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 CELEBRATION 
 
 TWO-HUJSTDKEDTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 INCORPORATION OF MIDDLEBOROUGH, 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS, 
 OCTOBER 13, 1869. 
 
 INCLUDING THE 
 
 ORATION OF HON. THOMAS RUSSELL, ADDRESS BY HIS HONOR, 
 
 MAYOR SHURTLEFF, OF BOSTON, AND THE OTHER 
 
 EXERCISES OF THE OCCASION. 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX. 
 
 Published by request of the Committee of Arrangements. 
 
 Gazette Office, Middi.euokouoh. 
 1870. 
 
 ^^^^^SSSSSESS^^SBSESBSSBSSSS^K 
 
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1 Mv.uv; ~Jjt__C 
 
 "THE OLD MORTON HOUSE. 
 
CELEBRATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TWO-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 INCORPORATION OF MIDDLEBOROUGH, 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS, 
 OCTOBER 13, 1869. 
 
 INCLUDING THE 
 
 ORATION OF HON. THOMAS RUSSELL, ADDRESS BY HIS HONOR, 
 
 MAYOR SHURTLEFF, OF BOSTON, AND THE OTHER 
 
 EXERCISES OF THE OCCASION. 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX. 
 
 Published by request of the Committee of Arrangements. 
 
 Gazette Office, Middlebokough. 
 
 1870. 
 
D,m. 
 
At a meeting of the Committee of Arrangements held this day, 
 it was 
 
 Voted, That the thanks of the Committee be presented to Hon. Thomas 
 Russell for his eloquent oration delivered on the Two Hundredth Anni- 
 versary of the incorporation of the town of Middlehorough, and that he 
 be respectfully requested to furnish us a copy for publication. 
 
 GEORGE SOULE, Chairman. 
 
 S. H. Sylvester, Secretary. 
 
 Oct. 19, 1869. 
 
 A committee, consisting of William H. Wood, Joseph E. Beals 
 and James M. Coombs, was chosen to communicate the above and 
 superintend the publication of the oration. 
 
 JUDGE RUSSELL'S REPLY. 
 
 Boston, Dec. 21, 1869. 
 Dear. Judge, — I have written from memory a poor sketch of my ad- 
 dress at Middleborough. It contains a few sentences which I have spoken 
 elsewhere, but which were needed to complete my views on the subject 
 discussed. I congratulate you on the great success of your celebration, 
 and am, with great respect. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 THOMAS RUSSELL. 
 Hon. War. H. Wood. 
 
 \ 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. 
 
 At a meeting of the citizens of Middleborough held, in pursu- 
 ance of a public call, at Soule's Hall, on the 10th of September,' 
 and continued by adjournment to the 17th, it was determined to 
 have a celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incor- 
 poration of the town, by a procession, oration and dinner ; and the 
 following named gentlemen were chosen a Committee of Arrange- 
 ments. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 GE'OEGE soule. 
 
 Jamss H. Harlow, 
 Henry H. Shaw, 
 George H. Doane, 
 Calvin D. Kingman, 
 A. B. Sanford, 
 Dr. E. W. Drake, 
 James E. Peirce, 
 Ivory H. Harlow, 
 W. L. Brown, 
 
 C B. Wood, Treasurer. S. H. Sylvester, Secretary. 
 
 John B. Le Baron, 
 Andrew L. Tinkham, 
 Martin P. Standish, 
 L. D. Munroe, 
 James M. Coombs, 
 B. P. Tripp, 
 James Cole, Jr., 
 George Brayton. 
 
 At a town meeting held September 6th, 1869, the town voted to 
 choose a committee to cooperate with the committee of the citizens 
 in the proposed celebration, and chose as that committee the select- 
 men, viz. : 
 
 Joseph T. Wood, Thomas Smith, Lewis Leonard. 
 
 Also the town clerk, C. B. Wood, 
 Z. Pratt, Stillman Benson, George M. Leach. 
 
 The town also voted at the same meeting to extend an invitation 
 to the town of Lakeville to join in the celebration. 
 
 The committee, and especially their chairman, are entitled to 
 much credit for the zeal and energy with which they immediately 
 
6 
 
 entered on their labor, perfecting their plans, raising money by vol- 
 untary subscriptions, and carrying forward their work to a success- 
 ful issue. 
 
 Wednesday, the 13th of October, was fixed as the day for the 
 celebration. Hon. Thomas Russell, of Boston, was invited to give 
 the oration, and accepted the invitation. Gov. Claflin, his council 
 and staff, and other state officials, Mayor Shurtleff, of Boston, and 
 others, to the number of about three hundred, were especially in- 
 vited to be present, very many of whom at once accepted the invi- 
 tation. A circular was also issued by the chairman of the execu- 
 tive committee, calling upon all the sons and daughters of old Mid- 
 dleborough, wherever they might be, to return once more to the 
 old homestead, and join in the festivities of the day. The commit- 
 tee appointed 
 
 WILLIAM II. WOOD, President of the day. 
 Rev. S. G. DODD, of the C. C. Society, Chaplain. 
 CALVIN D. KINGMAN, Esq., Toast Master. 
 Capt. GEORGE H. SHAW, Chief Marshal. 
 
 The Marshal selected for his aids 
 
 Josuua Sherman, George W. Rich, 
 
 Hexry H. Shaw, A. B. Sanford, 
 
 Charles H. Tobey. Louis K. Harlow. 
 
 II. W. Durfee. 
 
 Yale's - mammoth tent, 205 feet by 85, was engaged, and was 
 located on the vacant lot of Philander Washburn & Brother, on 
 the corner of Centre and Pearl streets. This was divided by a 
 canvas partition, one part of which was devoted to the public ex- 
 ercises of the day, and in the other the dining tables were spread. 
 
 Arrangements were made with Thomas Cook, of Boston, to pro- 
 vide a dinner for one thousand persons, and Mr. Cook performed 
 his contract in a manner very satisfactory to the committee and 
 their guests. 
 
 On Tuesday, people from abroad began to gather in town, and 
 on Tuesday evening, the weather being very beautiful, our central 
 village presented a very gay and animated appearance. Col. Beals 
 & Son, the decorators, of Boston, had been in town some days, 
 and many public and private buildings bore evidence of their taste 
 and skill. The North Bridgewater Band, stationed near the Post 
 Office, attracted crowds of people by its fine music. The hotel 
 
was full, and many private houses, of those who had come from 
 abroad to engage in this home gathering. 
 
 The morning of Wednesday opened with dark clouds rolling up 
 from the east, with flashes of lightning, and all the portents of a 
 stormy day ; but although the rain was falling copiously around us, 
 only occasional slight showers visited us until afternoon, and the 
 programme for the day was fully and successfully carried out. The 
 exercises commenced with the firing of guns and the ringing of 
 bells, and soon the military and civic organizations from other 
 towns began to arrive. The Nemasket House, P. E. Penniman, 
 Proprietor, had been designated as the place for receiving our 
 invited guests, which on the arrival of the cars, bringing the orator 
 of the day, His Honor Mayor Shurtleff, and others, was filled to 
 overflowing. 
 
THE PBOCESSION. 
 
 The procession was formed at the firing of the gun, on School 
 and Peirce streets, its right resting on Centre street. It moved 
 promptly at 10| o'clock, in the following order, after receiving the 
 distinguished guests of the day. 
 
 ORDER OF PROCESSION. 
 
 State Police. 
 
 Chief Marshal. 
 
 Aid. Aid. 
 
 Middleborcmgh Cornet Band, C. M. Vaughn, Drum Major. 
 
 Company L, Carver, Capt. Griffith. 
 
 Company M, Plymouth, Capt. Drew. 
 
 President of the clay. 
 
 Orator and Chaplain. 
 
 Invited Guests. 
 
 II DIVISION. 
 
 Marshal. 
 
 Aid. Aid. 
 
 Joppa Baud. 
 
 Company A, Halifax, Capt; Bonney. 
 
 Post No. 13, G. A. R., G. W. Leach, Commander. 
 
 Post 8, G. A. R., L. D. Monroe. Commander. 
 
 Ill DIVISION. 
 
 Marshal. 
 
 Aid. Aid. 
 
 New Bedford Brass Band. 
 
 Sutton Encampment, A. H. W. Carpenter, Commander. 
 
 Mayflower Lodge. A. B. Bosworth, W. M. 
 
 Miles Standish Company, A. J. Pickens, Captain. 
 
IV DIVISION. 
 
 Marshal. 
 
 Aid. Aid. 
 
 North Bridgewater Baud. 
 
 Bay State Engine Co., J. H. Weston, Captain. 
 
 Indian Company, B. L. Boomer, Chiif. 
 
 Schools of Ancient and Modern Times. 
 
 Aptiques. 
 
 Cavalcade of Ladies. 
 
 Cavalcade of Gentlemen. 
 
 Town Officers of Middleborough. 
 
 Town Officers of Lakeville. 
 
 Citizens in Carriages. 
 
 The procession moved down Main street to the Star Mills, through 
 Montello to North street, from North to School, from School to 
 Peirce, to Pearl, to Centre, to Oak, to Courtland, to Main street, 
 thence around the Morton House to Main, thence to Centre street, 
 to the tent, where the dinner was spread and the oration was de- 
 livered. The route of the procession was about four miles in length. 
 
 The committee desire especially to acknowledge their obligation 
 to B. M. C. Durfee, Esq., of Fall River, for his splendid four-in- 
 hand English carriage, footman and driver, which he so generously 
 tendered for the occasion. This carriage contained the Orator, 
 President, and Chaplain of the day, and Mayor Shurtleff, of Boston. 
 Other invited guests followed in carriages. Many of the carriages 
 were voluntarily furnished by citizens of the town. The military 
 escort was 120 strong. 
 
 The Knights Templar, of New Bedford, Sutton Encampment, in 
 full regalia, attracted much attention. 
 
 In the Miles Standish company, E. B. Thompson, of Halifax, 
 carried the old gun with which the Indian was shot in King Philip's 
 war. His ancestor of the sixth generation, Lieut. John Thompson, 
 commanded the fort which contained sixteen men and their families, 
 and the gun belonged to him. The piece has a barrel six feet and 
 one inch long, with a curious looking but, and has been fired within 
 a year. The distance at which it shot the Indian was 155 rods, or 
 nearly half a mile, — a chance shot, probably. 
 
 The captain of the Miles Standish company, A. J. Pickens, was 
 attired in a costume like that of the renowned Standish, and car- 
 ried a sword and pistol that belonged to Lieut. John Thompson of 
 
10 
 
 old. Two ancient halberds were carried by J. D. Drew- and J. Z. 
 T. Thompson, of Halifax. 
 
 The Indian company under Mr. Boomer as chief was a marked 
 feature of the procession, their color, costume and attitudes being 
 such, that King Philip himself might have mistaken them for one 
 of his own warlike bands. 
 
 That part of the procession put down in the programme as the 
 antiques, excited much interest. Here was the school of olden 
 time, twenty children in ancient costume, with the pedagogue flour- 
 ishing his cudgel, in a wagon drawn by oxen ; and close by, two 
 wagons drawn by horses, containing about twenty pupils each, 
 representing the improved school of modern times ; one with Miss 
 Mary L. Tinkham as teacher of the primary department, the other 
 with Miss Harriet C. Barden as teacher of the higher department. 
 Here also was the ancient and indestructible " one-horse shay," — the 
 old doctor on horseback, with saddle-bags, — two couples on horse- 
 back, the ladies behind on pillions, — a cavalcade of ladies, etc., etc . 
 The costumes were very ancient ; some were more than two 
 hundred years, old. 
 
 The procession, which was about half a mile long, was received 
 with much enthusiasm throughout its entire route, manifested by 
 the crowds of people, men, women and children, lining the streets, 
 the display of flags and other decorations, the waving of handker- 
 chiefs from windows and balconies, and other manifestations of 
 delight. 
 
DECORATIONS. 
 
 The Nemasket House, P. E. Penniinan proprietor, the point from 
 which the procession started, was gaily trimmed with tricolors on 
 the large pillars in front and purple hangings on the balcony, and 
 the motto, " 1669. Welcome to Middleborough. 1869." 
 
 Flags were suspended across the street to the large edifice occu- 
 pied by Leonard & Barrow's, shoe manufacturers, and by the stores 
 of C. H. Carpenter and A. G. Alden. On the front of this edifice 
 were the inscriptions : " The Day we Celebrate." " Justice." 
 
 Further on, the residence of Major Tucker and Prof. J. W. P. 
 Jenks was arrayed in bunting, etc., and the store, owned and occu- 
 pied b} r Peirce Brothers, was well decorated, and bore the motto, 
 " Let Brotherly Love Continue." The commanding residence of 
 the brothers, Messrs. Job C, Thomas S. and William Peirce, oppo- 
 site, was also decorated. 
 
 The house of Henry H. Shaw, of Shaw & Co.'s Express, was 
 handsomely decorated. Also the house of Richard B. Holmes. 
 
 At this point, at some distance on the right, flags were seen flying 
 on the site of the old garrison house, and on Tispaquin rock. 
 (These points are referred to in Judge Russell's oration.) 
 
 Near here, too, is the old Barrows house, the homestead of the 
 Barrows family, now occupied by Miss Lois Barrows. On one end 
 of the building the clapboards have been taken off, and a hole about 
 six inches square appears. The walls of the building are planked 
 with two live-oak boards, each an inch thick. This house has been 
 supposed to be so built with port-holes for defence in the Indian 
 war. 
 
 The residence of George Bray ton was richly decorated with flags. 
 Many houses in the vicinity of the Star Mills were decorated. The 
 dwelling-house of Mr. Toole, on North street, bore the green flag 
 of Erin and the stars and stripes. The house of W. H. Vaughan 
 attracted marked attention, some four cartloads of yellow pump- 
 kins adorning his piazzas. On School street, the school-house bore 
 
12 
 
 the motto, " Our Common Schools the Basis of New England In- 
 stitutions." The house of Bay State Engine Co., and headquarters 
 of the Middleborough Cornet Band, was elegantly decorated. 
 
 On Pearl street, the houses of S. H. Sylvester, George W. Tay- 
 lor, Peter Washburn, J. H. Case, A. G. Alden, and Samuel Will- 
 iams, were very appropriately decorated. 
 
 Probably the most elaborate exhibition of the day was gotten up 
 at the house of Mrs. Jane King, on Oak street. On one side of 
 the piazza was represented an ancient family. First sat Mrs. Stro- 
 bridge, 78 years old, spinning flax on an old flax-wheel, the prop- 
 erty of a very old lady of this town, Mrs. Thomas. Next her was 
 a small round table, such as was commonly used in families in those 
 times, on which was displayed several pewter plates, part of a very 
 ancient set of china, tea-caddy, and a small earthen-ware tea-pot, 
 just large enough to hold one cup of tea. This tea-pot was brought 
 from England by an ancestor of Mrs. King, a Mr. Peckham, one 
 of the first settlers of Newport, K. I., and is over two hundred 
 years old. Next this table sat Mrs. King, 79 years old, carding 
 wool into rolls for spinning, on hand cards more than a century old. 
 Next beyond her was a very ancient light stand, on which was a 
 large volume of Flavel's Sermons, and a Dictionary, the author 
 unknown, as the title page is gone ; but both books must be at least 
 a hundred and fifty years old. Next sat Miss E. P. King, dressed 
 in the costume of nearly two centuries ago, weaving tape by hand, 
 as was then customary in all families. Last, running around, was 
 a little grandchild of Mrs. King, three years old, dressed in a child's 
 dress made in England as much as one hundred years ago, of a 
 kind of cloth called rattinet; over her neck was pinned a linen 
 handkerchief, chec led blue and white, made of flax spun and woven 
 by some of the Ki ig ancestry. The other side of the piazza rep- 
 resented a modern sitting-room, where, in a large nice rocking-chair, 
 sat Miss S. A. King by the side of a marble-topped table, at work 
 on a piece of worsted embroidery, and at the same time entertain- 
 ing several lady callers. Over the ancient side was placed the 
 name of the Governor of Plymouth Colony, " Prence, 1669." Over 
 the modern side was the name of the present Governor of Massa- 
 chusetts, " Claflin, 1869." 
 
 The house of George Soule, Chairman of the Committee of Ar- 
 rangements, on Oak street, was tastefully decorated with flags and 
 
13 
 
 streamers, with the dates " 1669, 1869." The house of Joseph E. 
 Beals was decorated with flags. 
 
 On Courtland street are the Bay State Straw Works of Albert 
 Alden, upon which a lavish hand had been laid. " Loyalty and 
 Industry " were the mottoes. Mr. Alden's house, on Main street, 
 was also decorated, and James Peirce's, W. Bourne Wood's, I. H. 
 Harlow's, J. T. Wood's, J. M. Pickens', and the old Morton House 
 was designated by a flag and motto. The house of W. S. An- 
 drews was tastefully decorated, with the inscription, " They sowed 
 and we reap," — also the houses of Sidney Tucker, Foster Harlow, 
 James II. Harlow, A. B. Sanford. Across the street here were 
 thrown several flags and streamers. 
 
 The building occupied by George Soule, furniture dealer, with 
 a hall overhead occupied by the Sons of Temperance and the 
 St. Crispins, among its decorations bore the inscriptions, "Love, 
 Purity, Fidelity," " K. O. S. C. 191." Masonic Hall adjoin- 
 ing, in which are Judge W. H. Wood's law office, G. H. Doane's 
 hardware and cutlery store, and J. B. & J. Shaw, apothecaries and 
 fancy goods dealers, was elegantly trimmed with purple velvet 
 hangings and tricolors, and bore the words, " Hope, Faith, and 
 Charity," and the insignia of Freemasonry. 
 
 American Hall Building, occupied by the millinery rooms of S. 
 F. Barrows, by George Waterman, grocer, and by Dr. Leach, 
 d. d. s.j was finely trimmed, with the words, " Middleborough, 1669. 
 Bi-Centennial." 
 
 M. Toole's store, and Bennett & Thompson's grocery, corner of 
 Main and Water streets, were decorated. 
 
 On Centre street, the building which contains the headquarters 
 of Post 8, G. A. R., up stairs, and the store of A. H. W. Carpenter, 
 merchant tailor, was handsomely decorated, and flags were sus- 
 pended over the street to the decorated edifice occupied by the store 
 of B. F. Tripp, and by A. L. Tinkham, the postmaster of Middle- 
 borough. 
 
 S. H. Sylvester, the hair-dresser, Secretary of the Committee, 
 had his saloon finely decorated, and upon the front was the inscrip- 
 tion, "Patient in labor, submissive to law, regardful of right, faith- 
 ful to liberty." 
 
 The spacious residence of George Waterman, opposite the high 
 school, was neatly decorated. 
 
HON. W. H. WOOD'S ADDRESS. 
 
 The procession reached the tent soon after twelve o'clock, and 
 after the large audience had become seated, and music by one of 
 the bands, the President of the day delivered his address of wel- 
 come. 
 
 Fellow Citizens : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, — Assembled as we are to celebrate the 
 two hundredth anniversary of our existence as a town, in the name 
 and in behalf of the town Of Middleborough I extend to you all a cor- 
 dial welcome to the festivities of the occasion. To our fellow-citi- 
 zens, ladies and gentlemen, who have left their accustomed avoca- 
 tions to come up to this gathering, we give a welcome. To the sons 
 and daughters of Middleborough, who, having gone out from us in 
 other years, to-day return to join us in this family gathering, to re- 
 visit the scenes of their earlier days, we extend our hand in con- 
 gratulation and fraternal regard. We trust that as you have again 
 visited these old familiar streets, which bring up visions of the 
 past, that though 3 r our thoughts will be tinged with sadness as you 
 notice the changes which time has wrought, as memory brings up 
 " the distant and the dead," yet you rejoice with us to-day at the 
 manifest signs of prosperity which still attend our native town. 
 And to those who, not natives or descendants of Middleborough, 
 have come to aid us by their presence and sympathy, we give a cor- 
 dial welcome. Particularly do we gratefully acknowledge our obli- 
 gations to those military and civic organizations who by their 
 presence are contributing so much to the pleasures of the day. 
 
 Our thoughts today revert to the past. In imagination we roll 
 back the centuries, and stand here at Nemasket as it existed two 
 hundred years ago. Indeed, we get a slight glimpse of this town 
 two hundred and fifty years ago, before even the Mayflower had 
 cast anchor in yonder bay, when upon that afternoon in spring, or 
 early summer, Captain Dermer and his guide Squanto entered this 
 
L5 
 
 Indian settlement. With the exception of the French captive 
 whom they found here, his was the first white man's foot which ever 
 trod this soil. Here was the Indians' home. Here in the simplicity 
 of forest life, they had lived and died for centuries. Here the great 
 Massasoit, the early and constant friend of the pilgrims, was accus- 
 tomed to resort in Summer, and here appear to have been the royal 
 hunting and fishing grounds. Since that day how great the change. 
 Our little lakes were glittering in the sunlight then as now ; our Ne- 
 masket, through pathless deserts, was flowing on towards the sea. 
 The same skies were overhead, but all else how changed ! 
 
 Who have wrought these changes ? It is very little that our own 
 hands have wrought. Our fathers labored, and we have entered 
 into their labors. They opened up the forests, they cleared and 
 cultivated these fields, they planted the church, the school-house, 
 our free institutions. The immediate descendants of the pilgrims ; 
 theirs were the stern, heroic virtues which enabled them to re- 
 move all obstacles however formidable, and to lay the foundations 
 of towns and states. They sowed in darkness and in tears, we 
 reap in light and joy. Theirs was a faith that could remove moun- 
 tains, because it led to heroic action. 
 
 It is well, then, on stated occasions, to commemorate the virtues 
 of our fathers ; their heroic, ruanly courage, their persistent adher- 
 ence to truth, following wherever that might lead them ; for it was 
 an adopted principle of action with them that they would not be 
 " tied on Tuesday morning to maintain the tenets of Monday night, 
 if a new discovery intervened." 
 
 Nor should we altogether overlook their errors ; for their charac- 
 ters were such as can endure scrutiny, and it is from the failures of 
 men as well as from their success that we learn wisdom. But be 
 careful how you censure them ; for it is a maxim of our free institu- 
 tions that a man shall be judged by his peers, and perchance many 
 that cavil, when tried by this standard, have no right to sit in judg- 
 ment upon them. They walked by an inner light, and only those 
 who are in some measure favored by such a light can appreciate 
 their character. 
 
 Once more, ladies and gentlemen, I bid you welcome. Let this 
 day be sacred to the memory of the past, and may its associations 
 link us more strongly with our native town. To most of us this is 
 consecrated ground ; a father's, a mother's dust is mingled with the 
 
16 
 
 soil. How often has it been moistened by the tears of affection ! 
 May we all unite in the aspiration, that as " God was with our 
 fathers so may he be with us," and with those who come after us 
 through all future time. 
 
 The President then introduced Rev. S. G. Dodd, of the Central 
 Congregational church, the Chaplain of the day, who offered prayer, 
 a band of children from Miss M. L. Tinkham's school joining with 
 him at the close in repeating the Lord's prayer. The centennial 
 hymn was then sung by a select choir, under the leadership of A. 
 J. Pickens. At its conclusion, the Star Spangled Banner was per- 
 formed by the Middleborough Cornet Band, and then Judge Russell, 
 being introduced, delivered the following oration. 
 
ORATION OF HON. THOMAS RUSSELL. 
 
 The sons and daughters of old Middleborough have done 
 well to leave their pleasant homes around this spot, and those 
 distant homes to which New England enterprise has borne 
 them, gathering here to repeat the names and traditions of 
 their fathers, and to trace the steps by which they reared this 
 goodly town and helped to build this fair state and this noble 
 country. Descended from your ancestors, with the same 
 blood in my veins that flows in yours, I could not refuse to 
 join in this great holiday of my kinsmen. 
 
 Although the incorporation of this town, was delayed till 
 June 1, 1669, the spot had long been known to Europeans. 
 Here came Captain Dernier in 1619, and ransomed a captive 
 Frenchman, who some years since had been shipwrecked on 
 Cape Cod. And here he left Squanto or Tisquantum, kid- 
 napped years before by the treacherous Capt. Hunt, sold into 
 slavery to Spaniards, and set free by a Spanish monk. Won- 
 derful are the ways of Providence. Had our pilgrim fathers 
 asked one earthly blessing, it would have been that they 
 should find here a friendly Indian able to interpret between 
 them and his race. This great need was supplied by the 
 crime of Hunt — the wrath of man praising God ; by the 
 humanity of the Spanish monk, who little knew what church 
 he was helping to build up ; by the kindness of Ferdinando 
 Gorges, who ordered the restoration of the exile, and by the 
 energy of Captain Dernier, who carried out that order. 
 
 In 1621, Plymouth Colony sent an embassy to Massasoit, — 
 Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins, who were plentifully 
 fed at Nemasket, and who spent the night at Titicut, where 
 they ate abundance of bass ; for then, as now, Taunton Great 
 
is 
 
 Eiver and its head waters were prolific of fish, although not 
 as yet fruitful of legislation. On their return, weary and 
 hungry, the messengers were once more refreshed at Titicut 
 and Nemasket. Later still, Winslow and Hampden visiting 
 Massasoit in his illness, and ministering to his needs, found 
 food and comfort in their old resting places. You can show 
 us the old wading-place below the mill, the Indian weir, the 
 fording-place at Eaynham, where two venerable Indians, 
 armed with bows and arrows, made a show of opposing the 
 passage of the stream. These spots are memorable in his- 
 tory. The journeys were short, their events were simple, but 
 when we think of the first as confirming the friendship of 
 Massasoit, and of the second as prolonging his life, we know 
 of no embassy in ancient or modern times that has had more 
 influence on the destinies of the world. 
 
 Between these excursions came the memorable expedition 
 of Standish, which has been so vividly brought before our 
 eyes today. Corbitant, a rebel against his King, and an ene- 
 my of the whites, sought to ruin both. The faithful Hobbo- 
 mock and Squanto hasten to Nemasket to watch the traitor. 
 After a violent scene, Hobbomock escapes to Plymouth, and 
 Capt. Standish is sent at once to Nemasket. With little 
 bloodshed, and without the loss of life, the rebellion is put 
 down. There is little pomp or show in the affair. Histori- 
 ans differ as to whether the army consisted of ten or of four- 
 teen. But in its results, that day's adventure of a dozen pil- 
 grims may have been as important as the grand march of 
 Sherman from the mountains to the sea. 
 
 The settlement of Nemasket was long delayed by the num- 
 bers of Indians living here. This was the dwelling-place of 
 more than one great chief, and the fishing-place of others. 
 Even now the thickly peopled graveyards show something of 
 their numbers. It is said that for many years after the settle- 
 ment of the town, the proportion of Indians to whites was as 
 five to one. It is well known that the aborigines selected the 
 best situations for their settlements. But the true son of 
 
19 
 
 Middleborough, whether born at the " Corners," in Nemasket, 
 or among the fertile fields of Titicnt, or beyond your present 
 limits, in the lake country, whether he lives by the river or 
 the pond, needs neither Indian taste nor Indian tradition to 
 teach him that for him the fairest spot on earth is his own 
 sweet home. The ancient fertility of this region was well 
 known to the early settlers at Plymouth. Again and again 
 the fruitful fields of Nemasket supplied the hungry pilgrims, 
 and but for these rich supplies it seems that the little band 
 must have perished of hunger. No, I am wrong. It was 
 decreed that they should not perish, and if need had been, a 
 flight of quails, a shower of manna would, as of old, have 
 preserved the lives of God's people in the wilderness. 
 
 In 1662 was made the first great purchase from Wampetuck 
 by " the 26 men." Among them are many familiar names of 
 the first settlers, or of their immediate descendants, such as 
 Howland, Mullens, Soule, Sprague, Cook, William Brewster, 
 son of the famous Elder, and Peter Brown, ancestor of the 
 famous John Brown. It will interest some of you to know 
 that John Brown took great pride in his pilgrim origin, and 
 that his last evening in Boston was spent in the Old South 
 chapel, at a meeting in behalf of the Memorial church at 
 Southwark. The ancestor and the descendant were both fa- 
 natics, but God makes great use of fanatics in advancing his 
 reign on earth. 
 
 Additional purchases were made of Tispaquin and others, 
 and the town grew till it contained thirty families. These 
 are the names of the first settlers : John Thompson, Isaac 
 Howland, Francis Coombs, Samuel Fuller, John Morton, 
 Moses Simmons, Samuel Barrows, Samuel Eaton, Francis 
 Billington, George Soule, Nathaniel Southworth, Ephraim 
 Tinkham, Henry Wood, William Nelson, David Thomas, 
 John Cobb, Jabez Warren, Edward Bump, Samuel Eddy, 
 Samuel Pratt, George Vaughan, John Shaw, Jacob Thompson, 
 Francis Miller, John Howland, John Alclen. Those names 
 are here still. They are all around me. Many of these men 
 
20 
 
 till the same farms that their fathers tilled. All of them, so 
 far as I know, walk in the same ways in which their fathers 
 trod. 
 
 The first deputy to the General Court was John Morton, a 
 son of George Morton, who came over in the ship Ann. 
 Traditions differ as to the fact whether the venerable house 
 which we have admired today, and which is still held by a 
 descendant of Morton, was the first which he built, or whether 
 his first house was half a mile to the south. For one, I can- 
 not believe that any dwelling-house in Middleborough re- 
 mained through 1675 and 1676. And I believe that the coals 
 and dust, which may still be seen, are the only relics of Mor- 
 ton's first house. For now the clouds of war darkened all 
 the sky. The terrible year 1675 had come. This town was 
 the scene of its first great event. Sausaman, a convert of 
 Eliot, said to have been for a time a student at Harvard Col' 
 lege, became secretary to King Philip, and revealed his de- 
 signs. In revenge, he was murdered by three Iudians on the 
 shores of Assawampset lake, and his body was hidden under 
 the ice. But the waters refused to conceal the crime, and the 
 murderers were tried and executed at Plymouth. What a 
 scene, if we could reproduce that court; the jury half whites, 
 half Indians ; the judge pronouncing a sentence which was to 
 thrill the new world as few state trials have ever thrilled the 
 old world. Then we should like to see the old meeting-house 
 at Taunton, where Philip and his friends occupied one side, 
 while the other was filled by the commissioners of the colo- 
 nies, with their armed guard. Then, if we could restore the 
 " Morton house " and that other block-house to their old pro- 
 portions, and fill them with trembling fugitives, and place a 
 marksman at each port-hole, watching, waiting for the attack 
 that might come at any minute, — if we could do this, we 
 should begin to feel what the days of our fathers really were. 
 It has been said that there was no romance in that time. If 
 danger braved, and hardship borne, and horrors seen and un- 
 seen, defied by faith, — if these are full of romance, of poetry, 
 
21 
 
 of sublimity, then did our fathers live iu an heroic age, and 
 live like true heroes. 
 
 The storm of war burst upon Swanzey. On a quiet Sab- 
 bath morning an attack was made, and it was renewed until 
 the town was consumed, and many of the people were slain. 
 Next, Dartmouth is in flames. The peaceful lives of its 
 Quaker inhabitants could not save them from cruel tortures. 
 Midclleborough is assailed. The men, women and children 
 flee to the garrison house. The miller hangs up his leather 
 apron as a mark to be riddled by balls, and makes good his 
 escape. An Indian appears on the rock across the river, and 
 taunts the whites with insulting gestures, until Isaac Howland 
 borrows Sergeant Thompson's long gun, and fires at the long 
 range of a hundred and fifty rods. Then, in the language of 
 your honored President's father, " the insulting savage fell as 
 did that heathen giant who defied the armies of the living- 
 God." It is a good thing that you have preserved this relic, 
 and it was a good sight to see it borne today by a descendant 
 of its former owner, — gun and man well matched. In that 
 family, as well as in that gun, the stock remains sound. 
 
 Repeated encounters took place within the limits of the 
 town. In one, the Indians were driven across the narrows at 
 Assawampsett, by the gallant Capt. Church. In another, 
 they were overpowered in a swamp at " Thomastown." But 
 the danger was too great ; the settlement was too weak. If 
 by day the .men could guard their families, how could they 
 bear the terrors of the night, when every tree might hide a 
 savage enemy, and every sound seemed like a war-whoop? 
 The people wisely withdrew to Plymouth, having lost but one 
 man, Robert Dawson by name. The remaining houses of the 
 little town were burned. And thus, in the language of that 
 day, " one more candle-stick was removed from the land." 
 
 When the war was over, the General Court ordered that 
 Dartmouth and Middleborough should both be built more 
 compactly, so that they might better be defended against the 
 enemy, and so that public worship might be more generally 
 
22 
 
 attended, the neglect of which, as they feared, had contrib- 
 uted to the recent disasters. These two motives for compact 
 building are on a large scale praying and keeping the powder 
 dry. This method of building aided, also, the free schools of 
 New England, which flourish in her villages as they*never 
 could have done in scattered settlements like those in other 
 portions of the land. 
 
 But the war was not yet over. It raged throughout the 
 colonies. Mendon and Brookfield were attacked. Hadley 
 was saved by the grand old regicide, who came forth from his 
 hiding-place to win one victory more for the cause of the 
 saints. Springfield was in flames. The meadows of Dccr- 
 field drank the blood of the "flower of Essex." Even after 
 the great victory at Narragansett fort, Lancaster, Sudbury, 
 and Medfield, were assailed ; Marlborough was abandoned ; a 
 bloody massacre occurred even in Plymouth ; and the disas- 
 trous expedition of Capt. Pierce almost decimated the young 
 men of the Old Colony. Not till Capt. Church had tracked 
 King Philip to his last hiding-place in the swamp, where he 
 was slain by an Indian, who thus revenged the death of his 
 own brother, did the land have rest. 
 
 And now, how did our fathers endure these horrors and 
 dangers? Alone, on a strip of half reclaimed land upon the 
 edge of a boundless forest, filled with demoniac enemies ; 
 outnumbered by these enemies, who surpassed them in skill 
 as marksmen and as warriors ; unaided by one . dollar, one 
 kind word from the English government, only cheered by a 
 contribution from a few saints in Ireland, (which in the Irish 
 famine was repaid with interest) ; suspecting, even, that they 
 were betrayed by Sir Edmund Andros, who was supposed to 
 have supplied the Indians with ammunition from a neighbor- 
 ing province, — alone in the presence of visible and invisible 
 dangers, how could they remain? How could they endure to 
 leave their wives and children exposed every night to name- 
 less tortures and outrages ? Read the story of Ann Rowland- 
 son's captivity, with her wounded infant, nourished for nine 
 
23 
 
 days on water alone, till on the ninth day " the poor babe died 
 like a lamb." Remember, too, her account of that fellow- 
 captive, who, with her new-born child, was surrounded by a 
 circle of yelling fiends, that dashed out the brains of mother 
 and infant, and thrust the little one into the fire. " The chil- 
 dren said she never shed a tear, but prayed ail the time," — 
 with grief too deep for tears, with faith above all human reli- 
 ance. "What brought them thus afar?" asks Mrs. Hemans. 
 " What kept them here ? " we well may ask, when every mo- 
 ment their dear ones were exposed to cruel dangers and more 
 cruel fears. 
 
 But the whole story is wonderful. Who laid waste the 
 land, and strewed it with the whitened bones of its inhabi- 
 tants ? Why were those two Indians stolen and instructed in 
 English and returned to their homes? How came Miles 
 Standish among the pilgrims, — a man without a drop of Pu- 
 ritan blood in his veins, — a soldier, who did not join the 
 church, — who could not have voted in Massachusetts Bay, 
 although the more liberal views of Plymouth allowed him to 
 hold office there ? Who soothed the savage heart of Massa- 
 soit, and sent rain in the day of need ? 
 
 "We have heard with our ears, oh God; our fathers have 
 told us what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old ; 
 how thou didst cast out the people, and plantedst them ; how 
 thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they 
 got not the land in possession by their own hand ; neither did 
 their own arm save them, but thine arm, and thy right hand, 
 and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor 
 unto them." 
 
 Again I answer in the spirit of the pilgrims, but in words 
 which they would not have chosen : " For it was thy will to 
 destroy, by the hands of our fathers, both those old inhabi- 
 tants of thy holy land, whom thou hatedst for doing most 
 odious works of witchcrafts and wicked sacrifices ; and those 
 merciless murderers of children, and devourers of men's flesh, 
 
24 
 
 * * * that the land which thou esteemest above all other 
 might receive a ivorthy colony of God's children.'" 
 
 Yes, an arm mightier than that of Standish, or of Church, 
 of Winslow or Bradford, of Mason or Willard, guarded the 
 homes of our fathers, and their triumphs were the victories 
 of faith. 
 
 And now let me say a word of the conduct of our fathers 
 toward the early settlers. And that word is, that never in 
 the history of colonization was there such forbearance, such 
 honest and kindly dealing, as that which the early settlers ex- 
 ercised toward the natives. Fair purchase of their lands, 
 equal justice in dealing with offenders — three white men ex- 
 ecuted for the murder of one Indian — faith kept at all haz- 
 ards, with constant efforts to civilize and christianize, — this 
 was the policy of the Pilgrim Fathers. The names of Eliot, 
 Mayhew, and Norton, suggest anything but harshness in deal- 
 ing with the savages of New England. Voltaire has said, 
 and even juvenile histories have repeated, that the treaty of 
 William Penn was the first treaty ever made without an oath, 
 and the only one never broken. (He said it not so much be- 
 cause he loved Quakers, but because he hated the name which 
 gives sanction to an oath.) But on the hill beyond Town 
 Brook, in Plymouth, our fathers made a treaty with Massa- 
 soit, not confirmed by an oath, and never violated. For not 
 till Massasoit had been laid in his grave was a hostile move- 
 ment made against the whites by any Indian, who was not 
 either a stranger or a rebel to his jurisdiction. 
 
 True it is, that when our fathers were maddened by the 
 horrors of " King Philip's war," their treatment of their cap- 
 tives was such as shocks every feeling of humanity. But 
 even this reproach does not apply to the pilgrim fathers, who 
 had long since passed from earth. And we must remember 
 that while our fathers in America were guilty of selling cap- 
 tives into bondage, they only did to the savages what the 
 King of England did to his own countrymen. Even these 
 outrages upon enemies fall short of those committed at a later 
 
25 
 
 period upon the friendly Indians of eastern Pennsylvania. 
 The East Indian mutiny was followed by more horrible retri- 
 butions than any which was meted out to the savage murder- 
 ers of King Philip's time ; and even now our own dealings 
 with the Indians of the far west should make us pause before 
 we utterly condemn our fathers. They have been reproached 
 because the body of Philip was barbarously mutilated. Such 
 a mutilation, indeed, shocks our sensibilities ; but we may 
 pardon the fugitives from Middleborough if they looked with 
 exultation upon the severed head of their enemy as it was 
 borne through the streets of Plymouth, and thanked God that 
 this scourge of humanity had ceased to afflict the earth. 
 
 Although the war still raged with fury along the coasts of 
 Maine, the colony of Plymouth was at peace after the death 
 of Philip, and the exiles were free to return. The growth of 
 the town was rapid, — increased, at one period, by fugitives 
 from the bloody soil of Massachusetts Bay, where the witch- 
 craft delusion had caused a reign of terror, for which men 
 in their ignorance often condemn the pilgrim fathers of 
 Plymouth. Whatever may be urged to excuse that delirium 
 of good men, we love to recall the fact that no witch was ever 
 convicted in Plymouth colony ; that whenever complaints 
 were brought before the magistrates the complainant was 
 made to suffer, and that when a Plymouth sea-captain was ar- 
 rested in Boston, charged with this crime, Plymouth demand- 
 ed and obtained his liberty. We are proud of the fact, also, 
 that the weaker and gentler colony hanged no Quaker, and 
 dealt gently with the Baptists, and for three years furnished a 
 refuge to the great-hearted Roger Williams. 
 
 Your town did its full share in the old French and Indian 
 wars, sending to the war of 1755, among others, Abraham 
 Peirce, who in the revolution was chosen captain of a militia 
 company in place of a tony. When the Lexington summons 
 rang through the land, three companies of minute men marched 
 from this town to Boston. These, and such as these, are 
 the men to whom we- owe our independence. Most of you 
 
2f> 
 
 remember many survivors of that war, prominent among 
 them the last surviving Indian of pure blood. But no Mid- 
 dleborough name is so well known in America as that of Deb- 
 orah Sampson,- who enlisted under the name of Robert Shurt- 
 left* and served two years under the flag of freedom. 
 
 It is pleasant to dwell among the traditions of olden time, 
 but they are all familiar to your ears. The names of Fuller, 
 Thacher, Conant, Barker, Cotton and Briggs, are still fra- 
 grant among the churches of New England. You have read 
 of the minister who was supposed to have waylaid a parish- 
 ioner that tarried too long at the wine-cup, and to have given 
 him a sound beating near the tavern-door, a circumstance 
 which might cause doubts whether it were better to have a 
 stringent liquor law not enforced, or no law enforced strictly. 
 It is recorded that Eev. Mr. Barker, when called to settle 
 here, requested that the votes of the sisters might be taken, — 
 a record which places him among the pioneers of woman's 
 rights. Still more pleasing is it to hear of those whose great 
 age spans generations, and connects distant periods. That is 
 a wonderful story of Luke Short, who was born about 1630, 
 and who died in 1746. This man in his hundredth year was 
 converted to the Christian faith, while working in his corn- 
 field, by his recollection of a powerful phrase of the famous 
 John Flavel. Such is the power of a word rightly spoken. 
 The speaker dies and is gathered to his fathers ; new dynas- 
 ties succeed each other ; new nations are founded ; and when 
 generations have passed away, an old man working in the 
 fields of a new world is smitten by that word and falls to the 
 earth, and rises a new creature. This worthy saw Oliver 
 Cromwell, and witnessed the execution of Charles I. Some 
 of your fathers may have seen the man who looked upon that 
 great act of justice. 
 
 John Alden, the grandson of the last Mayflower pilgrim, 
 died here at the age of 102, leaving alive 172 descendants, 
 seven being great-great-grandsons. With a few more such 
 citizens, you might have had a city celebration today. Among 
 
27 
 
 the venerable saints of former days was Joanna Paddock, 
 whose father, Elder Faunce, died in 1745, having known 
 many of the early settlers at Plymouth. It is recorded of 
 Mrs. Mercy Bennett that after the great snow of 1717, she 
 being eighteen years old, walked thirteen miles to Plymouth 
 and back that she might attend " meeting on the Lord's day." 
 In one sense she has left few descendants. This excellent 
 woman lived to be a century old, dying in 1799. She often 
 said that she had seen Peregrine White in her house. There 
 may be aged persons here who have seen a lady who enter- 
 tained the first-born son of the pilgrims. 
 
 But I must not linger among these traditions. This is a 
 day sacred not only to local pride, but to pilgrim memories. 
 The glories of your fathers date not from 1669 or 1662. 
 Those fathers met in the cabin of the Mayflower ; they knelt 
 upon the sands with Brewster, and joined in his thanksgiving 
 for the frugal fare with which God's people were nourished ; 
 they stood by the graves of Governor Carver and of Rose 
 Standish to find not despair, g but hope and courage. I love 
 to trace each step of their progress. We see them leaving 
 England in their zeal for their pure form of worship ; quitting 
 Holland in their scrupulous devotion to good morals ; volun- 
 tarily submitting themselves to written law before they left 
 the cabin of the Mayflower ; keeping the sabbath holy on 
 that memorable day before the landing at Plymouth ; giving 
 the day to rest and worship before the first tree had been cut 
 down for the first log-cabin. What other company of adven- 
 turers would so have rested on that day ? But those who dif- 
 fer from the pilgrims most widely may see that its hours were 
 not lost. New England gave the first fruits of her time to 
 God. Richly has he showered blessings on her children. 
 Woe to New England if ever she forgets to pay this tithe of 
 time. 
 
 The church of the pilgrims was the source of our republi- 
 can form of government ; and the founders of that govern- 
 ment were the fathers of the church. It has been repeated 
 
28 
 
 till the remark is commonplace, that the town system is the 
 foundation of our successful democratic rule. Sir Edmund 
 Andros knew this when he forbade town-meetings to do any- 
 thing but choose officers. The voting of taxes for the poor, 
 for roads, for schools, the open discussion between all citizens 
 as equals, — this was self-government, from which a tyrant 
 shrank with instinctive alarm. We know it, and it is one 
 reason for our interest in a town celebration like this. But 
 the truth is not so familiar, that the church is the foundation 
 of each town. The first church of all came fully organized 
 across the sea. Its earliest records bear date, not Plymouth, 
 1620, but Ley den, 1612. And as I lay my hand upon those 
 yellow leaves, it seems to me that I am touching the founda- 
 tions of empire. Yes, the town is the seed of the state; 
 but the church is the germ of that seed, and the very life of 
 that germ was the godly preacher who had left his home that 
 he might feed the exiles in the wilderness. 
 
 A self-governing church was the best pattern for a self-gov- 
 erned state. Democracy, in the form of independency, leaped 
 on Plymouth rock, and claimed the western continent as its 
 heritage. Delay must intervene; violence would interpose; 
 but republicanism was assured. It was all there, — town, 
 state, union, the declaration of independence, Bunker Hill, 
 Yorktown, the proclamation of emancipation, Gettysburg, 
 the surrender of Lee, the greater glories yet to dawn upon 
 America — all were decreed when a handful of earnest men 
 stood on the shores of a vacant world and claimed that in the 
 most important affairs of life they had the right to govern 
 themselves. 
 
 New England loves her churches more dearly because they 
 have been temples of liberty. She honors liberty more high- 
 ly because its home and birthplace was the church. 
 
 " Then let it live unfading, 
 
 The memory of the dead, 
 Long as the pale anemone 
 
 Springs where their tears were shed ; 
 
29 
 
 Or raining in the Summer wind, 
 
 In flakes of burning red, 
 The wild rose sprinkles with its leaves 
 
 The turf where once they bled." 
 
 But the great question to-day is, whether the children have 
 been worthy of their fathers. All around us are proofs of 
 thrift, and comfort, and liberality. A visible blessing rests 
 upon this beautiful village. Your elegant church edifices 
 show that religion is honored among you. The churches 
 themselves have ever been firm in the faith and true to free- 
 dom. Your schools, two of them at least, are remarkable 
 even in this land of schools. And for your patriotism, Mid- 
 dleborough points to her well-filled quotas, and to her list of 
 sixty-two martyrs for liberty and union. Lakeville, too, has 
 her list of honored dead, — nine good men and true. And 
 little Halifax is here. Her Light Infantry, together with com- 
 panies that bear the great names of Carver and Standish, 
 have honored and graced this occasion. It was once the boast 
 of the Halifax Light Infantry, that they received their charter 
 from the hands of John Hancock. It is now their prouder 
 boast, that on the midnight call of John A. Andrew they 
 mustered with full ranks at the dawn of day. Many an Old 
 Colony town shared the glory of that night and day. I dare 
 not say how many towns Capt. Harlow visited to summon his 
 men, but I do dare to say that when the tramp of his horse 
 roused the slumbering villages of Plymouth county, Bradford 
 and Carver, Brewster, Standish and Winslow looked down 
 and rejoiced over the approaching triumph of liberty. With 
 a population of 738, Halifax points to a roll of twenty-two 
 heroic dead, — a record equalled by*no town in the state. 
 The descendants of the pilgrims have been true to their an- 
 cestors. 
 
 Men of Middleborough, you have a goodly heritage, a grand 
 record. It will be your glory to transmit them to your sons 
 unimpaired, improved, ennobled, so that when a hundred 
 years have passed away, your descendants may look back to 
 
30 
 
 you and say, with pride and gratitude, "These men were our 
 fathers." 
 
 The oration was listened to with the greatest interest throughout 
 by the large audience that filled the tent, and was frequently inter- 
 rupted by bursts of applause. At its conclusion, the audience 
 united in singing the one hundredth psalm and the doxology, after 
 which the company adjourned to the dinner tables. 
 
 Among those occupying the platform and attracting particular 
 notice, was the Kev. Thomas Williams, of Providence, that vener- 
 able man now just entering the ninetieth year of his age. 
 
THE DINNER. 
 
 Nearly nine hundred sat down to a bountiful dinner provided by 
 Thomas Cook, of Boston. A blessing was asked by Rev. Mr. Fair- 
 banks, of the Central Baptist church. After about a half hour had 
 been devoted to the dinner itself, the speaking was recommenced. 
 C. D. Kingman was introduced as toast-master, and read as the 
 first sentiment : 
 
 Boston — We rejoice in her greatness and prosperity, and we honor those 
 who guide her destiny. 
 
 Responded to by Mayor Shurtleff, of Boston, who said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, — For' your kind sentiment, so re- 
 spectful to the place of my birth, I cannot but be very grateful. Although 
 I am a Bostonian, I have nevertheless the greatest regard for all that per- 
 tains to the Old Colony, within whose bounds not only both my parents, 
 but also all my American ancestry had their origin and were reared. "What- 
 ever there may be counected with your associations, the same belongs 
 equally to me in common with you ; for, whether my blood may be good or 
 bad, I am sure of this, that all of it flows from the veins of the New Eng- 
 land forefathers, the first-comers to the Old Colony, of which your town 
 forms a considerable and very important part. Therefore when my mind 
 recurs to the early days of the pilgrim fathers of New England, I cannot 
 but recall the self-sacrificing spirit of that noble body of men who, leaving 
 all that they held clear in the home of their birth, and flying from the ty- 
 ranny that constrained them in the old country, sought new abodes, where 
 they could worship their God according to their own predilections and the 
 dictates of their own consciences, uninfluenced by dogmas, uncontrolled 
 by blasting hierarchies, and governed only by themselves, guided by their 
 own truth and natural instincts of right for themselves, and of justice, lib- 
 erality and equity for all other. I am even now forced to go back with 
 them in imagination to their ancient abodes near the joining borders of 
 Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, and there view them in their 
 every-day walk of life, — industrious and frugal, prayerful and painstaking, 
 suffering contumely and reproach for religion's sake, and finally embarking 
 for foreign shores, when abuse and intolerance could be no longer borne. 
 I follow them to their intermediate dwelling-place in Holland, and also pass 
 
32 
 
 with them in their slender vessel over the trackless ocean in the most in- 
 clement season of the year, to a new home, the barren fields and the-inhos- 
 pitable natives made anything but inviting to their famishing, sick and 
 dying people. 
 
 What, I ask you, were the first thoughts of that people on their arrival 
 on our shores ? Prayer for mercies received, and for their deliverance from 
 great dangers ; and then compact, — the social compact, written and signed 
 in the cabin of the Mayflower — the first written constitution the world 
 ever knew, — the charter by themselves enacted, which bound to respect 
 others, to govern themselves, and above all things to live a godly life, lov- 
 ing each other, and trusting in the God of their fathers, who also proved 
 to them a good God, delivering them from total destruction and guiding 
 them finally to a home, where they and their descendants should practise 
 those virtues and inculcate those doctrines which shpuld build up the great- 
 est and the freest nation on the earth, a resting-place for the oppressed of 
 all people of all nations, complexions and tongues. Such, I say, were 
 those whom you and I feel proud to-day in calling ancestors. Such were the 
 fathers of this soil, and such, I trust, will always be their descendants. 
 
 Middleborough — Well may her citizens be made proud and happy by a 
 comparison of- this day, 1869, with the day we celebrate, 1669. 
 
 Responded to by John Eddy, Esq., of Providence, a native of 
 Middleborough. 
 
 Mr. President, — In responding to your call, I will endeavor to bring my 
 remarks within the limits of a good sermon, which is said to resemble a 
 kiss, each requiring two heads and an application. My first ancestor in 
 the Old Colony was Samuel Eddy, the son of William, who was a noncon- 
 formist clergyman of Cranbrook, in the county of Kent, in England. He 
 emigrated, in company with his brother John, in 1629, and arrived at Ply- 
 mouth in November of that year, having sailed from Boxted in the good brig 
 Harvest. In 1662 he, in company with twenty-five others, purchased of 
 Sachem Wampatuck a large portion of the lands comprised in the old town 
 of Middleborough. Soon after he built one of the first houses ever erected 
 by the whites in Middleborough, on that portion of the lands which fell to 
 him in the division. From that day to the present hour, the Eddy family 
 in the easterly part of the town have resided on those lands so purchased, 
 and can trace back their titles to the aforesaid Sachem. Thus it has been 
 that the name has been closely identified with the history of this grand old 
 town from a period seven years anterior to its birthday as a corporation to 
 the present time. I am also informed by Professor Charles Walter Eddy, 
 of Oxford University, that the English branch of the family have been dur- 
 ing all the interim, and are now, in possession of the old estate from which 
 Samuel and John Eddy emigrated in 1629. I think, therefore, it can be 
 safely inferred that in philosophy they were not peripatetics. 
 
33 
 
 Obadiah Eddy, the son of Samuel, was living in his house, situated a few 
 steps in the rear of the pi'esent location of the barn of the late Hon. Zech- 
 ariah Eddy, when Philip's war broke out in 1675. There were then but 
 twenty families in the town, and all of their residences were burnt by the 
 Indians according to his testimony. After the war was over he returned 
 from Plymouth, whither he had fled, and rebuilt his dwelling near where 
 his first one was located. He is said to have planted near his house those 
 two immensely large pear trees, which but recently were in bearing. And 
 I have heard my grandfather say that he had made from the pears of these 
 two trees in one year forty-five barrels of perry, although the pears that 
 grew upon them were scarcely larger than one's thumb. 
 
 My grandmothers have figured also in the history of the Old Colony, as 
 the records show. On one occasion Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel, was 
 introduced to the Governor and assistants — by the sheriff— on account of 
 having committed no less an offence than hanging out some linen on the Lord's 
 day. She was fined two shillings, which, however, was graciously remitted 
 for good cause shown. And again she was brought before the Governor and 
 assistants for having travelled from Plymouth to Boston on the Lord's day. 
 It fully appeared in the testimony that a Mrs. Saffin was very ill. and not 
 expecting to recover sent for Elizabeth, anxiously desiring to see her before 
 her death. The Governor (who in those clays attended most faithfully to 
 his duties) thought that he saw not a sufficient excuse, but nevertheless 
 contented himself with an admonition. 
 
 It was one of my grandmothers, sir, who heard the pigs squealing of a 
 night when her husband was absent from home, and suspecting the cause, 
 took down the old King's arm that hung over the spacious fireplace, 
 and loading it with good judgment, stole out into the darkness, and suc- 
 ceeded in discharging its contents into the breast of one of the largest 
 bears that ever infested this town. If you will compare the heroism of the 
 women of Middleborough two hundred years ago with their daughters now 
 before me, which one of you all have bagged bigger game, or shown a 
 better title to woman's rights ? 
 
 I fear, sir, that there was a taint of Wall street upon some of my ances- 
 tors, on account of their having dabbled in joint stock enterprises; for it 
 is recorded that as early as the year 1G32, Samuel Eddy was the owner of 
 four shares in the black heifer. Taking these last two statements into ac- 
 count, you may draw your own conclusions whether in their operations 
 they were bulls or bears. 
 
 I might, Mr. President, further illustrate the heroism of my forefathers, 
 but I am admonished that he who boasts of his ancestry thereby acknowl- 
 edges that the progeny have degenerated. I think, however, you will be 
 compelled to acknowledge that by this recital you have been somewhat 
 edified. 
 
 When Philip's war was over, Captain Church, who has been eulogized by 
 the orator of the day, was a colonial hero. Of him there are many inter- 
 esting incidents related by our fathers which ought to be preserved. In 
 his day practical joking was more in vogue than at the present time. On 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 one occasion he called upon Mr. Sturtevant, the grandfather of the late 
 Dr. George Sturtevant, and as he entered the house he left his trusty mus- 
 ket in the entry. Mr. Sturtevant, entering soon after, recognized the gun as 
 belonging to the Captain, whereupon he drew from it the charge of shot 
 which it contained and went in to chat with the gallant hunter. When he 
 was about leaving, Sturtevant proposed to give him a shot at his flock of 
 turkeys, at a certain distance, for one dollar. The proposition was ac- 
 cepted, the distance paced off, the turkeys congregated, and Church blazed 
 away, but not a feather was disturbed. Church suspected the cause. A 
 year or two after, a similar scene occurred, but the Captain had taken the 
 precaution before entering Sturtevant's house to double-load his musket, 
 and, when he drew bead, thirteen turkeys paid the forfeit, to the great as- 
 tonishment of Mr. Sturtevant. 
 
 There are many good stories and sketches of the lives and customs of 
 our fathers which I hope to see collected ; and I venture the assertion that 
 one of the most readable of books could be manufactured out of that re- 
 markable individuality which illustrates the history of our town. Of John 
 Paddock alone, who was a descendant of one of the twenty-six purchasers 
 of Middleborough, a most interesting chapter might be written. 
 
 I am admonished, sir, that I am occupying too much time, and I conclude 
 with this sentiment. 
 
 Our Mothers — To their heroism, devotion, self-sacrifice and Christian 
 faith and patience are we mostly indebted for the civil and religious privi- 
 leges and blessings which we enjoy. 
 
 The old Ministers of Middleborough — Identified with the people, and 
 serving successive generations, their works do follow them. 
 
 Responded to by Eev. C. W. Wood, of Campello, a native of 
 Middleborough. 
 
 Mr. President, — The history of any of our New England towns which 
 should omit to notice its ministers, would indeed be very incomplete. 
 Though not many particular acts or traits of character of the early minis- 
 ters of Middleborough have been preserved, yet these may be quite well 
 understood from what is known of other towns of the Old Colony and the 
 Commonwealth. In early times the morals and customs of society were 
 in a great measure under the guidance of the clergyman. Great respect 
 was paid to his opinions, and almost reverence given to his person. Such 
 provision was made by law for his support, and such enactments passed to 
 give him authority in his office, as to secure to him permanence and inde- 
 pendence. Middleborough was incorporated with the proviso that a com- 
 petency of land be reserved for a minister. It was enacted that every 
 town provide a house for its minister, and that the county court take meas- 
 ures that all deficiencies of salary be supplied. It would seem that so far 
 as temporalities are concerned, the minister of the olden time might pur- 
 
35 
 
 sue his work with comfort and ease. It can be readily imagined how com- 
 fortable would be the minister of the present day, if the government would 
 take such good care of him as it once did of his predecessors in office, and 
 would furnish him with a convenient house and a sufficient quantity of land, 
 and would charge the courts to see to it that all deficiencies in ministers' 
 salaries should be supplied. 
 , The law and the customs of society then conceded to the minister a large 
 share of dignity and honor. It was enacted that repeated contempt shown 
 to a regular preacher and his doctrine should be puuished by a fine or by 
 the exposure of the offender two hours openly upon a block or stool four 
 feet high upon a public meeting day, wearing upon his breast tne words, 
 " An open and obstinate contemner of God's holy ordinances." 
 
 Upon the sabbath, after the people had assembled in the house of wor- 
 ship, the minister was waited upon by an officer and escorted to the pulpit, 
 as the sheriff escorts the judge to the court house. As he entered, the con- 
 gregation arose, and remained standing until he had reached the pulpit and 
 had taken his seat. At the close of the service the same ceremony was 
 observed. 
 
 The dress of the clergyman of olden time had a tendency to inspire re- 
 spect in the minds, especially of young persons. With his broad coat sup- 
 plied with capacious pockets, with his ample vest reaching nearly to the 
 knees, with his long stockings and high shoes, with his flowing wig and 
 cocked hat, the minister, especially on horserback, was a sight to behold. 
 It is said that a newly arrived son of the Emerald Isle, who had had some- 
 thing to do with the courts of his native land, and stood in mortal fear of 
 the judges, seeing one of these New England ministers approaching, took 
 to his heels, and came running into his house, exclaiming, "The judges 
 are coming. I just saw one of them, with a wig as big as a ship." One, 
 speaking of the dignified appearance of a certain clergyman, said, " He 
 looks like an ambassador of a great King." 
 
 The minister, thus honored and revered, exercised great authority in his 
 parish. He interested himself in the welfare of his people in every respect. 
 He saw that schools were properly conducted, that the public house was 
 kept orderly, that industry and thrift were promoted, and that the morals 
 of the people, especially of the young, were guarded. "John," said a 
 preacher from his pulpit in an adjoining town, to a disorderly boy, " Come 
 to my house to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock." And at the appointed hour 
 John appeared at the door of the parsonage to receive a merited reprimand, 
 for neither John nor his parents would fail to respect a command from the 
 minister so publicly given. 
 
 A minister in a town not far from this, perplexed by the inattention of 
 his hearers, in the midst of his sermon took his hat and deliberately walked 
 out of the house to his home ; nor would he resume his preaching until his 
 people had apologized for their listlessness, and promised better*atten- 
 tion in the future. 
 
 A preacher in one of our country parishes, in a New Year's sermon having 
 stated that the marriages had been few in number the preceding year, 
 
36 
 
 turned to the young men, to whom seats were assigned in one of the gal- 
 leries, and exclaimed, " This will never do ! Young men, young men ! you 
 are expected to do your duty ! " 
 
 It may perhaps be thought that the clergyman of olden time was always 
 of a sedate and solemn countenance, and ever diffusing an air of gloom 
 about him; but this is a great mistake. No class of persons were of a 
 more cheerful spirit; none met their friends with a more genial face, or* 
 enjoyed more heartily social life. Many of them interested themselves in 
 the amusements of the people, and believed in muscular Christianity as 
 fully as any of the present daj r . It is said that in a town not far from this, 
 wrestling was a very common amusement. Upon the ordination of a new 
 minister, many of the people were very desirous to have the question set- 
 tled whether the minister or the doctor would come out the better in a 
 wrestling-match. They were requested to settle the championship on the 
 village green, but the modesty of the minister induced him to decline such 
 a public exhibition. He however took occasion to invite the doctor to ride 
 with him, and when they reached a retired place where a few persons, who 
 had an inkling of what was going on, had met, proposed that then and 
 there the matter be decided. The result was, as the story goes, that the 
 doctor was thrown and put over the fence, to the great satisfaction of the 
 minister's friends. It is told of one of the distinguished ministers of New 
 England, and who has been falsely represented as possessing a very stern 
 and forbidding temper, that in fact he was of such a mild and gentle spirit 
 that the insane were often sent, at their own request, to reside with him, 
 and were very much relieved by his sagacity and gentleness. 
 
 The ministers of the olden time exerted a great influence npou the intel- 
 lectual character of the people, from the interest they ever took in the 
 cause of education. Through the efforts of a single clergyman in a retired 
 part of Massachusetts, thirty youth of his parish were trained for profes- 
 sional life. In one of our smallest towns about one hundred students were 
 prepared for college in the minister's study. Another pastor fitted for col- 
 lege about the same number, among whom were some of the most distin- 
 guished men of our country. Another pastor saw, out of one hundred and 
 sixty-two of his scholars, thirty entering the learned professions. These 
 are but illustrations of the influence which has gone forth from the pastor's 
 study of New England. 
 
 The minister of the olden time was distinguished for his patriotism. 
 The patriotic eloquence of Patrick Henry is to be largely attributed to the 
 eloquent preacher he was accustomed to hear in his early days. It is ad- 
 mitted that in the war of the revolution it was very much through the in- 
 fluence of the clergy that men were made valiant in resisting encroachments 
 upon the rights of man. To them is to be attributed, in a great measure, 
 its commencement and its happy termination. 
 
 A recruiting officer came into one of our towns, and having labored with 
 no success to raise volunteers, asked the minister what more could be done. 
 The pastor appointed a meeting on sabbath evening, and preached from the 
 text, " Cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood." Before the 
 
37 
 
 assembly retired to their homes, forty persons gave in their names as vol- 
 unteers. 
 
 The historian of Pittsfleld says that the sermons of the minister were 
 among the chief instruments in giving the town that proud position which 
 it holds in revolutionary story. When the alarm was given of Burgoyne's 
 approach, and volunteers started hastily for action, the minister was with 
 them riding in his old sulky, "going to war in his chariot, like the heroes 
 of classic and scriptural story," and when the battle commenced he not 
 only stimulated the soldies by his words, but took the musket, and by their 
 side did what he could to gain for them victory. 
 
 So marked were the exhorts of the clergy in the early struggles for inde- 
 pendence, that legislative bodies aud others in authority publicly acknowl- 
 edged the obligations of the country to the ministers as friends of liberty. 
 As we remember the fathers to-day, we will not forget the minister of early 
 times, to whose wisdom, learning and piety we owe so much. They labored, 
 and we have entered into their labors. 
 
 Our Pilgrim Fathers — With the gospel in their hearts, with the sword 
 in one hand and the spade in the other, they planted institutions which have 
 ever borne blessiugs to their descendants. 
 
 Responded to by Gen. E. W. Pierce, of Freetown, who, as he had 
 not anticipated being called upon, said, as he arose, that his feelings 
 were like those of the boy who, at the school exhibition, could not 
 answer the question proposed to him by the examining committee, 
 and with an air of injured innocence replied, that was not the ques- 
 tion of the lesson that he had learned or prepared himself to 
 answer. He said that history showed conclusively that the pilgrim 
 fathers devoted a great deal of their time to preaching, praying, 
 and fighting ; and although in many things he was not a great ad- 
 mirer of the pilgrim fathers, believing them to have had faults, 
 
 but these faults were of the age in which they lived rather than 
 their- faults as a people. Yet they had virtues, many virtues wor- 
 thy of commendation ; and among these was, that they honestly 
 believed that they were doing right, even when practising their 
 
 most egregious errors. He was glad that all of the pilgrim spirit 
 had not fled, as we have most ample proof afforded us here to-day ; 
 and said that not only much of their spirit remained, but many of 
 their customs continue to be practiced, customs that with them 
 arose from an exigency that has long since ceased to exist, it being 
 that manner of seating a religious congregation with the men and 
 boys next the pew door or entrance of the seat, pew or slip, that 
 
38 
 
 grew out of their necessity for being always ready to act on the 
 defensive against the hostile Indian. Those were the days when 
 the words of the hymn, " Oh watch, and fight, and pray," were big 
 with practical meaning. 
 
 " Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,— 
 Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke. 
 
 How jocund did they drive their team a-fleld ; 
 How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke." 
 
 Of the many happy gatherings, pleasant seasons and joyful occa- 
 sions in which it has been the fortune of the people of Middlebor- 
 ough and her children to participate, to us it has been reserved to 
 join in the festivity of its bi-centennial celebration ; and now in 
 my mind's eye I am carried back to one of these, viz., that, when 
 the people of this time-honored town were assembled to offer thanks- 
 giving and praise for a mighty deliverance the country had just re- 
 ceived from the yoke of Great Britian, and celebrate the crowning 
 glory of the success of their arms on the battlefield at Yorktown, 
 Virginia. The speaker then drew from his pocket a smoky and 
 tattered paper, being an original letter, and read as follows : 
 
 LETTER ADDRESSED TO COL. JOHN NELSON, MIDDLEBOROUGH. 
 
 Middleborough, 17 Novem., 1781. 
 
 Dear Colo. : Last Thursday's paper gave us an account from His Excel- 
 lency, Gen'l Washington, and Congress, of the complete surrender of Corn- 
 wallis and the troops under his command ; a loug wished for period. Now 
 we have no reason to doubt or suspect it. In consequence of which this is 
 to desire you to come next Monday afternoon and see us, that we may join 
 our generous hearts in festival of triumph and joy, while we usher in the 
 scene with the crack of thirteen guus to the honor of the states, and give 
 a toast to our worthy brethren who have with such a becoming ardor 
 pressed forward with undaunted bravery, till they have completed the glo- 
 rious work whereby peace may not only be restored to us, but extended 
 from pole to pole. At the same time let all the glory be given to that Om- 
 nipotent Being who crowns our arms with such signal success. 
 
 Be kind enough to take Doctor Mont'yand Capt. Shaw, or any others you 
 may please to nominate, with you, by which means we shall make the lis- 
 tening groves and murmuring rivulets, and the rebounding echoes of the 
 neighboring villages, join to propagate the din. By this we shall show to 
 the world we have yet in our breasts hearts of free men that will disdain to 
 let the brave exploits of our noble sons sink down in everlasting forgetful- 
 ness, and buried in oblivion unnoticed. By this we shall show that the 
 arms of America have prospered, and will prosper, and that we mean to 
 
39 
 
 brand with everlasting infamy those who dare oppose us on our way, and 
 thus insult the gods with infidelity. 
 
 I am, in haste, with sentiments of esteem, 
 Yours obsequiously, 
 
 JAMES SPEOAT. 
 
 The speaker closed with the sentiment, — 
 
 The honored and honorable memory of that people whose God is the 
 Lord. 
 
 The Pilgrim Mothers — By their power at the old hearthstones, for vir- 
 tue, for liberty and for heaven, they still live, the true exemplars of woman's 
 rights. 
 
 The president here said, I extend a cordial invitation to any lady 
 present who may choose to respond to this sentiment. No one ris- 
 ing, he called on Judge Russell, who spoke substantially as follows : 
 
 Mr. President, — I hoped that some good daughter of Middleborongh 
 would have responded to that sentiment; but I am proud to be a substitute 
 in such a cause, and I have only to say that the right of woman to en- 
 counter clanger and to bear suffering for truth was never questioned. When 
 in the course of a few years our conservative objections have all been over- 
 borne ; when the rampant radicalism of a reckless age shall have decided 
 that the most intelligent and best educated women in America may be 
 trusted to vote as well as the stranger ignorant of our laws, our customs 
 and our language, just dumped upon the wharf at New York, and claiming 
 citizenship on the strength of a forged naturalization paper, — even then 
 woman will have not attained a power so grand as has been accorded to her 
 in the earliest ages. De Quincy, writing of Joan of Arc, doubts (heretic 
 that he is) whether woman has the power to write like Shakspeare, or com- 
 pose like Mozart, inquiring (sophist as he is) why, if she can, she never has 
 done so. But he admits that she can do one thing more grandly than man. 
 Her prerogative is to sutler nobly. From the Komau amphitheatre and the 
 Roman catacombs ; from the fires of Smithfield; from the rock of Plym- 
 outh, the spirits of martyred women have borne witness to the truth, and 
 have shown the strength of woman's faith. Their example has taught the 
 race ; their inspiration has elevated our laws ; they have ennobled the life of 
 the world. The mothers and daughters among these whom we commem- 
 orate to-day shared amply the grand privilege of women. But the noblest 
 and grandest illustration of woman's right to sutler was shown to the world 
 when Mary stood beside the cross. 
 
 The Grand Army of the Republic — Historic with the memory of many a 
 victory and disaster in defence of our common country, bound together by 
 
40 
 
 brotherly ties to protect and sustain the families of their fallen comrades ; 
 we venerate the dead, we love to honor the living. 
 
 Responded to by A. T. Wales, of Middleborough. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — I feel that it is presumptuous in 
 me to attempt to respond to this sentiment, aud especially when I look 
 around upon my comrades here and see some who bear upon their persons 
 the scars of that conflict which resulted in the salvation of the nation, and 
 others who held positions of rank in that gallant army of the union, any of 
 whom could more fittingly respond for the Grand Army of the Republic. 
 But since it has fallen upon me to stand in this position, I suppose I must 
 say " the fates are just, - ' and as a good soldier I must not refuse to do my 
 duty. 
 
 Coming together, my friends, to-day, to celebrate the two hundredth an- 
 niversary of the town's incorporation, and looking back to the early days 
 of our colonial history, when these foundation principles of government 
 and society were planted here, although the seed was small we cannot fail 
 to follow its growth in each successive stage, aud wituess the effect of those 
 first principles in carrying us safely through the crisis of each generation, 
 from 16G9 to 18G9. The determined, unflinching support of these princi- 
 ples which on this continent created a new era in human affairs, had caused 
 many a conflict in the legislation aud government of the country, until at 
 last, when victory after victory had perched upon its banner, its antagonistic 
 principle in our government, resolving to rule or ruin, resorted to a conflict 
 of arms, and when the tocsin of war was sounded, when open rebelliou was 
 stalking through the land, the same self-sacrificing devotion to principle was 
 exhibited which sustained the pilgrims of Plymouth in their attempt to plant 
 fair freedom's tree upon our sterile coast, which nerved their arms to defend 
 themselves against a savage foe, aud at a later day was exhibited by their 
 descendants in spurning the aggressions and encroachments of the mother 
 country until, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of 
 their intentions, they struck for and achieved the independence of the nation. 
 
 The same spirit which was manifested by our ancestors in those early 
 days of trial was again exhibited in 1861, when, regardless of all persoual 
 considerations, the loyal armies of the union rallied to save the nation's 
 life. On an occasion like this it is needless to recount the victories and 
 disasters of that great contest; its glorious achievements have passed into 
 history, aud coming generations will shower benedictions upon the memory 
 of those who participated in that contest, as long as the flag of the United 
 States of America floats upon the breeze. 
 
 When the great conflict of arms was ended, and the citizen soldier re- 
 turned again to the civil pursuits of life, the Grand Army of the Republic 
 was called into existence. In its ranks are the survivors of every battle- 
 field of the rebellion. Here comrade greets comrade with a hearty, frater- 
 nal brotherly affection, mutually resolving to perpetuate and cherish the 
 memory of those who gave up their lives as martyrs for their country's 
 
n 
 
 cause, arid also to become the guardian and protector of those families who 
 sacrificed a father, husband, son or brother on the altar of their country. 
 By the memory of our dead comrades we consecrate ourselves to that loy- 
 alty which was their inspiration, and by upholding the flag of our country 
 we shall see to it that they did not die in vain. The influence to be exerted 
 by this organization is powerful ; numbering about four hundred thousand 
 members, it extends to every section of the land. 
 
 Comrades in a common cause, tried in the school of battle, coming to- 
 gether in a fraternal brotherhood, with charity for the deserving and desti- 
 tute by their example in the past and pledge for the future, proclaiming 
 devoted loyalty to the country, our organization cannot fail to sustain and 
 extend the vital principles of free government; and when the last gray 
 haired veteran comrade shall have passed away from earth, coming genera- 
 tions will not forget the noble virtues of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
 The Masonic Fraternity — The oldest and most widespread society 
 founded by man ; with faith, hope and charity for its corner stones, may it 
 stand forever. 
 
 Responded to by I. H. Harlow, of Middleborongh. 
 
 Enoch Pratt, of Baltimore — By his interest and liberality in the cause of 
 education in his native town, he merits and receives the esteem of all her 
 citizens. 
 
 Responded to by Zebulon Pratt, Esq., of Middleborongh. 
 
 An honor to this town ; let not the town forget this day to honor him. 
 He is not here present, but his works are with us, and deeds speak louder 
 than words. He early went out from us, and will probably never again be 
 an inhabitant of Middleborough ; but he will never be, as many are, un- 
 mindful of the home that gave him birth. He has been a successful model 
 merchant, a notable example of what energy, industry and integrity may 
 accomplish. In the exercise of these virtues, the iron interest of Pennsyl- 
 vania has made him a millionaire. With the most limited advantages in 
 youth, attending school but a few weeks in a year, at fourteen entering upon 
 an apprenticeship with a Boston merchant, and continuing faithful therein 
 for five years, he began business for himself while yet in his minority, and 
 for forty years has been constructing not only a fortune, but an honorable 
 reputation. We pay him special honor to-day for his liberal benefactions 
 in behalf of his native town, particularly as the liberal patron of education ; 
 for while under small obligations for an education to the fathers of this 
 town, he has laid enlarged foundations for the mental culture and improve- 
 ment of their children in all coming time, and generously encourages the 
 hope of still further benefactions. In doing this he has not only benefitted 
 one portion of the town with an excellent English school, but has thereby 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 lightened the burdens of all the town, whose prosperity in every part he 
 prizes as the soil of his parentage. It is undoubtedly the desire of this bi- 
 centennial assemblage in the town of Middleborough, October, 1809, that 
 the name of Enoch Pratt have honorable mention, and that he receive from 
 us the assurance of our thankful and respectful appreciation. 
 
 The Old Colony — The fairest piece in the wheel of state; how wide an 
 empire acknowledges the sway of her principles. 
 
 Responded to by J. Z. T. Thompson, Esq., of Halifax. 
 
 Our Country — North, South, East and West; the land of the free, the 
 home of the brave. 
 
 Responded to by Rev. TV. H. Alden, of Portsmouth, N. II., a native 
 of Middleborough. 
 
 Mr. President, — Just as the procession was being formed this morning, 
 an old friend said to me that I should be called upon to respond to a senti- 
 ment that would be given on this occasion. As I have listened with the 
 deepest interest to the sentiments offered and the responses given, I have 
 felt something as I did in my college clays, when in the recitation room with 
 imperfect preparation, " I hoped I should not be called upon." But this is 
 an occasion on which personal feeling must yield to a higher sense of duty, 
 and every son who has been invited to the home and the scenes of his child- 
 hood, should hold himself in readiness to contribute his portion whenever 
 called upon, even though it should prove little else than the widow's mite. 
 
 Laying aside, then, the cares of business and the anxieties of professional 
 life, and those rivalries and contentions which embitter so much of the 
 brief period of our fleeting lives, it is good for us on this two hundredth 
 anniversary, to come up to this cherished spot, with sentiments of love and 
 gratitude, to renew the recollections of our earlier days, to cultivate that 
 sympathy for each other which will lead us in the bond of brotherhood, and 
 encourage us in the pursuit of whatsoever things are lovely and of good re- 
 port. It is indeed a delightful privilege to return to the home of my boy- 
 hood at this season of her jubilee, to pay her the homage of filial gratitude, 
 and in our fraternal communion to bring back to the heart something of the 
 freshness and warmth of early affection. It is good for us that we should 
 come up to this great festival, not only for the soul-swelling gratification 
 which it affords, but for a still nobler purpose — to awaken a sense of our 
 obligations and to rekindle at this altar the fire of devotion to our common 
 parent, this dear old town. 
 
 Sir, it is with an honest pride that I stand here to-day. I am proud of 
 my old home. I have lived where men talk proudly of the Empire State, 
 and of the old Granite State ; but the name of old Massachusetts has a 
 charm stronger for me than the Empire or the Granite State. My own 
 
43 
 
 native home is clear to me, and I feel to exclaim in reference to the place of 
 my nativity, " If I forget thee let my right hand forget its cunning." And 
 I should be ashamed if there were a drop of blood in my veins that refused 
 to answer such a welcome as yours. It has made me feel that I was at 
 home again, — a home that I honor, a home that I love, a home tbat I have 
 never forgotten, and which I now know has never forgotten me. It is em- 
 phatically " the home of the brave." 
 
 We went out from our home one by one, we return to-day an army with 
 banners. We went out with trembling hearts, we return to-day bringing 
 our sheaves with us ; but we went out children, and as children we return. 
 True, it may be hard for you to find a trace in the men before you of the 
 boys that left you years ago ; but I trust you will pardon us for not remem- 
 bering the changes you so plaiuty see. We stand on our native soil again ; 
 old faces meet us in the street, old voices are sounding in our ears, the 
 child's heart beats within the man's, and with the affection that we left you 
 we meet you to-day. 
 
 But as we come around your generous board, we remember those who 
 went out with us, and are now gone beyond welcome or return. Nor can 
 we forget that of the hands that last pressed ours, and the hearts that 
 would have beat quickest at our return, many are beneath that sod which 
 we left with the waving grass upon it, and come back to find it hallowed" 
 and consecrated ground. For such memories, which it were idle to banish 
 from our lips, and utterly impossible to banish from our hearts, sir, we 
 thank you. For the kindness which we have enjoyed to-day we are more 
 than thankful. We shall remember it to the last day of our lives. 
 
 The Educational Institutions of Middleborough — Founded by the wis- 
 dom aud liberality of her own honored citizens, they have yielded invalu- 
 able fruit. 
 
 Responded to in the following remarks by Prof. J. W. P. Jenks, 
 for twenty-seven years Principal of Peiree Academy. 
 
 Mr. President, — I rise simply to allude to two individuals, whose names 
 should of all others be honorably mentioned in connection with the senti- 
 ment that has just been read. Sixty-one years ago, in 1808, when there 
 was no place for public religious service in this village, Dea. Levi Peiree 
 built at his own expense the original building of the Academy that bears 
 his name, and dedicating the hall to the service of religion, and the other 
 rooms to education, thus met by his timely liberality the immediate wants 
 of the community in these particulars. Twenty years later he likewise 
 erected at his own expense, in the same enclosure, a sanctuary for public 
 worship; thus acknowledging and perpetuating the sentiment and practice 
 so dear to our forefathers, and already so eloquently commented upon by 
 the orator of the day, "The church and school side by side, the hope of the 
 state." The snows of nearly a quarter of a century have whitened his 
 
44 
 
 grave in yonder cemetery, but the recollection of him is fragrant in all our 
 memories, and must so remain while Peirce Academy and the Central Bap- 
 tist church have an existence. 
 
 But. Mr. Presidom, as I look from beneath this canopy and see waving in 
 the breeze on the cupola of the Academy the "stars and stripes," so dear 
 to every loyal American citizen, I am reminded of one who was proud to 
 speak of Peirce Academy as his Alma Mater. Brig. Gen. E. A. Peirce, soon 
 after graduating from the Academy, was admitted to the bar, quickly sent 
 to the hall of legislation, and early found in the van of our volunteers in 
 the great rebellion. We next find him in command of our largest state 
 camp at Readville, where his executive ability shone out so conspicuously 
 that our worthy Governor retained him in that position till the close of. the 
 war, to the great advantage of our military record, but to the destruction 
 of his own health. Seeking in vain its restoration by a residence in Flor- 
 ida, he returned but a few months ago to be laid in the tomb. In the dark- 
 est clays of the rebellion, that beautiful banner was presented by him to the 
 Academy, and first fiung to the breeze on the funeral day of our lamented 
 President. 
 
 In closing permit me, sir, to repeat the names of Bea. Levi Peirce and 
 Gen. R. A. Peirce as worthy to be mentioned in this preseuce; the one ver- 
 ifying the assertion in the first part of the sentiment to which I have the 
 honor to respond, as " founder in wisdom and liberality " of our principal 
 educational institution; the other equally verifying the asssertiou in the 
 latter part of the sentiment, as one of its " invaluable fruits : ' among thou- 
 sands now adorning the pulpit, the bar and the workshop. 
 
 The old Thompson Gun — By one single deed it won historic fame for all 
 time. 
 
 Ephraim B. Thompson being called upon, exhibited the gun, 
 also a sword and brass pistols, formerly owned by Lieut. John 
 Thompson, and responded as follows : 
 
 Mr. President, — With a ball cartridge, the response of this gun would be 
 with as deadly effect and at as long a range to-day as when it brought down 
 the Indian from yonder rock. But in the absence of ammunition, permit 
 me to say that I am the sixth generation in lineal descent from John Thomp- 
 son, who was born in the North of England in 1G13, and landed at Plymouth in 
 May, 1G35. He married Mary Cook, third daughter of Francis Cook. They 
 had twelve children — six sons and six daughters. He located about twenty 
 rods west of the Plymouth line, in what was then Middleborough, (but now 
 Halifiix,) where he built a log-house, which was burnt by the Indians at 
 the commencement of Philip's war. The day previous, he was absent from 
 home. When he returned at night he inquired of his wife if she had seen 
 any Indians. She replied that there had been a number of squaws there, and 
 they were uncommonly friendly, and very helpful, — went with her to the 
 garden and assisted in picking beans. He replied, "There is trouble ahead; 
 
 Lore. 
 
45 
 
 we must pack up immediately, and go to the garrison." The teams were 
 put in readiness and a portion of their furniture and goods were loaded, 
 while a part was secreted in a swamp near the dwelling-house ; and before 
 early dawn they were moving. They had not gone many miles before the 
 column of smoke made sure to them the fate of their dwelling. 
 
 At the garrison, those capable of bearing arms, sixteen in number, met 
 and chose John Thompson their commander. He applied to the Governor 
 and Council at Plymouth for a commission, but considering the small num- 
 ber of men, they gave him a lieutenant's commission. Soon after Philip's 
 war closed, he built a frame house a few rods north of where the former 
 was burnt. It was lined with brick, with loop-holes, so as to be proof 
 against musket balls. At that house I hrst beheld the pleasant light of day, 
 was there cradled and rocked. 
 
 The Woods of Middleborough — Fit timber with which to build the insti- 
 tutions of any town. 
 
 This was the last toast, and was responded to by Judge Wood ; 
 and after instrumental music the crowd, which numbered about 
 3000 in and around the tent, dispersed. The speeches were inter- 
 spersed with fine music by the various bands present. 
 
 The following letter was received from Thomas D. Robinson, 
 Esq., of New York : 
 
 Box 4300, New York City, Oct. 12, 18G9. 
 
 Dear Sir: While duties prevent my joining with you in the festivities 
 that worthily do honor to our good old town, so historic and full of memo- 
 ries so dear, still I send you the greeting of a loyal son on this festive clay. 
 Glorious old Middleborough! with never a hill-top, river or vale, but rings 
 out merry chimes for my ear, and land and lake worthy of the highest min- 
 strelsy and any song; I confess I love them all with a child's fondness. 
 And well may we be proud of her. She boasts justly a good sized farm, 
 which she has not only well tilled, but dotted here and there in almost every 
 available corner with the academy or school-house, bringing to every door 
 rare opportunities of culture, which have been used by her children not 
 only to spread their fame, but hers. You are marked more than most for 
 thrift, energy and enterprise, and these are all worthy of the highest praise; 
 but never in these forget, nor let your children, that culture after religious 
 faith is the crowning glory of any land and any people. I add a sentiment. 
 
 Old Middleborough — Her children congratulate her on showing so few 
 signs of decay in her old age. They give her their warmest love. May 
 she in turn, like the old Roman matron, be ever able to point to her sons 
 and daughters as her richest jewels. 
 
 Hastily, but faithfully yours, 
 
 THOMAS D. ROBINSON. 
 
 George Soule, Esq., 
 
 Chairman Executive Committee town of Middleborough, Mass. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE OLD COLONY RECORDS, UNDER DATE OF 
 JUNE 1, 1669, PRENCE GOVERNOR. 
 
 "At this court the court granted that Naraassakett shall be a township, 
 and to be called by the name of Middleberry, and bounded with Plymouth 
 bounds on the easterly side, and with the bound of Taunton on the westerly 
 side, and with the bounds of Bridgewater on the northerly side or end, and 
 on the southerly side or end to extend six miles from the wading-plroc, and 
 at the end of said six miles to run east to Plymouth line, and from the said 
 line west to Taunton line; and in case the west, line runs to the southward 
 of Taunton line, then to run until we come up to the southernmost part of 
 Taunton bounds, and then square off north to it." 
 
 The wading-place was where the bridge on the Plymouth road now 
 crosses the Nemasket river at the " Star Mills." In 1734 a portion of Mid- 
 dleborough was set off l^p constitute a part of Halifax, and in 1853 about 
 one third of its territory was set off to form the town of Lakeville. For 
 many years previous to the last date, it was the largest town in the state, 
 containing nearly one hundred square miles. 
 
 RESETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 
 
 At a meeting of the inhabitants and proprietors of Middleborough, held 
 at Plymouth 27th June, 1677, it was 
 
 Voted, " That we do unanimously agree^by the permission of God and by 
 his gracious assistance, to make a beginning again in order unto the repos- 
 session of our lands, and reedification of our demolished buildings and 
 habitations which some of us were, before the late and sad war, in actual 
 improvement and possession of; and to make such orders and conclusions 
 as may hopefully have a tendency unto the laying a foundation of a town 
 and pious society in that place." 
 
 BEN. SIMONS. 
 
 Ben. Simons lived at Betty's Neck, now in Lakeville, to which place the 
 Indians of Middleborough gradually retreated, as they sold their lands and 
 became small in number. In the Plymouth Colony Records we find that 
 
50 
 
 Tispaquin conveyed a neck of laud to Assowetough, alias Betty, in 1673, 
 with the consent of all the chief men of Assowamset. This we suppose to 
 be Betty's Neck, and hence the name. In the cemetery in the westerly 
 part of Lakeville is a small granite obelisk, with the following inscription : 
 "In memory of Ben. Simons, the last male of the native Indians of Middle- 
 borough. He was a revolutionary soldier. Died May, 1831, aged 80 years." 
 This stone was erected by Mr. Levi Reed, of Lakeville. 
 
 THE MORTON HOUSE. 
 
 This we suppose to be the oldest house in the county. According to the 
 tradition in the family, John Morton, the son of George, (who came over 
 in the Ann in 1623,) early came to Nemasket, and built a house about half a 
 mile south of the present house. This was accidentally burnt while the fam- 
 ily were at meeting on Sunday. John Morton then, some years before 
 Philip's war, built the southeast part of the present house, additions to 
 which were made at different times by his descendants. This tradition is 
 confirmed by the fact, that Mr. Daniel Aldeu, a man whose veracity and ac- 
 curacy of recollection no one can doubt, a descendant of John Aldeu, states 
 that he has often heard him say, that the Morton house was built before 
 Philip's war, and was saved on account of some friendly acts done by the 
 Morton family to the Indians. John Aklen died in the year 1818, in the one 
 hundred and third year of his age; consequently his recollection must have 
 gone back to a period when the house was comparatively uew. If this tra- 
 dition is correct, inasmuch as the town was deserted two or more years, 
 and given up to ravage, it brings to view a remarkable instance of that 
 Indian trait of character which has been often noticed, viz., a disposition 
 to remember and reciprocate acts of kindness long after they were received. 
 
 According to another account, John Morton came to Nemasket not until 
 1670, built the first house near the river, and died in 1673. That house was 
 burned in Philip's war, with all the others here, and after the war, his son 
 John returned and commenced the present Morton house. The site of the 
 first house can be readily identified. The Morton house is of rectangular 
 shape, about 60 feet in length and 30 wide, two stories, gambrel roof, stand- 
 ing upon an open green without trees or shrubbery, end toward the street, 
 into which it considerably projects, — or rather the street has encroached 
 upon its domains, as the house was here long before the present highway. 
 It is now soon to disappear. The present owner, Albert G. Pickens, who 
 with his aged mother is the last occupant, has just built a beautiful and 
 commodious house on the same estate, a few rods distant, and now vacates 
 the old one, which is to be demolished, the highway having been laid out 
 directly through it. The house has always remained in the Morton family 
 by direct descent. 
 
 The Morton family was one of great influence and social consideration. 
 John Morton was the first delegate to represent Middleborough in the gen- 
 eral court at Plymouth in 1670. In 1672 he was again chosen. John Mor- 
 
51 
 
 ton, the second, held very extensive tracts of land in all directions around 
 his house, and made large additions to the dwelling-house. Madam Mor- 
 ton, who occupied the house about the middle of the last century, was a 
 woman distinguished for her piety and social influence. She was a member 
 of the First Congregational church, to which she presented a communion 
 service of plate, a portion of which is still in the possession of the church. 
 She was noted also for her hospitality, her latch-string being always out. 
 Clergymen were always especially welcome. On one occasion it is related 
 that two clergymen calling about dinner-time, for whom she had not time 
 to make special provision, she spread before them what she had, remarking 
 by way of apology, "Gentlemen, if you are good Christians you will be 
 thankful for this ; if you are not, it is too good for you." 
 
 Mrs. Phebe Oliver, the widow of Andrew Oliver, who was a son of Judge 
 Oliver, resided here at the close of the last and the beginning of the pres- 
 ent century. She was a woman of great dignity and elegance of manner, 
 and of much cultivation, which she had derived from intercourse with the 
 best society which the country afibrdod. Judge Oliver had an elegant res- 
 idence at Middleborough at the time of the revolution. Being of tory 
 proclivities, holding office under the crown, he became a refugee, and his 
 estate was confiscated. His son's widow was residing with him at that 
 time. She then came with a son and daughter and occupied a portion of 
 the Morton house, she having inherited a right in it, being a descendant of 
 the Morton family. Her daughter afterwards married the distinguished 
 Dr. Waterhouse, of Cambridge. There are many now living who recollect 
 with how much pleasure, when children, they used to call on Lady Oliver, 
 and hear her recount the incidents of her life. She would tell anecdotes 
 of Benjamin Franklin, Gen. Lafayette, the elder and younger Adams, Gov. 
 Bowdoin, Hannah Adams; all of which she gathered from personal inter- 
 course with those celebrated characters. There is a lady now living who 
 remembers seeing the coach and four of Granville Temple, son of Sir John 
 Temple, standing at the Morton house, with colored driver and footman. 
 He was related by marriage to the Morton family. Mrs. Oliver died at an 
 advanced age, in 1831. 
 
 JOHN SASSOMAN, ALIAS SAUSSOMAN. 
 
 John Sassoman owned land in Middleborough at Assowampset Neck. 
 Old Tispaquin conveyed twenty-seven acres to him for a home lot, in 1673. 
 After Sassoman's death, the court at Plymouth granted all his lands to Felix, 
 his son-in-law. This was in 1678-9. 
 
 DEBORAH SAMPSON. 
 
 Deborah Sampson, born in Middleborough, enlisted from that town in 
 the revolutionary war, under the assumed name of Robert Shurtleff. After 
 the war she returned to Middleborough. She was a revolutionary pen- 
 sioner for many years. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introductory, 5 
 
 Officers and Committees, 5 
 
 Procession, 8 
 
 Decorations, H 
 
 Address of Hon. Wm. H. Wood, . 14 
 
 Oration of Hon. Thomas H. Russell, 17 
 
 The Dinner, 31 
 
 Address of Mayor Shurtleff, of Boston, 31 
 
 John Eddy, Esq., 32 
 
 Rev. C. W. Wood, 34 
 
 " Gen. E. W. Peirce, 37 
 
 " Judge Russell, 39 
 
 A. T. Wales, 40 
 
 Zebulon Pratt, 41 
 
 Rev. W. H. Alden 42 
 
 Prof. J. W. P. Jenks, 43 
 
 E. B. Thompson 44 
 
 Letter of Thomas D. Robinson, Esq., 45 
 
 Appendix, 
 
 49 
 
 Boundaries of Middleborough, 49 
 
 Resettlement of the Town, 
 
 49 
 
 Ben. Simons, 49 
 
 The Morton House, 
 
 no 
 
 John Sassoman, 51 
 
 Deborah Sampson, • 51 
 
 * 
 
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