v^ "^0^ .-^o^ V-. \,^* .w..-, \,/ ,;^i«v:. %^y:'^,\^,^. a5°^ ^0 » * * * ' "* o ^ ^^-o ■f t<^- r/^ '. '^^ ^^ I THE CELEBRATION OF THE TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCOEPOEATION OF THE TOWN OF IPSWICH MASSACHUSETTS August 16, 1884 BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1884 Cjb-\y^ 7^ 2aniti£rsitg Press : John Wilson and Son, Cambkidge. BY TRANSFER. iUN 3 ^9t0 TABLE OF CONTETl^TS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE PEOCEEDrNGS AT THE ANNUAL ToWN-MeETING 3 Proceedings at the Adjoitened Town-Meeting 4 Appointment of Sub-committees, etc 4 The Procession 6 Ordee of Eseecises at the Tent 8 EXERCISES AT THE TENT. . Addeess of Hon. Geoege Haskell, Peesident of the Day . 9 Original Hymn by the Pev. J. P. Cowles 12 Prayer by the Rev. Temple Cutler 13 Poem by the Rev. J. 0. Knowles, D.D 16 Historical Address by the Rev. John C Kimball .... 25 Poem, "Mothee Ipswich" 61 Oeiginal Hymn by the Rev. J. 0. Knowles, D.D 64 THE DINNER. Remaeks of the Peesident 67 Remaeks of the Toast-mastee, the Rev. T. Eeank Watees . 68 Addeess of Governor Robinson 69 Letter from the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop 75 Address of the Hon. Leverett Saltonstall 76 Address of the Rev. E. B. Palmer 80 Address of Dr. Daniel Denison Slade 84 Remarks of the Hon. C. A. Sayward 87 VI TABLE OF COI^TENTS. PAGE Remarks of Richard S. Spofford, Esq 90 Poem by Harriet Prescott Spofford 90 R.EMARKS OF Major Ben : Perley Poore 93 Remarks of the Rev. George Leeds, D.D. 95 Letter from the Poet Whittier 98 Address of the Hox. George B. Loring 99 Address of R. H. Manning, Esq 108 Remarks of the Rev. John C. Kimball 113 Remarks op the Hon. Eben F. Stone 114 Address of Colonel Luther Caldwell 118 Remarks of the Rev. R. S. Rust 120 Address of Mr. Francis R. Appleton 121 Letter from the Mayor of Ipswich, England 123 Telegram from Ipswich, England 124 Address of the Hon. S. H. Phillips 124 Telegram to Ipswich, England 130 Closing Exercise 131 SELECTIONS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. Letter from the Hon. James G. Blaine 133 Letter from the Hon. W. W. Dudley 133 Letter from Rev. Edmund F. Slafter 134 Letter from Thomas Morong, Esq ■■:"**;■ . . . 135 Letter from S. L. Caldwell, Esq 135 Letter from the Hon. Charles Levi Woodbury 137 List of Invited Guests 139 The Choir 145 Description of Heliotypes 147 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE John Winthiiop, Jb Frontispiece The Winthkop-Buknham House Next to Frontispiece Public Libeaky, Post Office, and Methodist Chukch ... 5 First Church, Soldiers' Monument, and Green 8 South Church and Green 8 Ipswich, from Heartbreak Hill 25 View from Green-street Bridge 67 The Howard House 67 Mr. Hichard Saltonstall's House, built in 1635 76 Meeting-Houses 80 Colonel Nathaniel Wade and Colonel Joseph Hodgkins . . 88 The Manning School 109 Rev. Thomas Cobbett's House 118 The Dodge House 118 Choate Bridge, built 1764! 148 ^^^^ ^w^^^ GOVERNOR JOHN WINTHROP THE YOUNGER. JOHN WINTHROP, JR. (FllONTISPIFX'E.) John Winthrop, Jr., eldest son of the Governor of Massachu- setts, born Feb. 12, 1606, was educated, at Trinity College, Dublin, and a barrister of the Inner Temple. In 1631 he followed his father to New England, founded Ipswich,. Mass., in 1632, was commissioned Governor of "Connecticut Plantation" in 1635, founded New London in 1645, was elected Governor of Connecti- cut in 1657, and obtained from the crown in 1661 the charter uniting the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies, continuing gov- ernor for nearly seventeen years. His public duties obliged him repeatedly to visit England, and during his residence there he became widely known as an accomplished scholar ; was one of the early members of the Royal Society, and the friend and correspond- ent of the leading natural philosophers of that period. He also took a very active interest in the study of medicine, and practised extensively and gratuitously among his New England neighbors. The journal of Governor Winthrop the elder mentions that his son John possessed in Boston, in 1640, a library of more than a thou- sand volumes. Some three hundred of these books can still be identified, and bear testimony to the learning and broad intellec- tual tastes of their original possessor. He died in Boston, April 5, 1676, aged seventy, and was buried with his father in King's Chapel graveyard. By his first wife (his cousin Martha Fones) he left no issue. By his second wife (Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Reade of Wickford County, Essex, and step-daughter of the celebrated Hugh Peter) he left two sons, Fitz-John and Wait, and five daughters, — Elizabeth, wife of Rev. Antipas Newman, and afterward of Zerubbabel Endicott ; Lucy, wife of Major Edward Palmes; Margaret, wife of John Curwin ; Martha, wife of Richard Wharton ; and Anne, second wife of Judge John Richards. His first wife was buried in Ipswich, and his eldest son, Fitz- John Winthrop, afterwards Governor of Connecticut, was born there. — From the Winthrop Papers. Collections of the Massachu- setts Historical Society. 1 THE WINTHROP-BURNHAM HOUSE. This house is on the south side of the river, on the Essex road, and according to tradition was built by John Winthrop, Jr., in 1633. Here he lived with his family until he removed to Connecticut, in 1635. Afterwards the place came into the possession of the Burnhams, and continued in that family for more than two hundred years. CELEBRATION TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVEESARY THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. iN'ri:()i)i)(!'n()N A T I III' Aiiiiii;i.l 'rnvvn-Motiiliin', lidd in ih,. Tdwn ll;i,ll, Monday, MarcJi T,, IHH-I, llir llun. ('iiAKiJ'i.s A. Savvvaki), iii()(l('r;i,l()r, ciJIcd Mm jtUcii- lioii of IIkj lIKHitillg tu thu liict Ul.ll lJl(^ UVO lillli divd ;iiid llfljctli aniiivoi'Hiiry of llic iiicoi'ixjral.ioii (A l\n; Liuvil would ocelli' oil Ukj llilll nf Aii;j;iisl,, 18H1, juid HUgg'(iHi,()d that iiKiM-HiircM .Mlidiild lu! atlopt«i(l lor il,H propor ut this is not all. Impor- tant as are these material interests, they are but the founda- tion on which is to be built a nobler social and spiritual life. In the school of the future, attention will be given to teach- ing the principles of taste, and to the cultivation of the sense and love of beauty; so that their refining influences, mani- fested in all our homes, will make them more attractive, and more conservative of order and morality. And above all, in view of the declining influence of religious teaching, espe- cially on young men, there will be need of a more compre- hensive teaching of morals than heretofore — not the morals of Sunday-school books, nor of the Ten Commandments only, however good they may be, but tliat more thorough understanding of the motives and reasons for right-doing, to ourselves as well as to others, which can come only from a scientific investigation of our nature and our needs. A constant and an important feature of our public-school system has been the co-education of the sexes, and in the same 112 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. studies. In due time, and as a logical outcome, this must lead to the emancipation of woman from social, legal, and political disabilities. Not until she stands the peer of man in all these relations, and not until righteousness and justice, informed with intelligence, shall guide and control the conduct of all, will our public schools have done their perfect work. Let us hope that in the not distant future, and long before she celebrates the three hundredth anniversary of her corpo- rate existence, Ipswich may have some such school as I have suggested among her most cherished institutions. The Toast-mastek. — The next sentiment is, " The Soldiers of Ipswich : their record from the earliest settlement of the country to the present time has been one of unblemished honor and patriotism." A response was expected from John D. Billings, Esq., commander of the Massachusetts Grand Army ; but in his absence there will be a response made by the band. The band played " Marching through Georgia." Mk. Sayward. — We have all listened this morn- ing with very great pleasure to a very able and elo- quent address, and I have no doubt, sir, that we all feel under obligation to the speaker for his services. It seems to me that there should be some public recognition or acknowledgment of the great service which he has rendered, and it is for this purpose that I rise to offer this sentiment : — '■'■The Orator of the Day: descended from the old Puritan stock, through whose veins Jfoivs the blood of sturdy ancestry, his effort to-day has demonstrated the fact that the talents of the fathers have been transmitted, to their children, even to the eighth genera- tion. ' May his tribe increase ! ' " RESPONSE OF EEV. JOHN C. KIMBALL. 113 EESPONSE OF REV. JOHN C. KIMBALL. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — I promise you that my response to this toast, an interpolation, as I see, in the regular programme, shall be a good deal less than an hour in length, even a clergyman's preaching-hour. I thank you very much for the complimentary reference to me in your toast, and for the patience and kindly judgment with which you listened to my words this morning. I am indeed proud of being counted a sou of old Ipswich, and of having in my veins the blood of eight generations nourished at its breast. I have always loved it from a boy up ; always thought of it, even while my work has been elsewhere, as my real home ; always felt glad ' that I was born on its soil, that I got my first ideas of what beauty, nature, country, and God's earth are among its rounded hills, and along its winding stream ; that I learned letters in its public schools, and reli- gion in its church and Sunday school; glad. Unitarian as I now am, that I was taught here the good old Orthodox faith, — the best possible foundation, so I have found it, for what I rejoice in to-day ; and glad above all else, that I learned what parental love and care are in one of its blessed homes. Like General Michael Farley, — that grand old Eevolutionary sol- dier, who, at the reception of Lafayette on his visit here, took off not only his hat, but his wig also, in his excitement, and anxiety to show him respect, — I feel, whenever I think of my indebtedness to the town, as if I ought, somehow, to give it double honor. And this feeling of reverence, an instinct before, has been immeasurably increased by my study of its records and of its history in preparing for this occasion. I tell you, friends, you especially, young men and women whom I see here, that we none of us have ever half appre- ciated what it is to be the offspring and heirs of this good old town, — what stock it was made of at first, what labors, love, and prayers have gone to build it up, what whole-souled men and women have illustrated its annals, how grand are its 8 114 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. traditions, and how largely it concentrates in itself all that is richest and best in our New England life and in our free American institutions. Never speak ill of it. To love and honor one's native town is the letter A in the love and honor of one's country ; and the best influence of this present cele- bration will be its fresh inspiration to us who are now living to show ourselves the worthy heirs of its grand traditions, to take up and carry on in the town-meeting, and on every possible occasion, the work of progress that the fathers began, imitating the large public spirit of its early years and of its Revolutionary period, and to make the fruit of our ancestral tree a fit outcome of its precious seed and of its faithful sowers. " On this enchanted loom Present and past commingle, fruit and bloom Of one fair bough, inseparably wrought Into the seamless tapestry of thought ; So charmed, with undeluded eye we see In history's fragmentary tale Bright clews of continuity, And feel ourselves a link in that entail Which binds all ages past with all to be." The Toast-master. — I take pleasure in proposing now a toast to the " Member of Congress from the Seventh District,'' and invite a response from Hon. Eben F. Stone. EEMARKS of HON. EBEN F. STONE. Mr. President,— This is an interesting day for the peo- ple of Ipswich. I have felt, while sitting here, as the Gov- ernor did, when he said in his speech to you a short time since, that he tried to find something which would justify him in claiming that he had some riglit here beyond that which originated in the invitation. I feel as though I had some title to be here ; for while I am not of Ipswich REMARKS OF HON. EBEN F. STONE. 115 stock directly, yet I happen to be a lineal descendant of one of those who went from Ipswich in 1635 to Newbury. You recollect it is stated in the history of those days, that the little Colony which was first born, so to speak, of this old town of Ipswich, and which went to Newbury, consisted of some of the chief men of this place. And among those who went from here at that time to settle that old town near here at the mouth of the Merrimack, was one William Moody, named in the history. Being one of his lineal descendants, I think that I may rightly claim that I am not altogether a stranger here to-day. I wish to call attention to one or two matters which have always interested me in relation to this whole line of coast. It is interesting, Mr. President, to remember a matter to which you referred this morning, — that in 1630 Governor Winthrop ordered that persons should be forbidden from set- tling here in this town. He forbade, as far as he could con- trol it, the settlement of people here in 1630. Now, it is curious to inquire why he interposed at that time to prevent a settlement here. It must have been that, even then, Win- throp and his party anticipated the importance of having the people of this whole territory, extending from Charles Eiver to three miles north of the Merrimack, occupied by men in entire sympathy with his party : so, at that time, Governor Winthrop instructed those that were identified with him to prevent any settlement by other parties in Ipswich. In 1633 and 1634, when a settlement took place, it is no exaggeration to say that the party that was sent here to occupy this old town at that time was made up of picked men. Those who went from Ipswich to Newbury, as I have already said, were a select party made up of the chief men of Ipswich. So early, in those days, it was evidently a part of the purpose of Winthrop and his associates to take possession of this coast, not only because they wanted to hold it against the French, but because they feared that their rights might be interfered with by persons claiming under other grants: on the one side, parties claiming under those who were in the neighbor- 116 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. hood of Ipswich before them ; and, on the other side, parties claiming under those who settled Portsmouth, and who under- took to occupy the territory immediately east of the Merri- mack Elver. It is interesting to know that this part of the State of Massachusetts was occupied by men who represented, in a special sense, the ideas and interests which controlled Winthrop and his party when they came here and took up "\ this spot on this coast. ■ I stand now for the Seventh District of this State. And of all the districts which now compose the Union (of which this is only one three-hundred-and-twenty-fifth part), of all the districts in this country of ours, so large and so extended, there is not a single one which contains to-day more of the spirit, and more of the ideas, which animated our forefathers in the past, than can be found in this district which I have the honor to represent. De Tocqueville says in his History, that it was New England ideas that extended to neighboring States, and from those States to distant States, until they finally permeated the entire country; and that American in- stitutions and American laws are the product of New England ideas. If that be true, if this country of ours, with its insti- tutions to-day, is properly the product of New England ideas, there is no part of New England which can rightfully claim credit for having contributed in all respects more freely to that result than the Seventh District, which covers this coast between Salem and the Merrimack. The special interest which caused our fathers to unite to form this union was the commercial interest of this coun- try. Is it not true that in those early days this commer- cial interest was largely represented by the merchants of Salem, Marblehead, Beverly, Ipswich, and Newburyport ? And so here we find that spirit of union which finally took form in the government which was eventually established. It was especially represented by the people who lived here upon this coast. It is therefore a matter of great satisfaction to me that I can claim the credit of being, to some extent, identified with the district and with the territory which, from KEMAKKS OE HON. EBEN F. STONE. 117 the early history of the country, has contained the men who have shaped, to a large extent, the ideas and institutions which have from time to time prevailed. Why, sir, I have reason to think, and I have no doubt that you think, that John Winthrop and his party came here expecting something more than a little settlement upon this coast. I believe that John Winthrop and his party, when they landed upon this desolate coast some two hundred and fifty years ago, had dreams of ambition, and that they expected, at no distant day, that they should establish a State here which should have a place, and an honorable place, in the history of mankind. But they could not have anticipated, not the most successful of the adventurers of that body could have anticipated, that in less than three centuries there would be established upon this continent an empire which should rival the great powers of the world, and that should even lead England itself in all that constitutes national greatness and prosperity. Mr. Green, in his interesting History of England, in one passage, speaks of the greatness of this country and of its future promise, and declares that hereafter the path of Eng- lish empire will not be by the Thames and the Humber, but along the valleys of the Mississippi and the Hudson, upon this western continent. And not only will England rejoice in the prosperity of this country, but England, through America, is in the future to have the primacy of the human race. Eng- lish laws, English ideas, and English institutions, as repre- sented upon this continent, will be hereafter the intellectual, the moral, and the material life of mankind. The Toast-mastee. — Mr. Whittier, in liis letter, speaks of the great number that have gone out from this old town over the whole continent. We have here absent townsmen from north, south, east, and west, and it is very fitting that we propose to them a sentiment : — " Our Absent Fellow-townsmen." 118 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. I invite a response from Colonel Luther Caldwell, ex-Mayor of Elmira, N. Y. ADDRESS OF COLONEL LUTHER CALDWELL. Mk. President, — I am sure I can accede to the request of the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, when he notified me that I should respond to this toast, to " respond briefly." I think he must have had in his profound mind the extent of the services of this day ; and it has recalled to my mind the words of Dr. Watts : — " God is in heaven, and man below ; Be short our tunes, our words be few." And I am sure I can approve of that sentiment at this late liour in the afternoon, for the lengthening shadows warn us that this day's events will soon terminate. I have heard nothing to-day — indeed, since I arrived in this town yesterday — but about my fathers and forefathers. I am full of antiquities and genealogies. I shall dream about Governor Winthrop, or Eichard Saltonstall, or some of those venerable men whose names have been so repeatedly men- tioned here, if I dream at all to-night. At a ministerial association out in Western New York, where I live, each of the ministers was assigned some theological topic or question to discuss, and there was a little difference of opinion as to who should have the first chance at the audience. The chair- man, however, who had the assignment, called upon brother Johnson to speak first, because he was full of his subject ; and immediately announced that the subject was " The Per- sonality of the Devil." We are all full of this subject to- day. You cannot touch an Ipswich man, or any man who has been in Ipswich to-day, who is not chock-full of two hundred and fifty years of the history of this ancient town. Every one who has spoken here to-day has said that the subject had been exhausted ; but they manifested, before they got through, that it had not been entirely exhausted. ADDRESS OF COL. LUTHER CALDWELL. 119 We have exhausted the day, the diuner, ourselves, aud, very nearly, the audieuce. Now I am to speak of our absent fellow-townsmen. Per- haps you will expect me to say something about Ipswich being a good place to emigrate from ; but I will not say that, because Ipswich is a good place to emigrate to, and a very desirable place to live in. " Young man, go West," said Horace Greeley; but Mr. Greeley had never visited Ipswich, or he would have said, " Young man, go to Ipswich." It should be remembered that our lathers who came to America were obliged to land on the coast : the rich lands of the in- terior were closed to them. On all the Atlantic coast, from Elaine to Florida, there is no more pleasant or healthy place than Ipswich, nor one on the seashore line more fertile, or containing more natural beauties, or greater advantages. Mr. President, I know something of the coast from Maine to Florida ; I have been along its entire extent, and I know of no more beautiful place along the whole eastern coast of the United States than hero. If our ancestors had sought for some place, if they had known as thoroughly as we know the Atlantic coast to-day, they could have entered no more beautiful harbor, they could have found no more fruitful fields, than you find here in old Ipswich. To those of us wlio have wandered away, these attractions of the town are ever present in nn'nd wherever we go. To those of you who liave remained, and kept green the graves of our venerable sires, and cultivated the ancestral farms, Pope's words are appropriate : — " Happy the man whose wish and care A few patonial acres bound, Content to hreatlie his native air In his own ground. "Whn.ap hrnls with milk, whoso fifMs with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire, Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter, fire." 120 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. Mr. President, this has been a red-letter day, indeed, for old Ipswich. Her sons have come from near and afar; and friendly greetings between those long absent and separated, has been one of the marked features of this notable occas- ion. The town has been hardly able to hold all the thou- sands gathered within her fold. The decorations of both public and private buildings have been general and in good taste. The grand old elms which ornament the streets on every side, stretching out their broad-armed branches over our heads, as if invoking countless blessings thereon, stand Hke " Sentinels to guard enchanted land." The summer foliage of the trees and herbage never looked fairer and fresher ; and the beauty of tlie town in all its parts, draped, and in its holiday attire, makes the visit of your absent sons a luxury and joy, and an event long to be remembered with just pride. Also especially to be com- mended was the soldierly bearing and military discipline of the veterans of '* Grand Army " boys, whose appearance, with full ranks of the Ipswich and Essex posts, has been the proudest and most honorable feature of all the incidents of this great and brilliant celebration. In closing these brief remarks, permit me, in behalf of your absent sons, to thank and compliment you, Mr. President, the committee, and the people of this dear old town, on the success of this anniver- sary of its incorporation. The Toast-master. — We would like a further response from Rev. K. S. Rust. RESPONSE OF REV. R. S. RUST. Mr. President, — At this late hour I beg to be excused. I want to show that there is one descendant of Ipswich that is not an everlastinfr talking-machine. ADDRESS OF MR. FRANCIS R. APPLETON. 121 The Toast-master. — We have another toast that surely is very apt. We have been talking about the virtues of the men of old Ipswich. It would be very ungallant in us not to remember that there were women in the olden time. Though they lived in log-cabins, and their hands handled the loom and the knitting-needle, and they dressed in homespun, they were ladies every inch. And though these sons of those old worthies may not inherit the olden virtues, certainly we may not say of the daughters of those olden ladies, that they are not their peers every whit. In response to this toast, " The Ladies of Ipswich," we would be pleased to hear from Mr. Francis R. Appleton. All the adjacent seats on the platform being occu- pied by ladies, Mr. Appleton, on rising, assured the audience of a short speech, by calling attention to the fact that he was already in the midst of his sub- ject. Mr. Appleton then spoke as follows : — ADDRESS OF MR. FRANCIS R. APPLETON. Mr. President, — When, iu the course of events, a man finds himself about to pay his addresses to one lady in par- ticular, there is for him uncertainty and trepidation enough about it. Xow, at your invitation, sir, I make bold to offer my lips to salute such an array of loveliness as my modesty never dreamed of. But who could be backward when the ladies of Ij)swich summon liim to arms ? This is a compli- cated and difficult question, — how to treat our girls ? It was in the endeavor to solve the problem of how to treat /u'-s girl, that a young man in a near town was filled with con- 122 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. sternation and dismay at reading the words over a confec- tioner's door : " Ice-cream, one dollar per gal ! " I will not presume to draw a picture of any Ipswich ladies who, all about us to-day, have enlisted our hearts. However skilful my pencil, the features might not resemble the mini- ature each one of you men carries in his heart ; and the ladies themselves, in their dissatisfaction, might destroy the portrait and the artist besides. The general part of this interesting subject, Mr. President, I will leave to its own bewildering cloud of fascination and delusion, with the ancient remark, " If woman is a conun- drum we cannot guess, we will at least never give her up." It is to the daughters of Ipswich that I come to make my bow to-day, for myself, and for you, Mr. President, and for all of us. These are the jewels that old Ipswich bids us behold. Though I have admired them long, I have never been allowed to tell my love till now. It is impossible to look upon the women of Ipswich, who delight us to-day, without a thought — and that a most reverent one — of the honored women of the olden time. As I have listened to- day to accounts of the austere and sombre character of the Puritan fathers, I am reminded of the witty remark of Mr. Choate, himself a son of Ipswich, and whom we all miss here to-day, to the effect, that, in his opinion, the Puritan mothers deserve more consideration of us than the Puritan fathers, because they had to endure not only all the Puri- tan fathers had to endure, but they had to endure the Puri- tan fathers themselves. The virtues of tliese Puritan mothers were great and high. How well liave their descendants testified to that noble heri- tage ! On that shaft yonder are inscribed the names of dead heroes. Between and about tlie engraved roll there is an- otlier writing, — a record above the engraver's art to express. It is the devotion and sacrifice of the mothers, the wives, and sweethearts to whom those brave men belonged. Dame Ipswich is pre-eminently our mother to-day, as, clothed in her lasting beauty, she sits offering hospitality LETTER FROM IPSWICH, ENGLAND. 123 and welcome. Since her last birthday meeting, a genera- tion of sons and daughters has been born uuto her, has looked upon her brown hills, walked her streets, and many of them passed out the other side. It is your high oflice, Mr. President, on this occasion, as on the former, to stand by the side of the old lady, and, acting as her chamberlain, to introduce her returning children. 1 am sure you, in common with us all, wish that we might put our arms about her Great Neck, to show our filial love. As she grows weightier with years and importance, and, in the time to come, fairer and rounder with increasing and ever-honorable maternity, may God bless the fair women who become her daughters ! Band. — '•' The Girl I left behind Me." The Toast-master. — Our old mother is also a dutiful daughter, and she sent her respects to old Ipswich over the sea ; and a very pleasant response has come, in the shape of a letter from the Mayor of Ipswich, in which he says, — LETTER FROM THE MAYOR OF IPSWICH, ENGLAND. Ipswich, July 29, 16S4. Dear Sir, — I regret it is not in my power to be present at the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Ipswich, Mass., as my mayoralty duties entirely prevent my being absent from home for any long period during my year of office. I should have retunied thanks for old Ipswich among some of the descendants of those who emi- grated from their native land in onler that they miglit have free- dom to carry out their political and religious opinions, which was denied them in England. Being a descendant in a direct line from Pliilip Henry, I can fully sympathize with your Puritan fathers, who endured persecution because they desired to carry out their own views ; and admire their adherence to those glorious principles which actuated Cromwell, Uampden, and that noble 124 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. band who fought for their liberties, rather than bend and be trodden down by our Stuart kings. "Wishing that your enterprising town may increase and prosper, and ever be celebrated for its civil and religious liberty. Yours faithfully, John May, Mayor of Ipswick, England. John Heard, Esq., of the Committee of Arrangements. To-day lias brought us a cablegram from the cor- poration of Ipswich as follows : — TELEGEAM FROM IPSWICH, ENGLAND. [Received at 9.27 a.m., Auo. 16, 1884.] Aug. 15, 1884. The Corporation of Ipswich, England, send their hearty congratu- lations to the Corporation of Ipswich, Mass., on the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of their incorporation, and wish them continued prosperity. Mayor of Ipswich, England. May I ask the band to play " God save the Queen " ? The band played " God save the Queen." The Toast-master. — "We come now to the last toast on this occasion, which is, " The Snrvivors of the Last Celebration, 1834." I invite a response from one of those who partici- pated in that celebration, the Hon. S. H. Phillips. ADDRESS OF HON. S. H. PHILLIPS. Mr. PREsmENT, — I must say it is not very exhilarating, when the lengthening shadows of evening remind us of the close of the day, to be called upon to play the part of an old ADDRESS OF HON. S. H. PHILLIPS. 125 man. As I remember matters fifty years aj^'o, the people whom we were called upon to stand aside for were the sur- viving soldiers of the Ilevolution, — those decrepit old men who were handed into carriages, and who held canes in their hands as they tottered towards thera. Well, now, I hope I have not quite come to that. But, Mr. President, I think I have a right to say, if you will call upon me as a veteran, that I am only a veteran by brevet : I am not a veteran in the line of commission at all. I have "ot some "ood fii/ht in me yet. And yet it is literally true, and ju.st exactly and only literally true, that I was present at your celebration fifty years ago. It came about in the most natural way in the world. I remember one evening old Mr. John "White Treadwell, a native of Ipswich, and an old friend of my father, came into my father's house and said, " You must all go to the Ipswich celebration this year. Have n't you got anything to do with Ipswich?" — "Yes," said my father: " my mother is a descendant of an Ipswich family." [She was a descendant of the Simple Col)bler of Agawani ; but I did n't know that then.] " But," said Mr. Treadwell, " you must go." They decided to go. Like an impertinent little fellow, I said, " Can't I go too ? " I felt as innocent and unsophisticated as Oliver Twist when he asked for more. " ^Vhat in the world can we do with you ? " said my honored parent. " Well, I guess I can go." — " No," said my father : " you will be terribly in the way." Then my old grand- mother chimed in, and said, " Perhaps that boy, if he wants to go so much, ought to have a chance. You ought to give him an opportunity to go. What he sees he will remember, and perhaps he will tell about it twenty or thirty years hence." So they gave in, these two old gentlemen : they could not stand my grandmother's real Ipswich spirit. She was an Appleton, and proud of her Ipswich descent. I inter- jected that the celebration would occur on my birthday, and by teasing I got a chance to come to Ipswich. Well, the day came around, and early in the morning we started ofif for Ipswich. There were no railroads in those days : at 126 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. any rate, none in Essex County, — no railroad at all, — and we made the journey from Salem to Ipswich in a one-horse chaise. We got to Ipswich. It was not such a gala-day as we celebrate to-day, and yet we felt pretty grand. And what did I especially notice everywhere as I looked around ? Salem men — Salem men here, and Salem men there. I may call names now, because it was a good while ago, — Mr. William Lummus, and then old Mr. Jesse Smith the watch- maker. Said I to my father, " Do all the Salem people live in Ipswich?" — "No," he replied; "but most of the Ipswich people go to Salem." I have two old gentlemen in mind now. There is one of them [pointing to Mr. Jeremiah S. Perkins] : they have been sitting opposite me at tlie table. They were old men fifty years ago. They are the kind of old men you want to bring up. Fifty years ago that was an old man. He used to make my clothes, I believe. Mr. Perkins. — Yes, sir. Mr. Phillips. — ■ Well, those were the men that we found here. I will try to tell you a little more about that celebration, if I can remember it with exactness. My grandmother told me to remember it twenty or thirty years. We got into the procession. I never was in one before in my life. I thought it almost too ridiculous for anything. One kind young gentleman, however, took me by the hand and said, " You can walk in right behind the old folks." There I saw the chief marshal of tlie day. Colonel Miller, a gentleman I remember seeing about Salem when he was an oflicer of the Salem Cadets. I remember him by the red coat he wore when he trained : I don't remember much except that. He was the chief marshal of the day. I got into the church. Another young gentleman, I don't know who it was, took me by the hand and led me in, I had not been in the church long, before the services commenced. It was an old- fashioned church, with square pews with little railings on top. Before long, crack, crack, went the galleries ! I never knew such a commotion. Everybody jumped. What they ADDRESS OF nOX. S. H. PHILLIPS. 127 were jumping for I didn't know ; but I feel very sure I did some of the jumping myself, for I found myself in a little pew, witli an old IJevolutionary soldier sitting at my side. He said, " My little friend, wliat would n't I give if I were as nimble as you are 1 I wish I could go over a pew-rail as quick as you." Then I heard somebody calling out terribly for Colonel Kimball, I did n't know what Colonel Kiml^all had to do with it ; but I remember that pretty soon Mr. J. Choate Kimball came along, and they brouglit in two great pieces of joist, and caused them to be placed up under the gallery to shore it up. Then, after it was all comfortable. Colonel Kimball, I fancy it was, or some such man, got up, and said the gallery was perfectly safe, and tliere was no danger, and we sat down and tried to be calm ; for even all the ecclesiastical learning of Dr. Dana, and the astounding eloquence of Mr. Choate, were not enough to keep us quiet in the excitement. I stood it as well as I could. I liad seen Mr. Choate in Salem before that. I thought he was a most extraonlinary man. "What glossy curly black hair he had ! How lie curled up his lower lip ! How he pounded that old pulpit ! He was an energetic speaker, I can tell you. Well, I listened and listened, and I did wish it would end. I thought I would never go to another Ipswich celebration as long as I lived. But still I suppose it was all very fine. Everybody else said it was, and so I suppo.se it was. Well, the thing ended finally, and then we went out. Then there was to be a dinner. The dinner was laid somewhere about where this tent is pitched now ; but ever}'- thing was on a smaller scale. Wiien I got out there, my much respected parent showed by strong signs that he wished that little boy of his had staid at home; for, of all the elephants on a small scale, he was about the worst — always in the way, always asking questions. "Little folks should be seen, and not heani" I perceived that he wished I was at home: still I fought my way. I meant to see the celebration out. and I did. My fatlier rather excused himself from going to the dinner at all He could not go because be had got to 128 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. take care of me. Then old Judge Cummings, — don't any of you remember Judge Cummings ? [A voice, "Yes, sir."] — a man of most benign appearance, a man who always had a care for little boys, — he came up and patted me on the head, and said, " I think the boy ouglit to have a chance too." 1 looked at him with wonder, admiration, love, and praise. I never saw a man I admired as much in my life as I did that man. I was going to get something to eat. He had a very old- fashioned look, a commanding figure, curly brown hair, an immense frill to his shirt, and a very grand and airy ap- pearance in every w^ay. He took me by one hand, and my respected parent took me by the other, and in we went and sat down to dinner. I suppose it was first-rate. I suppose it tasted about as well to me as it would have done to Lieu- tenant Greely's poor Arctic voyagers. It seemed to me to be the grandest dinner I ever had in my life. I ate everything that was in front of me. I particularly remember old Mr. Lord, your much respected Register of Probate down here so many years. He presided. He had tlien a most venerable aspect : I believe he was always that kind of a man, and always looked venerable. He produced some pears, and gave us a history of the old pear-tree on which they grew. I wish I had some of the pears now. But we got through with the dinner. I had never been to a public dinner before, and I did n't know what they were made of, or wdiat peo[)le had to eat. I supposed everybody was as hungry as I was, and was expected to eat as much as I did. But " the feast of reason and the flow of soul" was something I did not appreciate until much later in life. This " feast of reason and the flow of soul" began ; and old men whose names have passed away, whose faces are lost sight of, but whose memory lives in the grate- ful affections of the people of this county, got up oue after another, and spoke about old times. I remember Mr. Sal- tonstall, not our friend here to-day, but his distinguished father, — I remember how he spoke with earnestness and clearness, looking right out at the end of the tent wliere a cloth was pinned on with the inscription : " In General Court, ADDRESS OF IIOX. S. n. PHILLIPS. 129 August 5, 1634: (old style), Voted that Agawara be called Ipswich." " That," Mr. Sultonstall said, " is commonplace enougli, and yet, after all, it was the day of the foundation of a town as distinguished and as worthy in Xew England annals as any town in tlie Commonwealth of Massachusetts." I remember distinctly Mr. Saltonstall's allusion to that. Two or three others spoke. Finally Mr. Choate spoke. I remember the Salera people : I do not remember those that were not Salem people. At last Mr. Clioate got going again. AVell, I thought, if he were not the queerest man ! I have seen him a good deal since ; but he did seem to me then the queerest man I ever put eyes on. I never heanl a man that could roll off the words as fast as he did and tell such stories. He told one story (one gentleman here says my father told it ; but he did not) — I remember some story of this kind, of the old worthies, old Puritan worthies. An old man had been taunting a minister (perhaps it was old Ward, the Simple Cobbler of Agawam), an energetic old minister of the day, because things did n't go very well with him. Finally they got mixed up in a wrestling-match, and the minister threw the old man over the fence. I said, "Did they have such ministers in those days?" — "Well," Judge Cummings said, "tliey had different ministers in those days, and, if you ever come here to anotlier centennial, you will find that the people that you meet here another day will be a good deal different from what we are." I believe it has been said here to-day that Governor Winthrop came here on one occasion "to exer- cise by way of prophecy." Judge Cummings must have been exercising himself "by way of prophecy" on that occasion. It seems as if he had spoken the truth, as I look back to-day upon all which has occurred. How much food there is for reflection for all of us ! How much has come to j^ass within a few years ! and within fifty years how very much ! I said, when I began, that there was no railroad at the time we first came to Ipswich. There was a railroad partly opened between Boston and Newton, on tlie road to Worcester. In the course of that dinner it wa.s the subject of conversation sis 9 130 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. one of the current events of the day. The gentlemen around us talked about it as an occasion of some importance ; but they came to the conclusion that the railroad would not come to much. It would be pretty hard to make a railroad which would be self-sustaining ; and in this country, at least, to say nothing of England, the idea of making a railroad profitable was absolutely out of the question. So much for the wisdom of the great men of those days. Why, I think that if the worthy fathers of the County of Essex could revisit this world once more, and 'take part in the festivities of this occasion, and consider the events which are transpiring all around us, they would pause in solemn awe while they contemplated the growth of this country, the development of its material wealth, the marvellous achieve- ments in science, the enlargement of human liberty every- where, and the general advancement of the human race. In view of the solemnity of this occasion, looking forward to the distant future for what may transpire hereafter, with a deep feeling of reverence for the past, and an all-abiding faith in the all-hail hereafter, let us leave it to those who may speak in this place fifty years hence to delineate the next chapter in the progress of Ipswich. TELEGRAM TO IPSWICH, ENGLAND. Mr. Satwaed. — It has been suggested that a re- sponse should be made by this assembly to the tele- gram which has been received from England, and Mr. Heard proposes this : — Aug. 16, 1884. To the Mayor of Ijiswich, England. The town of Ipswich, celebrating its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, sends thanks to Mother Ipswich for her kindly greeting, and best wishes for her continued prosperity. The telegram was accepted by the audience. CLOSING EXERCISE. 131 CLOSING EXERCISE. The Toast-masteu. — "VVe will now close our fcs-. tivities by a selection from the band: '"Auld Lang Syne." The band played ^'Aiild Lang S3Tie," and, while the audience was separathig, played a march. SELECTIONS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. Augusta, Me., Aug. 1'2, 1S34. Mr. S.vYWAnn, Chaiiinan of the Committee of Invitation. Dear Sm, — It is witli sincere regret that I find myself unable to be present at the ccli;bration of the two hundred and liflieth anniversary of the settlement of Ii)3\vich. Personally I have the most agreeable associations with your town, and by marriage I have a right to sit at your board. My children inherit the blood of two families who were among the original colonists that pitched their tents at Ipswich. With such ample reason for deep interest in your town, I need not assure you of the great pleasure it would give mo to join in your celebration, if my engagements would permit me to leave Maine at this time. Very sincerely, Jame-s G. Blaine. DF.PAr.TMF.NT OF TRE iNTF.niOn, Pension Office, Washington, D.C, Aug. 7, 1SS4. George E. Pauley, Esq., Secretary, etc., Ipswich, ^lass. Dear Sir, — I have your invitation of the 29th of July to attend the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary •of tlie incorporation of the town of Ipswich, and regret very much my inability to bo with you. I regret it the more, as my maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Wade, is identified with the early history of the place, having resided there during and prior to the Revolution- ary "War, in which he took a prominent part. Ho was, I believe, a minute-man at Bunker Hill, and afterwards served as colonel or 134 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. lieutenant-colonel on the staff of one of the general officers, and was at one time, I think, temporarily in command of West Point, after the desertion of Arnold. I am at present quite ill, being confined to my hed, with no prospect of being able to be out for some daj^s yet. While I deeply regret that I shall not be able to be present at your anniversary, I desire to thank you heartily for your courtesy in extending to uie the invitation. Very truly yours, W. W. Dudley. Boston, 91 Boylston Street, July 18, 1884. George E, Faelet, Esq., Secretarj-, etc. Dear Sir, — I have received your kind invitation to be present as the guest of the town of Ipswich, on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation. I beg to assure you of my sincere regret that I shall not be able to be present on that signal day. Ipswich was an important centre for a long time after the Eng- lish plantation of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay was begun, and in it have originated, and from it have gone forth, many of our most respected and distinguished families. While they are widely scat- tered, and some of them are citizens of nearly every State in the Union, they all remember with an uplifting pride the home of their fathers. I feel myself honored in being able to trace back my line- age to an ancestor seven generations removed, who was among the planters of your ancient town as early as 1637. The observance which you propose will, I am sure, awaken whole- some sympathies in thousands of hearts, evoke numberless interest- ing events all along the line of these two centuries and a half, and re-embalm them in more fixed and permanent form. Trusting that your celebration may in every way meet your best anticipations, I am very truly yours, Edmund F. Slafter. SELECTIONS FROM CORRESrONDI- NCE . 135 Ashland, Mass., July 23, 1831 Mn. Geouge E. Faiilf.y. Deah Siu, — I regret very much that we cannot accept the courteous invitation to attend the two hundred and fiftieth anni- versary of the settlement of Ipswich. Absence from the State at the time set for it will prevent what would otherwise have proved a great pleasure. A pastorate of seven years over the First Church of Ipswich put me into familiar tliought of the long line of Christian worthies •who had preceded mo in lay and pastoral connection with that church. Often, in imagination, I was visited by the energetic Parker, who canio wilh his hundred parishioners to settle in the depths of the wilderness ; by the witty " .Simple Cobbk-r," who knew how to mend the laws of the body politic as well as his sermons ; by the saintly Norton ; by the four Ilogerses and the learned William Hubbard, as well as by others of the sixteen able and godly ministers of Christ who had gone before mc in that field of labor. The recollection of these men was to me a strong support, as well as a stimulus to cultivate with equal fidelity the vineyard which they had planted with so much care and zeal. If the spirits of the blest are permitted to visit tlie scene of their earthly labors, I do not doubt that these ancestral forms will hover over their descendants of the two hundred and fiftieth year, as they review the events of the past, and join with them in fervent sup- plication that the blessings of pure religion and intellectual culture which have come down from the former generations may continue in the good old town of Ipswich as long as the world endures. That the old Mother, green and vigorous after two centuries and a half, may for many more centuries pour forth her colonies and her progeny to bless mankind, is the hearty wish of Yours very respectfully, Thomas Morono. NEwnrriTPonT, Ang. 16, 1884. Messrs. Sayward, Chninnan, and Farley, Secretin,-, of the Committee. Dear Sir?', — Had I anticipated your kind invitation to bo present at the celebration in Ipswich, I should have hastened mj 136 THE TOWN OF IPSWICH. journey hitlienv^ard a day, "wliere I have arrived after the celebra- tion is over. Next to Old Newbury, where I was born, and with a similar affection, I regard the ancient Agawam, where my ancestors since 1654 have lived and died, and in whose soil they are buried. It was by no choice of mine that the long line of succession in the ancient home of our fi^mily has been interrupted, and I am obliged to be merely a grandson of Ipswich. Here my father came in his boyhood to seek his fortune, and, in obedience to the same law of dispersion, his boys have scattered from their birthplace ; and it is only the memory of the past, and of the good people who have gone before us, which draws us back to Newburyport and to Ipswich. In other parts of the world I have always been glad to say that I, and my ancestors before me for almost two centuries and a half, hailed from this happy corner of Massachusetts between the Ipswich and the ]\Ierrimack, whose shore has charms beyond all shores besides. Here I hope to be brought for burial. Here a good Providence conducted our fathers to settle, and out from this old cradle goes good blood to mingle with new generations Avhich are blessing the world. Never can the descendants who trace their lineage back to the humble folk who first settled under the shadow of the hills of Agawam (still so beautiful), and by the side of its gentle river, forget the old home of their race. I must repeat my extreme regret that I have not been present with you to-day to enjoy all the happy memories and happy influ- ences which make such days delightful to such as cherish reverence for their ancestors, and see in the settlement of such towns as Ipswich the seeds of great and noble history. "Well do I remember when Eufus Choate touched the strings of his marvellous eloquence at the commemoration fifty years ago, and often have I read his discourse as one of the most remarkable commemorative discourses of that time. I can only hope that some descendant of mine fifty years from now may find on your three hundredth anniversary a pleasure Avhich I have missed to-day. With thanks to the Com- mittee for the courtesy of their invitation, I am very truly yours, S. L. Caldwell. SELECTIONS FliOM CORRESPONDEN'CE. lo7 Boston, Aug. 13, 188 J. C. A. S.VYWAKn, Esq., Cliairman, etc Sir, — I trust uiy engagements may permit my attending tlie two hundivtl and Hflietli anniversary of tho incorporation of tlic town of Ipswich ; but there is some uncertainty. Tijc iucidc-iits of your town life are more than interesting to those who can trace tlie blood of the early wortliies in their veins ; and on such an occasion I may be permitted to recall, that, through the intermarriage of my ances- tors, I am one of the representatives of the early Ipswich families of Perkins and liogers, and my sympathies are with you. There was historic incident in Ijjswich before tho settlement under the Bay Charter. As an integral part of " Mariana," it was included in the grant by " tho President & Counccl of New Eng- land" to Captain John Mason "inhabitant of the City of London," March 9, 1G112-23, and also had some particular description in tho recital, " together with the Great Isle or Island henceforth to bo called Isle Mason, lying near or before tho Bay harbor or ye river of Aggawam," etc. In the swamp here, in 1023, was the fight related by Phineas Pnitt, in which the Piscataqua and Mr. Weston's men attacked the Aburdees, and avenged their ill conduct at ^Vessagusicus, and in plundering Mr. Weston near tho Merrimack. Here was one of tho habitations of Masconomah, chief of tho tribe located in these parts, and here he planned and sought the alliance of the Cape Ann settlers, and after their removal, with the pioneers at Nahumkcag, for defence against the predatory incursions of the Taranteens. Tho Bay Company when organized became tho successor of " the old jdanters " to these alliances, and continued the humane and kindly protection its predecessors had given to this broken tribe, whoso original power and numbers had been Avasted and shnink before tho cruel pestilence which in 1G18 had ravished the coast from Saco to Plymouth. Your shores were attractive to European settlement both for tho superb winter fishery, the river schooling fish, and the flights of sea and marsh fowl in their season. Tho liberal fertility of its broad meadows ami marshes gave security for the wintering of cattle, and one naturally inquires why was it not settled earlier. Surely its advantages were known ; but the Spanish and French wars had been detrimental to private* enter- prise, and Parliament had by no moans been up to the imporUnce 138 THE TOWN OF irswiCH. of occupying these shores. Had the lamented Charles "W. Tattle lived to have completed his life of Captain Mason, for which he had so laboriously prepared, or when the Prince Society shall col- late and publish the material which he left, it is probable we shall know more concerning this history of JMariaua, prior to the Bay Charter. Your town was organized at a time when the Bay Company had shaped the skeleton of Avhat we still call the township substan- tially to its present form, carrying self-government, elective offi- cials, property in the soil free from landlordism, to its chartered inhabitants, and making each township independent in its sphere, and self-reliant for its prosperity. The men thus organized in Ipswich were marked by energy, industry, enterprise, and practical forethought. Their manliness gave tone to their church and to their high moral principles. The reserve of prudence, tlie simple habits and self-abnegation which characterized them, were necessary to success in planting a settlement on the frontier of an ocean-bound continent alive with a brave and jealous hostile race. It was what these early generations of our race sowed here in the loneliness of frontier life, enduring toil, privation, poverty, danger, and the heart- separation of emigration, that in this century bears its rich fruits in character, civilization, culture, liberty, and prosperity, and has given us a land abounding in population and national wealth. For one, I am profoundly grateful to these your ancestors who made good their footing on this continent, and I respect and esteem their spinning-wheels, their hoes, their axes, their whale-boats and fishing-gear, their log-cabins, their homespun clothes, their shot- guns, and their pious confidence that the God of Israel would not forsake them in their hour of need, as the emblems of that nobility of labor, merit, and character, which has made this continent to-day the home of fifty-five millions of the Gothic race they sprang from. I am very respectfiUly your obedient servant, Chas. Levi "Woodbury. LIST OF INVITED GUESTS. Abbott, A. A Salem. Advertisku, Editor Boston Daily Boston. Allen, Chaulks ,, Allen, William Northampton. Allen. Ciiaulls II Lowell. Ames, Oliver Jioston. Amory, Thomas C „ Angier, M. B. . . . Newburvport. Angier, Mrs. M. B „ Appleton, John Bangor, Me. ArpLETON, Nathan Boston. Appleton, W. II Ncnr York. Appleton, W. S Boston. Appleton, Elisha Providence, R.I. Atwood, Jri.us W Ipswicli. Bancroft, George . Newport, R.T. Billings. John D C'aiiibri^.' -^^ n< . r ^•^°.. '^.. .^ ■0" 'v.^^ ./»«,- ,^'^ ^^. "-"^ -^o .-N'^^ .--'4' ^ .^:a:^:^ .<;■■ ^°-n^. .0- , ^^•V V > 'b V^ ^ .0 .