these old towns and ours, in time of war and in peace.

In the centre of the platform were his Excellency the Governor, and
his Honor the Mayor, the reverend clergy, the speakers of the evening,
and members of the Governor’s staff ,' and back of them the choir, -—-—
composed of thirteen persons, descendants from the men of Newton of
1:776, and thirty—eight pupils of the Newton High School, representing
the thirty~eight States of the Republic.

The hall, under the hands of the decorator, presented a beautiful

i appearance. The walls were tastefully hung with the national colors

in graceful festoons. The coats—of-arms of the State and of the city were

F

REPORT OF 9'0]./\/'17‘ SPECIAL COMMITYEE. 21

draped with American flags ; while at regular intervals along the front
of the gallery were the names of the first settlers, —- RICHARDSON-, STONE,
KENRICK, CHENEY, FULLER, WARD, ROGER SHERMAN, WOODWARD,
HAMMOND, HYDE, WISWALL, JACKSON. Conspicuously displayed upon a
large banner on the south side, was the now-memorable vote of the town,
passed June r7, I776:--— '

“ Volga’, unanimously, that in case the Honorable Continental Congress should, for
the safety of the American Colonies, declare their independence of the Kingdom of
Great Britain, the inhabitants of this town will solemnly engage with their lives and

fortunes to support them in the measure.
' “ABRAHAM FULLER, T9'Ze/72 C/er/a.”

While upon a similar banner on the north side was an extract from a
letter from Gen. Washington to C01. Joseph Ward.

“I-II~:Ar>oUAR'rERs, March 20, 1780,.
“ To COL. JOSEPH WARD : —--The favorable sentiments of a good man, and one who
has executed diligently and faithfully performed the duties of his station, cannot fail
of being agreeable. - E GEORGE WASHINGTON.”

To whom also Gen. Washington wrote, —-

. . . ‘A‘ You have my thanks for your constant attention to the business of your
department, the manner of its execution, and your ready and faithful compliance With
all my orders; and I cannot help adding, on this occasion, for the zeal you have dis-
covered at all times, and under all circumstances, to promote the good of the service in
general, and the great objects of our cause.

“I am, dear sir, with great regard, your obedient and humble servant,
“GEORGE WASHINGTON.”

As indicating the close national connection With the events of the
17th of June, 1775, and of the 17th of June, 1776, there was placed in
the rear of the platform a large picture of Bunker Hill Monument.
Above it was the motto, —-

22 ,THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

“NEW Town (CAMBRIDGE), 1631:. NONANTUM-—CAMB.RII‘)GE VILLAGE, 1654.”
“NEW TOWN-——SF.T OFF FROM CA1vn3:aI13G1a:~—x679.”1
“FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL ABOUT. I700.”
“NEWTON, 1766.”

In front of the reading-desk, and festooned with American colors
arranged around it, was a beautiful crayon life-size portrait of Col. Joseph
Ward of Newton.

There was also a fine portrait of Mr. Peter Hammond, who was born

1‘

in Newton, April 9, 1776, and who is still alive and in the enjoyment of
good health. N

Upon one side of the desk was displayed the old sword of Col.
Michael Jackson, one of Newton’s leading men in the days of the
Revolution. It is said, that, while participating in the public debate
held at Watertown on the situation of affairs at Concord and Lexington,
rising from his seat, he exclaimed, “You may stay here and ‘talk, but I go
to fight,” and immediately started to take his place in the Newton Com-
pany. By the side of this sword, as fitting accompaniments, were the
cartridge-box and white belt which Mr. Samuel Richardson brought as
trophies from the battle—field of Lexington, having taken them himself
from a British soldier who had fallen there. ‘ \

Mr. Richardson was one of the selectmen of Newton in 1776, who
gaveiemphasis to the words of the Resolution by his deeds, having been
the lieutenant of the Newton Company, which participated in the engage
ment at Lexington. T

Fitly surmounting these venerated and valuable mementos of the
times of the fathers, was a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

On the opposite side of the desk was placed the beautiful statuette of
“The Minute-Man,” one of those

“ Whose faith and truth
On war’s red touchstone rang true metal ;
Who ventured life and love and youth ,
For the great prize of death in battle.”

1 This date is in doubt, as will be seen by the address of Mr. Hyde, pp. 45-49.

REPORT OF _‘70f/VT SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 23

Other decorations about the hall served to add to its attractiveness,‘

and recall patriotic associations.

At half-past seven, "P.M.., the procession reached the hall, which was
filled to overflowing ,- » and to the music from the band, of “Hail to the
Chief,” his Excellency the Governor, his Honor the Mayor, with the Gov-
ernor’s staff and members of the City Government, were escorted to the
platform, the whole audience rising and receiving the distinguished
guests in a most hearty manner. The scene at this moment was one of
great brilliancy and enthusiasm, and long to be remembered.

Itgave evident tokens of the deep interest our citizens felt in the
celebration of this now historic day, and was the assurance that they will
not willingly let die the memories of the men of Newton of r776.

“With us their names shall live
Through long succeeding years ;
Embalmed with all our hearts can give, -—
Our praises and our tears.”

I THE FOURTH OF JULY.

In accordance with the arrangements made by the City Council,
through its joint committee, the centennial anniversary of American
independence was duly celebrated in Newton, on Tuesday, and in a
manner reflecting credit on all our citizens. Probably not for half a
century has Newton had a celebration of the day under the auspices
of the town or city authorities. Every exertion was made that the occa-
sion should be honored in a becoming manner, manifesting the hearty
sympathy of our people to-day with the patriots of one hundred years
ago. t

On the previous Sunday, July 2, the occurrence of the Centennial
sabbath was noticed in many of the churches, by the selection of appro-
priate hymns, and by reference to the fact iii the sermons, that the one
hundredth anniversary of the nation "was at hand.

24’ THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

The approach of Centennial Independence Day was made clearly
manifest the night previous by the faithful performance, under vigorous
workers, of every noisy appliance within our borders. At midnight the
“music of the bells ” was added to the jubilation. Bonfires were also
built on the hilltops, that on Mount Ida being especially brilliant. Bax-
ter’s Artillery also woke the slumbering echoes from West Newton Hill,
ushering in the day. i

The “ antique” parades (which of late years have-come to be considered
a necessary adjunct to a Fourth of July celebration) were gotten up in-
dependent of the general committee, and at the designated hour began
their march. After parading through the principal streets of the several
wards of the city, they proceeded to Lincoln Park, West Newton, where
they breakfasted.

The general programme for the day announced that the celebration
would commence by a parade of the Fire Department, and its review by
the members of the City Government, which took place at 9.45, A.M., and
was in all respects creditable to the firemen, and satisfactory to the
authorities. It was formed in the following order 2--

Newton Mounted Police.
‘ Charlestown City Band.

Chief Engineer Qrrin Whipple, and Assistant Engineers.
Steamer I, C. A. Hill, Foreman.
No-nantum Hose and Supply Wagon.
Boardman Drum Corps.

Steamer 2, B. D. Griggs, Foreman.
Steamer 3, William Bemis, Foreman.
Hook and Ladder I, Fred. Sibley, Foreman.
Hose 4, Byron Jones, F orernan.

Hose 5, George Cook, Foreman.
Hand Engine 1, J. P. Houghton, Foreman.
Hand Engine 4., J. Kerivan, Foreman.

M

REPORT OF :70]./VT SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 25

The procession started from Lincoln Park, West Newton, andiwas
reviewed by Mayor Spears and the City Council, in front of the City
Hall. The people of Newton are to be congratulated onihaving a

Department composed of such a fine-looking and substantial body of

men, and who are, from appearances, so well provided with the most

powerful machines to cope with the devouring element.

Hon. John C. Parks, a resident of our city, whose long experience,
enlarged observation, and strong national sympathies, indicated him for
the position of “the Orator of the clay,” kindly accepted the invitation.

Mr. J. L. Orclway promised the poem for the occasion.

The time-honored custom of the reading of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence was committed to Mr. E. W. Cate, one of the young men of
our city, who had passed through its schools, graduating with honor
from its highest.

It was deemed advisable that the children should not be overlooked,

W and that they should be made participants with their parents in the

celebration, thus perpetuating the memories which the occasion corn-
memoratecl. Mr. George S. Trowbridge, who was assisted by Miss
Mattie C. Howe, very kindly gave his time and attention to the arrange-
ment of this part of our programme, and with unqualified success.

It was a matter of regret that the address prepared by Rev. B. K. T

Peirce for the children should have been obliged to be omitted, owing
to the lateness of the hour. M

The beautiful hall of our City Hall, Ward Three, was appropriately
adorned in honor of “the day we celebrate,” displaying conspicuously a
finely painted seal of the City, and also the seals of the Commonw
wealth and of the United States, with other decorations national and
patriotic 3 while a profusion of st'ar--spangled banners told of

“ The land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

The stage was occupied by the members of the City Government, the
speakers on the occasion, and the invited guests 5 while every available
space in the large hall was filled, and numbers could not obtain room.

26 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

The exercises were exceedingly interesting and profitable, and, although
lengthy, were waited upon by the large, sympathetic audience with
patience and attention.
In conclusion, your committee would desire to express their apprecia-
tion of the kindly co-operation of the members of the City Government,
if and of our citizens in general 5 and, insomuch as the celebrations were a
success, it was owing to the support and countenance of our people.

Very respectfully submitted.

G. D. GILMAN,
JAMES F. ZEDMANDS,
J. STURGIS POT'I‘ER,_
RUFUS MOULTON,~
D. s. SIMPSON,

_7'oz'm‘ Special Cammz'z'2‘ee.

EXERCISES ON SEVENTEENTH OF JUNE.

THE EXERCISES.

TI-IE exercises of the occasion were opened by the Newton
City Band playing the several American national airs, after which
the audience arose, and joined with the choir in singing, to the
tune of “ Old Hundred,” the accompanying verses : ~-

‘‘ O God! beneath thy guiding hand,
ii Our exiled fathers crossed the sea 5
And, when they trod the wintry strand,
With prayer and psalm they worshipped thee.

And here thy name, 0 God of love !
Their children’s children will adore,
Till these eternal hills remove,
And spring adorns the earth no more.”

The Rev. W, E. HUNTINGTON, of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, Newton, then offered the following invocation :-————

We thank thee, our heavenly Father, for the memories
which bring us here to-night, and for the men who in

thy providence became the founders of our civil liberties.
We revere their names. Their brave words inspired us.

30 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

Their lives still speak. As we look into the past, With-

the blessings of a century upon us, may we learn its les-
sons! May our citizenship be nobler from the example
of our forefathers! Bless those who have planned these
centennial exercises, and all who shall participate therein;
and crown us all with thy grace and heavenly benediction,

, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

At the close of the invocation, “Hail Columbia” was rendered
by the band and choir, the audience joining in the chorus.

Hail, Columbia! happy land 1

Hail, ye heroes, heaven-born band,

Who fought and bled in freedom’s cause,
And, when the storm of war was done,
Enjoyed the peace your valor won l

Let independence be your boast,-—-
Ever mindful What it cost ;

Ever grateful for the prize,

Let your altars reach the skies.

CHORUS.

Firm, united, let us be,
Rallying round our liberty 5
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

Immortal patriots, rise once more E
Defend your rights, defend your shore I
Let no rude foe with irnpious hand
Invade the land where sacred lies

Of toil and blood the well~earned prize 3

S.

0

.1

"%"L”
‘ -u

’ . . “W.
“'n"nl. .-
.--‘t4»_ 1*".

», ' ' .4-
‘ K“! ~'K&$$h‘\ u‘

THE EXERCISES. 31

While offering peace sincere and just,
In Heaven we place a manly trust,
That truth and justice may prevail,
And every scheme of bondage fail.”

Prayer was then offered by Rev. Dr. FURBER, of the First
Church, where the meeting in favor of independence was held:-—-~

O thou eternal and unchangeable God, with reverence
would we look upward unto thee, who, through all the
changes that occur in the affairs of men and of nations,
art forever the same. One generation goeth, and another
cometh; but thou changest not.

We look back over the generations that have preceded
us, and see from what feeble beginnings we have become
a great and mighty nation; and we desire to acknowledge,
in all ourigrowth and prosperity, thy ruling and helping
hand. Thou didst bring a vine out ofEngland. Thou
didst cast out the heathen, and plant it. Thou preparedest
room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root; and it
has filled the land. Thou didst plant here a Christian
people, with an undying love of freedom, law, and truth
in their hearts, and in all their ways thou didst guide
them as with a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire
by night. i

Their sense of personal dignity and of God-given rights
was from thee, theirsleepless vigilance, and their heroic
constancy in resisting the aggressions of arbitrary power.
Their lofty determination to secure for themselves and for
us those inestimable blessings of unfettered liberty, which

3 2 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL. C

so few of the nations of the earth have ever enjoyed,
thou didst inspire in their hearts. And when the stand

was taken, and the declaration made, which announced to

the world the birth of a nation, thou didst gird them
with strength for the conflict which ensued. Thou didst
teach their hands to war, and their fingers to fight; thou
didst raise up for them a leader and commander whom
they followed with unbounded confidence and unfaltering
affection; and by him thou didst lead them triumphantly
through the stormy sea of war, reddened with their blood,
and strewnwith the wreck of untold treasure; and, when
the long-sought liberty was achieved, it was in the hands
of a people whom thou hadst prepared for it by the long
severity of discipline through which they had passed.

We give thanks for the conspicuous part which was
borne in the struggle by this ancient Commonwealth ; for
the example and influence of that apostle of liberty whose
fiery words on the floor of Congress stirred the hearts of
men to their depths; and for the readiness with which the
people of the Commonwealth responded, far and near,_to
thebugle-call of his voice and the voices of his com-
patriots.

We rejoice, that, in that momentous crisis, the response
of our own beloved town was heard; that, in the sanctuary
where our fathers worshipped, they solemnly and with one
voice pledged their fortunes and their lives to the sacred

cause of freedom, and from that time forth redeemed their  

pledge withtheir toils, their sacrifices, and their blood.
As we, their posterity, come into the inheritance which

THE EXERCISES. 33

they bequeathed, we would now take upon ourselves, with V

the opening of another century, the solemn pledge, that,
so far as in us lies, we will maintain and transmit inviolate
what we have received; that we will water and nourish
the tree which they planted, and labor to remove from it

A whatever might deform its beauty or hinder its fruit. May

we love law as well as liberty, and, while we hate tyranny,
uphold government! May our public men be delivered
from all taint of venality and every sordid aim! When
they think of him, who, without remuneration, led the
armies of the Revolution, and of the many who followed
him ready to lose every thing for their cause, may all
greed of gain be put away, and every mercenary motive
lose its power! a

With the deepest shame do we confess to thee, and with
a keen and bitter sense of national disgrace, the corrup-
tion of our times. And we earnestly pray, O thou who

i lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity, for the restoration

of z'm‘egrz'z‘y among the rulers and among the people of
this land! Drop down, ye heavens from above, and let
the skies pour down 7/zig/zz‘eou57¢ess,' and may the earth
open to receive it, and bring forth again, like a garden, the
the fruits of righteousness! Thus may our freedom be
established and per-petuated, until those who shall come
after us, unto the latest generation, shall receive it as a
precious legacy from the fathers, passing safely through
our hands; and may they, like the fathers. be able to
exclaim, “ The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob
is our refuge ” ! r

3 4 THE NE W:roN CENTENNIAL.

God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause his
face to shine upon us '; that thy way may be known upon
the earth, thy saving health among all nations.

And unto the blessed and only Potentate, the King of
kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, be
honor and power everlasting. Amen.

4

Alderman G. D. Gilman, Chairman of the Committee of
Arrangements, then read several letters, which will be found
in‘ the Correspondence; after the reading of which, the choir
sang the hymn, “To thee, 0 Country!” written by Anna
Eichberg, the music by Julius Eichberg.

“ To thee, 0 country! great and free,

With trusting hearts we cling:

Our voices, tuned by joyous love,
Thy power and praises sing. _

Upon thy mighty, faithful heart
We lay our burden down:

Thou art the only friend who feels
Their weight without a frown.

To thee we daily work and strive 3
To thee we give our love ;

For thee with fervor deep we pray
To Him who dwells above, -3

O God! preserve our fatherland,
Let Peace its ruler be ;

And let her happy kingdom stretch
From north to southrnost sea.”

THE EXE]? CISES. A 3 5

His Honor Mayor Speare, in welcoming the assembly, made
the following

ADDRESS.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FRIENDS AND FELLow—CI'rI-
ZENS,-—--VVC bid you one and all a hearty welcome to
Newton’s Centennial Anniversary of her DECLARATION or
INDEPENDENCE. '

On the 17th of May, 1776, on motion of Patrick Henry,
the House of Burgesses of Virginia voted to instruct their
delegates in Congress to propose to that body to declare
the Colonies independent of Great Britain.

On the 7thof June, in accordance with this vote,
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, in Continental Congress,
made the motion as directed; which motion was seconded
and ably supported by john Adams of Massachusetts.
After three days’ debate, it was referred to a committee,
with the understanding that they should report near the
first of July, when the debate should be renewed and
thequestion decided.

On the 17th of June, the citizens of Newton assembled
in town meeting. Capt. john Woodward was chosen

igrnoderator. The second article of the warrant read as

follows : g“ That in case the Honorable Continental Con-
gress should, for the safety of the American Colonies,

rdeclare them independent of the Kingdom of Great

Britain, whether the inhabitants of this town will solemnly
engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in

the measure.”

35 , N THE NE WTO./V CENTENNIAL.

, After debate the question was put, and the vote passed
UNANIMOUSLY in the AFFIRMATIVE.

Noble and memorable as was this vote, Newton did not
stop with resolves. On the 5th of July, again in town
meeting,-—-—-no telegraph then to electrify them with the
account of the momentous event of yesterday, the signing
of the Declaration of Independence by every member of
the Continental Congress save one, -~%—it was “voted to pay
,5 6, 6:. 8c{., to each person who passeth muster, and goeth
into Newton’s quota, in the expedition to Canada.”

“ Vozflm’, to authorize the treasurer to borrow the money

to pay the bounty,” AND “ Voted that the money the
treasurer shall borrow to pay the bounty of the soldiers
aforesaid SHALL BE ASSESSED on the polls and estates in
Newton, and paid into the town treasury by the 1st of
Januaryynext.” Thus they assumed all the burdens of
their times, and bequeathed only the blessings and benefits
which should follow.

It is saidiof the Athenians, when the republic was
established under the wise laws of Solon, “Once more
freemen, the Athenians were once more warriors.”

The citizens of Newton, that they might become and
remain freemen, have ever been warriors when the exi-
gency of the times has demanded, ‘whether to defend
themselves or their neighbors from theattacks of the
red men of the forest, from the encroachrnents of King
George, or the slave-power of the South; and we today
rejoice that the prayer we once heard offered among the
mountains of Pennsylvania has been fully answered,---,-

_ THE EXEJE CJSES. - 37

that the Lord would hasten the day when the last link of
the las_t chain of the last slave on this continent should be
broken.

For this,---———for the largest liberty consistent with the
rights of all; for the material prosperity which has been
vouchsafed to us, whereby we have been transformed from

A thirteen feeble Colonies, comprising but a portion of the

eastern border of our present domain, now extending from
the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the At-
lantic to the Pacific, including thirty-eight States and nine
'I‘erritories,-———- the valuation at that time probably less than
six hundred million dollars, now more than fifteen billion ;
then containing less than three million inhabitants, includ-
ing five hundred thousand slaves, 'nowl more than forty
million, and not a slave in all the land where floats the
stars and stripes; for the religious liberty enabling each
to serve God according to the dictates of his own con-
science, with no state church to be sustained by taxation;
for the opportunities of education and culture whereby
every son and daughter of America may, and in most of
the States must, obtain a fair education ; for the wonderful
results of labor and invengtive genius, as evidenced in the
reaper, the power printing-press, the steamboat, the rail-
road, the telegraph, and the more than a hundred and
seventy-seven thousand patented inventions,--—--for all
these, and the more that we have not mentioned, we
to-night would be profoundly grateful. A

As land silently fades from the vision of the departing
mariner, so. fades from memory the history of the noble

38 , THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

deeds and sacrifices of those who even with their lives
have secured to us the inestimable blessing of LIBERTY
and its consequent happiness.

Of those who took part in that ‘ever-memorable town
meeting, June I7, 1776, not one remains; but we have
assembled to receive instruction from the lives of those
who contributed to make this city, this State, and this
nation, what they are today ; and our teachers are sons of
Newton, who, while they have often been called to posi-
tions of honor and responsibility, have equally honored
their constituency by the fidelity with which they have
fulfilled the trusts confided to them. A

Mayor Speare, in closing, introduced as a Newton boy, his
Excellency Gov. ALEXANDER I-I. RICE, who made the following

ADDRESS.

IT gives me unalloyed pleasure, ladies and fellow-—citi~

zens, to participate with you in the interesting ceremonies
of this historic occasion, and to meet face to face some of

my early companions, and a larger number who seem half i

familiar to me from bearing in tlfeir own countenances the
well-knownlinearnents of their ancestors. V

I often go back in memory to thepicturesque and beau-
tiful scenery of this ancient town, now expanded into a
prosperous and thriving city,-m to its hills and Valleys,

forests, fields, and meadows; to its churches and schools,

to its mills and factories, and to the manifold interests and

THE EXEZE CZSES. 39

objects which absorbed my attention then, or kindled my
ambition for the future.’ Nor have I ever failed to remem-
ber with affectionate veneration and respect you, sir (Seth
Davis, Esq.), with others among my early instructors, who
with rare aptitude in teaching led your pupils by easy and
smooth gradations through preliminary branches of study,
into the mysteries of science and the pleasures of litera-
ture. Especially do I remember that you were the first
to unfold to my thoughtful admiration the character and
movements of those grand . constellations whose nightly
radiance glows from zenith to horizon, and which stretch
out their widening orbits into the vast expanse, measuring
by ceaseless revolutions the eternal years.

And to-night, after this long interval of time filled with
the vicissitudes of a busy life, its duties, its cares, its aspira-
tions, perhaps with the common share of disappointments,
perhaps with some measure of its successes, Icome back
to your centennial celebration flushed with a new devotion,
andglad to join with you in laying upon our municipal
altar fresh offerings of loyalty and affection.

I think, it“ is a pleasant and healthy custom thus to
observe these anniversary occasions. They become great
teachers, and stand like sentinels passing along in vivid
imagery the story of the past to the generations following.

The love of the soil which gave us birthis one of the
strongest passions of human nature; and we burn with
delight at the recital of incidents and events which render
our birthplace famous and historic. I do not know the
name of the noble man who offered the patriotic resolu-

4.0 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

tion passed in the town-meeting of Newton, a hundred
years ago, a copy of which now; adorns these walls; but
he deserves to have a bronze statue ‘erected to his memory,
and upon its base should be inscribed the name of every
freeholder who voted forit.

I think we are apt without reflection to look back to the F‘

origin of the Republic as being also the beginning of our
own State of Massachusetts; which is a great mistake, and
quite leaves out of account the real significance of the
Union and of the influences which brought it into being.

‘ Massachusetts had witnessed within her own borders the

establishment and growth of civil society, with all its
appointments of legislative, judicial, and executive func»
tions, for a hundred and fifty years before the Revolutionary
war began. She had also her schools and colleges based

’ upon the conviction of their necessity; her churches, and

institutions of charity and reform; her agriculture, her

wide-spreading commerce and technical industries; her

statesmen, scholars, and divines; and all the elements and
accessories of a complete commonwealth. This common-
wealth was not only enlightened and influential,but it was
thoroughly loyal to the British crown. The honor of Great
Britain was the pride of the people of the colony; and her

V martial strength on land and sea gave them security and

confidence. The laws and literature of England were part
and parcel of ‘their inheritance. The thought of separation
from the mother country never entered into their minds;
the dream of independence had never bewitched their

thoughts; and nothing but the violation of the common

THE EXERCISES. 41‘

rights of Englishmen would have driven them into rebel-
lion. But upon the institution of that series of acts of
unparalleled oppression, in which it is difficult to tell which
was more conspicuous, the arrogance of the crown, or the

_ stupidity of parliament, -—~—--acts which the colonists believed

to be subversive of the rights of property and of personal

liberty,--they staked all they possessed upon the hazard

i of resistance, and enforced their determination with more

than Spartan courage. The Stamp Act, the "Boston Port
Bill, the Regulating Act, the Bute policy of moulding the
colonies, the issuing of writs of assistance, and thelike,
were the culminating oppressions and follies which aroused
the zeal and eloquence of John Hancock, of john Adams
and Samuel Adams, of James Otis, of Josiah Quincy, and
of their illustrious compeers, who stirred the whole country

into sympathy, and brought on the war of the Revolution,

and gave life to the Republic of the United States as one of
the great powers of the world. In that great contest, Massa-

A chusetts was not only foremost in her declarations of resist-

ance, but she contributed a larger number of soldiers to the
Continental army than all the other States combined; and,

whether in the field or in Congress, her influence was con-

stant and decisive. Our own town of Newton was equal
to any other in the spirit of her people and in their prompt
response to the call to arms. In the present greatness and

  power of the Republic, with its forty millions of people, its

vast accumulated wealth, its development from ocean to
ocean, stimulated by all the discoveries of science and all
the appliances of art, it is difficult to estimate rightly the

42 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

sacrifices and sufferings of those earlier days when the
men whose bravery we to-day commemorate offered all
they possessed, and endured unparalleled privations, for
the cause of liberty and country. VVhile we enjoy the
fruits of their toil and suffering, let us not tamely admire
their virtues; but, inspired by anoble emulation, let us be,
as they ever were, prepared for sacrifice in the line of our
duty. Let us preserve the honor of our native or adopted
dwelling-placwei tuntarnished by indifference or cowardice,
and ready for every exigency of commonwealth or country.
In every thing that shall add dignity and usefulness and
happiness to mankind, or glory to the God and Father of
us all, let us be as our ancestors were,--——-first, foremost,
and indefatigable. T

At the close of the Governor’s address, the choir sung “ The
Battle Hymn of the Republic,” accompanied by the band, the
audience joining in the chorus :--—

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord 3
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored ;
He hath barecl the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transf1g‘ures you and me:

As he died to make men holy, let us die to rnake tlieiii "free,
While God is marching on.”

The Rev. 5. NF. SMITH of Newton, at that time in England, had
composed and forwarded a hymn expressly for the celebration,

THE EXERCISES. 4 3

which was read by the Rev. B. K. Peirce, D.D., with the accom-
panying note :---~

VVINDERMERE, ENGLAND, May 30, 1876.
MY DEAR SIR, --—- I take pleasure in participating in the approaching patriotic
meeting of our fellow»-citizens; and, tllotlgh late (because your letter has been slow in
reaching me), I send you the following lines. It may gratify your imaginings to know
that they were written partly at Shefield, where the sweet Christian poet Montgomery
lived, and labored, and loved, and died, honored and lamented; and partly on the banks
of Lake Windermere, where Wordsworth lived, and wrote himself into immortality.

Ver respectfull ‘ours,
y Y Y S. F. SMITH.

How pure in zeal, how firm in faith,
Sternly the early patriots stood!

Ready to buy-—-come life or death-
Their freedom at the price of blood.

They scorned in craven fear to bend;
No tyrant power could make them qnail:
“ Our rights as freemen we defend; 1
Qur cause is Gocl’s---—-it cannot fail.”

Slender in means, in numbers few,
But high in aim, and grand in thought;

Nobly they spol<e,—--brave men and true,—-
And nobler deeds of valor wrought.

A century’s march, through peace and blood,
Has left their influence still impressed
On all the hills their footsteps trod,
On fields their presence never blessed.
Our fathers’ God, we own thy power 5
Thy mighty fiat made us free 3
Our help in that decisive hour,
Still may we put our trust in thee!

44% THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

The President then introduced the orator of the day, the Hon.
ex-Mayor JAMES F. C. HYDE, who gave the following

HISTORICAL ADDRESS.

In the year I631 the settlement of the New Town
(Cambridge) was begun; and the earliest town records
bear date November, 1632. This New Town, of which
our present city of Newton forms a small part, embraced
at one time what is now Cambridge, Brooltline, Brighton,
Arlington, Lexington, Billerica, what was once a part of
Watertown, Bedford, part of Tewksbury, and even as
far as the Merrimac River. It is said, “She began the
smallest township in the Colony, and soon became the
largest.”

In these early days, there were few houses, and those of
rude construction. Deputy Gov. Dudley about this time
said, “ In our New Town we have ordered that no man
shall build his chimney with wood, or cover his house with
thatch.” The latter precaution was tEll<.’.€I‘1 because there
had been ahouse burned in Boston by taking fire on the
roof. It was the desire and intention on the part of many
to make New Town the metropolis of the Colony, instead
of Boston.

lOn the establishment of Harvard University in 1:638, it
was ordered by the General Court, that New Town should
henceforward be called Cambridge. A portion of the large
territory on the south side of Charles River, once within
the limits of New Town, had reverted to Boston and

 

1

\ . ‘

_...

, 1

x‘ /
n

 

' """"" ......u...«. ‘
4‘ ....w..~..........~~---'.",'::':~“—---—-~*-*‘“”'
,,...¢..-....‘...‘.... mam

.. ..,‘.u..... “M *

46 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

deputies of Cambridge.” “This action of the court was
not satisfactory to the village, and they did not accept or
act under it” for some years ; or at least there is no record
of any action until 1679.

There seems to have been much feeling on both sides,

as we conclude from some of the language used by the
parties. The rernonstrants said, “Those long-breathed
petitioners rested not, but continued to bait their hooks
and cast their lines into the sea, tiring out the courts
with their eager pursuits, and obliging them to dance
after their pipers for twenty-five years.” They offered to
purchase their freedom of the mother town; but this
could not be accomplished. Cambridge, it is true, pro-
posed to compromise; but our fathers would thenaccept
nothing short of an independent town. For years they
had not only supported their own minister and church,
but had also been taXed—and that without their con-
sent, which was very repugnant to their ideas of justice
—-—-——to pay the yearly expenses of Cambridge. In 1678
they again petitioned to be set off, and continued to
do so until I687,‘when, on Jan. II, Cambridge was
summoned to appear before his Excellency in council,
“to show cause why Cambridge Village may not be
declared a place distinct by itself, and not longer be a
part of said town, as hath been formerly petitioned for and
now desired.” '

At a council held. at Boston, on Wednesday the
eleventh day of January, 1687, it was—---

THE EXEJB C./“SE5. 47

“ Orrierarz’, That the said village from henceforth be, and is hereby
declared, a distinct village and place of itself, wholly freed and separated
from the town i of Cambridge, and from all future rates, payments, or
duties to them whatsoever; and that, for the time to come, the charge
of keeping, amending, and repairing the said bridge, called Cambridge
Bridge, shall be defrayed and borne as followeth (that is to say): two-
sixths parts thereof by the town of Cambridge, one—sixth part by the said
village, and three-sixths parts at the public charge of the county of
Mircldlesex.

“ By order of Council, &c.

JOE-IN WEST, .Dc;z>;uz‘y Secretary. '

“This is atrue copy taken out of the original record fourth day of
December, 1688.
“As attest, LAUR. HAMMOND, C'Zei%:*.”

This order shows conclusively that the town was not
wholly independent until 1687, although the town records
commence in 1679, when the inhabitants of the village
seem to have first availed themselves of the privileges
granted them. in 1673, by choosing three selectmen and
one constable;-—-all the officers they were authorized
to choose, —— to manage their “prudential affairs.”

In further proof that they were not yet entitled to all
the privileges of an incorporated town previous to 1687,
is the fact that “they never assumed to send a deputy to
the General Court distinct from Cambridge, but did_ not
miss representation a single year for half a century after.”
People as tenacious of their rights as the inhabitants of
the village manifestly were, both before and after incor—
poration, would not be likely to let the newly acquired
right of representation lie dormant for seven years at a
period of intense political excitement.

43 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

The records of Cambridge show that constables were
elected by that town for the village, after 1679, as follows:
viz.,———- A

1680, James Prentiss.
r68I, Sebeas Jackson.
1682, Edward Jaclison.
I683, Abraham Jackson.
1684, John Prentice.

1685, Thomas Parlcer, sen.
1686, Ebenezer Wiswall.
1687, Joseph Wilson.

After 1688 none distinctly described as for the vz'ZZagre.

“ In 1686 a committee was chosen by the inhabitants to
make the rate for the minister for the ensuing year, and a
rate for the town; for the oz’!/age chose Noah Wiswall to
join with selectmen to make a rate for the village.”

In addition are the “articles of agreement, made Sept.
:7, 1688, between the selectmen of Cambridge and the
selectmen of the village, in behalf of their respective
towns. i

“That whereas Cambridge Village, by order of the Gen-
eral Court in the late Government, was enjoined to bear
their proportion of the charges in the upholding and main»
taining of the great bridge and school, with some other
things of a public nature, in the town of Cambridge; also,
there having been some difference between the selectmen
of said towns, concerning the laying of rates for the end
above said: that the village shall pay to the town of Cam-

THE EXEfr’CfSES. 49

bridge the sum of five pounds in merchantable corn, at
the former prices, at or before the first day of May next
ensuing the date above, in full satisfaction of all dues and
demands by the said town, from the said village, on the
account above said, from the beginning of the world
to the nth of January, 1,687-—~8.”‘ This date corresponds
exactly with the date of the order of the council incor-—
porating the town. _

Dr. Paige, the historian of Cambridge, from whom we
have quoted, says in an article published in the Proceed-
ings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, “ Hence it
appears reasonably certain that the village which obtained
ecclesiastical privileges in 1661, became a precinct in
1673, and received the name of New~Town in 1691, was
‘separated from the town of Cambridge,’ and incorporated
as a separate and distinct town, on the eleventh day of
January, 1687.” . ,

Soon after becoming an independent town they were
dissatisfied with their name; and on the eighth day of
December, 1691, the General Court—in answer to the
petition of Cambridge Village, or New Cambridge, lying
on the south side of Charles’ River, praying that a new
name be given to said town--———orderecl that it be called
New Town, thus restoring the old name of this and other
territory, which was discontinued in 1638.

This name appeared in two words; and that rule con-

tinued until 1766, when the town-clerk, Abraham Fuller, ,

1 Or 1688, by the present style of reckoning.

50 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

entered it on the records, joining the two words, and leav-
ing out the w; and gradually that form was adopted.
Thus we acquired ourpresent name without action of
the General Court, or even of the town itself.

Hence we see that the territory now called Newton
had, in connection with other territory and separately,
been called New Town, Cambridge, Nonantum, South
Side, Cambridge Village, New Cambridge, New Town,
and lastly, when reduced in extent, Newton. A

Among the first things to be provided for by our
ancestors in Cambridge Village, was the preaching of the
gospel, which was begun as early as 1656; and a meeting-
house was built in 1660, in what is now called the “old
burial-ground” on Centre Street, within whose conse-
crated limits may be found the resting-place of the pastor
of the First Church,———]ohn Eliot, son of the apostle to
the Indians. The First Church was organized in 1664..
Schools were not established for sixty years after the first
settlers came here, though it is probable the children
received instruction in the family.

The people of Newton, from the very first, tool: great
interest in military affairs. It is said that in the old wars
she furnished a large number of officers, who served the
town and State with great fidelity. The men of Newton
took a prominent part in all the Indian wars; and some
lost their lives in that service. They were in King
Philip’s war, and in the defence of Medfield in 1676,
where at least one Newton man was killed. The men
of Newton were led, through sympathy with their brethren

THE EXERCISES. 51

M  ....._...,,................... .

of other towns, to aid them against invasion, and do what

i they could in a “common cause against a common enemy.”

Though peace prevailed within the limits of their own
settlement, they still thought it better to establish two
garrison»-houses for their protection against an invasion
of the Indians. One of these garrison-houses is said to
have stood on land opposite I-Iyde’s Nursery, on Centre
Street; and the other stood on the site now occupied by
the heirs of Ephraim Wa1'd, on Ward Street. This last
house was taken down about 18:20.

At this time the red men of the forest dwelt on these
hills, hunted along these valleys, and fished in the beau-
tiful river near whose banks we meet to-night. They
were the original and rightful owners of the soil. Wabaii,
the chief, dwelt on Nonantum Hill; and he and his tribe
were early sought out by that faithful missionary, John
Eliot, who devoted his life to this noble work.

Through the kindness of such Christian men, the
Indians about Newton had come to regard the white
men as their friends. Their chief, Wabaii, having become
a convert to the religion of our divine Master, sought to

A, follow his example in some degree; and thus was led to

love his neighbors, even though they were white men.
Not so with other Indians throughout New England:
they “were wild, mischievous, cruel, and implacable.”
They were jealous of the whites. They saw evil impend-
ing, game driven away, their lands taken from them, their
natural, rights disregarded, their so-called religion con-
demned; and, in the eloquent words of the Rev. S. F.

52 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

Smith, “Resolved to drive out this new and unwelcome
enemy, they conspired to burn thehomes they had built,
to break up and sweep away their settlements, to carry
their wives and children into captivity, and to murder and
scalp their men.

“But the English settlers deemed that ‘the earth is the
Lords, and the fulness thereof.’ They scorned the red
manls exclusive claim to these broad acres and living
streams, to the woods and the hills, the corn-lands and
the waterfalls. The fierce antagonism of the races was
at once developed. The weaker were in due time com-
pelled to yield to the stronger, till they had no longer a
place in their ancient inheritance. But long and bitter
was the struggle; and all the skill and strategy of the
whites were brought into requisition, before thequestion
was settled, that the white race must rule, and the red race
must succumb.

“Long did the Indians hang on the borders of civiliza-

. tion, and watch for opportunities to annoy, to carry away,

or to kill their enemies. But with a determined zeal
the men of Newton left their sparse settlements in the
wilderness, Committing their wives and children to the

i God of battles; they endured bravely the hardships inci-

dent to travelling through pathless woods, with little food
except the game they brought down with their guns, or
caught with their fishing-nets. A
“They outwitted, by their superior intelligence, their
wily enemies; and helping one another through great
emergencies,-~———~now at Portland; now at Bethel in Maine,

THE EXERCISES. 53

whither some of their brethren had removed; now in
New Hampshire, where the oldest captain, Noah Wiswall,
was killed in 1690; now in Massachusetts, when john
Myrick, Nathaniel Haley, and Ebenezer Seager were

massacred in Groton; and anon carried the fortress of N

Mount Hope in Rhode Islancl,~—they left no uncon—
querecl foe to plot against them, no red-skinned savage
to light up the heavens with their burning dwellings at
night, no barbarous invaders to murder and carry into
captivity their wives and children. Wltll a natural regard
for their own brethren, their kindred in hardship and
trials, as well as in nationality and blood, they rested
not until they had chased the savages out of their wilder-
ness and out of life, and thus secured a permanent peace.”

In what is known as the old French war, Newton men
were found at the front, and were in many engagements;
and some lost their lives. Among the latter were Lieut.
Timothy Jackson and Col. Ephraim Williaiiis, the founder
of Williains College. '

We come now to the Revolutionary period in the
history of the country,---- a time calling for not only good
resolutions, but for decided action; times that were to
try men’s souls, and test their fortitude and patience;
The home government, on one pretence and another,
sought to lay burdens on the Colonies in America which
they were not willing to bear. They regarded themselves
as loyal subjects, willing to own allegiance to the crown,
but at the same time determined to enjoy all the rights
of loyal British subjects, and submit to no injustice.

54 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

Thus we see that in 1765, at a town-meeting held on
the twenty-first day of October, the citizens voted the
following instructions to their representative to the Gen»
eral Court of Assembly : -—-———

“ To Capt. Abraham Fuller, Representative of said town: at this most
important and alarming crisis, when the British American subjects are
everywhere loudly complaining of arbitrary and unconstitutional measures
and innovations, the Town of Newton judge it altogether improper to be
wholly silent. We therefore, the freeholders and other inhabitants of said
town, being legally assembled in our meeting-house, judge it proper to

impart to you our united sentiments, more especially with regarcl to the '

Stamp Act (so called) by which a very grievous, and, we apprehend,
unconstitutional tax, is laid upon the Colonies; and as it is a standing
maxim of English liberty, that no man shall be taxecl but with his own
consent, so we very well know that we were in no sense representecl in
Parliament when this tax was imposed. By the Royal Charter granted
to our ancestors, the power of making laws for our internal government,
and levying taxes, is vested in the General Assembly 5 and, by the same
charter, the inhabitants of this Province are entitled to all the rights
and privileges of natural, free-born subjects of Great Britain. The
most essential rights of British subjects are those of being represented
in the same body which exercises the power of levying taxes upon
them, and of having their property tried by juries; whereas this uncon-
stitutional tax, or burthensome law, admits of our property being tried
by courts of admiralty, without a jury: and consequently this at once
destroys the most valuable privileges of our charter, deprives us of the
most essential rights of Britons, and greatly weakens the best security
of our lives, liberties, and estates.

“We therefore think it our indispensable duty, in justice to ourselves
and to our posterity, as it is our reasonable privilege, to declare our
greatest dissatisfaction with this law; and we think it incumbent on you
by no means to join in any public measures for countenancing and

THE EXERCISES. 55

assisting in the execution of said act, but to use your best endeavors in
the General Assembly to have the undeniable rights of the people
of the Province asserted and vindicated, and left upon public record,
that posterity may never have reason to charge the present time with
the guilt of, tamely giving them away. i T

1 “ Wzfed, that the foregoing be recorded in the town book, that
posterity may see and know the great concern the people at this day
had for their invaluable rights, privileges, and liberties.”

Our fathers were not only jealous for their own rights.
but for the rights of others as well; and when, in 1766,
they heard that, in consequence of the passage of the
Stamp Act, much property had been destroyed in Boston
by rioters, they came together in town-meeting, and
voted, “that a proper application made to the General
Assembly (agreeable with the methods oi Parliament)
by the sufferers, the person who represents this town be
directed and instructed, in his best discretion, to use vvhat
influence he may have, that such losses be made up in
such a Way and measure as may be most loyal and respect»
ful to his Majesty, most safe relative to our invaluable
rights, privileges, and liberties, and most kind and gener-
ous to the sufferers.” T

Thus they showed their kindness and generosity, even

towards those who differed with them in regard to the

expediency of the acts of the government.

They were an economical and prudent people, and also
believed fully in protecting home manufactures. They did
not like to be too dependent upon themother country,

56 THE NEWTON CE./VTE./VJVIAL.

and be compelled to pay tribute to her in too many ways ;
and they shaped their conduct accordingly. We find that
at a town-meeting held Nov. 23, 1767, they “voted
unanimously, that this town will take all prudent and legal
measures to encourage the produce and manufactures of
this Province, and to lessen the use of superfluities, and
particularly the following enumerated articles. imported
from abroad; viz., loaf-sugar, Cordage, anchors, coaches,
chaises, and carriages of all sorts, horse-furniture, men’s
and women’s hats, men’s and women’s apparel ready made.
household furniture, gloves, men’s and women’s shoes, sole
leather, sheathing, duck, nails, gold and silver, and thread
lace of all sorts, gold and silver buttons, wrought plate of
all sorts, diamond, stone, and paste ware, snuff mustard,
clocks and watches, silversimith’s and jeweller’s ware,
broadcloths that cost above ten shillings per yard, muffs,
furs, tippets, and all sorts of millinery ware, starch, women’s
and children’s stays, fire-engines, china-ware, silk and
cotton velvets, gauze, pewterer’s hollow ware, linseed oil,
glue, lawns, cambrics, silk of all kinds for garments, malt
liquors, and cheese.”

Might it not tend to promote our prosperity as individu-
als, as families, as a. nation, at this time, if we should adopt
to some extent the substance of this vote, and depend
more upon our own manufactures, and thus be compelled
to send less gold out of the country to procure that which
in many cases we can ill afford to purchase P

Some years later, in December, 1772, a town-meeting
was held, and a committee appointed “ to consider and

THE EXERCISES. 

report what it may be proper for the town to do relating
to the present unhappy situation of the country.”

The result was, that at the meeting held in January,
I77 3, they voted instructions to their representative, judge
Abraham Fuller, to use his influence against the salaries
of the judges of the Superior Court being fixed and paid
by the crown, instead of by the Great and General Court.
Their feeling was that such a course would tend to subvert
public justice. They wished to have the General Court
fix and pay such salaries as the merits and stations of the
various judges demanded. They were very jealous of their
rights, however remotely they were assailed.

About this time a letter was received from the town of
Boston, which was read in town-meeting, and called for an
answer, in which the voters of Newton commended very
highly the position taken by Boston, and thanked them for
the patriotic spirit for which they were distinguished,
encouraging them “to persevere in all loyal, legal, regular,
and constitutional methods for the redress of the griev-
ances they felt, and for preventing those they had reason
to fear.”

It will be observed that there was no desire here ex-
pressed to use other than proper means to redress their
grievances; and probably nota person in the colonies at
this time seriously entertained the thought of taking up
arms against the mother country.

In March of the same year (1773), a committee was
chosen “ to draft such measures as they shall think best for
the town to adopt at this emergency,” and also another

58 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

large committee “to confer with the inhabitants of the
town as to the expediency of leaving off buying, selling, or
using any India tea.”

On the fourth day of January, of the year 1774, the
town passed by a very full vote the following: --——~-—

“We do therefore, with firmness of mind, on mature deliberation,
establish the following resolves : -—--

“ Ist, That an act passed in the last session of Parliament, empower-
ing the Honorable East India Company to export tea to America, subject
to a duty on its arrival in America, is a fresh attack upon our rights,
craftily planned by a few of our inveterate enemies in the ministry, in or-
der to establish a tax on us plainly contrary to the constitution of England
itself, and glaringly repugnant to our charter, which we deem a grievance,
greatly augmented by the partiality therein shown against millions of his
Majesty’s subjects in America, in favor of a few, very few, opulent sub-
jects in Britain. This we cannot brook, and therefore bear solemn testi-
mony against it.

“zd, That in justice to ourselves, our fellow-colonists, and our pos~
terity, we can not nor will not voluntarily and tamely submit to this, or
any tax laid on us for the express purpose of raising a revenue, when
imposed without our consent, given by purselves or our representatives.

“ 3d, That, as a part of the Colonies laboring under oppression, we
are determined to join the rest in all and every lawful and just method of
obtaining redress, or preventing the oppression, even to the risk of our
lives and fortunes. '

“4th, That all and every person or persons who have been, are, or
shall be, advising or assisting in the aforesaid or any such acts, or are
active in aiding in the execution of them, are (so far at least) inimical to
this country, and thereby incur our just resentment; in which light We
shall View all merchants, traders, and others,who shall henceforth pre~
surne to import or sell any India tea until the duty we so justly complain
of be taken off.

 THE EXERCISES. 59

“ 5th, That we each and every one of us will not, directly or indi-
rectly, by ourselves or any for or under us, purchase or use any India tea
while such tea is subject to a duty payable upon its arrival in America.

“ 6th, That a committee of correspondence be appointed to confer and
correspond with the committees of any or all our sister towns in the
Province as occasion may require.”

On the 16th of December, 1773,there was a famous tea-
party, such as had never been seen before, nor has been
since. Newton was represented on that occasion by two
or more of its citizens. One in particular, who drove a
load of wood to market, staid very late that day, and was
not very willing the next morning to explain the cause of
his detention; but, as tea was found in his shoes, it is easy
to understand what he had been doing.

Later, in the year I774, we find that the town voted
“that the Selectmen use their best discretion in providing
fire-arms for the poor of the town, where they are unable
to provide for themselves.” Evidently, while in apparent
peace, they felt it their duty to prepare for war; at least, to
protect their -lives and liberties.

In October, Newton sent delegates to the Provincial
Assembly to be held at Concord; and early the next
year, 1775, delegates were sent to a meeting of the same
body in Cambridge.

During this year the town was presented with two field»
pieces, and subscriptions were obtained to mount the
same; and it was voted to raise men to exercise these
pieces, and also to raise a company of minute-men, and
thus be prepared for any emergency that might arise.

50 THE NEWTON CE./VTE./VJVYAL.

This action furnishes the explanation of the fact that

Newton had so many men engaged in the battles of Lex-

ington and Concord.

On the 19th of April, 1775, a day ever memorable in the
history of our country, when the first battles of independ-
ence were fought at Lexington and Concord, Newton had
three organized companies of minute-men, all of whom
were present, and tookpart in the battles of that historic
day,during which they marched about thirty miles.

The two hundred and eighteen men composing these
three companies were not all that Newton sent to the

battle-fields that day; for many went who had passed the’

military age, and so were exempt from duty, but who felt
as did Noah Wiswall, the oldest man who went from
Newton, and whose son commanded one of the companies,
and who had other sons and sons-in-law in the fight. He

could not be induced to remain at home, because, as he

said, “ he wanted to see what the boys were doing; ” and,
when shot through the hand by a bullet, coolly bound it
up with a handkerchief, and brought home the gun of a
British soldier who fell in the battle. The minute-men
were commanded by Col. Michael Jackson, one of the
most courageous men Newton ever produced. Such were
tlie men, and such the spirit that animated them, ---true
minute-men, ready to face danger and even death in
defence of the right.

Among the men of Newton who took avery active part,
both with pen and sword, was Col. Joseph Ward. He was
a master in one of the public schools of Boston; and on

THE EXEIB C./SES. 5,

the day of the battles of Lexington and Concord, learning
that the British troops were in motion, left for Newton,
where he obtained a horse and gun, and rode to Concord
to animate his countrymen, and get a shot at the British.
He greatly distinguished himself on the  of the hat-
tle of Bunlzzer Hill, where he served as aide-de-camp to
Gen. Artemas \/Vard. lrle rode over Charlestown Neck,
through a across-fire of the ene1ny’s floating batteries, to
execute an order from Gen. Wa1'cl, at which time a broad-
side was fired at him by a British man-of-war.

He continued to hold important positions in the army,
and enjoyed the honor of1*eceiving' the thanks of Gen.
Washington in a letter written to him near the close of the
war.

Soon after these earlier battles, two companies were
raised in Newton, seventy-four men of whom joined the
army in Cambridge for eight months. Of these seventy-
four men, forty-eight were in Col. Gardner’s Middlesex
regiment, and participated in the perils and honors of the
battle of Bunl<:er Hill.

The following March these companies, with such as had
been added, were sent, at the request of Gen. VVashington,

T to take possession of Dorchester Heights, which proved a
‘short service, as on the 17th of that month the British

troops evacuated Boston, much to the joy of the good
people of that town.

Soon after, one of those companies marched with an
expedition to Canada.

The war had now lasted for more than a year. There

52 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

was open rebellion on every side. And while in the begin-
ning it is doubtful if the masses contemplated a separation
from the mother country, still the feeling in that direction

had been waxing stronger and stronger, until many were .

ready to declare for independence.

I_t is seldom that such a spectacle has been presented in
the world’s history,-—-—-a handful, comparatively, of poor
colonists, but meagrely equipped and provisioned, with
little or no material of war, little trained in its arts, and
without a navy, struggling against the proudest nation of
the world, with its trained and veteran armies, its enor-
mous resources, its powerful navy, with all the appliances
of war both for sea and land. Surely even courageous
men might well stand appalled at the prospect before
them.

On the Ioth of May, 1776, the General Court passed the
following resolution :—-—— ii i A

“[3550/bed, as the opinion of this House, that the inhabitants of each
town in the Colony ought, in full meeting warned for that purpose, to
advise the person or persons who shall be chosen to represent them in
the next General Court, whether that if the Honorable Congress should,
for the safety of these Colonies, declare them independent of the kingdom
of Great Britain, they, the said inhabitants, will solemnly engage with
their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure.”

ln response to this suggestion of the General Court,
town-meetings were held during May, June, and the early

part of July, in many if not all the towns of lVIassachu-
setts. A

THE EXERCISES. 63

It is said that Boston held its meeting as early as the
2°d of May. The meeting in Newton was called for the
17th of June, the first anniversary of a day made memora-
ble in the annals of our country, by the heroic struggle
on Bunker Hill, where Newton was well represented. On
that day, in the busy season of the year, they left their
fields and quiet homes, and gathered in town-meeting to
discuss and pass upon a matter of vital importance to
them, their posterity, and the world. This town-meeting
on the 17th of June, 1776, is the day and the occasion we
celebrate. Capt. John VVoodwa:rd was the moderator, and
the second article in the warrant was : -———-

“That in case the Honorable Continental Congress should, for the
safety of the American Colonies, declare them independent of the l«:ing-
dom of Great Britain, whether the inhabitants of this town will solemnly
engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure.”

After debate the question was put, and the vote passed
zmzarzzbreousbz in the affirmative.

Bold and memorable words, that meant even more than
they expressed! They meant sacrifice of comfort, fortune,
home, friends, life if need be. All these were laid upon
the altar. Independence! The right to govern themselves,
to make their own laws, to choose or appoint their own
officers, and pay them, representation or no taxation; in
short, to enjoy all the rights of freemen.

For these things which they so highly valued, they were
ready to pledge their “lives and fortunes.”

64 THE NEH/TOZV CE./’VTE!V]V[.«4[,.

That pledge so solemnly given was fully redeemed dur-
ing the long and sanguinary struggle for the nation’s inde-
pendence. M

In winter’s snows and su1nrner’s heats the men of New-
ton were found, old and young, able and disabled, filling
the ranks of the little American army. They formed a
part of nearly every expedition, and were found on nearly
every field, from the opening battles of Lexington and
Concord to the final surrender of Cornwallis at Yoilztown.
All this the people of Newton did to redeem the pleclges
they had given, and to drive back from these shores the
armies of those who sotiglit to deprive them of their God-
given rights of freedom.

Newton, then a little country town with only about
fourteen hundred inhabitants, in totvii-iiieeting assembled,
dared to adopt such a vote at the early stages of the war,
more than two weeks before the Declaration of Independ-
ence was given to the country by the Continental Con-
gress at Philadelphia, when no human eye could foiesee
the result of the struggle upon which they had entered;
when failure meant they knew not what, --—-~ sL1life1*iiig, hard-
ship, imprisonment, banishment, possibly death for treason.

Notwithstanding all, there was no uncertain sound.
The bugle-blast for freedom had been sounded, the first
gun fired, the first blood shed; the die was cast: hence-
forth let come what would,--——life or death,-—-—-“libe1*ty ” was
the watchword.

Newton entered upon the war of the Revolution with
great vigor and spirit, contributing liberally both men and

THE EXE1? CYSES. 5 5

means, as she always has done and always will do when
her country calls. i

No town in Massachusetts can ‘show a more honorable
record. It is said by the historian that nearly every man
in Newton served in the army some time dL11*i11g the war.

In August, 1775, Capt. jos. Fuller of Newton raised a
company of ninety-six men, and marched to Beimirigton
and Lake George to oppose Burgoyne.

The same year sixty--four men enlisted for three years in
the war. In 1778 Capt. Edward Fuller raised a company
of sixty-eight men.

In 1780 fifty-four men marched to re-enforce the C0nti-
nental army. jackson says in his history, “ '"l“he number
of men who served more or less in the Continental army
and in the militia during the war vvas about four hundred,
or about one-third of the entire population.”

We cannot enumerate all that was done in furnishing
men and means during the long“ and eventful st1‘i1ggle of
the seven years of war, and what it cost in life and treasure.

The whole history of the town clu1*ing;' all this time most
fully shows that they fulfilled the pledge fgiven in 1776..

We know they were few in number, poor, with little
available means, the country new, sparsely populated, and,
added to all, the money during the war was ggreatly depre-

ciated. In illustration of this, it is recorded that in 1780
they voted altogether “ £170,000, and the next year £400

in silver in lieu of £100,000 in bills.”
We of to-day know something by experience of the
depreciation incident to a long war; but it is little com»

55 THE NE M/‘TON CENTENNIAL.

pared with the state of affairs at that time. Yet we find
there was no shrinking from duty; that men and women
alike loaned of their private fortunes, while yet the result
hung doubtful in the balance, to supply the wants of the
soldiers.

As an index of the feeling of those days after the war,
we give the following from a letter sent by the town to
Capt. john Nutting in 1786, just before Shays’ Rebel-
lion : ——

“We cannot consider public taxes grievances : they are a burden, it is
true, which bear heavy upon us; but the public debt which we have volun-
tarily contracted is the price of our freedom and inclepenclence, and we
feel ourselves bound by every principle of justice, and every tie of grati-
tude, honorably to discharge it.”

No flinching then, or spirit of repudiation.

The history of the world scarcely affords a parallel to all
our fathers did and suffered during the long struggle they
endured in the sacred cause of liberty. Let us not forget
that Newton enjoys the honor of having been the birth-
place of one of the immortal band of men who signed the
Declaration of Independence, -—--- Roger Sherman, a name
embalmed in the hearts of his countrymen as well as on
the pages of history.

Not alone to the -mm of those days belongs the glory;
but justice demands that we shall give due credit to women,
who made as great if not even greater sacrifices than their
fathers, husbands, sons, or lovers. i

THE EXERCISES. 57

Volumes might be written of their self-denial and noble
efforts in support of the cause; and, had it been the
custom, many of them would have been ready to march,
with I"I’1USl{€t in hand, with“ equal courage to the conflict.
We never can fully l-{now what they endured. All honor
to the patient, self-sacrificing, noble women of Revolution-
ary days, a type of those who so nobly supported the right
when the hand of treason was raised to destroy the nation’s
life during the great conflict, the recollection of which is
still fresh in our memories!

The long war had passed, and the people were striving
to repair the breaches, when a new danger arose in the
form of a rebellion, known in history as Shays’ Rebellion.
Newton, true as ever, “voted to raise men in defence of
the government,” giving a bounty to each. They joined
Gen. Lincoln's army, that surprised and drove out of
“Worcester County Shays and his thousand men, and thus
crushed this rebellion. 

Again we find that in 1798, at a general meeting of
the freeholders, when the envoys of the United States
had been denied a hearing by France, they adopted the

following :—-—--

“That whereas the citizens of this town did, at the memorable era
when the great question of independence was decided by the American
people, zmmzz'7¢z0zz5[y pledge their lives and fortunes to support the abso-
lute sovereignty thereof, they now respect the solemn pledge, and will
exert every power they possess to support the Constitution and the Gov-
ernment against the claims and aggressions of any foreign power, and all
open and secret enemies to the Government and people of these United

r States.”

68 _ THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

This vote and resolve well illustrates the feelings of the
men of those days. Of the part Newton took; in the war
of 1812, little is known, though it is to be presumed that
she furnished men to fight in defence of the right, both on
sea and land, and that she patiently suffered all the hard-
ships, in the form of taxes and otherwise, incident to that
time. We cannot take the time to dwell upon the prog-
ress the town has made in the arts of peace, the number
of churches and schools that have been established and
maintained, the internal improvements that have been
made, the many objects of interest within her borders, the

“noble men she has produced, and the excellent position

she has always enjoyed among the cities and towns of
Massachusetts.

We now pass, to consider briefly«---«as time will not
permit more—-—--the past of Newton in the war of the
Rebellion, the scenes and events of which are still well
remembered. .. i

From the opening gun fired on Sumter, April 12, 1861,
until the close of the Great Rebellion, Newton nobly per-
formed her part. Many who are here tonight participated
in the events of those exciting days, either on the field of
battle or in a less conspicuous and more humble sphere,
but all doing what they could to crush out treason. The
spirit that actuated the fathers was manifested by their
sons.

Called upon to supply, during all those years of doubt
and uncertainty, 1,067 men, she actually furnished 1,129,
forming a part of thirty regiments. She furnished thirty»

1*

THE EXERCISES. V 59

six commissioned officers and two generals, all of whom,
so far as we know, did gallant service for their country.

It is said that the “amount paid by the town and by
individuals for military pu1“posess, from the beginning of
the war to near its close, was $138,457.”

We believe from our own observation that a very much
larger sum was contributed, in one way and another, for
this purpose. i

But what was money when compared to the valuable
lives that were so freely given to the cause? According to
the historian, Newton was largely represented in the First,
Second, Seventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Seven-—
teenth, Twenty-fourth, 'I”l“1irty~.‘:Seco1:1d, and 'l"‘hirty-thircl
Regiments of infantry, and Second Regiment of cavalry,
taking part in no less than seventy-five battles.

No enumeration of regiments with which they were con»
nected, or battles in which they engaged, can convey a just
idea of their heroic labor and sacrifices. These men gave
themselves to their country in the hour of her need, and
went forth in her defence. Wl1e1*e duty called they were
found,----whether amid the malaria of Southern swamps,
recruiting for the army; on the march, leading a forlorn-
hope against the position of the enemy; or in that most
terrible place of all, Andersonville, the mention of whose
very name brings a thrill of horror to all hearts. They
fell by the way on the long and tedious marches; they died

of homesicltness or wounds in the hospital; they went

down before the rush of the enemy, and were killed, or
reported missing, and never again heard from; they en-

:1.

70 ' THE ./VET/VTOJV CEZVTEJV./VZAZL.

..- quuCV$$41—$l‘l"§n.'

dured privations and hardships such as we cannot tell or
comprehend; and they did it all without murmur or com-
plaint, for the love and respect they had for the heroes
of ’76, and their regard for the libertyand good name of
theircountry, for their homes and firesides, and the still
more tender regard for the dear ones in those homes
whose prayers and good wishes never ceased to follow
them amid all their wanderings. They loved their homes
and firesides as we do ours, but loved their country more.

The spirit that actuated them was well illustrated by
one who said, “If my country needs my services, I am
willing for her sake to make the sacrifices,”--—--Charles
Ward, who fell at Gettysburg.

Some, not content with one term, re-enlisted, and suf-
fered on as though they could not do enough. Their
bravery and self—denial surely will not suffer in comparison
with the heroes of any age or clime. It was the privilege
of some of us to know many of these men, and see them
in the camp, on the march, in the hospital, and on distant
fields where danger threatened; and we can cheerfully
bear testimony to their devotion. Some still with us bear
honorable badges of that terrible conflict through which
the nation was called to pass,-—----an ordeal of fire and blood.

“Peace hath her triumphs no less than war.” No longer
the sound of the bugle calling to battle, or the tramp of
armies, is heard; no longer comes from the battlefield the
booming of cannon, the bursting of shells, and the groans
of the dying. Mourning has not wholly ceased in many
broken circles, and cannot while we remember the dearly

THE EXERCISES. 71

loved ones with whom we have spent happy hours, and
with whom we were so tenderly united, who went forth in
their pride and strength to do their duty, but whose voices
are heard no more on earth. i

“ Too sad the theme : yet Memory loves to cast
r Her tender, tearful glances o’er the past,
Lure back the vision of each old delight,
M And link by link: the circle re»-unite 3
Force from departed joys a luscious pain,
As withered roses crushed breathe sweets again.”

Though the effects of the war remain, teaching us some
lessons we may not desire to learn; though we are as a
nation suffering to-day,---still we have no reason to be dis-—
couraged. We have duties to perform as men and citi-
zens. We have to purge ourselves, our State and nation,
of all unworthy and dishonest office-holders and office»-
seekers, to purify the ballot-box, to seek to elevate the
standard ofspolitical morality, to place only such men in
power as will be true and honest, that will legislate and
labor for the highest grdod of all, and so endeavor as fully
as possible to put our nation right both before God and
man.

Wlien we-tconsider the meagre resources of our fathers
after the war of the Revolution, and remember our own
strength to-day, certainly we can but take courage.

He who upheld and guided, amid wild waves and
stormy seas, the little bark that contained the germ of this
great nation; who watched over the little band of Pilgrims

72 THE NE WTOJV CE./VTENIVIA L.

on the cold, inhospitable sho-res of New England, sur-
rounded by winter’s snows, wild beasts, and still more
savage red men; who gave victory and success to the
infant colonies, and brought them through all the dark
days of the Revolution; who has guided us through years
of treason and rebellion; who has brought a whole race
out of bondage, and set it in the clear light of liberty;
who has crowned our lives with blessings without number,
——-—-——surely He will not leave us now, if we trust in Him,
but will bless us, and give us so much prosperity as is best
for us.

An hundred years have passed since our fathers met, in
their little town-meeting, in the small meeting-house
(where now stands Dr. Furber’s church), and consecrated
themselves and their fortunes to the cause of freedom and
their country. Then a straggling town: now a considera-
ble city. Then only a single church: now more than
twenty. Then here and there a highway, or rather a lane:
now with its hundred and twenty or more miles of excel-
lent streets. Then its small schoollgotises with short terms
and rudimental teaching: now schoolhouses of magnificent
proportions, with schools almost without number of all
grades, to say nothing of the private academies and higher
institutions of learning within our limits. Then only a
few farms with their quaint-looking farmhouses: now
beautiful villages, with stately blocks of buildings, palatial
residences, well—kept Villas, and cosey cottages, showing
taste and culture on every hand. V

Then the quiet of the forest, scarcely broken except by

THE EXEJB CZSES. 7 3

the song of birds and hum of insects: now the rush and
noise of heavy engines and railroad-trains whirling along
with the speed of the wind. Then no electric telegraph to
flash its messages from continent to continent, and thus
“put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes; ” no
ocean-steamers crossing the broad Atlantic, and bringing
the nations of the earth into more ‘intimate relations; no
missionaries on foreign shores preaching Christ to dying
men; no city library with its rich stores gathered from all
ages and nations. How great the change in a single
century I

The sun shines upon no spot on earth more highly
cherished than our dear old birthplace, Newton, with its
glorious record and rich memories, the gallant deeds of its

heroes and martyrs, its faithful ministers of Christ, its

churches and schools, its academies and colleges, its long
line of noble Christian men and women whose records,
though possibly unwritten, are not unknown, its pure
record of religion, temperance, and morality. Surely as
we contemplate the past, and consider the present, let the
recollection be a constant incentive to us and ourchildren;
that we may prove worthy of the lineage we bear and the
goodly heritage we enjoy.

74 " THE NE WTOJV CEZVTEZVNJAL.

After Mr. Hyde had concluded his address, the choir sang two
verses of Whittier’s “Centennial Hymn: ” --—--

“Our fathers’ God! from out whose hand
The centuries fall like grains of sand,
We meet to-day, united, free,

And loyal to our land and thee,
T 0 thank thee for the era done,
And trust thee for the opening one.

Oh! make thou us, through centuries 1OI'Jg‘,
In peace secure, and justice st1*o11g;

A Around the gift of freedom draw 7
The safeguards of thy righteous law,
And, cast in some diviner mould,
Let the new cycle shame the old !

The singing was followed by the reading of an original poem
by the Rev. I. N. TARBOX, D.D., entitled, ——-— V

NEWTON, JUNE 17, 1776-1876;

YOU have heard of ancient sages,
How they wrought along the ages,
What their genius had invented,
And their Wisdom handed down :
Go and search the wide earth over,
Did those wise men e’er discover
Such a nice and rare contrivance
As an old New England town ?

THE AEXEZB C./‘SE5. 7 5

’Tis a purely Yankee notion,
All unknown beyond the ocean,
First constructed by our fathers,
Patented along our coast 3
And, while kingly thrones are fleeting,
Still abides the olcltown meeting,
Nurse of orators and patriots,
Our New England’s pride and boast.

There, was nothing, it is stated,
Notliitig which the British hated
More than these New England townships,
And their ways of doing things 3
No more pestilent pro1n_oters
Of rebellion than those voters
Gathered in the lonely valleys,
Gathered by the mountain springs.

just a century has departed,
Since those farmers, honest-hearted,
In this ancient town of Newton,
Were in special session met,
Sunmionecl by the State’s suggestion,
Called to meet that mighty question,
Whether they would bear the burdens
Of Old England’s growing debt 5

Whether they, unrepresented,
Would, if it could be prevented,
Go and come at England’s bidding,
Or would dare to go alone 3

r Was it wise to suffer longer,

Till the tyrant’s chain grew stronger,
' Or to Spurn this harsh dominion,
And despise the ancient throne?

76

THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

They were gathered, as was fitting,
In their place of Sunday sitting 3
For no house could be too holy
For the work they had to do 3
And their pastor’s prayer ascended, ---.—~
Prayer where hope and fear were blended, -~—--
Asking God to guard and guide them,
All their fearful journey through.

Deacon Woodward, moderator, ,_,
Captain, deacon, and debater,
Chosen by his fellow—townsmen,
Rises now to state the case :
From the standpoint pf his station,
Let us fancy that oration
Fitted to the weighty subject,
Fitted to the time and place : —

“ Townsmen, we are met together
To confer, and ‘find out whether
We will vote for independence,
Understanding what we do:
Trying times are passing o’er us,
And more trying years before us
Call us all to bear our burdens,
Call us to be firm and true.

One year since, at dawn of morning,
Without note or sign of warning,
You recall that mighty uproar
Sounding out from Boston Bay ;
How our town awoke and wondered, 

N While the British war-ships thundered,

And the hills took up the echoes,
All that sultry summer day.

THE EXERCISES. 77

You recall that earlier rally,
When across Charles River valley,
All along the road to Concord,
Over field and Wood and glen,
Newton sent her swift pursuers, .
Sent her bold and earnest cloers,
Hung around those flying columns
With two hundred minute-men.

For our younger men and older
Brought their guns that day to shoulder ,-
’ Beardless striplings, new-made freemen,
Fathers of threescore and ten,
Left their farms, ---- unyoked their cattle, --
Went to join that rambling battle,
~ And the town was left deserted
Of its able-bodied men.

In the morning, oh, how proudly
Matched those red-coats boasting loudly,
Scattering Wild dismay and terror,
All along their outward track!
But they fell on sore disaster,
And kept going fast and faster,
Glad to find some place of refuge,
On their bloody journey back.

When the heaps of dead and dying
On those Charlestown slopes were lying,
As the peaceful sun was setting,

Just one year ago to-day, .
Then their haughty boasting ended :
They had seen these heights defended

With a skill and strength and firmness

Such as filled them with dismay.

78

THE NEWTONWCENTENNIAL.

Now those troops have left our borders,
And we gave their marching orders, -~—--
Gave them from those rocky highlands
Where they could not be denied ;
They have packed their trunk and basket,
And set sail from old N antasket,
Somewhat modest in demeanor,

Slightly humbled in their pride.

When they went they took the Tories,
Loaded them in skiffs and dories,
Took with them their goods and chattels,
Landed them at Halifax ;
But our shores are none the poorer,
And our cause is safer, surer:
Rather than to see their faces,
We prefer to see their backs.

So the British did not enter
By the gate of their first venture :
They have made an ocean circuit,
Gone to find some safer way ;
But the future opens dimly,
For the War—cloud settles grimly,
Dark, portentous of disaster,
Round about Manhattan Bay.

Congrfless asks us, are we ready?
Will our hearts prove true and steady P
If it makes the Declaration,

By that record will we stand 2’
Though the future days he dreary,
Though the-Way be long and weary,

Will we calmly hide the issue

For our God and native land?

THE EXERCISES. 79

But I know your firm devotion,
And I now await your motion,
Confident of your decision,
Knowing well what you will do 5
And may God who rnleth o’er us
Guard and guide, and go before us,
Give us strength amid the conflict,
Bear us all the struggle through ! ”

....«.....u.....

 

We have given thus compactly,
Though it may be not exactly,
What good Captain Woodward uttered,
What the moderator said ;
But the open signs bet,_oken
That the deacon must have spoken
Just about as we have stated,
Under the foregoing head.

There was no reporter’s table,
And we therefore are not able,
I-Iere onthis our centenary,
To repeat him word for word 5
But the evidence internal
Is a kind of “ Newton Journal,”
And that speech of Captain Woodward,
All those Newton voters heard.

For there was a full attendance,
And they voted INDEPENDENCE
By a hand-vote, 2vz'va 7/066‘,
Or some way to voters known 3 W
And by their united action,
Free from all debate and faction,
That day’s Work no doubt assisted
To upset the British throne.

80

THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

Who it was that made that motion,
Reaching thus across the ocean,
Or who seconded the measure,
Cannot certainly be told 5
And no ancient record teaches
Who got up and made those speeches :
Pity there were no reporters
In those simple clays of old 1

If we had some little taper
In the shape of morning paper,
Dated Tuesday, June the eighteenth,
Seventeen hundred seventy-six,
As those times were stern and solemn,
Possibly the base-ball column
Could have been a trifle crowded
Those small paragraphs to fix.

But against our base-ball players,
Let us not be found gainsayers:
They can show their killed and wounded,
Even in these days of peace 5
And by their productive labor,
Each club betting with its neighbor,
They may raise our low finances,
Make our corn and oil increase.

But although our knowledge reaches
Not to motives, acts, and speeches,
And while many minor matters
Cannot certainly be known,
What those Newton farmers z2oz‘m7,
Word for word can still be quoted ;
And they pledged their lives and fortunes,
Every thing they called their own.

 

     

   

 

THE. EXEA’ CZSES. 3 I

So they broke the chains that bound them,
Burst the network woven round them,
And with high, uplifting purpose,
Dated to tread their unknown way :4
Let us learn what they have taught us,
Prize the heritage they bought us,
And recount their ancient virtues
On this glad Centennial Day.

The next incident in the order of proceedings was the presenta-
tion to the city of a crayon portrait of Col. JOSEPH WARD, from
citizens of Newton; which duty was gracefully executed by Mr.
VVILLIAM C. Barns, in the following address : -—-—

MR. MAYOR AND FELI.ow~C1TIzENs,———The late Mr.
Francis Jackson, one of a family renowned for the best
qualities of good citizenship, and one whose lightest sug-
gestion will be received by a Newton audience with great
respect, has left upon the last page of his history of N ew-
ton these words referring to Col. Joseph Wa1'd, who was
born in Newton in 1737, and who died early in the present
century: “The public services and private virtues of Col.
Ward ought to be remernbered and perpetuated in some
way, either by a monument to his memory, or otherwise.
I leave to the citizens of his native town this suggestion
for their consideration." It is not often; fellow-citizens,
that good words fitly spoken bear fruit even in twenty
years; but these of our local historian to-day are ripening.

This crayon portrait of Col. Joseph Ward has been
executed at the instance of several gentlemen of Newton;

82 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

and it is hoped, Mr. Mayor, that it may find an appropri-«
ate place in our public library, and be for a long time to
come a reminder that virtue in the conduct of public
affairs, and purity of private life, are qualities which cease
not their influence at death, but remain to be for all future
generat-ions_ example and inspiration.

The character of Col. Ward is pre-eminently one which
will bear the strong light thrown upon it by a hundred
years of intervening history.

There is a legend connected with the vegetable world,
which relates that the aloe, or century-plant, after distilling
for a hundred years its sweet juices from the beneficent
earth and the gentle dews of heaven, at last bursts forth
in such luxuriance of beauty and fragrance, that three
generations of men may well wait for the seeming mira-
cle. However the truths of botanical knowledge may
dispel the illusion, it is certain that this year our American
century-plant is in full flower; and we have invited the
world to witness the beauty, and inhale the fragrance. But,
after all, the permanent benefits are to remain with us; and
these, it seems to me, are to be found in the better
acquaintance we are getting with our heroes of ’76. . . .
Col. Ward of Newton was one of these heroes.

Public attention has been so recently called to the
interesting details of his career, that it seems unnecessary
to detain you at this time in their consideration. Pardon
me, the relation (at the risk of repetition) of a single inci-
dent of which I am reminded by these two pistols upon
the desk before me. A

THE EXERCISES. 33

At the battle of Bunker. Hill, lVIr.W'ard was aide~de-
camp to Gen. Artemas Wa1*d the then commander-in-chief,
whose headquarters were at Cambridge; and was engaged
in carrying orders thence to the devoted band of patriots
on the heights of Charlestown. Early in the day the
British gunboats swept the Neck with their batteries,
rendering a horseback ride across extremely hazardous;
but our young patriot hesitated not, and became a promi-
nent rnark for a broadside from the enemy’s guns, escap-
ing uninjured.  

On arriving at Cambridge a few weeks later, and learn-
ing of the affair, Washington, seldom moved to enthusi-
asm, addressed him a personal letter of thanks, and pre-
sented him with a pair of pistols, Mesa pistols. It is fair
to suppose that the commander-in-chief, with that nice
attention to the details of etiquette for which he was dis»
tinguished at the busiest times of his life, gave to these
little weapons his personal inspection, and presented them
with the charm of his personal presence. ,Venerable me-
mentos of another age, ----I confess, ladies and gentlemen,
I cannot behold them without profound demotion, twin
relics as they are of our Newton patriot and the immortal
Wasliington. l

The character of Col.Wa1'd was such that those who

.. knew him spoke of him as “an amiable patriot,” “a kind

friend, and a just man.” “The Columbian Centinel ” at his
death spoke of him in these words of eulogy: “In public
transactions justice was his pole-star, and truth the guide
of his conduct; his talents adorned, and his virtues were

84 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

the charm of his private life.u The influence of religion
over his pmind was equally conspicuous, whether warmed
by the genial sun of prosperity, or chilled by the wintry
blast of adversity.” "
Wasliirigton wrote to him, “The favorable sentiments
of a good man, and one who has faithfully performed ‘ and
diligently executed the duties of his station, cannot fail
of being agreeable. I thank you for your good wishes.”
Can we believe for a moment, fellow-citizens, that affec-
tionate veneration for such a character as this is but an
“idle sentiment”Pi No, a thousand times no! let us
rather welcome it for what it.is,-——~——- a perpetual benediction.
But I will not detain you, ladies and gentlemen. You
have seen enough, I trust, to make you feel with me that

 this is--.«—-—

“ One of the few, the immortal names
That were not born to die.”

There are three grandchildren of Col. Ward from a
distant town so fortunate as to be present to join with
you in this tribute to their ancestor. They have brought
this wreath of laurel-leaves, which with reverent hands I
place above his portrait.

Mr. Mayor, I have now the honor, in behalf of the gen-
tlemen who have contributed to its purchase, to confide
this portrait of Col. Joseph Ward to you, the official repre-
sentative of the City of Newton.

The mayor received the portrait in behalf of the city, and prom-

ised to cherish it as a valuable memento of an honored and dis— I

tinguished citizen of Newton.

THE EXER C./‘SE5. ‘ 8 5

“ America” was then sung by the choir, the audience joining.

‘* My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain side

Let freedom ring.

Our fathers’ God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee. we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With freeclom’s holy light:
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King !

The celebration was closed by a benediction pronounced by

Rev. HENRY MACKAY,‘ Rector of St. Mary’s Church.

At the close of the lproceedings, the hospitalities of the city
were tendered to the governor and staff, and other distinguished
visitors, in the banqueting hall below.

 
 
 

 KW.

. Wu

17%‘

 “WWWWWGWWF
mm. u.m4L€h~mm-mmnau "J

‘ ‘-VVHAY‘/YA ., mm,
‘ M-I:

§%

53:

m‘
It
I
I“
H,‘
I
Iwm“
fl‘
I‘
I PM
fl 5%
‘’‘,‘WW
W
WM

M

..,.. \.

‘ ...u-mmwmmmw-mu-w -mw * ’
% ‘W_;~w%

:13] ~. 3:;

Hd§§§§2§§§é

fggsx

3

«:1

(:ORRESPONDENCE.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Nitw'1‘oN, March 22, 1876.
To His ExcaLI..1«:N<:nr Armzx. H‘. Rrczn, Go7.wvzw- of Me Sam.» cg/’ .Mcz.r.s~zzMu.s-arr.s~.

Sir, -—~—- In behalf of the City Government of the City of Newton, and
in accordance with what we know to be the Wishes of a large number of
our citizens, we most respectfully solicit your attendance at the celebra-
tion which the City Government propose to have on the evening of the
127th of June, next at 7.30. I "

The occasion will be to endeavor to duly honor the memory and the
deeds of the noble men who, one hundred years ago, on the ryth of

Line 1: 6 in town meetincr assemblecl, assecl the followin vote:
9 = 4:» P g

“That in case the Continental Congress should, for the safety of the

American Colonies, declare them independent of the Kingcloin of Great
Britain, whether the inhabitants of the town will solemnly engage with
their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure.” It was passed
by a 2.a7zrz7zz‘mozrs vote.

As a justly honored son of N evvton, your presence will he most heartily
welcomed 5 and we are well assured that the inspiration will not be wa_nt-—
ing to give you utterance fitting the occasion.

G. D. GILMAN,
JAMES F. EDMANILJS,
J. STURGIS PC)'"l‘TER,
D. S. SIMPSON,
RUFUS NIOULTON,

_7oz'2zz‘ Skfierial C'rmzmz'z‘z‘e’e of Arrarzgernarzls‘.

90 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

COMMONWEALTI-I OF MASSACHUSETTS, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
BOSTON, May 26, r876.
TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS, &c.

Gerzilezrzerz, —--I have received your valued favor of the 22d inst., and
beg to say that I expect to enjoy the pleasure of being with you in my
native Newton on the coming 17th of June, and I shall permit nothing
but necessity to prevent me from carrying out that purpose.

I am, my dear sirs, with great respect,

Yours very truly, ALEX. I-I. RICE.

VVES1‘ NEWTON, March 22, I875.
TO THE HON. V]./tMES F. C. HYDE, ex-Jlfzzyor qf Nazi/#072.

Dear Sz'r,——-—-In behalf of the committee of the City Government of
Newton, we respectfully invite you to address our citizens assembled at
Eliot Hall, Ward 7, on the “evening of June I7 next, at 7.30.

The occasion will be the one hundredth anniversary of passing the vote
by the inhabitants of the then town, in town meeting assembled, pledg-
ing their lives and fortunes in support of “ Independence.’-’

But so recently associated with the City Government, after years of
service in town affairs, and ever ready with heart and hand for the best
interests of our beloved municipality, we confidently hope for your acqui-
escence to the wishes of our people. ,

I have the honor to be for the Committee, yours truly,

‘ I G. D. ~GIL1\/IAN, C/zczz'rma7z.

NEWTON HIGHLANDS, April 10, I875.
To MESSRS. G. D. GILMAN, JAMES F. EDMANDS, J. STURGIS POTTER, D. S. SIMPSON,
A’ and RUFUS MOULTON, Esgs.

Gem‘/eme7z,———Yours of March 22 was duly received, inviting me to
address the City Government and citizens of Newton on the evening of
June 1:7 next. I accept the invitation in the kindly spirit in which it is
extended to me, hoping’ I may be able to meet your expectations, and
present some matters of interest in the history of my native town”.

With kind regards, I am yours truly,
JAMES F. C. HYDE.

CORRESPONDENCE. 9::

WEST NEWTON, March 23, I876.
REV. I. N. Tansox, D.D.

Dear Sir, --- The City Government of Newton have decided to appro-
priately celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the passing, by the
inhabitants of the town of Newton in town meeting assembled, of the
now historical vote whereby it was unanimously voted, “Solemnly to
engage with their lives and fortunes to support the measure of inde-
pendence.”

In behalf of the Committee of Arrangements, you are respectfully
invited to address the people assembled at Eliot Hall, Ward 7, on the
evening of June 17, at 7.3o; and would express the wish that your

” thoughts take the form of a poem for the occasion.

Very respectfully, for the Committee,
G. D. GILMAN, C’/za:z'rm?z¢z.

Bosron, April I4, 1876.’
Dear Sir, —-——- I received your kind note asking me, in behalf of the City
of Newton, to give a poem on the occasion of the centennial celebra-
tion, June 17. Though I fear I shall not be able to do justice to so
important an anniversary, yet I am grateful for your favor in asking me,

. and I will endeavor to perform the duty to the best of my ability.

Very truly yours,
INCREASE N. TARBOX.

NEWTON CENTRE, May 22, 1876.

Dear Sz'r,——-Yours of the zoth is received, communicating to meta
request that I offer the prayer at the celebration of the 17th of June.

As there seems to be a propriety in the oldest church being represented
on the occasion, I shall endeavor to comply with the request. With many
thanks, '

Respectfully and very truly yours,

D. S. FURBER.

9;; THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

NEWTON LOWER FALLS, June 8, I876.
Dear Sz'r,—-——-It is with sincere pleasure and heartfelt honor, I beg to
acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed favor, inviting me to participate
in the city of Newton celebration, and also my acceptance of the same.
The day is an auspicious one, and well befits the distinguished patriot-
ism,.faithfulness, and bravery of Newton’s gallant sons in fighting for
liberty and independence. I
America was not wanting in I-Iampdens, and Newton was forward early
in sending her sons to the front. May the city of Newton, distinguished
alike for scenic beauties and for patriotism, be ever ready to march to
the front to uphold, maintain, and defend in virgin, undefiled honor, the
integrity of our nation it May her constellated banner go forward with her
many stars unclimmed; may her stripes prove to be the obsignation of
defence and liberty to men and women yet unborn; and may Newton’s
sons in the future, as in the past, be among the standard—bearers of
liberty I To the city of Newton —— Esro PERPETUAI
I have the honor "to be
Your faithful servant,
H. MACKAY.

NI:‘.W’l‘ON, June 8, I876.
My Dear Sir, -—-I gratefully accept the invitation extended to me by
your Committee to participate in the centennial exercises to be held
June 17. The forefathers of Newton by their vote helped to make possi-
ble the Declaration of Independence. The resolves of the Newton town
meeting held June 1:7, 1776, were to this town what the utterances of Inde—
pendence Hall in Philadelphia July 4, 1776, were to the nation.
I appreciate the honor you confer in giving me a part on this memorial
occasion. ”
Faithfully yours,
W. E. I-IUNTINGTON.

To THE CHAIRMAN or COMMITTEE or ARRANGEMENTS.

CORRESPONDENCE. . 93

_ NEWTON, June I2, I876.
HON. SAMUEL C. Conn, zmzyor of Bastoiz.

Dear Sir, -—-The Committee of Arrangements for the City Govern-
ment of Newton would request the pleasure of your company on the
occasion of the centennial celebration of June 17, 1776. On that day
the freemen of the town of Newton, after due discussion, voted unani-
mously, “ That we solemnly engage with our lives and fortunes to support
the measure of indepenclence.”

It will be especially gratifying to the City Government of Newton to
have you with us on such an interesting anniversary, one which recalls

the early days of our national life, when the men of Newton stood with i

those of Boston in defence of the heights of Bunker Hill.
G. D. GILMAN, C/zazwmm.

Mayor Cobb was compelled by imperative engagements to de-
cline the invitation.

LETTER FROM MAYOR COBB.

Crrv HALL, Bosron, June I4, 1876.
Dear Sir, -—— I very much regret that imperative engagements will com»-
pel me to forego the pleasure and honor of iattending the celebration at
Newton on the 17th inst. to which you so kindly invite me.
When the men of Newton, in 1776, “ solemnly engaged with their lives

and fortunes to support the measures of Independence,” they put on their

records a glorious pledge, the courage and self-sacrificing spirit of which
should be contemplated with proud and grateful satisfaction by their
clescenclants, and one which deserves all the emphasis that a public cere-
monial can give it now. I

I trust that Boston will be amply represented on the occasion by her
citizens, so many of whom are connected with your people by ties of kin-
ship, friendship, and business.

While in these ceiitennial celebrations of Boston we seek to renew
the bonds of arnity and brotherhood that unite us with distant cities and

94 p THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

States, we certainly shall not overlook our next~—door neighbors, with
whom we are happily associated in the affairs of daily life 5 men who are
bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, and whose fathers stood up with
our fathers so fervently and manfully in the great struggle and trial of a
hundred years ago.
Those were dark and distressing days. Heaven grant you a very
bright and happy one next Saturday! With cordial regards I am
Respectfully yours,
SAM’L C. COBB, Mayor.

To THE CHAIRMAN or THE COMl\IIT'1‘EE or ARRANGEMENTS.

LETTER FROM HON. ROBERT C. WINTHORP.

'BROOKLINE, June 14, I876.

Dear Sir,--—I pray you to present to the Committee of Arrangements,
and to receive for yourself, my most grateful ackiiowledgrnents of their
obliging invitation for Saturday evening next.

It would give me the highest gratification to meet my friend Gov. Rice
on such an occasion, and to unite with your City Government in com~
mernorating the patriotic action of the men of Newton in 1776.

I regret sincerely that circumstances beyond my control will deprive
me of the privilege of being present.

Believe me, dear sir, respectfully and truly,

Your obedient servant,
RoB’:r C. Wrnrrmop.

G. D. G-ILMAN, Esq., C’/z’az'rmcm C'o72zmz'z‘tee cf‘ Arrarzgemarzts.

LETTER FROM REV. JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.

JAMAICA PLAIN, June 3, 1876.
Dear Sir, ---- It is very kind of you to invite me to the Newton Centen-

nial 3 and, if I were not to be at Cincinnati at that time, I should cer- ..

tainly accept the invitation.

CORRESPONDENCE. 95

It is true that I was not born in Newton, but in Hanover, N.I-I., where
my parents weretemporarily residing. But as their real home was in New-
ton, both before and after that time, and as my ancestors on both sides,
up to my great grandparents on one side, and on the other side my
mother’s ancestors the Fullers, from the founding of the town being res-
idents of Newton; and asgl moved to Newton when I was two months
old myself, and lived there until I went to college 3 as there is scarcely
an acre of the town I did not ramble over during my boyhood, or was
not familiar with,———-I should claim the privilege on these grounds of being
with you. My grandfather Freeman’s place, and that of my grandfather
Hull, always seemed to me the most charming home in the world 3 and I
make an annual pilgrimage to Newton to refresh my memory of the famil-
iar places.

“ Here,” i say, “lived Mr. Brackett 3 here Mr. Ward or Hyde or Trow-
bridge or I‘-Iarback 3 this was ‘ Rural Cave 3’ here lived the good old min-
ister, my Uncle Homer; and here in Baptist Pond we once set sail, my
brothers and I, in a fragile bark made by ourselves to catch perch. This
was the house of the Lorings, of the Tuckers, the Cabots3 and in the
depths of the woods was ‘Cold Spring,’ where we caught our first trout.”
Such are the recollections that come over me at the thought and name of
Newton 3 and gladly would I be with you on your anniversary, if it were
in my power. Sincerely yours,

JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.

I

LETTER FROM HON. RICHARD FROTHINGHAM.

CHARLESTOWN, June 17, 1876.
Dear Sir, —— I have the honor to receive your invitation to attend your
celebration to-day, and thank you for it. There cannot be a more profita-
ble centennial than that of the noble action of Newton. But my engage-
ments are such as will prevent me from the pleasure of being with you.
With great respect to the Committee,
Yours truly,

RICHARD FROTHINGI-IAM.

95 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

LETTER rnom THE SON or COL. WARD.
SPENCER, Mass, June 15, 1876.

Dear Sz'r, ——-I wrote you some days since that my health would not per-—
mit me to be with you and the good people of Newton on the 17th 3 and,
as the day of celebration draws nigh, I more and more regret that I can-
not accept the kind invitation of you and the Committee. It is  comfort
to me however, that some of my family will be there, where my ancestors
and their descendants have lived for more than two hundred years. The
old Revolutionary pistols which were a gift from Gen. Washington to my
father soon after the General took command of the army, and a short
time after the battle of Bunker Hill, I will send, as some of the people
at the celebration may like to look upon a gift from George Washington
more than one hundred years ago. I am not a letter-writer, but my heart
is full. I feel most grateful to you and the people of my native town for
what they have done and are doing for the memory of my father; and as
I writetears come to my eyes, and I feel that I never shall forget these
acts of kindness while I live and can remember. God bless the people of

Newton I
I am, dear sir, most respectfully yours,
DENNIS Warm.

ANDOVICR, Mass, June 13, 1876.

My DmrSz'}?,————I am very sorry to be under the necessity of stating
that I shall be unable to visit Newton on the :r7th inst.

If my engagements allowed I should have been very happy to comply
with your very polite invitation. ,

I doubt not the exercises of the evening will be highly interesting. I
feel a deep interest in the city of Newton, and I exceedingly regret my
inability to be present at the approaching celebration.

Very respectfully, your friend and servant,
Enwanns A. PARK.

To THE CHAIRMAN or COMMITTEE or ARRANGEMENTS.

CORRESPONDENCE. 97

...... ~.......................,...-..—-...»...

LEXINGTON SENDS CENTENNIAL GREETING TC) NEWTON.

The following; letter was received from the Selectmen of Lexing-
ton, by the Centennial Celebration Committee :---—

ml'.,I?.XIN(}'I‘ON, June 154, 1876.
Dear Sir, -——-Your note of the 13th is at hand, inviting the Selectmen
of Lexington to participate in your centennial gathering. Please accept
our sincere thanks for your cordial invitation. A previous enggagetrieiit
alone prevents our being with you to participate in so important an
occasion as the centennial anniversary of the cleclieation of the lives and
fortunes of the citizens of Newton to the principles of free government,
whose baptismal font was our own honored green. It is fitting indeecl,
that on this our centennial year we slioulcl turn back to those days
when our fathers consecrated their all to a eonnnon principle, when
integrity was synonymous with patriotism and an undying devotion to
universal liberty... Let that same integwity be the wateliword of the hour 3
plant it deep in the minds of the rising generation: and we can await the
future with unerring certainty. .l£’..espectftilly yours,
W,r.ns'rna SM1'ri~i,
O‘I“I£$ VVli:N'I‘VVOR'1‘H,
Ar.nn.nr W. l3av.AN'r,
S¢‘:’1t;’6'Z'7)'Z£"/‘Z qf Leznzhzgiarz.
To 'rI~t1t CHAIRMAN or CoMM:i'r'rIe:n or-‘ An:aANorMItN'1's.

CONCOR13 TO NEWTON.

Sntr:C'I‘iuaN’s C)vrroa, CoNoonn,Jt1xie I4, 1876.
To COMIVIITTEI2‘. or Aanaivonixtrzivrs, Nr.\v'roN, lmtss.

J1{e.m's.,-—-- Tlianks for your invitation to be present on the 17th inst,
at your memorial celebration of the events of one hunclrecl years ago.
We esteem it a great privilege as well as a sacred duty, at all times to do
honor to the memory of those noble men who so solemnly and so cheer-
fully pledged “their lives and their fortunes ” in support of the indepencl—
ence of these United States, and who so faithfully redeemed their pledge.

93 THE NE WTOJV CENTENNIAL.

We gladly accept the honor conferred upon us, and through us upon
those whom We represent ,- and, if nothing happens to prevent, will give
ourselves the pleasure to participate with you in the enjoyment of that
occasion. Your obedient servants,

SELECTMEN or CONCORD,
BY CHAS. THOMPSON, C/l'.czz'rmtm.

A letter from the son of Peter Hammond, Newton’s oldest citi-
zen, in his one hundred and first year, dated Geneseo, Ill., June 9,
after stating the arrangements that had been made to send the
picture and autograph of his father, adds :—

Gnnrssno, II.L., May 24, 1876.

Dear Sz'r,»——--- My father wishes me to express to you and your Honora-
ble Mayor his sincere thanks for your kind invitation to be present at your
centennial celebration. He says it would be gratifying to him to be
present at the time named 3 but owing to the long distance to travel, and
the approaching Warm weather, and infirmities of age, says he must forego
the pleasure of accepting the invitation. I have often heard father speak
of his native town with a great deal of interest, and I think. he yet cher-
ishes its memory. F ather’s health is now very good, much better than it
was when he commenced his one hundredth year.

Hoping father’s excuse will be satisfactory, I am very truly yours,

To THE COMMITTEE or ARRANGEMENTS.

HEADQUARTERS Co. C, rsr REGT. M. V_. M.,
NEWTON, June I4, 1876.

Dear Sir, ——-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note
inviting the Claflin Guard to participate in the‘ ceremonies of the centen-
nial celebration on the r7th of June; and in their behalf accept the same,
with many thanks for the honor conferred upon us.

I am, sir, your obedient servant, I
F. N. BROWN, Capiazkz romnzarzzizkzg C0. 

TO THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.

Jos. HAMMOND. -

CORRESPONDENCE. 99

NEWTON LOWER FALLS, May 20, 1876.
To THE CHAIRMAN or TI-IE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION COMMITTEE, &c.

Dear Sz'r,----Your invitation to “ Chas. Ward Post 62, G. A. R. ,” to
parade on the evening of the 17th of June, and join in the exercises at
Eliot Hall, was accepted by action of the Post, at their regular meeting
last evening, and a Committee chosen to confer with the Committee of

the City Government.
Yours truly,

DAVID A. CONANT, Commandanz‘.

1

The following letter of acceptance was received from Hon. John
C. Park, in answer to the invitation of the Committee of Arrange
ments to deliver the Oration on the Fourth of July : -——:-

Nswrom, June :2, 1876.
Gonrram «D. GILMAN, Esq. .

Dear Sz’r,-— The highly flattering invitation from the Committee of
Arrangements of the City Government of Newton to deliver an address
before them and the citizens, on the Fourth of July next, which you, as
Chairman of the Committee, so kindly communicated to me, has been
carefully considered.

The proclamation of our national President~—--he having in View a
most desirable result (historical sketches of the various towns and cities
throughout the Union) ——-led me to hesitate. I felt that it would be impos-
sible for me in three weeks to do justice to the history, progress, and
reputation of this ancient town, now the perfection of cities.

But learning that this duty is already in the hands of a gentleman of
peculiar ability “ qui nihil tetigit quod non ornavit,” and who, we all
know, will perform it most satisfactorily on our local anniversary, which
will occur June 17, and that therefore no such effort orlresult would
be expected from me, I cheerfully concluded to accept the unmerited
honor which the representatives of my fellow—citizens have tendered to
me, to lead their thought on the ensuing national jubilee, when we shall
assemble, not as a council of Indian braves to boast of the prowess of

.100 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

our fathers, but as a civilized people to gather from past history lessons
of purity for the present, andhigh resolve and earnest purpose for the
future. With sentiments of the greatest respect and esteem,
N I remain your obedient servant,
JOHN C. PARK.

TO THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.

Quite a number of old residents, descendants from the men of
1776, were obliged to send letters of declination in response to the
invitations forwarded them; among them Mr. William Curtis, Mr.
Amasa Collin, Mr. Robert Prentice, Mr. Almarin Trovvbridge.

EXERCISES ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.

THE EXERCISES.

 

It had been decided that the City Hall, Ward Three, was the
most appropriate and fittitng; place for having the exercises com-
memorative of “The Glorious Fourth.”

The history of the btiilcling reaches back for over one hundred
years, ----~--

‘‘ Somewhere, we know not when :
"Twas after Eliot taught the red-faced men, —--—~-
The Indian dwellers on Nonantum Hill,
Round which the blessed memories linger still.”

It represents the religiotrs, the scholastic, and the political
interests of our people, having been used in turn as a church
schoolhouse, town—house, and now the City Hall.

A Thus the patriotic associations of the place were in happy
accord with the spirit of the hour, and inspiration was not wanting
to enkindle enthusiasm in the interesting centennial anniversary
to be celebrated. .

The decorations of the hall were simple, yet very effective.
The same skill and taste which had prepared Eliot Hall on the
17th of June were here displayed with pleasing; effect.

The happy combination of flags, streamers, banners, rnottoes,
and festoons of the national colors, gave the large audience-room
a most agreeable appearance.

104 A THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

U Upon the platform were his Honor the Mayor, —-——-~ Alden Speare,
—--— who presided on the occasion, together with the members of

the different departments of the city, the chaplain, the orator '

and poet of the day, and distinguished citizens.

The exercises were commenced by musical selections of appro-
priate themes, including Washington’s March, and other national
airs, which were very finely and acceptably rendered upon the
piano by Mr. W. S; Sargent, with the assistance of a comet accom-
panirnent.

T A PROCLAMATION

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The centennial anniversary of the day on which the
people of the United States declared their right to a
separate and equal station among the powers of the
earth seems to demand an exceptional observance. The

founders of the government, at its birth and in its feeb1e- ,

ness, invoked the blessings and the protection of a Divine
Providence; and the thirteen colonies and three millions
of people have expanded into a nation of strength and
numbers commanding the position which ~ then was de-
manded, and for which fervent prayers were then offered.

It seems fitting, that, on the occurrence of the hun- V

dredth anniversary of our existence as a nation, a grateful
acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the
protection and the bounties which he has vouchsafed to
our beloved country.

I therefore invite the good people of the United States,
on the approaching Fourth day of July, in addition to the

ZIHE EXERCISES. 105

usual observances with which they are accustomed to greet

the return of the day, further, in such manner and at such

time as in their respective localities and religious associa-
tions may be most convenient, to mark its recurrence by
some public religious and devout thanksgiving to Al-
mighty God for the blessings which have been bestowed
upon us as a nation during the century of our existence,

" and humbly to invoke a continuance of his favor and of

his protection.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set myyhand, and

caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-sixth day of
June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-six, and of the Independence of
United States of America, the one hundredth.

. .. S. \ H.
By #23 Pmeszdwzzx U GPANI

HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of Sztzfe.

After reading of the proclamation of the President, Alderman
Gilman, in introducing the Rev. Mr. Samson, said, —-——

As in most of our city churches, last Simday, public
religious services were held, at which devout thanksgiving
and fervent prayer marked the occurrence of this centennial
celebration, we now here assemble so far as practicable, in
accordance with the President’s proclamation, and would
offer humble thanks to Almighty God for mercies received,
earnest prayer for blessings and favors we hope yet to
come, and thatin righteousness our people and nation
may beexalted.

105 THE NEWTON CEAr2"g./V./VIA 1..

Prayer was offered by Rev. Thomas S. Samson, of the Baptist
Church, Ward One, after which the audience arose, and joined

in singing the following hymn : ———-

“ God ever glorious! Sovereign of nations 2
~ Waving the banner of peace" o’er our land,
Thine is the victory, thine the salvation :
Strong to deliver, own We thy hand.

Still may thy blessing rest, Father most holy,
S Over each mountain, rock, river, and shore!
Sing hallelujah I Shout in hosannas!
God keep our country free everrnore I ”

The mayor called on EDWARD W. CATE, Esq., a graduate of
Newton High School, who read the Declaration of Independence,
from the old town records, as entered thereon one hundred years
ago by Abraham Fuller, Town Clerl<,_‘i by order of the Council.”

Miss CORAI G. PLIMPTON then sang “The Battle-Cry of Free-
dom,” the audience joining in the chorus : --

‘‘ The Union forever I hurrah, boys, hurrah!
Down with the traitor, up with the star,
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again,
Shouting the battle-cry of freedom.” T

After the singing, the mayor made the following introductory
address :——¢- S

FELLOW-CITIZENS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,---— We have
assembled on this the Fourth of July, 1876, to celebrate
the centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, July 4, 1776, by which we, no longer colonies, were

made independent of Great Britain, henceforth and for.»

THE EXERCISES. I07

ever the United States of America. This is a day that
John Adams, writing to his wife the 5th of July, 1776,
declared to be one that “ought to be commemorated as a
day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and
parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and
illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other,
from this time forward for evermore.” We rejoice that the
same! patriotic impulse which prompted this declaration
still finds a welcome home in the hearts of the citizens of
Newton; and that the day was ushered in with bonfires
on our hilltops, that the tongue of every bell from every
steeple in our city has proclaimed “peace and liberty to
the land and the inhabitants thereof; ” and still more, that,
as these sounds have fallen on our ears, the hparts of our
citizens have beaten responsively to the call, as is evi-
denced in the stars and stripes floating from so many
house-tops in the city,iand by this crowded audience pres-~
ent, to listen to the recital of the deeds and sufferings

which have made it our high privilege to celebrate this

day with all that it crowds upon us, in the rich memories
of the past, and promises of the future. J

Wliile it has been not inappropriately said that “ Vir-
ginia in Patrick Henry furnished the tongue, and in
Thomas Jefferson the pen, of the Revolution,” Jefferson
Wrote that “ Massachusetts in John Adams furnished the
Colossus, in Samuel Adams the Palinurus, of the Revolu-
tion.”

And we are reminded that this day is the anniversary of

108 THE NE WTON CENTENNIAL.
another event, —-—-the death of both Thomas Jefferson and
John Adams, fifty years ago, just at the half-way mile-
stone between the Declaration of Independence (which
was written by the former, and carried through the Conti-
nental Congress by the powerful arguments and eloquence
of the latter), and its one hundredth anniversary. Jeffer-
son, when told that it was Independence Day, and that he
was dying, replied, “As I had wished.” Adams, as the
sound of the bell, pealing out the glad sound of liberty,
struck his already fast-failing senses, asks, “Wl1at is it?”
His companion replies, “It is Independence Day.” I-Iis
patriotic soul warm even in death with grand emotions
of liberty, he exclaimed, “ INDEPENDENCE FOREVER ! ” Thus
with the halo of liberty on their brows, they took their
departure from their labors here to their fruition in the
hereafter. I

May these memories, and the memories of the sons of
Newton, incite us, on whom devolve the duties of the hour,
to that conscientious discharge of all the responsibilities of
citizenship which shall bring us upon that higher level
where we shall appreciate fully its demands upon us, not
only for honesty, but vigilance, in performing our part in
the city, commonwealth, and nation, in order that we
may ever be a people worthy of such a land, and of the
liberty founded by the fortunes, devotion, deprivations, and
lives of those of a hundred years ago,————founded so well
on the eternal principles of industry, virtue, and piety, that
the fabric stands to-day, having effectually resisted all
encroachments from foes abroad and rebellion at home.

THE ,EXZ.rT]€CfSES. 109

May it so remain, and may this be indeed the “land of
the free ” for the lil:>erty-loving and oppressed of all lands!
But I will not detain you longer. I now have the pleasure
of introducing to you our fellow-citizen, whose patriotic
heart has been xnade warmer by  late visit to the cities
along our coast, from Boston to Charleston,---the Hon.
john C. Park, the orator of the day.

ORATION.

Mn. MAYOR, GIsNrL:eMr«:N or THE CITY GOVERNMENT,
LADIES AND GEN'I‘LEMIi3N,---Tile bright sun of this morn-
ing has again revealed to our eyes the beautiful world God
has given us for a dwellix1g—place. Its earliest beams
gilded the rocky peaks of Katahdin; then Mount Wasl1—
ington caught its splendor; the Green Mountains of Ver-
mont seemed clad in a fresher verdure under its rays; the

broad lakes became seas of molten silver; the fertile plains

of our Central States teemed under its revivifying influ-
ences; the Rocky Mountains, the Sierras, Mount Hood
and Mount Shasta, snow»-capped and majestic, were next
lighted up in their solitary splendors; and at last far—ofi°
Alaska, one of the youngest children of our Union, has
shaken oft" the midnight chills at its approach.

For four successive hours, each second has been oz
momma‘ qf smz¢/z'.s‘e2 to some part of our magnificent terri-—
tory. From the fisherman on the banks of N ewfoundland
to the seal-hunter of Alaska, from the coral reefs of the

I I0 THE NE WTON CENTENNIAL.

Tortugas to the Golden Gate of San Francisco, millions
of freemen‘ havewelcomed its coming; and the roar of
cannon, the shouts of human voices, the unfolding of that
beautiful flag which overshadows with its protection alike
the millionnaire and the freedman, signify to the world, not
only a nation’s joy and pride, but, far better, the deep-felt
gratitude which wells up in every heart to Him who has

p“ caused ourlines to fall in pleasant places,” and “crowned

our lives with his loving kindness and tender mercies.”

The event which we have this day assembled to com-
memorate was not the result of a fiat t'r'om some autocrat,
nor of any sudden outbreak of a mere popular tumult.
The doctrine of evolution is older than this globe. Ade-
quate causes have ever evolved and will ever evolve into
resultant effects. In the beautiful language of Scripture,
“In the fulness of time it came to pass;” or, as a good
old Scotch Presbyterian quaintly expressed it, “The
Almighty is never in a hurry.”

The seed had been sown in good soil, and had received
careful tillage. “Taxation without representation is

tyranny,” was that seed. It had been whispered at the

fireside; it had been muttered in the mart and the work-
shop; it had been thundered from eloquent lips at those
free, outspoken town-meetings, whose nature and effect
were so graphically described by your own poet at a late
celebration in this city; it had been committed to the
blessingof heaven from those New England pulpits
which always have been most jealous guardians of the
rights of man. A ll

THE EXERCISES. S ' 111

Its sentiment became contagious. Far-off States, not
then reached by the magnetic wire, felt the: electric spark
of patriotism, and responded with words of sympathy and
encouragement. South Carolina, through her Gadsden,
was among the first; and thecommittees of correspond-
ence kept the golden chain bright. South Carolina and
Massachusetts one hundred years ago! As the poetshave
exquisitely described young lovers, —— is

“ Two souls with but a single thought,
Two hearts that beat as one,”--~

So it was with them: two souls with but at single thought,
-~———--freedom, justice, independence; two hearts that beat as
one, -—-—- Union l * _  
On the 4th of July, 1776, the conflicts of Concord and
Lexington and the battle of Bunker ‘Hill had passed into
history. Boston had been evacuated, and foreign troops
had-» been driven from the soil of Massachusetts, never to
desecrate it again. At the South, too, the repulse, which
the foe had suffered at Fort Moultrie had been effected;
an anniversary so admirably remembered there during, the
past week. Both States had passed through the baptism
of blood, and had entered into the holy communion of a
patriotic nationality. Speechless forever be the tongue
which shall utter a word, and palsied forever the arm
which shall do a deed, to destroy that glorious Unionl.
_My friends, why should I speakto a Middlesex audience
of the valor of our sires, while we sit within sight of
Bunker Hill, and so near Concord and Lexington? or

I 12 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

of the wisdom of those sages, while standing in the birth- -

place of Roger Sherman, and almost within cannon-range
of the homes of Samuel Adams and Elbridge Gerry and
John Adams? These are the familiar traditions of our
homes andour firesides. On such an occasion as this I
should not approach them in the spirit of vain boasting,
but reverently. Had I the good fortune to own a choice
painting of one of the old masters, I should at intervals
take it down, and dust it, and contemplate its beauties;
but no renovator should attempt to refresh its coloring, or
improve a tint. Any words of mine on such a subject
might prove me to be but a sacrilegious renovator.

But pardon me if I do allude to a class not always
remembered as they should be on these occasions. I
mean the woman of our country. And yet should I
attempt to depict what, in those, days, was attained by her
firm counsels given in the confidential intercourse of home,
her words of cheer, her spirit of self-sacrifice and trustful
res1gnation, I should fail. Let me tell you, my friends, the
bodily suffering of the battle-field, the wintry bivouac, the
prison-pen, are vastly more endurable than the anguish of
the waiting heart, which suffers alone in its midnight
watches, and dreads, longing for news from its loved ones,
and which would break in its earthly prison-house if it
were not sustained by that trust in a loving Father’s good-
ness which is always woman’s solace.

Fellow-citizens, we stand today on one of the mountain
ridges of our country’s progress. Let us, for a moment,
change the language of a familiar hymn, and suwxey the

THE EXE./B CJSES. 1,3

path already trod, that we may press with vigor on. Or, to’

borrow another figure, we are, as it were, at the national
signal-station. Let us sweep the horizon, gather the
meteorological political signs,»--—see where a cyclone is
threatened, and throw out a storm ‘signal; or discern
vvhere good influences are coming like gentle showers
and refreshing sunshine.

And first let us glance at the great alteration which the
century has produced in the assimilation of our people.

The early settlements on these shores were made in
almost every instance by bodies of men who had been
induced to cross the ocean in search of a new home.

33

Please mark the word “home: I shall have occasion
again to refer to it. The Separatist and the Puritan in
New England; the Qualter or Friend in Pennsylvania;
the liberal Roman Catholic in Maryland (I say liberal,
for the settlement of Lor,gl Baltimore might have shamed
some of its sister Colonies in its language of toleration);
the devout, church-loving Episcopalians of Virginia and

the Carolinas,with their early companions the l-luguenots,

-————-all, all were in search of freedom, civil and spiritual; T

and each and all in their first breathings as communities
had incorporated into their charters, or inserted in their
early ordinances, provisions, more or less stringent, giving
weight and influence to the popular voice. This spirit was
a chief ingredient in giving birth to our Revolutionary
struggle, and brought about the Colonial League and the
National Union.

True to this sentiment, as soon as we became a nation

II4 THE NEWTONN CENTENNIAL.

we welcomed to our shores and our privileges the
oppressed and downtrodden of the whole world; and dur-
ing the century these have been flocking in upon us,——-
peopling our fertile plains, improving our immense water-
power, and developing our national industries and mineral
riches. How needed, how welcome! But they have come
in large communities, bringing with them not only their
native languages, but their home customs, prejudices,
feuds, manners, and traditions. I think I am notrash in
asserting that there are vast communities now with us,
exercising all the rights of citizens to control and mould
the destinies of this nation, to whom the names and
deeds and virtues of Hancock and Adams, Jay and
Hamilton, Jefferson and l\/lorris, cause as little emotion or
reverence as the names of Leonidas or Seneca do to us.

The assimilation of our peopleis fast fading out, and new if

motives of national political unity must be sought out.

The bubble may increase in the gorgeousness of its colors I

as it increases in size, but it is fast losing its cohesive-
ness.

-In this connection a portentous cloud in the West will
ere long thrust itself upon our attention, and demand most
wise, judicious, and honorable policy. I refer to the Chi»-
nesequestion. -It stands briefly thus : ~—--——-

China contains, it is estimated, four hundred millions of
inhabitants, crowded compactly together, and struggling
for a daily livelihood, -~—-— the earnings of a day-laborer
being scarcely ten cents a day. The United States have
pushed their cities and industries to the Pacific coast, and
they now stand face to face with the vast empires of Asia.

THE E.X'E]€‘CfSES. 115

Mr. Burlingame, as minister from the Chinese Govern-
ment, effected a treaty with our Government, by which, in
consideration of certain privileges of trade granted to our
merchants, the Chinese have free ingress and egress to
and from our shores. Six Chinese companies are estab-
lished in San Francisco, and hold a contract with the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company, by which Chinamen are
brought to these shores for forty-five dollars, passage and
sustenance. To prevent the coolie—-trade as it was former-
lyiconducted (and which was but a modified form of the
slave-trade), our Government passed a law that no China-
man should be brought here until he had filed a certificate
with our consul at Hong Kong, that he came of his own
free will. The companies receive him here, and have a
full oversight over him while he stays; and the Chinaman
is obliged to repay to the company, from his earnings,
a hundred dollars for the.forty~five dollars advanced. The
agreement is that they are to be returned to China in
three years; but the steamships will not take them until
they exhibit a certificate from the companies that the one
hundred dollars has been paid to them.

It is easy to see that China could well spare ten millions
a year, and not feel a very perceptible gap in a population
of four hundred millions. The capitalists of California
(and there are men of enormous wealth there) have seen
their opportunity. True it is that the Mongolian race
cannot effect in hard labor one-half of the work which can
be done by an able-bodied Caucasian; but he excels in
dexterity, Clocility, imitativeness, and persevering industry.

I I 5 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

It follows that factories of all kinds can be established,
and are being established, in California, based upon the
employment of this cheap labor, lvvhich can successfully
compete with our Eastern factories, even adding the cost
of transcontinental‘transportation.

There are now in California two hundred thousand Chi-
nese. They have already monopolized certain kinds of
work, and are so rapidly driving out competition in others,

that their competitors are becoming seriously alarmed.

There is no fear, as things now are, that they will dis-
turb us politically. They cannot become citizens and
voters. iOur naturalization laws, if they interposed no

N other objection, require five years’ continued residence,

during two of which they shall have filed a declaration of
intention; and they must give evidence of good character.
As the contract is that they shall be taken back in three
years, that alone would prevent naturalization.

Neither are they a desirable population even tempora-
rily. They are habitually inveterate gamblers. They are,
almost to a man, opium-smolcers. They adhere pertina-
ciously to the religious faith of their fathers, and bring
with them their joss~house worship and ceremonies. But
I spoke of /zames. The emigrant who comes to us from
Europe brings with him his wife and children, and means
to make this his home. His children are to be educated
here, and can be reached by our educational training.
The Chinese brings no wife, no child: he has no thought
of a home here.

To the two hundred thousand males in California, there

THE EXERCISES. 1,7

A are about five thousand females, all of the most degraded,

dissolute, and licentious character. Of course, the whole
idea which rises up in the mind of a New-Englander
at the word “home,” with all its hallowed and elevating

 influences, is entirely unknown to the Chinaman.

iG1‘ar1ti1ig, then, that we ouglitstill to adhere to the cus-
tom and policy of our fathers, and throw wide our soil to
the advent of the oppressed, the sL1ffe1~i11g, and the inclus-
trious who come with the intent to malte this their perma-
nent home, do we abandon that position, when we hesitate
to admit those who come with no such intent, and who
utterly refuse to assimilate with us‘ in habits, customs, lan-
guage, religion, words, domestic institutions, or political
life P .

Still further: is it desirable to have among us a popula-
tion, which may soon be counted by its millions, who will
be thus with us, but not of us? But, as we have just said
to Ii.ngla11d,a treaty means something among nations, as
a contract does among honest men. As I have already
stated, this is a problem of grave and serious importance,
and one which we cannot afford long to igno1*e.

But I am admonished of the rapid lapse of time. There
are other rocks ahead, of which I would speak, and sug-
gest a hint of how we may avoid them. May I briefly
allude to one or two? i

Our country is suffering——-is it not P -—-—— under the curse
of presidential patronage. Wlien our government was
formed, and our territory was comparatively small, it was
thought wiseand judicious to intrust to the Chief Magis-

118 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

trate the appointment of the officers necessary to carry
on the business of the national government. As our
limits have extended, with an increase of our population
and business, together with our appliances for the collec-
tion and disbursement of the revenue, and the proper
supervision of our commercial operations and relations,
these officers have become a host. So long as the course
which was pursued by John Quincy Adams, while he was
president, had been preserved (who removed no man from
office on the score of hisparty proclivities), this course
might still have been practised with safety. But now the

fearful pack of hungry Ieffice-seekers, the influence which

they wield, and the base intrigues to which they pander, are
fearful. Its effect has been disgusting to honest men; so
that they have been led to neglect their bounden duty as
voters, and to leave the management of affairsin the hands
of these vampires. , It has been suggested, and I venture
most deferentially to add that the suggestion meets my

hearty approval, that a partial remedy might be found in a,

constitutional amendment, by which the President would
be elected for a term of six years, ineligible ever after.
This,aided by a strong and wisely planned civil service
bill, might result most beneficially-

One word on another crying evil of the hour,--state
and municipal, and, I might add, ecclesiastical indebted-
ness. It is cheering to see that the people are becoming
sensitive on this point. That posterity should pay some
portion,, of the expense of certain necessary permanent

public improvements, such’ as pure water, drainage, and

THE EXERCISES. 119

the lil<:e,I admit. A review of the rise and progress of
this system of public indebtedness will show that it was
from such beginnings that this mischief has sprung. But
it is to be borne in mind, that posterity will have its own
peculiar pressing needs too; and, if it is to be weighed
down with the whole of our accumulated debts and interest,
we must be very thankful that we are not our own grand-
children; certain it is, that they will hardly rise up and
call us blessed. “

Felloxv-citizens, your orator for this day, who for half a
century has exercised his right of suffrage in this State,
always conscientiously, if not always wisely, had purposed
to I.11‘g€i you to rouse yourselves from your lethargy, and
Sl'l£3.l-£63 off the apathy into which you seem to have fallen in
relation to your political duties and obligations. Every
privilege which we enjoy in this world’ carries with it a
corresponding obligation to use it wisely; and in this
matter of determining who shall rule, and how they shall
rule, rest assured that the maxim applies, that from him
who hath not improved that which has been given to him
shall be talten even that which he hath.

But the events which have transpired during the last few
weel-ts have given me a renewed confidence in the people
of these United States.

On the one hand, the gentlemen at Wasliiiigton, who
seemed to have forgotten that they were sent there to
legislate for the interests of the country, its advancement
and prosperity, and not to select a presidential candidate,
have received a sigrial rebuke. On the other hand, those

1 20 Q THE NE W70./V CENTENNIAL.

who had prospered in financial rings and nefarious cabals
have been taught that their power and influence are in-
competent to destroy the popular favor of one who "has
independently and firmly put his heel on their iniquities.
These signs bid us hope that we shall soon breathe a
more healthy atmosphere.’ Believe me, fellow-citizens, if
every man, of every shade of opinion, will be true to his
duty as an American citizen, truth, honor, and good
government will be maintained. A

Spirits of the heroes, the patriots, the sages, of the
Revolutionary days, look down upon us while we render
an account of the trust ‘which you reposed in us, the
stewardship which you committed into our hands. The
strip along the Atlantic now extends from ocean to ocean,
filled with the homes of a prosperous, happy, free people.
The Constitution framed by your wisdom and forethought
we hold still unimpaired. A It has shown to the world that
you had embodied in it powers to maintain itself through a
storm and peril of gigantic proportions. We have amazed
the statesmen of the old forms of government by our
-capacity to preserve law andorder by an army of mere
citizen soldiery, and have still more astonished them by
the spectacle of vast armies, at the close of a long contest,
instantly and quietly retiring to their avocations as citizens.
We have proved, and are still proving, that our national
pecuniary obligations shall all, EZZ, be fully and honorably
met and discharged. The inventive genius of our age has
done more for the prosperity, comfort, and happiness of
the human race, than had been accomplished in many pre-

THE EXEIBCJSES. 121

ceding centuries. Our flag commands respect wherever
it floats; and yet we have exhibited the truly pacific specta-~
cle of submitting questions to arbitration which in former
ages would have plunged the contending nations into the
horrors of bloody war.

In the midst of our direst necessities, and while reeling
like sunstruck men under the effects of our civil contest,
we warned one of the most powerful monarchs of Europe
that we would not permit foreign troops to control the
destinies of any country on this continent; and the soldiers
of France vanished from the Mexican borders.

Religious toleration, philanthropy, institutions of charity
and of learning and science, libraries, and tribunals of
justice, all the instrumentalities which make men better
and happier, live at every man’s door; and, last and not
least, thanks be to God! throughout the length and breadth
of our land there is no such being breathes as a slave.

My friends, we need not be ashamed of our record.
There may be upon some of its pages spots and stains:
so there are on the sun. But the most of the leaves are
emblazoned with the record ofduties well done in God’s
service.

Of those who are now present, not one will see the sun
of another centennial.

Young men! We have carried the ark of the covenant of
human progress, which our fathers (a people chosen of
God, as were the Jews of old) had given to our keeping,
steadily onward. We bore it through the Red Sea, -——- red
with the blood of our bravest and our best. Into your

122 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

hands we now commit it. See to I it that you manfully
sustain the burden; for the eye of the Most High is upon

you.

At the close of the oration, Mis_s IENNIE M. PATRICK sang
“ The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the audience rising, and
joining in the chorus :——-

“ Glory, glory, halleluj ah 1
His truth is marching on.”

The following poem was then read by J. L. ORDWAY, Esq., of
Newton.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS.
r776—x876.

THY voice, 0 Liberty! this day is heard

In every breeze that sweeps o’er land or sea: i

It murmurs with the rill, it sings with blithesome bird
In notes of glad and glorious harmony 5

It speaks from shore to shore

In ocean’s solemn and unceasing roar 5

And now it loudly calls

In the deep monotone of waterfalls.

Thy presence everywhere around

Makes each familiar spot seem holy ground ,-

And scenes and tones scarce viewed and heard before
Now thrill and move us with unwonted power.

Thou comest with the glow of summer-time,
The rich luxuriance of fragrant flowers,
When the rejoicing year is in its prime,

To bless this festal day of ours

THE EXERCISES. I23

Upon its annual round ;

But ne’er as now did benisons abound ,-

N e’er was thy gracious presence felt so near _;
And never knew we that thou wast so dear.

And now upon the threshold of the century

That separates the years which have gone by

From the unfathomable mystery

That veils the future from each mortal eye,

We stand, and, looking back

Along the yearly milestones of the track,

Survey the scenes of early strife

In which the nation had its life,

And ponder long and well

On what that lingering gaze may tell,

And learn what this the fourth day of July,

And this a l'11.1I’1ClI'€Cltl1 anniversary,

May teach above all other days,

Save those devoted to the Mal<er’s praise,

And save that festal day that comes with winter’s cold.
But the heart warms as we that day remember ,-
Ancl, though the north wind sweep through leafless wold,
We gladly hail the chill and drear December;

For then was born the mighty Conqueror,

Whose bloodless Victories shall never cease ;

Who sent a sword to wage perpetual war,

And yet is everrnore the Prince of peace.

For that which is the clay of days,

Let men their glad rejoicings raise

While strength and breath shall last to utter praise.

The memories of old, the thoughts that stir
All hearts to-day, need no interpreter.

124

THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

We know full well the earlyhistory

Of that resistance against tyranny 3

We know where“ the first blow was struck, and when
Words moulded into deeds again

Strewed all the ground with slain,-

When firm resolve, and courage strong,

Which to those manly souls belong,

Who dare uphold the right, resist the wrong,
Upheld, resisted, not in vain.

Here, close at hand, within the sight,

Along the plain, upon the distant hill,

Was waged the unremitting fight 3

And anxious, hearts watched, waited still, — .
Watched, waited, day and night‘:

From hence, upon that first eventful day,
Matched ready minute-men to join the fray.
And he whose ardent, patriotic zeal,

Brave deeds, as well as glowing words, reveal,
Went forth to earn ennobling fame,

And leave an honored and enduring name,
Receiving, for his work of duty done,

The proud reward of praise from Washington.
And yonder monument may tell

How the fierce conflict raged beneath,

How there the gallant Warren fell,

And gave his latest breath H

To freedom’s sacred cause he loved so well.

In the deep shade of yonder spreading elm,

’Mid clouds of danger, threatening to o’erwhelm,

The great commander, wise and brave, unsheathed his sword,
Gravely and reverently, as for the Lord.

THE EXEJGCISES. I 2 5

Ere long the lofty lieiglits above the bay

Looked frowning down

On the beleagtterecl town

And quickly fled the f’:-iglitenecl foe away,

With every white sail spread to catch the favoring breeze,
Like flocks of seabirds unto southern seas.

Then ran the happy people up and down,
Tl11'ot1gl1 streets and lanes of the rejoicing town 5
And every heart was all astit

To greet and welcome the deliverer.

Each breath seemed clrawn in purer air;

Each springing footstep seemed more light to be ;
Etlcll face was b1‘igl1t with smiles 3 and everywhere
The joyous WOI’ClS were spoken, “ We are free.”

And now upon a July day the sun arose,

And slowly, slowly, climbed the shining skies 5
It sank into the west, clay found its close, V '
And vanished from all eyes. V

The earth was fair 5 the l1e.avens were bright ;
The grass was fresh and greeti beneath the feet ;
The birds were singing ; flowers with f1'ag1*ance sweet
Filled, as to—day, the senses with cleliglit 5

And the majestic Delaware unto the sea,

As now, rolled onwarcl peacefully 3

And nought mysterious on earth, in sky,

Could be discerned by mortal eye;

But on that day a deed was done,

Simple, and yet sublime,

That was to bless all lands beneath the sun,
And be 1'er1"1embered through all time, --~--

A paper signed, and that was all,

In Philadelphia’s ancient hall,

I 26

THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

And truths and principles immortal
Went forth from out that portal.

What proud assurance 1 and what courage, great,
That no dark danger could intimidate l

What patriotic zeal! and what prescient eye,

That glories of the future could descry

Through frowning clouds that swept across the sky I

, A'band of -fifty-«six from thirteen colonies

There haughty England’s power‘ and pride
Undauntedly defied, -~--——

The mighty power, the presumptuous pride,
Of England, mistress of the seas.

Four years before, in that most gloomy hour,
Struggling in vain against o’erwhelrning power,
Unhappy Poland, brave, heroic land,

Was blotted out, o’erthrown by tyrant hand , ‘
And many gallant sons were dragged in chains
To torture of Siberia’s icy plains ,'

And yet the mover of this deed pf infamy,

This foul partition of that little state,

Is known in history as “ Frederick the GREAT 1”

tKingcraft had then full, undisputed sway ,-

“ I am the State,” it was their wont to say.

They ruled by “grace of God,” and their own right ,-
But “grace of God ” was seldom kept in sight.
Strange, wonderful, it seemed, that one would dare
To send a “protest through the servile air,

When right, nor watch, nor ward was keeping,

And Liberty was dead --~ or sleeping.

At Runnymede, six centuries before,
Avtyrant’s hand was forced to yield its power, N

THE EXEJ? CISES. I 27

And grant that “ Magna Charta ” evermore to be
The bulwark strong of Englisll liberty.

Another tyrant’s head, We know full well,

Before the axe of headsman fell,

When rose the people in their might

To save each. precious vested right.

But ne’er was made a nobler declaration

In any age, by any nation,

And gr'ancle1' words were spoke or written never,
To bless, uplift, and sanctify forever,

Save when on hills and shores of Palestine
Were said those utterances divine.

In such a cause how could there failure be?
All hearts were cheered, and hopes were high.
But now came Clark adversity;

For yet came I"3I‘l.lZlSl‘1 ships across the sea,
And landed troops by thousands on our shore,
And many that had hoped could hope no more.
Defeat, disaster, and discouragement
Followed the army wheresoe’er it went : ,
Ill fed, halt" clothed, shoeless, undisciplined,
What better prospect could they hope to find?
Defeat, retreat. Ah I, well may we

Who read the painfiil history

Regard with wonder and emotion

The patience and the strong devotion,

T he dauntless valor, and the fortitude,

That, through long; years, withstood

The desolating battle-storin, and, undismayed,
Darkness and danger triistingly surveyed.

Oh, many a true, courageous soul was there,
Who, ever hopeful, thought not of despair,

128

THE NE W:/'*0Nl CENTENNIAL.

Believing, that, whatever might betide,

’Twas well to suffer, well to patiently endure,
Was not the “ Lord upon our side” 

Ere long would come the triumph sure.

Seven years of unrelenting War Went by,

And for each year barely one Victory ,

And still the faith that led them on

Irnparted courage strong and high,

Though hope, at times, seemed well-nigh gone.
And Yorl<town’s glorious day at last T

Brought compensation for the weary past, -————-
Deliverance from all their woes, " .

And the long war to a triumphant close.

In what more fitting place of all the land

Could they victorious stand V

Than in Virginia, grand old State P -~—---- ’‘

Virginia, mother of the wise and great, '

Whose ancient church-walls, echoing, rung

With glowing eloquence of I-Ienry’s tongue,

Who, While a tyrant’s minions held their breath,
Said, “ Give me liberty, or give me death I ”  
There still Mount Vernon stands, for every age

A sacred place of pilgrimage,

The home and the last resting-place of Washington,
Whose fame belongs not to one State alone, i A

The nation’s most illustrious son,

Who did not doff the panoply of War

To grace his brow with laurel wreath of conqueror :
Nor, when his work was done, the sword lay down
To mount a throne, and wear a kingly crown,

But left a name no title could adorn.

No laurel wreaths for victories won,

THE EXERCISES. 129

N or crown that line of hundred kings have worn,
Could add one honor to the peerless Washington.
That ancient State had still another son,

Whose patriotic task so well, so granclly clone,
Thrills every heart with each familiar word :

 “ pen ” was truly “mightier than the sword.”
Virginia, Massachusetts, sister States! Alike
In glorious deeds, alike in gallant men 1

One had for freedom the first blow to strike 5
The other had the last, and then,

From northern to far southern shore,

The reign of tyranny was o’er.

May each succeeding fourth clay of July
Bring greater blessings as the years go by !
May this, and every land beneath the sun,
Rejoice in victories peace has won 1

And when another century shall have gone,
And others, where we stand, look back upon
The incidents of every fleeting year,

What thoughts shall rise, what visions shall appear?
Ah! none can tell

Save Him “ who ruleth all things well.”

But this We know, of this we may be sure,
That truth and justice ever will endure 5
That principles immortal and sublime

Are bounded not by space nor time.

These through all changes shall survive,
Though men shall cease to live.

In this utilitarian age,

In these progressive days so fast,

Present and future all our thoughts engage.
We oft forget our obligations tothe past.

130

THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

We cannot hold too tenderly

The memories of those devoted men,

Who by strong arm, or Word, or pen,
Brought us in safety through the sea

Of danger and perplexity.

Nor can we greet too gladly the return

Of any day on which great deeds were done,
But letlour hearts within us burn,

And eyes with grateful tears o’errun.

We cannot gaze too reverently

On every spot and every landmark where
Brave men have fallen in the cause of liberty,
And Where bold Words have thrilled the air.

Save us, 0 Liberty! save us, departed shades

Of men Whose eloquence has rung

Through consecrated rafters o’er our heads,

Who Freedorn’s banner to the free winds flung, --
Save us from desecrating hand

That would destroy these sacred places of the land l

Let them forever stand.

And people of another age,

Hither from every clime shall come,

To make a reverent pilgrimage

To F reedorn’s chosen home.

Then shall each heart be thrilled and fired
With lofty aims and purpose high,

Ready with noblest zeal inspired,

To act, to suffer, or to die.

And now, while every eye with joy is beaming
In every hamlet of the country wide,

Above, o’er all, the glorious flag is streaming,
The treasured emblem of our hope and pride.

THE EXERCISES. 101

How has it floated through the battle smoke,
And brightly gleamed before the watchful sight,
And like a living presence spoke

To guide, to lead the uncertain fight 1

Though riddled, torn by shot and shell,

Still through the storm has swept that standard proud, --
Hope of the living, and for those who fell

A soldier’s shroud.

O flag of freedom I may thy stars shine on,
Each by itself, and all as one,

With neither spot nor stain to mar

The blended glory beaming from afar ;,

No star to Wander from that union bright 3

N 0 dark eclipse to dimithe light.

Still may thy red be like the sunlight glow,

To kindle Warmth in coldest breast 3

Thy white be pure as vvinter’s snow,

And as the fleecy clouds that come and go,
Like messengers of peace and rest,

S From unknown regions of the blest 3 o

Thine azure be like that Cerulean hue

Which marks the deep profound of yonder skies,
Suggesting, that, beyond those» depths of blue,
Some higher good, some greater blessing, lies.
Thine be it everrnore to wave

Where none can call another “ slave,”

And all the joyous air and tender sky

Are fragrant with the breath of liberty.

But hark! now from afar
Come faintly quivering through the startled air
Tones of a solitary bell ,-

And with each trembling swell

This is the story it doth tell :

1,3 2 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

“ One hundred years ago I rung

With no uncertain tongue,

But loud and clear,

That all, both far and near,

The thrilling words might hear :

‘I liberty proclaim throughout the land,’

I And now in my old age again I stand

With weak and faltering voice to speak,
And the long silence break,

‘ Once more, throughout the land I liberty proclaim,’
To all, of every color, race, and name.
From east to west, from south to north.
Let the glad sound go forth,

Till all the world shall be

In peace, united, free.”

THE SECOND PART

Of the programme was the representation of historical scenes and
characters by school-children and others, under the direction of
Mr. GEORGE S. TROWBRIDGE, assisted by Miss MATTIE C. Howie,
with Mr IWILLIAM S. SARGENT as pianist. This was one of the
most pleasing features of the occasion to the young people pres-
ent. F or the beauty and effect of the scenes, and the admirable
manner in which each character was presented, Mr. Trowbridge
and Miss Howe received great praise, as well as for the genius
displayed in getting up the drama. The plot was as follows :-—~—-

1776.

[Enter KING GEORGE THE THIRD am! COURTIERS. 2725 KING is
comz’zm‘m’ z‘o /zzlr 2'/zrorze. Address of 2%»: KING.]

MY lords and gentlemen, a most daring spirit of resistance and dis
obedience of the law still prevails in the Massachusetts provinces; an»

 

m. W,

v‘-M mu. H M.

“$W§%#mmm~w «Mari “ '

 

 

  

 

~ -..-mmuwm...

o

  

-«aux-wvnmwm
.m::uu-n-«me-—.m.»,.u4uu

Emfioflwfi av?
a"w¢_.:¢w 3w

THE ’EXE_/i? CYSES. I3 3

their conduct is countenanced and continued by other colonies. But
measures have been taken for the restitution of peace and good order 3
and every attempt to impair the supreme authority of the legislature
over all the dominions of the crown will be firmly resisted.

The American colonists, instigated by artful traitors, have commenced
open rebellion, and manifestly aim at the establishment of an independent
empire; and it is the part of wisdom and (in its consequences) of
clemency to put a speedy end to their cormnotion by the most decisive
etlb1'ts.

[Erzfrr R1?.PRI:‘.SliN’l“ATIVJ§3S or “run THIRTEEN ORIGINAL Swxres. Reply
in me’ KING Zr}! Ozzy 0]‘ Z7ir¢°z'7' 1\7iwzZ2w'.]

Your. NIAJESTY,-~Pt3I‘l]1lt us to be free, and we shall ever esteem a
union with you to be our greatest glory and our greatest happiness. We
shall ever be ready to contribute all in our power topthe welfare of the
whole empire. We shall consider your enemies as our enemies, and your
interests as our own,

But if you are cleterminecl that your ministers shall wantonly sport with
the rights of rnanl-zincl ; if neither the voice of justice,the dictates of the
law, the principles of the Constitution, nor the suggestions of humanity:
can restrain your hands from sheclcling human blood in such a cause, —--
then we wash our hands of the consequences.

[Erznzr LIBERTY. Song 53;’ Welcozzze, smzg lzy Mxss Cons G. PLIMPTON,
Azzdziezzcejbzrzzirzg 2'72 we C/iz0ms.]

CI~IOR.US. --— W~l1en borne by the red, white, and blue,
When borne by the red, white, and blue :
Thy banners make tyranny tremble
-. Wlien borne by the red, white, and blue.

ADDRESS or LIBERTY TO THE KING.

Because thou hast scorned the poor, and oppressed the weak;
Because thou hast said, “ No voice for them can speak; ”

134 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

Because thou hast bound the chains on freeborn hands,
And stretched a tyrant’s sceptre o’er my land ;

Because thou hast shown the world how weak a thing

A man may be, and keep the name of king, ~-----

A message that thou well rnayst heed, I bear :

O power-blinded monarch! turn and hear.

Look in the face of Liberty, 0 King!

If thou canst meet the gaze of honest eyes,

And heed the solemn word I bring

From Him who rules above the skies.

Think’st thou to make but fettered slaves

Of men who once have breathed in freen1en’s air?

God’s hand o’er them is stretched to save:

He gives them strength to do and dare.

Thou layest the curse of tribute on their land;

Thou scornest their cry for justice and for right:

The thunderbolts thou hurlest from thy hand

Shall backward turn, and crush thee with their might.
Are there no fallen tyrants in the past

To teach thee what must be a tyrant’s fate?

Godis awful voice has spoken the word at last,

The company who publish it is great.

They are but few; but, ere the strife is done,

Thou well shalt read in words of burning light :

“ In freedom’s cause, a thousand yield to one ;.

Ten thousand hirelings two can put to flight.”

Because thou hast turned from counsel true and wise,
Because thou hast answered their plea with haughty lies;
Because thou hast said, “My power has gained this land; ”
Because thou hast trusted alone in thy own right hand, —-—-
God wrests from thy grasp what thou art not able to hold,
And gives it to men who will keep it through ages untold,
A nation of freemen, a home for the poor and oppressed,
Where under the broad starry banner

Earth’s weary may rest.

7:115 EXERCISES. I45

Annnnss or Text TI~T[lRTEIi‘.N STATES To LIBERTY.

0 Liberty I forsake us not when low the storm»-clouds hang o’er our defenceless
land.

We tread the path where thou didst bid us go ;
Grant us thine aid, stretch forth thy guiding hand:

God called us from old homes to this new West;
His mercy guided us across the sea;

"With thy fair presence he our lives has blest,
We fail alone: help us, 0 Liberty!

0 Liberty! we gladly yield to thee

All we have gained of wealth and careless ease;
Better in freedom breast the storrniest sea

Than spread our sail to slavei-y’s softest breeze.
God’s hand was strong to aid in perils past;

May his great presence still around us be !

LIBERTY TO THE THIRTEEN STATES.

Rise, children of Columbia! fear no more
To Cast the fetters of your youth away ;
I bear a promise from the King of kings :
“ After the night shall come the perfect day.”
My sword shall flash in every battle’s front,
My voice inspire brave men in tent and field,
For your cleliverer, one so true I give,

. Tliat where he leads the foe must fly, or yield.

[Enter GEORGE WASHINGTON and SOLDIERS. LIBERTY poz'm‘.r to WASH-
INGTON, sa_yz'7zg', “ He is your zz’eZz'72erer.” T/ze T/zzrteen States clot/ze /zim

as ze/z'z‘/'2 Arman]

I 35 THE NEWTON CEJVTEIV./VIA L. T

LIBERTY To WASHINTON.

O Wasliington 1 for whom through years of gloom,
The world has waited, come and claim thine own, -—
A heritage of toil and care and pain,

Toraise a nation prostrate ’neath a throne,

To face a mighty foe with armies few,

To bear with wrongs, to hope where doubts increase,
And at last to lead through toil and loss

A ransomed people to victorious peace.

Oh, braver than the storied knights of old,

Receive thine armor from this waiting band :

The prayers that rise for thee from patriot hearts
Shall be thy shield, and guide thy willing hand.

[WASHINGTON /Ivzeeis. COLUMBIA preswzis Swami]

Rise, leader of a people crowned with right,

Wise heart in counsel only feared by foes,

Gird on the arms that liberty has blessed,

And in thy sword attain her calm repose.

[GEORGE TI-IE THIR1>’s Taoops ezzter, mm’ rear/z 2’/zez'r ]7Zczg', and COLUMBIA
T ammzmzzis z’/’z.em z‘o /zzriz‘, mm’ addresses 1’/zem.]

Thus far, defenders of a failing cause;

Invaders cannot pass beyond this bound:

My mandate is above e’en kingly laws :

VV here patriots tread is consecrated ground.

Behold the man whom God has called to guide

Through myriad foes to F reedom’s promised land.

Cast down your arms, humble your haughty pride, and fly before his Heaven-

directed hand. '

[Tire BRITISH szzrrmzz’er 2‘/zeir arms, mm’ rez‘z're. T/ze rz.prese7zz‘zzz‘z'72es of 2726
THIRTEEN STATES esam‘ GEORGE VVASHINGTON so Z/ze .Presz'a’e;~2z"s CXzaz’r.
Tfie Amerzkarz Flag ze/as mism’, mm’ 2723 “ S far Sgmrzgiea’ Bamzer ” szmg
by MISS JENNIE M. PATRICK]

~ THE EXERCISES. I 3 7

I876.

[QUEEN VICToRIA 072 2‘/aye T/zrorze of Ezzglazza’. God save me Queerz. Re-
, qporzre &_;v #25 Azm’z'e7zre.]

Godsave our gracious Queen! S

Long live our noble Queen !
God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us : ,
God save the Queen!

[Emar REPRESENTATIVES or THE THIRTY-NINE S'1‘AT.'ES, esro7~z‘z'7zg GEN.
GRANT ram! STAFF. Resjwarzse éy 2‘/2.»: Azm’z'e7-266.]

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring.

[T/he Erzglzlr/2 arza’ Amerzkczrz Flags 2mz'z‘m’. A zzrZz'e7zre rz'.s‘z'7zg am’ :z)zgz'7zgr.]

Two flags as one unfurled

Shall bear around the world
Justice and right.-

O God! we own thy hand:

Bless our united lands :

And may We ever stand
Strong in thy might.

[5010 5y MISS PATRICK, “ .£o7zg' Z2’?/e A72zerz'm.”]

I 38 THE NE WTON CENTENNIAL. .,

(S

The Doxomloéy was then sung, —-

Be thou, O God, exlalted high,
And as thy glory fills the sky,
So let it be on earth displayed,
Till thou art here as there obeyed.

The proceedings‘ were then closed with the benediction, pro-
nounced by Rev. W. M. LISLE.

A k W ,,_H ,
..«, ,nu:§~f..n*'5fi,~;, ..
. y I r ‘ M.» V '4». “
 _ — ~ “'r~ — V‘.
W fly ' M x .‘ ‘ W ‘t’
M v ’
” 4

»~«-..;.[:

_‘ ,...-M
‘.~ ~.‘

‘ ;‘ ‘~-..
77. 3 ¢  ~ * ‘ '-«
“9 “ HV . M" 
wanna» n ‘.
WT ‘ 1 '

M-«mu.

mutant: 1
flununnu .'

%‘€.&,?¥?‘?7¥?Tf,_

 

‘ Y Iv 1 3
“W: ’‘‘\(‘H .s..¢...w.....nw-.‘}-'.,.‘.‘-‘»~‘~» M...‘ “

,:i1~.

PM 1 l
_....... w.....~‘...»..u...u.~-mm

'. ..-. .. "l“VI.AA(fi“ .«.....,..,..M.. W... . 4...”. .w....m..a..‘

-J‘ 1'
Jfliikkuutuiinég 4

mwumuwwqtwmmww-mum»... -I4"! «
44‘ r; ‘ ‘

iifiiffliifi.

;ig:i.¥.‘..

Av

I A us!!!‘/”‘
_ ,;;_sxsi? _
41»

\
mrwwuvfi WUIMIUA“ ..‘.. ....w..‘.,....». mu 4 V».-mu:-e »-mw~rw-»~w~‘

M“... N 

4;, mcmm‘

‘x.

 ,;W_._\._..,J

A9 .

Ma

 _‘,

§,»‘~:§- .

J
,3: U

 

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX

ON the evening of the 16th of June, the patriotism of our citi-
zens found expression by the firing of cannon and bonfires; and
early the next morning‘ flags were thrown to the breeze from many
points all over the city; and several public and private buildings
were tastefully decorated, including the City Hall (Ward Three),
Eliot Church (Ward Seven), First «Methodist Church (Ward One),
First Church, Newton Centre (Wa1"d Six), and the _,Cha11ning
Church (Ward One). The ‘house of john L. Roberts of Newton-
ville was more elaborately decorated than any other in town, and
erected in the front-yard was a tablet with this inscription :——-~----

“The Old I-Iull House, erected in 1776 by Judge Fuller, on the site of
the present residence of Gov. Claflin. Front addition built by Gen. I-Iull
in 1814. Removed to its present position in September, 1846, by John
L. Roberts, present owner.”

By the side of this stood an arrn—chair of antique pattern, bear-
ing this information : -‘---

“This chair, originally owned by the Hull family, is known to be a
hundred and fifty years old.”

I 42 THE NE I/VTO./V CENTENNIAL.

The followingrtablets were also posted as indicated below : ---—-

Near N Onantum House, Ward One, ----

. I73I.
ANGIERS CORNER.

I Old Cemetery, Centre Street, --

I660.
FIRST CHURCH BUILT
IN NEWTON,
, ON THIS SPOT.
PASTOR, JOHN ELIOT, JR.

Old‘ Burying Ground, ————-

COMD. HULL &
HIS SERVANT, THE LAST
«SLAVE
OWNED IN NEWTON
ARE BURIED HERE.

MOld Cemetery, --—
FIRST
BURYING GROUND.

GRAVE OF
JOHN ELIOT, JR.
& WIFE
IN THESE GROUNDS.

Nonantum Hill, --

NEAR THIS SPOT
STOOD ELIOT’s FIRST
, CHURCH FOR THE
INDIANS. ERECTED I646.

APPENDIX. = 143

Soldiers’ Monument in the New Cemetery, —--

NEWTON FURNISHED
430
MEN FOR THE
WAR on
. THE REVOLUTION.

Among the graves in the Old Burying Ground designated by the :c7th
of June Comrnittee in connection with Gen. Hull, is that of his body-
servant “ Old Tillow,” who was the last slave held in Newton. He lies

close to his old master.

City Hall, Ward Three, ---¥-

The Original Building for a Church, erected I764. A
Town and School House I848,
City Hall 1874.

Tablet at the First Church, Newton Centre, Ward Six, »—--

I776 r660 r876

THE FIRST CI-IURCI-I.

Congregational Trinitarian, Rev. John Eliot, jr., First Pastor.

Ist Meetingmlaouse built in . . . 8. .  1660
2d “ “ . . . . . . “ I698
3d “ “ . . . . ‘~ . . I72I
4th “ . “ . . . . . . . - 1805
5th .“ “ . . . . . . 181478
Enlarged in . . . . . . . . t .. I8 54

Enlarged as at present in . . . I869

Rev. D. L. F urber, Pastor.

Rev. Mr. Merriam was pastor of the First Church during the Revolu-
tionary War, Dr. Homer coming at the close. A granddaughter of Mr.
Merriam, the widow Preston, still lives on Nonanturn Hill.

144 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

The following is a list of the thirteen descendarits of the original
families of Newton, who sang atthe celebration on the 17th of June :—-—--

Mrs. J. S. Potter, Mrs. J. B. Goodrich, Miss Mary Woodward, Mrs. E.

P. ,Wright, Miss Lucretia Fuller, Miss Clarissa S. Hyde, Mr. Francis

Murdock, Mr. George S. Trowbridge, Mr. J. E. Trovvbridge, Mr. W. O.
Trowbridge, Miss Cornelia W. Jackson, Miss Louisa Smallwood, Miss
Charlotte W. Hyde. The first four are great-great-«grandchildren of
Capt. John Woodward, the moderator of the town-meeting, June 17, 1776.
There were also present as a chorus choir thirty-eight pupils of the
Newton High School, representing the thirty»-eight States of the Republic,
and all under the lead of Mr. George S. Trowbridge. i

 Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ-

ence, was born in Newton, near the Skinner place, Ward Seven.

During the past one hundred years, Newton has furnished two occupants
of the gubernatorial chair,-~ Hon. William Claflin of Ward Two, Newton-
ville, and the present incumbent, I-I-Ion. Alexander I-I. Rice of Boston.
Two “citizens of Newton have also occupied seats in the national house
of representatives, -—--Hon. William Jackson and Hon. I. Wiley Edmands.

The “ Claflin Guard ” won much praise from our citizens for their fine
appearance and military bearing at the Centennial celebration on the even-
ing of June 17th. Their dress of gray coats, white pants, and c1"oss—belts,
was very neat and tasteful; and their evolutions, &c., reflected much
credit on them in a military point of view. Military men who were
present say, “The steadiness of the Guard‘ when on the platform was
excellent. Regulars could not have done better.”

A very pleasing incident of the meeting at Eliot Hall was the public
recognition, by His Excellency Governor Rice of Massachusetts, of

his great indebtedness to Mr. Seth Davis for the valuable instruction

he received in his academy at West Newton, in the days of his youth.
Mr. Davis, who occupied an honored seat upon the platform, was affected

APPENDIX. 1 45

to (shall we not say ?) happy tears by the coinplimentary allusions of his
Iijxcellexicy, who spoke with much feeling; of those pleasant days of his
boyhood. Mr. limvis, by the way, in his astronomical teachings, was
tlecicleclly ahead of his times.

After a silence of one hunclre<:l years, the speech of the Moderator of
Newton’s Incilepenclence Town Meeting, Capt. W ooclwarcl, has been given
to the public: tli1“ong'li Rev. Mr. 'l‘arbox, the poet of our Centennial.‘ Mr.
'Tl‘arbo>: probably “interviewed” the old gentleman.

With the other historical relics €3.‘XZl1ll)llZ€2Cl on the eveiuiiig of the 17th
was an ancient picture, the property of Mr. Chas. E. Billings, representing
an olcgl Liberty Tree, from which is snspenclecl Anclrew Oliver, the stamp
<:listri.bnter.

'l‘l1e Stamp Act is represented by the monster Pym, and under him is
a suspected patriot.

Boston holds out the charter; and little Rhode Island comes next.
Then comes New York, followed by Virginia, represented as a female
intrnstecl with the Liberty Cap 3 and the other colonies, nnarkecl U, are
supporting her.

Over the heads of the patriots is a figure of Minerva, the Goddess of
Wisclorn, rlefending them from the aspersions of the enemies of Liberty.

Tliis ezig1'axri11g was made at the time of, or very soon after, the solemn
cleclication of the tree to liberty 3 and we find upon the tree a card bear-
ing the following inscription : “ Liberty Tree, Aug. 14, x76 5.”

The crayon portrait of Col. Joseph Ward was executed by Miss E.
Adams of Boston, from a miniature painted by Dunlrelly in 1792.

I 45 ‘ THE M: WTO./V CENTENNIAL.

NEWTON’S PROGRESS DURING THE PAST CENTURY.
[From the Newton Journal, June :7, 1875.]

ONE hundred years ago, there was but one meeting—house in the town,
the First Church, which was then over a century old. The West Newton
Congregational Church, however, was incorporated as a separate parish in
1778 ; and a church was organized in 1781. The Baptists first gathered a
church at Newton Centre, in 1780. The Episcopal form of service was

V first used at the Lower Falls in 1811. The Methodists opened a church

at the Upper Falls in 1822. A Universalist Society was commenced at
the Upper Falls in 1841. The first Unitarian Society was established at
West Newton in 1848. ‘

There are, at the present time, twenty»-nine churches and religious socie—~
ties in Newton, spreading out from one single society, and of every
variety of religious belief, —— Orthodox Coiigregatioiialist, Unitarians, Bap-
tists, Swedenborgians, Roman Catholics, Universalists, Methodists, &c.
One hundred years ago the affairs of the only church then existing were
managed in open town-meeting by the freemen of the place, who called
the minister, and did all things pertaining to the management of church
matters. In those days the people werewell supplied with religious

instruction, as it is stated that an hour—glass was in the seat with the dea-.

cons 3 and, if the deacons did not turn it at least once during the sermon,
the minister was not considered to have done his duty.

One hundred years ago a Sunday school was an unknown institution in
Newton. At the present time schools of this character include more
than three thousand of the children of Newton.

In educational matters how great the change! One hundred and

seventy—seven years ago the town voted to build a schoolhouse sixteen

feet by fourteen 5 and John Staples was hired to keep school four days in
the week, at a compensation of two shillings per day. In r7oo two I

schoolhouses were built; but they wereonly of sixteen feet square
besides chimney room. In those days the parents were obliged to pay
threepence periiweek for those learning to read, and fourpence for those
learning to write and cipher. The first school committee was elected
in 1706 ,- and the first female teacher was employed in 1766.

A PPEIwTZ)[A *2 e I 47
lLl‘1"c>1n these Sltmll l§)t%g'lI11)iI1gS has §;‘IfO\¥'I1 up the present extenclecl schsol
system of N ewt<:m,——--— with its la1‘g‘€ tmcl convenient sch<:>ol-huilclixtagfié, cost-
ing, in the agg'x‘egz1tt2, lutmclrecls of thousancls of clollms, its excellent 11igl1
sclmel, its cmps «sf ttpxvtttfls of seventy teachers, zmcl its three thouszmcl
scltcvlsrs, -——-- f'L1t‘z1isl‘1ing; an eclucatimml t’:.\'l‘1ilDlt this centermial year for the
great Natiorml Ezqaositiott, whi<::h. has receivecl complimentary notices
from the press of clitl”e1't;;:nt sections of the country.

The lmsiness zttlvzmee cal’ Nexvtcm has met: been so x11a.1'l<ecl ClL11'lI']g the
past {me lmmtlrecl years  in $(')I’I'1t‘2 other parts of lvlictlcllesex County.
'l‘l1mugl1 the rlnlluencte of the estztlblisltment of twh lines of mi11'<:Js,cls, 1‘un-
xttiug; ;fr<:>m :l3(.'.):3l”O1‘1 tlzxmtgln its limits \\’£i3St\.V:‘11‘Cl, it lT1«‘Ztt‘:?» mtl1e1* become 21
place of resiclehee fo1rl:>usiness~1tnen of 1ff:3c)stom, its popt11sti.o11 it1c1'easi11g
very rmraitlly c1111'lng; the pztst thirty _ye:a,rs. (Due lmttctlrecil years ago the
1.:)C)1i1)1.1l2"t1;l()1‘1 ctlitil T1'1(I>t exceecl thirteen 1mn<:l1*ecl: now it is between sixteen
tmcl Sti‘W’.‘3X"ll:ti‘.t‘;:1) thc>t1strm;l.

In some ]f):11‘t.S sf Nt':2WtCm l1at*iz.ag wzttet'~power facilities, such as Newton
Upper zmcl Lower Fz?tll$,C<Z>I‘1SlCl€tt‘t1lJlC‘3 111e1111fa1ct11z'i135g business lms been
erezttecl <”1l1.11'ln§.”,f the past one l1U1”1C?l1’CCl yems _; at the Upper Ft-'tll55, iron-
wmlts, cottcm-mills, a.m::l the construction sf c0ttm1—1h;1cl1it1e1'y_, under the
leac.1 of the Newtcm Iron C‘oze1'xp:1ny, the late Otis Pettee, and others.
Previous to I800 the ws.te1'~p<3wez' \‘\":t1.‘;-To utilizecl :11: the Upper‘ Falls to
chtrx‘3’s11t1l7t;fg1'ist, zmcl saw mills, only ztbout six fzxxnilies resicling in that
patrt of the town. Tlite first CCDUJOII-lh£;lCf01'y was e1'ect:e<:l ::thout 181:4, zmcl
in x809 21 f::1ct<:n'y for the 1'm1tmfhctt11”e of cut mztils.

At the Lower Falls, as long ago as x704, Mr. jomtlaan l/Villard estab~
lishecl the tlrst irc>n—w<:.nflts. The first papemnill was built in x790, by
Mr. John V*V:3.1'e;, zmcl cluring the ha.lf—-century tlmt followecl, uncler the
n1a11ag'e111e11t of the Curttises, the Crelmores, the Rices, the business was
greatly extenclecl, supplying no small portion of the paper used in book
ancl Itewspspet‘ €Sl£1l)llSl“l1"1"l€1‘1lIS. ll‘o1*merly the work was 11-mostly clone by
ha.n<:l, and was slow ancl laborious. By the invention of the Fouclrinier
machine in Ehglancl, the cztpstcity to znanuf"actt11*e was g:;;reatly enhztnced.

The first machine of the kind ever workecl in this country was placed
in 21 mill at the Lower Falls.

148 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

At the Lower Falls, also, there have been silk—factories 3 and there are
now cloth and hosiery mills, with shops for the manufacture of machinery,
and other industries. ,

The dam at Bemis’s Factory, North Village, was erected in :r76o ; and
at the same time a paper—mill was put up on the north side of the river.
Since that time cotton-factories and hosiery mills have been established
in that locality. . I

At Silver Lake, in the northerly part of the town, extensive manufactur-
ing operations have been carried on during the past ten or twelve years.

But we should not conclude this article upon some points of progress
made in Newton during the past one hundred years, without alluding to
the establishment within her borders of the Baptist Theological Institu-
tion, at Newton Centre, whose influence has been worlcl—wide, sending
forth, as ithas, hundreds of trained young men to bear the “good tid-

ings ” of a risen Saviour to the remotest extremities of the earth.

I-IOVV THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ‘WAS RECEIVED IN BOSTON
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

THE number for July 22, of “Edes’s Boston Gazette” for the year

,' 1776, contains an account of the official announcement, in Boston, of the

Declaration of Independence on the previous Thursday. The proceed-
ings took place at the State House, located at the head of State, or what
was then known as King Street. On the balcony of this building, which
looked down the street, were seated the dignitaries of the State, members
of the Assembly, and others. Ranged along King Street were three regi-
ments of soldiers, divided into thirteen sections to represent the thirteen
States. A vast concourse of people crowded the street. The sheriff
read the document to the assembled multitude. The thirteen military
sections each then fired a salute; the church-bells were rung 5 and the
artillery from Fort Hill, Dorchester Heights, the Castle, and Fort Alder-
ton, made the welkin ring with pealing sounds. A grand dinner closed
the proceedings. I I

The signs representing the King’s arms, and other titles of royalty,

Apzéelvpzzr. I 49

then quite mnnerous all over the city, which hrtcl been dttring the clay
in<:ilt1striously torn clown, were in the evenitig piled up in State Street, and
czonvertecl into :1 vest hont'ire, nrouricl which the people gathered, and gave
vent to their joy at the liberty which now, at last, seemed within their
,<._?;*t'asp.

'l‘iIIi3 I;)i£CIsAI{A'1‘ION IN NI§.\VTON.

By order of the State autltorities of that clay, the minister of each

church in the colony was required to read the Declaration from the 13111».

pit as soon as he received at copy,’:.mc1 then deliver it to the town clerk
to be placed in full upon the town recorcls; There was then but one
clmrelt in Newton, -—— the First Church, in the eastern part of the town 5
ztncl the D€2ClL71l'2ltlOI’l was read in that church by Rev. Mr. Merriarn, the
minister, zmd then recorded upon the town book by .A_braha1n Fuller,
town Clerk. p

The reecling of the Dt3Cl8.1“:~‘LtlOI’1 on the 4th inst, by Mr. Cate, was
from this origittztl record book, still in 21 good state of preservation at the
City Hall.

The edclresses given at the City Hall, July 4, in the “allegorical
representations,” were written by Miss Mattie C. Howe of Newton,
hncil were in every way apt, inspiring, mid able. Tlte acldress of
“Liherty” to I~”;ing George was delivered by Miss Curr-ie A. Glover of
Vvest Newton, in :1 nmnner thrtt fait*ly thrilled the anclience. Miss
Gloverts clear, strong voice penetrated every part of the hell 3 and when

39

the words “tht;1s fztr were spoken to the British soldiers, has they
nclvztnoecl upon the platform, the effect was wonderful. The whole
ecldress was given with ease and steadiness, encl showed the results of
much cm'el'ul study.

’.‘,l?n;1:: 'F(i)t.TTl'"~t'1"‘I~-:1‘ NI‘ '.rm=_: Low1:«:1e. FALLS. ---—- At the Lower Falls, the
house where Gov. Rice was born was beautifully clecoratecl with flags and
st1'ee.1ne1's, with the inscription: “Birthplace of Gov. Rice.” At other
points there were decomtions, with fireworks in the eveninoa

Rev.  F. Smith of Newton arrived home from Europe in season to

pztrticipttte in the celebration of the Centennial Fourth. His popular

I50 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

hymn, “ My Country, ’tis of thee,” &c., was sung on Sunday, and again
on Tuesday, all over the land. '

During the performance of the historical scenes at the City Hall, July
4, the audience joined in singing a hymn to the tune of “ God. save the
Queen,” with much animation and fervor. Victoria was friendly to this
country when friendship was opportune and effectual.

DESCENDANTS OF MEN OF THE REVOLUTION.

THE following list is as complete as can be obtainecl,of the eldest living
descendant of each Newton family of the Revolutionary era.

William Adams . West Newton.
Charles D. Bartlett Newton Centre.

E. J. Collins Newton Upper Falls.
Amasa Crafts Newton Highlands.
Henry W. Crafts West Newton.
George Fuller “ “

Henry Fuller Newton.

David Hall, jun. Newton Highlands.

Francis Hall

William H. Hyde .

James F. C. Hyde

East Cambridge.

. ‘ Newton Highlancls.

Newton Centre.

H. N. Hyde. Newton.

W. M. Hyde Boston.
Edward Hyde Cambridge.
Edward Jackson St. Louis.
Henry A. Jackson West Newton.
John A. Kenrick Newton.
Noah s. King . C Oak Hill.
Francis Murdock “

Edwards A. Park . Andover.

VV. H. Park Newton,

Robert Prentice

Newton Highlands.

APPENDIX. A 15 I

Clmrles F. Rogers . . . . Newton.

Henry ROSS . . . . . . Newtonville.

Eben Stone . . . . . Newton Higlulancls.
Daniel Stone . . . . . . Chestnut Hill.

I):1vicl Stone . . . . . Newton Highlancls.
Thonms Thwing . . . . . Boston.

Almnrin 'l"‘mwbriclge . . . . “

Asa. R. 'l"‘rowl:n'ic1ge . . . . Newton Centre.
Stephen W. "ol‘rowb1'iclge . . . Boston.
W’illli:1m C). Trowlmriclge . . .. . Newton.
Geolrge K. W’.m'<:l . . . . Newton Centre.
"1‘I‘1o111:.ns A. Wnrcl . . . . . “ “
Josepll White . . . . . “ “
William W'iswal1 . . . .. . W est Newton.
Willimn  Wiswnll . . . . Oalr. Hill.
Elpenexer Wooclxvmrl . . . . Newton.

OFFICERS OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT.

OFFICERS

OF THE

NEWTON CITY GOVERNMENT.

I876.

MAYOR.
ALDEN SPEARE.

ALDERMEN.
Ward I. ——~ F. G. BARNES. Ward 5.—— F. A. COLLINS.
“ 2. -- W. W. KEITH. ’ “ 6. —---~]. F. EDMANDS.
“ 3. ——-V. E. CARPENTER. “ 7. ---G. D. GILMAN.

“ 4.—- J. WILLARI) RICE.
COMMON COUNCIL.
GEORGE E. ALLEN . . . . Preszdem‘.

V /Ifeméem‘ of C omzcii.
Ward I. — GEORGE E. MEACIIAM. Ward 5.-———--EUGENE FANNING.

J. S. POTTER. % IRA A. BOWEN.
“ 2.—-—-W. J. TOWNE. “ 6.------]. M. VVI-IITE.
D. S. SIMPSON. - DWIGHT CHESTER.
“ 3.—--~GEORGE E. ALLEN. “ 7. -—-A. S. WEED..
C. D. ELLIOTT. A. A. POPE.
“ 4.--—RUFUS MOULTON.
W. I. GOODRICH.

E. J. COLLINS . . . . . Treaszmrer mzci Callecmr.
E. O. CHILDS . . . . . Cz'z‘y Clerk. '
B. F. OTIS . . . . . . C z'z_‘y./I 2m’z'z‘or.

HON. PETER TI-IAcI—IER . . . Cz'z‘y SoZz'cz'z‘or.

A. R. CARTER . . . . . Sz¢p.e7*z’7z2femz’e7zz' of Sz‘7~'e.ez‘s.

156 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

AssEssORs’ DEPARTMENT.

Assessor's.
ISAAC I-IAGAR, C/aczzfwzzzm . . Term expires January, 1877.
HOWARD B. COFFIN, Secroimgy . . Term expires January, I878.
SAMUEL M. JACKSON .  Term expires January, 1879.
Office, City Hall.

As.9z'sz‘mzz‘ Assessors. -—-—- Elected Annually.

Ward r.——-A. B. COBB. ‘ Ward 5. —--BENJAMIN N EWELL.

“ 2. —— H. F. ALLEN. “ 6. — GEORGE WARREN.
“ 3. —— C. F. EDDY. “ 7. ——--JOHN WARNER.
“ 4. -- N ATHAN MOSMAN.

SCHO OL COMMITTEE.

ALDEN SPEARE . . Mayor, C’/zrzzkrrmm or ofiiozfo.
GEORGE E. ALLEN, P7*o.vz'a’e7z2f of 272:: Commorz Cozmcil, ex o_g7ioz’o.
BRADFORD K. PIERCE . C/mzmmz.

7 H. M. WILLARD . I . Secretary.
IsAAc HAGAR . . Azm7z'2‘or.
’ Elective Mkméers. Proswzr Term of Ofiioo.

Ward I.——,BRADFORD K. PIERCE . . . Expires January, I877.
HENRY C. HARDON . . . Expires January, 1877.

“ 2.—-—-VVINFIELD S. SLOCUM . . . Expires January, I877.
HENRY C. HAYDEN . . . Expires January, 1877.

“ 3.—-JOHN A. GOULD . . . . Expires January, I878.
WALTER _ALLEN . . . . Expires January, 1878.

“ 4.-—-——JULIUs L. CLARKE . . . . Expires January, 1879.
J. E. LATIMER . . . . Expires January, 1879.

"-‘ 5. --~—ELIJAH W. WOOD . . . . Expires January, 1879.
IsAAc HAGAR. . . . . Expires January, 1879.

“ 6.--JAMES S. N EWELL . . J . . Expires January, I878.
A. E. LAWRENCE . . . . Expires January, 1877.

“ 7. ---~— L. R. STONE . . . . . Expires January, 1879.
G. W. SHINN . . . . . Expires January, I878.

POOR DEPARTMENT.

Boom’ of 07/arrears.»--Elected annually.

Hrs HONOR THE MAYOR . J. . Ex-qg7ioz'o C/zazwazmz.
Ward I.-—A. B. COBB. Ward 5, ———...A_ L, HALE,

“ 2.-—- GEORGE E. BRIDGES. I “ 6._—_W. O, KNAPP,
“ 3-"-~0- F- LUCAS. I “ 7.----J01-IN WARNER.

“ 4. -— J. WASHBURNE.

OFFICERS 017‘ THE CITY GOVERN./IIEZVT. 157

JOHN _T. VVARE . . . . Waw»'ciE¢z of z‘/ze A1172:/zzmvse.
ANIDREW 13. Come. . . C'Zw'/Z’ of #72:: Board.

EIEE DEPARTMENT.
ORRIN VVI-II1?’iI’?LE . . . . C/z2'e.j/‘ E;*zgz':»z£er.

A .m".s‘z‘.:z E2‘ E¢zgz'7zee2's.

Wm-cl 1. ~-—— W. H. PAm<.E, Jun. Ward 4. ~----- ISAAC W. BIEO.
“ 2.--VV.L.FROTIIINGI~IAM. “ 5. -————R. B. DAILEY.
“ 3. -——~- HENRY L. Bxxmz. “ 6. —-—-JOS. E. COUSENS.
EDWIN O. CHILDS . M . . . Czar/’e.

FOLICE DEPARTMENT.

REVILLO L. HINDS . . . . Cizy ./Wars/zal.

J. D. HI?.N"I‘I~IORN. OTIS A'I‘I~IER'II‘ON.
GEORGE W. RIGIBY. C. P. HUESTIS.

C. O. DAVIS. F. E. TUCKER.
EDWARD NIYRER. G. H. MARSH.

R. H. MOULTON. C. H. ROI3I:‘.R.TS.
CHARLES KENNEDY‘. FRANK E. HINDS.

S_7§.«3cz'aZ Poizkemerz.

I41. V. HOWARD. G R. TURNER.

GEORGE PARKER. JAMES SULLIVAN.

J. M. BRIGGS. C. W. Ross.

A. H. TOWNE. E. HUSTON.

SAMUEL STEARNS. I GEORGE E. F. BAKER.

C ovzszfczéles.

JOHN M. FISK1. RODNEY M. LUCAS.
CHARLES L. WILSON. E GEORGE P. STEVENS.

JOSEPH HEUSTIS. 1

CITY GOVERNMENT.
Ward Ofiicem‘.
Ward I.-—-— T/Vczmivz, A. B. COBB; C[é’?%’, J. A. EVANS; .77z.s‘f2ecz‘07's, CHARLES
N EWELL, DEXTER W1-m>I=LE, E. D. DYER.

Ward 2.——- I/Vmwflerz, JOHN B. TURNER; Czar/.», W. S. SLOCUM; fyzsflectors,
GEORGE EASTMAN, W. L. FROTHINGI-IA1V[, A. B. TAINTER.

Ward 3.-—- 1>Vam’.m, D. W. CHILDS; C157’/E’, STEPHEN TEACHER; [mpectors,.

GEORGE H. INGRAHAIVI, E. E. BURDON, N. C. PIKE.

158 . THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

Ward 4. —— M/(Z7”'(&7€7Z, W. R. DIMOND; Clerk, H. H. MATHER; f7z.9jéoo2for3_.
JAMES R. MANN, GEORGE W. BLOOD, B. B. CLARK.

Ward 5.—— 1'/Vrzm7o7z, W. S. CARGILL; Clerfc, C. H. N OYES; Inspectors, H. W.

MOORE, J. BRUNDRETT, R. B. DAILEY. A

Ward 6.--- Warriozz, L. E. COFFIN; Clor/2, E. H. MASON; f7z.s;oeoI‘o7'.s', B. F.

TYLER, E. A. ELLIS, FRANK. EDMANDS.

Ward 7.-——~— Wardooo, I. N. PEABODY; Clark’, C. F. F ARLOW; frzsgfiooiors, C. L.

BIXBY, H. C. GRANT, MOSES CLARK, Jun.

CITY MUNICIPAL COURT.

W. W. CARRUTH W. 7. . .. . 7zm'ge.
ED. M. CATE . . . . . . Cior/E.

REPRESENTATIVES TO GENERAL COURT.
ISAAC T. BURR. LEVI C. WADE.
TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC LIBRARY.

From z‘/ze Boom’ of Aidermen.
WILLIAM W. KEITH, Esq.

From z‘/Io Comrzzorz Comzcil.

WILLIAM I. GOODRICH.

Az‘ Lmgge.
Hon. 1. WILEY EDMANDS ._ . . . Term expires I88I.
JOHN S. FARLOW, Esq. . . . . Term expires I880.
Rev. BRADFORD K. PIERCE, D.D. . . Term expires 1879.
Hon. JULIUS L. CLARKE 8 . . . . Term expires I878.

Hon. JAMES F. C. HYDE . . . . Term expires I877.

EXTRACTS FROM THE HISTORY

OF THE '

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF NEWTON,

PRIOR TO I800.

EXTRACTS FROM THE HISTORY

OF THE

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF NEVVTON,

PRIOR To’ 1800,
BY FRANCIS JACKSON (a native of Newton).

1854.

THE settlement of Newton began in 1631. Itstown records were
commenced in November, 1632 ; and the proprietors’ record, in 1635.

The origin of the name “Newto'vvn,” or, rather, its application to the
town, grew out of the facts and circumstances attending its first settle-

men 1'.

At the erection of the Village into an independent town, in 1679, the
number of freemen was about sixty-five.

1699, MAY. ———- I/'oz‘ea7, To build a schoolhouse, sixteen feet by fourteen,
before the last of November. (See sketch of the old schoolhouse.)

.1700, JAN. x.————The Selectmen and inhabitants did hire and agree
with john Staples to continue the keeping of the school four days in a
Week, until March, and he to have two shillings per day. And those
that send children to school shall pay threepence per week for those who
learn toread, and fourpence for those that learn to write and cipher.

I796. — Vaiezz’, That five stoves be provided to warm the schoolhouses.

I52 THE NEWTON CENTENNIAL.

INDIANS.

THE early settlers [of Newton] found Indians dwelling in wigwams on

Nonantum, among whom Wabau was their head man.

It was here that ..Rev. John Eliot made his first attempt to Christianize
them. Having previously learned their language, he went on the 28th
of October, 1646, with three others, to address them on the subject of
Christianity. W abau, a wise and grave man, met him at a small distance
from their settlement, and welcomed him to a large wigwam on the Hill
Nonantum. A considerable number of the Indians assembled to hear
the new doctrine. Mr. Eliot delivered a sermon which occupied an hour.

He repeated and explained the Ten Commandments. He spoke to '

them of the person of Jesus Christ. He related the creation and fall of
man, the joys of heaven, and the punishments of hell, finally per-—
suading to repentance and a good life. In answer to his inquiry, if he

' had been understood, the unanimous reply was, “ We understand all.”

After several visits, it was resolved to set up a school among them.
To accomplish this, it was necessary to reduce them from a savage life,
and to bring them into a state of civil society. This was conformable
to the observation of Mr. Eliot, “that the Indians must be civilized, as
well as, if not in order to, their being Christianizzed.”

A meeting~house was built (upon the estate now owned by the Kenrick
family) twenty-five by fifty feet, in a most substantial manner, equal to

the work of good English joiners. They planted trees, built houses,

and cultivated fields. Some were taught trades. The women learnecl to
spin. 4

The first civil laws which were ever established in this country for the
regulation of the aboriginals were made for the settlement of N onantum.
They were designed for the promotion of cleanliness, decency, chastity,
and industry, and the discouragement of the opposite qualities and
vices.

The first entry upon the town records relative to the poor is March 5,
I7II : “ Vote/Z, That, once a year, there shall be a contribution, on Thanks-

HISTORY OF THE EARLY SETTLE/WE!\/T. 163

~....,...., ,,_,,,

giving Day, for the poor, which shall be paid into the town treasury, and
given» out to the poor by the selectmen as-they see need.”

J:7oI.—--About the time of setting up the firsf meeting-house (I660),
Deacon John Jackson gave one acre of land for the place for the house
to stand upon, and for a burying~place; and May I4, 1701, Abraham
Jackson (son of Deacon john) gave one acre more for enlarging the
burying-place, and the convenience of the training-place.

  (The old ground is on Centre Street, opposite the residence of Gardner
Colby, Esq.)

According to the records and monuments, Rev. John Eliot,jun., and
his first wife, Sarah Willett, daughter of Capt. Thomas Willett of Plym.
outh Colony, and first mayor of New York, were probably the first
persons buried here,-——one in June, 1665 ,- the other in October, 1668.

A marble monument has been erected on the spot where the first meet-
ing—house stood in 1660 : upon one side the names of the earliest settlers
of the town; upon the other, inscriptions to the memory of the first

minister, first ruling elder, and the donors of the burying-place.

The first meeting-house in Cambridge Village (Newton) was erected in
the old burial-place in 1660. John Eliot, jun., took his degree in 1656,
began to preach about 16 58, and was ordained pastor of the First Church
July 20, I664 ,- and the same day the church was organized. The male
members at the commencement may be estimated at about forty, and the
females at about the same number, and the number of families about
thirty. ,

The Rev. Nehemiah Hobart was one of the early pastors, who so suc-
ceeded in healing the dissensions, and restoring harmony, that he was
called “ the repairer of breaches.” During his pastorate, it was “ I/area’,
That seats for the boys be made from the west door to the south-west
corner of the house. I/oz‘erz’, That the Vacant room on the east and north
side of the house, to the pulpit, is granted for the setting~up of pews for
women and children; but they shall ribt be sold to a stranger.”

164 THE NEH/TON CENTENNIAL.

Rev. George Whitefield preached in Newton in November, x740, to a
crowded audience. His religious tenets divideclithe community: almost
every man was an ardent advocate or a decided opponent. Whatever
may be thought of his peculiar opinions, certain it is, that his eloquence
as a preacher was unrivalled, and his zeal for the cause he taught, of the
highest character. The fruits of his ministration were great and striking.

I773.-- A committee was chosen to examine the church stocks}

The Common at Newton Centre, an elevated and pleasant spot, con-
tains about three acres of land. Current tradition is, that this Common
was given to the town by Jonathan Hyde, sen., and Elder Wiswall, for
a training-field. This ground has been used more or less by military
companies, and for other purposes. In I700, the town voted to build a
schoolhouse upon it; and, in 1730, the Selectmen staked out a lot there,
to build a “ noon-house ” (a small house for the accommodation of these
church goers, where, at noon, they ate their bread and cheese, and drank

their cider). ‘

Charles River, to which the Indians gave the name of “ Quinobequin,”
encircles a very large part of Newton: the centre of its channel forms the
northerly, westerly, and southerly boundary-line of the town, being a
continuous curving line of upwards of fifteen miles. The first mill erected

‘upon its banks in Newton was by John Clark, about r688, at Upper Falls,

the spot now occupied by Otis Pettee, Esq.

1 Some of our readers may mistake the duty of this committee. The church owned no stocks,
neither fancy nor foot-ball, such as modern brokers hawk about State Street. Those church stocks did
not rise or fall, but were stationary. They rested upon solid earth, about ten rods from the church, and
were made of two pieces of white-oak-timber, about eight feet long, clamped together with bar-—iron at
each end, through which holes were made, of‘ various sizes, to fit human legs, for misbehavior during what
was called “divine service.” At least, disorderly persons were liable to have their legs made fast between
the oak and iron by way of punishrnent. ,

We have often eyed that remnant of the Inquisition, when a boy, with a shudder.

These church stocks, like all human contrivances, often needed repairs; and that, no doubt, was the
duty of the committee.

HISTORY OF THE EA./E'Z.I" SETTLEMENT 165

For nearly two centuries, Wiswall and Hammond Ponds have been
naturally and properly so called, in remembrance of two of the early and
prominent settlers of the town. They have become a part and parcel of
the historical points of the place, and ought to be forever known by these

names.

The first grist-mill was built upon “ Smelt Brook,” near the territorial
centre of the town (near Mill Street), at a very early period of its settle-
ment, by Lieut. John Spring. The brook received its name from the fact,

' that, before it was obstructed by dams, smelts, and other fish from the

ocean, passed up this stream.

NEWTON, LEXINGTON, AND CONCORD.

APRIL 19, r775.——At this time, there were three companies of infantry
in the town,—-—--the west company, Capt. Amariah Fuller, one hundred and
five men 3 the east company, Capt. W iswall, seventy-six 5 and a company
of minute-merr, Capt. Phineas Cook, thirty-seven ; two hundred eighteen
in all, all of which were in the ‘battles of that day, and marched twenty-
eight miles. There were many other Newton men, not attached to either
of the companies, who were in the action, including thirty—seven volun—-
teers, called the Alarm-list, men who had passed the age for military

duty. Among them were :----

CAPT. JQSHUA FULLER, age, 72. ABRAHAM FULLER, age, 55.

BENJAMIN EDDY, 68. JOSHUA MURDOCK, 54.
]osE1=1-I ADAMS, A 68. PETER DUREL, 56.
PHINEAS MILLER, 62. THOMAS BEAL, 58.
CAPT. JOHN WooDwARD, 51. HENRY SEGAR, 57.

DEAcoN JosEr>H WARD, 69. CAPT. EDWARD JACKSON, 46.

165   THE NE WTO/V "CENTENNJA L.

In writing of the vote passed June 17, 1776, he continues : -——-

“That solemn and ever memorable vote was not meant for show:
those lives and fortuneswent along with it, honestly, earnestly, and
triumphantly, from the first hour to the last of that sanguinary struggle
for independence. . 

“Newton men formed a part of every army and expedition, fought in
almost every battle and sl«:irmish throughout the contest. Scarce a man
in the town, old or young, able or unable, but what volunteered, enlisted.
or was drafted, and served in the ranks of the army, from the hardest
fought battle down to the more quiet duty of guarding Burgoyne’s sur-
rendered army, partly by aged men.”

The census of the town, taken in 1765, was thirteen hundred and
eight 3 that taken in 1790, thirteen hundred and sixty. The loss of life,
and all that sustained life, was very great during the war ; and many years
of peace and industry would be required to bring the town up to as
prosperous a condition as it was at the commencement of the Revolution.
- The number of men who served in the Continental army and in the
militia, during the war, was about four hundred and fifty.

The records of the town will serve to prove how fully, and at what
sacrifice, the pledge of 1776 was redeemed. History, we think, will be
searched in vain to find a parallel to the exertion and devotion which
the town, in common with others, exhibited.

HISTOIE 1/ OF THE EA [BL Y SETTLEMENT.

I67

OFFICERS OF NEWTON WHO SERVED IN THE WAR OF THE

REVOLUTION.

COL. JOSEPH WARD, Az'de—a’e—Camp arm’ Secmlary of Major-Gen. Ward in
1775, and afterwards Muster-MaSter~Genera1 of the army.
MICHAEL JACKSON, AC0/one! of the Eighth Regiment.
EPI-IRAIM JACKSON, £z'azzz‘e2zmzz‘-C0Zo7zeZ of the Tenth Regiment.

  CC (I (C (C
7
NATHAN FULLKK “ “ H “ “
3
AMARIAH FULLER, .Cn;bz‘az'7z.
JEREMIAH WISWALL, “

JOSEPH FULLER, “
BENJAMIN DANA, “
PHINEAS COOK, “
EDWARD FULLER, “
SIMON JACKSON, - A “

JOHN MAREAN, .lz'ezzz‘ma722‘.
ISAAC JACKSON, “
JOSEPH CROFT, “_
SAMUEL RICHARDSON “
MICHAEL JACKSON, JK., “
DANIEL JACKSON, “
AARON MURDOCK, “
CALEB KENRICK, R “
EBENEZER JACKSON, “
AMASA JACKSON, E7zszg;z.'

CHARLES JACKSON, “

Eighth “
Thirteenth “