m :4’, «‘ Mr L , . w r j. 1‘ ’€‘L7"-‘y I » V. ,3; 74“ y HISTORICAL ADDRESS max. EEEEEE BEFORE TH_E CITIZENS OF WALTHAM, JULY 4, I 876, JOSIAH RUTTER. WITH‘ AN ACCOUNT 013* THE CELEBRATION OF THE DAY. _ V 1877. 'WALTHAM: WALTHAM FREE PRESS OFFICE. 1877. PRESIDENT'S WPROCLAMATION. On the 25th of May, 1876, the President of the United States issued the folloiving I’roc1amation:--- WI-IEREAS, a joint resolut.ion of the Senate and Eiouse of Representa- tives of the United States was duly approved on the 13th day of March last, which resolution is as follows‘: - “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United ‘States, in Congress assembled: “That it be and is herebypreoomrnencled by the Senate and House of- Representatives to the people of the several States, that they assembler in their several counties or towns. on ..the approaching‘ centennial an- niversary of’ our national independence; and that they cause to have delivered on such day an historical sketch of said county or town frongl its formation; and that a copy of said sketch may be filed, in print or inanuscript", in the clerk’s office of said county, and an additional copy in print or rnanuscript, be filed in the ofiice of the librarian of Con- gress, to the intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the first centennial of their existence.” Whereas, It is deemed proper that such reconnnendation be brought to the notice and knotvledge of‘ the people of the United States. New, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby declare and niake known the same, in the hope that the ob- jeet. of such resolution may meet the approval of the people of the ijnited States, and that proper steps may be taken to carry the same into eflect. , Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the 25th of May, in the year of our Lord 1876, and of the independence of the United States the one hundredth. _ U. S. GRAN'l‘ By the President. HAMILTON FISH, Secretctry of State. At a town meeting held March 19-, 1877, it Was—- Voted, That the Selectmen be directed to cause to be published in proper form and in nurnbers a.ccording' to their judgment a sketch of the Cenl:ennia1 exercises of July 4th, 1876, including the I~Iistorica,1 Ad- dress of Josiah Rutter, Esq. ‘ E. B. ARMSTRONG, TIMOTHY LEARY, . CHAS. H. BILL, LSeZectmen. B. C. BATCHELDER, | L. S. FOSTER. j ORATION. IN the Spring of 1630 there would seem to have been quite a fever in the mother country for emigra- tion to America. In the course of a few Weeks seven- A teen vessels sailed from different ports on the English coast, bringing over some prominent men, such as Gov. Winthrop, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Henry Bright and others. A number of these had made Salem their des- tination and there they landed; Not, however, feeling satisfied with the place, they in the course of a few days removed to Charlestown. Here again they were disap- pointed, and going up Charles River about four miles they finally selected as a permanent location, a spot to which with other ‘territory was afterwards given the name of Watertown. Here with Sir Richard Saltonstall V as their leader, and the Rev. George Phillips as their 6 Pastor, they established a home and formed a church, the covenant of membership having been signed by forty men, most of them heads of families. As originally established and chartered Watertown included what is now embraced in the towns of Weston, I Waltham, Watertown and part of Lincoln. And so it remained for nearly a hundred years. . In 1713, Weston became a separate town. - From this time what was af- terward set off as Waltham, was known as the West Precinct of Watertown, an ecclesiastical rather than a municipal designation. In 1720 a church was formed, and soon after a meeting-house was erected on the spot near the Lyman mausion,where afterwards a more com— modious house was built which remained until 1840. During the one hundred and twenty years, from 1720 to 1840, there were but three Pastors of this society, the Rev. Warham Williams ofliciating from 1720 to 1752 ; the Rev. Jacob Cushing from 1752 to 1809 ; and ' the Rev. Samuel Ripley from 1809 to 1840. In 1738, Waltham was incorporated as a town. It is remarlzable that we do not find on some of the records some intimation of the origin of the name given to our town. -We know that various meetings were held in the West Precinct in reference to the change, that for» mal notice of the intended application was served upon the town of Watcrtown, and that a petition was present- 7 ed to the General Court asking for its incorporation. But in none of these is found any suggestion of the name intended to be given to the new town. The probability is that itivvas proposed by some one of the inhabitants who came from the vicinity of Waltham Abbey, in Es- sex County, England. Waltham gained about six hun- dred acres of territory by annexation from Newton in 1849, and lost on its northeast corner by the incorpora- tion of Belmont in 1859. It may seem strange that from the time of the incor- poration of the new town, for a good number of years so little should have occurred within its borders to become matter of history. And yet it is not wanting a satis- factory explanation. The territory of Waltham had always been a sort of hniddle or border land between two well known and thrifty towns. And this continued to be its character long after the establishment of the new town. The inhabitants were a farming community, occupying the rich and productive lands in the northerly section of the town, in preference to those nearer the river which were of an inferior quality. . It was a. town that had no centrality. The Post-Oflice, after one was established, was in the vicinity of Beaver Brook where there was a public house and a store; and there was also a public house and store at the extreme west end of the town. And thus it continued until the Boston 8 Manufacturing Company, in 1813, commenced opera- F tions attracting to their own location the business and population, and giving to the town a business centre. Thus it happens that from 1738 to 177 5 we hear in history but little of Waltham. But we are not to infer from this that her people took no interest or had no part in the stirring events of that busy period. During those forty years, to say nothing of the battles with ‘the In- dians, the most important engagements of the French war occurred. Within a period of fifty years, war be- tween France and England had been three times pro- claimed and peace three times declared. Every fresh declaration of war involved a fresh warfare between the French and English possessions in America. Besides the troubles between England and France, Massachu- setts had grievances of its own against the French colo- r nies which required her attention. France held the island of Cape Breton upon which was the strongly built fortress of Louisburg. From this were sent out privateers to prey upon the fisheries and commerce of New England. In 1744, an expedition consisting of four thousand men was fitted out for the capture of this stronghold. The expedition with the aid of the British fleet proved successful, and Louisburg was cap» tured. In 1754, Massachusetts, aided to so1ne extent by the other colonies and by England, conquered Nova or Scotia and Canada. These expeditions to the Canadas it were voluntary acts of the soldiery of Massachusetts. Yet no Warfare in this country has "ever involved a greater amount of privation and su