"« -v ■* * 
 
 
 OF THE 
 
 liJJiiiMtowaMiiitrwfi 
 
 JUNE 9,1892 
 
WnAC' 
 
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 N. h). 
 
 is 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 PROCKKDINGS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CELEBRATION OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH 
 ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCORPORATION 
 OF THE SETTLEMENT OF 
 
 WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, 
 
 HELD JUNE 9, 1892. 
 
 There comes a voice that awakens my sSxal. (^. is the voice of years that 
 are gone ; they roll before me with their 4«ed«vi-OssiAN. 
 
 'm 
 
 Si 
 
 ^^^riiT-^ 
 
 t LIBI^AH^^ 
 
 WINDHAM, N",«.: 
 
 PUBLISHED BT THE EiECUliVE COMMITTEE. 
 
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 \<K 3^1 
 
 C 
 
 f44- 
 
C0 % gesrmbants of tlje Jfirst Settlers, 
 
 WHEREVER IN THE WIDE WORLD SCATTERED, 
 S^ts recoth of a ttltbiation in ^onoi of t^t names, tl^e birtnes, anb i\t betbs of 
 
 S^at gallant banb of ptoplt of Stottb bloob, fo^o fonnbeb tl^e tofains^ip of ®linb^am in 
 
 C^is Volume is Jnsmkb, 
 
 Ua *fe* (S«tntibe dominittet. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIO:^rS. 
 
 The Windham Glee Club 
 
 
 
 Faces page 33 
 
 Gov. Hiram A. Tuttle 
 
 
 
 
 (C ( 
 
 40 
 
 Hon. James Dinsmoor 
 
 
 
 
 (( i 
 
 45 
 
 Hon. George Wilson 
 
 
 
 
 a 1 
 
 83 
 
 Rev. William E. Westervelt . 
 
 
 
 
 4< 
 
 87 
 
 William H. Anderson 
 
 
 
 
 ii i 
 
 88 
 
 Hon, James W. Patterson 
 
 
 
 
 a ( 
 
 94 
 
 Hon. Albert E. Pillsbury 
 
 
 
 
 ii i 
 
 96 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFATORY. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Title-page i 
 
 Dedication iii 
 
 List of illustrations v 
 
 Table of contents .......... vii 
 
 Preface xi 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 History 1 
 
 Petition to the selectmen . 2 
 
 Warrant for town-meeting . . . . . . . . 2, 3 
 
 Action of the town, and committee appointed . . . . 2. 3 
 
 Anniversary levees . 5-7 
 
 Appointment of committees 7 
 
 Selection of orator and poet, and letters to them . . . . 8, 9 
 
 Proceedings of the annual town-meeting, March 8, 1892 . . 9, 10 
 
 Different committees on the celebration . . . . 10, 11 
 
 Selection of place for celebration . . . . . . . 11 
 
 Committee's badge . . . . ' 12 
 
 Report of the secretary 13, 14 
 
 Publication of historical article in Boston Journal .... 14 
 
 Col. J. E. Pecker's article in Boston Journal, May 17, 1892 . . 15-17 
 
 The invitation 19 
 
 The work expands . 20 
 
 DiflBcult questions solved 21 
 
 Work of committee on barges . 22 
 
 Amount of funds collected for celebration 23 
 
 The committee vote to have the proceedings compiled ... 23 
 
 Vote of thanks to Hon. James Dinsmoor 23 
 
 The committee vote to print the proceedings of the celebration . 24 
 
 Estimation of cost 24 
 
Vlll 
 
 Table of Contents. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS, JUNE 9, 1892. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The programme 
 
 Dinner tickets ....... 
 
 Haverhill (Mass.) band and list of members . 
 Reception to Gov. Hiram A. Tiittle and IVIrs. Tuttle 
 The marshal escorts visitors and speakers to the tent 
 
 25-27 
 27 
 
 27, 28 
 28 
 29 
 
 29 
 29-76 
 
 Forenoon exercises in the tent 
 
 Exercises in the tent 
 
 Introduction of the president of the day by the marshal, John H 
 
 Dinsmoor, Esq. . 
 
 Reading of the Scriptures by Rev. E. B. Blanchard 
 
 The prayer, by Rev. Augustus Berry 
 
 The Glee Club, and list of its members 
 
 The song, " Give me your hand, old friend of youth " . 
 
 The song, " Hurrah for old New England " . 
 
 Address of welcome by the president ..... 
 
 List of officers of the day, read by the secretary, Hiram S. Rev 
 
 nolds, Esq. ......... 
 
 Reading of the Petition for the Charter, with names of its signers 
 
 by the town-clerk. John E. Cochran, Esq. 
 Address of Gov. Hiram A. Tuttle ...... 
 
 Introduction of Mrs. Sarah EUenwood, aged 100 years . 
 
 Poem by Mrs. Margaret M. (Park) Dinsmoor 
 
 Address of Hon. James Dinsmoor ...... 
 
 Song, " Rock of Liberty," by the Glee Club .... 
 
 The intermission and dinner . 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Aftemoou exercises in the tent • 76-104 
 
 Address of Evarts Cutter, Esq 76-79 
 
 Address of Rev. Samuel Mon-ison ....... 79-88 
 
 Address of Hon. George Wilson 8-3, 84 
 
 Address of William C. Harris, Esq 84-86 
 
 The generous offer of Hon. George Wilson ..... 86 
 
 Address of Rev. William E. Westervelt 87, 88 
 
 Address of William H. Anderson, Esq 88-91 
 
 Address of Rev. Warren R. Cochrane, D. D 91-98 
 
 Address of Hon. James W. Patterson 94, 95 
 
 Address of Hon. Albert E. Pillsbury 96-98 
 
 Address of Hon. Frederic T. (ireenhalse .... 98-101 
 
 20 
 29-31 
 31-38 
 
 38 
 
 33, 34 
 
 34, 35 
 3.^-87 
 
 37, 38 
 
 39, 40 
 40-42 
 
 42 
 42-45 
 45-73 
 
 74 
 74-76 
 
Table of Contents. 
 
 IX 
 
 Address of Hon. J. G. Crawford 
 
 Motion to adjourn to June 9, 1942 . 
 
 Closing words of the president and adjournment 
 
 Poetical lines of Hon, Benjamin L. Baxter 
 
 Prof. William S. Harris's article 
 
 101, 102 
 . 102 
 . 103 
 
 103, 104 
 . 104 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 The old parish of Aghadowey, county of Londonderry, L-eland 104, 105 
 
 Letter of Kev. Gilbert A. Kennedy 106-108 
 
 Letter from the mayor of Londonderry, Ireland .... 108 
 
 Letter from John Carr, Esq 108 
 
 Letter from Thomas Dinsmoor, Esq 109 
 
 Letter from Prof. Jonathan L. Noyes 109, 110 
 
 Letter from Orlando Davidson, Esq. . . . . . • 110 
 
 Letter from Rev. John H. IMorison, D. I) 110 
 
 Letter from Hon. Jacob H. Gallinger Ill 
 
 Letter from Daniel M. Park, Esq Ill, 112 
 
 Letter from Rev. Carroll Cutler, D. D 112 
 
 Letter from President Harrison 112 
 
 Letter from Hon. William E. Chandler 113 
 
 Letter from Frank E. Park, Esq 113 
 
 Letter from Rev. Joseph S. Cogswell 113 
 
 Letter from George S. Morison, Esq. 114 
 
 Letter from Hon. George A. Marden 114 
 
 l^etter from D. Wallis Morrison, Esq 114, 115 
 
 Poem by Mrs. Mary Whitney Morrison 115-117 
 
 Letter from Rufus A. Morrison, Esq 117-119 
 
 Letter from John Morrison, Esq. 119 
 
 Letter from Albro A. Osgood, i^sq. 119,120 
 
 Letter from ex-Gov. Charles H. Bell 120-122 
 
 Letter from Charles H. Milner, Esq 123 
 
 Letter from Samuel M. Nesmith, Esq 123, 124 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 On the day of the celebration, a court stenographer of large expe- 
 rience and acknowledged ability was employed by the committee to take 
 down the proceedings of the day. This he did, from the commencement 
 of the public exercises to their close, with the exception of those addresses 
 of w^hich he knew a manuscript copy had been furnished me. 
 
 The regular method adopted by him in his record, the style, the form 
 of address, and the exact language he used, have been adopted .by me in 
 this printed book, with the exception of a few unavoidable changes. 
 
 The addresses, as uttered or furnished in MS., are here given, together 
 with the many addressed letters here printed ; and, in the main, they are 
 in the exact form of address and language of the speaker or writer. 
 
 I assume full responsibility for the preparation of the historical part 
 of this book, and for the compilation. Whatever errors or inaccuracies 
 may there appear belong to me. 
 
 Of the addresses and letters which are in this book, if anything appears 
 in form of sentiment or expression to excite the criticism of any one, the 
 widely scattered, genial, and philosophical authors will, no doubt, bear 
 the same with good-humored complacency. 
 
 The long time which it has taken to secure engravings is the cause 
 of the delay in the appearance of this volume. They who have inserted 
 their engravings have the thanks of the committee. 
 
 L. A. M. 
 
 Windham, N. H., 
 
 November 8, 1892. 
 
HISTORY. 
 
 Since the first settlement of Windham one hundred and seventy- 
 two years have passed away. Its founders have fallen asleep with 
 their children and grandchildren, while those who remain in town of 
 the fourth and fifth generations from their immigrating ancestors are 
 the active men to-day. The memory of the olden time has been kept 
 green. In many homes cherished mementoes of the past, of gener- 
 ations passed away, and of old homes beyond the sea, have been hand- 
 ed down from generation to generation. The lamp of political and 
 religious faith has not been suffered to grow dim, nor devotion to 
 sacred trusts to die. 
 
 The living descendants, in honor of their deceased progenitors, the 
 founders and incorporators of the town, proposed to celebrate the 
 150th anniversary of its incorporation. For more than ten years 
 many of the people of Windham were watching and waiting for the 
 eventful day and hour to come. As the anniversary drew near, they 
 proposed to observe it with some attention, even in mid-winter, and 
 with a more fitting celebration in the warm, glowing weather of June. 
 It was deemed proper that the town, in its legal capacity, should take 
 formal action for the proper notice and observance of the day. A 
 petition to the selectmen for a special meeting of the town was pre- 
 pared, of which the following is a copy, with the names of the signers. 
 Others would gladly have signified their approval by appending their 
 names to the document had it been necessary, but enough signa- 
 tiu'es were obtained to answer the legal purpose, and to abundantly 
 show the general appreciation of the object and purpose of the cele- 
 bration. 
 
 As it was an expressed desire by some that full details should be 
 given of the proceedings of the committee, with quotations from the 
 report of the secretary, I have made a full report of the proceedings 
 and free quotations from the secretary's report, for the interest of the 
 present generation in this town, and for the benefit of future ones. 
 
2 Warrant for Town 3Ieeting, Jan. 23, 1892. 
 
 To the Selectmen of Windham, N". H. : 
 
 Gentlemen : — We, the undersigned, legal voters in said town, request 
 you, at your earliest convenience, to call a meeting of the town, and 
 insert in your warrant the following articles : 
 
 Article 1. To see if the town will vote to celebrate with appropriate 
 exercises the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the town. 
 
 Art. 2. To choose such committees as may be thought necessary to 
 carry the above vote into effect. 
 
 Art. 3. To decide on the manner of raising monej' to meet the ex- 
 penses of the celebration. 
 
 Art. 4. To transact any other business relating to the celebration that 
 may be deemed expedient. 
 
 Windham, N. II., Dec. 21, 1891. 
 
 William C. Harris, 
 Isaac P. Cochran, 
 John E. Cochran, 
 Horace Anderson, 
 Patsey Mahoney, 
 George W. Johnson, 
 Horace P. Dinsmoor, 
 William 1). Cochran, 
 Joseph W. Dinsmoor, 
 Chas. A. Reed, 
 
 per L. A. M, 
 George F. Armstrong, 
 Charles J. Miers, 
 George E. Seavey, 
 
 James AI. Crowell, 
 Samuel L. Prescott, 
 David C. Foss, 
 Dalton J. Warren, 
 
 Abel Dow, 
 George P. Dow, 
 Albert A. Morrison, 
 Henry ,T. Richardson, 
 John W. I\I. W^orledge, Horace Berry, 
 Charles II. Barker, Henry T. Wheeler, 
 
 Benjamin E.Blanchard, Eugene AV. Armstrong, 
 
 Joseph P. Crowell, 
 James Cochran, 
 John G. Bradford, 
 John II. Dinsmore, 
 Leonard A. jNIorrison, 
 Jos. \V. Dinsmoor, Jr., 
 Albert O. Alexander. 
 
 Caleb B. Clark, 
 William H. Armstrong, 
 David C. Anderson, 
 John A. Park, 
 William A. Thorn, 
 Frank A. Crowell, 
 
 per E. B. 
 
 A true copy of petition. Attest : John E. Cochran, Town Clerk 
 A true copy of record. Attest : John E. Cochran, Town Clerk. 
 
 The vrarrant issued was as follows : 
 
 r T The State of New Hampshire. 
 
 [l. s.] 
 
 To the inhabitants of the town of Windham qualified to vote in town affairs: 
 
 Pursuant to an application to us of this date by ten or more voters of 
 said town, you are notified to appear at the lower town hall in said town 
 on Saturday, the 2;5d day of January, inst., at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, 
 to act upon the following subjects : 
 
 First, To choose a moderator to preside in said meeting. 
 
 Second, To see if the town will vote to celebrate with appropriate ex- 
 ercises the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the town. 
 
 Third, To choose such committees as may be thought necessary to 
 carry the above vote into effect. 
 
Action of the Totvn. 3 
 
 Fourth, To decide on the manner of raising money to meet the ex- 
 penses of the celebration. 
 
 Fifth, To transact any other business relating to the celebration that 
 may be deemed expedient. 
 
 Given under our hands and seal, this 9th day of January, 1892. 
 
 Albp:rt E. Simpson, 
 John A. McVoy, 
 Augustus L. Barker, 
 
 Selectmen of Windham. 
 
 Windham, January 23, 1892. 
 We do hereby certify that on the 9th day of January last we posted 
 and attested a copy of the within warrant at the place of meeting within 
 specified, and a like copy at the store of John G. Bradford, a public 
 place in said town. 
 
 A. E. Simpson, 
 J. A. McVoY, 
 A. L. Barker, 
 Selectmen of Windham. 
 
 A true copy of the warrant and the return thereof. 
 
 Attest : John E. Cochran, Town Clerk. 
 
 At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Windham on the 
 23d day of January, 1892, at the lower town hall in said town, at 1 
 o'clock in the afternoon, William D. Cochran was elected moderator. 
 It was then unanimously voted to celebrate the 150th anniversary, 
 and to choose a committee of two from each former school district, the 
 following gentlemen being chosen : 
 
 No.l. 
 
 William D. Coclu'an, 
 Leonard A. Morrison. 
 Albert E. Simpson, 
 John W. M. Worledge. 
 Horace Berry, 
 George E. Seavey. 
 No. 4. Hiram S. Reynolds, 
 
 Alphonso F. Campbell. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 No. 5. Augustus L. Barker, 
 Joseph P. Crowell. 
 
 No. 6. William C. Harris, 
 James Cochran. 
 
 No. 7. Charles H. Davis, 
 Horace B. Johnson. 
 
 It was voted to leave the manner of raising funds in the hands of 
 the committee, and they were authorized to fill all vacancies occurring 
 in their number. The town also voted that the celebration should 
 take place in the month of June, 1892, and that the date should be 
 left with the committee. 
 
4 Names of Committees Clioseii. 
 
 On January 29th this committee met at the lower town hall, com- 
 pleted its organization, and considered the matter of raising funds to 
 defray the expenses of the celebration. Leonard A. Morrison was 
 chosen president ; Hiram S. Reynolds, secretary ; Albert E. Simpson, 
 treasurer ; and William D. Cochran secretary j9ro tern. 
 
 It was voted to have a tri-semi-centennial festival on the evening of 
 February 12, 1892, with a " C Supper," the tables to be furnished with 
 articles of food commencing with the letter C. John H. Dinsmore 
 was chosen president for the evening, John A. McVoy to seU tickets, 
 John L. Bradford to collect them, John H. Cochran to care for the 
 clothes, and John W. M. Worledge, William C Harris, William D. 
 Cochran, to procui'e posters and provide entertainment for the even- 
 ing. The admission for adults, including supper, was fixed at forty 
 cents ; children under twelve years, twenty cents. 
 
 The following announcement of the celebrating festival was sent 
 out by the committee : 
 
ANNIVERSARY 
 
 TCWN HALL, WINDHAM, N. H. 
 
 FRIDAY EVENiO, FEB. 12. 1892 
 
 By the citizens of Windham, for the purpose of raising money to 
 aid in Celebrating, in June next, the One Hundred and Fif- 
 tieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of' the Town. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENT BY 
 
 CABLE. Comedian 
 
 or BOSTON 
 
 Ice Cream. Confectionery, and Flowers will be for Sale 
 
 THERE WILL BE A GUESS CAKE. SPIDERS WEB. AND MANY OTHER ATTRACTIONS, 
 
 C SUPPER BBLL OF FARE 
 
 CLAM CHOWDER CHICKEN ^„^.„ „,- 
 
 CRANBERRY PIE" CURRANT PIE CHICKEN PIE CUSTARD PIE CREAM PIE 
 
 CRACKER PUDDING CHOCOLATE PUDDING 
 
 CAKE COOKIES CHEESE CRABAPPLE TARTS CRANBERRY TARTS CURRANT TARTS 
 
 COFFEE CHINESE TEA 
 
 ADIMISSIOEM, including supper, 40 CENTS. 
 
 CHILDREN, under twelve years of age, 20 CENTS. 
 
 It very stormy the Levee will be tlie first fair evening of the next week 
 Windham. N. H.. Feb. 3. 1892. ssr-.r 
 
The Festival of February 12, 1892. 7 
 
 The people of the town engaged with enthusiasm in the work of 
 preparation, and the prospect for a brilliant success was never better. 
 The daily papers announced " Much Disturbance on the Surface of 
 the Sun," accompanied with dark spots of large size ; which some 
 journals insisted on proclaiming presaged heavy storms on this planet. 
 Be that as it may, the storm came, and a severe one, on the day and 
 night of February 11th. The wind blew with great violence, the snow 
 fell rapidly, and before the dawn of the morning of February 12th a 
 foot and a half of snow covered the ground. The evening was one of 
 the finest. The moon was at its full ; the air was cool, crisp, and still, 
 and not a cloud dimmed the azure vault above. A goodly company 
 assembled in the town hall, and the evening passed away enjoyably, 
 not the least of the attractions being the five handsomely laden tables 
 in the lower hall. The supper was excellent, and was duly appreci- 
 ated by the guests. A supplementary supper and entertainment were 
 held in the same place on Monday evening, February 15th, and the 
 proceeds from both entertainments, above expenses, were $115. 
 
 At a meeting of the town committee, who adopted the name of the 
 " Executive Committee," holden at the town hall, February 13, 1892, 
 several committees were chosen. 
 
 On motion of William C. Harris, a Committee on Finance were 
 chosen, as follows : Albert E. Simpson, Joseph P. Crowell, William 
 C. Harris. 
 
 On motion of Horace Berry, a committee of three were chosen to 
 select an orator, and to arrange an order of literary exercises for the 
 celebration. The committee were Leonard A. Morrison, William D. 
 Cochran, William C. Harris. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Berry, an Investigating Committee were chosen 
 to consult and see what would be an appropriate order of general 
 exercises for the day of the celebration ; to name the different com- 
 mittees necessary to be appointed by the Executive Committee ; and 
 to suggest a list of persons for these committees ; the Investigating 
 Committee to report their doings within two weeks to the Executive 
 Committee for their action upon the same. The Investigating Com- 
 mittee were Leonard A. Morrison, Horace Berry, and James Cochran. 
 The committee to select an orator met and voted unanimously to 
 extend the invitation to an honored son of Windham, Hon. James 
 Dinsmoor of Sterling, 111. 
 
 The foUowinw letter was sent to him : 
 
8 Letter of Hon. James Dinsmoo)'. 
 
 Windham, New Hampshire (Canobie Lake, N. H., P. O.) 
 February 15, 1892. 
 Hon. James Dinsmoor, 
 
 Sterling, Illinois : 
 My Dear Sir : — At a special meeting of this town, holden January 
 23, 1892, it was unanimously voted to celebrate the 150th anniversary of 
 the incorporation of the town. The incorporating act was passed on 
 February 12, 1742 ; the celebration will be holden in the early part of 
 June, 1892, when the weather is usually agreeable and pleasant. An 
 Executive Committee were chosen to make arrangements, and to carry 
 the vote of the town into effect. 
 
 It is proposed to render a tribute of honor, slight though it may be in 
 comparison with their merits, to those Scotch people of heroic mould, 
 who for opinion's sake fled from the mountains and valleys of Scotland 
 to Ireland, and who themselves or their descendants, a little later, came 
 to New Hampshire and founded this settlement. It was considered by 
 the committee especially appropriate that at the celebration the histori- 
 cal address should be delivered by one of their descendants, a son of 
 Windham, and they have unanimously selected you as the orator who 
 could very fittingly make that address. It gives me pleasure, in their 
 name, as well as individually, to give you a most cordial and urgent invi- 
 tation to again visit your own early home, — the home, too, of your fathers 
 for four generations, — and to address your former fellow-citizens and 
 friends, and those who will be present on that memorable occasion. 
 Hoping that nothing will prevent you from accepting this invitation, 
 I remain. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 Leonard A. Morrison, 
 For the Committee on Literary Exercises. 
 
 This letter of invitation brought forth the following letter of accept- 
 ance : 
 
 Sterling, III., March 15, 1892. 
 Hon. L. a. Morrison, 
 
 Windham, N. H.: 
 My Dear Sir : — The request of the Committee of Arrangements for 
 the proposed celebration of the 150th anniversary of the organization of 
 our native town, to have me prepare an address for that occasion, has 
 given me much pleasure, and at the same time not a little perplexity, — 
 pleasure that while so many of the natives of that good old town have 
 been called to active life remote from the home of our childhood, there 
 yet remain within her borders sons who appreciate the physical and 
 mental vigor and moral worth of the fathers of 150 years ago : peri^lex- 
 ity that my present engagements and health will not permit me to make 
 such preparation as may justify their selection. The latter has caused 
 
Historical Town Meeting, March 5, 1892. 9 
 
 my delay in thanking the committee for the invitation, and expressing 
 the hope that I may be able to contiibute my mite to the meed of praise 
 of our fathers of 1742. 
 
 Be so kind as to extend to the several members of the committee my 
 kindest regards. Hoping this may find you in good health, I am 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 Jas. Dinsmoor. 
 
 The Committee on Literary Exercises selected Mrs. Margaret M. 
 (Park) Dinsmoor as the poet for the celebration, and the following 
 invitation was given : 
 
 Windham, N. H., February 18, 1892. 
 My Dear Mrs. Dinsmoor : 
 
 There will be a celebration in June next in commemoration of the 
 150th anniversary of the act of incorporation of this town. The Com- 
 mittee on Literary Exercises, Leonard A. Morrison, William D. Cochran, 
 and William C. Harris, have unanimously selected you as the poet, and 
 desire, and now invite you to furnish a poem for that historic day. 
 Hoping that nothing will prevent you from so doing, I am. 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 Leonard A. Morrison, 
 
 For the Committee. 
 To Mrs. Margaret M. (Park) Dinsmoor, 
 Avondale Farm, Windhaiii, N. H. 
 
 Mrs. Dinsmoor accepted the invitation. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING HELD 
 MARCH 8, 1892. 
 
 At a legal town meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Wind- 
 ham, on the 8th day of March, 1892, at the lower hall in the town 
 house, in said town, at 10 of the clock in the forenoon, the meeting 
 was called to order by William D. Cochran, chairman of the Board 
 of Supervisors. 
 
 Leonard A. Morrison was elected moderator. 
 
 Prayer was offered by Rev. William E. Westervelt. 
 
 The moderator called William D. Cochran, chairman of the Board 
 of Supervisors, to the chair, and introduced the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That we, the people of Windham, in town meeting assembled, 
 on this, the 150th anniversary of the day and the hour when the founders 
 of this town met in their first annual town meeting, under the act of 
 incorporation, revere and honor those who established this township ; 
 
10 The Bay to Celebrate Selected. 
 
 that we hold their names and recorded acts in veneration, and would have 
 them kept in perpetual remembrance. 
 
 Looking backward 150 years, we behold the fathers in their town 
 meeting and tender them honor; looking into the future 150 years, we 
 salute our successors of a remote generation. 
 
 When they shall gather in their annual town meeting in March, 2042, 
 we commend to them the familiar names, the manly acts, the heroic vir- 
 tues, of the founders of this town, that they may honor and emulate 
 them, and in their turn commend to their successors of 150 years later 
 the names of those whom we honor by this resolve, that their memory 
 may not perish from among men. 
 
 He made some remarks in favor of the resolution, moved its 
 adoption and that it be recorded with the records of the town. 
 This motion was seconded in appropriate words by Horace Berry, and 
 the town voted to adopt and record the resolution. 
 
 It was a singular coincidence that William D. Cochran, who called 
 this meeting to order, was a lineal descendant of Robert Dinsmoor, 
 chairman of the Board of Commissioners to call the first town meet- 
 ing, and who undoubtedly called that meeting to order on March 8, 
 1742, just 150 years before, to the very day and hour ; and that 
 Lieutenant Samuel Morison, who was elected the first moderator in 
 1742, was the great grandfather of the person chosen in 1892. 
 
 On March 12th, the Conamittee of Arrangements met and decided 
 to have the celebration at the center of the town on June 9th. Va- 
 rious committees were chosen, as follows : 
 
 ON INVITATIONS. 
 
 WiUiam C. Harris, 
 Leonard A. Morrison, 
 William D. Cochi'an, 
 Alphonso F. Campbell. 
 
 ON DECORATIONS. 
 
 Horace Berry, 
 John W. M. Worledge, 
 Horace P. Dinsmoor, 
 Charles H. Davis. 
 
 It was decided to have a brief synopsis of the history of the town 
 and the proposed celebration prepared and printed in a leading 
 paper, and to send the same to natives, former residents, and friends 
 of the town. A Committee on Newspapers were chosen, consisting 
 of Albert E. Simpson, William C. Harris, and Alphonso F. Campbell. 
 
A Place Selected. li- 
 
 ON SINGING. 
 
 ^•'''•ft^ 
 
 Benjamin Edwin Blanchard, //J' . .y* 
 
 Hiram S. Reynolds, /'^.^ ^ *^^\; 
 
 Albert A. Morrison. 
 
 ON BAND. 
 
 Edwin 0. Dinsmoor, 
 
 Horace Anderson, *-7 
 
 Jacob A. Nesmith. 
 
 a: 
 
 It was voted that the Committee on Reception should consist of 
 the Executive Committee and their ladies, with Benjamin E. Blan- 
 chard and Albert A. Morrison. 
 
 On motion of William D. Cochran, it was voted that Leonard A. 
 Morrison and William C Harris should constitute a committee to 
 prepare a list of names which, when approved by the Executive Com- 
 mittee, should, on the day of celebration, be the Honorary Committee. 
 This closed the proceedings of that day. 
 
 Thus the good work went on and the hopes of the committee began 
 to materialize. 
 
 The question of the selection of a proper place for holding the cele- 
 bration had been an important one. Mr. Abel Dow, the manager and 
 proprietor of the Granite State Grove, Canobie Lake, near the rail- 
 road station at that place, had generously offered to the committee 
 his spacious and beautiful grounds, and buHdings with the exception 
 of the skating rink, as a place to hold the celebration, if they desired. 
 After due consideration, on March 12th, it was decided to hold the 
 celebration at the center of the town, and the committee at their meet- 
 ing on April 7th, on motion of Horace Berry, passed the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the Executive Committee extend to Mr. Abel Dow their 
 heartfelt thanks for his kindness and generosity in offering his grove for 
 the coming celebration of the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of 
 Windham. 
 
 The secretary was authorized to notify Mr. Dow of said vote. 
 
 At the meeting April 7th, thi-ee persons were chosen a committee 
 
 ON COLLATION. 
 
 WUliam D. Cochran, 
 Albert E. Simpson, 
 George E. Seavey. 
 
12 
 
 A Free Collation. 
 
 1 damm itt^«^ 
 0£ 
 
 rratt|uments. 
 
 in old English letters. 
 
 It was voted, on motion of W. C. Harris, that 
 should not exceed one hundred dollars, and that 
 ham Center at 8:30 a. m. and remain till 5:30 p. 
 
 It was voted, 
 on motion of WU- 
 jliam C. Harris, to 
 have a free dinner 
 at the celebration, 
 and the meeting 
 adjourned to April 
 23d. 
 
 Met accoi'ding 
 to adjournment, 
 when it was voted 
 that Leonard A. 
 Morrison be a 
 committee to pro- 
 cure thirty-six 
 badges for the Ex- 
 ecutive Comm i t - 
 tee. These he 
 subsequently pro- 
 cured, at a cost of 
 twenty cents each. 
 They were of the 
 following descrip- 
 tion : Made of 
 white satin, four 
 inches in length 
 and two inches in 
 breadth, attached 
 to a glittering pin, 
 wliich looked like 
 gold^ but perhaps 
 was not of that 
 metal, and with 
 gilt fringe. The 
 satin was marked, 
 " Commit tee of 
 Arrange m e n t s ," 
 
 the expense of a band 
 it should be at Wind- 
 m. After the transac- 
 
Report of the Secretary. 13 
 
 tiou of other business, the meeting adjourned, subject to the call of 
 the president. 
 
 The committee again met, on May 4th. The Haverhill, Mass., 
 City band had been secured, at an expense of one hundred dollars. 
 
 It having been decided to secure a large tent, the spot on which to 
 pitch it caused the committee a good deal of anxiety, as the grounds 
 in front of the town house were not of sufficient extent. After sev- 
 eral places had been examined, it was finally voted to put it in the 
 field of James Cochran, on the west of his house, and with the under- 
 standing that there the tables should be set the day before the celebra- 
 tion, as that would relieve the ladies of care and labor on the celebra- 
 ting day ; and that the seating capacity at the tables should be for 
 1,000 i^ersons. At this meeting William D. Cochran, chairman of 
 the Committee on Collation, gave a valuable report in relation to the 
 sort of tents and the expense and general method of providing and 
 supplying the great congregation with a free dinner. It was decided, 
 according to the report of the secretary, to have the speaking " some- 
 where around the town house." 
 
 It was moved by Albert E. Simpson that the schools of the town, 
 with their teachers, be invited to meet at the schoolhouse in No. 6, 
 on the day of celebration, the whole to be under the direction of the 
 school board, and that they be escorted in the order in which the sev- 
 eral districts come, by the band, to the town hall, and that they have 
 a separate table for dinner. It was so voted. 
 
 The following is an original, racy, and quaint report from the sec- 
 retary's record : " The question of posters, how they shall be worded, 
 came up, and was discussed at some length. [This included the gen- 
 eral one of invitations.] The question of invitations came up, and 
 was discussed by different gentlemen. It was thought that 1,000 
 ought to be sent out, and that, in all probability, not more than one- 
 half would respond. L. A. Morrison gave liis ideas (as he has on 
 several different occasions), in plain and outspoken language. He 
 thinks the invitation should include any one who has any inclination 
 to come : he would invite the whole of creation — and have dinner 
 tickets (at a fixed price), and any person or persons who wanted din- 
 ner should notify the committee accordingly, and secure them. 
 
 " Another grave and important matter has just come up, and that 
 is, whether the committee are willing to release Mr. William D. Coch- 
 ran (one of the important persons on the Executive Committee, and 
 chairman of the Committee on Collation) to go on a trip to Portland, 
 Oregon, to be gone most of the time between now and the coming 
 
14 Report of the Secretary. 
 
 celebration. Most of the committee are willing, but A. E. Simpson 
 (also on Committee on Collation) is inclined to object, on the ground 
 that W. D. Cochran is the hub of the wheel, as well as the spoke, and 
 says, further, that if W. D. C. does go, he (Simpson) wants to feed 
 the crowd in a different manner (the way subsequently adopted), that 
 is, without setting tables. W. D. Cochran objects to that way, on the 
 ground that it would be very much more work ; his idea is to relieve 
 the ladies on celebration day from being obliged to work hard all day; 
 they could mingle with the crowd, see their friends, and be relieved 
 from very much care, etc., etc. So the matter is left undecided. The 
 meeting adjourned sine die at 6:45 p. m. H. S. Reynolds, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 At this same meeting, Albert E. Simpson, chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Newspapers, reported that he had made arrangements with 
 the Boston Journal to supply 800 copies of the Journal at three 
 cents each, to be sent to different parties, on being furnished a list of 
 names by the committee. The following article in relation to the cel- 
 ebration was prepared by Col. J. E. Pecker, of Concord, correspon- 
 dent of the Journal^ who visited Windham, took items from the com- 
 mittee, and prepared the article from those facts and from other in- 
 formation found in the " History of Windham in New Hampshire." 
 Leonard A. Morrison prepared a list of 600 names, which was sup- 
 plied to the Journal office, and this article, published in the Morn- 
 ing Journal, May 17, 1892, was mailed direct from that ofl&ce 
 to the parties named in that list. The other 200 copies came to 
 Windham, and were mailed to different persons and divided among 
 the members of the committee, for distribution among the people of 
 the town. 
 
Col. J. E. Pecker's Article. 15 
 
 WINDHAM, N. H. 
 
 Its 150th Anniversary to he Celebrated — Arrancjements for a Orand Re- 
 union of Former Residents — Notes on the History of a Town Which 
 Has no Mean Record. 
 
 [Special Dispatch to The Boston Journal.] 
 
 Windham, N. H., May 16. — The citizens of Windham will celebrate 
 the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the town on June 9th, and 
 the proposed festivities are akeady the eager topic of discussion among 
 all classes in this community. The various committees are hard at work, 
 and they are promised so generous a measure of hearty co-operation from 
 the citizens that it is safe even now to predict that the reunion will be a 
 grand success. The first movement toward this celebration was the draft- 
 ing of a petition directed to the selectmen by William C. Harris en- 
 dorsed by others, which was largely signed by the voters of the town 
 The petition called for a special meeting to be held for the purpose of 
 taking action in the matter. The meeting was held on January 23d, and 
 there was a good attendance. It was unanimously and enthusiastically 
 voted to hold the celebration on the date already named. A Committee 
 of Arrangements, to have entire charge of the proceedings, was chosen, 
 consisting of two from each of the old school districts. This committee 
 was composed of the following gentlemen : William D. Cochran, Hon. 
 Leonard A. Morrison, A. M., Albert E. Simpson, John W. M. Worledge, 
 Horace Berry, George E. Seavey, Hiram S. Reynolds, Alphonso F. Camp- 
 bell, Augustus L. Barker, Joseph P. Crowell, William C. Harris, James 
 Cochran, Charles H. Davis, and Horace B. Johnson. The committee or- 
 ganized by choosing Hon. Leonard A. Morrison, A. M., of Canobie Lake, 
 chairman, and President of the Day, and Hiram S. Reynolds, of West 
 Windham, secretary. A Committee on Finance was selected, with Al- 
 bert E. Simpson, of Windham, chairman. Various sub-committees were 
 ■chosen on the subjects of literary exercises, including the selection of an 
 orator, invitations, collation, decorations, music, and reception. The 
 town was not asked to appropriate money, as it was desired to meet all 
 expenses with voluntary contributions, which are coming in very gener- 
 ally from citizens, former residents, and descendants of early settlers. As 
 the exact date of the 150th anniversary was on February 12th, a public 
 festival was held on the evening of that day in the town hall, to com- 
 memorate that event, it being understood that the formal celebration 
 should occur in the summer, the date of which was subsequently fixed 
 as already given. 
 
 The general committee voted to hold the exercises at the center of the 
 town. Under this arrangement, visitors from abroad are expected to 
 debark from the cars at Windham Junction, where barges will be in 
 attendance to convey them to the center village, a distance of two and a 
 half miles. The Committee on Literary Exercises unanimously voted 
 
16 Col. J. E. Pecker s Article Continued. 
 
 to invite Hon. James Dinsmoor, a lawyer of Stei-ling, Illinois, to deliver 
 the historical address, which invitation has been accepted. Mr. Dins- 
 moor is a native of Windham, a graduate of Dartmouth College, and a 
 jurist of high character and reputation. He has always taken a great 
 interest in his native town, making frequent visits to it, and the fact of 
 his acceptance of the invitation to deliver the oration has caused great 
 satisfaction to the entire population of Windham. Mrs. M. M. P. Dins- 
 moor, of Windham, will read an original poem. Among other speakers 
 expected from abroad are Rev. W. R. Cochrane, D. D., of Antrim, Rev. 
 Samuel Morrison, of Charlton, Mass., and Rev. C. M. Dinsmoor, of Exe- 
 ter. The exercises will commence at 10 a. m., and the remainder of the 
 forenoon will be devoted mainly to listening to the historical address. 
 Dinner will be served at 1 p. m., followed by toasts and speeches. Fine 
 instrumental and vocal music will be furnished. It is expected that a 
 large tent will be pitched near the hall for dming purposes. All bells in 
 the town will be rung at sunrise, and there will be extensive decorations. 
 Governor and Mrs. Tuttle will be among the invited guests. Rev. Gil- 
 bert A. Kennedy, of tiie Presbyterian church in the parish of Aghadowey, 
 county of Londonderry, province of Ulster, Ireland, of which church 
 some of the first settlers of that portion of Londonderry, now Windham, 
 were members, has been sent a most cordial letter of invitation. 
 
 Windham was originally settled by people of Scotch blood, some 
 direct from Scotland, but most of them from Scotch settlements in 
 the North of Ireland. The territory now comprising Windham was 
 from 1719 to February 12, 1742, a portion of Londonderry. The first 
 sixteen settlers of Londonderry, with their wives and families, were 
 James McKeen, John Barnet, Archibald Clendennin, John Mitchell, 
 James Starrett, James Anderson, Randall Alexander, James Gregg, 
 James Clark, James Nesmith, Allen Anderson, Robert Weir, John Mor- 
 ison, Samuel Allison, Thomas Steele, and John Stuart. Of these sixteen, 
 McKeen, Anderson, Alexander, Clark, Nesmith, and Stuart were each the 
 ancestor of the Windham families which bear their respective surnames. 
 The homes in Ireland of the McKeens, Dinsmoors, McGregors, and Nes- 
 miths, and many other families which settled in Windham and London- 
 derry, were in the valley of the river Bann, in or near the parishes or 
 towns of Kilrea, Coleraine, Ballywatick, Ballymoney, and Ballynoolen. 
 In September, 1719, five months after the first settlement, there were 
 seventy families, and in October there were 105. There is no account of 
 any Indian outrage to an inhabitant of Windham or Londonderry, save 
 that of the boy who was killed on Golden Brook about 1721. 
 
 The first grant of land in Windham was one of 500 acres, ordered by the 
 Legislature of Massachusetts, to Rev. Thos. Cobbett, of Ipswich, that state. 
 It was surveyed and laid out in October, 1662, by Joseph Davis, Jere- 
 miah Belcher, and Simon Tuttle. This was approved by the General 
 Court at Boston, May 27, 1663. The bounds were renewed May 2, 1728, 
 by Jonathan Foster, John Jacques, Thomas Gage, and David Haseltine. 
 
JEmigration to Coleraine^ Mass. IT 
 
 This farm was laid out in 1662, or fifty-seven years before the Scotch 
 made a settlement in Londonderry, of which Windham was a part. Un- 
 doubtedly Londonderry had been traversed again and again by exploring 
 and hunting expeditions, before and after 1662 ; still, it is doubtful if any 
 permanent settlements were made till the advent of the Scotch in 1719. 
 The first settlement in Windham was southeast of Cobbett's Pond, near 
 the cemetery, on the highest elevation of Copps' Hill. There the first 
 house stood, and the first occupant was John Waddell, and this was not 
 far from 1720. In 1740 an emigration of some fourteen families took 
 place from Windham and Londonderry, to Coleraine, Mass., among them 
 being Morrisons and Stuarts. 
 
 The petition to Governor Benning Wentworth, praying for the erec- 
 tion of a new parish, though not dated, was drawn in 1740, and was 
 signed by Thomas Morison and forty-eight others. In that year Eze- 
 kiel Morison, one of the petitioners, died. Those who signed the in- 
 strument asked that a tract of land near six miles in length and four in 
 breadth, lying on the south side, at the easterly end of said town of Lon- 
 donderry, be made into a new parish. The reasons for presenting the 
 petition were narrated to be considerable difficulty, unknown to others 
 not in their circumstances, more especially with respect to their attend- 
 ance on public worship. It was stated that the greater part of the peti- 
 tioners, or rather all of them except three, were living upwards of seven 
 miles from either of the meeting houses in said town, the inconveniences 
 of which were self-evident. From this it will be seen that the early set- 
 tlers of Londonderry were church-going people, those asking for the new 
 town of Windham making their strongest claim on the ground of living 
 at an inconvenient distance from the earliest houses of worship in the 
 settlement. 
 
 The charter for Windham was granted January 21, 1741, and " An Act 
 for incorporating a new parish in the township of Londonderry in the 
 Province of New Hampshire," was passed by the General Com't Febru- 
 ary 12, 1742. It was also enacted that Robert Dinsmoor, Joseph Waugh, 
 and Robert Thomson be hereby authorized and appointed to call the 
 first meeting of the inhabitants of the said parish on the 8th day of March 
 following. The charter was granted on the condition that the inhabit- 
 ants of the said parish should from time to time provide, maintain, and 
 support an orthodox minister of the gospel among them. The charter 
 was signed by Andrew Wiggin, Speaker ; Richard Waldron, Secretary of 
 the Council Board, and B. Wentworth, Governor, and a copy was at- 
 tested by Samuel Campbell, town clerk. The sun which rose on the 
 morning of February 12, 1742, ushered in a new and brighter day to 
 those hardy settlers who on that date became the inhabitants of the new 
 town of Windham. 
 
 The first town meeting was held according to the provisions of the 
 charter, and on March 8, 1742, the initial measures were taken that laid 
 the foundations for the new town of Windham, upon whose people the 
 
18 Noted Men. 
 
 sun of prosperity has ever shone. It is unnecessary to mention in detail 
 the more prominent events in the record of the town, for they can all be 
 gleaned from its excellent history that was the fruit of years of assidu- 
 ous labor on the part of the widely-known author and genealogist, Hon. 
 Leonard A. Morrison, A. M., and who published the same in 1883. It 
 may be stated, however, that Windham has always been distinguished for 
 the enterprise, intelligence, patriotism, and religious culture of its inhab- 
 itants. Education has ever been fostered with care and faithfulness, 
 churches have been well supported, and her children have always been 
 taught loyalty to the state and nation. In all the wars in which the 
 United States has been engaged, Windham's sons have always done their 
 part, especially in the War of the Rebellion, to defend the flag of their 
 country, Windham's first library was established in 1800, which was 
 followed by numerous others from time to time, including the Nesmith 
 Free Public Library, which was established in 1871, the donor being 
 Col. Thomas Nesmith, of Lowell. The natural scenery of Windham is 
 noted for its varied beauty. The diversity of the landscape is such that 
 the eye never tires in beholding its grand old hills, valleys, lakes, and 
 streams of water. 
 
 Among natives, or descendants of the earliest settlers, now residing 
 beyond the limits of the town, who have helped to give character and 
 reputation to Windham, may be named ex-Gov. Charles H. Bell, of Ex- 
 eter, the two ex-(iovs. Dinsmoor, of Keene, Hon. Wm. H. Anderson, a 
 lawyer of Lowell, George W. Armstrong, of Boston, Hon. Charles H. 
 Campbell, of Nashua, John Campbell, of Henniker, James M. Campbell, 
 of Manchester, Judge George C. Clyde, of Columbia county, N. Y., 
 Milton A. Clyde, of Springfield, Mass., Hon. James Dinsmoor, of Illin- 
 ois, Hon. Silas Dinsmoor, of Alabama, Hon. James Dinsmore, of Ken- 
 tucky, WOliam B. Dinsmore, late president of the Adams Express Com- 
 pany, of New York city, Nathaniel Hills, of Ipswich, Mass., Hon. John 
 C. Park, of Boston, Hon. Aaron P. Hughes, of Nashua, Hon. Alva Mor- 
 rison, of Braintree, Mass., Prof. James Morrison, M. D., of Quincy, 
 Mass., Hon. John Nesmith, of Lowell, Mass., and Prof. J. L. Noyes, of 
 Faribault, Minnesota. 
 
 The work of the committee went rapidly forward. Tlie several 
 committees were attending closely to their different lines of labor and 
 worked together hai-moniously and well. Leonard A. Morrison, for 
 the Committee on Invitations, had printed, on May 11th, 1,100 copies 
 of the following invitation, and on May 12th about 600 single copies 
 were folded and addressed at the American office, in Lawrence, Mass., 
 and mailed at Windham to the persons named in a list which had been 
 prepared. Most of the remaining copies were sent by different mem- 
 bers of the Executive Committee to parties in different sections of 
 
The Invitation. 19 
 
 the country. The responses to this invitation were enthusiastic and 
 numerous. 
 
 —1892.— 
 
 Windham, New Hampshire. 
 
 Settled, 1720. Incorporated, 1742. 
 
 The Citizens of Windham 
 
 will celebrate the 
 
 150th Anniversary of its Incorporation, 
 
 June 9th, 1892. 
 
 Exercises 
 
 To Commence at 10 o'clock A. M. 
 
 at 
 
 The Town Hall. 
 
 " Give me your hand. Old Friend of Youth." 
 
 Historical Address by 
 
 Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 It is proposed to make this the most interesting celebration ever 
 held in the Town. Tents will be erected and everything done to 
 make the occasion worthy of those in whose honor we celebrate. 
 
 Descendants of the early settlers, wherever located, natives, and 
 former residents, are cordially invited to return to the old home, and 
 with the citizens of Windham participate in the festivities of' the day. 
 
 Your presence is requested. 
 
 Please notify the Committee of your acceptance. 
 
 William C Harris, 
 Leonard A. Morrison, 
 William D. Cochran, 
 Alphonso F. Campbell, 
 
 Committee on Invitations. 
 
 N. B. — Visitors from abroad, and guests of the Town, will leave 
 trains at Windham Junction, from which barges will be run, and 
 which can convey them to the Town House. Guests of the Town will 
 be received by the Committee of Arrangements in the Upper Hall. 
 
 Barges will run during the day between the Town House and the 
 Station, connecting with aU trains. Particulars will be given in the 
 Programmes. 
 
20 The Work Expands. 
 
 The next meeting of the committee was on May 28th, and matters 
 of much importance came up, were fully discussed, and decided. The 
 celebration had grown on the hands of the committee. It had be- 
 come advertised in all the surrounding country. The occasion was in 
 itself a very fascinating one, and one which always draws a multitude. 
 Ten thousand peojjle had gathered in 1869 at the Londonderry cele- 
 bration. It was prophesied by some who had participated in the man- 
 agement of that affair, that this one would draw five thousand people, 
 if it was a pleasant day. Others asserted that three thousand people 
 would be present. But it was an uncertain quantity, though " it was 
 in the air " that a large number would be in Windham, if the weather 
 was fine. They would flock to Windham as men flock to a banquet, 
 or as doves to their windows. They would 
 
 " Come as the winds come, when 
 Forests are rended ; 
 Come as the waves come, when 
 Navies are stranded." 
 
 And the people of Windham wanted them to come, but they wished 
 also to provide for them in an acceptable manner. Such was the sit- 
 uation of the committee. They were making preparations for 1,000 
 people, and 5,000 might be present. 
 
 William C. Harris discussed the subject at length. His solution of 
 the problem was, that the distinguished guests, speakers, etc., should 
 be entertained at tables in the lower town hall, the children in Good- 
 win's hall, and then provisions could be carried among the multitude 
 outside, and the speaking be held in the tent. 
 
 Joseph P. Crowell took the floor and remarked that he was aware 
 that we had a big enterprise on our hands, and thought it was imprac- 
 ticable to set tables in the tent, as had been intended. 
 
 Several others thought that the present plans would have to be 
 radically changed. All oiu* guests could not be accommodated at the 
 tables, as proposed. A general and lengthy discussion ensued. Then 
 J. P. Crowell moved that the chair appoint three persons as a special 
 committee, to withdraw and draft a plan, in writing, as to the best 
 method of feeding the probable thousands who would attend the cele- 
 bration, the best place to have the tent located (as there were serious 
 objections to the one decided upon), and to make other necessary sug- 
 gestions. The chair appointed Joseph P. Crowell, William C. Harris, 
 and Albert E. Simpson as that committee, and they immediately 
 
Difficult Questions Solved. 21 
 
 retired. In three fourths of an hour the special committee returned 
 to the hall and submitted the following report : 
 
 1st. That the tables be set for dinner in the town hall for the distin- 
 guished guests and band, and that tickets be distributed to as many 
 others as can be seated at the tables. 
 
 2d. That tables be set in Mr. Goodwin's hall for the school children 
 and teachers. 
 
 3d. That the balance of the people be seated in the large tent and the 
 food be passed to them, the tent to be located on the north side of the 
 town hall. 
 
 The report of the committee was quickly adopted as the best solu- 
 tion of a difficult question, and late in the afternoon the meeting ad- 
 journed till Thursday, June 2d. 
 
 On the latter date the committee and others met at the town house, 
 cleared up the grove about it, cut down two large trees, an oak and 
 an elm, moved the hearse house to make room for the tent, and 
 graded up the ground. Some of the public-spirited citizens volun- 
 teered to aid in this work. 
 
 On Saturday, June 4th, the Executive Committee met, and, with 
 others, erected the tent, with the tent manager, after which they met 
 in the town hall. 
 
 A long list of names was read by the president, and proposed as 
 honorary officers and members of the committee. On motion of Hor- 
 ace Berry, the list of names was adopted by a unanimous vote. 
 
 The president stated that, considering the programme which had 
 been prepared, it was a matter of absolute necessity that the exercises 
 should commence promptly on schedule time, and that there should 
 be no delay. 
 
 The preceding is explanatory of the following from the unique re- 
 port of thp secretary : 
 
 The matter of getting the school children to Schoolhouse No. 6 by 
 9 o'clock in the morning was discussed and talked over at some length. 
 John A. Park was asked if he could get them there in season, and in fact 
 was asked point blank by the president if he luould get them there in 
 season from District No. 1. After a number of heavy shots were fired at 
 him, he finally agreed to undertake the job (and did it finely). It was 
 thought by the executive committees from the various districts that the 
 school children would get there in season without any special convey- 
 ance. So that matter was settled. L. A. Morrison reported that he had 
 made arrangements with the Boston and Maine railroad to have the 8:20 
 a. m. express train stop at the Junction and let off passengers. He also 
 had found out the terms by which a special train could be had to run 
 
22 Report of the Secretary. 
 
 from the Junction after the 6:30 p. m. train up, so as to accommodate 
 those who might wish to go to Boston or any other point south later 
 than the 5 o'clock train. 
 
 It was moved by James Cochran, and seconded by A. E. Simpson, 
 that we have a special train from Windham Junction to Lawrence, Mass. 
 Carried by a majority vote, and L. A. Morrison was authorized to secure 
 it. 
 
 Efforts were made to secure a special train on the Nashua and Roch- 
 ester road late in the afternoon of June 9th, by the committee, J. P. 
 Crowell. After consultation with the parties most interested, in Nashua, 
 it was thought best to abandon the project. 
 
 - A. E. Simpson takes the floor, and says he wants to do the carpenter 
 work on Monday next, as on Tuesday he must go to Lawrence to get the 
 dishes and other things necessary for setting the tables and feeding the 
 multitude, and on Wednesday he wants about thirty to come (men and 
 women) and work all day, to wash the dishes, set the tables, cut the 
 meat and bread and make the sandwiches, etc. The plans of Mr. 
 Simpson were subsequently carried out. 
 
 I quote again from the secretary's report : 
 
 The subject of drinks comes up. It is suggested by H. Berry that 
 we ought to have a clean barrel set near the town house, with ice water 
 in it and supplied with faucets." The matter " was finally settled by a 
 motion from H. Berry that A. E. Simpson secure two barrels at Law- 
 rence, with faucets, so they can be used to supply the people with all 
 necessary liquids, to cool the parched tongues and quench the thirst of the 
 heterogeneous crowd. Carried. 
 
 The Committee on Barges, Horace Berry, Jolin W. M. Worledge, 
 and Alphonso F. Campbell, were instructed to make the best terms 
 possible in procuring barges. They hired Mr. Abbott, of Derry, who 
 charged 20 cents a passenger, each way, for transportation from 
 Windham Junction to the town house. 
 
 The selectmen were authorized to hire four policemen from some 
 neighboring city for the day of celebration, and the meeting ad- 
 journed, to meet on Monday, June 6th. 
 
 On that day a portion of the committee and some others, to the 
 number of fifteen, met at the town house and made the seats in the 
 tent, built a stage at the north side of the tent, about equally distant 
 from either end, for the speakers, and another at the west end for 
 the band. The work was continued on Tuesday. 
 
 On Wednesday many of the committee and a large number of peo- 
 ple met at the town house, when the tables were partially set in the 
 lower town hall and in Goodwin's hall, and the provisions cut and 
 
Collation Prepared. 23 
 
 arranged for distribution to the people in the large tent the following 
 day. The people of the town provided liberally of provisions, with 
 the exception of meats and bread, which were purchased by the Com- 
 mittee on Collation, ready for use. The following morning, A. E. 
 Simpson, member of the Committee on Collation, who had had prin- 
 cipal charge of that important branch of the celebration, was, with 
 his wife and family as helpers, and others of the committee and peo- 
 ple of the town, early at the town house, making the final arrange- 
 ment for feeding the multitude. Dea. William D. Cochran, chairman 
 of the Committee on Collation, who, the afternoon previous, had 
 arrived home from Portland, Oregon, where he was a delegate from 
 the Boston Presbytery to the Presbyterian General Assembly, was 
 present, and assisted in the work. The setting of the tables in the 
 lower town hall was completed, all the work that could be done was 
 accomplished, and everything was ready for the public exercises of 
 the celebration. 
 
 The accoxmt of the celebration appears elsewhere. 
 
 The day following the celebration, June 10, 1892, the committee, 
 with others, met at the town house, where the dishes were washed 
 and packed, ready for return to Lawrence; the seats were taken 
 down and the liunber was piled up, and W. C. Harris was authorized 
 to seU the same. Provisions and personal property on hand were sold 
 by the committee. 
 
 From aU sources $869.95 had been paid in, and A. E. Simpson, 
 treasurer, reported that there would be a surplus. The committee 
 were in favor of publishing the proceedings connected with the 
 celebration, from the commencement to the close. It was moved by 
 William D. Cochran, and seconded by Alphonso F. Campbell, that 
 Leonard A. Morrison be authorized to compile the proceedings. 
 
 The committee adjourned subject to the call of the president. 
 
 At a meeting of the Executive Committee, July 29, 1892, the fol- 
 lowing resolutions, introduced by Horace Berry, were unanimously 
 passed : 
 
 Resolved, That we, the members of the Executive Committee of the 
 celebration of the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Windham, 
 N. H., tender our grateful thanks to our former fellow-citizen, Hon. 
 James Dinsraoor, of Sterling, 111., for his finely-written, able, and instruc- 
 tive address, at the celebration on June 9, 1892. 
 
 Resolved, That the secretary be requested to transmit a copy of these 
 resolutions to Mr. Dinsmoor. 
 
24 Vote to Print Proceedings. 
 
 At this same meeting, on motion of William D. Cochran, the com- 
 mittee voted to print the " History and Proceedings of the Celebra- 
 tion of the 150th Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Settle- 
 ment by People of Scotch blood, of Windham, N. H., held June 9, 
 1892," as prejjared by Leonard A. Morrison. 
 
 Figures giving an approximate cost of the publication of the same 
 were presented by Mr. Morrison, and the committee voted to have 
 1,000 copies printed ; to use the money in the treasury, $168.44, to re- 
 duce the cost of the work ; to charge 75 cents a copy for the same, 
 after thus reduced, and that Mr. Morrison secure the publication and 
 have charge of the same. 
 
PROCEEDINGS, 
 
 JUNE 9, 1892. 
 
 The following was the programme prepared for the day by Leonard 
 A. Morrison, William D. Cochran, and William C. Harris, Commit- 
 tee on Literary Exercises. This was carried through successfully, as 
 every person assigned, with one exception, was present, and filled his 
 allotted place. Three gentlemen, Hon. James W. Patterson, Hon. 
 George Wilson, and Hon. John G. Crawford, who were not upon the 
 printed order of exercises, accepted invitations to speak. 
 
 CELEBRATION 
 
 of the 
 150TH ANNIVERSARY 
 of the 
 INCORPORATION OF WINDHAM, 
 
 New Hampshire, 
 June 9, 1892. 
 
 PROGRAMME. 
 
 Ringing of the bell at sunrise. 
 
 Music by the band on its ai'rival. 
 
 At 9:30 a. m., the marshal, John H. Dinsmore, Esq., with the 
 band, wiU march with the school children, under the charge of the 
 School Board, from schoolhouse No. 6 to the town house, where they 
 will disband. 
 
 The marshal will then escort the officers of the day, the speakers, 
 and invited guests, to the speakers' stand. 
 
 1. The marshal will introduce the president of the day. 
 
26 The Programme. 
 
 2. Reading of the Scriptures, Rev. E. B. Blanchard, Andover, 
 
 Mass. 
 
 3. Prayer, Rev. Augustus Berry, Pelham, N. H. 
 
 4. Song : " Give me your hand, Old Friend of Youth," by the 
 
 Windham Glee Club. 
 
 5. Address of Welcome, by the president, Leonard A. Morrison. 
 
 6. Music by the band. 
 
 7. Reading of the petition for town charter, by the town clerk, 
 
 John E. Cochran, Esq. 
 
 8. Poem, Mrs. Margaret M. P. Dinsmoor. 
 
 9. Music by the band. 
 
 10. Historical address, by Hon. James Dinsmoor, Sterling, 111. 
 
 11. Song: "The Rock of Liberty," by the Glee Club. 
 
 12. Greetings from over the ocean : Letter of Rev. Gilbert Alex- 
 
 ander Kennedy, of Aghadowey, county of Londonderry, 
 Ireland. 
 
 INTERMISSION. 
 
 Invocation of the Divine Blessing, Rev. Cadford M. Dinsmoor, of 
 
 Exeter, N. H. 
 
 A social hour will be passed, enlivened by music by the band. 
 After dinner, speaking to be resumed in the tent. 
 
 RESPONSES TO SENTIMENTS. 
 
 1. The Town of Windham, Evarts Cutler, Esq., New Haven, Ct. 
 
 2. The Church of Windham, Rev. Samuel Morrison, Charlton, 
 
 Mass. 
 
 3. Our Public Schools, William C. Harris, Esq., Windham. 
 
 4. Music by the band. 
 
 5. The Nesmith Free Public Library, Rev. WiUiam E. Wester- 
 
 velt, Windham. 
 
 6. The Townships of Londonderry and Derry, Our Early Part- 
 
 ners, William H. Anderson, Esq., Lowell, Mass. 
 
 7. Music by the band. 
 
 8. Our Scotch Forefathers in Scotland, Ireland, and New Hamp- 
 
 shire, Rev. Warren R. Cochrane, D. D., Antrim, N. H. 
 
 9. The Law, Hon. Francis Alexander Marden, New York City. 
 
 10. Our Native State, New Hampshire, Gov. Hiram A. Tuttle. 
 
 11. Music by the band. 
 
 12. The United States, Hon. Frederic T. Greenhalge, Lowell, Mass* 
 
The Programme. 
 
 27 
 
 13. Windham's Absent Sons and Daughters, and their Children, 
 
 Hon. Albert E. Pillsbury, Boston, Mass. 
 
 14. Music — " America " by the band, and sung by the audience. 
 
 15. Closing Words by the president. 
 
 16. Music by the band. 
 
 TRAINS LEAVE WINDHAM JUNCTION 
 
 For Manchester and Concord, 
 
 1 : 48, 4 : 09, 6 : 28, 7 : 30 p. m. 
 For Lawrence and Boston, 
 
 3 : 04, 5 : 00 p. m. 
 
 A special train will leave Windham Junction, for Lawrence at 
 6:30 P. M. This train will connect with trains for Boston, and 
 places South and East, and will enable visitors to remain till the close 
 of the celebration. 
 
 For Rochester and the East, 
 
 2 : 20, 2 : 59, 4 : 34, 5 : 37 p. m. 
 For Nashua, 
 
 3 : 46 p. M. 
 
 Barges will leave the Town House and carry passengers to all 
 trains. 
 
 DINNER. 
 
 I50th Anniversary 
 
 Windham, N. H. 
 
 LOWBR HAIvIv. 
 
 The Haverhill, Mass., City band, an organization of high repute, 
 furnished music. It is one of the oldest organizations of the kind in 
 the country, being organized February 3, 1843. It had the honor of 
 playing at the dedication of Bunker Hill monument, and its members 
 have badges worn by former members on that occasion. This is the 
 list of members present June 9, 1892 : 
 
28 
 
 Membership of the Band. 
 
 MEMBERSHIP OF THE HAVERHILL CITY BAND, JUNE 9, 1892. 
 
 Albin Kneupfer, Musical Director, .... 
 Walter H. Goss, Agent, and General Business Manager 
 Solomon Lowe, 
 Charles B. Huntington, 
 
 George A. Keene, 
 
 R. B. Edwards, 
 
 Franz Wilfert, 
 
 A. D. Wingate, 
 
 JosejA E. Goodrich, 
 
 William J. Godfrey, 
 
 Michael McGirr, 
 
 C. Oscar Kimball, 
 
 Stephen Ryan, . 
 
 C. F. Berry, . 
 
 James C. Wilkes, 
 
 Fred W. Connor, 
 
 A. G. Robertson, 
 
 Herbert W. W. Downes, 
 
 Charles Leighton, 
 
 William Bartoll, 
 
 Henry Page, 
 
 Walter Thomas, Drum Major, 
 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Lawrence. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverliill. 
 Lawrence. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Bradford- 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 Haverhill. 
 
 Gov. Hiram A. Tuttle and Mrs. Tattle, together with Attorney- 
 General Albert E. Pillsbury and Mrs. Pillsbury, came on the early 
 train, from Boston, which reached Windham about 9 a. m. Leonard 
 A. Morrison, president of the day, boarded the train at Canobie 
 Lake, to receive Governor and Mrs. Tuttle. A proper equipage 
 awaited them at Windham Depot. Governor and Mrs. Tuttle, 
 Leonard A. Morrison, Hon. A. E. Pillsbury, and Rev. E. B. Blan- 
 chard rode together from Windham depot to the town hall. Several 
 barges were present to carry the throngs that had arrived from Mas- 
 sachusetts on the train. On the route many places were beautifully 
 decorated with bunting and flags, and historic places designated — no- 
 ticeably, the houses of Horace Berry and Mrs. D. M. Batchelder, 
 and " the Manse," occupied by Rev. William E. Westervelt. At Mr. 
 Horace Berry's, the spot where the early Nesmith home was located 
 was appropriately designated. 
 
 At the parsonage, the governor and party were met by the band, 
 which played '' Hail to the Chief." On reaching the upper town 
 
Reception of Distinguished Guests. 29 
 
 hall, members of the Executive Committee, with their ladies, Rev. 
 William E. Westervelt, Mrs. Westervelt, and their daughter, and 
 other citizens of Windham, together with visitors and guests, were 
 waiting to receive the governor and his party. The reception lasted 
 tiU 10:30 a. m., when the marshal of the day, John H. Dinsmore, Esq., 
 formed the officers and visitors in line, and escorted them to the 
 speakers' stand in the great tent. The marshal headed the line, fol- 
 lowed by the president of the day and Mrs. Tuttle, Governor Tuttle 
 and Mrs. Attorney-General Pillsbury, Hon. James Dinsmoor, orator 
 of the day, Mrs. Dinsmoor, and other distinguished guests, visitors, 
 speakers, and officers. 
 
 Previous to this, at 10 o'clock, the school children of the town 
 formed in procession at the Center schoolhouse. No. 6, and marched 
 thi'ough the village to the town hall, conducted by the marshal, John 
 II. Dinsmore. The procession was as follows : Haverhill City band, 
 22 pieces ; school board, Benjamin E. Blanchard, William J. Emerson, 
 and John W. M. Worledge ; students of Pinkerton academy, carrying 
 a banner inscribed, " Success ;" scholars of the six public schools with 
 their teachers, and carrying banners bearing the mottoes, " Punctual- 
 ity," "Obedience," "Kindness," "Diligence," "Honesty," and "Per- 
 severance." 
 
 EXERCISES IN THE TENT, JUNE 9, 1892. 
 
 The exercises in the tent began at twenty minutes to 11 o'clock. 
 The marshal of the day, John Howard Dinsmore, Esq., entered the 
 tent with the Haverhill City band, under the direction of Albin 
 Kneupfer. Then followed the school children, in charge of the mem- 
 bers of the school board, carrying pretty banners. They were hand- 
 somely attired and took their seats on the left, facing the speakers' 
 stand. The great tent was well filled when Mr. Dinsmore, ascending 
 the platform, called the company to order, and said : 
 
 Fellow-citizens, ladies and gentlemen : I now have the pleasure of 
 introducing to you, Hon. Leonard A. Morrison, President of the 
 Day. [Applause.] 
 
 Mr. Morrison : — Ladies and gentlemen, the exercises of this 
 interesting occasion will begin with the reading of the Scripture by 
 Rev. E. B. Blanchard, of Andover, Mass. 
 
 Mr. Blanchard said : — I will select, from God's Word, the 44th 
 Psalm, and read the first eight verses : 
 
30 JSxercises in the Tent. 
 
 1. We have heard with our ears, God, our fathers have told us, 
 what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old. 
 
 2. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plant- 
 edst them ; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. 
 
 3. For they got not the land in possession hy their own sword, nei- 
 ther did their own arm save them : but thy right hand and thine arm, 
 and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto 
 them. 
 
 4. Thou art my King, O God : command deliverances for Jacob. 
 
 5. Through thee will we push down our enemies : through thy 
 name will we tread them under that rise up against us. 
 
 6. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. 
 
 7. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to 
 shame that hated us. 
 
 8. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name forever. 
 Selah. 
 
 Also from Psalm 78, the first seven verses : 
 
 1. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the 
 words of my mouth. 
 
 2. I will open my mouth in a parable : I will utter dark sayings of 
 old: 
 
 3. Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 
 
 4. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the gen- 
 eration to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his 
 wonderful works that he hath done. 
 
 5. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in 
 Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them 
 known to their children : 
 
 6. Tliat the generation to come might know them, even the chil- 
 dren which should be born ; who should arise and declare them to 
 their children : 
 
 7. That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works 
 of God, but keep his commandments. 
 
 And from Psalm 102, verses 11 to 28 : 
 
 11. My days are like a shadow that declineth ; and I am withered 
 like grass. 
 
 12. But thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever : and thy remembrance 
 unto all generations. 
 
 13. Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion : for the time to 
 favour her, yea, the set time, is come. 
 
Scripture Readings. 31 
 
 14. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the 
 dust thereof. 
 
 15. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the 
 kings of the earth thy glory. 
 
 16. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his 
 glory. 
 
 17. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise 
 their prayer. 
 
 18. This shall be written for the generation to come : and the 
 people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. 
 
 19. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary : 
 from heaven did the Lord behold the earth ; 
 
 20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner : to loose those that are 
 appointed to death ; 
 
 21. To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in 
 Jerusalem ; 
 
 22. When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to 
 serve the Lord. 
 
 23. He weakened my strength in the way : he shortened my days. 
 
 24. I said, my God, take me not away in the midst of my 
 days : thy years are throughout all generations. 
 
 25. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the 
 heavens are the work of thy hands. 
 
 26. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure : yea, all of them shall 
 wax old like a garment : as a vesture shalt thou change them, and 
 they shall be changed : 
 
 27. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. 
 
 28. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall 
 be established before thee. 
 
 The President: — Prayer will be offered by the Rev. Augustus 
 Berry, of Pelham. 
 
 THE PBATER. 
 
 Let us pray : Our Father, who art the Lord and the God of all 
 the earth, whose we are and whom we should serve and acknowledge 
 in all the scenes of life, we rejoice to recognize Thy presence and to 
 recognize Thy government and Thy providence, and Thy beneficence 
 as we are gathered on this occasion to remember the past, to recall the 
 interesting and tender scenes of by-gone years. We thank Thee for 
 this goodly town, this town whose sons and daughters have gone forth 
 
32 The Invocation. 
 
 to distant states, and other parts of the world, and have come back 
 to-day to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its organization. 
 
 "We thank Thee for all that is benignant in the day : for the skies 
 that are above us, withholding their moisture ; for the beauties of the 
 green earth, and for tliis glad assemblage which has gathered on this 
 occasion. And now we render Thee thanks that in the past there was 
 established this municipality which has conserved the rights and in- 
 terests of generations ; which has stood for justice and for truth. We 
 thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for the fathers who did establish gos- 
 pel institutions, and who did care for the interests of education. We 
 thank Thee for the regard which they had for Thy Sabbath and for 
 Thy sanctuary. We thank Thee for the virtues of life which distin- 
 guished them, and that there did come through them a posterity that 
 has made its mark in the world, and has so stood for justice and right 
 and for all the great interests of our humanity. We pray that Thy 
 smile may rest in an especial manner upon this occasion: we ask, 
 Heavenly Father, that Thou wilt sanctify unto those who have come 
 from a distance, those who have come from homes in other places to 
 this, the home of their ancestors and of their own childhood : and as 
 the tender memories of life come to them and throb in their souls, 
 may it be a grand uplift to their own souls, and give each a higher 
 and more precious view of the privilege of life, and may it intensify 
 in them the responsibilities of living, and may all go forth from this 
 occasion better prepared for duty, and to glorify the name of God. 
 
 Remember those in an especial manner who have staid by the old 
 homesteads, the old hearthstones, and the old interests of this munic- 
 ipality. We ask that Thou wilt stimulate their hearts by the exercises 
 of this day ; and may the toil and service and sacrifice which they 
 have made to render this occasion a grand welcome to their kindred 
 from abroad, inspire them with greater hope, greater faith, greater 
 fortitude, and greater joy in service : and wilt Thou spare here, among 
 these hills and iti these vales, homes of purity, homes of love, homes 
 of Christian nurture, and homes of that intelligence which has char- 
 acterized all the past, as long as the sun shall cause the green to come 
 upon these hillsides and in these vales, and as long as the white man- 
 tles of winter snows shall rest upon these same vales and these same 
 hillsides. 
 
 We pray that Thy grace may abound in large measure on this occa- 
 sion to this people, and to all that shall come to occupy homes hei*e in 
 the future, and when, at length, the great drama of time shall have 
 been concluded, may this town have been found to have accomplished 
 

Crive Me Your Hand^ Old Friend of Youth. 
 
 33 
 
 manifestly and well her great part in human living. May Thy grace 
 abound to us all ; may Thy benediction rest upon us, and may we be 
 prepared for the sweet, for the blessed, and the eternal reunion in 
 those vales where the sun never sets, and where sorrow and parting 
 are unknown. We ask all in the name and for the sake of Jesus 
 Christ, who is our Lord, our righteousness, and our Saviour. Amen. 
 
 The President : — Ladies and gentlemen, in 1856 was organized 
 the Windham Glee club. From that time to the present its ranks 
 have been unbroken by death. Although out of practice, its members 
 have very kindly consented to render some music for us to-day, at the 
 earnest solicitation of their many friends. They will now sing the 
 song, " Give Me Your Hand, Old Friend of Youth." 
 
 The members of the Glee club, Benjamin E. Blanchard, James 
 Cochran, William D. Cochran, Horace Anderson, Milan Anderson, 
 Edwin O. Dinsmoor, and Albert A. Morrison, were applauded as they 
 took their places upon the platform, and sang the following words : 
 
 GIVE ME YOUR HAND, OLD FRIEND OF YOUTH. 
 1. 
 Give me your hand, old friend of youth, 
 
 One hearty shake will do me good ; 
 Though years have passed since last we met. 
 
 The heart's the same — 'tis love renewed. 
 Talk not of palace, prince or crown, 
 
 Or worldly wealth, that fickle chaff. 
 But rather round our hearts entwine 
 
 Sweet schoolboy's days and childhood's laugh. 
 
 Chorus — 
 
 Give me your hand, old friend of youth. 
 One hearty shake will do me good ; 
 
 Though years have passed since last we met, 
 The heart's the same, 'tis love renewed. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Give me your hand, old friend of youth, 
 
 Though wrinkles on your brow are seen ; — 
 Those eyes grow dim, but speak the words 
 
 Of love — though years have I'olled between. 
 We've met the world with all its change, 
 
 And sought its pleasures, felt its pain ; 
 Now the bright moment's come at last. 
 
 Of early days — we're young again. 
 
34 Hurrah for Old New England. 
 
 3. 
 
 Give me your hand, old friend of youth, 
 
 Gray though we've grown, old Time keeps pace ; 
 
 Brothers are we, in love and truth — 
 No fears have we to end the race. 
 
 Here's happiness to friends of old, 
 Affection's urn brimful of love ; 
 
 Soon will it blossom, and unfold, 
 
 A glorious flower, in realms above. 
 Chorus. 
 
 The club rendered the song with remarkable clearness, steadiness, 
 and harmony, and, when they had completed, the applause was so 
 prolonged that they felt bound to respond to the encore. This they 
 did by singing the old-time popular air, beginning, " Hurrah for old 
 New England and her cloud-capped granite hills." 
 
 HURRAH FOR OLD NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 1. 
 
 This is our own, our native home, 
 
 Tho' poor and rough she be ; 
 The home of many a noble soul. 
 
 The birthplace of the free. 
 We'll love her rocks and rivers, 
 
 Till death our quick blood stDls — 
 Hurrah for old New England 
 
 And her cloud-capped granite hills. 
 
 Chorus — 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Hurrah for old New England 
 
 And her cloud-capped granite hills. 
 
 Hurrah for old New England 
 
 And her cloud-capped granite hills. 
 
 Shall not the land, tho' poor she be. 
 
 That gave a Webster birth. 
 With pride step forth, to take her place 
 
 With the mightiest of the earth ? 
 Then, for his sake, whose lofty fame 
 
 Our farthest bound'ry fills. 
 We'll shout for old New England, 
 
 And her cloud-capped granite hills. 
 
Address of Welcome. 
 
 35 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 They tell us of our freezing clime, 
 
 Our hard and rugged soil, 
 Which hardly half repays us for 
 
 Our springtime care and toil; 
 Yet gaily sings the merry boy, 
 
 As the homestead farm he tills. 
 Hurrah for old New England 
 
 And her cloud-capped granite hills. 
 
 4. 
 
 Others may seek a western clime — 
 
 They say 'tis passing fair. 
 That sunnj' are its laughing skies. 
 
 And soft its balmy air ; 
 We'll linger 'round our childhood's home, 
 
 Till age our warm blood chills. 
 Till we die in old New England, 
 
 And sleep beneath her hills. 
 
 This song was finely rendered, and was received with much enthu- 
 siasm by the audience at its conclusion. 
 
 ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 
 
 Leonard A. Morrison, president of the day, gave the following 
 address of welcome : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 " We walk to-day the halls of story, 
 'Mid pictures of the olden time. 
 And voices, from an ancient glory, 
 That charm us like a silver chime." 
 
 It is well to meet upon this interesting occasion. It thrills our 
 hearts with throbbing memories of a past historic, and fruitful of 
 good deeds. It awakens recollections that are sacred ; arouses a 
 deeper veneration for all that was grand, true, and heroic in the char- 
 acters and lives of our predecessors. It causes the patriotic fires to 
 glow with a steadier, brighter, and purer flame. As we review the 
 150 vanished years — as there pass before our mental vision the silent 
 generations with their accomplished labors — as we stand this day and 
 
36 The First Residents. 
 
 moment in their sacred presence, on this ground which they trod — 
 like the Jewish patriarch of old, we would remove the shoes from off 
 our feet, for the ground on which we stand is holy ! 
 
 Surrounded hy these sheltering hills, on these lengthening vales our 
 fathers founded their homes, and lived their eventful lives. With me, 
 turn backward the rolling years, and behold the founders of this set- 
 tlement. Behold them in their ancient homes — behold them here. 
 Since their advent, 172 years have joined those beyond the flood, and 
 150 have passed since the incorporation. 
 
 This town was a bleak and cheerless wilderness at the advent of its 
 first residents. It was vininviting to less dauntless souls — but they fal- 
 tered not. With courage undaunted, with tenacity of purpose strong 
 as life, they labored successfully, and laid deep and abiding the foun- 
 dations of the institutions of this township. 
 
 They belonged to a class not easily dismayed by obstacles, — to a 
 class that never was, and never could be, permanently subdued or 
 conquered. Ojipressions numberless, sufferings innumerable, and 
 sometimes unto death itself, had they, or their ancestors, endured. 
 Yet the heel of no conqueror ever successfully pinioned their strong 
 necks to the cold bosom of the earth. They could die for the right, 
 bvit they never betrayed it. They belonged to a class who were 
 " ashamed to die " tUl they had accomplished something which added 
 to human knowledge, human advancement, and human joy. 
 
 This people were Scotch in blood, Presbyterians in their religious 
 faith, and John Knox was their great high priest. Their ancestors in 
 the mountains and moors of Scotland had subscribed to the Solemn 
 League and Covenant, and neither king nor pope, prelate nor priest, 
 could force them to abjure their faith. Their own religious teachers 
 they judged by the high standard of the Bible. 
 
 They were largely from the lowlands of Scotland, the land of 
 Burns and Scott, of Wallace and Bruce ; the land of fair fields and 
 wild heather, of famous mountains and foaming floods. Persecutions 
 fierce and unrelenting drove them from their native heaths to the war- 
 smitten province of Ulster in Ireland, and a generation later some of 
 this same people settled in Londonderry and Windham. Many of 
 those now before me are their descendants, and at this moment I am 
 looking into their very eyes. Such were the people who founded this 
 township. 
 
 What they and their descendants have accomplished here physi- 
 cally, let the observant stranger behold as he passes through the 
 length and breadth of the town, in the smiling fields reclaimed from 
 
Their Scotch Blood. 37 
 
 the unbroken forests, and gardens and vast tracts of land freed from 
 rocks and boulders, planted there by Nature's too lavish hand. 
 
 What they and their descendants have accomplished in various di- 
 rections, others sball rehearse to you. 
 
 The founders and fathers of this settlement are gone. Their places 
 are vacant. Their memory, fresh and undying, lingers ever with us. 
 Their strong thoughts are crystallized into living facts and institutions. 
 Their sparkling wit glitters in many a speech, while the lips which 
 first uttered it long ago mouldered back to dust. The fiercely beat- 
 ing winds have for long years swept over their resting places on plain 
 and sloping hill. The white wintry blasts have sung their dirge ; 
 while Nature's kindly hand has over them to-day strown the light and 
 heat of summer's sun. 
 
 " No sigh can reach them, 
 For they dream an endless dream." 
 
 Sons and daughters of Windham : On this anniversary day we re- 
 joice to see you here. We bid you welcome to your early home, and 
 to the home of your fathers. We bid you welcome to our streets, to 
 our hills, valleys, and sparkling waters ; to our historic places, with 
 their associations and tender memories ; we bid you welcome to hos- 
 pitable homes. The arching skies, the smiling fields, the shimmering 
 waters of every stream, with the warbling notes of every bird of 
 every tree, give forth their joyous welcome. To friends of every 
 town of every state, to every stranger here, we give kindliest greeting. 
 We are all one to-day. One in interest, one in joy, one in recogniz- 
 ing the claims of the living and in honoring the memories of the 
 departed. 
 
 In all that shall stir the heart with irrepressible joy, we unite with 
 you. In all that shall awaken blessed memories of years that are 
 gone, we rejoice together. We devote this day to these sentiments, 
 associations, and quickened memories. Once more, my friends, one 
 and all, in behalf of the citizens of Windham, tenderly, gladly, and 
 heartily, I bid you welcome. 
 
 The band then struck up the "American Overture," composed of 
 national airs, which was beautifully rendered. 
 
 The President : — Ladies and Gentlemen : Hiram S. Reynolds, 
 Esq., secretary of the Celebration Committee, will now announce a 
 list of the ofl&cers of the day. 
 
 It was as follows : 
 
38 Officers of the Day. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DAY. 
 
 President — Leonard A. Morrison. 
 
 Vice-Presidents — William C. Harris, John H. Dinsmore, Janiies 
 Emerson, WUliam A. Dinsmoor, Jacob Alpheus Nesmith, Isaac P. 
 Cochran, Windham ; Rei Hills, Pelham ; Samuel Campbell, Derry ; 
 George W. Armstrong, Boston, Mass. ; George WUson, New Bedford, 
 Mass. ; WiUiam D. Blanchard, Thomas W. Simpson, Aaron Blanch- 
 ard, Lowell, Mass. ; Benjamin O. Simpson, Cherokee, Iowa ; Silas 
 M. Moore, Chicago, 111. ; Robert P. Morrison, Lawrence, Mass. ; 
 Robert C. Mack, Jonathan McAllister, Londonderry ; James C Tay- 
 lor, Joseph Montgomery, Greenleaf C. Bartlett, Joseph R, Clark, 
 Derry ; Francis A. Marden, Nashua ; Orlando Davidson, Elgin, 111. ; 
 George Marshall, Everett, Mass. ; Charles Jesse Simpson, West Som- 
 ervUle, Mass. 
 
 Secretaries — Hiram S. Reynolds, Windham ; George W. Weston, 
 Exeter ; William W. Poor, Derry. 
 
 Marshal — John H. Dinsmore. 
 
 Honorary Committee — Benjamin E. Blanchard, Abel Dow, James 
 Barker, Isaiah W. Haseltine, George F. Armstrong, Joseph C Arm- 
 strong, Windham ; Virgil Dow, Methuen, Mass. ; Charles Cochran, 
 Olivet, Kansas ; Charles Cutler, Tallmadge, Ohio ; Jonathan L. 
 Noyes, Faribault, Minn. ; Carroll Cutler, Talladega, Ala. ; D. O. 
 Smith, Hudson ; John Hall, Philadelphia, Penn. ; Joel C. Carey, 
 Darius Milton Thom, Salem. 
 
 In recognition of the early and intimate connection of Londonderry 
 and Derry with Windham, Robert C Mack and Jonathan McAllister 
 of Londonderry, and W. W. Poor, James C. Taylor, Joseph Mont- 
 gomery, Greenleaf C Bartlett, and Joseph R. Clark of Derry were 
 made honorary officers of the day. 
 
 The President : — In 1742 this town was incorporated. Among 
 its settlers was William Thom. I have in my hand the oldest record 
 book of the town. These records were written by one who has been 
 sleeping in his grave for nearly one hundred years. This book alsa 
 gives the petition for the incorporation of the town, which will now 
 be read by John E. Cochran, Esq., the town clerk. 
 
Petition for Charter. 39 
 
 PETITION FOR CHARTER. 
 
 To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq Gov't and Commander In Chief 
 in and over His Majestys Province of New Hampshire, The Hon^^^ His 
 Majestys Council and House of Representatives for said Province in 
 General Court Convened. 
 
 I'he Petition of Sundry of the Inhabitants of the South part of Lon- 
 donderry in said Province, Humbly Shows 
 
 That your Petitioners by the Situation of their estates and Places of 
 residence in the said Town labor under considerable difficulties unknown 
 to others not in their circumstances more especially with respect to their 
 Attendance on the public worship. The greater part of them or rather 
 all of them except three living upwards of Seven miles from either of the 
 meetinghouses in the said Town, the inconveniences of which are self 
 evident. 
 
 That the Inhabitants of the Parish in the said town to which your 
 Petitioners principally belong, sensible of the difficulties attending your 
 Petitioners in this regard have lately at a public meeting voted what 
 should be the boundaries of a new parish if the Petitioners can obtain 
 the aiithority of this court to incorporate them, and that there will be no 
 opposition (as your Petition" conceive) from any part of the said Town 
 to the erecting a new parish by the boundaries voted as afores''. Where- 
 fore your Petitioners most humbly Pray this Hon^'^ Court to erect a New 
 Parish in the said Town by the boundaries aforesaid which will compre- 
 hend a tract of land near six miles in length and four in breadth lying 
 on the South side at the Easterly end of the said Town and Take in your 
 Petitioners habitations & estates, and that they may be invested with 
 such legal powers and authorities as may be sufficient to answer the ends 
 and purposes of such a precinct, and your Petitioners as in duty bound 
 will ever pray, &c. 
 
 Thom. Morrison. Jam' Bell. 
 
 Halbert INIorrison. Sam McAdams. 
 
 Jn°. Dinsmore. Jn° Bolton. 
 
 Rob' Hopkin. Tho' Quigly. 
 
 John Cochran. David Gregg. 
 
 Alexand"" Dunlap. John Armstrong. 
 
 Jn° Gillmore. Alexand"^ Park, Jr. 
 
 Jam' Dunlap. Alexand"' Park. 
 
 Rob' Tompson. Ezekiel Morrison. 
 
 Jn" Wilson. Rob* Dinsmore. 
 
 Jn° McKye. Sam' Morrison. 
 
 Jos'^ Waugh. W" Jameson. 
 
 Jn° Stewart. Jn" Kyle. 
 
 W-" Bolton. Ja Gilmore. 
 
 J" Bolton. Rob' Park. 
 
40 Address of Grov. Hiram A. Tuttle. 
 
 David Bolton. Ja^ Caswell. 
 
 W" Gregg. Jno Kyle, Jr. 
 
 Henry Campbell. Samuel Campble. 
 
 W"' Campbell. Jam« Campble. 
 
 Tho» Campble. NatW Hemphill. 
 
 Hugh Grimes. Sam' Smith. 
 
 W" Emerson, Jr. W" Waugh. 
 
 Ja' Caswel, Jr. Ju° Gilmore. 
 
 Jno Murray. Jn° Vance. 
 Arthur Grimes. 
 
 Mr. Cochran read this quaint old document very effectively, and it 
 proved of general interest. 
 
 The President : — Ladies and Gentlemen : It is a very interesting 
 fact that one of the commissioners appointed by the governor and 
 council to call the first tovrn meeting vpas Robert Dinsmoor, an ances- 
 tor of the orator who wiU to-day deliver the historical address. In 
 this connection, it is with pleasure that I announce to you that we 
 have with us the chief magistrate of the state. Upon the progi*amme he 
 was to respond to a sentiment this afternoon, but he assures me that 
 he will be obliged to leave before the conclusion of the day's exer- 
 cises, so I shall call upon him in a few moments to respond to this 
 sentiment, — " Our native state of New Hampshire : the bright particu- 
 lar star in the galaxy of states which commands our deepest love. May 
 the inspiration from the lives of her illustrious sons and daughters, like 
 the quickening breezes from her granite hiUs, infuse new life, nobler 
 thoughts, and more elevated sentiments into the hearts of her living 
 children." To respond to this sentiment, which touches a responsive 
 chord in every soul, I now caU upon His Excellency Governor Hiram 
 A. Tuttle, and I ask you all to give three cheers for the governor. 
 
 Every one arose and gave three hearty cheers, the band playing, 
 meanwhile, " Hail to the Cliief." 
 
 ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR HIRAM A. TUTTLE. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — I sincerely thank you for 
 this very cordial gi'eeting. I did not come here to-day to make a 
 speech but rather to listen, and I will say this much, — that I am very 
 much pleased with what I have heard and seen here. A courteous 
 invitation brought me to witness the celebration of the 150th anniver- 
 sary of the organization of the goodly town of Windham. Ten years 
 ago there was a gathering for a similar purpose of the residents and 
 

 /W 0^<:^^i-7-^^ 
 
Address of Grov. Hiram A. Tuttle. 41 
 
 former residents of my native town, in which I took part, and I am 
 thereby better able to appreciate your impressions and emotions now 
 as you meet and greet each other here. These occasions are desirable 
 and profitable. By them the old and middle-aged are gratified and 
 the young may be inspired with nobler purposes. 
 
 When the appointed orator and other speakers sketch in pleasant 
 terms the favorable part of our history, and unfold before us the 
 brave and beneficent deeds and many virtues of our townsmen of the 
 past and present, our breasts swell with commendable pride and our 
 nerves thi'ill with delight. 
 
 I have often shot through Windham rapidly by rail, but have never 
 tarried long enough to become familiar v/ith its special localities. I 
 know it best through acquaintance with some of its excellent citizens. 
 But it is a well and widely known fact that Windham, with the other 
 towns formed from the primitive Nutfield, was exceedingly fortunate 
 in having for its first settlers those sturdy Scotch people who had 
 been trained through successive generations in maintaining their re- 
 ligious convictions and forms of worship against the most cruel perse- 
 cution in both Scotland and Ireland. Never were emigrant settlers 
 made of better stuff than were these. They brought with them love 
 of God, a strong, steadfast, abiding faith, love of learning, and a love 
 of civil liberty with the wiU to defend it. They brought with them 
 habits of industry, economy, and thrift. Bissell's camp and its deni- 
 zens were not in accord with Windham notions. 
 
 Remembrance of many of the higher benevolent, brave, and bril- 
 liant deeds of people in New Hampshire towns will soon be lost in 
 oblivion for want of an appreciative scribe to record them. But 
 Windham has been fortunate in having in one of her own sons a 
 historian whose work will transmit to future ages a knowledge of its 
 people for the past 150 years or more. [Applause.] 
 
 Having been called upon to sjDeak for New Hampshire, pardon me 
 for referring to your history, with which you are all so familiar, to 
 show that New Hampshire is fortunate in having Windham among 
 its municipalities. She has given the state a governor, who was also 
 a member of the national house of representatives. This governor 
 had a son who in due time succeeded his father as governor. One of 
 the fair daughters of Windham became the wife of a governor, and 
 also the mother of a governor who subsequently represented New 
 Hampshire in the United States senate. The sons of Windham have 
 attained distinction in each of the learned professions. Among her 
 men of letters are a college president, three college professors, a dis- 
 
42 The Centeiiarian. 
 
 tinguished editor, and numerous teachers of eminence. In inventions, 
 manufactures, transportation, and various other branches of extensive 
 business enterprises, the natives of Windham have held high rank. 
 Many of her sons and daughters, seeking broader and more promising 
 fields for the exercise of their genius, enterprise, and industry, may 
 be fou:id in homes scattered over our country, where prosperity and 
 success have attended them. Such as these and the residents here 
 should continue to cherish a profound regard for the old town, and 
 never cease to instil into the minds of their children a love for 
 Windham and its history, and a love, also, for their heroic ancestry 
 beyond the sea, until Jenney's hill, Cobbett's pond, and Butterfield's 
 rock are no more. [Applause.] 
 
 • At this point the president conducted to the stage the venerable 
 Mrs. Sarali EUenwood, formerly of Pelham, a remarkably well pre- 
 served lady, who passed her 100th birthday several months before, 
 and who is a resident of Windham. She was presented to the audi- 
 ence in these words : 
 
 I am gratified to state this interesting fact, that there is a lady 
 here, Mrs. Sarah EUenwood, of this town, who has reached the ven- 
 erable age of almost 101 years. [Loud applause.] I now have the 
 pleasure of presenting her to you. [Renewed applause.] 
 
 The audience showed great interest in the aged lady, who looked 
 bright and smart, and seemed to enjoy the occasion, which she had 
 come three miles to attend. She bowed and smiled to the audience, 
 and Governor Tuttle helped her to a chair, and seated her comfort- 
 ably beside himself. 
 
 The President : — The next thing u2)on the programme, my 
 friends, is a poem written by Mrs. Margaret M. (Park) Dinsmoor, 
 of th's town, which, by her request, I will now read. 
 
 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 Two hundred years have sunsets glowed and paled, 
 Two hundred years of stu-ring tale and song, 
 
 Since from the moors and crags of Scotia's land 
 A sturdy band uprose and fled from wrong. 
 
 A fair green isle lay smiling near at hand. 
 
 And bright the grasses trembled in the breeze 
 
 Of softened air that swept the Emerald isle 
 
 Where homes they sought, across the narrow seas. 
 
Mrs. M. M. P. Dinsmoor' s Poem. 43 
 
 No welcome warm they met on Celtic shores, 
 
 But cool dislike that ripened into hate. 
 'T was peace they asked. Alas 1 't was war they found, 
 
 And heavy-handed wrong from church and state. 
 
 Then angry foes and Stuart king pressed hard, 
 
 With harrying fire and fight on every side ; 
 But staunch and true, their mighty faith ne'er shook. 
 
 They triumphed — even while they fell and died. 
 
 The bold MacGregors of the highland clans, 
 
 With stout old fighters of the Lowland moor, 
 Joined hands when dire injustice reigned in blood. 
 
 And strove with sword and shot to break its power. 
 
 In vain : yet o'er the waters wild and wide, 
 
 A rugged land lay open-armed and free. 
 The west wind wandr'ng from the deep pine woods 
 
 Brought o'er the waves the breath of liberty. 
 
 The broad seas stretched a helping hand across. 
 
 And ere the century grew old in years. 
 Our shores had welcomed a small pilgrim band, 
 
 Who thus a victory won o'er blood and tears. 
 
 They chose a pleasant place among the pines, 
 
 And chestnut groves, where flowing brooks give food. 
 
 They planted there the banner of their faith, 
 
 Sang praise, and asked a blessing where they stood. 
 
 The God for whom they fought upheld them well. 
 
 No red man drew his twanging bow in hate ; 
 No fire or flood their hard-earned homes laid waste ; 
 
 Nor lurking foe in ambush crouched await. 
 
 The wild beast fled before their hearthstone's blaze 
 And soon broad fields lay smiling to the sky: 
 
 Gnarled oak and towering pine tree soon gave place 
 To tasseled corn and dancing wheat and rye. 
 
 The canny Scotsmen to their western homes 
 
 Brought thrifty trades and honest craft, 
 And soon in every lowly log-built house 
 
 The flax-wheel hummed and happy children laughed. 
 
 The father to the listeners at his knee 
 
 Told tales of troublous days in Fatherland, 
 Where yellow gorse and purple heather bloomed, 
 
 And tassled broom its golden plumy wand 
 
44 Mrs. M. M. P. Dinsmoor' s Poem. 
 
 Waved where the craggy hidden pathway lay, 
 When Claverhouse with cruel minions crept 
 
 To find the secret way, and tracked their steps, 
 
 Then on theu- homes like mighty whirlwind swept. 
 
 They sang old songs of " Bothwell Brigg," 
 Or hap of war at direful Killiecrankie ; 
 
 The " Battle of the Boyne " with joyful notes, 
 Or scorn of " Brave MacKye behind the bankie." 
 
 Their lives were bare, yet sweetened with the rare 
 And beautiful content that true hearts know, 
 
 That glorified the labors of each day 
 Like landscape bathed in sunset's afterglow. 
 
 The tree thus planted grew apace and strong : 
 Its roots struck deep, its branches spread afar, 
 
 And sheltered all who sought its cheery shade ; 
 
 Their numbers grew, their gateways always stood ajar. 
 
 A vigorous, sturdy shoot from that fair tree 
 
 Sprang up and grew hard by in neighboring soil : 
 
 The Covenanter grasped hands with Puritan, 
 And, side by side, those noble men of toil 
 
 Built church and school and laid foundations broad 
 For future strength in right and justice true ; 
 
 With conscience clear their steady lives went on ; 
 Whate'er was right, they bravely dared to do. 
 
 All honor then to the stern old Scottish men 
 Whose stalwart feet were set beneath our sky ; 
 
 With trust in God, no hand of man could mar. 
 Who came, with battle-scars scarce healed, to die 
 
 In stranger land with hardships closed around, 
 For Peace, sweet Peace, and perfect Liberty, 
 
 To worship undisturbed by sound of aught 
 
 Save winds, and singing birds, and humming bee. 
 
 Our Fathers claimed, ere yet of two score years 
 The snows lay white on autumn's fields of brown, 
 
 A place among the archives of the land. 
 
 And stood among their fellow men — a Town. 
 
 The century its years has rounded full 
 And at the halfway milestone paused a jot. 
 
 To greet today, the Birthday of our Town. 
 Let childi-en's children e'er forget it not. 
 
^^^2^^, a.^^^^<2r 
 
 ;.^fe^ 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 45 
 
 But send a backward glance along the Past 
 And gather up the memories ere they fade ; 
 
 Let Then and Now clasp hands across the gulf 
 That three times fifty changeful years have made. 
 
 Let cheery welcome be on every tongue — 
 
 Each friend meet friend with brightening eyes ; 
 
 And while with joy old friendships we renew, 
 We draw still closer yet our clannish ties. 
 
 When fifty years thrice o ' er have paused again, 
 And Progress marked its way with giant stride, 
 
 Let sons and daughters gather here once more 
 
 And greet our staunch old Scottish town with pride. 
 
 At the conclusion of the reading of the poem, the band played a 
 selection entitled " O Fair Dove ! O Fond Dove !" This arrangement 
 was really a fantasia on the beautiful song. 
 
 After a few minutes' recess the president again called the assem- 
 blage to order and said, — 
 
 " Among the noted families of this town is that of Dinsmoor. 
 The migrating ancestor came very early to this township. It has 
 had many illustrious men and beautiful women among its members. 
 The orator of this day belongs to this family. He is one who has 
 cast honor upon this township and has done credit to himself. I have 
 the pleasure of introducing to you the Hon. James Dinsmoor, of 
 Sterling, Illinois, the orator of the day. [Loud applause.] 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. JAMES DINSMOOR. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — One hundred and fifty 
 years ago, our fathers, clothed with authority from the legislative 
 branch of the then province of New Hampshire, assembled in pursu- 
 ance of the warrant of the three men named in the charter, at the 
 house of James Bell, and by those concurrent acts the town of Wind- 
 ham became a living entity. Lord Macaulay has said that "A peo- 
 ple which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ances- 
 tors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered by remote 
 descendants." 
 
 Fully appreciating this aphorism of the learned historian, we have 
 assembled to stand upon the ancient ways our fathers trod, and to 
 place upon memory's altar a tribute of praise to those heroes and her- 
 
46 Address by Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 oines who laid the foundation and hewed the architrave of our exist- 
 ence as a town. The same sun shines over our heads, the same soil is 
 under our feet, the same beautiful lakes fill the measure of their an- 
 cient compass, the same limpid streams flow on their course to the 
 same Merrimack. All else, how changed ! The very act of incor- 
 poration was in the name of George Second, by the Grace of God, of 
 Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, 
 etc. Then, England was a second-class power in Europe. France 
 and Spain both excelled her in wealth and military splendor, and the 
 title of George the Second to be king of France was an ancient fic- 
 tion. France, at that time, held Nova Scotia, with the then strongly- 
 fortified post of Louisburg, both the Canadas, and, in connection with 
 their Indian allies, a chain of stations west of the Alleghanies extend- 
 ing to Louisiana. The English colonies in this country were then 
 poor and feeble, and probably did not exceed a million of people, 
 scattered along the Atlantic coast with a savage foe always hanging 
 on their flank. No brotherly love existed between France and Eng- 
 land, and the superior military tact and finesse of the French with the 
 red man, placed the English colonists in constant alarm from the in- 
 cursions of the French and Indians. The tillable land on the Atlan- 
 tic coast was covered with a dense growtli of timber, which must be 
 cleared oif by the colonists before cultivation of the soil coiild yield 
 sustenance. No pioneer had preceded them, and built a shelter from 
 the heat, or cold, or storm which the colonist could buy. No roads 
 had been made, no stream dammed for water power, no miU built for 
 meal or lumber. There was naught but the broad, savage expanse of 
 land and trees, and naught but the good hands of the colonists could 
 cut the way to the comforts of civilized life. No faint-hearted man 
 was equal to such an undertaking. He must be a born hero, and his 
 wife must be such as our mothers were. 
 
 What marvellous results have been achieved since that day ! By 
 the dread arbitrament of arms the English-speaking races have be- 
 come the sole masters of the fairest portion of the American conti- 
 nent. What was then a vast >vilderness, the abode of savages, has be- 
 come the seat of the most enlightened and refined people, the richest 
 in agricultural, mineral, mercantile and commercial wealth ; where 
 civil and religious liberty, like the air of heaven, pervades the whole 
 land ; where there are in everyday use, for the ordinary wants of the 
 people, more miles of better-equipped railroads than in all the rest of 
 this earth ; where the whole people are better fed, better clothed, bet- 
 ter behaved, than any other nation on the face of the earth ; where 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 47 
 
 legislative bodies do not feel compelled to sit in session with their hats 
 on, as does the British Parliament, in order to notify the lookers-on 
 that they acknowledge no man as superior, but preserve the amenities 
 of civilized life while legislating for the most powerful of nations. All 
 this, and much more, is the product of a century and a half of free, 
 intelligent, and self-applied labor. To whom is the world indebted 
 for this boon to the human race ? Whence came the men who had 
 the physical powers of endurance, to overcome the untamed forces of 
 nature, and subject them to the growing wants of civilized man ; to 
 face and overcome a savage foe, and, at the same time, the still more 
 wonderful ability to keep up the religious, moral, and political train- 
 ing which enabled them to rule their own spirit, which the wise man 
 told us was greater than taking a city — to govern and educate them- 
 selves, and to provide a constitutional, representative government for 
 themselves, to be transmitted to their posterity ? The casual student 
 of American history would be led to attribute all this to the Puritan, 
 the Hollander, the Huguenot, and the Cavalier, as he reads what 
 these people have written of what has been said and suffered and 
 done. But we have to do to-day with the Scotch-Irish, the men who, 
 in the early days of the 17th century, carried with them to the north 
 of Ireland that love of God and of hmnan liberty which they had 
 learned in lowland hut and kirk, and which had become the web and 
 woof of their moral being. Now, let us see whence our fathers came, 
 and who they were. In blood they were pure Scotch, and in religion 
 they were Presbyterians. The early history of the Scotch, as a race, 
 is involved in mystery, and I will not attempt to unveil it at this 
 time. There were several well-defined characteristics which ran in the 
 blood, and have been handed down from generation to genei*ation in 
 their posterity, and crop out to this day. The Scotch are not Eng- 
 lish ; they are not Irish. We know by Roman history that the Ro- 
 mans conquered and held sway over continental Europe, and con- 
 quered England, and held it in subjection 400 years, and we know 
 from the same source that they did not and could not conquer Scot- 
 land, and gave up trying. Not only that, but they could not protect 
 their subjects in England from the warlike incursions of the Scots. 
 And the Roman emperor, Agricola, in order to protect the English 
 from the Scots, built a wall twelve feet high and seventy miles long, 
 extending from Solway Firth to the mouth of the Tyne, with a moat 
 thirty-six feet wide and twelve feet deep. But that did not restrain 
 the Scots, and, subsequently, the Emperor Adrian built a second 
 wall, extending from Newcastle to Carlisle. The intervening terri- 
 
48 Address hy Hon. James Dins7noor. 
 
 tory between the two walls was the fighting ground of the Scots and 
 the Romans till the inroads o£ the Goths and Vandals on the Eternal 
 City obliged the Romans to abandon Britain. And, afterwards, Scot- 
 land was never subject to the crowned head of England till England 
 was obliged, by the divine right of succession, to go to Scotland to 
 get a head to crown. Scotland, up to the time of James First, of 
 England, was governed, so far as it was governed at all, by its own 
 kings and subject to the laws enacted by the Scotch parliament, if, in 
 truth, they can be said to have been subject to any power, save the 
 arm that was, at the time being, the strongest. 
 
 History tells us that one of the Scottish chiefs was summoned for 
 trial for an ofliense against the government. He came willingly, but 
 he brought with him 5,000 of his dependents, mounted, and armed to 
 the teeth, as much as to say, '' I am ready to be acquitted ; who 
 doubts it, let him look around me." He was acquitted. 
 
 The revival of learning, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
 roused the world from that lethargy in which it had been sunk for 
 ages. The human mind felt its own strength, broke the fetters of au- 
 thority without reason by which it had been so long bound, and 
 pushed inquiries with boldness into all subjects of thought, and reli- 
 gion was one of the fii'st objects that claimed its attention. "The opin- 
 ions of Luther spread from the heart of Germany, with astounding 
 rapidity, over all Europe, and wherever they came, endangered or 
 overturned the ancient system of religion. The vigilance and address 
 of the court of Rome, cooperating with the power of the Austrian 
 family, suppressed the teachings of Luther in the southern kingdoms, 
 but the fierce spirit of the north, irritated by multiplied impositions, 
 could neither be mollified by the same arts nor subdued by the same 
 force, and easily bore down the feeble opposition of an illiterate and im- 
 moral clergy." The form of popery which prevailed in Scotland was 
 of the most bigoted and illiberal kind. Those doctrines which are 
 most apt to shock the mind, and those legends which farthest exceed 
 belief, were proposed to that people without any attemj^t to palliate or 
 disguise them, nor did the j^eople ever call in question the reason- 
 ableness of the one or the truth of the other. The power and wealth 
 of the Romish church kept pace with the progress of superstition. 
 The Scottish kings early demonstrated how much they were under its 
 influence, by their vast additions to the immunities and riches of the 
 clergy. The profuse piety of King David I., who acquired on that 
 accoimt the title of saint, transferred almost the whole of the crown 
 lands of the Scottish kings, which were at that time of great extent, 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 49 
 
 into the hands of the clergy. This example was imitated by his suc- 
 cessors, and this spirit spread among all orders of men, who loaded 
 the priesthood with new possessions. " The Scottish clergy paid one 
 half of every tax imposed on land, so that, at the time of the Refor- 
 mation, little (if any) less than one half of the national property had 
 fallen into the hands of the church. This extraordinary share in the 
 national property was accompanied with a proportionate weight in 
 the supreme council of the kingdom. The lord chancellor was the 
 first subject in the kingdom, both in dignity and power. From the 
 earliest ages of the monarchy to the death of Cardinal Beaton, fifty- 
 four persons had held that office, and forty-three of them had been 
 churchmen." 
 
 Such was the religious condition of Scotland in 1534, when Henry 
 the Eighth, of England, threw off the papal yoke, because the pope 
 would not grant him a divorce from Queen Catharine. Eight years 
 after that, John Knox began to disseminate the doctrines of the Ref- 
 ormation among his pupils in Scotland, in consequence of which he 
 was degraded from the priesthood, denounced as a heretic, and only 
 escaped assassination by flight. He was a man of great oratorical 
 powers, bold and fearless in his speech, captivating in his style, and 
 to Scotland what the justly-celebrated George Whitefield was to 
 England, as a preacher, in his day. 
 
 We don't know how much we are indebted to that same John 
 Knox. Historians acknowledge that he was the chief promoter of 
 the Reformation in Scotland. He was born in 1505, in a suburb of 
 Haddington, secured the rudiments of his education at the Had- 
 dington grammar school, and studied philosophy and theology 
 at St. Andrew's college. This fact, which historians have record- 
 ed of John Knox, shows us the condition of education in Scot- 
 land in his day. I remember that our college professor of history 
 used to tell us that the common school system, which has been 
 the glory and the boast of New England, and has traveled west with 
 every emigrant wagon tiU it has reached the Pacific ocean, originated 
 in Scotland. I have not time to verify his statement, but we find a 
 grammar school in that little town one hundred years before the May- 
 flower struck Plymouth Rock, and prior to the Scotch emigration to 
 the province of Ulster. Knox became so obnoxious to Cardinal Bea- 
 ton and Archbishop Hamilton that he was obliged to seek safety in 
 concealment in the castle of St. Andrews, where he resumed his 
 duties of teaching, giving lectures on the scriptures, and regularly 
 catechising his hearers in the parish church in which he ministered. 
 4 
 
60 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 While there, the castle was invested by the French force sent to the 
 assistance of the regent, Arran, and the garrison, after a brave and 
 vigorous resistance, was obliged to capitulate, and all witliin it were 
 carried to France as prisoners of war. The captives were detained 
 in the galleys in France more than a year, and Knox, in that place of 
 confinement, wrote out a confession of his faith, and transmitted it to 
 the adherents of the Reformed reUgion, in Scotland. This is the ear- 
 liest written confession of Presbyterian faith of which we have any 
 account. His reputation, and zeal in the Reformation commended 
 him to Archbishop Cranmer, of England ; and, through the interposi- 
 tion of Edward Sixth of England with the king of France, Knox 
 was released, passed over to England, appointed by the privy coun- 
 cil preacher of the reformed doctrines, preached before his majesty, 
 Edward the Sixth, at Westminster, was offered the bishopric of Roch- 
 ester, but declined it, and returned to Scotland. 
 
 It wUl be kept in mind that, all this time, the influence of the 
 crown, so-called, in Scotland, was adverse to the Reformation, and 
 yet, in August, 1560, the Presbyterian religion received the sanction 
 of the Scotch parliament, the old ecclesiastical courts were abolished, 
 and the exercise of a religious worship according to the rites of the 
 Romish church entirely prohibited. Wlien King James the Sixth 
 was crowned, John Knox jireached the coronation sermon, the first 
 coronation sermon ever preached by a Protestant. AVhen James the 
 Sixth, of Scotland, became king of England and Ireland, as well as 
 Scotland, he found that the province of Ulster, and, indeed, about 
 one fourth of the territory of Ireland, had been depopulated by wars 
 to subdue rebellions, and that by biUs of attainder passed by the 
 English parliament, the lands had reverted to the crown. King 
 James, with a Scotch eye to home industry and thrift, conceived the 
 plan of re-peopling those waste places with an industrious, thrifty, 
 loyal people. The method adopted was the only one that has proven 
 successful in colonization. The land was vacant. The man of enter^ 
 prise, courage, push ; the man in debt who wanted another chance of 
 success, with different surroundings ; the man who was hemmed in 
 with too close neighbors, or crowded out by the ill-tempered and over- 
 bearing, woidd see the chance to assert himself, and, with nerves of 
 steel, would take up his line of march for the promised land. It was 
 the process of sifting out the sturdy, self-reliant, independent men and 
 women from every neighborhood in which that class could be found. 
 It was but natural that the lowlands of Scotland should furnish the 
 complement of people for such an enterprise. They were educated 
 
Address by Hon. James Dinsmoor. 51 
 
 to think for themselves. They had adopted the Presbyterian form of 
 church government under the teaching of the peerless John Knox, and 
 in the church polity had the fundamental principles of self-govern- 
 ment. They went upon the lands as tenants, and by their industry 
 and tact reclaimed the province of Ulster from the ruins of the cruel 
 wars that had wasted the substance of its former inhabitants, started 
 its commerce, built up its manufactures, and made it rich in herds and 
 flocks. The colonists flourished during the reigns of James the First, 
 Charles the First, during the Commonwealth under Cromwell, and 
 under Charles the Second, to such an extent that Macaulay says that, 
 in 1688, when King James the Second, after being deposed from the 
 throne in England, undertook, with the Celtic inhabitants of Ireland, 
 to drive out or kill the Protestants, " Though four fifths of the popu- 
 lation of Ireland were Celtic, and Roman Catholics, more than four 
 fifths of the projDerty of Ireland belonged to the Protestants," in the 
 territory settled by colonists under James the First. Thus we see 
 what the Scotch colonists had done for themselves, in about eighty 
 years in the abandoned and desolate province of Ulster. 
 
 Now, the reader of this history naturally asks himself what possible 
 object had the king of Ireland, as he styles himself, in arming four 
 fifths of the inhabitants of his country, to make war on the other one 
 fifth, who were peaceable, industrious subjects, unarmed, making no 
 threats of war, and who had taken a waste territory, and in eighty 
 years had produced out of the soil five times as much as all the other 
 inhabitants had accumulated in all the previous history of the country. 
 Certainly he could not have thought of the well-being of his subjects 
 for a moment. The trouble with him was that these peaceable, thi'if ty, 
 law-abiding citizens did not think as he did, nor as the non-productive 
 four fifths of his people did, on the subject of religion. The Irish 
 nation, so called, that is, the Celts, were called to arms, and the call 
 was obeyed with promptitude and enthusiasm — indeed, that is the 
 leading characteristic of the Celts to this day. The flag on the castle 
 of Dublin was embroidered with the words, " Now or never / Now 
 and forever." 
 
 Never, in modern Europe, was there seen such a rising of the 
 whole people. The habits of the Celtic peasant were such that he 
 made no sacrifice in quitting his potato patch for the camp. He loved 
 excitement and adventure. 
 
 The army, which had previously consisted of eight regiments, was 
 increased to forty-eight, which were full to overflowing. " The pay of 
 the soldier was threepence a day, and only half of this was given in 
 
52 Address hy Son. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 money. But a far more seductive bait was the prospect of boundless 
 license. The garners, the cellars, the flocks, and the herds of the 
 minority were abandoned to the majority. Whatever the regular 
 troops spared was devoured by bands of marauders, who overran 
 almost every barony in the island. Every smith, every carpenter, and 
 every cutler was at constant work on guns and blades." 
 
 If any Protestant artisan refused to assist in the manufacture of 
 implements which were to be used against the Protestants, he was 
 cast into prison. The Protestants not only were not protected by the 
 government, but were not permitted to protect themselves. It was 
 determined that they should be left unarmed in the midst of an armed 
 and hostile population. A day was fixed on which they should bring 
 all their swords and firelocks to the parish churches, and it was 
 ordered that every Protestant house in which, after that day, any wea- 
 pon should be found, shoidd be given up to be sacked by the soldiers. 
 Chief Justice Keating, a Protestant, and almost the only Protestant 
 who held official position in Ireland, struggled courageously in the 
 cause of justice and order, against the united strength of the govern- 
 ment and the populace. "Whole counties," he said, "were devasta- 
 ted by a rabble resembling the vultures and ravens which follow the 
 march of an army." Most of these wretches were not soldiers, and 
 acted under no authority known to the law, yet it was, he said, but too 
 evident that they were encouraged and screened by some who were 
 high in command. How else could it be that a market overt for 
 plunder should be held within a short distance of the capital ? Noth- 
 ing was more common than for an honest man to lie down rich in 
 flocks and herds acquired by the industry of a long life, and to awake 
 — a beggar. 
 
 It was to small purpose that Justice Keating attempted, in the 
 midst of that fearful anarchy, to uphold the supremacy of the law. 
 Priests and military chiefs appeared on the bench for the pui'pose of 
 overawing the judge and coimtenancing the robbers. One rufiian 
 escaped because no prosecutor dared to appear. Another declared he 
 had armed himself in conformity to the orders of his spiritual guide, 
 and according to the example of many persons of higher station than 
 himself, whom he saw at that moment in court. The chief riches of 
 the Protestants consisted in flocks and herds. More than one gentle- 
 man possessed twenty thousand sheep and four thousand cattle. The 
 freebooters who now overspread the country belonged to a class which 
 was accustomed to live on potatoes and sour whey, and which had 
 always regarded meat as a luxury reserved for the rich. These men 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 53 
 
 revelled in beef and mutton, as the savage invaders who of old poured 
 down from the forests of the north, on Italy, revelled in Mussic and 
 Falerian wines. A French ambassador reported to his master that in 
 six weeks 50,000 cattle had been slain, and were rotting on the ground 
 all over the country. Any estimate which can be made of the value 
 of property destroyed during this fearful conflict of races must neces- 
 sarily be inexact. The Quakers were neither a very mmierous nor a 
 very opulent class. It is supposed that they did not exceed one- 
 fif deth part of the Protestant popidation of Ireland. They were non- 
 combatants, and undoubtedly better treated than any other Protest- 
 ant sect, yet they computed their loss at £100,000. In Leinster, 
 Munster, and Connaught, it was impossible for the Protestants, few 
 in number, to make any effectual resistance to this terrible outbreak 
 of the aboriginal population. 
 
 Many families submitted, delivered up their arms, and thought 
 themselves happy in escaping with life. Many resolute and high- 
 spii'ited gentlemen and yeomen were determined to perish rather than 
 yield. They packed up such valuable property as could be easily 
 carried away, burned what they could not remove, and, weU armed and 
 mounted, set out for those spots in Ulster which were the strongholds 
 of their race and faith. The flower of the Protestant population of 
 Munster and Connaught found shelter in Enniskillen. Whatever was 
 bravest and most true-hearted in Leinster took the road to London- 
 derry. To reduce the Protestants of Ulster to submission before aid 
 could arrive from England, was the chief object of Tyrconnel. A 
 great force was ordered to move northward, under the command of 
 Richard Hamilton. The coxmtry behind him was a waste, and soon 
 the country before him became equally desolate, for, at the fame of 
 his approach, the colonists burned their furniture, pulled down their 
 houses, and retreated northward. The fugitives broke down the 
 bridges and burned their ferry boats. The people of Omagh de- 
 stroyed their dwellings so utterly that no roof was left to shelter the 
 enemy. The people of Cavan emigrated in one body to Enniskillen ; 
 all Lisburn fled to Antrim, and, as the foe came nearer, all Lisburn 
 and Antrim came pouring into Londonderry. Thirty thousand Prot- 
 estants of both sexes, and of every age, were crowded behind the 
 earth walls of that city. The siege of Londonderry continued 105 
 days. During all this time the walls were closely besieged, and all 
 communication with the outside world for supplies of any kind was 
 cut off. No preparation for a siege had been made by the Protest- 
 ants, nor was it expected by them. The city was destitute of all mill- 
 
54 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 tary and civil government. No man in the town had a right to com- 
 mand any other ; the defences were weak, and provisions scanty. An 
 overplus of people had crowded into the place, with no suitahle ac- 
 commodations for their ordinary comfort even in times of peace. An 
 incensed tyrant and an army of savages were at the gates. Whatever 
 an engineer might think of the strength of the ramparts, all that was 
 most intelligent, most courageous, most high-spirited, in Leinster and 
 Ulster was crowded behind them. The number of men capable of 
 bearing arms, within the walls, was 7,000, and the whole world could 
 not have fui-nished 7,000 men better fitted to meet such a terrible 
 emergency with clear judgment, dauntless valor, and stubborn pa- 
 tience. The pecidiar situation in which they had been placed as colo- 
 nists in Ireland had developed in them some qualities which in the 
 mother country might have remained latent. They had been enabled 
 by superior intelligence, a close union, sleepless vigilance, and cool 
 intrepidity, to keep in subjection a numerous and hostile population. 
 Almost every one of them had been, in some measure, trained both 
 to military and civil functions, and they were fitted both to command 
 and to obey in any position and in any emergency in which they 
 might be placed. Let us examine the situation in which the people 
 of Londonderry were placed at this time. 
 
 In 1609 the corporation of London entered into an agreement to 
 rebuild Derry, and that the liberties of the city should extend three 
 miles every way. " The Society of the Governor and Assistants 
 London, of the new plantation in Ulster," was granted the towns of 
 Derry and Coleraine, with 4,000 acres, besides bog and mountain, at 
 Derry, and 3,000 acres at Coleraine, and the fisheries and ferries of 
 the Foyle and Bann. The society was to maintain a garrison in Cul- 
 more Castle forever, and to fortify and enclose Derry (henceforth to 
 be called Londonderry) with stone walls. By the same charter the 
 citizens of Londonderry were incorporated by the name, " The Mayor 
 Commonalty and Citizens," and had the power to appoint two sheriffs 
 of the city and county, and to send two members to the Irish parlia- 
 ment. The walls of Derry were laid out and built at a cost of neai-ly 
 £90,000. A dry ditch eight feet deep and thirty feet broad ran from, 
 the west end along the south to the water's edge, which cost, vrith 
 other fortifications, £2,300. Five hundred and fifty-eight pounds 
 was spent for arms, £40 for ordnance, and £14,000 for building 111 
 houses, all defrayed by the city of London. In 1617, Mathias Spring- 
 ham, a Londoner, at his own expense, erected the original free school 
 house. Ireland was at that time a kingdom, dependent on the crown 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 55 
 
 of England, and a part of the royal inheritance, and, therefore, must 
 follow its fate, which it could not decline without ruin to its own 
 interest. Now, King James having abdicated the throne of England, 
 William the Third being in possession of it by the consent of the 
 parliament of England, was de facto king of England and Ireland, 
 and it was the duty of Protestants in Ulster to be subject to the 
 crown of England. No wonder that the peaceable, industrious, thrifty, 
 Ulster men should refuse to acknowledge as their sovereign James the 
 Second, who had lost the throne of England by his own stupidity. 
 The men of Londonderry knew that they were right, and, as Shake- 
 speare says, 
 
 " Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just ; 
 And he but naked, though locked up in steel, 
 Whose conscience with injustice is oppressed." 
 
 The situation of the English government at this time, it will be re- 
 membered, was very trying. James the Second had just been deposed, 
 and William the Third, Prince of Orange, had come over from Hol- 
 land, and had been recognized by the parliament as king. King 
 James, with the aid of the king of France, had gone into Ireland, and 
 in person taken command of the Catholics, with the hope of rallying 
 all the Catholics in the kingdom to his support, and driving the Prince 
 of Orange out. WiUiam had not yet got full hold of the lines in the 
 then, to him, new covmtry, and the people of England had been so 
 demoraUzed with the conduct of the deposed king, with fresh memory 
 of the execution of Charles the First, and the Commonwealth of Crom- 
 well, that a painful uncertainty prevailed in the minds of the people 
 as to Avhat would be done by the new made king. 
 
 There was no disposition on the part of the House of Commons to 
 let the brave people of Londonderry and Enniskillen be butchered or 
 starved by the one hundred thousand at the command of James the 
 Second. An expedition, which was thought to be sufficient for the 
 relief of Londonderry, was dispatched from Liverpool under the com- 
 mand of Kirk. On the 16th of May, Kirk's troops embarked, but he 
 did not reach Londonderry till the evening of the 31st of July. The 
 true condition of the garrison can be learned by the account given in 
 July. 
 
 " The condition of the city was, hour by hour, becoming more fright- 
 ful ; the number of the people had been thinned more by famine and 
 disease than by the fire of the enemy. Yet the fire of the enemy was 
 as constant as ever. Every attack was still repelled by the besieged, 
 
56 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 but the fighting men were so much exhausted that they could scarcely 
 keep their feet. A very small quantity of grain remained, and was 
 doled out by mouthfuls. The stock of salted liides was considerable, 
 and by gnawing them the garrison ap}3eased the rage of hunger. 
 Nine horses were still alive, but barely alive. They were so lean 
 that little meat was to be found on their bones. It was, however, de- 
 termined to slaughter them for food. The people perished so fast 
 that it was impossible for the survivors to perform the rites of sepul- 
 ture, and almost every cellar contained an unburied dead body. And 
 yet in this extremity the cry was ' No sui'vender,'' and it was no slight 
 aggravation of the suffering of the garrison that all this time the Eng- 
 lish ships, sent for their relief in May, were in Lough Foyle, the com- 
 mander, Kirk, not having courage and tact enough to sail past the 
 enemy's batteries, on the banks of the Foyle, and break through the 
 boom that had been placed in it to prevent the landing of supplies in 
 Londonderry. At the last he received from England peremptory 
 orders to relieve Londonderry, and he set about obeying the order. 
 Among tlie merchant ships that had come under his convoy, was one 
 called Montjoy, con.manded by Micajah Browning, a native of Lon- 
 donderry, which had a cargo of provisions for the starving garrison. 
 He had repeatedly remonstrated against the inaction of the fleet, and 
 now eagerly volunteered to take the first risk of succoring his fellow- 
 citizens, and his offer was accepted. Andrew Douglas, master of the 
 Phoenix that had on board a great quantity of meal from Scotland, 
 was willing to share the danger and the honor. 
 
 " The two merchantmen were escorted by the Dartmouth, frig- 
 ate of thirty-six gmns, commanded by Capt. John Leake. It was 
 the 30th of July. The sun had just set. The evening sermon in the 
 cathedral was over, and the heart-broken congregation had just sepa- 
 rated, when the sentinels on the tower espied the sails of three vessels 
 coming up the Foyle. Soon there was a stir in the Irish camp. The 
 besiegers were on the alert for miles along both shores. The ships 
 were in extreme peril, for the river was low, and the channel ran 
 near the left bank, where the headquarters of the enemy had been 
 fi:xed, and Avhere the batteries were the most numerous." 
 
 " Leake performed his duty with a skill and spirit worthy of his 
 noble profession, exposing his frigate to cover the merchantmen, and 
 using his guns with great effect. At length the little squadron came 
 to the place of peril. The Montjoy took the lead, and went right at 
 the boom. The huge barricade cracked and gave way, but the shock 
 was so great that the Montjoy rebounded and stuck fast in the mud. 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 57 
 
 A yell of triumph rose from the banks ; the Irish rushed to their 
 boats, and were prepared to board, but the Dartmouth poured on 
 them a well-directed broadside, which threw them into disorder. 
 Just then the Phoenix dashed at the breach which the Montjoy had 
 made, and was in a moment within the fence. Meantime the tide was 
 rising fast ; the Montjoy began to move, and soon passed safe through 
 the broken stakes and floating spars. But her brave master was no 
 more. A shot from one of the batteries had struck him, and he died 
 the most enviable of all deaths, in sight of the city of his birth, of his 
 home, which had just been saved by his courage and self-devotion 
 from the most frightful form of destruction. The night had closed 
 in before the conflict at the boom began, but the flash of the guns was 
 seen and the noise heard by the lean and ghostly multitude that cov- 
 ered the walls of the city. When the Montjoy grounded, and the 
 shout of triumph rose from the Irish on both banks of the river, the 
 hearts of the besieged sank within them. One who endured the un- 
 utterable anguish of that moment, has told us that they looked fear- 
 fully livid in each other's eyes. 
 
 " It was 10 o'clock before the ship arrived at the quay. The whole 
 population able to move was there to welcome them ; a screen made of 
 casks filled with earth was hastily thrown up to protect the landing 
 place from the batteries on the other side of the river, and then the 
 work of unloading began. First were rolled on shore barrels which 
 contained six thousand bushels of meal. Then came great cheeses, 
 casks of beef, flitches of bacon, kegs of butter, sacks of pease and bis- 
 cuit, and ankers of brandy. 
 
 " A few hours before this, half a pound of tallow and three quarters 
 of a pound of salted hides had been weighed out, with scrupulous care, 
 to every fighting man in the garrison. The ration that each now 
 received was three pounds of flour, two pounds of beef, and a pint of 
 pease. The Irish guns roared all night, and all night the bells of the 
 rescued city answered them with peals of joyous defiance. 
 
 " Through the whole of July 31st the batteries of the besiegers 
 continued to play, but soon after sunset flames were seen arising from 
 all their camps, and on the morning of the first of August, a line of 
 smoking ruins marked the site they had lately occupied, and far o£E 
 was seen the long column of pikes and standards, retreating up the 
 left bank of the Foyle. Thus ended the siege of Londonderry. Of 
 the seven thousand effective men in the garrison when the siege began, 
 oidy about three thousand remained. The loss of the besiegers is not 
 known." 
 
58 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 , Thus we see that the little city of Londonderry in Ireland, then a 
 dependency of the crown of England — fortified not by military skill, 
 nor naval armaments, but by heroic, Protestant, Christian hearts, — 
 devoted to the cause of religious freedom, became the arena upon 
 which the fate of the liberties, not only of Great Britain but of 
 America, was to be decided. The defence of Londonderry, by 
 arresting the onward march of King James toward Scotland, whither 
 it was his intention to go, after the Protestants of Ulster had been 
 subdued, contributed largely to his ultimate overthrow, the establish- 
 ment of the revolution which secured William and Mary on the 
 throne of England, and gave Protestantism to Great Britain. 
 
 So important did King William and the British Parliament con- 
 sider this defence, and so highly did they appreciate the heroic valor, 
 endurance, and moral worth of the defenders, that in addition to all 
 other acknowledgments, an act was passed exempting from taxation 
 throughout the British dominions, all who had borne arms in that city 
 during the siege. Of this act, those of the defenders who settled in Lon- 
 donderry, N. H., availed themselves until the American Revolution ; and 
 tlieir farms were marked exempt on the assessment rolls. From the 
 loins of the heroes of Londonderry sprang our fathers. Of the six- 
 teen families that first settled in our town when it was called Lon- 
 derry, James McKeen, John Barnet, James Anderson, Randal Alex- 
 ander, James Clark, James Nesmith, John Stuart, John Morrison, 
 Archibald Clendenin, Samuel Allison, by themselves or their immedi- 
 ate descendants, helped to people that part of Londonderry of which 
 our town of Windham was made. The emigration of the Scotch- 
 Irish to America did not proceed entirely from the siege of London- 
 derry, and the war of James the Second. For, as early as 1631, hav- 
 ing heard of the success of the Independents, who had settled at 
 Plymouth eleven years before, and another settlement at Salem, the 
 Presbyterians of Ulster, anxious to escape, if possible, from the injus- 
 tice of the perfidious Charles the First, whose reign bad just com- 
 menced, began to make preparations to remove to America. Agents 
 were appointed who proceeded to London to procure a passage to New 
 England. Soon after this they sent over an agent who pitched upon 
 a tract of land near the mouth of the Merrimack whither they 
 intended to transport themselves, and in pursuance of this, in 1636, 
 the Eagle Wing, a vessel of one hundred and fifty tons burthen, 
 sailed from Loch Fergus with one hundred and forty emigrant pas- 
 sengers, bound for New England, following directly in the track of 
 the Mayflower. Four of her passengers were distinguished Pres- 
 
Address by Hon. James Ditismoor. 59 
 
 byterian preachers, Blair, Livingston, Hamilton, and McClelland. 
 Her passengers were to have settled on the Merrimack river, but the 
 vessel encountered storms off the coast, and was so badly damaged 
 that the master felt it unsafe to cross the ocean, and put back into 
 the same harbor. " This company of men," Dr. Foote says, " were 
 subsequently the efficient agents in the hands of God of embodying 
 the Presbyterianism in Ireland, of spreading their principles far and 
 wide, and marshaling congregation after congregation, whose industry 
 made Ulster blossom as the rose." " It was better," says he, " that 
 God's wise providence sent them back to Ireland and shut them up to 
 their work, and it was best of all that they laid the foundation of that 
 church which may claim to be the mother of the American Presby- 
 terian church." And while that attempt of the Ulster men, made in 
 1636, was unsuccessful, yet it is more than probable that it was the 
 cause of our ancestors coming to Londonderry nearly a century after- 
 wards. For we find them in 1718, when they landed, immediately 
 inquiring for lands on the Merrimack river. Another well authenti- 
 cated fact in this connection deserves oiu' consideration, as a century 
 and a half stone, to be looked at, to see whether, in a humanitarian 
 view, we of this age and generation have advanced or retrograded 
 since 1718. No less than five vessels of emigrants from Ulster 
 arrived on the coast of New England, but, forbidden to land at Boston, 
 the immigrants moved up the Kennebec and landed. But the winter 
 of 1718-19 being one of unusual severity, the great majority of these 
 settlers left the Kennebec and went overland to Pennsylvania, and 
 settled in Northampton county. My authority did not state positively 
 why the Ulster people were not permitted to land in Boston harbor, 
 but intimates that it was because they were not Pm'itans. 
 
 We know that good Roger Williams was driven out of Massachu- 
 setts, and with like reason good Presbyterians from Ulster might not 
 have been permitted to land. This act, apparently discreditable to 
 the authorities of Boston in 1718, I cannot recite without naming in 
 the same connection the fact, as given by Willis in his History of 
 Portland, that in the autumn of 1718, a vessel arrived in the harbor 
 with twenty families of emigrants from Ireland. They were rigid 
 Presbyterians. They suffered severely in the winter from the failure 
 of their provisions. The inhabitants, not having either food or shelter 
 for so large an increase of poi3ulation, petitioned the General Court at 
 Boston for relief, and on this application the General Court ordered 
 that one hundred bushels of meal be allowed and paid out of the 
 treasury for the poor Irish people mentioned in the petition. It is 
 
60 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 subjoined, in a note to this account, that James McKeen, grandfather 
 of the first president of Bowdoin College, was of this company and the 
 agent who selected the land on which they settled. The latter facts 
 make it evident that our ancestors were aided in their settlement by 
 the Great and General Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 And while it is not entirely improbable that our ancestors were in 
 one of those five vessels that were turned down to Casco bay to find 
 a harbor, yet I would prefer to think that in lieu of its being done by 
 the authority of the town it was by some one man, for as Shakespeare 
 says : — 
 
 " Proud man — 
 
 Drest in a little brief authority, 
 
 Most ignorant of what he' s most assured, 
 
 His glassy essence, like an angry ape, 
 
 Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, 
 
 As make the angels weep." 
 
 What New England lost by the turning away of those five vessels, 
 with their living freight, of sturdy, God-fearing Presbyterians from 
 Ulster, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, nay the whole coun- 
 try and the world at large, gained. Any one who studies the history 
 of the Scotch-Irish race will be forced to believe that in the providence 
 of God there are no accidents. 
 
 The skilled metalurgist knows that it is not only necessary to select 
 the desired metal with care but it is as necessary to submit it to fer- 
 vent heat, to expel the dross and slag, and when the pure metal 
 pours from the furnace the fitting mould must be ready to receive it 
 and give the molten mass form and comeliness ; and if the material 
 is designed to receive a polish it must be taken from the mould and 
 with its kindred pieces placed in a revolving cylinder and kept 
 rev9lving till, by continual contact, the casting is scoured and made 
 ready for the burnisher. Our ancestors were selected in Scotland, 
 the best man-metal the world ever exhibited. They were molten by 
 the wars and persecutions, foreign and domestic, and by the preach- 
 ing of John Knox and his coadjutors moulded into Presbyterians, all 
 I'ight, stiff, and strong. But they must be scoured before they can 
 receive the polish and grace of which they are susceptible. Over in 
 the desolate, poverty-stricken, war-wasted, God-forsaken, priest-ridden, 
 Ireland is just the place to scour the castings ; and there they went in 
 God's providence. 
 
 One hundred years of scouring in Ireland made a race of men fit 
 for transjjlanting to America, of whose superiors history has as yet 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 61 
 
 made no record. When the report from the first emigrants to 
 America reached their friends in Ulster, shipload after shipload 
 followed in quick succession and settled in the immediate vicinity, if 
 possible, of their predecessors. 
 
 So we find that the sixteen families that on the 11th of April, 1719, 
 selected the common field on the north side of the brook as the first 
 settlement in Londonderry, on the 23d of September of the same 
 year had increased by immigration from Ulster to seventy families, 
 and had petitioned the General Court of New Hampshire for corporate 
 existence as a " township." There was no Lord Baltimore, no William 
 Penn, no City of London, nor any patron behind this colony to give it 
 aid, place, or power. 
 
 Our fathers brought with them and introduced into North America 
 as an article of diet, the potato, called, and known from that day to 
 this, the Irish potato, — the Scotch being left o£E for short, I suppose ; 
 as it is well known that the potato was first found by Sir Francis 
 Drake in South America and taken by him to England. 
 
 An examination of the town charter of Londonderry shows the first 
 and only evidence I ever saw of an inflation of the currency by the 
 potato. The charter provides, among other things, — " The same men 
 and inhabitants, rendering and paying for the same to us, and to our 
 successors, or to such officers as should be appointed to receive the 
 same, the annual quit-rent of one peck of potatoes, on the first day of 
 October yearly, forever.'''' This shows that the charter was drawn by 
 an Ulster man. It contains the element of thrift and success in life. 
 They wanted to pay their honest debts, and in something they had to 
 seU. 
 
 There is another evidence that it was drawn by one of our ances- 
 tors. It contains the unique provision that " on every Wednesday 
 forever, they may hold, keep, and enjoy a market for the buying and 
 selling of goods, wares, and merchandise, and divers kinds of creat- 
 ures, endowed with the usual kinds of privileges, profits, and immun- 
 ities, as other market towns fully hold, possess, and enjoy ; and two 
 fairs annually forever, the first to be held and kept within said town 
 on the 8th day of November next, and so annually forever. The other 
 on the 8th day of May in like manner. Provided, That if either of 
 those days falls on the Lord's day, then said fair shall be held on the 
 day following." Our fathers were linen drapers. They brought over 
 to this country the spinning-wheel and the loom. They were skilled 
 in weaving linen. The apprentice boys who shut and locked the gates 
 of Londonderry, just as the besieging soldiers were about to enter the 
 
62 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 city, and as Macaulay says " deserved to have their names preserved 
 in letters of gold," were apprentices to the weavers of linen. 
 
 With an eye to the sale of their products of the loom, they provided 
 by legislative enactment for a market day every week and two fairs 
 for a similar purpose. The iinen manufactured by the early settlers 
 in Londonderry and Windham had an extensive reputation for qual- 
 ity, and to prevent its coming into competition with an inferior arti- 
 cle, foreign or domestic, they had inspectors of linen appointed to ex- 
 amine, seal, and stamp the Londonderry linen, and give the maker 
 a certificate of its genuineness. And Thomas Nesmith, to whose 
 thoughtful generosity the citizens of our town are largely indebted for 
 their library, told me that he got his financial start in life by peddling 
 the linen cloth and thread made then by the women of Windham and 
 Derry. 
 
 It is impossible to disconnect Londonderry from Windham, when 
 speaking of the early history of our town. We were part and parcel 
 of the Londonderry of that day, and its history is part of 0U7' liistory. 
 To such an extent had Londonderry increased in population in the 
 first eighteen years of its corporate existence, that forty-nine men liv- 
 ing in the southerly part of said town united in a petition to the Gen- 
 eral Court of the province of New Hampshire for a " town charter." 
 The draft of the petition is scholarly and business-like, and if any one 
 was preparing a book of precedents for similar petitions he could not 
 do better than adopt that. 
 
 The charter contains a provision characteristic of om- ancestors, and 
 was tmdoubtedly drawn by them. I desire to call my friends' atten- 
 tion to that proviso. It is of the essence of the grant, and without 
 the observance of it a declaration of forfeiture may some day be de- 
 clared, and the corporate existence of our good old town be wiped out. 
 The whole grant hangs on the last clause, — '■'■Provided, That the 
 inhabitants of said Parish shall from time to time provide, maintain, 
 and support an orthodox minister of the gospel among them." Daniel 
 Webster, in his great argument in the Girard will case, said : " There 
 can be no republican form of government maintained in any country 
 without morality, and there can be no morality maintained without 
 Christianity." Our fathers intended that when Windham ceased to 
 be inhabited by a Cliristian people it should cease to be. Of the min- 
 isters who, from time to time, preached the gospel to the people in 
 pursuance of the provisions of the charter, I think naught but good 
 can be said. The Rev. Simon WilUams, who was settled over the 
 parish in 1766, was, as I have been told by some of those who fitted 
 
Address by Hon. James Dinsmoor. 63 
 
 for college under his tuition, not only a most useful minister, but a fine 
 scholar and a most apt instructor. Soon after his ordination, he en- 
 gaged in teaching the classics and higher mathematics, fitting young 
 men for college. That was before Dartmouth College was founded, 
 and before the organization of the academies which subsequently did 
 so much for education in New England. Our quondam senior part- 
 ner, Derry, since famous for her academies, had not at that time any. 
 Samuel Burnham, who started the first classical school, which eventu- 
 ated in Pinkerton Academy, began his school in 1796. Mr. Williams 
 gathered around him not only the smart boys of Windham, but also 
 those of Londonderry and the neighboring towns. Joseph McKeen, 
 the grandson of Justice McKeen, the pioneer of the first sixteen fam- 
 ilies in the Londonderry settlement, not only fitted for college with 
 Mr. Williams, but came back after graduating, and studied divinity 
 with him. 
 
 It was certainly a high compliment that the future president of 
 Bowdoin College paid Mr. Williams, to come back from college and 
 take another preparatory course with the scholar who, single handed 
 and alone, in a country town, remote from libraries and from cities, 
 had taught him the rudiments of a then coUege education. Simon 
 Williams was no ordinary man. The incidents of his early life, told 
 by our most pains-taking and reliable historian, Leonard A. Mor- 
 rison, show that he possessed most winning manners and that tact 
 which commands success. 
 
 He was born in the province of Leicester, Ireland, in 1729, and 
 when sixteen years of age, became engaged to be married to a young 
 lady whose parents forbade the banns. Nothing daunted by this, 
 they both ran away to England, and, boylike, he laid his case in per- 
 son before King George the Second. The king became interested in 
 the loving couple, educated them for four years, then married them 
 in London, and sent them to the island of St. Thomas, in the West 
 Indies, where Mr. Williams taught for several years, then removed to 
 Philadelphia, and taught there, and then afterwards was so connected 
 with Princeton College as to take a degree from that institution. 
 
 Of the Windham students, whose names occur to me, and all of 
 whom I knew as a boy knows men whom he sees and hears converse, 
 were Samuel Armour, Samuel Dinsmoor, the elder governor. Col. Silas 
 Dinsmoor, superintendent of the Cherokee Indians under the appoint- 
 ment of President Washington, and Dr. John Park. I recollect the 
 anecdote Col. Silas used to tell connecting Mr. Williams with the 
 doctor. Dr. John Park was said to be, in his day, a literary prodigy. 
 
64 Address hy Son. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 He took to books as a duck takes to water. It was the practice of 
 Mr. Williams to oiDen the exercises of school in the morning with 
 prayer, and no uncommon occurrence to particularize any student 
 whom he thought specially needed Divine assistance. Dr. J. was the 
 youngest in the school ; the distance he had to walk to reach the 
 school was great, and the facility with which he acquired the les- 
 sons was so great that less absolute attendance on school by him 
 was necessary than with the rest of his class. But punctuality was 
 one of the cardinal virtues with Parson Williams, and he prayed one 
 morning for poor little Johnnie Park, who comes to school one day 
 and stays at home the next, thinking to keep up with his class. 
 
 He was succeeded in the ministry by Mr. Harris, who kept up the 
 good old Scotch-Irish Presbyterian custom of calling his people to- 
 gether in neighborhoods on week days for religious conversation and 
 instruction, and who was in the habit of giving out on the Sabbath 
 the names of the families he intended to visit during the ensuing 
 week. On one occasion, when he had exchanged with a neighboring 
 minister, the list of families to be announced was read by the latter, 
 and the mispronunciation of the name Hughes fixed in my mind the 
 fact of Mr. Harris visiting his flock. He said Mr. Harris would visit 
 the family of Mr. Barnet Huge, Mr. John Huge, and Mr. Huge 
 Wilson. 
 
 It will be kept in mind that Mr. Harris's flock embraced the whole 
 town, and they aU attended meeting on the Sabbath, — men, women, 
 and children. There was no hunting or fisliing in Windham on the 
 Sabbath, in his day, unless some outside barbarian broke into the 
 town for that purpose. He lost the command of his vocal powers to 
 such an extent that he could not be heard by his audience, and his 
 peojjle waited on him a year or more with the hope that the great 
 restorer, Time, would enable him to resmne his duties. The deacons 
 used to take turns in reading sermons when it was not possible to get 
 an Andover student, or some member of the Presbytery did not volun- 
 . teer to preach for them. I remember that Mr. Bradford, of New Bos- 
 ton, came and preached one bright summer day. His text was taken 
 from that matchless composition, the book of Job : " Hast thou an arm 
 like God, and canst thou thunder with a voice like Him ? " And 
 when he preached, people might well listen, for they must listen. 
 
 The sainted Calvin Cutler succeeded Mr. Harris. He was a think- 
 ing, studious, aggressive man, and active in the cause of temperance. 
 He made it his practice to visit every school in town, and had the 
 best conducted and most intelligent Sunday school it was ever my 
 
Address by Hon. James Dinsmoor. 65 
 
 pleasure to see. As early as 1831 he preached on Fast day an anti- 
 slavery sermon from this text : " The days of ignorance God winked 
 at, but now He commands aU men to repent." The congregation in 
 Windham was very critical ; they knew a good sermon when they 
 heard it. The daily newspajjer had not at that time absorbed the at- 
 tention of the people. No man then could buy his opinions on almost 
 every subject, as he can now, for two cents. Each man had to make 
 his own, and the critical process of doing this made him a careful hearer 
 of the sermon. I recollect an incident of our neighbor, Jonathan 
 Parker, who, while not a member of Mr. Cutler's church, was a most 
 constant attendant on his preaching, and, while he never had the ad- 
 vantage of a scholastic education, few men excelled him in good sense. 
 He had occasion to visit a brother who resided in Reading, spent the 
 Sabbath there, and went to meeting with him. On his return home, 
 he came into our house, and was speaking of his visit to his native 
 town ; and, among other things related, he spoke of the preaching, 
 and wound up by saying, " I asked Sam if he paid for such preaching 
 as that." His mental model was, no doubt, Mr. Cutler. 
 
 Rev. Loren Thayer, the successor of Mr. Cutler, I knew slightly in 
 college. He was two years my senior, and his college life justified 
 his selection, as filhng the provisions of the " Town Charter." I 
 cannot forbear to sjjeak of my classmate, Nathaniel Hills. He 
 worked on the home farm, till he was nineteen years old, most labori- 
 ously, mth his brothers. I remember how his mother filled her pew 
 in church with her family. The boys were hard worked through the 
 week, and nature would assert her demands for rest and sleep on the 
 Sabbath, but she brought her boys to meeting to listen to what the 
 minister said, and if one was overcome with sleep, she had him get 
 up and stand, so that he could hear. All the way through life Nathan- 
 iel adhered to the same inflexible rule with himself. His stern and 
 unyielding observance of duty, and his gentle disposition fitted him 
 for the position of teacher. I recollect his telling me, when I visited 
 him in 1875, that in the course of his thirty-four years of teaching 
 he had never been absent one half day, and only once had been tardy, 
 and that was occasioned by an accident to the cars. 
 
 I have thought that Samuel Armour was not duly appreciated by 
 his fellow-townsmen ; but of this, being only a boy when my observa- 
 tions were made, and he a man, past the prime of life, perhajis I was 
 wrong in my estimate ; for I find by the record that he was town clerk 
 seventeen years, a selectman six years, represented the town in the 
 legislature fifteen years, was the standing justice of the peace, and an 
 5 
 
66 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 unobtrusive man, whose opinion was sought and taken by his fellow- 
 townsmen, — as a balance wheel is used to regulate the motion of 
 machinery. He was a man of commanding presence, and of exem- 
 plary manners. I recollect, when the church choir had dwindled to 
 small proportions, after the benediction had been pronounced, stand- 
 ing in his pew, he asked all those interested in having good music in 
 the church, to stop and take measures to secure a teacher of music. 
 The result was that Mr. Griffin from abroad was hired to come and 
 teach a singing school for a month, every day and evening. A new 
 singing book was obtained, the singing talent of the whole town was 
 called out, and that most necessary accompaniment received such an 
 accession of home talent that it was a fitting accompaniment to the 
 preaching of Mr. Cutler. 
 
 I should do the occasion, the town, and myself an injustice if I did 
 not speak of that most worthy yet extinct famUy, that succeeded Es- 
 quire Armour on liis farm in the range. Jacob Abbot had been a 
 minister at Hampton Falls, but resigned his pastoral charge there in 
 1826, and purchased what was then the best equipped farm in that 
 stUl beautiful range. He brought with him seven daughters and three 
 sons, and engaged in farming. The whole family engaged in every 
 good word and work in the town. Their deeds of charity and kind- 
 ness to the sick and distressed were innumerable, and, although Mr. 
 Abbot had been a Unitarian minister in his settlement at Hampton 
 Falls, he and his family attended the meeting at Windham till the 
 senseless vote of the town was taken, in 1833, which resulted in the 
 Presbyterian church vacating the old meeting-house ; after which Mr. 
 Abbot (who had in no manner aided the crusade against the Presby- 
 terians) occasionally preached in the old church, and on the day of 
 his death had preached there. He had walked down to the pond, in 
 connection with some of his neighbors, in the morning, and had been 
 rowed over that, and walked thence to the meeting-house. At the 
 close of the afternoon service, in attempting to return by the same 
 means, the boat, which was old and unsafe, filled with water, and he 
 and Capt. John Dinsmoor were drowned. His daughters all married 
 gentlemen out of the town, and each reflected credit on their parents 
 and the town. Ebenezer, one son, married the only daughter of Col. 
 Jacob Nesmith, and was an estimable citizen on the farm till his 
 death, when the farm passed out of the family name. George J., a 
 brother, graduated at Harvard College, and was induced by Abbot 
 Lawrence of Boston, then a representative in Congress, to go to Wash- 
 ington and establish a private school, which he continued a number of 
 
Address by Hon. James Dinsmoor. 67 
 
 years. He was afterward employed as consular correspondent in the 
 department of state, and was private secretary of Daniel Webster and 
 with him at liis death at Marshfield. Lucy, the youngest daughter, 
 was my most excellent assistant in Westford Academy, and afterward 
 married one of my predecessors in that institution, and settled in 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 One of the best representative business men of Windham was Col. 
 Thomas Nesmith. He began his mercantile career when eighteen 
 years of age, assisting his mother in conducting the business left by 
 the sudden death of his father, and connected with it the sale of the 
 linen made by the industrious mothers and daughters of that neigh- 
 borhood. His younger brother, Jolm, went to Haverhill, and served 
 an apprenticeship with John Dow. On the expiration of his appren- 
 ticeship, John had the business education, but it took cash to buy 
 goods and start in business. John Nesmith was one of the brainiest 
 men Windham ever produced in all financial matters. He soon laid 
 before Thomas, who had saved six thousand dollars, a scheme that 
 promised well for both, to which Thomas assented, and they engaged 
 in general merchandise in Windham. This place was not sufficient 
 to occupy the active mind of John long, and he soon opened another 
 store at Derry Lower Village, as it was called. He soon after induced 
 a Derry man to buy out the stock at Windham, and, leaving a younger 
 brother to look after affairs at Derry, John and Thomas opened a 
 wholesale dry goods store on Pine street, New York. 
 
 That was before the days of railroads, and steamboats, and I recol- 
 lect that after the brothers had got started in New York, their sister, 
 Lucy, who was my schoolmistress, in order to visit her brothers in 
 the metropolis of America, went to Boston, took passage in a coasting 
 vessel, and reached New York in safety at the expiration of nine days, 
 as she wrote home. The two brothers met with that success in Pine 
 street that Scotch-Irish tact and pluck usually have brought. John 
 induced a younger brother and a cousin or two to go there and take an 
 interest with them, and he looked out for a new field of adventure. 
 
 About this time Boston capital was investing in manufacturing in 
 Lowell, and the Livermore estate in Tewksbury was for sale, which 
 caught the eye of John as an investment promising well in the future, 
 and, in connection with Thomas, he bought it. Thomas was always 
 a gentleman of elegant leisure, who never troubled himself to look up 
 an investment for his money, but kept ready to invest when a good 
 one offered. Up to this time he had been popular with the unmar- 
 ried people in Windham and Derry, and had tastefully performed the 
 
68 Address by Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 delicate duties of best man at more weddings in those towns than any- 
 other ten men that could be found, but had never been in a position 
 to need the return of a similar favor. But this summer, on one of 
 his annual visits to Windham and Derry, he was interested in making 
 himself agreeable to Miss Fay, one of the teachers in the Female 
 seminary in Derry. This was a favorable time for his brother John 
 to engage him to join in the purchase of the Livermore property, on 
 the east bank of Concord river, and build with him a double house, 
 for the home of each, a proposition to which he readily assented, and, 
 having laid out a plat of ground for a park, they erected a modest 
 house of wood, in which they both resided for some years. Each 
 brother afterward built a residence commensurate with the wants of 
 their growing families, commanding a view of the plateau laid out by 
 them for a park. Both brothers were averse to mere sbow, and, as 
 long as they lived, practiced the same economy which had been one 
 of the secrets of tlieir success in life. 
 
 Let me take you all into the old meeting-house, as it was in its 
 pahny days, when I was a boy. We will enter, if you please, by the 
 west door. In the raised wall-pew at your left sat John Hemphill, 
 massive in make-up, with a brogue worthy of his ancestry, and when 
 the choir in the gallery struck a tune with melodious chords, he would 
 join in a majestic bass fit for a chorus of the skies. Next came the 
 Revolutionary hero, David Campbell, who limped through life, by rea- 
 son of the wound received in the army, with his son David, my Sun- 
 day school teacher, a most excellent man. Next came Uncle Robert 
 Dinsmoor, "the rustic bard," who was always in his place, and never 
 failed to add his melodious tenor to the efforts of the choir. Next 
 came the minister's family pew, and then the pulpit. On the east 
 side of the pulpit sat Deacon Silas Moore, and across the aisle, in the 
 body pews, sat Mrs. Hills and her family. In the rear of her sat 
 Capt. Isaac Cochran, and by his side sat Esquire Armour. Next 
 them, in a wall pew, sat Capt. McCreary, and so many others beyond 
 the reach of my vision, till you come to the wall pew of Capt. John 
 Campbell, with his tall family. Next came the Noyeses and the Ha- 
 zeltines, and then the front door. 
 
 Moving past the door, going west, came Joseph Clyde, whose flow- 
 ing gray locks and wide-skirted blue coat gave him a majestic mien. 
 Next came John Hughes and Uncle John Dinsmoor ; then, at the 
 corner, Capt. William Campbell, with his bouncing family of twelve. 
 Next was the pew owned by my father and our cousin, William Dins- 
 moor. And, now, we are ready to go out at the same door we came 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 69 
 
 in, but wait a moment. Of the many fine families that occupied the 
 body of the house were the Deacons John, James, and William Da 
 vidson, all of them model men in all the walks of life. Robert 
 Campbell, too, who, in the drowsy weather of summer, used to stand 
 in sermon time, and shake off the otherwise overpowering sleep. Near 
 him the Nesmiths sat, and still farther on Jeremiah and Christopher 
 Morrison, with their two sisters of queenly beauty. But I must stay 
 in this rehearsal, lest my failure of memory of names and faces of 
 more than half a century ago should seemingly compel me, by failure to 
 mention all, to make invidious distinctions, when all deserved mention. 
 
 Of the doctors that I knew, J. W. Perkins was the first in my day. 
 I certainly have occasion to speak well of him, for in the winter of 
 1827 he attended me when sick with lung fever, fed me on calomel, 
 and with most scrupulous care forbade my tasting cold water. But 
 by careful nursing and the kindness of friends and neighbors, I came 
 out in the spring with every tooth in my head loose — salivated and 
 saved, as I suppose the doctor thought. He was a good citizen, and 
 subsequently abandoned his profession for that of divinity. 
 
 About the time Dr. Perkins left the town, Dr. Simpson moved in. 
 He was a native of the town, but had been absent since boyhood. He 
 was a man of great push and vigor, had by his own industry earned 
 the means of obtaining his education and profession, and had prac- 
 ticed some years before locating in our town. He was a skilful sur- 
 geon and physician, and the practice in the town was not equal to the 
 mental demands of the doctor on his own powers. He purchased a farm 
 over in the range, and united farming with his practice of medicine. 
 
 A few years after, he moved to Lowell, where he engaged in financial 
 enterprises congenial to his tastes. Among them was that of building 
 the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad. He was careless of 
 his dress and personal appearance, and for years, in cold weather, his 
 outer garment was a blue camlet coat. Time, which rejuvenates the 
 field and the forest every spring, had an opposite effect on the doc- 
 tor's coat, and it continued in the " sear and yellow leaf " all the year 
 round. At one of the meetings of tlie board of directors of the road, 
 at Plymouth, his associates on the board concluded that a well-dressed 
 board of directors would enhance the value of their railroad bonds, in 
 the market of Boston, where proverbially well-dressed men congregate, 
 and they suggested to the landlord at the Plymouth House, that if 
 some one of his guests should, by mistake, take the doctor's camlet 
 coat, they would pay for a new coat that would fit the doctor's person. 
 The hint to the landlord was sufficient, and in the night the old coat 
 
70 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 mysteriously disappeared. An ample apology and a new coat from 
 the landlord satisfied the doctor that a mistake, if not a misfit, had 
 been made, and his associates paid the biU. He has passed away. I 
 know the old Latin maxim, "Z)e mortuis nil nisi honum" but I can- 
 not be true to history without laying at his door the blame for depriv- 
 ing the Presbyterian church of the use of the old meeting-house. I 
 was a boy in the gallery, and heard him discuss the right of the town 
 to the meeting-house, and saw him marshal his hosts that cast the ma- 
 jority vote, which resulted in the church leaving the house as a place 
 of worship. True, the town, as such, built the house, in pursuance of 
 its charter and the law of the state, but it had sold the pews inside, 
 and deeded them to the purchasers, who had held possession some 
 thirty-five years, consecutively. Now, for a part owner of the out- 
 side of the house to drive out his co-tenant in the walls, and who 
 owned the entirety of the inside, is an anomaly in law. A few days 
 after the annual town-meeting liiy guardian took me away to school, 
 and I neither saw nor heard of the subsequent acts of the church in 
 going out of the meeting-house, but, at the close of that year, when I 
 returned, I found the meeting-house empty on the Sabbath, and Mr. 
 Cutler preaching in Bartley hall, a most unsuitable place, which soon 
 was abandoned for the commodious house which has ever since been 
 used as a place of worship by the Presbyterian church. 
 
 Of the many men who have honored their native town by well-spent 
 lives, Robert Dinsmoor, " the rustic bard," especially deserves men- 
 tion. He was one of the elders of the Presbyterian church for fifty 
 years, and for the greater part of that time was clerk of the session. 
 He was at Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered to Gates, the turn- 
 ing-point in the Revolutionary war. As a result of that battle, France 
 acknowledged the government of the united colonies as an indepen- 
 dent nation. He was then twenty years old, and volunteered, as 
 most of the New Hampshire soldiers did, to go under General John 
 Stark, of Londonderry. He learned to write on birch bark, as did 
 all his brothers, and, although he had the benefit of some attendance on 
 Parson Williams's school, yet, owing to the demands of his father for 
 his labor on the land, he being the eldest son of the family and some 
 years older than his next oldest brother, it was not jiossible for him to 
 be spared to get an education. Books, in that day, were few and ex- 
 pensive, and he was poor, as the whole country then was. He was a 
 most genial and affable man, had a wide circle of acquaintances, for 
 his day, and when we call to mind the fact that he had a family of 
 eleven children to rear, with no income save what could be forced 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 71 
 
 from the reluctant soil of his farm, and the sale of wood cut there- 
 from, and was called upon hy his friends, upon any occasion, for a 
 poetic composition, which took his time from the farm, and yielded 
 no compensation except the mental pleasure of composition, we mar- 
 vel at what he accomplished. He might have said, as did Pope, 
 
 " While still a youth, as yet unknown to fame, 
 I wrote in numbers, for the numbers came." 
 
 He was a man of massive build, had a most musical voice, and a 
 ready command of language. 
 
 He has been called by some who have assumed to criticise his poetic 
 comjDosition, an imitator of Burns. He was the imitator of no one. 
 He wrote in the Scotch dialect, as he had a right to do. It was the 
 dialect of the common ancestors of both. It was the mother tongue 
 of each. 
 
 It is a well known aphorism that great exigencies make great men. 
 It is equally true that the training of the mothers has made the heroes 
 of the world. When the Spartan mother gave the shield to her son 
 as he went into battle, with the injimction "return with this 
 or on it," she taught him the elementary principle of success in every 
 battle in life, " no surrender." I would not omit to speak of the loving 
 hands, the kindly persuasive counsels, the self-denying toils of our 
 mothers, to all which we are so much indebted for what we are and 
 what we have done. The courageous, successful endeavor of the 
 widowed mothers of our town is a living inspiration that wUl nerve 
 the heart and uphold the hands of all mothers that may be called to 
 face a similar experience. The life of Agnes Park Hemphill, widow 
 of Captain Nathaniel, was an epic which waits a Homer to hand it 
 down to posterity in verse. Colby University is indebted for its 
 name and its funds to the heroic mother of its founder, in whose veins 
 coursed the blood of the McKeens, the Dinsmoors, the Nesmiths, and 
 the Davidsons of our town. How much we are indebted to the kind, 
 patient, painstaking industry of the nmnberless female school teachers 
 who have endured our wayward tempers and roguish ti'icks, and 
 taught us that most useful lesson, obedience, as well as how to speak 
 and write our mother tongue ! Who can count the debt due to our 
 late veteran Olive Park, whose tact and charm of manners held the 
 annually recurring troops of little ones in tow around her till the 
 three score and fifteen years admonished her that the silver cord 
 must be broken. 
 
 But, my friends, let us glance over our country and see where the 
 
72 Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 
 
 Scotch-Irish have been found, and what footprints they have left on 
 the sands of time. Bancroft says : " The fii*st public voice in America 
 for dissolving aU connection with Great Britain came not from the 
 Puritans of New England, the Dutch of New York, nor from the 
 planters of Virginia, but from the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of 
 North Carolina." The prototype of the declaration of independence 
 was put forth by the Scotch-Irish at Mechlenburg, North Carolina, 
 before Thomas Jefferson, another Scotch-Irishman, made himself and 
 it immortal in Carpenter's Hall in 1776. Nay, more, after the mem- 
 orable declaration had been passed by the Continental congress, and it 
 was proposed that each member should put his sign manual to that 
 document which made him a traitor to his then king, it was not tiU 
 John Weatherspoon, the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian preacher, the lineal 
 descendant of John Knox, rose in his place with solemn mien and 
 declared that his gray head must soon bow to the fate of the human 
 race, but he preferred that it should fall by the axe of the executioneer 
 rather than that the cause of independence of Great Britain should not 
 prevail, that the hesitating stood firm, and every man came up after 
 him and affixed his name to the immortal document. Of those who have 
 filled the presidential chair, eleven have been of Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
 and of the illustrious names tliat have aided in making the Supreme 
 Court of the United States the most respected of all the judicial tribu- 
 nals in the world five at least have been of Scotch-Irish ancestry. 
 
 The first independent legislative body organized in any of the so- 
 called English colonies was that of New Hampshire in which Matthew 
 Thornton of Londonderry, an Ulster man by birth, was its cliief execu- 
 tive, then styled president. The Scotch-Irish settled in Virginia and 
 gave to the American Revolution Patrick Henry, James Madison, and 
 Thomas Jefferson. They settled in Pennsylvania, and history has 
 recorded the declaration made at Carlisle, before July 4, 1776, that 
 these colonies must be free from the oppressive hand of Britain ; and 
 for fiity years a Scotch-Irishman was governor of Pennsylvania. 
 The Scotch-Irish settled in North Carolina, and May 20, 1776, 
 sounded the keynote of rebellion in the Mechlenbiirg declaration. 
 When the Scotch-Irish of the land declared that the American 
 colonies should be free it meant that the Scotch-Irish blood was 
 ready to flow upon the battle field, that the Scotch-Irish arm vt^as 
 ready to wield the battle axe, and that the word " surrender "' would 
 never be uttered. Who shall be found to write the history of the 
 Ulster men in the United States ? 
 
 Of the many who have gone from this town, to other theatres of 
 
Address hy Hon. James Dinsmoor. 73 
 
 action, no one has been known to cast disgrace on the town of his 
 nativity, or that of liis ancestry, by the commission of crime. Leon- 
 ard A. MoiTison, our most painstaking and accui*ate town historian, 
 has found the natives of this town and tbeir descendants in all the 
 devious walks of business life, honored and respected by those who 
 are law-abiding citizens. 
 
 The tendency has been to emigration. The manufacturing cities, 
 with the demand for skilled labor incident thereto, have been a great 
 attraction to the ambitious and venturesome of both sexes. The rail- 
 road has offered new fields for occupation, has nearly annihilated 
 space, and brought in competition with the farming interests of the 
 town the cheap virgin soil of the West and South, and forced the cul- 
 tivator to abandon the crops that supported the fathers, and adopt one 
 not exposed to the competition of more generous soils or of more 
 genial climates. The lessons of industry and economy, taken in with 
 their mother's milk, have been their best banking capital. 
 
 And we can say to-day to the world, if it want's a good husband or 
 a good wife, if it wants the example of a good father or a good 
 mother, if it wants a good carpenter or a good mason, a good 
 macliinist or a good ship-builder, or that prime necessity of the travel- 
 ing American, a man that will always have your baggage where you 
 can get it, if it wants a merchant or a manufacturer, if it wants a 
 member of a town or city government, if it wants a member of the 
 state legislature or of congress, if it wants a lawyer or a doctor, a 
 school master or a school mistress, a judge or a governor, a president 
 of a college or of a deaf and dumb asylum, — in fact, if there should 
 ever be found a place to be filled with the first order of talent, let it 
 come to Windham and get its supply. And now, my friends, what 
 can I say for those of us who have left the hearth-stone, that should 
 be a fitting tribute to the worth of tliose who have withstood all the 
 blandishments of city life, of manufacturing villages, of the boundless 
 West, of the gold fields of California, and of the plains of Texas, and 
 have trod the steps the fathers and mothers have trod, have kept 
 bright and burning the light in the window for the wandering boy 
 and girl, have sustained the tottering steps of the aged, and looked 
 well to it that the reputation of our good town took no detriment by 
 the passage of time ; nay, more, have killed the fatted calf for us 
 to-day and given us this royal reception ? 
 
 Daniel Webster said that the highest earthly reward any man 
 could receive was the consciousness of a duty done. 
 May that he yours. 
 
74 The Bock of Liberty. 
 
 The President : — The next feature of the programme will be a 
 song by the glee club, " The Rock of Liberty." 
 
 THE ROCK OF LIBERTY. 
 
 Oh, the firm old rock, the wave-worn rock, 
 That braved the blast and the billow's shock. 
 It was born with time on a barren shore 
 And laughed with scorn at the ocean's roar. 
 'T was here that first the Pilgrim band 
 Came weary up the foaming strand, 
 And the tree they reared in the days gone by. 
 It Jives, it lives, and ne'er shall die. 
 
 Thou stern old rock, in the ages past 
 Thy brow was bleached by the warring blast, 
 But thy wintry toil with the wave is o'er, 
 And the billows beat thy base no more. 
 Yet countless as thy sands, old rock, 
 Are the hardy sons of the Pilgrim stock. 
 And the tree they reared in the days gone by, 
 It lives, it lives, and ne'er shall die. 
 
 Then rest, old rock, on the sea^beat shore ; 
 Thy sires are lulled by the breaker's roar. 
 'T was here that first their hymns were heard, 
 O'er the startled cry of the ocean bird. 
 'T was here they lived, 'twas here they died, 
 Their forms repose on the green hillside. 
 But the tree they reared in the days gone by, 
 It lives, it lives, and ne'er shall die. 
 
 This magnificent composition was well sung by the club and roundly 
 applauded by the assemblage. 
 
 The Pbesident : — Ladies and gentlemen, considering the lateness 
 of the hour, a very interesting letter from the old camping ground of 
 our fathers on the soil of Ireland, wUl, for the present, be omitted. 
 There will be an intermission for a short time dxiring which dinner 
 will be served, and after that the exercises will be resumed here in 
 the tent. This will close the forenoon exercises. 
 
 The president, the speakers, and the distinguished guests, to the 
 number of 140, repaired to the lower town hall where five long tables, 
 beautifully spread and laden with choice delicacies, awaited them. 
 The governor's table was in the center, at the end but on one side sat 
 
The Dinner. 75 
 
 the president of the day, with the governor and Mrs. Tuttle on his 
 right. Opposite was Hon. James Dinsmoor, the orator of the day, 
 with his wife, followed by ex-Senator James W. Patterson, and 
 Attorney-General Albert E. Pillsbury and Mrs. Pillsbury ; while other 
 special guests sat on either side of this and the other tables. 
 
 The president called the people to order and invited Rev. Cadmore 
 M. Dinsmoor to invoke Divine Blessing. 
 
 The school children, with the school officers, teachers, and others, to 
 the number of nearly 100, sat down to well-laden tables in what was 
 known formerly as Bartley's hall, now Goodwin's hall, which stands 
 fronting the town-house, and upon the opposite side of the highway. 
 The rest of the people, to the number of some 1,500, were regularly 
 seated in the tent, and served by waiters in an orderly and systematic 
 manner. Each waiter knew his section and attended to it. Fifteen 
 hundred packages of food had been previously prepared. Each con- 
 tained bread and meat, cake, or other eatables, and a banana ; the 
 latter was separated from the food by a Japanese napkin. These 
 were all placed upon a smooth, hard-surfaced manilla paper, cut for 
 the purpose 16 inches square, which was then folded and pinned 
 together in neat packages, and contained a variety and sufficiency to 
 satisfy all. The committee had purchased in Boston 24 bailed wooden 
 baskets. The bails were erect, the baskets were 22 inches in length, 
 14 inches wide, and 11 inches deep, with lids at each end. Each held 
 from 20 to 25 of the prepared packages. Each gentleman waiter, 
 with a light but well-filled basket upon his arm, with one lid securely 
 fastened down, and the other opened sufficiently to take forth the 
 bundle of food, passed through his appropriate section, and all were 
 quickly and amply supjilied. Everything was orderly, and there was 
 not the slightest confusion. Large quantities of bread, meat, and cake 
 remained after all had been supplied. 
 
 One hundred and twenty gallons of coffee had been made by a firm 
 in Boston and shipped in tanks to the town-house, — hot and ready for 
 use. Each guest had been provided with a mvig : the coffee was passed 
 through the great tent in strainer pails bought for the occasion, and 
 as this work was systematized the same as the passing of the food, 
 each guest was quickly supplied with the excellent beverage. In the 
 same manner the guests in the lower town-haU, and in Goodwin's haU, 
 had been supplied with coffee. Cold water was provided in abundance. 
 
 The band had early gone to the lower town-hall for dinner, and 
 returned to the tent soon after the close of the forenoon's exercises, 
 and entertained the people by playing the following : March, Wash- 
 
76 Address of Evarts Cutler^ Esq. 
 
 ington Greys ; Overture, Orpheus ; Song without words, " Longing ;" 
 Concert Galop, '' The Alarm." 
 
 The Committee on Collation were William D. Cochran, Albert E. 
 Simpson, and George E. Seavey. Mr. Cochran was absent attending 
 the General Assembly in Portland, Oregon, the gi*eater part of the 
 time that preparations were being made for the celebration, and Mr. 
 Seavey was prevented by private business from taking any part as 
 member of the committee, so the burden of planning and carrying out 
 the details of the work fell largely upon Mr. Simpson. He and those 
 who aided him are entitled to much credit for the systematic, orderly, 
 and efficient manner in which everything was done. 
 
 AFTERNOON EXERCISES. 
 
 After dinner, speaking was resumed in the tent. At a quarter to 3 
 o'clock the president called the assemblage to order, and said : 
 
 " The first things to be listened to will be the sentiments and the 
 responses. And, to begin, we have the toast, ' The Town of Wind- 
 ham — a place of sacred associations and pleasant memories. For 
 many generations the honest industry of her people has been success- 
 fully exhibited in each annual golden harvest ; and, better still, in the 
 valued institutions they have established and sustained.' I have the 
 pleasure of introducing to you the son of a former pastor, Evarts 
 Cutler, Esq., of New Haven, Conn., who wiU respond to this senti- 
 ment." [Applause.] 
 
 ADDRESS OF EVARTS CUTLER, ESQ. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — At such a time as this, 
 the state of one not brought up to speechmaldng, — not a minister, or a 
 lawyer or a politician, — is that of a man of whom you may have heard. 
 This man had the inflammatory rheumatism so he couldn't move, 
 and, at the same time, had the St. Vitus dance so he could n't keep 
 still. [Laughter.] 
 
 The St. Vitus dance, in my case, is my anxiety to acknowledge the 
 courtesy of your committee in inviting me to speak, and my desire to 
 pay some slight tribute to my native town ; the town where my hon- 
 ored father and my sainted mother spent the best and most active 
 years of their lives in loving labors for the spiritual and temporal 
 well-being of its people. 
 
Address of JEvarts Cutler, Esq. 77 
 
 The town of Windham needs no eulogy. She is so strong in the 
 affections of her sons and daughters ; her history, her deeds, and her 
 character speak for her so eloquently, that words of mine are not 
 needed ; yet two or three words I must say. 
 
 When I was a lad, and lived here, it hardly occurred to me that 
 Windham was beautiful, but in these later years, when I come back 
 on occasional visits, I am charmed with her natural scenery. Ride 
 through the range, look down upon beautiful Corbett's pond, and 
 across its blue waters to the plain where stands the home of my child- 
 hood, and to the wooded hills beyond ; or, stand upon the top of But- 
 terfield's Rock, and view the wide expanse ; or, climb to the top of 
 Dinsmoor's hill, or Jenny's hiU, and take into your gaze the panorama 
 of field and farm, forest, lake, and distant mountain, and, surely, you 
 can but feel that Nature has made our town fair and lovely to look 
 upon. 
 
 But the stronger claim upon our loving admiration comes from her 
 history and her character. Her history has already been broadly 
 and vividly sketched by one of her distinguished sons, the orator of 
 the day ; and we have in the noble volume compiled and edited with 
 such ability and exhaustive research by the president of the day, 
 who deserves and should receive the thanks of every son of Windham, 
 a rich mine of information that may weU fill us with pride; and this 
 speaks forcibly for her sturdy qualities of honesty, morality, intelli- 
 gence, and patriotism. 
 
 No town has a better record than she. When the nation has 
 sounded the call to arms, to battle for the right, to repel invasion or 
 suppress rebellion, Windham has always responded with promptness, 
 zeal, and loyalty, and her patriotism has been shown in still higher 
 forms — she has been of untold benefit to our country in raising up and 
 training men and women of high character and lofty aims to go forth 
 into the towns and cities of other states, or out to the wild frontier, to 
 establish and uphold institutions of education, philanthropy, and reli- 
 gion, and, by the force of manly and consistent character, to elevate 
 the moral tone of society. Herein lies her strongest claim upon the 
 respect of her children and the gratitude of our country. 
 
 And, if I might be permitted to speak of the duties of the present 
 residents of Windham, it would be to urge upon you the desirability, 
 nay, the imperative obligation, of uniting all your forces to preserve 
 and advance the high standard of education, morals, and religion, that 
 has distinguished the town from its beginnings. To do this in the 
 most effective manner, it is necessary to have, and to exercise, a feel- 
 
78 Address of Evarts Cutler, Esq. 
 
 # 
 
 ing of exalted self-respect, a true estimate of your own importance, a 
 conviction that the high character of a small town is as important to 
 the well-being of the state as though it were a large town. 
 
 In these days, when the great cities of the land are growing so 
 rapidly, and absorbing so much of the wealth of the country, and, at 
 the same time, attracting to themselves such swarms of the idle, the 
 ignorant, and the vicious, the off-scourings of creation, men who know 
 little of our American institutions, and care still less ; it is the liighest 
 duty of the people of the country towns to make themselves an irre- 
 sistible power in the state and the nation, to counterbalance what 
 threatens to be an overwhelmingly corrupt influence of the great cities. 
 
 It is the urgent duty of every citizen to be thoroughly informed on 
 public affairs, and to use every efPort to enlist his neighbors and his 
 town in cooperation with the powers that make for political purity, 
 honesty, and intelligence. To this end, a spirit of mutual encourage- 
 ment, of helpfulness, and of emulation, should be excited. Above all, 
 I would urge the duty of a spirit of hopefxilness, a determination not 
 to despond when things seem to be going down-hiU. Losing heart 
 and hope is often equivalent to losing the battle. All great reforms, 
 all grand advances, are led by men and women of hopeful, sanguine 
 temperament. Beware of the motto that so many either consciously 
 or unconsciously adopt — " Expect nothing, and you will not be disap- 
 pointed." Such a spirit is a dead bar to all progress. It cuts the 
 nerve of all effort, and its possessors are disappointed, into the bar- 
 gain. It is the feeling of the despondent man who, when he killed 
 his pig, and was asked how much it weighed, replied, " It didn't weigh 
 as much as I expected, and I never thought it would." [Laughter.] 
 
 I often wish the world was more largely composed of men of the 
 even temper, the hopeful spirit, and the undaunted courage, of good 
 old Deacon Hopson. No matter what trials or losses, disappoint- 
 ments or provocations, came to himself, his family, his friends, his 
 church, or his town, he always rallied at once, and said : " Well, it 
 might have been worse ; it might have been worse." [Laughter.] 
 
 One time, a friend, to try him, said to him : " Deacon Hopson, I 
 had a bad dream about you last night." 
 
 " Ah ! what was it ? " 
 
 " I dreamed I saw the devil carrying you off on his back ! " 
 
 " Did you ? did you ? Well, well ; it might have been worse, it 
 might have been worse." [Laughter.] 
 
 " Worse ! How could it have been worse ? " 
 
 " Oh, he might have made me carry him ! " [Great laughter.] 
 
Address of Rev. Samuel Morrison. 79 
 
 I hope Deacon Hopson will never have the inflammatory rheumatism 
 and St. Vitus dance at the same time ; but, if he should, I am sure his 
 calm philosophy will triumph. [Laughter.] 
 
 But, Mr. President, I am trespassing upon the time that belongs to 
 others. Only a word more. From the force of circumstances and 
 the natural shifting of the centers of production and of trade, Wind- 
 ham may have decreased in population in the last fifty years, but the 
 success of this celebration demonstrates that the old spirit survives. 
 It is only by large-minded liberality, generous hospitality, thorough 
 organization, and unity of feeling and purpose, that such a result is 
 reached. 
 
 The men of Windham have shown us to-day that they are worthy 
 sons of worthy fathers, and the women of Windham have shown us 
 that they are not one whit behind their mothers in dainty cookery and 
 large-hearted generosity. [Applause.] 
 
 If the good people of Windham can unite all their energies on such 
 a celebration as this, and achieve such success, why may they not 
 unite most heartily on all measures for the public good ? They can, 
 and I believe they will, and, at the bi-centennial in the year 1942, her 
 sons and daughters, assembled as we are to-day, will recount her 
 deeds and dwell upon her history with the same loving pride that 
 fills our breasts to-day. I close with the heartfelt sentiment, " God 
 bless the Town of Windham." [Loud applause.] 
 
 The President — To-day we celebrate the incorporation of this 
 town. Just as truly do we also celebrate the establishment of the 
 Christian church. In those early days, their history was indissolubly 
 connected. The church established at the time of the incorporation 
 remains unchanged. One of the sons of this town, Rev. Samuel Mor- 
 rison, of Charlton, Mass., wiU respond to the sentiment, " The Church 
 of Windham." [Great applause.] 
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. SAMUEL MORRISON. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlevien : — I am told that there is 
 no time to lose. Therefore I shall omit all the jokes, and attend 
 strictly to that which is substantial. My memory easily covers more 
 than one-third part of the time since the organization of the church 
 in tliis town. I can readily go back more than fifty years and pict- 
 ure to my mind what were then real scenes and real experiences. 
 And no part, or hardly any part, of a picture that I would thus form, 
 
80 Address of Rev. Samuel Morrison. 
 
 is more clear than that part about which the church is the center. In 
 some way it was borne in upon me that, iaside from the home, the 
 church was the most important of all institutions ; and, of all local 
 churches, this one stood first. And in my later life I have seen no 
 church building more suggestive of Christian worship than the one 
 which stands yonder ; and no other house of worship has ever been 
 to me so much a house of sacred worship. One minister only began 
 his work, and, consequently, one other only closed his work with his 
 people, during my early Hfe in this town. To both of these men I 
 listened during all the early part of life, and for them both I have 
 always cherished the highest feelings of esteem and regard. I 
 remember them as men of sterling Christian character — men of sim- 
 ple and impressive Christian dignity ; and I will add that I have held, 
 as have others, in equal estimation and in equal regard, the wives of 
 these two men. I have always thought they stood on a level of entire 
 equality with their husbands, and were held in equal estimation by 
 the people. 
 
 I remember the congregation as it was forty or fifty years ago. I 
 can picture it in my mind very clearly : a congregation of families — 
 parents and children ; a family to a pew. I remember the pews that 
 different families occupied. I remember the choir, and, by a slight 
 exercise of memory and imagination, can again sit in our family pew, 
 and listen tO the song part of Christian worship. I remember the 
 fathers and mothers who are not, and the children who are ; but it 
 does seem to me that a wind, bearing somewhat of a scorching quality, 
 has swept across these faces ; and it does seem as though the white 
 clouds from the skies have come down and laid upon these heads. 
 
 But my thought is not in the direction of history or eulogy or rem- 
 iniscence or contrast between the past and present, but rather in the 
 direction of the importance, influence, and mission of the church ; and, 
 as time is pressing, I will try to be not very long in this direction. 
 The importance of the church consists in this, that it stands for the 
 Christian religion ; and the unportance of the Christian religion in 
 this, that it is of divine origin, and that it has a divine mission in the 
 world. I think its importance is emphasized by the fact that it is the 
 religion of the ages, the religion of Adam and Eve, of Enoch and Noah, 
 the religion of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob ; the religion of Christ 
 and his disciples ; it is the changeless religion of the ages. Christ 
 himself gave the world no new religion ; nor did he change the old 
 religion. He freed it from form and ceremony that it might the bet- 
 ter be apprehended as spiritual truth, fitted for human hearts, — faith, 
 
Address of Rev. Samuel 3Iorrison. 81 
 
 hope, and charity its divisions, and obedience its visible fruit. The 
 church has a natural and pervasive influence which belongs to it as 
 heat belongs to fire. The chiu'ch has a general influence on opinions. 
 Whatever this town is to-day, it is something else than what it would 
 have been were it not for the church. When I say church, I gener- 
 ally mean the Christian religion, — that which the church stands for. 
 Along with other institutions and other agencies, the church weaves 
 its threads of influence into the history of the town ; and these threads 
 are among the finest and brightest of all. The influence of the 
 church comes silently into all homes and into all hearts ; it pervades 
 them. Religion reaches every one as really as the air and the sun- 
 shine. Society in all its phases is modified by it. It makes the dif- 
 ference betAveen civilization and barbarism. The church means better 
 government, better laws ; it means better home§ and better schools ; 
 better manners and better habits ; higher refinement, sweeter friend- 
 ship, and broader charity ; it means better neighbors, better citizens, bet- 
 ter men and women ; — it means all these, besides what is usually spoken 
 of as Christian character, sanctified hearts and lives. Everything you 
 see and handle is changed by the touch of Christian influence. Every 
 book and paper you read, every house you enter and all that you see 
 within, every horse you drive, the carriage you ride in, the roads you 
 follow, the walls and fences by the roadside, every person you see or 
 meet, every roadway and corner you pass, every cultivated field and 
 meadow you look upon, — all bear the impress of Christian civilization. 
 And Christian civilization is but the outward expression of the Chi-is- 
 tian religion. We breathe an atmosphere charged with religious 
 truth. We live, we walk, and we work in the light of religion. We 
 think and we feel under its inspiration. We grow along the line of 
 its influences toward the ideal of its requirements. We may not be 
 what we might be, — what we ought to be, — but we are what we would 
 not be except for the Chi'istian religion. But, aside from its natural 
 influence, the church has a special mission. It is in the world to be 
 the light of the world, according to the statement of Him who is the 
 world's personal light. It has a local home mission as wide as the 
 home land, touching individual life and character, fvdfilled by direct 
 Christian effort ; a mission of aggression and conquest, of voluntary 
 plan and purpose fulfilled by its agents who possess its spirit and 
 teach its doctrines where it has no existence, or exists only in weak- 
 ness. How many border states and new states in our land have been 
 blessed by the Christian ministry of our older churches. But, still 
 fui'ther, it has a foreign mission, reaching to all nations. The great 
 6 
 
82 Address of Rev. Samuel Morrison. 
 
 petition of divine authorship is, "Thy kingdom come." The great 
 commission of divine authority is, "Go ye into aU the world and 
 preach the Gospel to every creature." And this prayer is to he an- 
 swered, and this commission fulfilled, through the instrumentality of 
 the church. Christ touched the eyes of the hlind, and they saw. The 
 church reaches forth its hand and touches the far-off islands of the 
 sea and the distant nations of the earth, and they come into possession 
 of a new sight ; they see as they have not seen hitherto. Old things 
 pass away, and aU things become new. Christ commanded, and the 
 dead lived again. The church speaks the living Word, and these 
 same islands and these same nations are quickened into newness ot 
 life_a spiritual life. They live as they have never lived before ; 
 and the church will continue to offer this prayer and to address itself 
 to the fulfiUment of this commission till prayer and Christian work 
 are no longer needed on earth. .,..,, j ^. 
 
 I am reminded to-day of the mortality of the mdividual and the 
 immortality of the institution. Men die, but the church lives None 
 of the orioinal members of this church are present with us to-day, but 
 the church is here, and it is the same church ; and when all its present 
 membership shall have passed away the church will abide still, and be 
 the same church, doing the same work, under the same guidance, and 
 in the use of the same methods. The church moves on like the flow 
 of a river : the same river, but different waters ; the same church, but 
 a different membership. But, unlike a river, which always flows to 
 a lower level, the church carries its moving tide upward. The receiv- 
 ing ocean is higher than any part of the river-bed. ^^^^^^^ '^^ 
 church above has been enriched by the contributions of this churdi. 
 Where are the ministers that fell on this battlefield, and where the 
 long line of godly men and women that gave the church its dignity 
 and its power for good? And where the many who came withm the 
 circle of the quickening influence of the church? They are not in 
 these cemeteries of the town. We thought we laid them there, but, 
 silently and unseen by us, they were borne upward to the skies. 
 They are not now of the church militant, but of the church triumph- 
 ant • not now the toiling and suffering, but the crowned and glorified. 
 We' who spring from tliis people and belong to this people, are repre- 
 sented in the great church above by fathers and mothers, by wives 
 and husbands, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, who also be- 
 
 lone- to this people. _ . . i. 
 
 The church is of heavenly origin, and its mission is to bring heaven 
 and earth into communion ; to bring the world into the embrace of its 
 
^l^^~ <37^k^Ll^ 
 
Address of Hon. George Wilson. 83 
 
 faith ; into the current of its heavenward movement. The great cry 
 of divine authorship is, " Thy kingdom come." The great commis- 
 sion of equally divine authority is, " Go ye into all the world and 
 preach the gospel to every creature." And when this is done this 
 great commission will be fulfilled, the gi^eat petition granted. Then 
 the mission of the church will be accomplished, and the last page of 
 its active, changeful history in this world will have been written. 
 
 Citizens of the town of Windham, take care of the church, for it 
 is the church that takes care of you. [Applause.] 
 
 The President : — A former citizen of Windham is now here and 
 wiU speak a few words to you. I will introduce the Honorable George 
 Wilson, ex-mayor of New Bedford, Mass. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. GEORGE WILSON. 
 
 Mr. President : — Excuse me for breaking into the order of your 
 exercises, but it is necessary that I do so at the present moment. I 
 will not detain you long. I am not a resident of Windham, although 
 I am a native, and I reside in New Bedford. I went away from 
 here fifty-five years ago, poor and unknown, and have just main- 
 tained my position. I am very happy to see you here, and I hope 
 to hear further from you before I leave. My principal object in 
 coming here, if not inappropriate to this meeting, is one of some 
 importance, and I will proceed at once to say what I have to say. I 
 have long had it in my mind to do a little something to preserve the 
 beauty of the cemetery on the hill east of Corbett's pond, and I intend 
 to make this proposition to the officers of the town ; — to give them 
 one thousand dollars, in trust, for the purpose oi fertilizing and bemi- 
 tifying this spot of hallowed land. [Applause.] This matter wiU 
 need to be made pretty clear and definite, in order that the benefit 
 may not be fritted away, otherwise a hundred years from now the 
 income of this money might be used for something else. I make this 
 donation on condition that if the interest on the fund should be used 
 for any other purpose than that stipulated, the fund shall revert to 
 my heirs-at-law. I shall put the fund into the hands of my friends 
 here, who know all about my purpose, and when the town is ready to 
 accept the terms, the money will be ready for it. 
 
 And let me add one word. It takes so long to get the cemetery in 
 fine order, where we are depending upon the interest to accrue from 
 this money, that I would suggest, if there are others interested in this 
 work, and my own interest comes in part from the fact that my 
 
84 Address of William C. Harris^ Esq. 
 
 mother and father are resting there, — I say if others feel interested 
 enough to join me, and will raise one hundred dollars, I will put 
 another hundred to that, which wiU enable the town authorities to 
 fertilize and beautify the cemetery in an acceptable manner [Ap- 
 plause.] 
 
 (A gentleman in the audience immediately shouted that he would 
 give ten dollars.) 
 
 The President : — In behalf of the citizens of Windham, I will 
 return thanks to Mr. Wilson for the liberal offer he has made. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 The next sentiment will be " Our Public Schools, The educators of 
 youth : a main support of our free and benign institutions of govern- 
 ment." This will be responded to by Wm. C. Harris, Esq. 
 
 ADDRESS OF WILLIAM C. HARRIS, ESQ. 
 
 The first desire of the early settlers of New England was to pro- 
 vide homes for their families. Their next thought was to erect a 
 house in which to meet for the worship of their Creator ; and then 
 their attention was directed to the educational wants of their children. 
 In this movement they made no mistake, for they made New England 
 what she is, the home of liberty, education, and intelligence. The 
 importance of having the whole community well educated cannot be 
 overstated. Thomas Jefferson once said : " If a nation expects to be 
 ignorant and free, it expects what never was, and never will be." 
 
 Our republic is founded upon intelligence, with the common school 
 as its corner-stone. A New England poet has written as follows : 
 
 " Yet on her rocks, and on her sands, 
 And wintry hills, the schoolhouse stands ; 
 And what the rugged soil denies, 
 The harvest of the mind supplies." 
 
 We are not to suppose the writer of those lines had Windham 
 especially in view, but are not the words quite applicable ? The soil 
 here is rocky and less productive than in many localities, yet here 
 have been reared boys and girls who have grown to be men and 
 women, who have become distinguished in the various vocations of 
 life. Here, in Christian homes and district schools, was laid the 
 foundation of an education which aided its possessors in becoming 
 useful and valuable members of this and other communities. 
 
 Some have selected the clerical, some the legal, and others the med- 
 
Address of William C. Harris^ Esq. 85 
 
 ical profession ; others have filled high and responsible positions in 
 our state, in cities, in banks and other corporations ; a large number 
 of men and women have gone to various parts of the country as teach- 
 ers, in schools of all grades, from the common school to the highest 
 institutions of leai*ning ; and many others have engaged in the culti- 
 vation of the soil in the East, and in the West. Intelligent men and 
 women are the staple production of the town. 
 
 For information relative to the schools in the early years of this 
 town, I am indebted to the historian of. Windham. He says: "The 
 first school in town, of which there is any record, was in 1766, when 
 James Aiken was hired, in the east part of the town, to teach the 
 children to read." No doubt there were schools in the different parts 
 of the town at a much earlier date. " How our early settlei's received 
 their education, and found means to educate their children, is a sub- 
 ject full of interest, and one upon which we have but little informa- 
 tion." The branches taught in the early schools were reading, spell- 
 ing, and writing ; in addition, the Westminster catechism was used as 
 a text-book, and lessons in it recited every Saturday forenoon ; arith- 
 metic was, after some years, added. Geography was used as a reading 
 book, only, at first. The first schoolhouses were built, not by tax, but 
 by subscription. It is supposed there were schoolhouses in districts 
 No. 1 and No. 2 as early as 1750. Schools were also taught in pri- 
 vate houses, and sometimes in barns and shops. The session-house 
 that stood near the meeting-house, on the range, was used for school 
 purj^oses. 
 
 About the year 1768, Rev. Simon Williams, the minister of the 
 town, opened a private academy for the benefit of the young, which 
 not only gave a new impulse to the cause of education in this place, 
 but attracted the attention and patronage of other towns, and was re- 
 sorted to by students from Boston, and other large cities. Such was 
 his success in teaching that he fitted many young men for college. Dr. 
 John Park, Sil^s Betton, Esq., Silas Dinsmoor, John Dinsmoor, and 
 Governor Samuel Dinsmoor were among the number from this town. 
 Sometimes the school contained forty or more scholars. It was kept 
 in the parsonage, which stood where Mrs. Call's house now stands. 
 The academy was in operation about twenty-two years, and closed on 
 account of Mr. Williams's failing health. In the fall of 1832, Dr. 
 Milton Ward taught a high school at the center of the town. Four 
 or five years latei', a term was taught by Miss Lucinda Foster ; for 
 several years afterward there were fall terms taught by college stu- 
 dents or graduates, all of which were of great value to those who 
 
86 Address of William C. Harris, Esq. 
 
 attended. The scholars came to these schools from all parts of the 
 town. 
 
 In later years, the district schools have been much longer, be- 
 cause of the increased amount of school money. Many of the more 
 advanced scholars have gone to Pinkerton Academy, and institutions 
 in other places. Fifty years ago, the school money amounted to 
 $326 ; last year it was $1,277. For several years past we have 
 raised $300 above the requirements of the law for schools, and last 
 March we added another $100. A fact worthy of mention is that, 
 between the years 1852 and 1863, each district in town built a new 
 schoolhouse, at an aggregate cost of $8,400. This revolution resulted 
 from two causes : First, the burning of the No. 3 house, and, second, 
 the generous gift of $1,000 to district No. 2, for a school fund, by 
 Samuel W. Simpson, Esq., and also his liberal offer to aid other dis- 
 tricts in obtaining funds of like size. Three thousand dollars was 
 invested in this way, thus making for school purposes, an outlay of 
 $11,400 in the space of eleven years. A new interest in the cause of 
 education was awakened, which still continues. We now have seven 
 good schoolhouses, all painted white, with blinds. Each house is 
 well supplied with blackboards, globes, charts, and Webster's una- 
 bridged dictionaries, and several have clocks. Ample playgrounds 
 surround each house. At the present time there are six schools in 
 successful operation, presided over by efficient teachers, and under the 
 direction of a competent school board of three members. The com- 
 mon school is the richest and most valuable legacy we have received 
 from our fathers ; let us see to it that we transmit it to our children 
 unimpaired. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Harris's address there was music by the 
 band, a baritone solo, " Polka Brilliante," by A. D. Wingate. 
 
 The president then addressed the assemblage as follows : 
 What I am to say is not upon the programme. The generous offer 
 of Mr. Wilson has met with a prompt response in the hearts of the 
 people here. One gentleman has said that if it was the intention to 
 raise one hundred dollars, he would give twenty-five dollars ; another 
 will give ten dollars ; and another has passed me five dollars. So you 
 may take that matter up among yourselves, and if you can raise the 
 money for this good purpose for which Mr. Wilson has so generously 
 tendered one hundred dollars, it will be very acceptable. 
 
 The next sentiment is, " The Nesmith Free Public Library. Found- 
 ed through the generosity and public spirit of a son of Windham, it 
 

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Address of Rev. William E. Westervelt. 87 
 
 is a source of improvement to yomig and old, of recreation to all, and 
 is an educator next in value to our public schools." I will call 
 upon the Rev. William E. Westervelt, of Windham, to respond. 
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. WILLIAM E. "WESTERVELT. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: — It goes without saying 
 that the Nesmith Free Public Library is a very valuable institution. 
 It reflects honor upon its generous founder, and credit upon the intelli- 
 gence and good sense of the people of Windham. It was a noble 
 deed of the late Col. Thomas Nesmith to confer the favor, and a 
 wise step on your part to accept it. 
 
 A library of 3,000 volumes, containing the best thoughts of many 
 of the standard authors upon a variety of the most important subjects, 
 and annually increasing, is a boon which I imagine but few towns of 
 the size of ours can boast. 
 
 Here is an opportunity for the young men and women of our town, 
 who will avail themselves of it, to acquire a liberal education. Had 
 our highly honored and deeply lamented presidents, Lincoln and Gar- 
 field, enjoyed such a privilege in their youtliful days, they would have 
 deemed themselves among the most fortunate of favored young men. 
 To them a single book of solid worth, with the blaze of only a pine 
 knot by which to read it, was an invaluable treasure. And your own 
 history shows that the early settlers of this town would have prized 
 it above gold or rubies. They were a reading people ; and their 
 descendants made various attempts to establish a public library, and 
 their efforts were crowned with creditable success. But they were not 
 fuUy realized until 1871, when the Nesmith Library was founded by 
 a gift of $3,000, of which $2,000 was to be immediately expended 
 for books, and the balance to be placed on interest at six per cent, 
 and the interest annually applied for the increase of the same. 
 
 That trust was wisely and faithfully executed by your able and 
 judicious committee, of which the Hon. Leonard A. Morrison, our 
 well known author and ardent lover of good books, was a member. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 By that benevolent act of Col. Nesmith, a perennial fountain was 
 opened in his native town, whose pure waters have ever since brought 
 solace, stimulus, refreshment, and strength to the homes and hearts of 
 the people of Windham. [Loud applause.] His name has become a 
 household word. It is remembered and cherished by the aged and 
 the young, by the sick and the well, by the bed-ridden invalid and the 
 
88 Address of William H. Ayidersoii^ Esq. 
 
 nightly watchers. He has supplied the means for beguiling many a 
 weary hour, of sustaining many a sinking hope, and of reviving many 
 a fainting heart. He has endeared himself to all the thoughtful, and 
 his memory is embalmed in the hearts of a grateful people. There 
 it will live and be fragrant as long as the Nesmith library shall exist 
 and the citizens of Windham continue to be a reading people. All 
 honor to his name ; and to the names, also, of those who by like ben- 
 efactions have helped the cause of education, morals, and religion in 
 their native town, to wit, James Wilson, Jeremiah Hills, Harriett 
 Dinsmoor, and others. May we not hope that their example will be 
 followed by others of Windham's prosperous, generous, and grateful 
 sons and daughters, who will thus link their names with perpetual 
 usefulness and honor in promoting the best interests of coming gener- 
 ations ? 
 
 Some of the custodians of the Nesmith libraiy have already 
 expressed grave apprehensions that the day is not distant when they 
 may find themselves in the plight of the old Avoman who lived in a 
 shoe and had so many children she knew not what to do. Not, 
 indeed, that she had too many, but that she needed ampler quarters 
 for their accommodations, and a larger purse to supply their wants. 
 And we are not afraid of ever having too many books, but we 
 shall need more siDacious accommodations for them and their 
 readers. 
 
 And as the cause of education and of religion should always go 
 hand in hand, we trust that in the future, as in the past, both causes 
 will find a warm place and a liberal response in the hearts and gifts 
 of those who wish well to the future interests of their native and hon- 
 ored town. 
 
 The President : — The next sentiment will be, '' The Townships of 
 Londonderry and Windham ; early partners ; may their future be 
 bright with the noble deeds of their sons and daughters." 
 
 I will introduce to you William Henry Anderson, Esq., of Lowell, 
 Mass., to respond to that sentiment. [Applause.] 
 
 ADDRESS OF WILLIAM H. ANDERSON, ESQ. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — In common with you all 
 this afternoon, I was very much charmed with the songs of the Glee 
 Club, and I was very much surprised that men of their age could 
 sing so well. But during the intermission I think the mystery was 
 
/ /(/, ^^2-^^^^^^jG^iU^ 
 
a>eak-iti.vg ' 
 
Address of William H. Anderson^ Esq. 89 
 
 explained, for the leader of the club told me that his first recollection 
 of the orator of the day to-day, Mr. Dinsnioor, was, when he went to 
 school to him, of his giving him a couple of very severe boxes on the 
 head, one on each side. Our friend said it came very hard to him 
 this forenoon to sing, " Give me your hand, old friend of my youth." 
 [Laughter.] But he ought not to complain, because that is probably 
 what gave him his musical ear. [Laughter.] 
 
 Caesar, in his Commentaries, tells us that, in ancient times, " All 
 Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the 
 Aquitani another, those, who in their own language are called Celts, 
 in ours, Gauls, the third." So we, in more modern days, know that 
 all ancient Londonderry is divided into three parts, Londonderry, 
 Derry, and Windham. 
 
 After describing the three provinces, two of which were separated 
 by the river Garonne as Londonderry and Windham are separated by 
 that stream which in the days of my childhood was a majestic river, 
 but is now only Beaver brook, he adds, — '' All these differ from each 
 other in language, customs, and laws." Here the analogy fails, for 
 no argument is needed on this occasion, or any other, to satisfy any 
 son or daughter of either town or any of their descendants, near or 
 remote, that the three towns, call them as you choose, former part- 
 ners or parents and children, not only resemble each other in those 
 respects in which the divisions of ancient Gaul differed from each other, 
 but that they to such an extent have the same thouglits, speak the 
 same language, and do the same acts ; are so alike in their views of 
 religion, politics, laws ; so agreed as to the hard work and small 
 profits attending life on a farm ; so well assured that no people ever 
 had such an ancestiy as they have in the Scotch-Irish from the north 
 of Ireland ; so equally indifferent to good highways and patient 
 with bad ones, that, were it now as much the fashion to unite towns 
 as it was 150 years ago to divide them, there would be no difficulty 
 whatever in welding the three parts again into one homogeneous 
 whole. 
 
 Let me not be understood in what I have said as intimating that 
 since the dissolution of the old firm, the taking down of the weather- 
 beaten sign, the squaring up of the old accounts, and the opening of 
 a new set of books by each partner town on its own account, there has 
 not been rapid and substantial progress in all those things which go 
 to make up a well-ordered New England community. Ah, no, Mr. 
 President, I am far too wise a man, although I may not look it, to 
 intimate any such thing when the border line of that city of refuge. 
 
90 Add7-ess of William IT. Anderson, Esq. 
 
 Massachusetts, is so far away, the road to it so sandy, and it is allow- 
 able in New Hampshire to punish slanderers by personal chastise- 
 ment. What I do say is, that that progress has been common to all 
 the towns forming the old triumvirate. They have advanced with 
 equal steps in all those things which have tended to ameliorate the 
 hard conditions of life as they existed during that year, 150 years 
 ago, when Windham started in the world for itself. 
 
 We all know how common an experience it is, after an old, well- 
 established firm has kept on a conservative course for a term of 
 years, and after the partnership is dissolved, and the individual mem- 
 bers start in business for themselves, one after another, for the young- 
 est and least-experienced partner to branch out the broadest, put on 
 the most airs, and not only to think, but to be sure, he " knows it all," 
 and is a little ahead of those who remain at the old stand. So with 
 our three towns, I suppose it is the youngest partner, Derry, which, 
 with its electric lights, its system of waterworks, its brass band, its 
 newspaper (which, by the way, is a credit to it), its dozen or more 
 " jiner " societies, its circus, its living whist, and its new academy 
 building, thinks itself a little smarter and better than either of the 
 staid old senior partners, Londonderry and Windham. But let not 
 Derry boast itself unseemly ; Londonderry and Windham are not far 
 behind. There seems to be a veritable western boom at North Lon- 
 donderry, and house lots are surveyed and staked out and the praises 
 of the place sounded in a way to bring a blush to the cheek even of a 
 Kansas real estate agent, and am I not building a custom house at 
 West Windham, at the head of navigation on Beaver brook ? 
 [Laughter.] Let Derry beware. 
 
 I have often wondered, Mr. President, why the new town char- 
 tered in 1742 was called Windham, and its historian has not told us. 
 Was it in honor of some individual, or family, of that name, or in 
 consequence of some real or fancied peculiarity in its natural features, 
 or was it selected because it is an easily spoken and smoothly sound- 
 ing word ? 
 
 But, we must not linger over these speculations. In these days of 
 discussions of tariffs, duties and taxes, and disagreements as to what 
 shall, and what shall not, bear the burden of taxation, everybody will 
 agree that the patience of an audience, gathered under these circiun- 
 stances, is one of those things that ought not to be taxed. [Laugh- 
 ter.] 
 
 I close, Mr. President, with this sentiment, which has not only the 
 beauty of terseness, but the strength of truth : The men, the women, 
 
Address of Rev. Warren R. Cochrane, D. D. 91 
 
 the children, of the respective members of the three towns, London- 
 derry, Derry, Windham — 
 
 The first are strong ; 
 
 The second are neat ; 
 
 The third are sweet, 
 
 And all are exceedingly hard to beat. 
 
 [Loud applause.] 
 
 At this point the skies were darkened and the rain was falling fast 
 upon the tent. But the exercises proceeded. The band gave the 
 selection, " A Night in Grenada." 
 
 The President : — Ladies and gentlemen, our next sentiment will 
 be, " Our Scotch forefathers in Scotland, Ireland, and New Hamp- 
 shire : May they live forever in song and in story. May their heroic 
 virtues be the priceless legacy of their descendants." I will call upon 
 Kev. Warren R. Cochrane, D. D., of Antrim, N. H., to respond to 
 this toast. [Applause.] 
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. WARREN R. COCHRAKE, D. D. 
 
 Friends: — You have given me a subject that it would take two or 
 three hours to adequately treat, a subject which I have not time to speak 
 upon or strength to be heard upon at this moment. I remember see- 
 ing a notice somewhere in the portals of a certain church, " Don't 
 shoot the organist," and I thought, perhaps, if I were called upon to 
 speak to-day, the first thing I would put in would be such a caveat as 
 that — I would caution you not to shoot the speaker, who, after such 
 eloquence, can add nothing, with such an abstract thing as this, to 
 interest an audience, after the effusions and the charms of music that 
 have been poured into their ears. 
 
 I have been asked to speak to the sentiment, "• The Scotch in Scot- 
 land, the Scotch in Ireland, and the Scotch in America." My friend 
 Morrison has written three or four volumes on this subject, and yet he 
 expects me to crowd into a five minutes' speech the facts that cover 
 the whole ground. I should like to talk to an audience gathered in a 
 church, or somewhere where I could be heard for an hour on this 
 theme. My heart is in it. I am a Scotchman, and I rejoice in the 
 Scotch character, for it is a working power, interested in everything 
 good all over the world. 
 
 The first that we know about Scotchmen is a reference that we find 
 in Roman history to a Scotchman up among the highlands of 
 
92 Address of Rev. Warreti R. Cochrane, B. D. 
 
 old Scotland ; and i£ I were going to say three things of this person- 
 age, I sliould say first that he was a mighty Scotchman. The whole 
 Roman army was afraid of the few clans camped to the north of 
 them. The whole cultivated area of Scotland at that time was less 
 than that of the state of New Hampshire, and yet the whole power of 
 Rome was never able to conquer little Scotland ; and when they were 
 so terrified, and did not know how to live in security, they built a wall 
 up between Scotland and England, to keep the Scotchmen from con- 
 quering the Roman army. The Romans conquered England, but nei- 
 ther the Roman, nor any other power under Heaven, could ever con- 
 quer little Scotland. [Applause.] They tried it a few times, you 
 know, and they had a little interview with Robert Bruce, at Bannock- 
 burn, and left 50,000 of their soldiers dead on the field, or carried off 
 as prisoners under the touch of Bruce ; and after that day they were 
 content to let the Scotch manage their own affairs. The Scotch were 
 mighty smart, and were Presbyterians. I cannot stop to tell all 
 their remarkable deeds of bravery, but there were five kings of Eng- 
 land who tried to force Episcopacy on Scotland, but did not succeed, 
 and Scotland remains Presbyterian, and always will be such, while 
 the world stands. The Scotch, in sentiment, were sui generis ; they 
 ■were themselves ; they were Scotch, not English, or Irish, or Britons, 
 or Danes, or Saxons. They were Scotch when the Romans found 
 them, and when they left them, and they are Scotch to-day, and in 
 their posterity they are Scotch, anyway, and nothing else. Well, 
 King James had a little land fall to him over in Ireland, by confisca- 
 tion, and after the English sent up to Scotland to get a king to govern 
 them, he knew the Scotch character so well that he sent some over to 
 Ireland, and by thrift and enterprise they flourished there, and 
 awakened the jealousy of their Irish neighbors, and after a time they 
 wei'e conquered, but they could not be subdued. They were mighty 
 smart in Ireland. The Scotch in Ireland were Presbyterians still, 
 and the Scotch in Ireland were sui generis. They were themselves, 
 not merged with any others. They were not Britons, Angles, Dutch- 
 men, or Jews, and no Irish blood was in their veins, but they were 
 Scotch to the backbone. When they came to America they were 
 still Scotch. 
 
 If I had time, I should like to speak of the Scotch in America at 
 great length, but I will only take a minute to say that it is astonish- 
 ing to see how many of Scotch blood have gone to Pennsylvania and 
 other great states of the Union to take high j^laces in tliis land. We 
 have had that blood in eleven presidents of the United States, five 
 
Address of Rev. Warren R. Cochrane, D. D. 93 
 
 chief-justices of the United States supreme court, and any quantity of 
 senators, representatives, lawyers, and poor sticks of ministers — like 
 myself — thrown in. [Laughter.] I expect that the Scotch in Amer- 
 ica will go on and keep separate from other people, and not become 
 American. They do not need to be Americanized. They need only 
 to remain what they are, for the Scotch, and Pilgrim fathers allied 
 to them, are the American ideal. They are the American ideal, I 
 say, and need not to be Americanized. Let others come to them, the 
 Pilgrim, and of the Scotch standard, — not the Scotch-Irish standard, — 
 nothing else. We want the nation to come to them. So we say, — 
 
 " Let the nations be few or be many, 
 
 Wherever humanity's flag is unfurled, 
 We expect the Scotch boy to be foremost of any, 
 
 And the bonnie Scotch lassies to rule the whole world." 
 
 [Applause.] 
 
 At the conclusion of Dr. Cochrane's address, the band was prepared 
 and expected to play that sweet song of our dear old Fatherland, " The 
 Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon," but the hastening moments neces- 
 sitated its omission, which, was a regret to all. 
 
 To the sentiment, " The Law : May it ever be the Defender of the 
 Right," it was expected that the Hon. Francis Alexander Marden, 
 of New York city, an honored son of Windham, would respond. He 
 did not reach the celebration until afternoon, and was not seen by the 
 presiding officer. It was a matter of general regret that his voice was 
 not heard upon the rostrum. 
 
 At this time the exercises were held under some disadvantages. 
 The rain fell in torrents, and, as the down-pour came upon the great 
 tent, the music of the rain and the rolling of distant thunder made it 
 almost impossible for many at this moment to hear the orators. Many 
 people stood upon the seats, and raised their umbrellas. While Sen- 
 ator Patterson was speaking an umbrella was held over him for 
 protection from the rain which beat through the tent. At this 
 moment it was a veritable contest between the elements and the dis- 
 tinguished ex-senator to see which could make the most noise, and it 
 was generally considered about '* a draw game." 
 
 The President : — There is a gentleman with us whom the people 
 of New Hampshire are always glad to welcome. I do not know upon 
 what subject he wiU speak. He can talk upon any topic. All he has 
 to do is to open his lips, and the words pour forth like the rain upon 
 
94 Address of Hon. J. W. Patterson. 
 
 this tent. [Laughter.] I would call upon Hon. James W. Patterson. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. J. W. PATTERSON. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : — I see you are being baptized into the 
 true Scotch theology. [Laughter.] But if you will just read your 
 programme, or rather hill of fare, you will observe that I am not 
 down. It reminds me of the Englishman up in Montreal who went 
 into a French restaurant but could not read French. He did not 
 want anybody to know of his ignorance, and so he took up the bill of 
 fare and gave his order to the young lady who was waiting on liim. 
 She did not understand him, and he pointed to the first thing upon 
 the bill. She brought in some soup. He ate the soup and pointed 
 to the next thing, and she brought him some more soup. He took 
 a little of it, and, thinking that he would come at last to something 
 solid, he called the young lady and pointed to the last thing on the 
 hill of fare. She brought in some toothpicks. [Laughter.] He said, 
 " What did you bring me those for ? I have had nothing to eat." 
 
 You have had a great deal of solid food to-day, and I do not be- 
 lieve you have need of my toothpicks ; but I am reminded also of the 
 little boy who said to his mother one day, " Mother, I wish I was a 
 twin." " What do you want to be a twin for?" said she. " If I was 
 a twin," he replied, " I would send my brother to school and I would 
 go fishing." [Laughter.] I came fishing to-day, and here I am called 
 upon to recite. There is nothing fair about it [laughter] ; but I will 
 say one or two words, simply, and let you off. 
 
 I am called upon to speak in the place of Governor Tuttle and 
 Governor Tuttle was to speak on New Hampsliire. If I had time I 
 would like to develop one or two thoughts in that connection. We 
 have heard a great deal from our Massachusetts friends about the 
 Pilgrims and Puritans. WeU, they were a splendid and godly sort 
 of men, and it was my privilege last summer to go to old Scrooby, 
 Austerfield, and Leyden, and stand where the Pilgrims stood be- 
 fore they came to Plymouth and established a free state and a free 
 church for which we honor their memories ; but the Scotch-Irish who 
 planted Londonderry in our state have a history as grand and impres- 
 sive in the eyes of the Christian world as the Puritan or the Pilgrim. 
 [Applause.] They endured in the old country a harder fight for 
 conscience and freedom than the Puritans or the Pilgrims. Why, 
 gentlemen, it was my privilege to stand in old Londonderry a few 
 years ago. I entered the city by the ferry gate which Morrison 
 
Address of Hon. J. W. Patterson. 95 
 
 closed in the face of the enemy, and around which the starving peo- 
 ple who entered the army were to be seen steadfast in the struggle. 
 The Irish were fighting for King James and the Scotch for William 
 and his cause. I have stood also at the slaughter gate where, under 
 George Walker, the Scotch peasantry battled against the combined 
 Irish and French forces until the blood flowed in streams down the 
 hiU and under the gate wliich has been called " Slaughter Gate " from 
 that day to this. Those men who stood in old Londonderry and 
 fought for their faith and freedom came to Londonderry in this 
 country and founded that town and this. They were your progeni- 
 tors. They were the men who planted New England. They had 
 fought for liberty, civil and religious, against the English crown, and 
 religious intolerance, and were prepared to be defenders of liberty 
 here- 
 One thing more I want to say for the benefit of some of my Massa- 
 chusetts friends, and that is, that the old Scotch-Irish of Londonderry 
 fought the battle of Bunker Hill for Massachusetts. [Applause.] It 
 was General Stark — that Scotch-Irish hero from New Hampshire — 
 who led in the battle of Bunker Hill ; and it was Captain Moore, who 
 stood behind the stone wall on the pebbly beach on the Mystic, with 
 his Scotcli-Ii'ish friends, and hurled back the whole British force three 
 successive times ; and when at last the British soldiery came over the 
 redoubt, it was the Scotch-Irish who clubbed their guns and covered 
 the retreat ; and they, too, under General Stark, at Bennington, saved 
 this country and its principles of freedom for future generations. 
 So much for the Scotch-Irish, then. They have been loyal to liberty 
 and their faith ever since. They have given to this country more 
 scholars, more orators, more statesmen, relatively, than any other 
 race that ever came to the shores of America ; and their descendants, 
 to-day, are true to the history, true to the principles, and true to the 
 blood of their ancestors. [Loud applause.] 
 
 At the conclusion of ex-Senator Patterson's address the rain was 
 still falling in torrents. The band was signalled to play and enter- 
 tained the audience several minutes till the rain subsided. They 
 played " American Dance — Characteristic " ; Overture, " Morning, 
 Doon, and night in Vienna," and other stirring and finely rendered 
 selections. 
 
 The President : — Ladies and gentlemen, the sentiment, "Wind- 
 ham's absent sons and daughters and their children," will be responded 
 to by Hon. Albert E. Pillsbury, of Boston, attorney-general of Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
96 Address of Hon. Albert E. PilUhury. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. ALBERT E. PILLSBURT. 
 
 Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen : — This day belongs to the 
 Scotch, and, in point of weather, it is certainly a good Scotch day. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 I shall not expect you, under the circumstances, to remain here to 
 listen to anything which I might have said, for it has so turned out 
 that we have now to contend against the elements of heaven, and 
 even my Scotch-Irish blood is not quite equal to that. [Laughter.] 
 
 I believe this is the first occasion in my life on which I am at lib- 
 erty to boast of my ancestry, or to fairly claim to be of the first fam- 
 ilies. But it is my good fortune to be descended from John Barnet, 
 one of the sixteen original settlers of Londonderry, the mother of 
 Windham, and from Robert Dinsmoor, one of the petitioners for the 
 charter of Windham, who was appointed, under the charter, to call 
 the first town meeting, and at that meeting was elected chairman of 
 the first board of selectmen of the town. Fovir generations of my 
 ancestors lived and died and are buried in Windham. And my 
 mother, a member of the Dinsmoor family (which, I am glad to say, 
 still survives here, both in quality and in numbers), has come, to-day, 
 from another part of the state to attend this celebration, at an age 
 which she wiU not allow to be told, if she can help it — a woman who 
 never weighed a hundred pounds in her life, but with so much of her 
 Scotch ancestry in her veins that I would back her to-day against 
 half a score of people less fortunate in their descent. [Laughter.] 
 
 My friend of the clarion voice which rises above the storm, ex-Sen- 
 ator Patterson, has done us who happen to hail from Massachusetts 
 the honor to address himself indirectly to us. He thinks, and I agree 
 that the claim is not wholly without foundation, that Massachusetts 
 has boasted perhaps a little too much of the Pilgrim and Puritan set- 
 tlers of New England, forgetting that the Scotch, too, are entitled to 
 share the credit of that great enterprise. But there is one circum- 
 stance which he has omitted to mention, of which, in justice to our 
 commonwealth, I beg leave to remind you. You Windham people 
 really belong not to New Hampshire, but to us. If I read our friend 
 Morrison's history correctly, the first grant of land in Windham was 
 made by the Massachusetts legislature. Windham was a part of 
 Massachusetts before it was part of New Hampshire, and if I were 
 speaking to-day as a rejiresentative of Massachusetts, and not as a son 
 (or grandson) of Windham, I should lay formal claim to you. As it is, 
 I assure you that, if you can get the consent of Governor Tuttle and 
 
Address of Hon. Albert E. PUlshury. 97 
 
 his legislature to come back to us, we shall be very glad to retake you, 
 and we will receive you with open arms. [Applause.] I doubt, how- 
 ever, if that consent is ever asked or given. On the contrary, instead 
 of our retaking you, you are annually in the habit of retaking us. A 
 considerable fraction of my neighbors in the city of Boston come wan- 
 dering up here every summer, to breathe the mountain air of New 
 Hampshire, to ramble over your hills and through your valleys, and to 
 disturb your beautiful lakes with the oar and the angle ; and I am glad 
 to be assured that the summer boarder is one of the most profitable 
 crops ever cultivated in the state. I am sure that it takes less work 
 to raise him than any crop known of when I was a boy on a New 
 Hampshire farm. [Laughter.] You do not have to plough him, or 
 mow him, or lay him down to grass every other year. [Laughter.] 
 And you do not have to get up at four o'clock in the morning to milk 
 laim, for you can milk him all day, at your leisure. [Renewed laugh- 
 ter.] 
 
 I have said nothing, as yet, of what it was my purpose to say, but 
 most of that must be passed by. I came here to help celebrate this 
 anniversary, but if I should begin on that theme, it would render me 
 unable, I fear, to comply with your wholesome five-minute rule. If I 
 were to undertake, at this hour, to say anything in behalf of the de- 
 scendants of the natives or founders of Windham, for whom you have 
 done me the honor to ask me to speak, I shotild say, first, that we re- 
 gard the invitation which brings us here to-day as in the natm'e of a 
 command. We do not feel at liberty to disregard this duty, which 
 every descendant of Windham owes to his ancestry. It is no mere 
 sentimental regard that we have for the men of the Scotch or Scotch- 
 Irish race, I care not which you caU it, who planted and built up this 
 town and community. Their influence lives and moves in the traits 
 which we fondly believe we have inherited from them, an influence 
 which we feel every day of our lives. If their successors, who have 
 gone in all directions over this land, helping to people the mighty val- 
 leys of the Mississippi and Missouri, and to plant the seeds of a 
 boundless harvest over the prairies of the great West, — if they have 
 accomplished anything of success, if they have been able to do any- 
 thing of service to their fellow-citizens, or to mankind, they owe much 
 of it to the blood in their veins, and to the spirit and example of tlie 
 fathers, the founders of Londonderry and Windham; the spirit 
 which suffered for the covenant in the time of James, and fought 
 through starvation and slaughter behind the walls of Londonderry. 
 
 You have shared this inheritance, and you inherit, also, the soil of 
 7 
 
98 Address of Son. Frederick T. Q-reenhalge. 
 
 this beautiful town, the spot on which they helped to fight the battle 
 for civilization, and liberty of conscience, and political liberty ; and I 
 can only stay to say to you, my friends of Windham, that I trust 
 you may live long in happiness and prosperity to appreciate and enjoy 
 it. [Applause.] As one of your guests, let me add, too, a word of 
 congratulation upon the public spirit, energy, and enterprise with 
 which you have projected this celebration, and carried it to such a 
 successful conclusion, an occasion which has been full of interest for 
 us, and which you may well remember with pride and pleasure to the 
 last day of your lives. [Loud applause.] 
 
 The President : — The next sentiment is " The United States : 
 Taken all in all, it is the fairest land on earth : Its government 
 the best the ingenuity of man ever framed." I will introduce to you 
 the Hon. Frederic T. Greenhalge, of Lowell, Mass., to respond to 
 this toast. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE. 
 
 My Friends of Windham : — I was not born here, but, at this mo- 
 ment, I may declare with perfect truth that I was baptized here. 
 [Laughter.] And the baptism was total immersion. [Renewed 
 laughter.] I never respected the Scotch- Irish blood so much as when 
 I saw this audience behave so nobly in the face of the storm, and 
 when I heard Senator Patterson bid the storm defiance, I thought, " It 
 is only a game of pitter-patter, let it pour." [Laughter and applause.] 
 
 They tell us about the experiments of a scientific character to make 
 a downpour of rain. My fellow-citizen, WUliam H. Anderson, has 
 just explained the scientific method. He says it was his speech which 
 brought down this terrible torrent of rain upon us at this moment. 
 The experiments of Major Dryenfurth were failures. You want a 
 Windham man to deliver a five minutes' speech, and aU the rain of 
 heaven is upon you in a moment. [Laughter.] 
 
 Now, I come here without the ability to boast of having been born 
 here, or having any ancestors who were born here. I feel very much 
 like that historical character who was un-named by your orator to-day, 
 a fat man in Londonderry. 
 
 I stand here as an outside barbarian, as a horrible example of what 
 a man must be who was not born in Windham and has had no ances- 
 tors born there. [Laughter.] But, as we might have said of this 
 storm, in the epigrammatic spirit of Mr. Cutler's friend, " It might 
 have been worse." [Laughter.] So, I may say that, although gjreatly 
 
Address of Ron. Frederic T. Greenhalge. 99 
 
 interested in the event of my own birth, I had very little control over 
 that event. [Laughter.] But, I may say that I have sought to 
 make amends, so far as I could, for that perhaps infelicitous event. 
 A man has much more to say and to do about marriage than he has 
 about birth. I may, therefore, say that I am better than any recreant 
 son of Windham who went away and married a girl descended from 
 some other place and some other stock. [Laughter.] 
 
 I do not boast here without some right of my admiration of the 
 noble qualities of that strong Scotch-Irish stock. Ah, I have proved 
 my devotion ; I have proved my liearty approval in the full possession 
 of my senses and after the most deliberate judgment. I may say that 
 as Waverley, in Scott's novel, was, in anticipation of his marriage 
 to the sister of the chief of the clan, permitted to march with the 
 clan Mclvar on the way to battle, so I am permitted to march with 
 this goodly and noble clan in its triumphal celebration to-day. Arte- 
 mus Ward said a man ought to receive great credit because he was 
 willing that all his wife's able-bodied relations should render patriotic 
 service in the war. [Laughter.] I therefore, my friends of Wind- 
 ham, may boast that, in a sort of vicarious way, I myself have had no 
 smaU part in all your trials, in all your tribulations, in all your fail- 
 ures, and in all your victories. By right of marriage I stand here as 
 one of the clan, and, as I hear the splendid rehearsal of the victories 
 of that stern, strong breed, I do not much care how my connection is 
 brought about with such a noble, strong people. [Applause.] Ah, it 
 makes the blood thrill to hear that grand old story of Londonderry ; 
 and, as you hear of the spirit which animated the men of that starv- 
 ing city, and how they manned the ramparts when death was inside 
 and death was outside and the whisper went through the streets, " No 
 surrender," I say that from the moment when you left the gates of 
 Londonderry, down to to-day, in every stricken field of the Revolu- 
 tion, and from Baltimore to Appomattox, the cry of the old London- 
 derry breed has ever been, " No surrender, no surrender ! " [Loud 
 applause.] 
 
 And what has Windham got to do with the United States of Amer- 
 ica? Everything. As Mr. Cutler said, it is not the great cities of 
 America which work out the progress and salvation of the Republic. 
 It is not the New York of to-day, it is not the Boston of to-day, it 
 is not the Lowell of to-day, to which you look for the true type of 
 American character now. I tell you, my friends, that it is in the 
 country towns ; it is in the back country towns that the highest type 
 of individual and national character is to be found to-dav. Look at 
 
100 Address of Hon. Frederic T. Gireenhalge. 
 
 the splendor of the United States, reaching from ocean to ocean, and 
 from the gulf to the lakes ; look at its mighty commercial progress ; 
 look at its teeming millions ; look at the millions who are applying for 
 admission at its portals to-day. Yet, my friends, the keel of every 
 one of the noble vessels of the white squadron was laid in your little 
 Beaver brook. Yes, and every one of the sixty-five millions of this 
 people drinks in, wittingly or unwittingly, inspiration from the clear 
 pure air of Windham and towns like this. It is here where the in- 
 spiration came from to build the factories of America. It is here 
 upon your hills where the foundations of the great capitol at Wash- 
 ington were laid ; and, when I look around and see what has been 
 done by these men of Londonderry, Derry, and Windham, I say I 
 wonder how you could send so many strong men out and have so 
 many strong men left behind. 
 
 Why, if they wanted a great journal established in the metropolis 
 of the country, it was Horace Greeley who had to be sent for to do it. 
 If it was necessary to lead an expedition to the North Pole and plant 
 the banner of the United States on the highest latitude known to man, 
 it was Adolphus W. Greely who had to do it. If it was to start man- 
 ufactures, build a prosperous city here or there, in Massachusetts or in 
 any state, it was the figure of John Nesmith that sprung to the front 
 and did the work. [Applause.] If it was necessary to have liberty and 
 union, it was another New Hampshire man who was called to do it — 
 Benjamin Franklin Butler. [Loud applause.] Why, the Home 
 Guard that you have left here has maintained the old house in order. 
 Everybody comes back and receives new inspiration from this air — 
 mei'chant and lawyer, banker and tradesman. They aU come here to 
 renew their inspiration, got of old amongst these silent hiUs ; and I 
 tell you, my friends, it is becoming a very important matter in politi- 
 cal action and in commercial action, that the true idea of American 
 character shall maintain itself. I am not going to enter into any com- 
 petition as to whether Massachusetts or New Hampshire or Maine or 
 New York did more in this thing or in that. It makes not the slight- 
 est difference that the men of Londonderry crossed the line, which 
 they did not, to take part in the battle of Bunker Hill. It makes not 
 the slightest difference that your strong sons and beautiful daughters 
 are working in other states or in other territories. The great fact 
 that comes home to me at this moment, speaking under the stars and 
 stripes, is, that the work of each and all, Scotch-Irish, English, Welsh, 
 or the millions who belong to that race which my friend here has 
 described as belonging neither to Jew nor Angle, or to any known 
 
Address of Hon. J. Cr. Crawford. 101 
 
 race of men, it makes not the slightest difference ; they are all welded 
 together in one splendid combination of true American progressive 
 character. [Loud applause.] 
 
 Their work and their triumphs are the triumphs of the United 
 States just as long as the little, quiet, country town, with its library, 
 with its beautiful individuality, with its deep, true notions of culture, 
 with its lasting and ineradicable sentiment of religious liberty, — as 
 long as those things survive the United States of America, in all its 
 power, in all its glory, in all its prosperity, will live forever, a credit 
 to the world, a model and an example, a refuge and a bulwark of 
 strength to mankind for all generations forever and forever. [Loud 
 applause.] 
 
 The President : — Ladies and gentlemen, I now introduce to you 
 Hon. John G. Crawford, of Manchester, N. H., a lawyer of Scotch 
 descent, who will cheer us with his entertaining speech. 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. J. G. CRAWFORD. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — I am one of the outsiders 
 who have come here without any sentiment from the chairman, — 
 neither have I any sentiment to present to you. I have to say, with 
 a great deal of regret, that I was not descended from any one who 
 lived in Windham, neither did I come to Windham to get a wife. 
 [Laughter.] But I am proud to say, as you know by the name, that 
 I belong to that same old Scotch stock that settled here. The first 
 time I ever heard of Windham, it was not the name of this town, but 
 way back in one of the old singing-books where they had the old tune 
 of Windham. I understand it was named for this town, and the 
 words were appropriate, — " Broad is the road which leads to death, 
 and thousands walk therein." [Applause.] 
 
 I have always been anxious to come to Windham and see that road. 
 [Laughter.] I was told that it led straight from Windham down into 
 Massachusetts. [Laughter.] And thousands have left this town and 
 gone down to their death. [Laughter.] Why, sir, when they come 
 back up here and undertake to claim credit that Windham once 
 belonged to Massachusetts, they do not show the wisdom of their 
 fathers when they concluded to separate themselves from that old 
 Puritan state and become part and parcel of the Switzerland of 
 America. I was born in Massachusetts. My forefathers came over 
 with yours from Londonderry, and some of them were engaged in 
 
102 Address of Hon. J. Gr. Crawford. 
 
 that terrible siege of Londonderry for 105 days. Why, Mr. Chair- 
 man, had they had the ladies of Windham to issue provisions, Lon- 
 donderry would have held out until to-day. [Loud applause.] 
 
 The old Scotch-Irish never yet were conquered. They fought for 
 the freedom of Scotland, and then they carried that freedom into 
 England from the shores of northern Ireland. From that they came 
 to America, and here you find them always fighting beneath the ban- 
 ner of the free. Before the declaration of independence was made, 
 when the Continental congress wished to know whether they were to 
 be backed up by the American colonists, they sent forth a declaration 
 of loyalty to the people that if they would declare the colonies inde- 
 pendent they pledged their lives and their fortunes to maintain it. 
 That resolution was submitted to every man in New Hampshire over 
 twenty-one years of age, and in the town of Windham, with Samuel 
 Morison, one of the selectmen, every man but three pledged him- 
 self, his life, and his fortune, for the defence of the independence and 
 liberty of this country. When came the terrible war, when it was 
 attempted to overthrow our government and trail our banner in the 
 dust, Windham men, the sons of those old Scotch heroes, rallied 
 beneath that old banner which their fathers had given them, and 
 marched forth to engage in that terrible war. And you never have 
 known, history does not record the fact, of any Scotch-Irish man ever 
 being a traitor to liberty. God bless you, when I thought of that 
 broad road that led to death I thought that if the programme was 
 fully carried out we need not worry about dying in any very imme- 
 diate future ; we should have a long life extended to us if we got 
 through the whole programme. [Laughter.] 
 
 Now, ladies and gentlemen, you have about concluded your exer- 
 cises. The storm is over. The talking or eloquence you have heard, 
 notwithstanding the downpour of the rain. I trust that you may all 
 be spared to meet here again in 1942, and you will hear the same old 
 speeches and the same old stories, but I trust you will not have the 
 same old dinner, but one just as good. [Laughter and applause.] 
 
 Thanking you for your attention, being an outsider, lapped on to 
 the end of this long programme, let me say, in conclusion, may your 
 broad road be turned into a narrow one, and all walk in that to ever- 
 lasting life. [Applause.] 
 
 William C Harris, Esq., moved that when the meeting adjourn 
 it be to June 9, 1942, and tliis motion was put and carried. 
 
 The band played, and the assemblage united in singing "America." 
 
Closing Exercises. 103 
 
 CLOSING WORDS. 
 
 The President : — Ladies and gentlemen, in a few moments this 
 celebration will be ended. The settlement of this town, the names of 
 its founders, the words uttered in their honor and memory, together 
 with all the observances of this day, now belong to history. We com- 
 mend them to our successors, who will meet June 9, 1942. 
 
 Looking into the future, far as human eye can see, I would say to 
 them, — Citizens of Windham of 1942, when you celebrate this natal 
 day we who now salute you will in our graves be sleeping. But guard 
 well the precious heritage which is commended to your care. Honor 
 the memory of the founders of this town, and transmit to your suc- 
 cessors unimpaired the good tilings received from your predecessors, 
 together with the garnered fruitage of all the years of your passing 
 lives. 
 
 In obedience to your vote, I declare this celebration in honor of the 
 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Windham closed, and that 
 it stands adjourned to the 9th day of June, 1942. So close the pub- 
 lic exercises of this day, and the last official words of this celebration 
 are spoken. 
 
 The band then struck up some very inspiring music, playing " Rec- 
 ollections of the War," and other pieces. 
 
 After the close of the public exercises old friendships were renewed 
 and they who had been long separated met in joy and gladness. It 
 was a rare day, one of great enjoyment ; one which had been long 
 anticipated with emotions of delight, and one wliich those who par- 
 ticipated in its exercises will through all the coming years look back 
 upon with supremest satisfaction and with joy. 
 
 And how can be better closed this portion of the day's exercises 
 than by linking the far-away past of Windham's history with its 
 active present; than by calling into our poetical service a lineal 
 descendant of our first pastor and clergyman. Rev. William Johnston, 
 an early settler in 1742. The following lines were written by his 
 great-grandson, Hon. Benjamin L. Baxter, of Tecumseh, Mich., for 
 another occasion. He never saw this home of his forefather, but 
 these lines are applicable to this celebration : 
 
 " 'Tis said no nobler thought nor kindly word, 
 Nor deed of love, which once the heart hath stirred, 
 Can fail or die, but, strengthening day by day, 
 While those who wrought, in silence pass away, 
 
104 Resume. 
 
 Moves on from heart to heart, from shore to shore, 
 A blessing and a boon forevermore. 
 And so, ■while we with deep-felt reverence turn 
 Towards that sacred spot which doth inurn 
 Our fathers' dust, and consecrate, with tears. 
 Those hallowed memories of those earlier years. 
 We, too, will make our own, where 'er we rove. 
 Their high, heroic faith, and deeds of love. 
 And gathering here, around their burial sod, 
 Revow their vows to freedom, and to God." 
 
 RESUME. 
 
 In a remarkably well-written article on the celebration, by Prof. 
 William S. Harris, o£ Northwood Academy, published in The News, 
 Derry, N. H., he says, in relation to the celebration : 
 
 The event so long anticipated by the good people of this old town 
 has passed into history. The citizens gave a royal welcome to former 
 residents, and friends from abroad, who gladly responded to the invita- 
 tion to unite in celebrating the birthday of the town. The town has had 
 celebrations and reunions of interest before, but never any like this. 
 Eighteen hundred persons gathered from all quarters of the country, to 
 honor the past and renew its sacred associations. 
 
 The preparations by the Committee of Arrangements, and other will- 
 ing workers, were on a scale such as the occasion demanded, while friends 
 of the town, both at home and abroad, contributed liberally of their 
 means, so that over $800 was easily raised, to defray expenses. 
 
 The exercises of the day were held at the Center, which, although not 
 the first settled part of the town, has been, since 1798, when the old 
 church, now the town hall, was erected, the center of the town's interest, 
 and the place where its people have gathered for religious and nmnicipal 
 purposes. At the side of the town hall, a mammoth tent 130 feet long 
 and 60 feet wide was erected, with seats capable of holding 1,200 or more 
 people. At one side was the speakers' rostrum, and at the end the stage 
 occupied by the band. The upper town hall was used as a reception 
 room for the guests as they ari-ived, while in the lower hall tables were 
 set for dinner for 140 of the distinguished visitors. 
 
 The decorations were attractive and appropriate. The front of the 
 hall bore in large gilt letters and figures the devices, "Welcome," " 1720," 
 " 1742," " 1892." The dining-hall was decorated with palms, hydran- 
 geas, and other plants and flowers from the greenhouses of Horace P. 
 Dinsmoor. The tent and the upper hall were trimmed with flags and 
 bunting, and the houses at the Center, and in other parts of the town, 
 were also decorated for the occasion, many of the historic spots being 
 designated by placards. 
 
LETTERS. 
 
 Several hundred invitations were sent to individuals in all parts of 
 the country, and some to friends across the water. Many whom the 
 people of Windham would have gladly welcomed were unable to be 
 present. The following include some of the letters received. None 
 were publicly read, for lack of time. Letters of regret were also 
 received from Mrs. Horace Fairbanks, St. Johnsbury, Vt. ; Harry Ar- 
 mour, Esq., Edinburgh, Scotland ; Mrs. M. Lizzie Park, Belfast, Me. ; 
 Rev. Charles Cutler, Talmadge, Ohio, and many others, not for pub- 
 lication. 
 
 THE OLD PARISH OF OUR ANCESTORS IN IRELAND THE LETTER OF 
 
 REV. GILBERT ALEXANDER KENNEDY. 
 
 Aghadowey, county of Londonderry, Ireland, is, historically, most 
 intimately connected with the Scotch settlement of Windham and 
 Londonderry, New Hampshire. It is six miles from Coleraine, and is 
 the parish from which emigrated, in 1718, Rev. James McGregor, and 
 a portion of his pastoral charge, to Londonderry and Windham. Mr. 
 McGregor was settled over that parish from 1701 to 1718, when he 
 resigned, and came to America, and to Londonderry. Before leav- 
 ing that place, he preached to his flock from Exodus 33:15 : " If Thy 
 presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." As he preached to 
 his people, our ancestors, in Aghadowey, on the eve of their depar- 
 ture from their homes, in 1718, so, on the 23d of April, 1719, he 
 spoke to our ancestors, a reunited flock, in this old Londonderry set- 
 tlement. On the east side of Beaver pond, or Tsienneto lake, under 
 the spreading branches of a great oak, he preached from Isaiah 32:2 : 
 " And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind and a covert 
 from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of 
 a great rock in a weary land." The voice of that speaker has become 
 silent, and his long-ago listeners no longer hear words falling from 
 
106 Letter from Rev. Crilhert A. Kenjiedy. 
 
 human lips. The old pastor and the members of his flock in two 
 hemispheres are sleeping side by side in the ancient cemetery " on the 
 hill," in the east village of Derry, N. H. 
 
 The parish of Aghadowey is an interesting locality, and was first 
 visited by the writer in 1884, and again in 1889. The roads are 
 hard and solid, the fields surrounded with trees and walls, or hedges of 
 scraggy hawthorn which line the highways. Many familiar family 
 names are still there, in the old home of our fathers, and kindred 
 blood flows in the veins of that people. Considering the intimate 
 connection which our ancestors had with that place, and that they 
 were members of the Presbyterian chm-ch there, before their coming 
 to New Hampshire, words of greeting were sent to pastor and people 
 of that church, and a cordial invitation was given Rev. Gilbert Alex- 
 ander Kennedy to attend the Windham celebration. To this came 
 the following words of greeting from over the ocean : 
 
 Aghadowey Majstse, Blackhill, Coleraine, 
 
 12th May, 1892. 
 Dear Mr. Morrison: — I thank you very much for your cordial 
 invitation to your anniversary. I should like exceedingly to be with 
 you, and give you, by the medium of the living voice, the greetings of 
 our ancient church. We feel, naturally, proud of you, and take a 
 deep interest in all that concerns you, but I am a young man, lately 
 settled, and could not find it easy to afford the time and expense 
 required to perform so long a journey. I shall, however, send in time 
 for your celebration a letter containing in a small compass the message 
 I would have conveyed in person. With kindest regard, 
 I remain, yours sincerely, 
 
 Gilbert A. Kennedy. 
 
 To the Citizens of Windham^ New Hampshire^ U. S. A. : — We, 
 the members of the Presbyterian church of Aghadowey, county of 
 Derry, Ireland, have heard of your intention to celebrate on the 9th 
 of June, 1892, the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of your 
 town and the 172d year of your settlement as a peoj)le in the far 
 West. Being closely united to you by ties of kindred and of faith, we 
 desire to assure you of our cordial sympathy with you in your rejoic- 
 ing. 
 
 It is now about 250 years since our forefathers and yours were 
 driven by the red hand of persecution from their Scottish homes to 
 
Letter from the Church of Aghadowey. lOT 
 
 that portion of Ulster in which we now live. During the revolution 
 of 1688-90 they fought under William III., and were amongst the 
 defenders of Derry during its historical siege. For a time the sur- 
 vivors enjoyed rest, but in the year 1704 their troubles re-commenced. 
 At length the yoke became so galling that in our district some deter- 
 mined to surrender home, notwithstanding the blood they had shed in 
 its defense. Accordingly, in the year 1718, the Rev. James McGregor, 
 minister of this church, with 120 of his families, arose and emi- 
 grated to America, settling finally in New Hampshire, and many of 
 you are their descendants- 
 It is a sad blot on the pages of our history that a loyal, pious, and 
 industrious people were thus driven from the land they had bought at 
 so high a price, and the saddest element is the fact that the blow was 
 struck by the hands of those who had lately been their comrades in 
 arms. But " all things work together for good to them that love 
 God." The Aghadowey Pilgrim Fathers landed on the friendly shores 
 of America, a free people. Their descendants have not only found a 
 covert from the storm ; they have shared in the glory of building up 
 the gi-eat republic of the West, where peace and contentment reign 
 and not only commerce, but religion and the fine arts grow and 
 flourish. 
 
 We are truly proud of you, and of our grand old church from 
 whence you sprang, amd we are thankful to be able to say that never 
 in all her history has she enjoyed a greater measure of prosperity. 
 
 Nearly all of the old disabilities have been removed. Civil and 
 religious liberty prevails. Peace reigns within our walls and pros- 
 perity within our palaces. When we reflect on the goodness of God 
 to us and our kinsmen across the ocean, we may well say in the 
 language of the ancient poem, " Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a 
 fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The 
 archers have sorely grieved him and shot at him and hated him, but 
 his bow abode in strength and the arms of his hands were made strong 
 by the hands of the Almighty God of Jacob, even by the God of thy 
 father who shall keep thee, and by the Almighty who shall bless thee 
 with blessings of heaven above. The blessings of thy father have 
 prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost 
 bound of the everlasting hills ; they shall be on the head of Joseph 
 and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his 
 brethren." 
 
 Brethen, we heartily rejoice in your joy, and unite in wishing you 
 prosperity. 
 
108 Letter from John Carr^ Esq. 
 
 Signed on behalf of the members of Aghadowey Presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 Gilbert A. Kjennedy, Minister. 
 John Boyd, Clerk of Session. 
 
 Matthew Macauley, Samuel Perry, Torrens Miller, James A. Mul- 
 len, Thomas Craig, Robert Wilson, Robert Shirley, Robert Anderson, 
 Robert Rankin, other members of the session. 
 
 THE MAYOR OF LONDONDERRY. 
 
 Town Clerk's Office, Guildhall, 
 Londonderry, Ireland, 26th May, 1892. 
 Honorable Sir : — I have to thank you for your very kind invita- 
 tion on behalf of the citizens of Windham, to celebrate the 150th 
 annivei'sary of its incorporation, and to express my regret at my 
 inability to be present with them on that occasion. 
 Believe me, yours very truly, 
 
 J. AcHEsoN MacCullagh. 
 
 Mayor. 
 To the Honorable Leonard A. Morrison, 
 Windham, New Hampshire, U. S. 
 
 JOHN CARR, ESQ., BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 Boston, Mass., June 7, 1892. 
 Gentlemen : — In response to your kind invitation to be present at 
 the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Windham, allow me to 
 express my very great regret that I cannot join with you in that cele- 
 bration, so full of interest to the descendants of those early settlers 
 and hardy pioneers. I am detained by other engagements, but my 
 heart will be there, where my ancestors, the Dinsmoors, helped to 
 build one of the noted towns in the old commonwealth of New Hamp- 
 shire, the old Granite state. Hoping you will have a good time and a 
 successfid celebration, I remain. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 John Carr. 
 To William C. Harris, Leonard A. Mor- 
 rison, William D. Cochran, A. F. 
 Campbell, Committee on Invitations. 
 
Letter from Jonathan L. Noyes, Esq. 109 
 
 THOMAS DINSMOOR, ESQ., SON OF COL. SILAS DINSMOOR, 
 THE INDIAN AGENT. 
 
 KiKKSViLLE, Adair Co., Mo., June 6, 1892. 
 
 Hon. Leonabd A. Morrison, 
 
 Canobie Lake, N. H. : 
 Dear Sir : — I received your kind invitation to the celebration at 
 Windham, and also a Boston paper giving an account of same, for 
 which, thanks. I can assure you it would give me great pleasure to 
 be with you, but circumstances beyond my control render it impos- 
 sible. Hoping you will have a grand success, I remain, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Thomas Dinsmoor. 
 
 JONATHAN L. NOYES, ESQ., FARIBAULT, MINN. 
 
 Minnesota School for the Deat, 
 j. l. noyes, supt. 
 
 Faribault, June 6, 1892. 
 
 William C. Harris, Esq., Chairman, 
 
 Windham, Backing ham Co., N. H. : 
 Dear Sir :— Yours of the 31st ult. is at hand. I sincerely wish I 
 could be with you and your feUow-citizens on the 9th inst., and join in 
 the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the 
 town of Windham, where I was born, and where the days of ray 
 childhood and youth were passed. Many and very precious are the 
 recollections I now recall, as I pen these few lines. The town haU, 
 formerly the meeting-house, with the box pews, the high box pulpit, 
 the horse-sheds in the rear, Robert Bartley's store, the postoffice 
 within, the tavern near by, and the church at the fork of the roads, 
 the long sermons of the faithful pastor and preacher, Rev. C Cutler, 
 the Sabbath school, where Mrs. Hughes so kindly and faithfully 
 taught me, and the little foot-stove that I used to carry to Mr. Bart- 
 ley's house, to fill with live coals,— the only means of keeping warm 
 in those cold, wintry days, the rumpus that arose, when it was pro- 
 posed to heat the church with stoves, — those and many other associa- 
 tions too numerous to mention pass before my mind, as I think of 
 those early days in Windham. It would delight my heart to be with 
 you, and take part in the celebration, on the 9th inst. I wish to be 
 remembered to any and all of my acquaintances now living, and I 
 
110 Letter from Rev. John IT. Morison, D. D. 
 
 hope the next 150 years will witness even more and better things 
 in Windham than the past ; that many more boys and girls wUl 
 come up to do better, greater, and nobler things than their fathers 
 and mothers have done. That the town may always be as well uni- 
 ted, as prosperous, as intelligent, and as well represented, both at 
 home and abroad, in the future as in the past, is the earnest prayer 
 and heartfelt desire of 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 J. L. Notes. 
 
 ORLANDO DAVIDSON, ESQ., ELGIN, ILL. 
 
 Elgin, June 4, 1892. 
 Wm. C. Harris, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of Committee : 
 Dear Sir : — I regret exceedingly that I shall not be able to attend 
 the celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the 
 incorporation of the town of Windham, N. H. 
 
 I trust you will have a very pleasant and profitable meeting. 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Orlando Davidson. 
 
 REV. JOHN HOPKINS MORISON, D. D., PETERBOROUGH, N. H. 
 
 Peterborough, June 1, 1892. 
 To Messrs. William C. Harris, 
 
 Leonard A. Morrison, 
 William D. Cochran, 
 Alphonso F. Campbell, 
 
 Committee of Invitation : 
 Dear Sirs : — It would give me great pleasure to attend the cele- 
 bration of the 150th anniversary of Windham, the birthplace of my 
 dear mother, and for a time the home of my great-grandfather, and 
 also, I believe, of his father and grandfather. I have always, from my 
 childhood up, thought of Windham with a filial reverence. I regret 
 that, instead of being with you on the 9th inst., I can only join you in 
 a silent benediction and a prayer that, as to those who have gone 
 before, so even more to those who come after us, God may be present 
 with even richer benefactions in the life and character of your people. 
 With sincere regard, 
 
 John H. Morison. 
 
Letter from Daniel M. Park^ Esq. Ill 
 
 HON. JACOB H. GALLINGER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 United States Senate, Washington, D. C, May 19, 1892. 
 
 Dear Mr. Morrison : — Your kind favor of May 16th, inclosing 
 invitation to the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the town 
 of Windham, is received. It is a matter of much regret to me that I 
 cannot be with you on that eventful day. Be assured that I will think 
 of you, and trust the occasion may be one of much interest and pleas- 
 ure. 
 
 With sincere good wishes, believe me. 
 
 Your friend as always, 
 
 J. H. Gallingek. 
 Hon. L. A. Morrison, 
 Canobie Lake, N. H. 
 
 DANIEL M. PARK, ESQ., DE SOTO, MO. 
 
 De Soto, Mo., May 30, 1892. 
 William C. Harris, 
 Leonard A. Morrison, 
 William D. Cochran, 
 Alphonso F. Campbell, 
 
 Committee on Invitations : 
 
 Dear Sirs : — To all of us come times when the heart's impulses 
 and earnest wishes are bound and restrained by circumstances. This 
 is one of those times to me. Though never a resident of Windham, 
 yet to me the old town is dear. Over it, in boyhood days my father 
 roamed ; in its atmosphere, and from its people he imbibed those ster- 
 ling qualities and that rugged nature that he carried with him through 
 life. He left to me an honored name, and gave to me the best that 
 one needs to fit one for life's battle. 
 
 Of my old Scotch-Irish ancestry, I am proud, and there never will 
 come a time that I shall not wish to be numbered on the roll when 
 old Windham calls a rally of her sons and daughters, and their de- 
 scendants. 
 
 These gatherings bring together the scattered fragments of the old 
 families, and reunite them in a common loyalty, awakening the old 
 ties of kindred blood. I wish I could be with you. I hope to visit 
 the old place this summer, but I cannot at this time. May we not, 
 however, in spirit, join hands across the distance that separates, and 
 together say : " Old Windham, we love and honor thee ;— we love 
 
112 Letter from President Harrison. 
 
 thy granite rocks, thy pine-clad hills, thy silvery lakes and mossy 
 deUs." 
 
 But dearer still, yet closer to our hearts, are the memories of our old 
 Scotch-Irish ancestry. Earnest of purpose, fearing God, and ever 
 eager to do the right, and the right alone, having that sterling, rugged 
 character that ever leaves its impress on ages to come. 
 
 Allow me, then, to express my mother's sincere regrets at her 
 inability to be present, as vrell as those for myself. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 Daniel M. Park. 
 
 REV. CARROLL CUTLER, D. D., TALLADEGA, ALA. 
 
 Talladega, Ala., April 22, 1892. 
 My Dear Mb. Morrison : — Yours of the 18th inst. is received. I 
 am sorry to say that I shall not be able to be in Windham in June of 
 this year. Our term here does not close until the . 9th. It would be 
 some days after that before we could leave home. 
 
 I am glad to hear of the good spirit of the people which leads them 
 to observe so important an anniversary. I wish the town had been 
 incorporated in August or September. I would like to move to amend 
 the record, and put it September 9th, instead of June 9th. I am very 
 sorry they made such a mistake 150 years ago. I love old Windham 
 and all its old families. May you have a good and glorious time. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Carroll Cutler. 
 
 PRESIDENT HARRISON, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 2, 1892. 
 
 Rev. William E. Westervelt, 
 
 Windham, N. H. : 
 My Dear Sir : — The President directs me to acknowledge the re- 
 ceipt of your favor of May 31st, and to express to you his thanks for 
 the kind invitation to attend the celebration of the 150th anniversary 
 of the town of Windham. He regrets that it will be impossible for 
 him to be present on that occasion. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 E. W. Halford, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
Letter from Rev. Joseph S. Cogswell. 113 
 
 HON. WM. E. CHANDLER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 United States Senate, Washington, D, C, May 24, 1892. 
 
 Hon. L. a. Morrison, 
 
 Canohie Lake, N. H. : 
 My Dear Sir : — Yours of the 16th, enclosing invitation to attend the 
 Windham celebration on the 9th of June, is at hand. I very much 
 regret that I shall not be able to attend. I can readily see that you 
 will have a very interesting ceremonial. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 Wm. E. Chandler. 
 
 FRANK E. PARK, ESQ., SOUTH BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 South Boston, May 23, 1892. 
 L. A. Morrison, Esq. : 
 
 Dear Sir : — Please express to the committee on invitations my 
 sincere regret that a previous engagement, involving the participation 
 of many, will utterly prevent me from enjoying the enthusiastic fes- 
 tivities which I know will prevail on the occasion of the 150th anni- 
 versary of the incorporation of the good old town of Windham. 
 With many thanks for the remembrance, 
 I remain yours truly, 
 
 Frank E. Park. 
 
 REV. JOSEPH S. COGSWELL, STANDISH, ME. 
 
 Standish, Cumberland Co., Maine, Jime 4, 1892. 
 Hon. Leonard A. Morrison : 
 
 My Dear Sir : — I have received an invitation to be present at the 
 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Windham, New Hampshire. 
 It is a painful duty to write to you that I cannot be present with you 
 on that occasion of so much historic interest. I am now suffering 
 with many aches and pains, and my physician enjoins upon me rest 
 and quiet. I shall think of you on that day, and wish to be there, as 
 I feel a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of the excellent 
 town of Windham, New Hampshire. 
 
 Very cordially yours, 
 
 Joseph S. Cogswell. 
 8 
 
114 Letter from D. Wallis Morrison, Esq. 
 
 GEORGE S. MORISON, ESQ., CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 Chicago, May 26, 1892. 
 Leonard A. Morrison, Esq., 
 
 Canobie Lake, Windham, N. H. : 
 Dear Sir : — I thank you for the invitation to the celebration of 
 the 150th anniversary of the town of Windham. As a descendant of 
 one of the early settlers, I take it that this invitation comes to me 
 from the committee of which you are a member. It is very improb- 
 able that I shall be able to attend, though I should be very glad to do 
 so. If I cannot go, I wish you would express my thanks to the com- 
 mittee for the invitation, with my best wishes for the success of the 
 day and my thorough sympathy with the celebration and the objects 
 which it conmaemorates. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Geo. S. Morison. 
 
 HON. GEORGE A. MARDEN, LOWELL, MASS. 
 
 June 5, 1892. 
 Leonard A. Morrison, Esq. : 
 
 Dear Sir : — I am greatly obliged for the kind invitation to attend 
 the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Windham on the 9th, 
 but, as I am to go to New York that evening, I can hardly avail my- 
 self of it. But for this, I should be most happy to accept your invi- 
 tation. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 George A. Marden. 
 
 D. WALLIS MORRISON, ESQ., NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y. 
 
 New York, June 6, 1892. 
 William C. Harris, Esq., Chairman: 
 
 Dear Sir : — The committee's invitation to participate in the 
 celebration of the 150th anniversary of the settlement of your good 
 old town was duly received. I am compelled, with the profoundest 
 regret, to forego the great pleasui*e it would afford me to be pres- 
 ent on the occasion. The disappointment is all the more keen from 
 the fact that, in addition to the enjoyment of the exercises of the day, 
 I would have had the pleasure of meeting kindred and friends whom 
 I have not seen for many years ; and further, that I am prevented 
 
Poem hy Mrs. D. W. Morrison. 115 
 
 from showing in person my allegiance to tlie home of my ancestors, 
 and joining with those jjresent in honoring their memory and virtues. 
 
 The proposed celebration has aroused Mrs. Morrison's Scottish 
 blood. She has inscribed a few lines to kindred and friends, — enclosed 
 herewith. Possibly an opj^ortunity may present itself to read them 
 to the gathered company. 
 
 Fervently hoping that the occasion will be full of unalloyed pleas- 
 ure to all present, I remain 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 D. Wallis Morrison. 
 
 TO KINDRED AND FRIENDS. 
 
 JUNE 9, 1892. 
 
 Should auld acquaintance be forgot ? 
 
 Ah, no, for here we find 
 Our hearts, with tender mem'ries, cling 
 
 To days o' auld lang syne. 
 
 Near banks and braes o' " Bonnie Doon," 
 Our grandsires worshipped God ; 
 
 And there, in hallowed kirkyard, now. 
 Their bones lie 'neath the sod. 
 
 Upon old Scotia's granite hills. 
 
 Their sons breathed Freedom's air ; 
 
 And learned, for liberty and truth. 
 Heroic deeds to dare. 
 
 For Scotia, they " with Wallace bled ; " 
 
 For freedom, followed Bruce ; 
 And ne'er, till right had won the fight. 
 
 Consented to a truce. 
 
 Their weans were taught, at mother's knee. 
 
 Sweet purity to love ; 
 And count a conscience clear within 
 
 All other things above. 
 
 They brought old Scotland's virtues 
 Their western homes to grace ; 
 
 The " Holy Book, in honored nook," 
 Still knew its welcome place. 
 
116 Poem hy Mrs. D. W. Morrison. 
 
 'T was here they raised their hands in prayer, 
 As their first homes they found ; 
 
 And, by their sons, this sacred spot 
 Is counted holy ground. 
 
 With " bonnets " doffed, we gather here, 
 
 Like pilgrims to a shrine, 
 To feel what we can ne'er express 
 
 For days o' auld lang syne. 
 
 Aiid here, like doves that, homeward bound, 
 
 To their loved windows fly. 
 Our kinsmen, drawn by cords of love. 
 
 With votive off'rings hie. 
 
 Fond mothers to their bosoms press 
 Their stalwart sons with pride. 
 
 And then, with open arms, receive 
 Each young and trusting bride. 
 
 While here and there, amid the crowd. 
 
 We mark the kindling eye 
 Of sweetheart that, to sweetheart dear, 
 
 Breathes out the tender sigh. 
 
 And oft a touch of kindred blood 
 In some dear child we trace : 
 
 In one a father's noble brow, 
 And here a mother's grace. 
 
 We feel our quick'ning pulses thrill 
 
 As brothers dear we meet ; 
 As hand clasps hand, and eye to eye, 
 
 Long scattered friends we greet. 
 
 The loved and lost in days of yore 
 Seem hov'ring round us here; 
 
 And, as to them fond mem'ry turns, 
 This song ne'er seemed so dear : 
 
 " Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
 And never brought to mind ? 
 We '11 tak' a cup o' kindness here 
 For days o' auld lang syne. 
 
Letter from Bufus A. Morrison, Esq. 117 
 
 For days o' auld lang syne, my friends, 
 
 For days o' auld lang syne, 
 We '11 tak' a cup o' kindness yet 
 
 For days o' auld lang syne." 
 
 Mrs. Mary Whitnky Morrison. 
 
 New Rochelle, New York, June 6, 1892. 
 
 RUFUS A. MORRISON, ESQ., WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Washington, D. C, June 7, 1892. 
 William C. Harris, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of Committee of Invitation : 
 
 Dear Sir : — Indulging the hope that the way might be opened by 
 which I could attend the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 
 incorporation of Windham, my native town, I deferred to the last 
 moment an expression of my deep regret at my not being able to be 
 present. Whenever I think of Windham my boyhood life, with all 
 its associations of pleasure and disappointment, passes before my mind, 
 like a panorama, with its ever changing scenes. 
 
 The first object which memory brings into view is the little red 
 school-house standing at the cross roads. It is characteristic of New 
 England. At least, in all my travels, I have never seen one outside 
 of that section, nor do I think that history accords it a larger habita- 
 tion. There I was faithfully instructed in what has been termed, 
 either wittily or ignorantly, the three R's — reading, 'riting, and 'rlth- 
 metic. To-day I can see that little school-house standing where the 
 roadways meet, and I could call by name for many a term the larger 
 number of the boys and girls who filled its seats. I well remember 
 when I was one of the big boys, and for this reason had the honor of 
 sitting in the back seat, that another larger boy came in late one 
 morning and whispered to me that gold had been discovered in a 
 place called California. It lay right on top of the groimd, and people 
 gathered it as they would apples. Many were the schemes we formed 
 for obtaining our share of the precious metal. We examined our 
 geographies to locate the place and ascertain the best route by which 
 it could be reached. Well, California has yielded a vast amount of 
 gold, but, could the values of the gold and the little red school-house 
 be correctly estimated, the balance would be largely in favor of the 
 school-house. 
 
118 Letter from Rufus A. Morrison, Esq. 
 
 Then there is the old militia drill which took place in front of the 
 old meeting-house. It was the height of my ambition to carry an old 
 flint-lock gun, and receive fifty cents for the half day's work. Each 
 man must appear, fully equipped, with his gun in clean and working 
 condition, with a flint in the hammer that would strike fire, and sev- 
 eral more equally as good-looking ones in his pocket. The captain, 
 with his high military hat and still higher feather, the evolutions of 
 the militiamen as they practised the drill to the music of the drum 
 and fife, inspired us boys with a patriotism as intense as that of '76. 
 But the legislature abolished those drills when I was seventeen years 
 of age, and I never received the coveted fifty cents, nor had my name 
 placed on the muster rolls of the state. 
 
 The little red school-house and the militia drill have disappeared, 
 but town-meeting day is left in all its original simplicity. This was 
 one of the play days of the year, and enjoyed alike by the small boys 
 and the large boys also who did the voting. This is something pecu- 
 liar to New England, the scope and meaning of which, people from 
 other states find it difficult to understand. I well remember the pride 
 I felt when I deposited my first ballot. I voted for Ichabod Good- 
 win for governor, but was not on the winning side, Ralph Metcalf 
 being the successful candidate. At that same meeting the question 
 of printing the common-school reports came up for decision, and I 
 voted in the affirmative. My old Sabbath-school teacher reproach- 
 fully looked at me through his spectacles, and said, " Dry reading, 
 Rufus, dry reading." I responded that we would try it one year. 
 I think those rej^orts have been printed ever since, thereby vindicat- 
 ing the young man. 
 
 But the day for Thanksgiving was the richest of all the holidays. 
 This day of thanks and feasts has since become national in its charac- 
 ter. In my boyhood it was faithfully and religiously observed. In 
 the forenoon, service was held in the church, at which the choir 
 usually chanted the first psalm and closed the exercises with the 
 rendition of some more elaborate anthem. 
 
 This takes us into the house of worship, the place where memory 
 delights to linger. Turn back the hands on the dial plate of time one 
 third of a century, and I see the old congregation which worshipped 
 within her sacred walls. I see and know the occupants of almost 
 every pew. The minister, the Sabbath-school superintendent, the 
 teachers, the scholars, and the choir, one and all, are indelibly stamped 
 upon memory's tablet. I cannot speak too highly of the church choir. 
 I have listened to the great singers of our own and foreign lands, but 
 
Letter from Alhro A. Osgood^ Esq. 119 
 
 never have I been soothed or stirred with sweeter and more elevating^ 
 music than that furnished by the church choir of my native town. 
 The church in all its appointments is the crown, the glory, and the 
 safety of Windham and every other community, May the day be far 
 distant when her citizens fail to recognize her importance and the 
 duty, nay the greatest privilege, of sustaining her in all her work. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 RuFus A. Morrison. 
 
 JOHN MORRISON, ESQ., WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Washington, D. C, June 7, 1892. 
 William C. Harris, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Invitation : 
 
 Dear Sir: — It is with feelings of regret mingled with pleasure 
 that I am obliged to decline an invitation to be present at the 150th 
 anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Windham. Regret, 
 that I can not be present to renew old friendships, still fresh in mem- 
 ory, and greet the sons and daughters since grown up to manliood and 
 womanhood to take the places of those who have ripened and gone. 
 Pleasure, that I can claim Windham as my native town. 
 
 After an absence of a considerable mmiber of years, I look back 
 with just pride upon the sterling, conscientious qualities which seemed 
 to predominate in all actions relating to matters of both church and 
 state. The memories, the faces, the voices of those we were wont to 
 meet and hear in church and in public gatherings, and the words of coun- 
 sel, spoken with so much earnestness and faithfulness, though in boy- 
 hood days, are as fresh and vivid in memory as though but yesterday. 
 
 With heartiest wishes for a happy and profitable gathering, and 
 again expressing regret at my inability to be with you, I remain 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 John Morrison. 
 
 ALBRO A. OSGOOD, ESQ., BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 Boston, June 7, 1892. 
 Mr. Alphonso F. Campbell, 
 
 And the Committee on Invitations : 
 Gentlemen : — Please accept my thanks for your kind remembrance 
 of me, to attend the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of your 
 dear old town — dear to me, not only as the birthplace of my mother, 
 
120 Letter from Ex-Ciov. Charles H. Bell. 
 
 but also for the many pleasant associations connected with the years 
 of my childhood, when it was my privilege to call it my home. 
 
 There are times in the histories of men and towns when they are 
 called upon to pause from their usual vocations, and look back and 
 contemplate the circumstances that have brought them to their pres- 
 ent positions. Such, it seems to me, is the position in which you find 
 yourselves to-day. And when your historian has read the pages of 
 your history for the last 150 years, what has he found ? A history 
 of men and women, whose early training in your public schools has 
 made them noted for their sterling character, integrity, and deeds of 
 generosity, whether at home or abroad. 
 
 Gentlemen of the committee, I again thank you for your courtesy, 
 but owing to business engagements, am obliged to decline your kind 
 invitation, but you have my best wishes for the success of this anni- 
 versary, and I hope the object-lesson taught by the exercises of this 
 celebration may ever be a reminder to the coming generations to 
 continue the good example set them by their ancestors. I remain, 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 
 Albro a. Osgood. 
 
 EX-GOVERNOR CHARLES H. BELL, EXETER, N. H. 
 
 Exeter, N. H., June 8, 1892. 
 To the Committee of Arrangements for the Observance of the Wind- 
 ham Anniversary : 
 Gentlemen: — I regret that it is out of my power to be present at 
 your celebration to-morrow, and I send a few pages, to show you how 
 much interest I feel in it, though absent in person. 
 
 Yoiu's truly, 
 
 Charles H. Bell. 
 
 At the celebration, twenty-three years ago, of the 150th anniversary 
 of the foundation of Londonderry, the mother town, I heard a lady? 
 who had listened to the eulogies pronoiuiced upon the Scotch-Irish 
 settlers and their descendants, exclaim : "I feel as if I were nobody, 
 to-day, because I am not Scotch-Irish ! " 
 
 I am more fortunate than she was, for I can boast my descent from 
 that worthy stock, on both sides of the house, my paternal ancestors 
 having been among the early settlers of Londonderry, and my mater- 
 nal among those of Windham. Indeed, the only English blood in 
 my veins came through the marriage of my Windham grandfather 
 
Letter from Ex-Crov. Charles H. Bell. 121 
 
 with the daughter of the Rev. Christopher Sargent, of Methuen. 
 But, he was so excellent a minister, and so worthy a man, that he 
 may be accounted almost as good as if he had been Scotch-Irish, too ! 
 
 The town of Windham is fortunate in its historian. A native, a 
 descendant of one of the original families, familiar with the traditions 
 and associations of the place, he has taken pride and pleasm*e in his 
 task. His work contains much that is interesting, and characteristic 
 of the people he describes, but hardly anything more characteristic, as 
 it seems to me, than the first vote passed by the town, after its organ- 
 ization by the election of officers under the charter, March 8, 1741—2. 
 It was in these words : " Voted, That the selectmen provide two staves, 
 one for the constable and one for the tithing-man, and a town-book." 
 Then, having made this apparently meagre preparation for assuming 
 the duties and responsibilities of townhood, the meeting was dissolved. 
 
 But, if we analyze this modest resolve of the town, I think we shall 
 find that it contains the germs of those principles which have ennobled 
 its history in contributing to the country so large a number of men 
 of character and influence. In the first place, the very poverty of the 
 vote indicates the few and simple wants, the narrow means, and the 
 frugality of the people who passed it. They had little money, and 
 none to spend unnecessarily. They brought up their families to like 
 habits of prudence and economy. In entering upon their municipal 
 duties, they evidently considered with care what was absolutely neces- 
 sary, and meant to provide nothing beyond that. What, then, did 
 they deem the indispensable necessities of their situation ? First, a 
 staff for the constable. This was simply a black rod with a brazen 
 crown at the top, but it was the symbol of civil authority. The con- 
 stable was the collector of the rates and taxes, the conservator of the 
 peace, the representative of the law of the land. In furnishing the 
 constable's staff the town virtually pledged itself to respect and obe- 
 dience of the law, as one of the main pillars of the future prosperity 
 which they hoped to enjoy. 
 
 The staff for the tithing-man used to have a heavy knob at one end, 
 to rap the hard heads of men and boys, and a fox tail at the other, 
 to tickle the faces of drowsy women. One of the chief duties of the 
 tithing-man was to awaken sleepers and preserve order and decorum 
 during divine service on the Lord's day. He was the representative 
 of the spiritual, as the constable was of the civil, authority. When the 
 fathers of Windham voted him his badge of office, they bound them- 
 selves, in effect, to support the observances of religion, and the public 
 worship of God. 
 
122 Letter from Ux-Gov. Charles H. Bell. 
 
 The town-book was the third article of prime necessity provided 
 for in the town's fii'st vote, and it was scarcely inferior in its influence 
 upon the peace and harmony of the inhabitants to the articles already 
 mentioned. The book was designed to contain the records of town 
 meetings, of the proceedings of town officers, and the like. It was 
 the common property of all the citizens, open to the inspection of all. 
 It was of unimpeachable authority ; whatever appeared on its pages 
 admitted of no question. It was a great regulator of official action ; 
 a wholesome check upon loose and careless statement, and a final 
 umpire in all disputes and differences respecting town affairs. In these 
 respects it fuUy justified the foresight and expectation of the voters 
 of 1742. 
 
 But, in process of time, the town-book acquired a value which 
 the early inhabitants could never have anticipated. It supplied to 
 the historian essential and priceless materials for presenting to our 
 generation an accurate picture of the doings, the habits, and the ideas 
 of the several generations which preceded us. The early inhabitants, 
 in their modest estimate of themselves, could not have dreamed that 
 they were ever to be of sufficient interest to their successors to be 
 made the subjects of a liistory, in all the publicity of print, a century 
 after their earthly work was over. When they authorized the pur- 
 chase of the town book, they builded even better than they knew ; 
 and, for that, they are entitled to oui' special gratitude and acknowl- 
 edgment. 
 
 A community which had the wisdom and foresight, 150 years ago, 
 to manifest their allegiance to human and divine authority, and to 
 recognize the need of making important transactions matters of per- 
 manent record, might be expected to thrive, and to raise up successors 
 who should be obedient to the laws, and make honest men and good 
 citizens. Accordingly, the history of Windham affords numerous 
 examples of those reared under such influences, who have been chosen 
 from the ranks to become leaders in the great march of progress. 
 So many of her sons have distinguished themselves in various callings 
 and walks of life, that the list of their names would swell a letter to 
 undue length, and it would be invidious to name a part, and keep 
 silence respecting others of equal deserts. 
 
 Long may the old town continue true to the principles of its found- 
 ers — faithful to the laws, human and divine, — and keep its future 
 record worthy of the past. I am. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Charles H. Bell. 
 
Letter from Samuel M. JVesmith, Esq. 123 
 
 CHARLES H. MILNER, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
 Sai^^ Francisco, May 20, 1892. 
 To the Committee on Invitations : 
 
 Gentlemen : — I have just received an invitation from your com- 
 mittee for June 9th, and although unahle to cross the continent to 
 attend, I will be with you in spirit on that day. It is vmnecessary to 
 assure you of the great pleasure it would give me to be in Windham 
 at any time, and this is particularly true of such an occasion as the 
 one at hand, which will call together, not only all of the present pop- 
 ulation of the town, but as many of its former residents as are able to 
 get there, and will afPord such a favorable opportunity to greet old 
 friends, that I am very sorry not to be able to take advantage of it 
 and once more meet the many friends that I left there five years ago, 
 and although I cannot do that, still I can send you all kindly regards 
 and hearty good wishes, and, with the best of anticipations for the 
 success of the celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary 
 of the incorporation of the good old town of Windham, 
 
 I am. 
 
 Sincerely Yours, 
 
 Charles H. Milnek. 
 
 LETTER OF CONGRATULATION. 
 SAMUEL M. NESMITH, ESQ., BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 Boston, June 16, 1892. 
 Hon. Leonard A. Morrison, 
 
 Windham, N. H. : 
 
 My Dear Sir : — I write to congratulate you on the success of the 
 Windham celebration. I think it was one of the pleasantest occa- 
 sions of my life, to meet with the sons and daughters of good old 
 Windham in celebrating its 150th anniversary. It is well that occa- 
 sions like these arise, to bring together those long separated from rela- 
 tives and friends. It was my good fortune to meet with men and women 
 who were my schoolmates more than fifty j^ears ago. This was a privi- 
 lege which I greatly appreciated. I was much pleased that the gov- 
 ernor of our state, with his estimable lady, honored us with their pres- 
 ence, and that sitting by his side was a lady guest 101 years of age. 
 
 The address of Hon. James Dinsmoor, a son of Windham, was able 
 and scholarly, and I hope soon to see it published. The speeches 
 
124 Letter from Samuel M. Hesmtth, Esq. 
 
 made by those who took part were of a high order, and reflected 
 credit upon themselves, and honor upon the town. 
 
 There was one feature of the celebration which impressed me 
 greatly, and of which I desire to write, viz : the charming music of 
 the Windham glee club, introduced by yourself as having been organ- 
 ized nearly forty years ago. This club was composed of some of the 
 best singers of the town, who have continued its organization unbroken 
 by death, to the present time. It was a great pleasure to listen to 
 these substantial men of Windham singing the songs they sang in 
 days long gone by. May their lives long be spared to the good peo- 
 ple of their native town. 
 
 The celebration was very enjoyable to all, notwithstanding the rain 
 which fell during a portion of the afternoon. The arrangements for 
 the celebration were admirably and substantially carried out. Great 
 credit is due to yourself and the other members of the committee for 
 the organization and completion of this grand celebration. As a son 
 of Windham, I take great pride in the enterprise and public spirit of 
 the men and women of my native town, and I am satisfied that her 
 best interests and welfare are in safe hands to-day. 
 
 With much regard, and with many regrets that, on the day of the 
 celebration, I could not say to you in the language of your invitation^ 
 "Give me your hand, old friend of youth," 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 Samuel M. Nesmith.