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NORTH ADA:\IS, MASS : J.VMES T. ROBINSON t CO., PlUNlEliS. 1865. F STATEMENT. Tho Kopnrt of the Coiiunitteo ai>iioliile(l to make arrangements for the celc- bnil ion of tlic " Centennial " lu'rewitli published, is perhaps the best introduetion to the Address whieh eoidd be f,'iveii. The proyramnie laid down in the rei)ort was substantially earriod out. The Uev. Dr. II(ii)kins presided in the niorninf^and was assisted in the seiTlces by two former I'astors ol the Chureli, — Uev. Addison Ballard and Kev. Joseph Alden, D. 1). In the afternoon, Uev. Mr. Seymour, Pastor of the Jlethodist Kpi.'copal Church, presiiU'd, and was assisted by I'rof. All)crt Hoi)kins ainl Uev. Calvin Durfec. The " Conferenee Meeting" in the evening, was eonlinued for two hours. In the absenee of Uev. Lurius E. .Smith, of the I'.aplist Clmreh, Uev. Mason Xoblo was requested to eonduet the serviees. Addresses were made by the Uev. I")r. Alden, Uev. Mr. Durlee, Uev. Mr. IJallard, Uev. John .S.Whitman, Uev. Dr. Hopkins, S. Southworth, Ksri., and Hon. Joseph White. These addresses were intermingled •with prayers ami singing of a very fervent and animated charaeter, and tlie im- pression made upon tlie great congregation was so deep and pleasant that aU seemed to regret that the time for adjournment had arrived. In the early part of the meeting a munber of letters were read, from former residents of Williamstown, regretting their necessary absence, and expressing their ilecp sjTupathy with the meeting. It was also voted unanimously to re(iuest a copy of tho " Centennial Address" for publication, and a committee of three — Henry L. Sabin, M.D., Keyes Dan- forth, Ks(i., and S. Southworth, Ksq. — were appointed for that purpose. On motion of I'rof. I'erry, it was also resolved that the same committee retiuest the Hon. Joseph White to furnish the facts of his address for publication; and also to prepare any other proceedings of this mceling for publication, wluch they might select lor such a purpose. In accordance with this resolution, the letters from some of our absent frienfla, and the remarks of Hon. Joseph White, will be found ia the Appendix. EEPOET OF COMMITTEE. The Committee appointea at a meeting held in the Lecture Room, July 2r., ISfi."?, to make arrangements for the celebration of the settlement of our Town, and the ordmation of the first Pastor, have the honor to announce • That they immediately entereil into a correspondence with the Rev. INIason Koble, Chaplain of the U. S. Xaval Academy, refpiesting hhn to deliver a Centen- nial Address in this Town at some time during the present autumn, and that Mr. Isohle consented to deliver si;ch an Address at .such time as the Committee miglit <^icsi^iatc. • In the examination of the ancient rccoj-ds of the Town, it was ascertained that though the call to Mr. Whitman AVelch to the work of the ministry in this Town •was given on the 2Gth of July, 17G5, yet it was not till. October •2'2d, of the same year, — exactly one hundred years this day* — that Richard Stratton, Josiah Hosford and William Hosford were appointed a committee " to pi-epare for the ordina- tion." Owing to the loss of the early Church Records by fire, the exact date of the ordination cannot be known. Eut from a call for a Town Meeting dated De- cember 30, ITbo, to make arrangements to pay the expenses incurred by the Com- mittee in the oi'dination, there is no doubt that the ordination did take place on some day between the 2-2d of October aiid the 30th of December, and most probably in the month of Xovomber. The committee have therefore determined to celebrate the centennial in that month, and do hereby designate the liith of November, which is the third Sabbath of that month as the time for the celebration. As the period of an entire century is to be reviewed on this occasion it is understood that the Address will occupy the attention of the people at botli the morning and afternoon exercises of that day. The Facidly and students of the College, the 2d Congregational church, the Pastor and congregation of the Methodist Episcopal church, the members of the Baptist church and the former Pastors of this church who are still living will be invited to be present and participate in the celebration. The President of the college, assisted by onV last Pastor, Rev. Addison Ballai'd, will be requested to preside and conduct the devotional services in the morning, and the Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church, assisted by other clergymen to do the same in the jifternoon.' In the evening at 7 o'clock there will be a " Conference Meeting" after the man- 71CT of the " olden time." The Rev. Lucius E. Smith, of Groton, Mass., assisted by Prof. Albert Hopkins, will be requested to presiilc at this meeting, and the time will be spent in in-ayer and singing, and in volunteer addresses of not over ten minutes from citizens and strangers. All which is respectfully submitted. IIEXRY L. SABTX, ) KEVES DAM'OltTII, ^Committee. JA."^1ES aMEDLEV, ) Williamsto-wn, October 22a, 18G5. * This report was read from the pulpit In the 1st Congregational church on Sabbath Day, Oct. 22, 1835. DISCOURSE. AND UK BARE TUE^l AKD CAKUIED THEM ALL THE DAVS Ol' OLD.— Isaiall G3 : 9. As I staml before you to-day I feel very clce[)ly that we are all one family, aiul that I may claim the privilege and the honor of a son and a brother. I was born in this household. I was baptized at this altar. I was trained in your district school, and educated, at the college. At seventeen years of age, in company with many others, and with some of you who are now present, I pub- licly confessed Christ in this house and sat down for the first time at the table of the Lord. Just aflcr I had passed my majority I was licensed to preach by the Berkshire Association, and tlie year following was ordained in this Pulpit and sent forth as an Evangelist to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Clnist. And now after thirty-four years of absence, nearly twenty of which I have been a Pastor in the city of Washington and in Xew York, and twelve a Chapbin in our Xavy — after having sailed more miles upon the seas than would encircle the earth, and touched with my feet the four quarters of the globe, and looked in upon the homes of most of the great races of the human family — I come back again with real pleasure to my own first and dearest home. These grand old mountains stand before me in the same sublime repose with Avhich they awed and yet attracted my childhood. The pleasant pastures on the hills, and the meadows down by the river, and the clear bright brooks that find their way along the vallies arc the same as I left them. And though when I look around for the comiianions of my youth I find that most of them have gone, and that the majority of them have in- deed joiiK'd our older fathers and mothers in 'the sleep of the grave; aud though the memories of the past become thus in some respects as sad as tlicy are sacred, yet I am glad to know that so many have, through the love and grace of God, passed away to a better home. They are not dead. They are living still. And here too instead of the fathers are the children and the children's children ; and in all these old homes are the same young joys and bright hopes that made life so pleasant in the past. Amid all the changes there is more that remains im- changed. God and truth and duty and social life and human na- ture and man's Great Saviour are the same. And though we come together to remember the past I cannot but remember that the past was so much like the present, while the present is like the past. A few days after receiving the invitation to address you on this occasion I was walking on the clifls at Newport, looking out npon the sea, and thinking of you and the past. It Avas a quiet summer day and the great waters lay before me in all their gloiy. They came rolling on in resistless poAver, now rising and swelling into majestic billows which sweeping over the distant rocks left them shining in their white spray, and then hurrying on toward the shore they lifted up their crests of foam in long lines of beauty and breaking into countless gems scattered all their treas- ures upon the sands. But though they reached the shore they did not find a resting place. They seemed tied by invisible bands to all that they had left behind them ; and yielding to their power they returned to the sea only to be swept back again with the rising tide. Though the depth and strength of the waters -svere ever changing with the hours, yet the great waves continued the same. And it was this idea of immutability in the midst of ceaseless change, of immortal youth and vigor enthroned upon the billows as they roll on through the ages, that chiefly occupied my thoughts. The waters were as clear and pure as when first ^^oured forth from the hands of their Creator. Their movements were as full of majesty and power. Their white foam flashed as brightly in the sun, and their voice was as solemn and sublime. Tlie v.hole scene before me did not dittcr from th.at on Avliich the Ked Naragansett looked as he stood there three centuries before leaning upon his strong bow and gazing upon the wonders of the deep. It was the same as that which led the author of the oldest Book more than four thousand years ago to exclaim, " Who shut up the sea ? and set har8 and doors, and said liithcrto shalt thou come, and no further, and lierc shall thy proud waves be stayed." I love to think of the stability of the universe, and of the un- changing youth and freshness of nature around us. And as wo come up to these heights to-day and look out upon th*-) great ocean of the past, I love to remember that our race has ever been substantially the same in all the changes through -which they have passed. I am aware that there are those who look upon the past of our race as full of darkness. To them the shadows are ever deepening as they go backward, till as they approach the origia of man they find him in the degradation of a savage and scarcely elevated above the beasts that perish. From this low point they tell us that man has been slowly working his way \ip to his pres- ent position, his powers having been gradually developed, while his progress in the future is secured only by the same stern laws that have controlled him in the ages that are gone. Now while there are some facts which may seem to counte- nance such a theory, there are many more which accord with the Bible in its declaration that man was made in the image of God, that his character at first was perfect, and that the race com- menced Iheir career on earth in the full development of all their powers. The golden age was not a pleasant fable. The fall of man from his original uprightness was not a sudden plunge into the depths of savage ignorance and ferocity. On the contrary, nothing is more certain than the revelation of a gracious Deliv- erer to man at the very commencement of his sins and sorrows ; and as soon as the race began to spread themselves over the earth, they are ever accompanied by the most signal manifestation of the loving kindness of their Creator. The nearer we come in our investigations to the primitive ages and the more exact our knowledge, the more evidence do we find that in Asia on the Tigris and the Euphrates, and In Afi-ica on the Nile, there were races of men equal and in some respects superior to ourselves. In the Palaces of Xinevah and Biibylon as revealed to our eyes by Layard and others, and in the Temples of Luxor and Carnac, and in the pyamids and tombs of Kgypt are specimens of art, of taste, of skill and power which proclaim that the races that con- structed them were as mighty as our slanders of their barbai-ism are baseless. 8 Barbarism has indeed swept over many ti-ibcs and nation^. But it ever came as a judgment of God. It was in accordance with both natural and moral law. Men gradually sank down into the debasements which have so long characterised some of the nations of the East ; while the tribes scattered in the more inac- cessible parts of the earth, and exposed to the powerful influ- ences of climate and of war, and of false government have reached at times a terrible depth of savage degradation. Still, barbarism has ever been exceptional and limited; not normal or universal. Man's higher nature has ever been asserting itself. The great waves as they have rolled on from age to age have been bound to all the past and to a redeeming God ; and though at times shrouded in thick darkness and lashed by the fury of the Btorm, have yet returned to their place, lifting themselves up to- •ward the sky and spreading out in solemn beauty under the light It is with such reverence for the past in general, and with an assured confidence in the comparative wisdom and goodness of our own immediate ancestors in particular, that I enter into the pleasant memories and unite in the congratulations of this day. A century has passed since our fathers first stood among these hills and began to build their homes in the forests that then thickly shaded these vallies. We gather here to-day to look back over these years, and to revive in some measure the scenes that have been witnessed. The principal subject which invites our attention is tlie liistory and character of the fathers of mir town. We are not afraid to ask the question n-ho and what rvcre they? For they were the children of the Pilgrim Fathers. In some of them was the blood of those who landed on the rock at Ply- mouth more than a century before ; and the rest were the de- scendants of those who followed the first Pilgrims in exile from the father land. During the century preceding the settlement of Berkshire the coast of New England had been studded with their towns and adorned with their school houses and churches. The forests had gradually fallen before them, and villages had sprung up in the interior as far as the valley of the Connecticut. But here the tide of emigration westward was arrested for many years. The tribes of Indians were too formidable and their union with the hostile Frcnc-li loo close to porinil our FfitliCr.s to ]»lacc tlioin- selves Leyond the rough hills that separated them from the IIoo- sic and the Ilousatonic. As late as 17o5 there was hut oncliouse between AVestfield in Hampden Co. and Sheffield in this county. In Slieffield was the first setlleniont in Berkshire, and it consisted chietly of emigrants from "West field. And it is an interesting fact to me personally that a Mr. Noble from Westfield, is record- ed in the history of Sheffield as '' the first white man who resided in the town. lie spent the first winter there with no other hu- man heing than the Indians. In the spring he Ave)it hack to AVestfield and in June returned with his daughter."' This we suppose was in 172;"). The settlements on the Ilousatonic ex- tended gradually northward, reaching Great Barrington which was then a part of Sheffield in IToO; Stockbridge between ITof) and 1710; Lenox in 17o0; Pittsfield hi 1752; and Williamstown in 17;");). The Legislative provision by which the first settlers of tlu., '• 3-Ir. "Whitman AVelcli was calleil to the work of the ministry in this town." While the call to Mr. AVelch was thus given in July, his ordi- nation did not take place till late in the following autumn. The exact date is unknown owing to the loss hy fire of the early re- cords of the church. But in the records of the town Ave find that on October 22d, " Richard Stratton and Josiah and William Hosford Avere appointed a committee to prepare for the ordina- tion." In the montli of December a town meeting Avas called to defray the expenses incurred at the ordination. So that the or- dination itself must have taken place between these two dates and probably in the month of Xovember. On this account it Avas thought best to appoint this lime for the celebration of the centennial. It A^'ou]d be A'cry pleasant if Ave could lift the A'cil from the scenes of this eventful day in the history of our town. There are some fiiets Avhich may aid us a little in this respect. The Congregational Chiu'ch in Lanesborough AA'as formed in March the preceding year by Rev. Samuel Hopkins of Great Barrington, and the Rev. Stephen West of Stockbridge. The Rev. Daniel Collins Avas ordained in Lanesborough three weeks later, the 17th of April, 17G4, and the Rev. Thomas Allen was ordained in Pontoo- suc (noAV Pitttsfield,) the day folloAving. These four men, so closely and sacredly united, and constituting a majority of the Pastors in this region were doubtless the principal actors in this scene. There Avere here at the time only the primitive log houses. There Avas no church edifice, and the school house where the infant chui'ch had been in the habit of meeting for public worship stood where the Mansion Ilouse now stands. There doubtless tliese minis- ters of God, Avent in their large three cornered hatSj'and their small clothes and silver shoe buckles and bands and gown, and laid their hands so reverently upon the head of the young Pas- tor, and invoked that presence and blessing of the Lord Avhich liave continued here for the century that is gone. We learn from the town records that the " settlement" of the Pastor Avas " eighty pounds, to be paid one half the first year, and the other half the year following." Ilis " salary" Avas to be forty pounds, and to be " increased tliree pounds annually till it should amount to seventy pounds. He was also to " have the use of the ministry liouse lot." The liouse in Avhich he did in fact 13 live, w.ns the one after wards occni)ie(l for so many years l>y the Harrison family, and is now owned and occupied by ^Ir. Daniel Stevens. The old pine tree wliieli was then j)lanted still stands in the front door-yard, — tliough it is no longer a symbol as iu tliosc times of the minister's home. ^Ir. Welch was a <;radna(e of Y'ale College in ITH-J. lie is said to have been a man of intelligence, and very social in his habits. He was an animated I'reachor and attentive to tlie du- ties of his ofllce. In the first year of the .Vmerican KevolutiDU, ami after a I'astorate of nearly I "J yeai's, he became a cliaplain in a regiment to which a coinpany belonged commanded by Lieut. Zebediah Sabin of this town. That winter he mai'clied with the American Ai-jny to Can.ada, where both he and Jjieut., then C'a))- tain Sabin, and many others of our townsmen, laid down their lives in the service of their country. Baptised as we all have been in the blood of this second, and still more glorious war of independence, -which has ju.st closed so triumphantly, it is not unpleasant to remember to-day that the first Pastor of the beloved church of our fathers and the grand- father of Dr. Henry L. Sabin, now the oldest living Deacon, po perfectly identified themselves Avilh that heroic struggle, — the Pastor going forth by the side of his Lieutenant and other mem- bers cf his own fiock, to defend the liberties of the land. A few- years later, at the time of tlie Battle of Bennington, it is said that every man in this town, e\-ce])t a cripple on crutches, shouldered his gun and rn.>-hed to the field of conflict, — while the crijiple went from house to house in the settlement encouraging tho Avomcn who could hear dis'-inctly the booming of the guns during the anxious hours. Iu the year of Mr. Welch's ordination, and of the incorporation of the town, there Mere some sixty or more settlers here. In 1770, there were about seventy families or parts of families. I will give you their names as I find them recorded: — C.vi'T. Ni-in Mi.vii SMr.Di.icv, Sf.th Lr.Avis, Wii.i.iAM Hi)sioi!i>, _ David Nichols, JosiAii IIosiDUD, Srr.i'iir.N 1)avi.-<, Col. 15. Simonu.^, This Haiuusox, Si. Til lIlDSON, IsAAr OviTT, Hli IlAItl) SthaTTON, JuSlAU WlUClIT, JOXATHAN MlAdlAM, JlJSSE RVAX, .Tami-s Mi:a( ham, Samvi-.i, JJircicakr, Thomas liiAix, Joski-h Wiir.r.LKu, Thomas Dintox, Atia Johx>o\, TS'ii.soN Wi:iin, llor.r.iiT Iiawkins, ])AV1I) WuilU, J)i:itKKK fSMITII, 14 Elkaxah Fahis, Joseph Talmadge, CaI'T. 18A.VC Sl.ARLE, ElISHA lIlGGIXS, JoKx NioAvniRY, Stephen Olmstead, Kl.ISHA lIlGGIN.S, KatHAN SmITII, Dea. Nathan Wheei.er, Isaac Stuatton, Mr. Seeeey, Daniel Burhank, Elisha Baker & Sox, Hobert McMaster, AViLi.iAM HiNE, John McMaster, Mo.SES Rich, William Young, liVKTIIOLOMEAV WoODfOCK, jEnEDIATI SaRIN, Nehemiah WooncocK, David Johnson, 2d, David Johnson, Asa Coiiben, Samvel Sloank, Amasa Corrrx, Alexander Si.oane, Joseph Corben, Thomas Koe, Samuel Mills, ICHAROD SOUTHWICK, JONATHAN ShERAVOOD, John Toiihey, Samuel Sheravood, William Torrey, • Isaac Sheravood, Capt. Samuel Clark, Deming, !Moses Young, Lieut. Sampson Hoave. Andreav Young, I have said that these men were the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers. It is not liowevcr a fact that they all came from either Central or Eastern Massachusetts, — many of them were from that portion of Connecticut Avhich lies immediately south of Berk- shire county. They were all, however, of the same original Puri- tan stock ; entertaining the same strong views of religious truth and of civil liberty ; uniting habits of industry, frugality and a 3tern morality with a true appreciation of solid learning in their teachers and of general intelligence among the people. As they set up their church and their school-house in the very centre of their settlement, and lp*id out their farms on every side of this centre, so it is no exaggeration to say that their remarkable wis- dom and energy in laying foundations of temporal prosperity were inspired by and rendered subservient to the great central idea of establishing the kingdom of God among men, and secur- ing for themselves the blessings of that " eternity," which was a great word, and a most vivid reality to their minds. And it is in this connection that I wish to consider a little more particularly ulint our Fathers were. I confess that I feel a much deeper interest in this subject than in their original and general history. As I see them leaving their former homes, and arriving here among these Avild hills ; as the dense woods arc gradually opened to the sunlight, and the virgin soil rewards with its treasures their first years of labor, I love to remember that they Avere not mere laborers, and that ma- terial interests and physical comfort were not their first object. They were, some of them, eminently spiritual men, and all be- longed to the most remarkable race that had been found on the 15 earth for many ages, ami tlioy livt'i] in llic midst of those [loculiar inrtueneos whicli creatLMl the Ameiiinii nation. It lias been said that '' God sifted tliree nations " to secure the seed which He phmted in our Aniciiean soil. The Huguenots of France, tlie Dutch Colonists of Holland, and the Puritans of Kng- huul were certainly, in their day, '" the salt of the earth, and the light of the world.'' Though the great majority of tluin w eri' of the common people, yet it should never be forgotten that they were not the " Peasants" of Europe, but in their intelligence and character, far above the masses. A modern writer, Thackeray, in his lectures on the CJeorges, says, "As one views P^urope in the early part of the last century, the landscape is awful, — wretched cities beggarly and plundered ; half burned cottages, and trembling peasants gathering piteous harvests ; gangs of such tramping along with bayonets be- hind them." " Near the city, shut out by woods from the beg- gared country, the enormous, hideous, gilded, monstrous Palace Avhere the Prince is, and the Court, and the trim gardens, and huge fmmtains. If you can sec out of the Palace windows beyond the trim-cut forest vistas, misery is lying outside, hunger is stalk- ing about, the bare villagers listlessly following precarious luis- bandry; ploughing stony fields with starved cattle, or fearfully taking in scanty harvests. Hound all the royal splendor lies a nation enslaved and ruined; there are people robbed of tlieir rights ; communities laid waste ; faith, justice, commerce trampled upon and well nigh destroyed." "In the first half of the last cen- tury this is going on all Europe over." Now, while such was the condition of the peoi)le "all Europe over," a kind Providence had rescued our Fathers from the terrible degradation. From 1G20, when the Mayflower landed its precious freight of freemen at Plymouth, till the latter jiart of the century, the Puritans were ([uietly leaving England and finding a refuge in this western world. As they were at home the very choicest of the peo])le in intelligence, in morals, and in enterprise, so here they were placed in the midst of the most propitious influences for the formation of the highest |)OSsible character. Before the law they were all equal. They in fact chose their own IJulcrs and made their own laws. In IJeligion they had a Church with- out a Bishop, as they had a State without a King. In learning there were no exclusive privileges, and no degraded castes or in classes. The comriion scliool anvl tlio common clmrcli stood siJc by side, and it was coriSidercd not simi)ly tlic privilege but tlio duty of all to sliare equally in their henetits. Tiic- climate was rio'orous, and the soil vras stuhborn, and the Indians were treach- erous, and their life was full of care and toil. But they shrunk not from their responsibilities in etfeminancy or in fear. They were diligent and frugal and thrifty and heroic. The old forests rang with the blows of their sh.arp axes, and fruitful fields soon surrounded their simple homes. They increased in numbers gradually, and all their institutions of learning and liberty as well as of religion were strengthened and pei'fected. Near the close of their first century, according to the London Magazine of May, 1755, and when our Fathers were beginning to emigrate to this county, there were a little over 200, OUO peo- ple in Massachusetts, 100,000 in Connecticut, and 30,000 in Xew Hampshire and Rhode Island respectively. There v.xre also 100,000 in New York, 00,000 in New Jersey, and 250,000 in Penn- sylvania. In all the Southern Colonies there were also 250,000 — making a little over a million in all. At the opening of their second centuiy in this land — that is from 1730 to 17G0 — there were wew and mightier influences work- ing all around oiir Fathers ; and we shall fail to apjireciate the character of those Avho founded our town, if we forget the times in which they lived. There Avere the two French wars — the first continuing from 1744 to 1748, and the second from 1754 to 17G0. In both of these fearfiil struggles with the French and Indians our Fathers were personally engaged; and in the second. Col. Ephraim Wil- liams lost his life. There was not a home in all this valley which the tidings of French cruelties and horrible Indian massacres did not darken, while there was not an individual Avho was not thrilled by the capture of Louisburg, and the final victory of the young Washington at fort UuQuesne (now l^ttsburgh,) and the consequent possession of the Ohio Valley and the entire line ot forts from the jNiississippi to Detroit and the lakes, and at last, a short time before the ordination of our first Pastor, the victory of Wolfe on the plains of Abraham and the subjection of all the French possessions in the North to the British crown. During all tlicse years the cloud of war hung so portentously over all this region and burst sometimes with such fury ujion our 17 FiiilnMf-. tli;\t every thhifj sficincil rcaerish. From 17r)4 to 1700 there is .111 entire blank in tlie Kccords of the town and mc are left to fill it np Avitli deserted homes and burning houses, — those who had come I'or peaceful toil being turned into soldiers struggling for their personal existence and the life of the colonies as dc[)endcncies of a I'rotestant I'ower. But while as subjects of Great Britain and unyielding Protes- tants tlicy it'll identified with all th.esc struggles, and rejoiced in these m xgniticent triumphs over IJoman Catholic France, they Averc not prepared to surrender their own rights which they had enjoyed in this land as a most sacred inheritance derived fi-om their Fathers. Hence after tliey came forth from this protracted contest, they were ])repared to enter into that new and strange conflict which the British Government so unexpectedly forced upon them. If then the first settlers of this town lived and labored in tho midst of the perils of French and Indian wars, they also, as ttcH as their immediate successors, must liave felt all the excitcmonts ■which preceded and created the Revolutionary War. In 1700, a Koyalist wrote from Connecticut to the Archbishop of Canterbury, ''Connecticut is little more than a mere Democ- racy ; most of them upon a level, and each man thinking himself an able divine and politician. The people arc rampant in their high notions of liberty." This "svas a true witness ; and he de- scribes very exactly those men who came to this valley. The spirit which animated them had many representative men whose names have since become immortal. There was, for instance, the young and bold John Adams. At that time he was " blaster of the town school at Worcester, and meditating to become a Preacher." He is described as one who " loved the shady thickets and gloomy groves," and as saying, '' a few people came over into this new world for conscience sake, and in another century wiU l)ecome more numerous than England itself All Europe will not be able to subdue us." There was also James Otis of ^^'est Barn- stable, and afterwards of ]3oston, avIio said, " I am determined to sacrifice estate, health, applause, and even life itself; to the sacred calls of my country." These young men spoke out the secret and strong sentiments of the universal heart; and il was such patriotic fervour th.it burned in the bosoms of our own Fathers as thev tailed here in 18 the constnietion of their new homes. And vrc may imngine, though we cannot describe the intense indignation at the Stamp Act which Avas passed in this memorable year 17G5, and the ex- citement on this topic Avhich must have minglfed with the cere- monies of the ordination of our first Pastor. But there were representative men in religion as well as in pat- riotism in those days. The land was indeed full of learned and sound religious teachers — of m.en who, while they we^-e them- selves the product of the open Bible and of unrestricted religious freedom everywhere enjoyed, stood up in the presence of congre- gations eager for the truth, and cap.able of appreciating the most vigorous reasoning on the most sublime doctrines of revelation. Can we forget to-day, that when the first settlers of this town came over the hills that separate us from the Connecticut river, or wound their way up along the valley of the llousatonic, the great Jonathan Edwards had just left the scene of his most won- derful ministry in Northampton, and was already seated in his little study with its bare floor, in this county, thinking his wise and holy thoughts, and preparing, among other immortal works, his treatise on the freedom of the will ? Can we fail to remem- ber, also, that Dr. Samuel Hopkins began his ministry in this county in 1743, and continued here 26 years, several years after the organization of this church by himself and others ; and that his system of theology was for some years a text book in this College, and has in fact given tone and strength to the best re- ligious thinking of New England for the last century ? If there Were time I might mention other great and memorable names as illustrations of the religious sentiments and character of our fathers. Suffice it to say that the whole Bible as the rule of faith, and. christian doctrine scientifically stated by teachers of the clearest minds and the warmest and most devout hearts, Avas the spiritual food in Avhich the people most delighted. But it is our purpose not only to consider, this day, the charac- ter of those who first settled the town, but also to pass in brief review the history of tlie succeeding generations, and look at some of the results which have been here accomplished. I have not been able to discover from any Avritteu records the exact date in Avhich the different families arrived here after the ordination of Mr. Welch. Among the earliest of them was, how. ovjr, niy grandfather, David Noble, Avho planted himself immc- 10 (Vialcly on llio banks of tlio Iloosie, in a house Avliicli stood on the spot ■where tlic new factory company arc now erecting their principal dweHing liouse. lie was a graduate of Yale College, and a lawyer by profession. He soon removed to the main street, where he lived for many yours, and finally died in 1808, in the old brick mansion now owned and occupied by Mr. John Cole. lie was one of the original Trustees of Williams College, and a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. His name and that of his wife are found in the list of the 03 members of the church who united in the call to Rev. Seih Swift to become their Pastor in 1770, three years after the death of ^Ir. Welch ; and he was one of a committee of three to present the call to the Pastor-elect. Another of those early settlers was the son-in-law of my grand- father, Daniel Dewey, also a lawyer, and who subsequently became a Judge of the Supreme Court of ^Massachusetts, and was very eminent for his legal knowledge and intellectual powei*. Another man of distinction at that time was Thompson I. Skin- ner, the Treasurer of the Commouwcalth. Another man who should not be forgotten, was Capt. Jonathan Danforth, the honored grandfather of our fellow-citizen, Keyes Dantbrth, Kscj. He was actively engaged in the battle of Bunker Hill, with his eldest son, Joshua, who soon afterwards became Aid to Cieneral Washington, and fought through the Revolution, leaving the army at the close of the war Mith tlie rank of Colonel. Not long after the battle of Bunker Hill, the father emigrated with the other members of his family to this town, and it was he who headed the company of our townsmen who rushed to the Bennington battle. In that battle he is said to have " acted a conspicuous part as commander of a battalion," In the medicixl profession also, there was one man, Dr. William Towner, whose fame as a physician extended to the Capitol of our State, and whose early death excited the profoundest regret among all classes. In Barber's Historical Collection of Massachusetts, there is an imperfect list of those mIio arrived here between 1770 and 1800. The names arc the Bulkleys, Bridges, Chamberlain, Day, Judd, Xortham, Skinner, Tyler, Judah and Elisha Williams, and the Wolcotts. They came most of them from Colchester, Conn. These were all old men when I was a boy; but their features, tlicir form.;, and their manners arc indelibly impressed on my 20 memory. I thonglit little ilion of wliat Ihcy r.iul tlieir predeces- sors had done to create their pleasant homes ; but to-day, 'vvith ray own experience of life, I turn and look back with the deepest interest to their early strno;gles after they had selected their liomes on the high hills and in the deep and narrow vallies of the town. Beginning with my grandfather, Charles Bnlkley, on the higli bleak ridge just this side of South Williamstown village, Avherc afterwards Gershom Bnlkley lived so many years, Ave may follow thcni down the old road to the banks of Gree3"i river by the Judds and the Kriggcrs and the Williams and the Blairs and the Days and the Harrisons, Avhile the Bridges and the Nortliama pass over the Iloosic, the Chanibcrlains and the Tylers going up to tlic very summit of Northwest Hill, the Fords cultivating the l)ase of that hill, and the Wolcotts planting themseh-cs nearer the fort and the growing village. The Wolcotts passed aAvay, and Col. Tyler came dov/n from Xorthwest Ilill and spent his last ye.ars in their old red mansion. But nov/ the hot/se itself is gone, the old road leading by it is turned into tlie valley, and as I tried to discover the site of the home of these tvro generations, every vestige of the past was gone, and I found only a ploughed field. This last emigration we may suppose fouyd the better portions of the land already taken up by the first settlers. The Smedleys and Meachanis and Kelloggs and Simonds and Sloanes and No- bles in the north, and the Burbanks and W^oodoocks, and Torreys and Youngs and Sabins and Sherwoods and Domings and John- sons in the south, were already reaping rich liarvests on every side. I am aware that the younger portion of my audience may not feel any special interest in some of these names. But to those ot my own age and older, there are a thousand thrilling association!"! connected with them, and the dead past is thus filled to us with life and beauty. We see also the hills and the pleasant farms as they Avere once occupied on the east by the Kelloggs and the Footes and Pauls and Blackintons and Wells, and on the west and southwest by the Danforths and Talmadges and Iloxies and llickoxes and I'rindlcs. And the interest does not diminish as avo come into this village and pass up and doAvn the principal street, and mingle once more in imagination with those Avho Avcre onco seen here in their various occupations. Here v>-ere the I'litnams, 21 ihe son ami gr:in.ls.'):r^. of iho oM rcvol.ilion.iry ]\crr>. nu'l tlio StarkwcntlicrsniKl tlic Whitmans ongngcil in puccossfvil trailc, :inil Dr. SatiHU'l Porter, wliosc knowldlije of incdiciTio and ski)} in surgery placed liim at the head of his iinportaiit profession ; and Eli Porter, ^vllo mended our watches ami reg'ilatcd cv.r tinic; and Koyal L. Portei-, who cstahlisheil the " .Vnicriean Traveler," a newspaper that still survives in Boston, and tlunigh he died so young, hml made himself one of the leading editors in onr State Capitol. And here in the most heautiful houpe in ttnvn, was General Sloane; and after him his son, Douglass W. Sloane^ Ks()., surrounded by liis fiiinily of accom'plislied daugliters. As we pass doAvn the hill Ave come to the Vesiden.ce of Judge ]^aniel Dewey, which allcr his death in ISlo, was occupied for many years by his son, Charles A. Dewey, E^^q., Avho has ^inec been invested with the same ju'lir/ial robes v.'hieh sat so gracefully on Ills father before him. and wiiich the son continues to wear in the full strength of his powers. When he left us for his new home in Northampton, his younger brother, Daniel X. Dewey, Esq., succeeded him here in the profession of lav,-; and after iill- ing the important of}iees of Trustee and Treasurer of the College, and Jmlge of the Probate Cor.rt of Derkshire County, and for many years prc^viiig his excellence as a elni.-tian by the jmrity of his liie an. of C.,and Miss K. F. of Williamstown." And on the opposite i^ide of the street was Solomon Bulkley, E::q., the Sheriff, whose quiet and silence of epecch were proverbial and from whose ceaseless and stealthy activity no victim of tlie law could ever escape. There was also the Hon. Daniel Xoble, in the full tide of suc- cess in his ]>rofession of the law. .'.o devoted to the interests of Williams College, defending it before the Legislature -and origi- jiatlng and rendering successful those important mcasiu'cs which 00 pvcvcnte;ealous wife ever labeling for the kingdom of God. And Bissell Sherman, who was thought by us boys to haA'C gone to the end of tlie rainbow and seized there the bag of gold M hich was liidden so closely in the chest at home. And Samuel Duncan, whose diligence in his Avork was equalled only by his wonderful mechanical skill, and whose only surviving son, Dr. Sariiucl Duncan, is now an honored pliysician among us. At a somewhat later dale there li\ed in tlie same street John Wriglit the inercliaut,:ui«l Sainr.L'I CJ. Xoycs the hatter, :inlied their hearts were not lifted up, neither did they forget the Lord their God. They )-emen\l>ered that it was He that gave them power to get wealth that He might establish his covenant which he swore uuto their fathers.'' And it was under the inllucncc of such principles that schools were so soon establishetl and cherished in each of the districts of the tOMMiship; that with the aid of the noble legacy of Col. "Wil- liams the Grammar school began its vigorous life, and afterwards, nnder President Fitch, grew into the College. There -were doubtless narrow minded men and croakers among them as there always have been in every generation. But their selfi.shness was swept away by the high and generous spirit of the majority. And it should never be forgotten that if there had been a diilbr. out class of men controlling our affairs at that early period — if our fathers had been men without large intelligence and christian sympathy, and self-denying dcvotenient of their comparatively 24 linrilcd property to t'r.o liuli'lc good, llio very superior prnilcges in education and in religion which this town so long enjoyed Avuiihl nut have e.vlsted. Tlic increase of po]->idation and of all kinds of business which fullowed the successful American devolution Avas accompanied l>y a large addition to the wealth and comfort, and I may add, the luxuries of the people. They began to build comparatively ele- gant houses. During th.c revolution tlie log houses had begun to give Avay to substantial frame dwellings. The first two frame liouscs erected are still standing — tlie one now occupied on Main ISt., by Mr. Waterman, and the other the Smedley house. It is said that so many men vrere absent on the battle field that tlie ■\Aoineii of the settlements v.'cre obliged to assist in raising the frame of the first, Avhile in the following year Mr. Smedley was assisted in the same work by his neighbors of Bennington. The roof of the latter was no sooner in place than the house was crov.'ded in every part by families flying from the terrors which darkened the whole region north and west of us, as the cloud of war rolled on frcrn Canada to Lake George and Saratoga. Among the eleg.tnt private rosideuees which arose here not long after the revolution, were those now occupied by President Hopkins, by Daniel Dewey. Esq., and by Mr. John Cole. The ])rincipal public buildings Avere the vrest college, tlie Mansion House and this church. The first meeting house Avas built by the l*roprietors in 17G8, and was occupied as a house of worship un- til 1798. The old churcli Avas removed farther back and stood for many years almost immediately opposite the present residence of Dr. Sabin, and Avas used as a ToAvn Hall. The list of sub- scribers to the new house has been preserved and shoAvs the spirit of our public men — the highest siibscriiitions being 100 pounds and the average 50 dollars. The building itself Avas in a very high style of church architecture and Avas built in the most substantial manner — according in fact Avith tiie best residences of the most l)rosperous men connected with the congregation. I am inclined to think too that the beautiful church edifice was not an unfair representation of the improved religious spirit of the people. Three years after our first Pastor's death in the cause of American Independence, tlie Pev. Seth Swift Avas in- stalled as liis successor. He Avas a man of C4od, eminent for his love of the triilh and his devotion to the duties of his liigh oifice. lie is (k'Sfiil)L'(l :is ''\v:i:"in and op^-ii in his tcniin-r, cvmigi'lit-al in liis ri'lii^ioiis views, serious in the c^eneral tone of his inlercourso ^vith liis ])e<)i»Ie. deciiled in liis o))inions, and jn'udent and ener- getic in his measures." Durinj^ his j)ast()rate hirge aecc.;sion.H were made to tlie number of communicants, and the people of the town were brotight under tlio power of a mucli higlier chris- tian Hfe. I have heard my own lUlht'r and mother, -wlio made a profession of religion under his ministry, descril)e some of tlio scenes of that great i-evival of religion which lit\edthe church uj> into the very atmospliere of Heaven and gathered so many scorcH of all classes and ages into the fold of (iod ; taking religion itself out from those dead forms into which it is ever sinking through the unbelief and worldliness of fallen men, and making it a living power and a constant joy in the heart. It can never be forgotten that while such men :is James IMi-hards and Samuel I. ]\Iill% and Gordon Hall and others were here praying into existence the American Hoard of ^Missions, they themselves were receiving some of their holiest im])ulses from this church while imparting to it through their most intimate and constant fellowship with its mem- bers their own enlarged views and sublime purposes. Gordon Hall was indeed converted here, having united with this church on confession of his faith in LS06, and it was in such circumstan- ces that he joined that holy band who gathered under the haystack for prayer. The next year, i. c., in L^UT, and afler a ministry of nearly liS years, the following sad and yet triumphant entry was made in the Kecords of the church respecting its Pastor. ',' February 15, 1807, at about 9 o'clock, A. M., Kev. Seth Swift , our much esteemed, dearly beloved and very faithful and labori- ous I'astor, died in the miilst of great usefulness, while God was pouring out His spirit here and giving him many seals of his ministry."' The revival was not checked by tlie death of tlie l*astor, but continued to move on with solemn and majestic ])ower under the ministrations of President l-'itch, who supplied the I'ulpit over six years, the church seeming truly to comprehend its great mis- sion on earth and especially to manifest its deej) and cordial sym- ]tathy with those early and sublime movements which under the guidance of the "missionary band" in the college contempl.-Ued the subjection of the whole worjd to Christ. This church became from that time a missionary church. -i 26 In the summer of 1813, tlie Kev. Walter King, a graduate of Yale College, and who had already been a Pastor in Norwich, Conn., for twenty-four years, was installed over this church. In an obituary notice of him published in the " Pano]>list," he is de- scribed as a " sound divine, a solemn and searching preacher, and eminently a man of prayer." His ministry here was very briet but characterized by a tone of humble piety and of gentle purity of life, which render his memory very fragrant and pleasant to those who knew him. He was suddenly attacked with apoplexy while conducting the ministrations of the pulpit, and survived but a few hours after being carried to his home. His widow long remained among us, and if her cotemporaries could testify to-day of her character, there would be but one voice in relation to the aweetaess of her christian spirit, and the meekness and fortitude with Which she bore the trials of her protracted widowhood. In this connection I cannot refrain from mentioning the names of some of those remarkable christian women who for so many years gave tone to the social life of this town, and who by the labors of their fingers and the hospitality of their tables, and their large gifts in money, were ever helping on some candidate for the sacred office, and sending their well-stocked boxes to the mis- sionaries in distant lands. There were many such. The church will never cease to praise God for them, while our constant pray- er should be that their daughters may walk in their steps so far as they followed Christ. Among them we remember particular- ly Mrs. Mehitabel S. Bardwell, to whose house the missionary prayer meeting was transferred from the haystack, and wherein Saturday evenings so many candidates for the missionary field gathered for prayer ; — and Mrs. Iluth Benjamin, to whose house the same meeting was transferred when the infirmities of age no longer permitted Mrs. Bardwell to receive them, and who before she herself departed to glory had the honor and happiness of see- ing her son and her granddaughter going forth as active laborers in the foreign missionary cause; and the two Mrs. Whitmans, whose n.ames are associated Avith every good enterprise in the town and church and college — every Tuesday evening, for a score of years, witnessing their rooms crowded with those Avho loved to pray, and every year testifying to their clicerful gifts of hundreds and sometimes of thousands of dollars to the church, to home and foreign missions and to the beloved oolloge. Who can ever fo/gL't tlie lioly repose ami joyful liope with wliicli the eldest of those two sisters awaited the cominrj of her Lord — re- joicing in the exalted christian character of her son Seymour Whitman, l']sq., wlio was one of the strongest pillars of the church from earlv manliuod to tlie dayof iiis clcath, and who all too soon for the church and the town followed his mother to tlu' world of glory. And there was Mrs. Deacon Skinner wliose house was the home of a bright and cheerful hos)>itality, where the young ]>eo- ple met such a cordial welcome and the old people found their spirits quickened by her genial wit and hearty good will. How quick Avas her step, ami how full of grace her manners, and how unvarying her Ihith in God her Saviour though suffering so many years the bereavement of widowhood and thotigh left cliildless amid the infirmities of extreme old age ; and how hard it was to believe that we could get on as well without her, even when the Lord called her in her ninety-fifth year to Himself I niiiy mention also the names of Mrs. I'rofcssor Kellogg and Mrs. Je.ssc Sabin and ]\Irs. Daniel Noble and Mrs. Gershom T. Hulklcy and Afis. Solomon Bulkley and ]\[rs. Keyes Danforth and !Mrs. Kobbins Ibilkley and ^Irs. Samuel Bridges and Mrs. Lyman Ilubbel and ]Mrs. Christopher Penniman and ]\Irs. Kliza Noble Brewster These are only a part of those Avho were most promi- nent and active in everv good work — and you Mill pardon me lor saying that next to seeing my o\\ n de.ir mother's name in the early records of the church, I glory in finding it year after year in the ^lissionary Herald as treasurer of this consecrated band of christian women sending their gifts to the end of the world. The ordination and installation of the Rev. Ralph W. Gridley, are among my earliest recollections in connection with the church. I think of him in the sick room and at the funeral of my young brother William, and afterwards performing the same duties for my grandmother Noble. I remember his fervent appeals in the conference room and in the pidpit, and I cannot forget that he laid his own gentle hands upon my head when I was ordained in this pulpit. To-day, as I attempt to gaze through the mists of more than thirty years, there rises before me his light form, with his per- son so neatly and modestly attired, his manners so simple and sin- cere, and his piety so deep and ardent. In the pulpit, though he stood in the shadow of some of the most eloquent and successful . 28 of American proaclicrs, yet l)y the ]ico|»lo of liis flock liis remark* able iJueney of speech, and his sermons full of the Holy Scriptnres and of a rich clu-istian experience, were ever appreciated. He was the first to detect any new pulsations of s})iritual life in the church, while lii-s lieart leaped to meet any response from inquiring soul.>? to his solemn appeals. How tender was liis regard for the poor of his flock, and how welcome in the chambers of the sick and the dying ! Who among the bereaved ever failed to bear from his lips the words of Heavenly consolation? How untiring were hi.s l.ibors as he went from one district to another of his charge and how many scores and hundreds were gathered by his foitliful toil into this happy fold. During his pastorate of nearly 18 years over GOO persons were received into the church, being an average of more than 30 a year. The attractions of a new field in the enterprising West, whither some of the most fftithful and efficient of his flock had already gone, and where, free from a theological controversy which was then shaking so many of oui* souls, ho hoped for still greater use- fulness, finally separated him from this charge. Though success- ful in his new home in Illinois, his heart still lingered among these scenes. ]>ut the blaster had higher service than could be found in the church on earth, and he was soon transferred to the com- jianionship of Angels and the reward of the faithful. His minis- trv of so manv vears Avill ever remain a brii^ht and memorable ♦ ' * . ..... period in the history of tliis church, while its fruits Avill not cease to be gathered here for many generations yet to come. But while this church Avas ever by its pastors and membership a source of pure and powerful iniliience, I desire to recognize the vital connection vthich in all these years ever existed between the church and the college. While the college gave distinction to the town, it imparted to the church through its eminent President and Professors, and its choicest young men, the very elevated tone and enlarged views by which they were distinguished. Who can estimate the value of such princes among good and strong men as Presidents P^itch and Griffin? The first was indeed the acting Pastor of thechurchfor morethansix years. Inaletter written some months :ifter]\[r. Swift's decease, President Fitch writes to a friend, '• T have preached about fifty sermons here, l)esidcs all the cares and distresses which have attended )ne in my fnmily and dis- charging all my or)]]o'("!y litno ]\:v- been !cT( iiieto- 2\) take my nocossary food anplied it to us in the great matter of securing for ourselves the crown of life. On the Sabbath day he not unfrequeutly stood in this pulpit and poured out from his full heart such solid sentences and paragraphs of christian doctrine, and with such fullness and pathos in his solemn and yet Avinning voice, that its tones are still sounding like Heaven's trum- pet in my ears. And can vre pass over another name— Prof Ebenczcr Kellogg, who lingered so long among us, and whose gentle virtues shone only brighter and brighter with the advancing years ! How ex- act was his knov»dedge, how pure his taste, how observant of those little things which make up so large a part of the realities of life. How noiseless was his tread as he went about busier and more anxious for others than for himself If a spring Avere loose in the machinery of college or the church or town Avas he not the first to detect it, and the most resolute and patient though the most unostentatious to remedy the VA'^rong ? Hoav persistent and faithful for many years as Superintendent of the Sabbath school, and how devoted to all the interests of the toAvn and church as Avell as the college. And Avhen his gentle hands Avere finally paralyzed in death, how many threads Avere soon tangled that his fingers had so skillfully guided, and Iioaa^ many props fell doAvn that he had so long kept in their places. His memory Avill be green here Avhen the roAV of beautiful elms, extending from the church to Avest college, Avhich he planted with his own hands, shall in the coming centuries be dry and dead Avith age and return to the earth wliich they noAV shade and adorn. And among the sad memories Avhich cluster around me in con- nection Avith the college, is that of Prof William A. Porter. His mind, all brilliant Avith the learning of the ancient and modern classics, his person so attractive for its manly beauty, and his man- ners so full of refinement and polished grace, seemed to be but a 31 Mulling mark liy which llic ci'f^t Aixher. Dentli, iiiiLclil giiiilf more surely his resistless arrow. When we hxid him away in tlie darkness of the tomb, it sccmeil tom-j that tlie world was shroudeil all over in a pall of mouniini;; and if it had not been for the ]»ri<4ht hoijos of th* immortal life which ilhuniiied his last hours, lifu itself would have appeared to mc not worth livincj. And should I fortjet the name and character of another so well and so long known among us in college and in this church. Prof. Edward Lasell ? Though I was one year in advance of him in college, yet I w.as very intimately associated with him tlicrc for three years, ami afterwards we were brought into still closer fel- low.ship as Tutors. We became earnest incjuirers on the subject of personal religion at the same time, and stood side by side in the j)ublic conlession of Christ in this church. He was the first scholar in his class, and when he was made a I'rofessor in the col- lege, Ins lectures were said to be very brilliant and attractive to the successive classes who enjttyed them, lie was a thoroughly lionest and upright man, and in .all his relations to the church and town he was eminently faithl'iil and useful, lie was stricken down in the fullness of his mtudiood, but his memory is still en- shrined in all our hearts. And in connection with these and other just men, whose s]»ir- its are now in Heaven, Avhat thoughts of past holy Sabbaths rush upon u.s — those old still days when the ])eople came forth from all these surrounding hills, and wound their way along so rever- ently on foot, on horseback, and in every variety of wagon and carriage, single and double, going up like the tribes of old to the temple of God. And wiien they reached tlie village all the church goers there hurried from their houses; and then as the bell began to toll the students might be seen crowding the gravelled walk and hurrying up the steps of the church to their place in the gal- lery, and to the four large pews assigned them below. IIow rev- erently the families stood up in thi'ir jjlaces when tlie minister made the i>rayer of invocation. Then when the ojiening hymn had been read the choir arose, fitty strong, extenublic worship of God were so established for three-score years that when his well-known carriage made its ap[)carance in the village all the people knew that it Avas time for them to go to the house of God. His mantle has fallen ujion his two surviving sons, one of whom, James Smedley, M. D., is now so accejttable and useful in the office of deacon so long held by his lionorcd father. A son of the fourth generation from the settlement of the town now cultivates the ancestral acres which have never passed out of the possession of the family and are increasing in beauty and fertility with (lie ]iassing yeai"s. May the Iloosic as it continues to roll through those rich meadows see no stranger with another name walking as lord upon its banks and gathering the rich harvests tliere from year to year. Let there be one sa- cred place left among us Avhere th<,' ]iroprietor can say '' here my fatliers from the beginning livetl and died belore me."' And Deacon Taft who answered so well the inspired descrip- tion of this important officer in the christian church, "grave, not double-tongued, not givcJi to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience," ''ruling his children and his own house well" and •• having used the office b 84 of a deacon well purchased to himself a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." His oldest son is a Ruling Elder in a Presbyterian church, and his youngest, C. K, Taft, is and has been for many years the Postmaster of our town. And there was Deacon Stephen Smith of the Baptist church — a true yoke fellow of these good men, though differing from them on this one point of the ordinances of the church. How bright was his flashing eye ! and how strongly marked were the lines of his intelligent face. He could construct and bind to- gether an argument as firmly as he could weld the iron which he took from his glowing furnace and laid upon that old anvil hj the side of which he stood and toiled so many years. But though he worked in iron with his hands his heart was ever laying up the choicest treasures of golden truth. His integrity no one doubted. His purity of life never lost its brightness. His sons grew up around him bearing his image and three of them are now preaching the gospel which their father so much loved; and his daughters are remembered by us as among the chief and sweetest singers in our choir. The old shop in Water Street has passed away and its occupant has long since turned back to dust and the family are all scattered over the land — but his character shines on in unchanged lustre as we to-day gaze back into the past. As we turn away from this brief sketch of those who have been office bearers in the church will not all their descendants join me in saying with the beloved Cowper : " My boaat is not that I derive my birth From loins enthroned and rulers of the earth ; But higher far my proud pretensions rise The child of parents passed into the skies." The Baptist church of which Mr. Smith was a deacon, was first organized about thirty years after the settlement of the town and included in it several " members from Hancock, but was always small and Avas dissolved in 1811." Three years subsequently an- other Baptist church Avas formed, and uniting with the members of the Congregational church residing in " Southpart" they to- gether erected a very neat and comfortable meeting house — the Pastor of the Congregational church occupying that pulpit eveiy tliird Sabbath and the Baptists the other Sabbaths. But few in number and scattered over a large extent of country they have ever found it difficult to sustain the regular and stated preaching S6 of the gospel. At present thoy have no public meetings as a church, fiiuliiig it more expedient with their feeble numbers to unite in the services of tlio Congregational and Methodist churches in the ditterent parts of tlie town. And this brings us to consider the many changes that have taken place in Williamstown during the last third of the century now under review. •n'o those of us who come back as I do after an absence of be- tween ilO and 40 years, these changes are very great and striking. An entire generation lias passed into the grave. The gray heads and venerable forms that we once saw in this church and j)assing up and down these ihoruugldhres are here no more. They lie in row after row in the graveyard sleeping their last sleep, and the names of not a few are actually forgotten or unknown by those who have taken their places. The old church itself is liere. It has indeed in the interior put on a new and more modern look. The lofty arched ceiling, the massive pillars below the galleries and the gracefully tinted columns above supporting the roof, the pul- pit i)erched up so high against the wall that it cramped the necks of us boys who looked up for any length of time to the preacher, the deacon's seat at the foot with its fixed communion table, and the great broad aisle in the centre where so many of all ages in our successive and glorious revivals stood up so reverently and to the joy of the church to make their public confession of Christ and enter into covenant with His people, the dear old s<]uare, roomy pews Avhere we sat surrounded by those we most loved and where the big muffs of our mothers and sisters and their briglit foot stoves softened the n'lv of winter i^round us — these are all gone forever. Aud doubtless it is well ; and we rejoice that those who come after us have a house for God so convenient in all its arrangi'ineiits and so well adapted to the purposes of Diviiuf worsliip. Outsiile we find the old church in most respects as it was from the beginning, though we cannot but miss the graceful aud lofty steeple which so wakened the wonder of our chihlhood and helped to connect the church below with the bright heavens into which the spire seemed almost to penetrate. Even the "Pino Apple'' which in after years took the place of the departed spire is ui^w gone. But we are glad to know that it is the pm-pose of those who have made these modern improvements to restore the ancient glories of the steeple of 1 ?!)><. 30 As we pass down the jirincipal street elianges meet us on every side. Not only now and ])lcasant cottages li:ive sprang np on evory side, and some of tlie old li«nst'S put on ncAV and in many cases Ijctter forms, but new streets liave been opened and tlio ])0})ulation of the viHage greatly increased. I'ark street and Spi-iiig street sound strangely in our ears — while AV'ater street as it was with its half dozen houses associated M'ith the names of Capt. Town and Dennis Smith and Dr. Towner and Deacon 8mit^i and Deacon Meacham cannot be recognized in the comparatively crovv'ded dwellings that now meet your eyes. The whole empty space between the Green River Bridge and Smedley's hiH*'has< been turned into a populous street, while 8hattuck's Lane (now '•Depot strget") is being filled up with houses and bids fair to terminate in a busy village on the banks of the Iloosic. The old e but small ])romise of their future beauty, have been multij)lied into eleven edifices embowered in groves of full grown trees and_sun'oimded by landscape gardening of rare taste and atiraction,'^while the number of professors and students has been more than doubled and the standard of scholarship made equal to that of numy and superior to most of tlie colleges of the land. And the changes in church relations have been almost as ini- merous. At the«commencement of the period now under review tlie Methodist church was just struggling into existence. Tiiey "were a feeble band meeting in a })rivate house in Water street to whom a circuit rider came once a month, and who assembled for wonsliip more frequently with their brethren in the adjoining town than in this. Uut Avith the increase of the population in connection with the enterprising manufacturers of shoos in Water street and of cotton goods at the foot of Main street, and through the christian fidelity and zeal of a few of their leading men, they soon enjoyed the regular ministrations of the gospel and the or- dinances which Christ has appointed. The private liouse was exchanged for a public hall; and as their numbers increased they built their very neat and substantial house Avhich stands at the 37 lioad of \Vator street. The sound of tlicir hell is iu)w liomd miiigliut; with tlKit of (lie C'ongrotiational church :iiid of the col- lego ch;i])el ciilliiiu: the jteoplu to the worship of (iod. The iiuiu- lier of their communicants has reached one huinlrcd, and a llourishing congregation w itli SaMiath school and Bil)le classes is estahlished in tliat pleasant locality. We -welcdnu' them most cordially as a sister church of Christ to the work which our cnni- niou Sa\ ioui' has gi\-en them and us to do and to enjoy. 1 loldiug firmly as they do the great doctrines of a Divine atonement ami justilication hy I'aith alone in the propitiation for sins made by Jesus Christ, and of the necessity of regeneration hy the Holy (Jhost, and of a holy life or the "ol>edience of faitli," we re- joice at their success; and our prayer is that in the new century which now Iti'gins they may have the happiness of a most lion- ored instrumentality in building up the kingdom of (iod among us and throughout the world. While this accession lias been made to the number of clmrchea in this part of the town, the members of the Congregatioii.al church, more than fifty in number, residing in " Southpart" as it w.as called forty years ago, have been organized into the 2d Con- gregational church, and for many years liave enjoyed the regular ministrations of the sanctuary. And following this, the ollicers and stuilents of tlie college liave establisheil a church of their own, and for several years past liave worsliipped by themselves in the college chapel. During this same period tbe Congrega- tiu- THF. House of Representatives Septr 10. 1753 Read and Voted that Israel Williams Esqr one of his Majs Justices of the Peace for the County of Hampshire Issue his Warrant for calling a meeting of the pro- pi-ietors of the AVest Township at Hoosuck so called Directed to one of the princi- l>al proprietors of sd Township, Requiring him to set up a Notilication in some public place in sd Township Setting forth the time, place and Occasion of sd Meet- ing fourteen days beforehand, which Meeting shall be holden in sd Townshi]?, and .such of the proprietors as shall be present at sd Meeting are hereby authorized and impowered bj' a Maj. vote to Determine upon a Division of all or apart of the Lands in said Township not already allotted, also Chuse a C'omtcc or Comtccs to 47 lay nut tliu Mimo, ulso lo raise monoys to dflVay Iho Charges Ihat may arise by means of laying out sd Lands, also fur Clearing Highways, as ulso to Chase a pru- jirictors' Clerk, Treasurer, Assessors and Collectors and also to agree and deter- mine ui>ou a method of calling meetings of said proprietors for the future. Sent up for Coneurrcneo T. IIUBBAllD Sp'k'r In Council Sept. 10. 17-53— Re.id and Concurred Tiros CLARK Dep. Sec'y Consented to W. SIIIllLEY. I3y virtue of the aljovc provision the proprietors -were tluly org.nnizcd, and moeting.s lieKl, the olBcial recoril of one of -wluch is still extant. These hardy pioneers -were not permitted long to continue tho Avork of '' bringing on '' their new settlement Avithout molestation. In the summer of ITo-t, the settlement at " Dutch Iloossuck " (Iloosic Falls) was broken up by the Indians, some of the people killed and the remainder forced to lice to Fort Massachusetts for jtrotection. The settlers at " West Iloosuok'' immediately abau' doned the place. Those having families sought shelter at Fort Massachusetts and otliers returned to their homes. The following petition for aid, presented to the General Court in October or November, gives an interesting account of their condition, and discloses the names of those who first occupied the town with their families, and thus are entitled to the designa- tion of the "first settlers.'' To His Excellency AVm Shirley Esqr Captn Genl and Govprnor In Chief in and over his Majesty's Provinco of tho Massachusetts Bay and &c. To the Ilonble his Majcstys Council and Tho House of Representatives in Genl Court Assembled— Oct. 17- Hoi. Tho Petition of the inhabitants of West Iloosuck — Humbly Sheweth That upon Survey of the Plan of sd Township and from tho information of tho Grntn of this Honourable Court that sold us oui* Respective Lotts wo aro abun dantly Satisfied that tho Government designed it for a Barrier Town into ■which Succour upon any rupture would be throM-n, which induced us to take up with Narrow Lotts less than fourteen Rods wide and thereby subject ourselves to the in- conveniences of living in a Huddle, also to give moneys for our Land (which tho Government has had the Benefit of) which used to be given upon the promise of sel- ling and Large Bonds to tho Provinco Treasurer for Scttleing which now he against us (zc. But may it pleaso your Excellency and llonrs Such is our case ivi)on the lato Alarm wo for Shelter ran to fort Massachusetts and are there with our familys who Clutter tho Fort, and make our lives and that of tho Soldiers very uucomfort- Hblo— in this poor Situation your Pettnrs are waiting your Excellencies and Hon- ours Directions how to Bestow our ourselves, and would let your Excellency know there is about E&.vviix families or vs that would gladly llcturn to our Settle- 48 uients, and a considerable number more, could we receive proper iucourai,'cmt from this Honable Court, Whose Determination we all Humbly wait Aud as in Duty bound shall ever pray &c Signed by JONA MEACHM SETH HUDSON GIDEON WARRIN WILLIAM CIIIDESTER BENJ. SIMONDS E/EKL FOSTER OLIVER AVERY ALLIN CURTISS THOMAS TRAIN JABEZ WARRIN Junr JA13EZ WARRIN The Government docs not appear to liave responded favorably to this petition for aid. Col. Israel Williams, the military com- mander of the " Western Frontier," did not deem it wise to attempt to sustain the new settlement while a French and Indian ■war Avas imminent. He advised the settlers to remove their gathered crops of wheat and other eftects to a place of safety. A portion of them, of Avhom Jonathan Meacham was one, entered the service under Ephraim Williams, and were with him in the expedition to Crown Point during the following year. The first evidence of any attempt to renew the work of settlement, is con- tained in the following petition of William Chidester for aid to erect a bloch-house — which Avas presented to the General Court on the 18th of January, 1756 : f To his Honour Spencer Phipps Esq Commander in Chief in _, . f +V. I *^*^ over His Majesty's province of the Massa-chusetts Bay in trovince ot tne , -^^^ En-land, To the Honouiable His Majesty's Council, and Massachusetts Jiay I jj^^^^ ^^ Representatives in General Court assembled the 18 [ Day of Jany 1756 The Petition of William Chidester of the Place called Hoosiick in the County of Hampshire in said Province Humbly Shews : That your petitioner j)urchased several lotts of land in the Westerly Township called lloosuck Townships, which lays about four miles to the westward of fort Massachusetts, and had Removed his family on to said lots In order to Perform the Duties Injoincd the several Purchasers of lotts in the said Township, with an ex- pectation that the other purchasers would have followed him to fullfill their obliga- tions on their Respective lotts, and so strengthen the Town, that they might not only Defend ourselves against the common Enimy, but bo a Barrier to Province, But so it is that Your Petitioner and Some Others, to the amoukt op nvE fami- lA's are left alone in the said Westerly Township as he apprehends in Emmenant Danger of being Murthered, and their substance destroyed by the Common Enimy, as there is but about five familys between his habitation, and the place Colcd Scoto- hook (Schaghticolce) in the Dutch County which the Indians and French burnt and distroycd the last fall. Notwithstanding our forces were at lake George at the same time. Your Petitioner therefore humbly Prays your Honour and Honours would be Graciously pleased to take his Distrest Condition into your wise Consideration and grant such Releifc as in Your great Wi:>dom you shall see meet. And as in Duty bound shall ever pray " WILLIAM^IIIDESTER 49 In lIorsK of IlKrnr.sr.xTATiVF.s, Janv 18. I'-Vt Read and Onlrird, That the prayer of tluH Petu be m far granted as that tho ('oiniiiamlcr in C'liicf be di.sired to {five orders, Tliat if tho Proprietors of siiid Townsliip or any part of them shall at their own cost and charge erect a suflieient lUork house in said Town, ix tick i'i.a( k c.vli,ki» the sqvakf, by tho tenth day of Manh next, that then there be allowed Ten Soldiers, either out of the number now Stationed at Tout Massaelmsetts, or otherwise by a new Levy as this Court shall juil^'c best : and that tho sd proprietors or sueli of them as shall appearand labour in the Erecting of sd Fout bo allowed their Subsistence out of the province stores for the space of two months; ami that if tho Proprietors shall not appear by the tenth of March next to erect a Block-house on the place called tUo square, that then the Petitioner with such as shall appear spirited with him, and shall erect a Block-houso uoind his house and the two otueu hovsks coxvknient to iiF. taken in, shall be entitled to tho same subsistence above sd while building said Block-house, and that when sd Block-house is finished Ten of the Inhabitants which sliall have Erected said Block-house be put into pay and subsistence during yo Courts pleasure, and that the Commander in Chief be disirod to give orders that there be a Guard of Ten men taken from Fort Massachusetts to guard the Labour- ers while they are work on sd Block-house Sent up for Concurrence T. HUBBARD Spkr In Cou»cJl Feb 2. Read and Concurred TIIOS CLARK Depty Scc'ry Consented to W. SHIRLEY. On the 6tli of Feb., Gov. Shirley issued an order in accordance ■Nvith the foregoing request, authorizing Chidester to build a block- house on the square if a sufficient number should join him so as to complete the work by the 10th of March ; otherwise to build around hi.s OAvn and two other houses. Chidester, aided by Ben- jamin Simonds, Seth Hudson and Jabez "Warren proceeded at once to erect the block-house on the ca'-tcrn line of his OAvn lot, Avhich was the third west or twenty-eight rods from the present Mansion House, on the north side of the street. Ten men from Fort Massachusetts served as a guard to the work- men from Feb. 29th to March 29th, when the work was completed. Others, who had left the place on the alarm in 1754, returned and aided in tli« work, amongst whom were Xchcmiah Smedley and Josiah and William Horsford. In obedience to the following order of the General Court, Capt. Wyman, March 23d, detailed five men from Fort Massa- chusetts under the command of Sergeant Samuel Taylor, to guard- the new work, in connection with the men who had built it. MAncH 9th 1756 Ordered, That there Itc Forty Men at Iloosuck and no more. Thirty whereof to be posted at Fort Massachuijetts, and ten at the West Township, the said Ten at yc West Township to be inhabitants of sd Townsliip, if there shall be so many in^; 7 §0 habitants effective for the service, alwaies iiicluding the men that shall have been concerned in building the Block-house agreeable to the vote of this Court of the 28th of Jany last Dissatisfied with this arrangement, Chidcster -n-ent to Boston in April and obtained from Gov. Shirley a Sergeant's commission and authority to supersede Taylor in the command of the fort. Meanwhile a portion of the settlers were not satisfied with the proceedings of Chidester and his friends, and on the 27tli of May, Thomas Train in their behalf presented the following petition for aid to build another fort. To His Honour Spencer Phipps Esq — Lieut Govr and Commander in Chief of His Majisties Province of Massachusetts Bay &c The Honble His Majisties Council and ye Honble House of Representatives in General Court Assembled— May 26. 1756. The memorial of Thomas Train of West Hoosuek in behalf of himself and Di- vers others of the Proprietors of West Hoosuek, Humbly Sheweth : That your Memorialist and others of the Proprietors of ye aforesaid Township, ■would with ye countenance and encouragement of ye General Court build at tbeir own proper cost and Charge a Block-house at said place upon the Square so called which will be of special service in order to bring forward a settlement iv said place, and beg leave to Ilcpresent that ye Block-house (if it wil bear ye name) built by William Chidester and others answers no good purpose and was erected contrary to the minds of ye Proprietors in general, and as we think contrary to ye design and order of ye Genl Court ;■ thei-efore your memorialist humbly begs leave to erect a Block-house at ye aforesaid place of ye following Dimensions viz : Eighty feet square, two mounts twenty feet square, with a sufficient Watch Box to ye same — ai with Hewn Timber. And that your Honours in your wonted goodness would sub- sist your memorialists whilst erecting said Block-house and grant them such a num- ber of men to mantle ye same (During their perilous season) as your Honours in your great wisdom shall see best and as in Duty bound shall ever pray. THOMAS TRAIN Mit Records Vol 9. p. 882 Attached to said petition is the following srrbscription^ to wit: Fort Massachusetts May ye 10. 1756. We the subscribers da promise to pay unto Any Person Or persons the several sums subscribed if they will undertake and finish a sufficient fort on the Square in the West Township at Husack so called at the eompleat finishing said fort — the Dimentions are as followeth viz. said fort to be 80 feet square with two mounts each 20 feet square, the said Fort to be built of hewn timber aiMl a sufficient Watch Bos. — and we the Subscribers do promiso-to pay the several sums subscribed ov to work till we have Compleated the Supc-rscription, as witness our hands — ISAAC WYMAN 6-0-0 THOMAS TRAIN 3-0-0 BEN SYMONDS 3-0-0 ELISIIA HIGGINS 1-10-0 AVILLIAiyi MEACHAM 3-0-0 WILLIAM TRAIN l-IO-O TYRAS PRATT 1-6 8 JOSEPH IIAWLEY 18-0 GAD CHAPIN 3-0-0 JONATHAN MEACHAM 2-0 JOHN WELLS 3-0-0 DEllICK WEBB 0-1-10 NOAH PRATT 1-6-8 JOHN MOFFAT 3 SAML TAYLOR 3 51 l^iglil or ten of the above suhscrllicrs ■were settlers. Train Avas the son-iii law of Siinonds, ami liis (Icsceiidaiits are still resi- dents of tlio town. No response appears to liavc been made to Ills petition. ]\[eanwliile there were runiors of an approaching enemy. The block-honse was destitute of artillery and »vith only ten men as a garrison. Early in June, Chidestcr went to Boston again, and presented the two petitions which follow, and which, with their signatures, seem to throw light upon the condition of aftairs at that time. Xeither of the petitions received any response. Other matters were pressing too heavily. To liis Excellency William Shirley Esq. Capt General, &c, and to tho Honblo his Majesty's Council, and tho Honourable House of Representatives in General Court As.sciiibk'd. The Petition of tho Proprietors of the West Iloosuck Humbly sheweth, That wlnrcas ten of the Proprietors of West Hocsiuk have obtained Liberty fi-oni the Honble Court to build a Fort in sd township with the Incourngeinent of tho Pay and Subsistence of tho Province as Soldiers, and as there is allowed forty (III n for tho Defence of the western frontOt'rs at fort Massachusetts and AVcst Iloo- suck, fort Massachusetts is a Considerable Part of it fell down and it is Daly expec- ted the rest w^ll fall — and Concluding tho Province will Either Rebuild that fort agin or liild some other for tho Defence of the fronteor, your Petitioners Humbly I'rays that Massachusetts fort may not be Rebeilt but that wo may Have the Lib- erty of Erecting a fort in our township that shall answer the (same) intent of the Government as that, and that we may have tho artillery and tho seame strength al- lowed as was there — and inasmuch as those ton of our Proprietors Have already bcu at great cost in Erecting a block-house in town, and Have Don it in such a mai;c'r as with some addition will accomadato the whole propriety, your Petitioners Humbly Praieth thtt we may Have the Like Encouragement allowed us as those ten Have, and we will forthwith join those ten, and by adding other work to tho fort allready Built make it a su(llci<>nt fort to answer the intent of the Government ns a foit instead of Hoosuck fort, which will at onco Build up this town & will be as much Defence to the Government and for less Charge, tho Determination of whiih your Pettrs shall wait and as in Duly bound shall ever Pray — JOSLVH DEAN ELISHA HIGGINS SA"MUEL KELLOGG SETH KENT NEHEMIAII SMEDLEY JOSIAH HORSFORD JONATHAN KYLBORNE JESSE SAWYER SOLOMON BUEL ELNATHAN ASIIMUN ELISHA CIIAPIN TYRAS PRATT NOAH PRATT ENOS HUDSON GIDEON WARRIN June 9th 17o6— presented. Referred to ye next Sitting Petition- of William Chidester. Boston, June 10. 17o6 May il please your Honor, Whereas there are now two small swivel Guns in Fort Massachusetts unimproved by said Ganison who are otlierwiso supplied with Artillery, and the same would be of Singular Service at the Block-house at Hoosuck where they are destitute of any artillery. This is to pray the Favor of your Honours rctrard to our circum- stances in Exigency as to give Orders that the same may be removed from thence to said Block-house at Hoosuck, with arimiunition for the Improvement of said Swivel Guns in case of need. Or otherwise supplyed as your Honour shall judge necessary at this time of Danger. And your Petitioner as in duty bound shall ever pray &c WILLIAM CHIDESTER To the Honourable Spencer Phipps Esq. Ltt Govr & Commander in Chiefe of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Chidester returned to his fort. Bui liis term of service was drawing to a close. On the 11th of July " the block-house was beset by a large party of the enemy," and Chidester, one of his sons and Capt. Elisha Chapin were killed. They were probably surprised Avithout the fort ; for it is stated that on the 2d day from the attack, " Capt. Wyman sent twenty men to search for the body of Capt. Chapin, who foimd him and buried him in a decent manner and returned with his family to Ft. Mass." Seth Hudson succeeded to the command of the fort, which re- ceived considerable accessions of men at various times during the next two years. Ammunition and subsistence were supplied from the older fort, and the work of settling the town went on gradually. But the principal body of the settlers felt themselves aggrieved at what they conceived to be the stinted and niggardly supplies of men and provisions received from the commander at Fort Mass. On the 11th of January, 1757, they presented to the Legislature a petition for a redress of their grievances. This is herewith given, with the names attached, as a graphic recital of the perils and trials to which they Avere subjected. To His Honour Spencer Phipps Esq Lieut Govr &c, The Honourable His Majesty's Council, and the Honble House of Ileprcsentatives in Gen. Court Convened at Boston Petition of a number of the Proprietors of West Hoosuck in behalf of ourselves and divers others of the Proprietors of West Hoosuck Humbly Sheweth : That your Honours Petitioners Have Built a Sufficient Block-house in said town- ship agreeable to the orders of the Government which will be of Special Service in order to bring forward a Settlement in said place if we can but Support our Hold which we trust we Could Well Do, Had we but a little more Strength and a Suffi- cient Quantity of Stores within our walls. But since we are allowed but Ten men and all our stores to fitch from fort massachusetts or to subsist our Selves without aney allowance from the Government the matter is somewhat Precarious — for dur- ing the Perilous Season the Sumcr Past we with our teams was under a Necessity of taking one Part of them and to turn out and go to fort massachusetts once in 14 days for our Subsistence — Nor could wc prevail with Capt Wyman to Let us Have any inure llmu 11 Days allowance at a time ami tlmn st;iy until that was allinn^t jron before II(! wonhl Let lis Have any more — so that many tini(>8 wc lui'l Ilnd not a Days allowanee in the fort at a time wlien we had Keason to think we nh 'uUl he nt- taeked by the I",r.tniy Daly by the frequent decoveries wc made of them. — Wcliavo made application to Major AVilliauis as wc under Stood lie wns ordered by the (iovernnient to Sub.iist us, & likewise to Col Isearl Willianifl and to tho Comascary Gcnei-el, But all to no purjiose a.s we apprehend, for the Last Stores wc went for wc Could not Get but 14 ])ays allowance, and a Number of us Have not Had any bread for three weeks pa. & goodness you sec Best, and your petitioners as in Duty bound shall cvey pray — N B All the assertions in tho Bovc writcn Petition Can and may be proved by able witness at the Desire or by order of the Honrble Court — SAMUEL KELLOGG SETH HUDSON NEHEMIAH SMEDLY WILLIAM HORSFOIID JONATHAN KILBOKN ISAAC VANAUENEM SOLOMON BUELL JOSIAII HORSFOUD SETH KENT • JOHN HOUSEOllD ELISHA HKiGiyS ISAAC SEAUL JOSIAII DEAN Jii TYKAS PKATT ELNATHAN ASHMUN GIDEON WAKIIIN NOAH PRATT WILLIAM CHIDESTER Jlnr JABEZ WARRIN AIICHELAUS TEMPLE JE8SE SAWYER In- Iloisr. RErs Jax'y 11. l?;''?— Hcnd find Ortl.tnl, That Mr Lyman and Capt llichardson with sucli as the Honblc IJoard sh:ill jniu Lc a CDmmince to eonsidr;!- tliis rct;ticn, to repair to IIoo- suck to examine yc state of ye forts there, and eonsidtr whether it he most expedi- ent to Repair Fort Jlassaehusetts & to Keep a (Harrison there and at the Blotk- house, or to build anew elsewhere, & that the Comtee inquire into the Facts al- lotted in the Pet'tion & hear ye parties, and are hereby impowcrcd to take Evidences relative thereto on oath, and report. Also Voted, That the Ten Jiien stationed at AVest Iloosuck, as wilUin mentioned, bo allowed to Billet themselves at yo charge of the Province until the further order of this Court, provided they do not charge more than five shillings and four pence pr week for each man. Sent up for Concurrence T. IIUBBAUD Spkr In- Couxcil 11 J.vxv 17')7. Head 6: Concurred & James Minot B^q is joined in the affiiir. A. OLIVER, Secy Consented to S. PIIIPPS— For some unexplained reason the commiltce tluis appointed did not act, Avhereiipou Hudson, in Lulialf of the petitioners, on tlie 22d of April, presented the following : Province ot the ) To the Honble his majesty's Council and the Ilonble House of l>Iassachusetts Bay I Kepresenta lives. The Petition of Seth Hudson, Humbly Shewcth Whereas Josiali Horsford, and others. Proprietors and Inhabitants of West IIoo- suck, on the Stb day of Jany last prcsc) ted a memorial and Petition to this Ilonble Court, representing their grievances, and praying relief, and the Court was pleased, on the llth of Jany, to grant ns the libertj-^ of Billeting ourselves, and also to ap- point a Committee to repair to West Iloosuck, and examine the truth of our Com- jikiint, but it hath so happened that the Committee hath not yet been there — Your Petitioner humbly prays; That the Committee appointed, or any other Committee, be directed to repair to West Hoosuck, and view our situation and cir- cumstances, which when ju.stly represented to your honours, will we doubt not, meet with due encouragement, as it is the most exposed of any upon the western Frontiers, and the properest place to make a stand against the Enemy — Your Petitioner as in duty bound shall pray &c SETH HUDSON Commanding Officer at West Hoosuck Boston 2'2d Atiui. 1757 Ix CovxciL Arrai, 25. 17o7 Road and ordered that Timothy Woodbridgo Esq, of Stockbridge with such as the Honble House shall joynbe aCointeo to take the Petition above referred to into Consideration, Repair to Hoosuck to Examine the state of the Forts there, and Consider whether it be most Expedient to Repair Fort Massachusetts, to keep a Garrison there and at the Block-house, or to build Elsewhere ; That the sd Comtee inquire into the Facts alledg'd, hear the Parties, and they me hereby Impowcred to take Evidence relative thereto on oath. Sent down for Concurrence A. OLIVER Secy In the House of Reps April 25, 1757 Read and Concurred, and Coll. I^Iorey & Capt Livermore are Joined in the affair T. HUBBARD S'k'r 55 y\r. Woudbr'ulgc and his associates at once " rcpaiicd" to tlic western frontier, exaniiiuMl into the ftatc of atVairs there, ane action of the General Court tliercon. No artillery har, and also for the servieea of a chaplain. I'rovinrc of the ) t ti rr i i i ■ ir • *«< /-' _ -i Mass. J5ny ) •' Tho pftitii(n of Soi'i Hudson of Wist Iloosutk, in bchulf of flic Inhaliitants there — Humbly Blicwith: That the Tilock-housc at "W. Iloosuck i.s, hy tho continuoil labors of the Inhabi- tants made very strou^r, and greatly iinjirovid by additional works, so a.s to be the Htronjrcst Fort on the Western Frontier, well situated for a Barrier, and will proba- bly ."!avc in a short time, jrreat charjr'.' to thi; Government by its l>ein^ in a Town- iiliiji of tlio tinest land in the Province, which will soon fill with People, many of the Proprietors beinj,' in Connecticut, and others from that Colony being dcnirous of settling there; but wo are wholly without artillery. They therefore humbly pray your Honours would grant such a part of the artil- lery from Fort Massaclius(tts, with Powder, Shott, & Shidls, with other neccssaryu, ns may be suitable for defeudinp: tho Pilock-house. And if a Chaplain should be ap- ))oiuteJ this summer for Fort Mass. wc leg wo may likewise have the privihjje of liis preaching with us, a favour we have not liitherto enjoyed, tho but four miles distant from Fort Massachusetts. Your Petitioner as in Duty bound, shall ever Pray &c. SKTH HUDSON Commanding Officer of AVcst Hoosuck rrcsentcd. J^Iay 17J7 The artillery in Fort Mas.sa are "j 3 — 4 Pounders | 1 — tleld piece )■ 2 — Swivells I 2 — Cohorn mortars — J In reply to this request one of the "four potuiders," and two swivels, nanied in the above memorandum, were sent to the block- house. The Comtee appointed to repair to Hoosuck to examine t^ e sta^e of the forts there and to consider tho eoinpl.-iints eontained in a petition Exhibited by Sundry persona of West Hoosuik, Are of the opinion that the fort Called the Massaehupefts being: placed and buiU where it is was owinp: to the want of a bolter aivjuaintanee of the .'tate. Situation and Cireunistanecs of that part of the province. The Comteo Humbly conceive that the {ivcat ends and desi^rns of the Govern- mni.t in being at the Expense of fortifying and maintaining a garrison there was to ]iro!iiote and bring forward settlements in that exj os'd & unsettled part of the pro- vince, and to be a protection to such .i-s would bring forward .Settlements, and in some measure a defence to the Settlements below, by diverting, discovouring, an- noying v^ giving intelligence of the approach of tlic Enemy. And if those things wiri; the pni-pose of tb.c Government (he Comtee arc of opinion that the said fort is oG not so Suitably and convcuicntly situated to answer those Ends as nii^lit be in seme other place. For by the best information it aj-pcars that the enemies chief gang- way to the western frontiers iii about the west part of the west Township. The Comtce upon a carcfuU E.\amination of the Condition of the .said fort find it much decayed, but still in such condition as may answer for a while the purjioses of a garrison without cost to repair it The Coiiitec upon a view of the Fort or block-house Erected in the west Town- ship find it a place of considerable strenj^th and tolarable situation, and with some additional building and properly man'd it would be in a conditi ni of being main- tained against a considerable! force. And altho the fortress is not built on the Square yet it is so near that it will accomodate the Settlers almost as well, and with the addition of Barracks or Stockades from the block-house to the top of thb iiii.i., ABOi'T SEVEN KODS, with a mount at ye end of the said Barracks or Stock- ades OK .SAID uu.Jj, the whole will be as well situated for defence as any place the Comteo could discover. ' The Cointee having Examinee! into the grounds of the Complaints in the said pe- tition commitfcd to their Consideration are of the ojiinion that the comjjlaints Ex- hibited in Said petition are well .supported Excepting the change of the Subsistence being withheld on all occasions ^yhen any soldiar is absent from the fort. For it appeared to the Comtce that when any soldier is sent on an express his Subsistence is not withheld. The Comtce are also of opinion that the adding of twenty more men to thg ten at the block-house or fort in the west Township would be of public service. All which is Humbly submitted TIMO WOODBRIDGE SAMUEL LIVERMORE MOSES MARCY Stockuriuge June 10. 1757 In the HotsF of Rep's January 10. 1758 Read, and Voted, That this report be accepted so far as it relates to Fort Massa- chusetts and the block-liou.se at West Iloosuck Sent up for concurrence T. HUBBARD Spkr In Council Janv 10. 17-38 Read and Concurred A OLIVER Secy That part of the above report Avhich related to the conduct of Capt. Wyman, the commander at Fort Massachusetts, Maj. Elijali, the commissary, and Col. IsraeJ Williams, the commander of the western department, together with the memorials of each of these officers, were referred to a new committee to make furtlier and more thorough investigations. A large mass of testimony was taken, including numerous depo- sitions, in support of and in opposition to the complaints of the petitioners ; and after a full examination the committee made a report, that the complaints, with one or two exceptions, as to the conduct of Capt. Wyman, were not proved. J3nt the times of trial and danger for the hardy pioneers of our 57 to^'ii were drawing to a close. The war was soon to l>c trans- ferred from tlic banks of tlic Iloosic and the Connecticut to tliose of the St. Lawrence. The footsteps of the Indian warrior were no more seen witliin our borders, and the frontier settlements thenceforward had rest and peace. CORRESPONDENCE, &c. The following letters were called forth by the invitation sent abroad by the committee to former residents of Williamstown to unite in the celebration of the centennial. They were not written with the expectation that they Avonld be pnblished. But the committee have thought that the great ends of the celebration would be more perfectly attained by giving them a permanent form in the published proceedings of the day. 12 West 29tu SritiiET, New Yokk, Not. 9, 18G.5. Dr. H. L. S.viiix,— My Deaii Sik :— Your.s of the 6tli came to hand last evening?. It took us by surpri»o, but ^r0 phoulJ be dclii^htcd to be with you on the 19th, if it were po.--sible. Wc hare talked it over and tried to make it .so, but wc are gettinjj old and neither Mi-s. Peters nor myself feel quite able to brave the journey at this season, and I am pledired to somo other cnfraj;ements about that time which I cannot well forogo. On the whole, we feel obliged to deny ourselves the coveted pleasure. The occasion, we have no doubt, would be one of great interest to us, as well as to the natives of Williamstown. The thought is a good one, and the selection of Mr. Noble as the Historian for the occasion is admirable. Our hearts will be with you and we shall hope for the best results from so genial a gathering on one of the way- marks of time. Our best love to your family and other friends. I write by the hand of another, for reasons which you understand, and remain Very cordially yours, _ A. PETERS. UXIVEUSITY AT LEWISliVUG, PeNX., NoV. 14, I8G0. My Dear Sir:— Your note informing me of the intended commemoration at Williamstown was was duly received, having been forwarded to me from my late residence. I need not say to you how happy I shoul 1 be to attend and take part. From the time # when I first heard that a celebration was contemplated, I looked forward to it with great pleasure, not allowing myself to doubt that I should be there, if it were ]ihys- ically possible. But my duties here have been too recently assumed and are too engrossing to permit me to be absent at this time. I cannot tell you how greatly I regret this. My heart will be there. I suppose that every thoughtful person has a very special interest in the place of his birth and education. But wo may bo 59 pcrniittod to ln,)k with no rnmninn into many yojirs away, 1 need not tell y(ni what plmsuro it Would give nu> to bo thtro and meet you and otliers, and partieulaily on that occa- sion. One huiiclred years a;,'o I They Tnust iudted have bi en a little Land, fi eble aud few, who stood around their Piustor ut the laying on of hanils upon his devoted head. ISut they fidt the value of that niini.-'try, and of that Book which brings life and inmortalify to light, and which breathes of that charity which .-eekefh not her own. One hundred years I Tho hc;uls of tho.se vcneriiblo nu-n who were activo in tho fonuatiou <.f that chundi and society have been laid low. To conns down within my own recollection, old Doet. I'itidi, llev. Mr. King, Doct. Grillin, Ilev. Mr. Gridley, and the Deacons Stratton, Ford, Suu'dlcy, Skinner and our ow n hon- ored fatlnsr, the AVhitinans and other active and intelligent nieiubers of that church and society, whose voi<-e.s have so often been heard at tljo church conference meet- ings, and were once so familiar to us, where ax*e they ;■' Each year in its revolution Las tiiken them from our sight, and some who perhaps may yet remaiu stand bend- ing over the entrance to their final risting place, and .soon will glide as shadows from our sight. I love my native town, 1 love her people, it seems to nin like holy ground. It has always seemed to mc, that a place where so many grand enterprise have originated, so much prayer been oll'ered, so many good and Indy men lived and died, must always be greatly blessed of God. The inlluences of that ehnrch and that college have beeu felt in the rcmeti'st corners of the eai-tli, and given wings to many mcsseugtirs of peace, who have made glad the hearts of many dtstiluto heathen, and many broken hearted .suppliant-s at the cross. 1 believe the Pa.'-tors of that church have always endeavored to lead their people to tho lloek on which they could build for eternity. The descendants of ^uch sires need never be ashamed, or afraid of being left out in the cold. Who would not love to live there, who would not love to die aud be buried there, amidst that people, among those hilLs, and take part with them in the great resurrection? I find it very dillieult, my dear brother, to resist that call to praj-cr from my kindred in uiy native town. I should love to be there, and mingle my jioor prayer with you on that delightful occasion, but th.o time nece.s.sai ily spent in going and coming so long a distance involves too much for luc to spare at this time. May God be with you and bless you tliere. We are all pretty well — uiy love to all my kindred and friends. Alfectionatcly your I5roihev, (.'IIAKI. KS NODLE. Rnv. M.v^.oN Nym.r., Wii.li.vm.s:o\vx, M.vss. GO LIST OF SUBSCRIBEES TO THE CONGREGATIONAL CTIUIICTI OF ■SVILLlAMbTOWN. Wo wliose names arc hereunto subscribed do severally promise and ag:rcc to pay unto such persons as a majority of the subscribers shall ajipoint a coiumittcc to re- ceive the same, the several sums set aj^ainst our names respectively — to be applied to the purpose of erecting a house of public worship on the eminence where the old meeting house now stands in ■NVilliamstown. The money so subscribed to be paid at such time or times, and the house to be built of such dimensions and upon such model as the majority of the subscribers shall direct. SErrKMLER 2i:"th, 1796. £ s. d. f 8. d. T. I. & B. Skinners 100 James Greene 3-0-0 AVilliain Hamilton 2.5-0-0 William T. uncr 15-0-0 Eli Cotton 4-10-0 Asa Ku.-^sell 10-0-0 0. Barri* 20-0-0 Josiah Wright 3d 3-0-0 Shubael Wilnmrth 9-0-0 Stephen Hickox 10-0 S.amuul Sloan 60-0-0 N. Chamberlain 15-0-0 11. Sheldon 15-0-0 D. & Dca. Noble 80-0-0 Daniel Day 40-0-0 Z. Forad 12-0-0 C. Baker 25-0-0 Josiah Wright, Jr. 5-0-0 A. Uarrison 12-0-0 J. & T. Meacham 34-0-0 C. Sabin 16-0 Wm. Foster 15-0-0 E. Cotton, Jr. 8-0-0 Wm. Wells 20-0-0 Abram Stark« 1-10-0 Wm. Smith 9-0-0 S. Kellogg 2.5-0-0 T. Boardnisn 6 I. Day 12-0-0 Sanb'l Sattcrlce 3 L. & E. Smedlcy 60-0-0 Ezekicl Burk 1 10 II. Richardson 5-0-0 T. & D. Smith 12 E. Mathor 1.5-0-0 Jacob Bacon 12 Corporation 100-0-0 Chas. Bulkier, Jr. 9 Dan'l Dewey 1.5-0-0 Rev. Seth Swift 15 Aaron Footc 3 0-0 Jas. Mcacham 6 Stephen Patchen 1-10-0 Barth. Woodcock 30 Barney McMan 2-10-0 Absalom Blair 12 Tim'y Northam 9-0-0 Warren Roberts 2 Dan'l Foote 2-0-0 John Sweet 6 Lemuel Stewart 75-0-0 Isaac Sherwood 10 Ebenezcr Stratton 20-0-0 Wm. Sloan 3 William Young 20-0-0 Dan'l Burbank 4 W. Starkweather 20-0-0 Joscjih Osborn 7 10 David Johnson 20-0-0 John Douning 6 10 Lsaac Miller 0-12-0 Amza Smith 2 10 9 Samuel Iliggins 15-0-0 Thomas Bishop 12 Tim'y Balch 9-0-0 Jcdidiah Stone 1 4 rirly Putnam 20-0-0 Jeremiah Smith 1 4 ■Tos'h Balch 8-0-0 Jos'h Talmage & Son 20 Jona. Danforth 22-0-0 Constant William 10 Stephen Scott 5-0-0 Sam'l Tyler 15 Pardon Starks 1-10-0 Reuben Scaley 10 Benj'n Sim ends 6-0-0 Jonathan Bridges 15 Elijah Thomas 8-0-0 Lewis Tousant 14 Soloman Woolcot 7-0-0 Jas. Fowler 10 Elisl\a Williams 15-0-0 Abial Hawkins 10 Nathaniel Kellogg 10-0-0 Nchemiah Woodcock 10 Nathan Smith 6-0-0 Joel Baldwin 20 Amount, £1,36? 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