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THE 
 
 OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVAL 
 
 HELD IN" BUFFALO, 
 
 JanuuaTy 23d } £4tK, 25th, ouizd £6i~k, 1867 
 
 AS DESCRIT1ED BY THE REPORTERS OF THE BUFFALO EXPRH88. 
 
 BUFFALO: 
 EXPRESS PRINTING COMPANY, NO. 4 K. SHJX STREET. 
 
F \- 
 %0* 
 

 
 OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVAL. 
 
 FIRST DAY. 
 
 [From the Express, Thursday, January 2Sth.] 
 
 When the great Christian Commission Fair was 
 held in this city, in February 1864, some one con- 
 ceived the happy thought of connecting with it, 
 as an appropriate and attractive feature, a grand 
 reminiscent festival of the Old Settlers of Buffalo. 
 The festival proved a rare success, and the good 
 people of the elder generations enjoyed its resur- 
 rection of their youthful gayeties so enthusiastic- 
 ally, that they there and then resolved upon an 
 annual repetition of what we may fitlv call, per- 
 haps, the historic carnival of Buffalo 
 
 For four years, now, the Old Settlers' Festival 
 has been an event to which many eager thoughts 
 through the entire twelve months have converged, 
 and every year, eclipsing the festivities of the year 
 before, has grounded more deeply the establish- 
 ment of this novel fete among the peculiar institu- 
 tions of Buffalo. At last we should seem to 
 have reached the point of absolute culmination, so 
 impossible is it to imagine a development of the 
 original idea of 1804 beyend what we saw opening 
 for the present week in the Tea Party of last 
 night. 
 
 The Tea Party. 
 Pint in the order of the week's exercises came, 
 lay afternoon, the long looked for, much 
 talked of tea party, to which were invited not only 
 those of the early settlers who still haunted the 
 scenes of their youth but many who had heen drift- 
 ed off by the vicissitudes of life to other fields of 
 labor and of rest. 
 
 THE HALL. 
 
 The hall presented a very handsome and attract- 
 ive appearance. The chandelier was heavily draped 
 in graceful folds of scarlet and white, with festoons 
 extending to the gallery, the walls of which were 
 decorated with material of the same color, and 
 medallions ol green. The front of the gallery was 
 hung with red cloth, as were also the walls of the 
 hall itself, relieved by festoons of evergreens, in- 
 terspersed at regular intervals with finely executed 
 portraits in oil, handsomely framed in gilt, of the 
 following " old settlers,'' of this city: 
 
 OLD rORTBAITS. 
 
 Martin Daley. 
 Mrs. Daley. 
 Foster Young. 
 George Patterson, 
 Mrs. Robert Patterson. 
 Wells Brooks. 
 <;orton Youni:. 
 Mrs. Marshall. 
 Dr. Marshall. 
 Robert Patterson. 
 Mrs. William Galligan. 
 John M. Martin. 
 William Galligau. 
 ages.) 
 Dr Trowbridge. 
 Capt. W. T. Miller 
 Mrs. Miller. 
 
 (Two portraits of different 
 
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 Aldrich Wells. (First white man born here.) 
 
 Capt. Champlin. 
 
 Mrs. Champlin. 
 
 Elijah Darrow. (Taken at the age of 59 years. 
 Came to Buffalo in 1830. ) 
 
 Mrs. Darrow. (At the age of 54.) 
 
 Noyes Dairow. (At 34 years of age. Came here 
 in 1817. ) 
 
 Charles Boynton. 
 
 Mrs. Boynton. 
 
 Mrs. Noyes Darrow. (At the age of 33 years. 
 Came to Buffalo in 1817. ) 
 
 Cadwallader Carpenter. 
 
 Ked Jacket. 
 
 Capt. George B. Field. (Killed at Monterey. ) 
 
 Mrs. Olive Meld. 
 
 The stage and other accessories were in harmony 
 with the rest of the decorations. 
 
 THE TABLES. 
 
 Seven rows of tables, laden with all the substan- 
 tial and delicacies of the olden time, were ex- 
 tended lengthwise of the hall, with ample room for 
 promenading between them. Turkeys, chicken, 
 ham, tongue, roast and boiled meats, with chicken 
 pies, and the ancient and venerable pork and 
 beans, graced the table in fabulous abundance, 
 while among the wonderful productions of confec- 
 tionary art, and the well tasked labors of the pas- 
 try cook, the once acknowledged prince of cakes, 
 the rich, brown, tempting doughnut, redolent of 
 fragrance, dear to the memory of young and old 
 once more asserted its wonted supremacy, sur- 
 rounded by the apple-butter, rye bread, che ise, 
 cream milk and sparkling cider, that of old were 
 wont to grace its court. Nor were the modern 
 luxuries of ousters, charlotte russe, and the end- 
 less variety of jelly cake and biscuit, wanting on 
 the occasion, and with tea and coffee, presented a 
 feast that an epicure might envy, and the very 
 dream of which would gladden the heart of a Bar- 
 mecide. 
 
 Extending its length immediately in front of the 
 stage was another table groaning beneath the 
 weight of the more difficult pieces de resistance, at 
 which Messrs. Oakley, C. T. Sawyer, J. B. Scott, 
 H. N. Sawin, P. B. Williams, C. M. Nixon, 
 Horace Thomas, B. F. Bruce and W. C. Alberger, 
 presided as carvers, and discharged their onerous 
 duties with singular graee and dexterity. 
 
 In addition to the dressing rooms for the ladies, 
 the ante-room was stored with an ample supply of 
 doughnuts and hard cider, which were done ample 
 justice to by crowds of votaries of all ages through- 
 out the evening. 
 
 By five o'clock the hall was filled and groups 
 began to occupy seats at the tables which were 
 soon nearly all taken As old friends greeted each 
 other after long absence the scene began to be ani- 
 
 mated and lively, and it became doubtful whether the 
 tea party would be held at all. At length Captain 
 Cotton rung the bell and affairs began to assume 
 form and shape. 
 
 A WORD OF WELCOME. 
 
 Silence having been obtained after much ring- 
 ing of the tea bell, Dr. Clark stepped lorward and 
 spoke as follows: 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: I have been asked to 
 welcome you to these tables in a short address — 
 especial emphasis being laid on the "short. ' 
 (Laughter.) It is hard to speak and I know from 
 experience it is hard to hear when so many splen- 
 did things are waiting, and I shall occupy your 
 time but a few moments. 
 
 We are doing honor to the fathers and mothers 
 of Buffalo, not so much for their sakes as for the 
 sake of ourselves and our children. It was a good 
 old custom in Rome to have the founders and ben- 
 efactors ol the city held in perpetual remembrance 
 on the ground that nobody ought ever to live in 
 Rome without feeling himself bound to do some 
 honorable and noble thing for Rome. So in Buf- 
 falo we should act so that no man shall think 
 himself worthy of remembrance unless he shall 
 do some great and lasting work for the city, and 
 our Jewetts and Roots and Austins have a work 
 to do. We want schools and churches, and, I may 
 add, some of us gentlemen who wear white cravats 
 want parsonages. (Laughter.) I will not delay 
 you longer. Let us unite in prayer. 
 
 After offering prayer Dr. Clark took his seat,the 
 remaining places around the long tables were spee- 
 dily filled, and the tea party commenced. 
 
 TAKING TEA. 
 
 A pleasant sight it was that met the eye of one 
 looking down from the galleries. At the seven 
 large tables were seated some four hundred guests 
 while around the hall in groups, chatting gaily, 
 stood hundreds of the younger portion waiting 
 patiently for their opportunity. Everywhere flitted 
 the young ladies who had been selected to minis- 
 ter to the wants of the " old settlers. 7 ' 
 
 Around the tables occupying the centre of the 
 hall were seated those to whom the term applied 
 in its strictest sense. Many were there who were 
 in the midst of active life when Joseph Ellicott 
 was breaking his brave old heart over the obstina- 
 cy of the villagers who refused to allow Erie and 
 Niagara streets to run riot across Main; some 
 whose homes are yet held by deeds to which the 
 Holland Company's seal is attached ; others who 
 can yet remember how they " whaled " Col Bird, 
 Lewis F. Allen, and the other Black Rock " Boys " 
 whenever they dared to show their heads above 
 Prospect Hill. 
 
 Five years later these last had sworn allegiance 
 
OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVAL. 
 
 to each other and were ready and armed to do bat- 
 tle against Tonawanda, the then formidable rival 
 of Buffalo's commercial greatness. 
 
 Now all met tOgi thcr and.revivii'g the traditions 
 of the past, lived over again the scenes of >fty 
 years. B ys of lifty were nowhere at thai long 
 t ible, and when bne 'young 1 man ventured to recall 
 some incident of the Patriot war, it was evident 
 that, he was looked upon as a child whose place 
 was in Grandmother Doolittle's trundle-bed in the 
 the kitchen, across the hall. 
 
 Hot a few of those present had celebrated their 
 golden weddings, and In one case the representa- 
 tives of four 11. rations sat side by 9ide. 
 
 Jovial old blades, without fear or favor, told he- 
 fore their wondering grandson! hard stories of the 
 mischievous pranks which the gray haired gentle- 
 men opposite had played many years before And 
 these pioneers of Western New York, who had 
 brought civilization to the shores of Lake Brie 
 when they were far off as the Pacific slopes now 
 seem, with delicious abandon gossipped over their 
 tea like the member-" of a New England Dorcas 
 Society. 
 
 If sadder themes would row and then intrude, 
 as they spoke of the fallen leaves, the many who 
 were still hale and vigorous gave n :\son for any- 
 thing but regret, and pleasant and happy reminis- 
 cences were the order of the hour. 
 
 At the further tables the descendents of these 
 founders of the city spoke of more modern themes, 
 and, from the dextetons way in which some 
 younger men slipped into seats which by singular 
 accident had been left unoccupied beside still 
 younger ladies, the inference is natural that some 
 themes were handled which have been always new 
 since Adam met Mi.-s Eve in the Garden on the 
 Euphrates. 
 
 AN ASBIVAL. 
 
 The festival was at its height when an interrup- 
 tion was caused and no little excitement l 
 by the arrival of the widow Doolittle with P.e- 
 rmirkable and Thankful, who marched with bag 
 and baggage through the hall on the way to 
 Grandmother Doolittle's hospitable dwelling. 
 
 A young scion of the house of Doolittle bore 
 aloft a venerable hair trunk, the widow-woman- 
 like, clinging frantically to a bandbox, the size of 
 which was strongly suggestive of a coalscuttle 
 bonnet of gorgeous and awe-inspiring architec- 
 tcctnre. As they moved through the room many 
 greetings were given by those who remembered 
 the widow before her marriage and departure for 
 Bosting. 
 
 A CAPTAIN OP TWENTIES. 
 
 The men to whom has been given the genius to 
 command are few and fur between in History. A 
 half century separates a Napoleon and a Grant. 
 
 But the genius which leads advancing squadrons 
 deals with trained masses obedient to command. 
 A Grant would have been powerless if suddenly 
 placed in charge or the youthrul army which 
 thronged around the tables in St. James Hall hist 
 evening; and yet in discipline and drill these 
 skillfui handmaidens showed themselves vet 
 In all save age. 
 
 Certainly Miss Granger won her epaulets 
 last evening, and none of the hundreds 
 around the hoard would hesitate to pay exalted 
 tribute to her generalship. 
 
 To be old was no longer a discomfort 
 when one was surrounded by such servi- 
 tors. In fact any number of young men 
 from the galleries above looking pensively down 
 on the scene below them, found themselves wish- 
 ing that they too were " old settlers," and more 
 than one won J gladly have gone back and enter- 
 ed this checke ed existence at a time when Main 
 street ended at the churches, and Mrs. Doolittle's 
 far off country residence lay somewhere neat- 
 North street; and Augustus sighed as he thought 
 of the days when his great grandfather ate dough- 
 nut- and drank hard cider, making love on a score 
 of successive nights to a score of damsels such as 
 those below him. 
 
 If now and then some thought responsive to that 
 of Augustus distiaced the attention of a coffee - 
 laden maden whose eyes met his as she tripped 
 down the hall, there was none to blame her can 
 
 --, fbr certainly a more genial company 
 never gathered around the mahogany tree than 
 same old settlers. A clatter of china, a bum 
 of many vox..-, and the venerable company began 
 valiant battle with thegoodthings before it. While 
 the' con1 - tic ■ a moment at Miss 
 
 Granger's little army, whose business it is to rein- 
 force the ranks, among which the old settlers are 
 making such frightful havoc. 
 
 belles op 1800. 
 It would be impossible to give an ide.-i of the 
 costumes worn by these half-a hundred waiters. 
 Every garrett had been sacked for heirlooms and 
 treasures. All were characteristic of a by-gone 
 day and yet all had some distinctive features. 
 There were any number of genuine cheeked aprons 
 and not a few rich and beautiful dresses, while 
 nearly all had some piece of lace or article of jew- 
 elry which had been worn two generations or 
 more ago. We can mention but a few of the an- 
 tique treasure thus brought to light 
 
 A necklace of gold beads something like a hun- 
 dred years old was worn by Miss Hoy, to whom it 
 had come down from her great grandmother. Hex 
 lace was nearly half a century old. 
 
 One of the most antiquated of the many ami 
 quated costumes in the hall wa9 that worn by Miss 
 
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 Wheeler. It was composed of a French chintz of 
 a curious drab hue, the manufacture of which 
 must by this time be among the lost arts. Flowers 
 of green meandered in a sort of aimless way over 
 i the dress, giving the whole, to a mind of modern 
 , a it, a sadly bewildering appearance. 
 
 Miss Lucy Hopkins wore an antique lace collar 
 and jewelry of the earlier part of the century. 
 
 Our archaeological knowledge does not extend 
 back to the time when the ordinary operations of 
 the toilette were reversed, and ladies were fitted 
 to their garments. We are therefore at a loss to 
 understand how our great-grandmothers managed 
 to get their arms into such sleeves as were attached 
 to some of their dresses. Miss Mary Kingsley had 
 a dress of this kind, made of calico, and in what a 
 venerable old lady informed U3 was the fan waist 
 pattern. An ample white apron completed her 
 toilette, which must have been very striking when 
 it was first designed, and certainly has lost noth- 
 ing in its journey through time. 
 
 Miss Churchill wore a very rich thread lace collar 
 and sleeves. 
 
 Miss Minnie Smith was dressed in old French 
 calico and wore a check apron of the standard 
 pattern. 
 
 One of the most exquisite toilettes of the even- 
 ing was that of Mrs. Colburn, of Chicago. The 
 dress was of French copper plate chintz, rich in 
 color, and fresh as when it first came from the 
 loom, and made with mutton leg sleeves of im- 
 mense size. A rich old necklace of amber beads 
 heightened the effect. 
 
 An heir-loom of Mr. Warren Granger's family 
 was the dress worn by Miss Delia Chapin, a gorge- 
 ous green chintz. A high white apron, raffles, and 
 a comb of enormous altitude were added. 
 
 Miss Jennie Burtis wore a flounced calico of a pale 
 pink mi'j, a dress which her mother was wont to 
 don on festive occasions years ago. Mutton leg 
 sleeves and a muslin cape of antique workman- 
 ship. 
 
 Miss Manchester's grandmother, (her memory 
 sheuld be sacred to Buffalonians of to-day as the 
 mother of the late Bradford A. Manchester,) was 
 vivibly pictured by her granddaughter in a vener- 
 able dress of the calico which was the height o 
 fashion at the close of the last century, and 
 a check apron. 
 
 Another of the household treasures of Dr. Bur- 
 tis was a French calico dress of half a century agi), 
 worn by Miss Burtis. The comb would have made 
 an antiquary wild with delight. 
 
 Miss Nellie Titus had also been permitted to 
 ride Mr. Granger's stores, and appeared in a white 
 chintz flowered in green. 
 
 A silver comb, bearing evident marks of having 
 been wrought early in the century, was the crown- 
 
 ing feature of Miss Barnard's costume. Her dress 
 was of calico, of a curious red color. 
 
 Miss Caliban's dress was one that had been in 
 her family for ova' - fifty years. Her ruffs were 
 marvels in their way. 
 
 A valuable pin of silver, about one hundred and 
 twenty years old, was worn by Miss Hoy, who also 
 is the possessor of an ancient necklace of gold 
 beads. 
 
 Miss Nellie Caldwell was dressed in black with 
 very old lace trimming. 
 
 Our space will hardly permit us to specify fur- 
 ther, although, as we have said, nearly every 
 young lady had some article of dress especially 
 noticeable on account of its antiquity. Among 
 those who did so good service around the tables, 
 and whose names have not otherwise been men 
 tioned, were 
 
 Miss Marie Hedge, 
 Miss Ida Sawyer, 
 Miss Joey Bird, 
 Miss Lizzie Miller, 
 Miss Augie Taylor, 
 Miss MaryE. Miller, 
 Miss Fannie Morgan, 
 MissH Phillips, 
 Miss Jennie Curtis, 
 Miss H. Gardner, 
 Miss V. Howell, 
 Miss Nellie Pugeot, 
 .Misses Hayden, 
 Misses Hoop, 
 Misses Lovejoy, 
 Misses Pease, 
 jyllssea Salisbury, 
 
 Miss Hattie Putnam, 
 Miss Serena Kihbe, 
 Miss Maria Flint, 
 Miss Ella Davock, 
 Miss Carrie Fillmore, 
 Miss E. Caldwell, 
 Miss H Y Lay, 
 Miss E. M. Whittaker, 
 Miss EMa Kaene, 
 Miss Mary McKnight, 
 Miss Fannie Castle, 
 Miss Emma Lyon, 
 Miss Lillie Lord, 
 Miss M. Blanchard, 
 Miss Marion Hodge, 
 Miss Lily Marvin, 
 Miss Harriet Griffin. 
 
 The New England Kitchen. 
 
 The grand centre of attraction — the mid vortex 
 around which the maelstrom crowd surged and 
 circled — was the New England Kitchen, extempo- 
 rized in the chamber of the Citizens' Exchange, 
 under the supervision of Mrs. Dr. Lora. The stage 
 never represented a scene more perfect than Mrs. 
 Lord and her busy assistants, with the help of 
 Stanfield's brush, had produced, metamorphosiz- 
 ing it into the completest imaginable semblance of 
 one of the great household kitc'aens of the olden 
 time, with its contiguous family " keepin' room." 
 That it completely eclipsed the much talked of 
 .New England Kitchen of the great Sanitary Com- 
 mission Fair in N ew York, three years ago, is the 
 testimony of every one who visited that celebrated 
 institution. 
 
 To describe the kitchen and all its details 
 and embellishments is more than we can venture 
 to undertake. The big fireplace, with its swing- 
 ing crane hung with kettles and pots, its " 'and- 
 irons" and its smouldering back-log, its tongs, 
 shovel and poker, its sauce pans and .spiders and 
 multitudinous cooking utensils hung around; the 
 drying "yarbs" and half husked corn; the festoon- 
 ed strings of pumpkin and apple, pendant from 
 
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 the celling; the spinning wheel in the corner, 
 
 wiii ••Aunt Stebhins" skilfully tvi-v in making 
 yarn out of the rolls of hand-cardi-d w >ol at her 
 Bide ; the little Stand against the wall, with its 
 looking glass, topped by two crossed peacock 
 feath<rsand Hanked with a dingy needle work 
 '•Sampler" and an old. worn, pasted broadsheet 
 of the famous ballad of "The Three Thayer? ;" the 
 (luaint print "picters" here and there npon the 
 wall ; the antlered d >er skull, the musket and the 
 powder horn hung above the fireplace; the half par- 
 ttoned 'keepin' room' adjacent ; thehage high post- 
 ed bedstead In Its c irner, piled to a monntainpeak 
 with leathers; the half-withdrawn trundle bed be- 
 neath, where font little curly white heads nestled 
 together in a paregoric slumber; the eld wooden 
 cradle standing elsewhere — whilom infant r 
 place of Dr. John S. Trowbridge; the mantle- 
 piece and the old-fashioned knick-knacks adorning 
 it — we must leave imagination to work upon the 
 bare suggestion of these few among a hundred 
 details, to construct for itself such a picture as 
 made "old fo'ks"' who looked in upon it renew 
 their youth. 
 
 (.KANDMOTI1EK DOOLITTLE AND HER FAMILY. 
 
 But let no one for a moment suppose that t he 
 "New England Kitchen" represented a mere 
 kitchen of ancient times in the abstract; for thi 9 
 hospitable domicile, which had so many visitor- 
 last night, was Grandmother Doolittlo*s house, and 
 the good granny (Mrs. Lord) her two "darter-'' 
 Kemarkablc (Miss Lucy Lord) and Thankful, 
 (Mrs. Ford) and her "darter-in-law" the wicow 
 Doolittle, called Mercy, (Mrs. Dan Castle) were 
 all there, very busy in making preparations for the 
 singin' nieetin' which was held there last night, 
 and to which all the good singers at the "C 
 had come down, with their singin' books and 
 adles. 
 
 The Doolittle family, as we made their acquaint- 
 ance hi- . a very interesting one. 
 see," said Hiss Remarkable, in a confi.; 
 strain of conversation, " There's me and Mar and 
 Mercy and Caleb's children — five on 'em— that live 
 here, and Sister Thankful 'a visitin' on it- 
 alic cum down last night from I 
 got married. We've had a purty hard time ou it 
 since brother Caleb got killed — yeou know there 
 was a tree fell onto him last winter when he w:is 
 choppiu wood; and Caleb V wife cum here to live 
 with us— she hadn't nothin' and nowhere else to 
 go, yeou know— and fetched Caleb's children along 
 with her. Yeou see they ain't none on 'cm her 
 children, but they're Caleb's by his first wife, and, 
 of course, she don't feel to'ard 'em as if they was 
 her own— taint nateral she should; but she's tried, 
 1 L'ue-s, to do by 'em as well as she could— ez wo 
 we all on us have, in bet, We manage to feed 'em 
 
 and keep "em in clothes, and we give 'em perry- 
 goric to put 'em to sleep purty early, coz we can't 
 have 'em round all the time, and we mu9t get 
 some rest, and 'twouldn't ao, yeou know, to have 
 'em cryin' and makin' a noise tonight when itu 
 snrgln' meetin's here. There four on 'em over 
 there in the trundle bed. 
 
 "Well, yeou see, I'm the only reliance mar's got 
 ncow sence Caleb died and Sister Thankful got 
 married. And mar's failiu' dreadful last neow. 
 She don't r lalize, mar don't, that she's failin', but, 
 she is, and I'm the only stay she's got. I couldn't 
 get married, yeon know, noway, coz I couldn't 
 leave mar. Mercy's good enough in her way, but 
 she ain't like one of mar's own darters. Yeou see 
 that are picter over there by the mantle-piece— the 
 one on this side, with its face turned agin the wall 
 —that's Caleb's first wife. Some women wouldn't 
 'a done such a thing, but Mercy's one ol that kind." 
 
 Undoubtedly we should have had more of Miss 
 Bemarkable's interesting conversation, had not 
 some ill-conduct on the part of "Josier" (Master 
 Chester), the promising eldest of the Doolittle 
 quintette, called her attention, and she dashed 
 away to seize the misbehaved urchin by one ear 
 and stand him in a corner. 
 
 THE SINOIN'' MEETIN'. 
 
 There was much worry in the Doolittle family 
 on account of the non-arrival of the singers from 
 the "Corners, " who ought to have assembled at 
 early candle light, but who were delayed, it - 
 by " the sledin' not bcin' good, and the ox tennis 
 Blow." At length, however, about half-past seven 
 o'clock, they made their appearance, and were 
 enthusiastically welcomed by Granny Doolittle 
 and her •• darters.'' The gentlemen of the party, 
 modern names wo learned to be Burns, 
 Raze, Binneman, and McWhorter, were fearfully 
 and wonderfully gotten up, according to the very 
 latest agonie9, we suppose, of fashion in l'i 67, or 
 there abo ;ts, while the ladies (Mrs. Merrick, Mis. 
 Sears, Mrs. Hart and Mrs. Ives) concealed their 
 faces in Hi- da '< depths of the vast coal scuttle 
 bonnets of some mediaeval epoch. 
 
 Notwithetani ig all the preparations made, it 
 was found th' . kitcken and livin' room 
 
 - Doolittle would not hold the assembled 
 meetin", and an adjournment to the hall of the Tea 
 Party was decided upon. This entirely broke the 
 programme arranged for the latter, which contem- 
 plated a number of informal addresses "after tea." 
 
 The singers accordingly took their places upon 
 the stage, where their appearance was greeted 
 with loud roars of laughter. The rattle of 
 and the hubbub of tea table gossip was inter- 
 rupted, while the crowd pressed forward to listen 
 to the si i 
 
 Byway of prelude, the lour ancient cho 
 
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 Bang "We're a band of brothers from the Corners, 
 cnm deown to Mrs. Doolittle's Singin' Meetin'," 
 in a way that would have ntterly dis- 
 gusted the Hutchinson Family, though the 
 audience seemed to be greatly tickled by it. The 
 the whole choir then practised "Mount Vernon" 
 very commendably, the Widow Doolittle (Mrs. 
 Castle) performing an accompaniment upon the 
 "harmonica." The Widow was next persuaded to 
 favor the meetin' with that most melancholy and 
 touching ditty which recounts the sad fate of 
 somebody who 
 
 "did go 
 Deown in the meadow for to mow." 
 and wqo was bit by "a pesky earpient." The 
 singing of this piece and the accompaniment were 
 altogether inimitable. 
 
 Mrs. Merrick afterwards sang "Oh dear, what 
 can the matter be," "Begone dull care" and "The 
 Scotchman's Wallet," which were all loudly ap- 
 plauded. Messrs. Burns and Binneman sang "A 
 Thousand a Year" very finely; the choir gave 
 "Anld Lang Syne" and concluded the meetin' 
 with "The Star Spangled Banner." 
 
 ADJOURNMENT. 
 
 During the entire evening the tables were more 
 or less occupied by late arriving guests, so that the 
 " tea," which began at five o'clock, really did not 
 conclude until the adjournment, and the fair wait- 
 ers were allowed little rest from their busy labors 
 for a period of more than four hours. The fatigue 
 of all the ladies who bore a part in the affair must 
 have been very great, and such as to tax their pow- 
 ers of endurance almost too severely. Notwith- 
 standing the extraordinary spirit and zest with 
 which all entered into and enjoyed this ihoroughly 
 sood old fashioned merrymaking, we have no doubt 
 that the workers of the occasion heartily welcomed 
 the arrival of the seasonable hour of nine, which 
 was appointed for the breaking up of the party. And 
 yet everybody semed i o linger, loth to quit the place 
 around which old time memories had woven such 
 a wonderful enchantment. It had been a rare 
 night in the lives of the old— a memorable one in 
 the experience of the young. How many there 
 were of the grand parents and the parents and the 
 children of Buffalo who enjoyed it we dare not 
 make an estimate; but the coming and going 
 throngs from six to nine were crushingly large— in- 
 deed, too large for comfort. The Treasury of the 
 Buffalo General Hospital must be promised a rich 
 replenishment from the proceeds of this first night's 
 entertainment, and pecuniarily, as well as in every 
 other respect, the Old Settlers' Festival of 1867 
 has been inaugurated the most successfully by far 
 of any yet held. 
 
 GUJISTS PROM ABROAD. 
 
 The interest of the Festival was much enhanced 
 by the presence of a number of venerable visitors 
 from abroad. Among such we may mention Mrs. 
 Jessie Hawley, formerly a resident of Buffalo, but 
 now, although sixty-seven years of age, laboring 
 as a teacher with the Seneca Indians at St. Cather- 
 ines, C. W. Another interesting visitor was Mrs. 
 Myron Holley. the relict of the distinguished Canal 
 Commissioner; and, although not from abroad, we 
 cannot forbear making a special note of the pres- 
 ence of the aged Mrs. Capt. Davidson, who bears 
 vigorously the heavy weight of seventy-two years, 
 and of Mrs. Thos. Clinton, who resides at Black 
 Iiock in the house of which she became mistress 
 forty-seven years ago. 
 
 To-Day. 
 
 At five o'clock this afternoon a supper will be 
 given in the New England Kitchen to the former 
 pupils of ex-President Fillmore and Kev. Dr. 
 Lord. It was in the programme of last evening 
 that these ancient schoolboys should stand up in 
 a spelling class, but owing to the crowd, and very 
 possibly to an unsubdued disposition to truancy 
 on the part of the boys, it was found impossible to 
 get them together. 
 
 At precisely half-past six o'clock, the annual 
 meeting of the Historical Society will be held in 
 St. James Hall, when the annual address to the 
 Society will be delivered by .Rev. Dr. Lord. At 
 the conclusion of this, some remarks will be ad- 
 dressed by Dr. Lord to the pioneer settlers of 
 Buffalo, for whom the front seats in the Hall will 
 be reserved, 
 
 At half past seven o'clock, the stage will be 
 given to the ladies for the exhibition of a series of 
 t ■•■ bleaux, which we have good authority for saying 
 will excel in beauty and unique interest anything 
 of the character ever arranged in this city. The 
 idea of these tableaux is an exquisitely novel one. 
 Each will be the illustration of a song or a poem, 
 sung or recited in character. They have been ar* 
 ranged under the direction of M. St. Ody, the 
 prince of tableau artists. The following are the 
 subjects: 
 
 Mistletoe Bough— Song by Mrs. Dole 
 
 Grand Court Scenes.. Marie Antoinette 
 
 Angel's Whisper— Song by Mrs. Brown 
 
 Village School— Song A. B. C by the Children 
 
 John Anderson My Joe— Song by Mrs. Dole 
 
 Barbara Freitchie — liecitntion by Mrs. Kogers 
 
 Spanish Scenes — Song ..by Miss Dobbins 
 
 America and Britannia — Atlantic Cable — "Star 
 Spangled Banner" and "God Save the Queen" 
 hythe audience, &c, standing 
 
SECOND DA.Y 
 
 [From the Express, Friday, January 25th.] 
 
 The brilliant sncee s which we described as at- 
 tending the opening entertainment of the Old 
 val, Wednesday evening, bore very 
 much the semblance of failure when brought 
 into comparison with the performances 
 night, so tremendou ly was it eclipsed. Veiy 
 much to our astonishment, we found ihat tbe ex- 
 cited spirit which sparkled all through the festivi- 
 ties of the first occasion was but a dawn— a begin 
 nlng— a wakening stir of the enthusiasm which 
 yesterday ran through the whole city and infected 
 every hoily — not less t he very youngest setters, who 
 immigrated from sorre.vhere last week to number 
 themselves among the tenants of the two or three 
 thousand new houses built in Buffalo within the 
 year past, than the very oldest pioneers, living in 
 venerable mansions, from whose chimney tops 
 half a century looks down. Little seemed to be 
 talked of or thought of throughout the day but 
 the Old Settlers' Festiva', and it is curre 1 tly ru- 
 mored that some of the elder operators on 'Change 
 yesterday morning absently responded to offers in 
 a way which Indicated the r disposition to specu- 
 late in doughnuts and hard cider. Il is unneces- 
 sary to say that extra copies of the EXPBBSS, with 
 its elaborate report of the afiair, were in heavy 
 demand. 
 
 OLD SCHOOLMATES AT SUPPER. 
 
 At five o'clock the supper announced to be given 
 to the former pupils of Biz-president Fillmore, and 
 the Rev. Dr. Lord took place in the New England 
 Kitchen. The following were the persons presi nt 
 who formerly attended the district school taught by 
 Mr. Fillmore at East Aurora In the years 1821-2. 
 
 Beulab Granger, now Mrs. Smith, 
 
 Mary K. Johnson, now Mrs. Dr. Lord, 
 
 w illiam Hodge, 
 
 Samuel W. Bowen, East Aurora. 
 
 Nelson Emerson, do. 
 
 The old pupils of Dr. Lord who sat down to the 
 table were as follows: 
 
 Hannah Joy, now Mrs. Geo. B Webster, 
 
 Clarissa Joy. now Mrs. John D. Shepard, 
 
 Mary Jane Heacock, now Mrs. Prof S. M. Hop- 
 kins, of Auburn. 
 
 John s. Trowbridge, M. D. 
 
 Jane. Vosburgh, now Mis. Iviton, 
 
 OrSamUS II. Marshall, Esq. 
 
 «Jas. P. White, M. D. 
 
 The tables were arranged in the old fashioned 
 style, and t!>e dishes used were decidedly antique 
 In appcarauce. The bill of fare embraced a great 
 
 variety of inviting viands conspicuous among 
 which appeared the time honored '' Slapjack," in 
 the centre of the table stood a beautiful vase of 
 flowers bearing the Motto "In Memorlam," and 
 des : gned for a tribute to the dead. A blessing was 
 invoked by Dr. Lord, the company all standing in 
 their places ; after which the viands were discussed 
 with a hearty good will. One of Dr. Lords pupils 
 read the poem on the birth of Caleb Dullttle, which 
 appears elsewhere in the Rev. Doctor's historical 
 address, at the conclusion of the report. Dr. Lord 
 in some graceful remarks, presented to Mrs. Reu- 
 ben B. Heacock, as the oldest lady present, and as 
 the mother of two among his early pupils, the me- 
 morial boquct that has been mentioned above. 
 Mrs. Heacock returned her acknowledgement 
 through Dr. John S. Trowbridge. We have been 
 furnished with the following list of all the now sur- 
 viving scholars, so far as can be ascertained, who 
 attended the district school taught by Mr. Fillmore 
 in the years lt21-2: 
 
 P. Bowen, East Aurora. 
 s. w. Bowen, Bast Aurora. 
 
 Mary Ann Bowen, row Mrs Q. II Wilcox, 
 
 filmwood, Tuscola <<>.. Mich. 
 Caroline lioweu, now Mrs. Edmunds, Madison, 
 
 Wis. 
 Bartholomew Pratt, Bast Aurora, 
 Harry Person. East Aurora, 
 Khod'a Earl, now Mi's, fowler. Bast Aurora. 
 Julia Walker, now Mrs Bibbens, Willink, 
 J. R. Washburn, Wales (cut re, 
 
 Orra Warren, now Mrs. Washburn, Red Wing, 
 
 Min. 
 Esther Warren, now Mrs. Yanderb'lt, Iowa. 
 Calista Wane", Iowa. 
 Minerva Earl, Niles, Mich. 
 Eliza Karl, now Mrs. Harris, Niles, Mich. 
 
 Nelson Emerson, Bufl&lo. 
 
 AT THE HALL. 
 
 The early honr of half past six was announced 
 for the opening of the entertainment at, Bt James' 
 nail last evening, but reckless, to all appei 
 of supper, and only mindful of the necessity for 
 becoming pioneer settlers upon the seats in the 
 nail, by squatter precmptii D, our people began an 
 Kagla street invasion as early as half past five, 
 
10 
 
 OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 and long before the members of the Historical So- 
 ciety moved in procession from their rooms to 
 occupy the rhairs reserved for them upon the stage 
 every other place of rest in the house was closely 
 filled. But the audience at this time had only be- 
 gun to assemble. The inflowing tide was soon at 
 its height. It surged through the aisles and packed 
 them. It leaped to ihe galleries and they groaned 
 under the weight which mounted them It broke 
 upon the stage and flooded a'l the wings. 
 It dashtd upon the windows, and they 
 became niches for the exhibition of live 
 statuary. It piled the stairways and capped the 
 railings. It even jetted two fortuna' e unfortunate 
 iudividua s to the top of the open doors, where 
 they perched themselves upon a seat more advan- 
 tageous in point of elevation than it was comforta 
 ble as regards the breadth of supporting surface. 
 
 And still the outside billows rolled up to the en- 
 trance of the Hall and were beaten back. The 
 gentlemen at the ticket office gave notice that no 
 entrance could be gained, but nobody seemed to 
 heed The infatuated crowd was bound to secure 
 tickets and try its chance. And so the rush, the 
 scramble, the suffocating crush continued If those 
 who were in did not count themselves less fortun- 
 ate than those who were out, then the triumph of 
 the entertainment is something marvellous. 
 
 Promptly at half-past six o'clock the proceed- 
 ings were commenced, by the delivery of the An- 
 nual Address to the Buffalo Historical Society, by 
 the Rev. Dr. Lord The address, which we report 
 at leng 1 h, wa3 one of rare humor and remarkable 
 interest throughout, and excited constant laughter 
 during its delivery. It should be read by all who 
 had not the satisfaction of being listeners. 
 
 DR. LORD'S AUDRESS. 
 
 Fellow-Citixens, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 In their selection of the speaker to-night the 
 Buffalo Historical Society have had in view the 
 annual Festival of the Old Residents of this city, 
 and do not expect from me any learned or elabor- 
 ate historical discussion. Having been a collector 
 of antiquities long nefore the society I represent 
 for this time was originated, 1 have not been so 
 much a contributor to these collections as a rival, 
 in a hrtmb'c way, for old books and other monu- 
 ments of the past. But they have this advantage, 
 that Historical Societies are corporations living 
 on through the centuries and gradually absorbing 
 all private collections as their owners pass off the 
 stage. For my own, I desire no other or bett'-r 
 eventual destination. I am laboring for them, if 
 not with them, in gathering materials which are 
 to be consigned to their Archives. '-Art is long, 
 life is short/' an adoge of the Latins— Ars longa 
 Vita brevis, beautifully rendered by one of our 
 own poets: 
 
 " Art is long, but life is fleeting, 
 And our hearts, though strong and brave, 
 Still lii.e muffled drums are beating 
 Funeral marches to the grave." 
 The Historical Society of this city is the natural 
 depository of the relics of the past, and it is to be 
 
 h ped that our citizens will remember this in thei 
 testamentary dispositions, if not before. 
 
 from any formal or lengthy discussion of histori- 
 cal tonics, not only does the occasion excuse me, 
 but the exhaustive labors of my predecessors. 
 Who would care to enter upon 1he early explora- 
 tions- of the region about Lake Erie by the Jesuits 
 a- d their associates who traversed the wilderness, 
 while the first settlements in New England'were 
 yet in their infancy, after the able dissertation of 
 O.H.Marshall? Who would venture unon the 
 early hist ry of Western New York after the elab- 
 orate history in which William Ketchuw has mad -1 
 us familiar with its Indian tribes, treaties and 
 councils? Of the war of 1812 and the destruction 
 of Buffalo, what remains to be said? The burnings 
 and murders of that time, the flight of the popula- 
 tion, the barbarities of the British and their savage 
 allies are as fim liar as household words. 
 
 And what moie can be said iu regard to that 
 vexed question — why Buffalo was called "Buffilo" 
 and whether the great bison of the West extending 
 bis visits to this locality gave us the name, or 
 whether the multitude of basswood tries found 
 here, described in the Indian tongue by a word re- 
 semb'ing our cognomen, came to designate the 
 plac<; of Basswood? If Buffalo means soft timber, 
 we haveenou.h of that yet to fully jnstny its ap- 
 propriateness. If it means the hard-headed rep- 
 resentati/eof the Western Prairies, who monopo- 
 lises the best pastures and takes po-session of 
 every oans in the Great North Americau Desert, 
 we have his likeness still and may congratulate 
 ourselves that in either case the name of the (^ueen 
 City of the Lakes is sufficiently significant of por- 
 tions of its population. 
 
 Beside J ,the very able and flattering reminiscences 
 of many of our old citizens which have appeared 
 in the pape"s of the Buffalo Historical Society 
 would prevent my attempting the formal b ography 
 of any departed magnate, were it nor. forbidden oy 
 the character of the occasion which calls us together 
 and the general and seasonable expectation of free 
 sketches of the past, in which may be mingled the 
 grave and the gay, as rather suitable for this an- 
 nual Old Settlers' Festival, already nssumngthe 
 importan ce of a permanent institution. 
 
 I shall go back to the period of my first know- 
 ledge of Buffalo, and mainly confine your attention 
 to the year 1825, memorable for the completion of 
 the great Erie Canal, the visit of Lafayette, ihe 
 dedicaiion of Ararat, by Mordecai Mannassah 
 Noah, and the execution of the three Thayers for 
 (he murder of John Love. Perhaps the comple- 
 tion of the Erie Canal may be considered the great 
 event of the first half of the Nineteenth Century. 
 It is now almost forgotten that this magn ficent 
 undertaking was bitterly opposed by a large party 
 usually dominant iu the State, that the city of 
 New York, which it has made the centre of the 
 trade of the New World, was, with a characteris- 
 tic stupidity , generally hostile to ''Clinton's big 
 ditch, ' as they facetiously termed if, and that noth- 
 ing but the genius and energy of the great states- 
 man who p oj cted it, and the completion and use 
 of the long level west of Utica, when ^unbelievers, 
 who maintained that it would never hold water, 
 were made to see boats afloat, could ever have se- 
 cured the completion of the greatest work of the 
 age. 
 
 "Confining your attendance to this memorable 
 year, we have to note the leading men of that time 
 resident in Buffalo, onr orators, statesmen and 
 poets, our clergymen, schoolmasters, doctors and 
 lawyers, our be aus, bon-vivants and wits. Per- 
 haps it will be said, "This is- rather a grandilo- 
 quent catalogue for a Western village .in 1825." 
 
oi.li SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 11 
 
 lint is not every village a world in miniature, and 
 especially such a precocious town as Buffalo, al- 
 ways anticipating its coming neatness, always 
 blowing its born in ihe lace of nv k nd, always 
 counting, Chicago fashion, three or four for every 
 two of Ua population! 
 
 The receDi ion of General Lafayette was a great 
 
 ev lit for Bull 'i vi teran stood upon a 
 
 platform in front of in- Eagle tavern, aid the 
 
 from the an rounding <ountiy 
 
 person lakiug him 
 
 by the hand. The large.-t battle of the revolution 
 
 iii which h • . doi have resulted 
 
 r°e h> the old hero than the hand 
 
 . the foundation of Ararat laid, not on 
 Grand Island, bu in st. Pan's church « ill a 
 strange mixture of Hebrew and Cnristian lites, a 
 curious commingling of Jew and Gentile Thtro 
 Hordecal wiib his Hebrew chorister and 
 ritual dedicating Grand Inland as a civ of retime 
 for the scattered people who rejected Christ, mid 
 by his side an episcopal rector m full cannonicals, 
 Dtter'u n benedb-tlon. Ararat came to 
 
 nothing, and the only memorial of this city of 
 
 which remains is the comer stone, all there 
 ever was of if, which, owing to the efforts of the 
 Hon. Lewis P Allen, has be u deposited in the 
 rooms of the Historical Society of Buffalo 
 
 Bnffiloin 1825 published to the world in general, 
 and particularly a d pugnaciously thrust in o the 
 lace of Black Kock, with whom we waged a dead- 
 ly war, a census of ■.!•(, oiKi Bonis. Possibly there 
 may have- been a population approximating to two 
 thousand, bnt the most ambitious, restless, pug- 
 nacious, egotist c people in the State of New 
 York, and withal, abounding in men of great en- 
 terprise and ability. Surely among such a popu- 
 lation our catalogue need not be considered a joke 
 oreven an exaggeration, seeing that in little more 
 than fifty years a noble city of more than one hun- 
 dred thou-itnd inhabt.'Uts, of which these men 
 were the fathers and fouuders, bears witness to- 
 day that there were "giants" here in those days — 
 men of renown, who have left their mark for all 
 time on the shores of Lake Erie. 
 
 Put it may be anxiously inquired, how can you 
 bring vour numerous classes within the coVnpass 
 of an i ought not to exceed thirty or 
 
 forty minutes? I t - one of the Handing 
 
 - for the old Folks' Festival, l wish to I iy 
 nutwoik for !8 for myself and asso- 
 
 but an exordium. 1 do 
 not inti of that long- 
 
 winded 
 
 after an intra ipied an hour, tnat 
 
 he should consider the remainder of hie 
 under nineteen particnlc i bicb Intima- 
 
 tion hi -'■ and left I 
 
 di >cot i 
 
 n a lew points, reset ing tbe i 
 
 nl other ora- 
 i i doi ft ; i to be grateful Ho 
 and exhaust less Held I have openi dup before them. 
 
 It will not be deem<..' Inappropriate I 
 meuee with our Pe 'schoolmaster 
 
 was abroad" In Buffalo In 1822 and In tbe school 
 work of that year l may say with Bu 
 
 best known 
 self were Millard FUlmor I Lord Mr. 
 
 Fillmore's work in ' d hadceased 
 
 before mine began; butknowlng many of his pa- 
 
 ■ 
 tbem, I i to his 
 
 la' on a- 1 a teacher oi the young idia. 
 Mr. Fillmore was engaged in this vocation at the 
 
 Cold Spring, near Kufl'ilo, and also in the village 
 proper in the old Mull, n bouse, then standing 
 near the corner of Main and Genesee Btreete He 
 "boarded round." at least a pan of the time, and 
 was ■ will thought of." Indeed be was onsldered 
 so " likelv a you' g man" among tbe old tolks that 
 it was suggested by some that he would vet come 
 to be a Justice of the Peace, while others did not 
 think i he \ssembly Chamber of Albany beyond 
 the reach of his endear ore. 
 
 i cam "t of my knowledge speak cf his success, 
 i" gen- ai. a- a teache , but Having had one of his 
 pupils uf the late Dr Ebenez ir John- 
 
 son, afterwards under my care, under special cove- 
 nants to honor and obey, I have b< en led ton >lie*e 
 that. Mr Fillmore s discipline was not what it 
 should have been. 
 
 Yet bis same village school master succeeded in 
 after life m the government of a i real nat on, who 
 e teemed him a sagac ons President and successful 
 i hiel .Magistrate, of which it can only be said that 
 he la not the flr-u of ihe notable rulers of men who 
 was yet unable to govern a worn in uno proof 1 
 Can produce of the inti llectual progress or his 
 pup l-> in the poetic effusion of one of his scholar-, 
 which, if unequal to Giay's Elegy, is sufficiently 
 striking ai d tiniqne o deserve a recoid in the His- 
 torical Soc ety Of Buffalo. This p tem det li s the 
 fhte ofa young man suddenly cut off In the prime 
 of life, who was probably one of the boys who en- 
 joyed the Instructions of our distinguished towns- 
 man. 
 
 This brilliant effusion is "owned to" by one of 
 Mr. Fillmore's pupils, and presented to the sing- 
 iug meeting in the New England Kitchen, where 
 it has been read with great approbation. Here 
 it is: 
 
 LINES ON THE DREAIlFfl, DEATH OP CALFB DULIT- 
 TLE. WHO JRKCKNlLY CAME TO THIS SETTLEMENT 
 FU05I V H.HON i'. 
 
 One i aleb Du little was his name, 
 Who lately t<> this villatre came, 
 Residing nl his brother Jeemes, 
 Last Friday noon went out, it seems, 
 
 To cut. sum timber for a sled. 
 
 The sno being deep, he had to wade 
 
 Full 40 rod to a asti tree, 
 
 Ttie top being dry, as \oti may see. 
 
 Our Calib swung bis ax on hi, 
 And thro the an- he let It fli ; 
 His work be thoi was nearly done, 
 For it was n av ni set of sum 
 
 The tree w;i< holler at the coir, 
 Ami w hen i come a tnmblln ore 
 It hii poor Cale upon ihe bed. 
 And he \ as tookin up for deJ. 
 
 Rbmarb mu.k was sure distrest, 
 While Tii wkki'i.. Bhfl wepi in his brest, 
 
 No ton rue can tell how M I i;< v felt 
 \> bile on hid sbockin deth she dwelt. 
 
 Oh cruel fate, thou was unVcind 
 To take o r C lie and leave as hind, 
 For Caleb was our rile Dan man, 
 And worker Of our good farm land. 
 
 And when that tre it killed him ded, 
 It nocked our prosplks In the bed, 
 
 And la d him in the church yard bed, 
 While on his body worms is" fed. 
 
 Now Bkollars, ill a warnia take, 
 How Caleb D ittle met hi n 
 Ami 9 inn you ha > • a sled to make, 
 Don', let a ire fall on jour pate- 
 
12 
 
 OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 Or the merits of John C. Lord as schoolmaster, 
 and of his select school, which was located in 
 one of the Old Court House rooms, in the winter 
 of 1825- '20, I am too moaest to speak We had a 
 liberal range of study, from Webster's Spelling 
 book up to the French and Roman classics, but 
 as several of our professional and literary nota- 
 bles, such as Doct White and O H. Marshall, 
 Esq , were among the pupils, it may be hoped 
 that "Papers" on this interest ng topic may yet 
 be read before their Historical t-ociety. 
 
 I shall only refer to au extract from a New 
 Year"s Poem published on the nrst of January, 
 1826, in the Buffalo Journal, of which David IN. 
 Day was 'he publisher, which poetic effusion, of 
 my positive knowledge, came out of that school 
 room, and I shall quote only what rela.es to the 
 affair of 1825 and its remarkable events: 
 
 VII. 
 
 Let despots mock the joy with which we meet 
 Upon our shores our father's friend and son, 
 
 And greeted him — the gallant La Payette. 
 Daie they insult the flag that bore him home? 
 
 No! Europe never will again foiget 
 The due respect and proper courtesy 
 Columbia's Banner claims upon the sea. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 My Muse wants breathing, she is too sublime 
 For modern ears; 'twere well to take good care 
 
 Lest criticks ridicule her lofty rhyme — 
 Which would indeed be a most sad affair. 
 
 We'll lower our strain then, and devote a line 
 To home concerns. 'Tis said that Buffalo 
 Is soon to be a city, and I know— 
 
 IX. 
 
 No reason why she should not. The foundation 
 Of Ararat we lately helped to fix, 
 
 And have had other publick celebrations, 
 (According to my note book sixty-six,) 
 
 And have a right to make our calculations 
 On future greatness. There is something pretty 
 And quite harmonious in the name of " city " 
 X. 
 
 The year hath been to us a Jubilee. 
 A year of great rejoicing; we have seen 
 
 Lake Erie's waters moving to the sea 
 On their own element. The bark I deem 
 
 Which bore our gift, more famous yet shall be, 
 Than that proud ship in which to ancient Greece 
 The intrepid Jason bore the Golden Pleece. 
 XL 
 
 Yet boast we not of mighty labors done 
 In our own strength or wisdom; we would bless 
 
 His sacred name in morning orison 
 Who stamped his footstep on the wilderness, 
 
 And towns and cities rose, — the bu-y hum 
 Of congregated man, where erst he viewed 
 Une dark and boundless solitude. 
 
 XII. 
 
 And the white sail now glistens on the Lake, 
 Where late the Indian in his bark canoe, 
 
 Bursting from some low marsh or tangled brake, 
 Shot forth upon the waters joyously, 
 
 Perchance his annual hunting tour to make, 
 Where since the cultivated field, I ween, 
 That savaae mariner himself hath seen. 
 
 I dare not compare this poem with that inimita- 
 ble effusion of Mr. Fil'more's pupil; and outside of 
 their respective merits there are two reasons for 
 mv forbearance. One is, that my competitor is a 
 lady, and the second is, that the aforesaid lady has 
 
 it in her power greatly to annoy me if I should be 
 so unfortunate as to awaken her indignation. Let 
 her wear the laurel crown, so there be domestic 
 tranquility — peace at ihe hearth. 
 
 While on the subject of poetry, that, remarkable 
 ballad on the murder of John Love which appeared 
 in the same year ought not to be omitted It 
 should be preserved, like a fly in amber, in the 
 archives oi the Buffalo Historical Society. With- 
 er it was the production of any of the pupils who 
 attended the schools before referred to I cannot 
 say. It has been claimed by the town of Boston, 
 but 1 1 hin k it belongs to Buffalo. As the cities of 
 Greece contended for the birth p'ace of Homer, so 
 it may hereafter happen to Boston and Buffalo to 
 contend for the honor of the nativity of the immor- 
 tal poet who sung the dreadful fate of John Love 
 and the crime of the three Thayers. who were exe- 
 cuted in this city. June 17, 15S5 I have had sur- 
 miseo that one of my own pupils might p'ossibly 
 have been the author of this lamentable ballad, but 
 I will not press ihe claim, as my friend Fillmore 
 may contend with justice that this mournful ditty 
 was quite as likely to have issued fom his school 
 as mine. I send it as a lvminiscence of the year 
 1S25. and for the purpose of putting it upon record 
 in the Historical Society. 
 
 THE LAMENTABLE BALLAD ON THE MURDEB OP 
 JOHN LuVK BY THE THREE THAYEKS. 
 
 In England several years ago 
 
 the sun was pleasant fair and gay 
 John Love on ^oard of a ship he entered 
 
 and saild un to a merica 
 
 Love was a man very percevering 
 
 in making trades with all he see 
 he soon engaged to be a sailor 
 
 to sail up and down on Lake Eri. 
 
 he then went into the Southern countr.es, 
 
 to trade for furs and other skins 
 but the cruel French and saveg Indians 
 
 came very near of killing him. 
 
 But God did i- pare him a little longer 
 he got his lodiug and came down the lake 
 
 he went into the town of boston 
 Where he m ;de the great mistake. 
 
 With Nelson Thayer he made his station 
 
 thrue the summer for to stay 
 Nelson had two brothers Isaac and Israel 
 
 love lent them money for thare debts to pay- 
 Love lent them quite a sum of money 
 
 he did befriend them every way 
 but. the cruel cretres iha couldent be quiet 
 
 till the/ had taken his sweet life away 
 
 One day as tha were al' three together 
 this dreadful murder tha did contrive 
 
 tha agreed to kill Love and keep it secret 
 and then to live and spend thare lives. 
 
 On the fifteenth evening of last december 
 in eighteen hundred and twenty four 
 
 tha invited Love to go home with them 
 and tha kilkd and murdtredhim on the floor 
 
 First Isa'ic with his gun he shot him 
 
 he left his gun and run away 
 then nelson with his ax he chopthim 
 
 till he had no life that he could perceive 
 
 After tha had killed and most mortly bruis ed him 
 tha drawd him out whare tha killed thare hogs 
 
 tha then carried him of a pease from the house 
 and deposited him down by a log. 
 
OLD E i l-.vi LVAL. 
 
 13 
 
 The next dny ttaa » i>old 
 
 tha had loves horses riding r< .umi 
 
 • ted the reason of tovee being absent 
 
 tha said he had clerd and left the towu 
 
 id he had forgd In the town of Eri 
 Bherif was in pursuit of him 
 
 the place and rim awa 
 and left his debici to collect by them 
 
 tha wont and forgd a power of tnrney 
 to collect loves notes when they ware dne 
 
 tha tore and stormed to sit thaie pay 
 and sevrl nabora they did sue 
 
 After they had run to a hieh degree 
 
 in killing cry 
 
 tba soon were taken and put in prison 
 
 whare tha remained for thare cruelty 
 
 Tha were hound in iron* in the dark dungon 
 
 for to remain tor a little 
 tha wa mnd by the irrand jury 
 
 for this moat loul and dreadful crime 
 
 Then the Judge pronounced thare dreadf.il 
 
 with grate c indid eea to behold 
 you moat be banged until your ded 
 and lord have mursey ou your sols. 
 
 Bat enough has been Bald of the poets and poe- 
 try of Bulla, o. in 1S-J5. I shall defer the pathetic 
 narrative of the shipwreck of the canal boatMado- 
 ta to a future occasfo i. 
 
 Passing from these light topics, will not the au- 
 dience accept a graver theme, in brief Bkctc es, of 
 the clergymen of buffalo, in the year of our Lord 
 1825, of whom it may be truly said that they would 
 ithing by comparison with their successors 
 in 1867. The leading denominations were repre- 
 sented here m 1885, each by a siugle church. The 
 first regularly settled clergyman was the Bev. 
 Miles P. Squire, in the First' Presbyterian Congre- 
 gation. Be was an educated man, not without 
 good points, but with an overweening s- elf appre- 
 ciation, which, while ; t gave oflbnee u> some, was 
 to the major part of his acquaintance a source of 
 amusement He conld not bave exhibited a great- 
 er dignity of deportment had he been Bishop of 
 Koine or Czar of all th< ad resembled 
 
 the man described by Coleridge who always took 
 oil' his hat when" he spoke of himself. He 
 would have shaken hands with Andrew Jack- 
 sou or George tbe Fourth, with tin; pat- 
 ronizing and condescending air of one con- 
 ferring a great favor. In the latter years of bis life 
 Ote a DOOk on the ••< WgiE of Evil," in which, 
 I have no doubt, he imagined he had n: 
 this intricate subject, untied thegordlan knot in 
 tbeology, and left nothing further to be; said or de- 
 rthy man and a sin- 
 cere Christian, notwithstanding his eccenti 
 and is remembered with affection by some 
 old residents. The of Mr. Squire was 
 
 .-. Gilbert Crawford. 1 became acquainted 
 with him and attended his services in 1826. He 
 was a Scotchman, and hud had tin; advanl 
 the admirable training Of the time honored and 
 witness-bearing church of his fathers. Though 
 tenacious of the five points of Calvinism and in 
 the beginning of his ministry inclined to limit the 
 entrance to the way of life to Presbyterians of 
 the bluest cast, yet with time and experience he 
 became tolerant and Catholic in his judgments of 
 i iin.,' who "cast out devils'' under other symbol' 
 than the Assembly's Catechism. Mr. Crawford 
 was one of the ablest preachers ever settled iu 
 
 of a more ardent 
 oat ore than is usual wiih his countrymen, and was 
 at times a model of Dulp movingall 
 
 hearts with his vehement and; 
 
 Though Gilbert Crawford has long rested from 
 his labors, yet bis memory is green in the 
 of multitudes in Western New York who 
 been made the wiser ai.d the belter for bis minis- 
 try. 
 
 With the Bev, Mr. Searle, Hector of St. Paul's, 1 
 next made acquaintance. Be was the predi • 
 < f the Bev. Dr. Sheiton, who has been settled here 
 for a longer period than any other clergyman, and 
 |oys a large measure of the esteem i nd affec- 
 tion of our community, irrespective of denomina- 
 tional bound 
 
 Mr. Searle was a finished irentlemanin manners, 
 and was said to be of somewhat convivial 
 Bewashighl) and . led. My lm- 
 
 waa the highest kind of 
 Churchman, holding the Eingd 
 be a close corporation ; copal Church, 
 
 and looking upon those without her pile, as the 
 "celestials" regard all people not inhabiting the 
 '•Flowery Kingdom," as outside barbarians. 
 
 Of Diocesan Bishops, Ve knew little in the'-- 
 primitive days. 1 do not remember to bave seen 
 Bishop Hobart, the Bpiscopal Bi<h(.p of New York. 
 at this time. I well recol ect, however, an intro- 
 duction to Bishop Dubois, the Roman Catholic 
 Prelate of this State, in 1825. lie was made known 
 to me by Mr LeConteulz, an old and worthy 
 citizen, whose memory should long since have 
 been honored by a Paper read before our Histori - 
 cal Society. P.ishop Dubois was the most polite 
 of Frenchmen, and seemed amazed at his own 
 hardihood in venturing bo for beyond the pale of 
 civilization, feeling, bke the traveled Turk, that 
 he had, in nis visit to Buffalo, reached the " Wall 
 of the World." 
 
 My recollection is that the only Roman Catholic 
 Pr T e'-t here in 1826 was Father Pax, >■■ German. who 
 i dnistered in a very humble edifice then standing 
 upon the present site of Si J, ouis Cathedral. Be 
 iteemed a worthy man, bnt a severe dlscip 
 linarian, for though his name was Peace, his prac 
 
 isionally belligerent — th 
 man freely applying his cane to ihe shoulders of 
 refractory parinbioo 
 
 The Baptist Church of this city has never enjoy 
 ed the labors of a more eloquent divine than the 
 Rev. Mr. Handy, who. in isi">. held forth tin- 
 word of life in Buffalo. He labored as one stand 
 ing by the grave's mouth, with his eye fixed upon 
 the heavenly city he was soon to enter. 
 
 How well I remember his youthful and intel 
 lectual count >n which the shadows of 
 
 death-' rnest and eloquent, ap 
 
 peals, ins affection ins beetle cough, 
 
 marking him for the grave where he was 
 borne by a weeping community. Many were at 
 tracted to his ministry outside the Baptist com- 
 munion, for while a sincere Immerslonist he was 
 
 a CatbOliC Christian, WhO held the essential doe 
 trines of the gospel for above a.l denominational 
 shibboleths. 
 
 There remains but the Methodist Episcopal com- 
 munion which, if 1 mistake not, was served In 1825 
 Bev. Qleaeon Fillmore, an able and Faithful 
 minister of the New Testament, whose pi 
 in all the churches and who yet survives, tl 
 arable and venerated relic of a pasi age. In eon 
 elision let me say that the Bistorical Bo< 
 ihis city lias among Other objects thi; main 
 
 to preserve all record- of the early history ol 
 
 lo and all the reminiscences of Its pione t popula 
 
 tion. They are fast passiig away. Every year 
 
14 
 
 OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 their nam bers are diminishing and we have evi- 
 dence to-night that only a few venerable fathers 
 and mothers survive of those who encountered tbe 
 perils or the wilderness, and who suffered tbe loss 
 of the fruits of their industry in the burning of 
 Buffalo. They remind us by their presence of w hat 
 they have done and suffered in laying the founda- 
 tion of this populous, wealthy and beautiful city. 
 What amazing changes have these aged men aud 
 women seen, changes in a lifetime which ordina- 
 rily require centuries in their accomplishment. 
 What contract 5 * must be apparent to them as they 
 look back to the period wh-n Buffalo was an in- 
 significant hamlet, fringed with impervious forest 
 on one hand, and the solitary waters of our great 
 inland sea on the other ; the mournful sighing of 
 the winds in the tree tops and the solemn surging 
 of the stormy waves, deep calling unto deep, only 
 broken by the whoops of the savages who came to 
 gaze upon the white men who had invaded their sol- 
 itude. With what anxious foreboding did the young 
 mother clasp her babe to her bosom as the 
 red warriors looked curiously into her cabin, 
 knowing [that neither age nor sex were spared by 
 them when out upon the war path. Could that 
 fair girl or her youthful husband, in their most 
 vivid imaginings, have conceived it possible that 
 they should live to see such a city as this, with a 
 harbor whitened with the sails of many populous 
 states and a commerce more important than that 
 of the entire seaboard in the year 18U0"? Like a 
 dream when one awaketh must these changes 
 seem to the venerable survivors who saw Buffalo 
 in the early years of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Separated from tl.e East, the supplies of the ear- 
 ly settlers were forwarded slowly by dangerous 
 and uncertain routes; they were deprived of the 
 ordinary appliances of civilization, dwelling apart 
 from their brethren. They now hear the sounds 
 of commerce on an artificial river connecting this 
 city with the ocean and the world, and the soli- 
 tudes, which were once broken only by the hoot of 
 the owl or the melancholy cry of the whip-poor- 
 will, are now resonant with the rush of commerce 
 and the shouts of the mariners. They fled, 
 more than half a century ago, from their burning 
 habitations, pursued by a merciless foe; they saw 
 the results of all their toil dissipated in a confla- 
 gration from which it seemed that Buffalo could 
 never recover; thev have since seen her rise from 
 her ashes like the fabled Phreuix, and on her ban- 
 ner the exultant motto of the Empire state, of 
 which she is the second city in commercial rank, 
 "Excelsior." 
 
 Kecovering from the momentary panic.the people 
 of Buffalo, with the indomitable energy which was 
 a marked characteristic of our pioneer population, 
 returned, not to sit down among the ashes of their 
 houses and their goods, but to rebuild and restore, 
 to lay anew its foundations, to repeat the trials 
 ana self denial of years, the fruits of which were 
 destroyed in an hour, to commence their labors a 
 second time in a solitude as profound as that they 
 invaded when they first erected their cabins on 
 the shores of Ere. 
 
 Survivors of those who have borne the burthen 
 and heat of the day, we welcome you to these fes- 
 tivities commemorative of your trials and labors, 
 and especially ot your triumph. Behold the city 
 which you and yours have built — this audience, ih 
 which is represented so much intelligence, charac- 
 ter and wealth, so much youth and beauty— which, 
 but for you, could never have met to make this 
 Hall vocal with their congratulations. The Histor- 
 ical Society of Buffalo welcome you, and promise 
 before this vast audience that your names aud 
 your deeds shall not perish from among men ; that 
 
 future generations sha 1 know from their archives 
 the privations and sufferings of that enterprising 
 band, who first camped under the "grand old 
 trees" bordering the solitary waters now ploughed 
 by a thousand keels, who under the arches of that 
 primitive forest, or in their rude log cabins, offered 
 prayer and praise to Him who had been a wall 
 about them in all their perilous journey, and to 
 whom they looked for protection from the dangers 
 they mustyet encounter. 
 
 We welcome the living. We honor the dead. 
 We implore for these survivors the divine bene- 
 diction and the good hope of another and better 
 life. 
 
 Over the dead of two wars, separated by more 
 than half a century, some of you have been called 
 to mourn ; the associates of your youth, the friends 
 who labored by your side, have for the most part 
 passed into the unseen world, yet you have 
 not labored or suffered in vain You behold the 
 result of your toils to-day, and beyond this, "there 
 remaineth a rest for the people of God. " Why 
 should you count the sufferings of this time 
 worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be 
 revealed? 
 
 Wayworn and aged friends, may we not apply to 
 you the pathetic words of a poet : 
 
 " My feet are worn and weary with the march, 
 On the rough road and up the steep hill-side, 
 Oh city of our God, I fain would see 
 Thy pastures green, where peaceful waters glide. 
 
 My garments, travel-worn and stained with dust, 
 Oft rent by briars and thorns that crowd my way, 
 Would fain be made, O Lord, my righteousness, 
 Spotless and white in Heaven's unclouded ray. 
 
 Patience, poor soul, the Savior's feet were worn, 
 The Savior's heart and hands were weary too. 
 His garments travel stained and worn and old, 
 His vision blinded with a pitying dew. 
 
 Love thou the path of sorrow that He trod, 
 
 Toil on and wait, in patience for thy rest; 
 
 Oh city of our God, we soon shall see 
 
 Thy glorious walls, home of the loved and blest." 
 
 TUB MISTLETOE BOUGH. 
 
 After an overture by the band, Mrs. T. D. Dole 
 was led forward and sang the "Mistletoe Bough' 
 with much sweetness and feeling, and retired amid 
 great applause, when the series of tableaux opened 
 with the bridal party assembled in the baron's 
 lordly hall at the merrie Christmas time. The 
 graceful and statuesque attitudes of the party, 
 dressed in the magnificent costumes of the period, 
 presented a most imposing appearance, and had a 
 marked effect upon the spectators. In the next 
 scene the lovely bride was seen in her playful wil- 
 fulness, seeking a hiding place from the search of 
 her youthful lord, bending over the oaken chest 
 that offered so tempting an opportunity for con- 
 cealment. She is next viewed with the lid raised, 
 preparing to carry her scheme into effect, while the 
 concluding tableau preseuted.the now aged bride- 
 groom kneeling with hands clasped in agony, gaz- 
 ing with mute despair upon the skeleton form of 
 his fair young bride, now exposed to view in her 
 living tomb in the old oak chest. Nothing could 
 exceed the skilful grouping and tasteful imperson- 
 
OLD FOLKS FESTIVAL. 
 
 15 
 
 atiou of the characters of the tableau, Mt. L. Q. 
 Delisted! sustaining the part of the Karon, Mrs. 
 i' .1. Wells the Baroness, Miss Dobbin- the Bride, 
 and Mr. Edward Marvin the Bridegroom. The 
 high born lords and ladies were admirably repre- 
 sented by Miss Kate Pratt, Mr. E. W. Seymour, 
 Mr. Charles Marvin, Miss Schoolcraft, Mr. C Hel- 
 ton, Miss Millar, Miss Ilowlaud, Mrs. Tilden, Mrs. 
 It, Mr. A Barnard and Mr. W. Laverack. 
 
 THE ANiiKl/s WHISPER. 
 
 Mrs. \V. O. Brown, Jr., succeeded and sang in a 
 beautiful manner the son;,' win h was to be por- 
 trayed. The applause of the audience failed to 
 pecure a repetition, and the picture in a moment 
 rose before the spectators disclosing the singer 
 kneeling beside the cradle of a child, while around 
 and above lloated the angels whose voices heard in 
 dreams were wreathing his lips in smile?. The 
 various characters were represented by Misses N. 
 Loomis, Jennie Titus, Annie Dorr, Joey Bird, 
 Lucy Hopkins, J. Hayden, Mary McKnight, Hattie 
 Manchester, and Mary Houghton. 
 
 A VILLAGE SCHOOL. 
 
 A graphic idea or the pranks which mice will 
 play when the cat's away was conveyed in the 
 tableau entitled ''A Village School." The vener- 
 able matron, in whom few of the audience recog- 
 nized Mr. Henry Bull, dozed peacefully on her cane 
 seat throne, only annoyed by a straw in ihe hands 
 of a mischievous urchin. On all sides were shown 
 such scenes as many of oar readers can produce 
 from their own boyish experience. Confusion 
 reigned supreme. 
 
 Suddenly the teacher awakes, and by a process 
 unexplained by any ordinary laws of motion, 
 every pupil was in bis seat and deeply absorbed 
 in study. One only is too far from Ins base to re- 
 treat in good ordc, and is caught, straw in hand, 
 by the incignanl school ma'am, who proceeds 
 amid the jeers of his schoolmates toinrlict the 
 pnnlshmeui ae so richly desen 
 
 The boys and girls of the school room w 
 resented by Misses Grace Titus, Ida Sawyer, Ullie 
 Pratt, Anna Dorr, Grade Prince, Llbbie Wells, 
 iiird and Ml Dilden; 
 
 and Masters Clifton, Willie M 
 Geo. Steele, Willie Sawyer and Frank Howard. 
 
 BARBARA KRITC'll K. 
 
 This was a representation of the brave Union 
 woman, who, during a raid made by the forces of 
 Stonewall Jackson into Frederick, .Maryland, 
 hoisted the National flag at her iv-iiden.ee. Ii WM 
 phot down by the Confederate soldiers, when -lie 
 took it in her hands and held it out of an open 
 window, an act which so amazed some of the ma- 
 rauders that they were upon the point of - 
 her, wheu the General Interfered and sav< 
 life, allowing her to keep the flag. 
 
 Barbara, standing in the centre, was portrayed 
 by Miss Hattie Manchester. The Confederate sol- 
 diers were Meiers. A. Barnard, Coo. Laverack, C. 
 Marvin, L. Barnard, H. Bull, W. Seymour, K. 
 Ketchum; and the villagers BOSS Mary Houghton, 
 Miss Alice Warren, and several others, whose 
 names we did not ascertain. 
 
 SPANISH PESTA. 
 
 This was a most pleasing and effective group, 
 peculiarly characteristic of the Spanish national 
 taste In the rich and graceful costume of Cas 
 tille, with guitar, Castanet and tambourin in play, 
 still and motionless as if sculptured in marble, 
 appeared a party of the gallant cavaliers and love- 
 ly dames of Spain, in the varied postures of the 
 bolero, while in the next scene the same parties 
 were seen reclining in the most varied and pictur- 
 esque positions, after the exciting exercise. This 
 tableau was preceded by a song characteris- 
 tic of the scene, very sweetly and artistically given 
 by Miss Dobbins. 
 
 The ladies and cavaliers of this group were well 
 sustained by Mrs. W. A. Bird, Jr., Mrs. W. O. 
 Brown, Jr., Miss Germain, Mrs. Dobbins, Miss 
 Seymour, Miss Dobbins, Miss Mann, Miss Gros- 
 venor, Miss McKnight, Miss Kvans, Miss J. Wells, 
 Miss Granger, Miss J. Johnson, Miss Howell. 
 Miss Greenman, Messrs. W. Seymour, C. Horton, 
 T. Avery, E. C. Hamilton, I. R. Brayton, E. Mar- 
 vin, E. Fiske and G. Laverack. 
 
 "JOHN ANDERSON MT JO."' 
 
 A picture touching in its simplicity and sug- 
 gestive of mournful memories was presented by 
 Captain Dobbins and Mrs. T. Dole, who, in anti- 
 que costume, portrayed the vet erable couple whose 
 story Ins gained the rank of a gray tradition. 
 
 Of the son,', a- rendered by Mrs. Dole, it is hard- 
 ly necessary to speak, for no one in the vast audi- 
 ence failed to appreciate its exquisite pathos. As 
 the si, i died away in lich cadences, a 
 
 storm <> irst from the listeners, who re- 
 
 fused to i d with less than a partial repe 
 
 tition. 
 
 0RA3 ::\K. 
 
 I magnificent tableau, representing the 
 graceful forms and splendid costumes of the bril- 
 liant Cour; of Louis XVI. In the fore g round in a 
 rich robe of green silk, with a biasing girdle and 
 front of diamonds and rubies, the royal ermine 
 falling gracefully over her shoulders, appeared the 
 commanding form of the lovely, the imprudent, 
 and the unfortunate Marie Antoinette. A kiivrht- 
 
 ' uned hat on the ground b 
 him. knelt, at tie (feet of his royal mil 
 while the fair dam -and lordly courtiers in at- 
 e, willi powdered hair, and dressed in the 
 quaint but, rich and becoming style of the period, 
 
16 
 
 OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVAL. 
 
 "were disposed in the most picturesque grouping 
 around the central sun of their divinity. 
 
 The Queen was most admirably represented by 
 Mrs. G. A. Prince, and the ladies of the Court by 
 Mrs. Dr. Trowbridge, Mrs. W M. Kasson, Mrs. G. 
 J. Williams, Mrs. W. A. Bird, Jr., Mrs. W. F. 
 Miller, Miss Kate Pratt, Miss Gertrude Allen, 
 Miss Mary Evans, Miss Lillie Slade, Miss Marvin, 
 Miss Kittie Germain, and Miss Addie White. 
 
 THE ATLANTIC CABLE. 
 
 The last tableau of the evening was then an- 
 nounced by Mr. O. G. Steele, who returned thanks 
 to all Buffalo, because, as he remarked, all Buffalo 
 was present, for the liberal support of the public. 
 
 A short delay, and the scene opened, disclosing 
 a beautiful picture on the right. 
 
 Mrs. E. G. Spaulding, in a robe which was a 
 triumph of the costnmer's art, represented the 
 Genius of America. The naiontal colori were 
 blended wilh exquisite effect. 
 
 On the left, stood Mrs. O. G. Steele, in the char- 
 acter of Britannia. She wore a coat of gold scale 
 
 armour, with tunic, and on her head a helmet and 
 plume. In her hand she grasped the "red ensign" 
 of England. The design was exceedingly tasteful 
 and the details were carried to almost absolute 
 perfection. 
 
 The stage was set to represent a broad expanse 
 of ocean waves, breaking on the Ameri can side 
 against a rocky coast. From shore to shore 
 stretches the cable, supported by emerald-clad sea 
 nymphs, the counterfeit presentment of whom was 
 borne by Misses Annie Davis, Grade Prince, Em- 
 mie Randall, Abbie Randall, Carrie Tilden, Annie 
 Dorr, Hattie Stone, Libbie Welles and Miss Hay- 
 den. 
 
 Commerce and Industry, the patron goddesses of 
 the great wire, were portrayed by Misses Manches- 
 ter, Pease, Howard and Allen. 
 
 Above all, suspended in mid air, floated the 
 graceful figure of fleeting but sought-for Fame 
 (Miss Mary Davis), whose trumpet seemtd sound- 
 ing the praises of those whose cunning hands and 
 unwearied perseverance had wrought this cro wil- 
 ing glory of the nineteenth century. 
 
 THIRD DA.Y. 
 
 [From the Express, Saturday, January 26th.] 
 
 The storm of popular enthusiasm which has 
 been aroused by the Old Folks' Festival seems to 
 know no abatement, and, as on the preceding 
 evenings, "early candle light" yesterday found the 
 tide again setting strongly toward St. James Hall. 
 
 Long before the doors opened multitudes had 
 gathered with the hope that by early attendance 
 they might be enabled to gain positions whence 
 they could look upon the festivities of the even- 
 ing. At last the hour arrived; a rush, a struggle 
 and the galleries were rilled as if by magic, while 
 the fringes of the vast throng attached themseives 
 to the open spaces which had been left in railing 
 off a place for the dancers. 
 
 Soon after came those who were to take more 
 prominent parts in this third act of the Festival, 
 and from the tiring rooms there issued a motley 
 throng arranged in the costumes of every period 
 since the days of Elizabeth. Indeedj it may be 
 questioned whether some had not obtained the 
 idea of their dress from the Assyrian sculptures or 
 a fashion plate of the reign of Antoninus. 
 
 TOE STAGE. 
 
 The stage formed a brilliant and animated pic- 
 ture in the scene. It had been fitted with seats 
 rising as they receded toward the back, and, all 
 these seats being closely filled, for the most part 
 with ladies and elderly gentlemen, the mass view 
 of beautiful faces and noble heads, thrown into 
 fine relief by the varied coloring of rich toilets, 
 the broad background of stars and stripes and the 
 deep crimson of the surrounding drapery, was 
 very imposing indeed. The effect of this still pic- 
 ture behind the gaily shifting kaleidescope which 
 the dancers formed upon the floor is not easily to 
 be conveyed by any description. 
 
 BEHIND THE BAIL. 
 
 The space upon the floor made clear for dancing 
 was as little circumscribed as possible, with dne 
 regard to the accommodation of visitors who came 
 to witness and not to participate in the ball. Its 
 boundaries were fixed by a low, stout railing 
 erected upon a circle very nearly coinci- 
 ding with the front of the galleries. Behind 
 
OLD 8ETTLER3 FESTIVAL. 
 
 17 
 
 this rail were placed two or three rows of seat", 
 where those ladies, fortunately early enoiiLii to 
 secure tin m. were enabled to enjoy a comfortable 
 view of the floor. A considerable spare left open 
 in the rear of (he * '■ through all 
 
 the early hours of the eveninc with a crowd of 
 standing, or rather moving, spectators, who came, 
 tired, went, and gave place to fresh comers again. 
 The same shifting crowd filled the galleries, 
 which v» ere tco heated with the hot atmosphere 
 from below to be enduied for any great length of 
 time, althongr the gayety of the scene from their 
 birds-eye elevation was exceedingly attractive. 
 The stairways were nil appropriated for sitting, 
 except the narrowest possible lane, to be dexter- 
 ously threaded between dangeions traps and gins 
 of the crinoline device. 
 
 THE MUSIC 
 
 performed by Miller's Band, was too brilliantly 
 rendered, perhaps, to be altogether in harmony 
 with the fiction of an old time ball in the early 
 days of Buffalo, when, if our history is not at fault, 
 the honest villagers were happy to receive their 
 measures from a fiddle or two, or three, and a bass 
 viol or a flute. As the young settlers, however, so 
 saucily monopolized the occasion, the music was 
 entirely to their liking. 
 
 The band occupied a platform raised at the front 
 of one of the boxes by the stage. 
 
 YOUNG) SETTLERS. 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that the "old 
 settlers"' did not do the largest part of the dancing, 
 their places being filled by the younger inhabitants 
 of the city, who performed the mysterious evolu- 
 tions of ancient cotillions with a zest which 
 did infinite credit to their knowledge of the cus- 
 toms of the remote past. By general consent the 
 idea appeared to obtain that this feature of the 
 festival was to be given to the charge of the 
 youngsters. Lf the old folks have done well th=ir 
 part in the week's sport, certainly the others have 
 shown no less enthusiasm and felt no less keenly 
 the exhilaration of the affair. As it seems settled 
 that the Old Folks' Festival is to be the annual 
 carnival of the city, it was wise policy which dic- 
 tated that all ages should be brought within the 
 circle, and made to assist in carrying out the fun. 
 
 DANCINQ. 
 
 Promptly at the sound of the music the floor was 
 thronged with couples who ranged themselves for 
 the "Mouie Musk." A few words of explanation 
 from the leader for the beneflt of those whose ill- 
 luck had caused them to be born some years after 
 the death of Sir Koger de Coverly, and all hands 
 devoted themselves to a rivalry with the hand r ul 
 of venerable citizens who were treading measures of 
 
 infinite grace in a littlfi coterie, which had been or- 
 ganized in one end of the hall. As impartial his- 
 torians we are compelled to add that the young- 
 sters failed lamentably in this as in most of the 
 dances of the evening. There was an evident air 
 of imitat'on about their work and it was unsuccess 
 ful as most imitations are. 
 
 Practice will perhaps make them perfect, and 
 when twenty years hence they shall take the place 
 of the old settlers of to-day, they will proba- 
 bly execute ' Speed the Plough" as gracefully as 
 they now do the Galop or the Redowa. 
 
 THE BAND. 
 
 Miller's Quadrille Band well sustained its mer 
 ited reputation, and discoursed most eloquent 
 muse upon the occasion under the ablo guidance 
 of its leader, Mr. Adam Miller. 
 
 Among the pieces played during the evi.nin;: 
 were the : 
 
 Bouquet Quadrille Strauss. 
 
 Guard Walts - 
 
 I'ost Quadrille Strings. 
 
 Vis a- vis O. Faust. 
 
 IJnballoin Maschera 
 
 Quadrille Strauss. 
 
 Faust Quadrille Strauss. 
 
 Orpheus Quadrille Strauss. 
 
 Captain Cotton discharged most admirably the 
 duties of general marfager and director of the 
 proceedings of the evening, and to Mr. H. B. May 
 nard, the greatest credit is due for the assistance 
 he rendered the dancers as prompter on the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 HIGH LLPE BELOW STAIRS. 
 
 "While the cat's away the mice will play" is a 
 truism universally acknowledged, and Mrs. Doo- 
 little's usually well-ordered kitchen was no ex- 
 ception to the general rule. 
 
 "Josier," as usual, was the occasion of all the 
 trouble and all the fun. That good-for-nothing 
 young scape-grace had stealthily absconded, and 
 without a ticket had edged in uuperceived among 
 the crowd, who were pouring into the grand City 
 Ball. This coming to the old lady's ears, she im- 
 mediately set off in search of the delinquent, de- 
 termined at all hazards to rescue him from the im- 
 minent danger to which he had exposed himself 
 No sooner had she left, than the floor was cleared 
 of every thing except the old spinning wheel in the 
 corner, and Charlie Adams, son of Hiram Adams, 
 one of the oldeBt settlers, mounted on a chair, 
 placed on the table, and with his back 
 against the wall, completely hiding the 
 little looking glass, with the crossed peacock'* 
 feathers projecting beyond each shon'dcr, struck 
 np, merrly on hia fiddle, "Strip the Willow'' and 
 the "Irish Washerwoman," while old fashioned 
 "French Fours" and eight handed reels, reigned 
 
18 
 
 OLD SETTLERS FESTIVAL. 
 
 supreme. In the meantime the old lady returned 
 with the truant " Josier," in her custody, and 
 whether from au unusual feeling of good humor, 
 arising from her success, or certain pleasant re- 
 miniscences of her own youthful days, certain it 
 
 is, ;-he raised no objections on the occasion, and 
 fiddling and dancing went on as merrily as ever. 
 We have great pleasure in stating that the re- 
 ceipts of the evening will amount to something 
 between eight and nine hundred dollars. 
 
 FOUETH DAY. 
 
 [From the Express, Monday, January 28th.] 
 
 The 0!d Settlers' Festival closed Saturday eve- 
 ning with the Concert, which, as in former years, 
 was one of the most characteristic features of this 
 unique affair. St. James Hall was again densely 
 crowded, every seat being occupied and many be- 
 ing obliged to stand. In fact, the audience was 
 only exceeded by that which was called together 
 by the Tableaux, and hundreds were doubtless 
 deterred from attending by the storm which was 
 raging. 
 
 Of the pecuniary results of the Festival it is 
 impossible to speak with exactness at present, 
 but the amount received will not be far from four 
 thousand dollars, and will probably be more than 
 this. All who have been in any way connected 
 with the affair deserve the greatest credit for the 
 success they have achieved, and their successors 
 will have to toil hard in coming years to eclipse 
 the glories of the Festival of 1S67. 
 
 It may not be improper here to do justice to one, 
 Mr. John Masou, who performed a large part of the 
 fitting up of the New-England Kitchen, and whose 
 name h.°n not been mentioned in connection with 
 that chef el'ceuvre. 
 
 THE CONCERT. 
 
 The stage was crowded with the members of 
 
 the different Church Choirs, assisted by the bulk 
 
 of the musical ability of the city. 
 
 The first piece given wag the time-honored 
 
 "Atild Lang Syne," which was warmly welcomed, 
 
 numbers of the audience joining in the refrain. 
 Next followed in order: 
 
 Leonard— Hallelujah metre. 
 
 Sherburne— Common metre. (While shepherds 
 watched their flocks by night. ) The perform- 
 ance of this hymn was much applauded. 
 
 Concord— Short metre. 
 
 Canterbury, (new)— Short metre. 
 
 China— This piece elicited the marked approbation 
 of the audience. 
 
 Delight— Hallelujah metre. 
 
 Majesty— Common metre. A beautiful air, and 
 
 deservedly encored. 
 Exultation — Long metre. The gem of the sacred 
 
 pieces. 
 
 At this point of the proceedings the Hon. L. F. 
 Allen came forward and announced that, although 
 the "old settlers" considered their own part of 
 the programme the best, yet they would allow the 
 young folks to contribute their share towards the 
 amusements of the evening. The next piece would 
 be a quartette by the "Village Glee Club." Ac- 
 cordingly Messrs. Burns, Taunt and other two 
 gentlemen, being introduced to the audience, 
 gave the " Sunbeams are Playing" in a style that 
 elicited the most enthusiastic applause and 
 most unmistakable encore. They then sang the 
 beautiful glee, " Come Where My Love Lies 
 Dreaming," which, if possible, drew out a 
 warmer burst of admiration than its predecessor, 
 and another encore followed. It was vain to resist 
 —the " gods " were not to be appeased without a 
 further sacrifice, and succeeded in obtaining an 
 other pleasing solo and chorus, "Came Lee," from 
 the good-natured members of the club. 
 
 The Hon. L. F. Allen then came forward and 
 stated that as the singers were somewhat fatigued 
 they would take a short rest. He then said that 
 probably but a small portion of the audience could 
 recollect the time when that style of sacred music 
 was practiced. It was practiced in New England 
 and the eastern part of New York until about the 
 year 1820. At the time cf the Reformation, which 
 occurred during the reign of Henry VIII in the 
 sixteenth century, the music was mostly of the 
 Catholic order, which was then the prevailing re- 
 ligion. It was highly artistic in character, being 
 performed by professional singers accompanied by 
 the organ in the churches. After the Reformation 
 there was a general disposition among the Puritans 
 
OLD FOLKS 
 
 19 
 
 to renounce a!l Catholic usages and that stylo 
 of music was discarded entirely, and they adopted 
 the old fashioned dull tones of that day. No pro- 
 gress was made in church mnslc until about a hun- 
 dred years ago. This kind of music was first in- 
 vented (if I may so use the term) and practiced in 
 the New England meeting houses, together with 
 The heavy selections of the old composers. Ire- 
 collect perfectly well the old fashioned meeting 
 houses in New England fifty years ago. The 
 young people of the town or village who had any 
 car or voice for music joined the choir, attended 
 the singing school, going sometimes fonr or live 
 miles. Generally some aged man in the parish 
 was invited to be the teacher. They would often 
 go to a neighboring parish and have what might 
 be called a singing match, and see which could 
 sing the best, and sometimes it would be found 
 necessary to draw lots to decide which was vic- 
 torious. During the Sunday service the choir was 
 scattered all around the gallery. 1 have seen as 
 many as a hundred young people on one side and 
 the other, and they made as bjautiful an appear- 
 ance as our young people have here to-night (ap- 
 plause). Our grandmothers were charming when 
 young, fresh, full of buoyancy and spirit. Minis- 
 ters attended these singing schools of the churches, 
 appearing in a grave and solemn manner. The ut- 
 most decorum was preserved as long as the minister 
 
 remained, but when he went away (laughter). 
 
 Mr. A. here gave a description of the minister, with 
 his long queue and sombre necktie. Our meeting- 
 house stood upon the village green, in front of which 
 was the whipping post and a pair of stocks. Massa 
 chnsetts was the home of the Puritans who 
 were so fond of liberty, but they would not let any- 
 body else enjoy it, and drove Koger Williams the 
 Baptist into lihode Island, where no rigorous laws 
 were enacted. They had the Seven Day Baptists, 
 some few Methodists, and a great many who did not 
 keep any d"y in the week. The Seven Daytfap- 
 tists did 1.1 keep Sunday, and, somehow or other, 
 they always v> irked on Saturday. A story was re 
 lated about a Khode Islander who was caught 
 traveling in Mas.-achusetts on Sunday. 11 
 plained that they once made him take off his hat 
 tO & Whipping p03t "No doubt Of that. 
 bystander," " you had to do that to get your shirt 
 off" 
 
 In 1S10, Warren Hastings went through New 
 England, and through various influences prevailed 
 upon mauy congregations to iii> away with the 
 ancient music, which you have heard to-night. 
 The tunes have been preserved in the "Ancient 
 Harmony," and arc now being practiced in private 
 concerts, festivals, <&c. We trust that yon are 
 pleased with them, and if we have given pleasure 
 to you we shall be very happy. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. O. O. Steele then arose and said "It is 
 
 customary to appoint a committee for next year. 
 This institution has become a perpetual one, i 
 hope— and I move that a committee of live gentle- 
 men be appointed by the Chairman to call a moot- 
 ing and organize for next year. Carried. 
 
 The Chairman, Capt. L. II. Cotton, appointed as 
 such committee Messrs. Orlando Allen, O. G. 
 Steele, D. P. Dobbins, J. Pease and W. Galligan. 
 
 Hon. Orlando Allen here came forward and read 
 a letter wh'ch had been received from a lady who 
 felt a deep Luteretft in the objects to which the 
 funds arising u >n the proceeds of the present fes- 
 tival were to be devoted. It was as follows: 
 
 Hamburo, Jan. 525, 1867. 
 Dr. J. S. Trowbridge: — 
 
 Please accept for the benefit of the Buffalo Gen- 
 oa! Hospital the enclosed check for one hundred 
 dollars. Itcspectfully, 
 
 SUSAN WALDEN. 
 
 Thi3 announcement was loudly cheered, after 
 which, the singing of the sacred pieces was resum- 
 ed, and "Northfield,"and two other very beautiful 
 old airs were sung in a vary admirable manner, 
 when Miss Dobbins being led forward, favored the 
 audience with "Oft in the Stilly Night" in a man- 
 ner that called forth a tumult of approbation and a 
 rapturous encore. The same lady then sang 
 'Sweet Love, Good Night to Thee" in a sweet and 
 charming style, Mr. Blodgett presiding at the piano 
 forte. 
 
 A gentleman here attempted to address the 
 audience, but was interrupted by several repeat- 
 ed cries from the gallery of "a song," "a song," 
 upon which the Hon. L. F. Allen arose and sooke 
 as follows: " The audience will take notice that 
 this is our concert, not theirs. If order is not 
 preserved we shall adjourn at once. We shall be 
 glad to edify them farther by the performance of 
 the pieces as they .occur in the course of the pro- 
 ceedings, and not other tv. 
 
 Three other sacred pieces were successively 
 given in a very effective manner by the choir, after 
 which Mr. James Taunt made his appearance on 
 the stage, and s n cr the "Old Msh Gentleman" in 
 his own inimi: eliciting shouts of laugh- 
 
 ter and the warm ist bursts of applause from his 
 delighted audience, whose loud encore was grati- 
 fied with one verse more. 
 
 This gentleman was followed by Mr. Sago,who3o 
 inexpressibly humorous song of "Hans Twaddle's 
 Team," which originally appeared in the Ex 
 ritKss, was welcomed with shouts of uproarious 
 merriment, and completely drew down the honse. 
 Being unmistakably encored, Mr. Hage then reci- 
 ted the veracious and comical history of a wor- 
 thy Dutchman, cxhibitiug a wonderful familiarity 
 with his hero's vernacular, the recital of whoso 
 adventures was a source ol the highest apparent 
 enjoyment to the audience. 
 
20 
 
 OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVAL, 
 
 The singing of the Bacred portion of the pro- 
 gramme was here resumed, ''Coronation" being 
 especially well received,when the Hon. Orlando Al- 
 ien again came forward, and spoke as follows : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen— Before singing the con- 
 cluding piece, I wish to say a few words with 
 reference to the several committees of ladies and 
 gentlemen who have had charge of getting up the 
 Festival. You are not probably aware of the 
 labor and trouble which they were obliged to un- 
 dergo. Some mistakes have been made in the 
 arrangements, but they have been as perfect as 
 possible with the little experience we have had in 
 such matters. Those of us who may be charged 
 with getting up the Festival and preparing for 
 another year will profit by the experience we have 
 had this year. Any mistakes that have been made 
 
 were unintentional, and we ask that they may 
 be overlooked. I desire to return the thanks of the 
 committee for the generous contributions made by 
 the citizens in general and especially for the pa- 
 tronage you have given us by coming from day to 
 day to witness the proceedings. (Applause ) 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Allen's address, "Praise 
 God from whom all blessings flow," to the tune of 
 the glorious -'Old Hundred, " was sung by the 
 Choir, — and the audience standing, which put a 
 period to the proceedings of the night. 
 
 To Mr. Blodgctt who officiated as musical direc- 
 tor, and to the ladies and gentlemen who composed 
 the choir generally, the thanks of the public are 
 especially due, for the unprecedented success 
 which crowned their efforts on this occasion. 
 

 
 
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