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DEDICATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Hall Memorial Library, 
 
 AT 
 
 ELLINGTON, CONN., 
 
 NOW 11th, 1903. 
 
^1 
 
 SCHOOL 
 

 BOARD OF LIBRARY DIRECTORS. 
 
 Dr. E. T. DAVIS, Chairman. 
 
 ALBERT PINNEY. 
 
 FRANCIS M. CHARTER, Secretary. 
 
 E. H. BANCROFT, Librarian. 
 
 2Ji5^20 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 It is proper that this Memorial Souvenir of the dedication 
 exercises of the "Hall Memorial Library" in Ellington should 
 be preceded by a short introductory account of the purpose 
 of Mr. Francis Hall, the donor, in erecting and giving the 
 library to his native town. 
 
 A strong filial and fraternal feeling, inspired also with a loyal 
 remembrance of Ellington, the place of his boyhood and edu- 
 cation — from which he began the establishment of his chosen 
 avocation of a book-seller — led him to devise this library as 
 the most fitting tribute to them all. The result of his deter- 
 mination and generous labors is the beautiful building which 
 stands in the center of the town, facing the public park. It 
 was not an investment, but a token of love — a free public 
 library. 
 
 Mr. Francis Hall for several years had considered the 
 propriety and desirability of giving to his native town of 
 Ellington a free public library. His desire was to erect a 
 library building in honoring memory of his father and elder 
 brother, who had been head-masters of the famous schools of 
 Ellington. His father, John Hall, was founder and the 
 principal of the "Ellington School," organized in 1832. His 
 brother, Edward Hall, succeeded him as principal of the 
 "Hall Family School for Boys." This last school was not 
 closed until 1875, the year of his death. Thus for nearly half 
 a century the two continued the Ellington schools. In them 
 there have been educated many men, well known and cele- 
 brated for their influence and worth in every department of 
 public and private life. 
 
 The names of some of these were recalled in the ad- 
 dresses made, and in letters of regret of others, pupils and 
 friends, who were unable to be present at the dedication exercises 
 at the opening of the library. 
 
 As the realization of Mr. Hall's purpose was more and 
 
more considered, he devoted much time and attention to per- 
 fecting proper plans for the construction of a library building. 
 That his idea was a broad one, is evidenced by the difficulty 
 found in making perfect the architectural details. He was 
 constantly enlarging the plan, as he visited many public 
 libraries. 
 
 In the spring of 1902, he entered into contract with Messrs. 
 Carpenter & Williams to build the library in accordance with 
 the plans of Mr. Wilson Potter, Architect, of New York City. 
 Soon after commencing to build, he was obliged to relinquish 
 his personal supervision of the construction. In July he was 
 taken seriously ill; his death occurred in August, 1902. He 
 had provided, however, for the completion of his plans, by 
 instructions in his will to his three brothers, Frederic Hall, 
 Charles C. Hall and Eobert A. Hall — his executors — 
 to expend the sum of $30,000 upon the building 
 and equipment of the library. In addition, he left the sum 
 of $10,000 — or so much of the same as should remain of a 
 legacy of that amount, given to his sister, Mrs. Eliza Hall 
 Baird, for her life use — in trust to the Town of Ellington 
 as a fund whose annual income should be expended in the 
 maintenance of the library. Mrs. Baird survived him only 
 a few months, and, accordingly, nearly this whole amount vras 
 handed over to the town. 
 
 Nearly $10,000 has been added to those bequests by his 
 executors, themselves, in order to make more complete the 
 purpose of their brother to fully equip this Memorial Library 
 and its surrounding grounds. 
 
 Thus $50,000 has been devoted to make the Hall Memorial 
 Library complete. It is a memorial to the father and his 
 two sons, marking an epoch in the history of Ellington to be 
 remembered for many years to come. Nothing has been 
 slighted or omitted, that Ellington may have a library that 
 shall give the citizens of the town the fullest enjoyment of a 
 free and well equipped library. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. 
 
 The two principal streets of Ellington cross each other 
 obliquely in the center of the town, and form the boundaries 
 of two large triangular plots of ground. One is the village 
 park; upon the other the library building has been erected. 
 Its location is ideal, its surroundings beautiful. The design of 
 the Hall library is classical and the building well proportioned, 
 symmetrical and dignified. The materials used are principally 
 Milford granite and white limestone, the roof being of red clay 
 tiles. The vestibule opens into a public hall or foyer twenty- 
 three feet wide and thirty-two feet long, from which access is ob- 
 tained to all parts of the building. Upon the right are the 
 main reading-room, reference-room and museum; upon the left 
 are the book-room, librarian's room and children's room, while 
 in front and directly facing the main entrance is the staircase. 
 The main stairway extends in a single, broad flight to a wide 
 landing half-way between the first and second floors; then 
 divides and extends upwards in two flights. Upon the landing 
 is a large triple window in leaded glass, and in the three 
 transoms above are portraits of John Hall, Edward Hall and 
 Francis Hall. The reading-room and reference-room, twenty- 
 three by twenty-six feet, are really one, the separation being 
 only by marble columns, similar to those in the foyer. These 
 are handsome and attractive rooms, with oak wainscots, deeply 
 paneled ceilings, and a large fireplace. In a panel of the 
 chimney breast is the bronze memorial tablet containing the 
 following inscription : 
 
 "This tablet is placed by Eliza Hall Baird in memory 
 of her brother, Francis Hall, of Elmira, N. Y., who 
 erected this building, A. D. 1903, in honoring memory of 
 his father, John Hall, and of his brother, Edward Hall, 
 whose lives for more than half a century were devoted to 
 educational work in the town of Ellington." 
 
 The book-room provides stackage in one tier for 8,000 
 volumes, and when desired the capacity may be doubled by 
 
8 
 
 adding a second tier, the room being designed with this in 
 view. The librarian's room, adjoining the book-room, opens 
 also into the children's room and the foyer. Connected with it 
 is a large storeroom, and also the side or private entrance to 
 the building. A book-lift, located so as to open into the 
 librarian's and the book-room, runs to the unpacking-room in 
 the basement. The children's room, sixteen by eighteen feet 
 in size, opens into the librarian's room and the foyer. The 
 museum opens into the reading-room and the foyer. This room 
 is sixteen by twenty-four feet. Two coat-rooms are provided 
 adjoining the main entrance to the building, and a women's 
 retiring and toilet-room is located under the main stair landing. 
 The second story covers only the central portion of the building, 
 the principal space being devoted to the picture gallery. This 
 is a handsome room, thirty-four by thirty-eight feet in size, 
 lighted from above. In the basement are provided rooms for 
 heating apparatus, fuel, men's toilet, unpacking-room, etc. The 
 outside of the walls are built hollow, the inside partitions are 
 solid brick walls, and the plastering is directly upon the brick- 
 work, or upon expanded metal. This form of construction 
 has produced a building which is practically fire-proof, as 
 the only combustible parts of the structure are the floor joists, 
 and these are protected by the floor-deafening. The architect 
 of the building was Wilson Potter of New York City, and 
 the general contractors were Carpenter & Williams of Nor- 
 wich, Connecticut. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE LIBRARY GROUNDS. 
 
 The grounds about the library building and the walks 
 leading up to the same are artistically laid out and graded. 
 The building is well placed, having ample room on all sides, 
 and the elevation above the ground line is sufficient to give 
 the building a fine, lofty setting, with front lawn of about 
 seventy feet. 
 
 The main steps in front of the building are of granite, 
 eight in number, to the portico, and about thirty-two feet in 
 length. The front walk leading down to the drive-way at 
 the front curb is sixteen feet in width, bordered by a five- 
 inch granite curb. Along the full three sides of the library 
 grounds extends a fine line of six-inch, top-faced, pointed-front, 
 granite coping, showing six-inch front face, thus setting up 
 the lawn six inches above the gravel walk, six feet in width, 
 which extends all about the grounds. A granite carriage block 
 and granite hitching posts on either side accommodate visitors 
 who may come by carriage. 
 
 The generosity of Mr. Francis Hall was farther added to 
 by his brothers. They have also put in place a fine line of 
 cut-face Monson granite curbing entirely around the public 
 park which lies immediately in front of the library grounds, 
 between them and the Ecclesiastical Society's park. Thus the 
 whole setting of the library building is an ideal one. Plans 
 for these parks and direction of the work wore placed in the 
 charge of Mr. John T. McKnight of Ellington. 
 
10 
 
 DEDICATION EXERCISES 
 
 HALL MEMORIAL LIBRARY, 
 
 ELLINGTON, CONN. 
 
 Wednesday, November iith, 1903. 
 
 Chairman — John T. McKnight, Esq. 
 Invocation _ _ . Rev. David E. Jones 
 
 Music. 
 Address of Welcome - - Eev. David E. Jones 
 
 Reading of Minutes of Town Meeting - Miles Aborn 
 
 Toion Clerk 
 
 Presentation of Library and Trust ) pP^^f* "); T^\ 
 
 Funds to the Town of Ellington i V. i Vt n 
 
 3 Frederic Hall 
 
 Executors Estate of Francis Hall, 
 
 Represented by 
 
 Charles C. Farnham, Esq. 
 
 Eeading Vote of Thanks 
 
 and Eemarks - - Francis M. Charter, Esq. 
 
 Transfer of Library by the Town 
 TO the Care of Library Directors - William IST. Pinney, 
 
 First Selectman. 
 Acceptance of Transfer by Directors - Dr. E. T. Davis, 
 
 Chairman Board of 
 Library Directors. 
 Music. 
 Address, "The Relation of a Town 
 to a Public Library" - - Hon. Charles D. Hine, 
 
 Secy State Board of 
 Education. 
 Address, "Reminiscences of 
 
 Ellington" - - Rev. Nathaniel H. Egleston, 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Letters from Absent Invited 
 
 Guests . . . Burton C. Charaberlin, Esq. 
 
 Music, "America" 
 Benediction . - - Rev. Luther H. Barber 
 
11 
 
 RECEPTION. 
 
 Wednesday, the eleventh day of November, was set aside 
 by the people of Ellington as a holiday. All exerted them- 
 selves to have a part in the dedication services. It was an 
 exhibition of enthusiasm which has never been equalled by them 
 in the past, and will be remembered for many years to come. 
 
 An informal reception was held at the library building 
 from 10 o'clock A. M. to 12 o'clock M. A committee of rep- 
 resentative gentlemen and ladies received the out of town 
 guests and visitors in the reading-room. Tea or coffee and 
 cakes were served as a light refreshment, and the building in- 
 spected at the convenience of the visitors. 
 
 Dinner was served by the Ellington ladies, in the church 
 parlors, at 13 o'clock — everj^body being invited and made wel- 
 come. 
 
 Promptly at half-past 1 o'clock the church auditorium 
 was opened for the dedication exercises, as arranged upon the 
 program given on the previous page. Mr. John T. McKnight 
 was chairman. A noticeable feature of the assembled audience 
 was the large gathering of those who held in life-long re- 
 membrance the faces and memory of those for whom the 
 building was designed as a memorial. Many came from out 
 of town, some of them quite a distance, to be present at the 
 exercises. 
 
 Mr. McKnight called the assembly to order and announced 
 that the exercises would be opened with a benediction by Rev. 
 David E. Jones. 
 
12 
 
 INVOCATION BY REV, DAVID E. JONES. 
 
 Tliou that inhabitest eternity, whose name is holy, whose 
 are the silver and the gold, and the cattle upon a thousand hills, 
 we pray Thee that Thou wilt grant Thy benediction to rest 
 upon us now. ' 
 
 We thank Thee that Thou didst give the means to Thy 
 servant with which to erect this structure that we are about 
 to dedicate for the intellectual and moral benefit of his friends 
 in this place, and we commend them unto Thy care and 
 keeping at this time and during all time to come. Bless, we 
 pray Thee, his kindred — these present with us and those absent 
 from us at this time. And we pray Thee, God, that Thou 
 wilt bless the friends who are to take part in these exercises, 
 and all who are here present assisting us at this time. 
 
 We ask all these favors in the name of our Lord and 
 Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
MEMORIAL TABLET. 
 
13 
 
 ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY REV. DAVID E. JONES. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: — 
 
 On this very interesting occasion we very naturally follow 
 the example of the ancient Jews as they dedicated the restored 
 walls of Jerusalem, when they sought the Levites out of all 
 their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to keep the dedication 
 with gladness, both with thanksgiving and with singing. After 
 the same fashion we have sought, as far as we could, all the 
 former residents of this town and their descendants, all the 
 teachers and former pupils of the Hall school, whose addresses 
 could be found, to bring to our Jerusalem, that they might 
 here to-day share our joy and gladness, and assist in the 
 dedicatory exercises of this new library. 
 
 We look upon this day as one of the most important 
 days in the history of Ellington. Our people in the past 
 have had important days; during the war of 1812, and later 
 during the Civil war, when they had their days of deep 
 anxiety and sadness. Again, when the news of peace with 
 the Mother Country reached this quiet town, and when the 
 assurance came here of the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, 
 Ellington, as well as other towns of the State and Union, re- 
 joiced according to the joy of harvest, and as men rejoice 
 when they "divide the spoil"; when self-denying and far- 
 sighted men here, followed their young and enthusiastic pastor 
 into the woods and secured varied and choice trees, and planted 
 them in yonder park; when this church edifice was completed 
 and dedicated to the service of the Lord of hosts — these also 
 were days of rejoicing and of thanksgiving to the Christian 
 people connected with this church of Jesus Christ. 
 
 And to-day the people of the whole town, young and old, 
 native born and the adopted citizen ("the stranger within 
 the gate"), Protestants and Catholics alike, unite as one man 
 
14 
 
 in making this a most memorable day in the history of 
 Ellington. 
 
 I am sure that I voice the most cordial wishes of the heirs 
 of the Francis Hall estate, the trustees of the library, and of all 
 the inhabitants of Ellington, when I, in their name, extend 
 to you, whose ancestors lived here and made their influence 
 felt for good in the place, others of you who were fortunate 
 enough to be born here, but have since gone elsewhere to carve 
 out your fortunes, still others, those who, though not related 
 to Ellington by birth, nor by residence, nor by blood, but who 
 have kindly come here to assist by your presence and good 
 wishes, to make this a noted day for us living in the place; 
 and, again, to those present who of yore taught in the Hall 
 schools, or were favored in receiving instructions within their 
 classic precincts, one and all, we extend the most cordial and 
 sincere welcome and invite you to participate with us in the 
 joyous and grateful ceremonies connected with the dedication 
 of this beautiful library. 
 
 In addition to these words of welcome, I have been asked 
 to speak a few words of tribute to the man who by his munificent 
 gift has made this day's rejoicing possible — the late Francis 
 Hall of Elmira, N. Y. A man of choice intellectual attain- 
 ments, beautiful character, and a deep spiritual life. To you 
 who knew him so well, I need not speak of his charming 
 personality, of his utter unselfishness, and of the enthusiasm 
 with which he engaged in every good work for the physical, 
 intellectual and moral welfare of his fellows. 
 
 I wish to call you attention, in the briefest manner, to 
 his rich inheritance. From his grandfather, John Hall, 
 Esq., who carried on successfvdly an extensive business in the 
 southeast part of this town, he doubtless inherited business 
 sagacity of the best and most honorable type, a genius which 
 enabled him to "take the tide at its flood," both at home 
 and in foreign lands. From his father, the Hon. John Hall — 
 who planted, and induced others to plant, the double rows 
 
15 
 
 of elms west of the library, which have ever since adorned 
 our village — he secured a taste for the beautiful, a taste which 
 he further developed by penetrating observation, diligent 
 study and extensive travel. He also doubtless received from 
 his father, who stood high as a scholar in his class at Yale, 
 and later taught there, an intellectual taste which led him 
 to become early in life a teacher, and afterward to engage 
 extensively in the book trade. This again kept him in touch 
 with leaders of thought, for before and after the Civil war, the 
 Bev. Thomas K. Beecher and men of his type met frequently 
 at the Hall book store in Elmira to discuss the vexed and 
 intricate questions of the day. And Mr. Hall's opinions 
 were always listened to with profound respect, because of his 
 candor and keen insight. 
 
 It was my privilege to meet him several times during the 
 last few years of his life. And I at once learned that as 
 soon as he decided to build a library in his native town in 
 memory of his father and brother, who had devoted the best 
 years of their lives to the cause of education, he expended a 
 great deal of time and energy in devising the best way of 
 carrying out his plans, visiting the libraries of the leading 
 cities and towns of the country, conversing with expert 
 librarians and educators, and consulting with the leading 
 architects. 
 
 It is a matter of deep regret to all his friends that he 
 could not have lived to see his plans executed, though they 
 have been taken up and carried on so well by other hands. 
 We wish we might have been permitted to express to him 
 personally our warm affection for his loving thouglit and 
 generous gift for our benefit, and that of many persons yet 
 unborn. 
 
 We fully realize that this munificent gift cannot be 
 adequately appreciated by us at present, but we are sure that 
 as the years roll on, we and those who follow us, will value it 
 niore and more, as its real worth will dawn upon us and them. 
 
 And now, as we think of the thoughtful, cultured. Christian 
 
16 
 
 donor, who has left us for his spiritual home, we all unite in say- 
 ing. Blessed is the dead, who has died in the Lord . . . that he 
 may rest from his labors, and his works do follow him! 
 
 May his mantle fall on other thoughtful and liberal people, 
 who are interested in the highest welfare of our village ! In- 
 deed, we venture to predict that the various gifts already 
 donated to our town library are but the "first fruits" of a rich 
 and abundant "harvest" that will yet follow. 
 
 Mr. J. T. McKnight, after the address of welcome and 
 previous to announcing the other speakers, spoke as follows : 
 
 Allow me, friends, to add one word of tribute to the 
 memory of the late Mr. Francis Hall : and that is to assure 
 you of the deep interest Mr. Hall manifested in this enterprise 
 from the very beginning. 
 
 Never shall I forget the pleasant recollections and asso- 
 ciations on the 18th day of March, 1902, when the building 
 was finally located and the ground first broken; and I assure 
 you his interest never lacked even to the finish. 
 
 We will now listen to the first "formal part" of the 
 exercises : the reading of the minutes of the town meeting, 
 by the town clerk, Miles H. Aborn, and after that the pre- 
 sentation and acceptance of the library will follow. 
 
 OFFICIAL ACTION 
 
 Of the Town of Ellington With Reference to the 
 Library and Trust Funds. 
 
 NOTICE. 
 
 The legal voters of the Town of Ellington are hereby 
 warned that a special town meeting will be held at the Town 
 Hall, Wednesday, October 31st, at 7 :30 o'clock P. M., for the 
 following purpose : 
 
 1. To see if the town will vote to accept the library, from 
 the executors of the Francis Hall estate. 
 
17 
 
 2. To see if the town will vote to accept the fund to 
 maintain said library, from the executors of the Francis Hall 
 estate. 
 
 3. To see if the town will vote to appropriate money to 
 maintain said library. 
 
 4. To see if the town will vote to increase the number of 
 library directors. 
 
 W. H. PINNEY, ) 
 
 0. C. EATON, [ Selectmen. 
 
 J. H. LYNCH, 3 
 
 MILES H. ABORN, Town Clerk. 
 Dated at Ellington, Connecticut, October 16th, 1903. 
 
 VOTE AT THE TOWN MEETING OCTOBER 31, 1903. 
 
 The town voted unanimously to accept the library and fund 
 from the executors of the Francis Hall estate, in accordance 
 with Sections I and II. It also voted unanimously that in ad- 
 dition to the annual appropriation of one hundred dollars for 
 library purposes, the further sum of three hundred and fifty 
 dollars be and the same is hereby voted as an additional annual 
 appropriation for the running expenses of the Hall Memorial 
 Library. It also voted to increase the number of directors of 
 the Ellington Public Library from three to six in number. 
 
18 
 
 ADDRESS OF CHARLES C, FARNHAM, ESQ., BUFFALO, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, and You, the Citizens of this Charming 
 Town, and You, Its Guests: — This is a day of which we may 
 all be proud. It is no ordinary occasion. I esteem it a great 
 honor to stand here in the presence of such an assemblage 
 and to take part in the exercises of this afternoon. What 
 an audience ! What an inspiration ! But it lacks one element 
 for me, and, I assume, for you. The one in whose memory we 
 gather here to-day is numbered among the departed. I cannot 
 believe, however, but that his noble, genial and generous spirit 
 pervades us all at this time. 
 
 In behalf of Frederic Hall, Charles C. Hall and Robert 
 A. Hall, the executors and trustees under the last will and 
 testament of Francis Hall, deceased, I have been requested to 
 address you. These gentlemen wish you to understand that 
 they do not take any of the glory of this day to themselves. 
 They are simply stewards into whose hands has been placed 
 a sacred trust which they are now ready as the representatives 
 of their beloved brother to deliver into your charge and keeping 
 forever. And if they have exceeded the bequest to you, con- 
 tained in the last will and testament of Mr. Francis Hall, it 
 has been done willingly and thoughtfulh^, to the end that you 
 might feel and know the deep love and gratitude that each 
 one of these gentlemen bears to you and to the town that 
 reared them to the world. 
 
 By the twenty-first article of Francis HalFs will ho be- 
 queathed to his three brothers the sum of $30,000 in trust, 
 "that they employ twenty-five thousand dollars thereof in such 
 manner as they may deem best, to the purchase of a suitable 
 site in the town of Ellington, Connecticut, and the erection 
 thereon of a town library building in honoring memory of 
 the educational work of their father, John Hall, and their 
 eldest brother, Edward Hall." The remainder of the fund, 
 five thousand dollars, was to be employed by them in the 
 
19 
 
 purchase of books, works of art, and other library material, 
 and in furnishing and preparing the rooms in the building 
 for use. And as soon as the work is accomplished the trustees 
 are to convey and transfer the site, the library, furniture and 
 other things so provided to the town absolutely." 
 
 Mr. Hall further bequeathed to the town of Ellington 
 the remainder, after the decease of his sister, Mrs. Eliza Hall 
 Baird, of the fund of ten thousand dollars by another article 
 of his will bequeathed to her use during her life — "Such re- 
 mainder to be held by the to^vn perpetually and the interest 
 and income thereof applied to the maintenance and extension 
 of the library to be established as above provided, to buildings 
 and appurtenances as shall be deemed best." 
 
 "Provided, that if the said sum of twenty-five thousand 
 dollars shall prove insufficient for the entire completion of the 
 library building as above appointed, the trustees may appro- 
 priate for that purpose a part, not exceeding a moiety, of the 
 sum of five thousand dollars allotted to the purchase of books 
 and other things aforesaid." 
 
 For at least a dozen years before his death he had made 
 similar provision in his former wills for this object. He fore- 
 saw the needs and requirements of his native town long ago. 
 He had conversed freely with his brothers concerning it, 
 especially during the last five years of his life; but never felt 
 that he cared to execute his plans while living. He shrank 
 from any move that might create public demonstration in 
 which he would be the chief actor. And it was not until Mrs. 
 Graham made known her intention to provide a library 
 building for this town that he realized that if ever his dream 
 of giving a library to Ellington should become a reality, he 
 must undertake it then in his lifetime. It is not often that 
 a community is so blessed as to have two of its former citizens 
 offer to make a gift to such a noble cause. He may be, there- 
 fore, considered a privileged giver who caused to be erected 
 such a memorial as you now possess. 
 
 Accordingly, in the early summer of 1900, JMr. Hall 
 
20 
 
 himself purchased the site for this building, and after visiting 
 many libraries in this State and others, and having selected 
 Mr. Potter of Xew York as architect, he decided upon the 
 plans; and in March, 1902, signed the general building con- 
 tract. He came here several times after this, when it did 
 not seem wise or prudent to his brothers, that he himself might 
 witness the actual laying of the foundation walls. It was 
 late in the month of June, a year ago, that he made his last 
 visit. Eeturning to Elmira, he was, on the twenty-second day 
 of the same month, stricken down, and after a lingering illness 
 died on the twenty-sixth day of August, 1903, in the eightieth 
 year of his age. 
 
 As soon after his death as it was prudent, his three brothers, 
 whom he had made his executors and trustees, at once took 
 up the work of carrying out the plans and specifications as 
 adopted by him in his lifetime and set out in his will. They 
 have labored earnestly and faithfully along these lines, and 
 have not hesitated to draw upon their individual resources, 
 when it was plain to them that the plans would be improved 
 and the interests of the library could be furthered. 
 
 The trustees have now completed the erection of the 
 building and furnished and prepared the rooms for use, and 
 they have in other ways so executed their trust in accordance 
 with the above articles of the will that they are this day ready 
 to deliver to your officials a deed of the site, the library furni- 
 ture and contents, to be held and used as a tov/n library, all of 
 which represents an investment of $40,000. They have also 
 the securities amounting to $10,000 from the Eliza Hall Baird 
 trust fund, which they are also ready to transfer to you. The 
 interest and income from this fund amounts to $485 a year 
 and can be used only, according to the terms of the will, "to 
 the maintenance and extension of the library, to buildings and 
 appurtenances," as shall be deemed best by your board of 
 library directors, and does not have reference to the general 
 running expenses. This fund is a further insurance for the 
 care and protection of the library building. The purcliaso of 
 
21 
 
 additional books, furniture and the equipment of the picture 
 gallery would be permissible, however, from this income, when- 
 ever there was a portion left over any year, after making 
 necessary repairs to the building. The obligations that you 
 assume in accepting this gift are not burdensome, in com- 
 parison with those that are exacted from other towns and 
 cities throughout the country, that have lately been the re- 
 cipients of library enterprises at the hands of a noted man. 
 
 The hearty endorsement and the unanimous acceptance 
 by you, of the provisions of the will concerning the library 
 and trust fund, in the special town meeting warned for that 
 purpose on the twenty-first day of last month, together with 
 the liberal appropriation of $450 and the resolution of thanks, 
 assure the trustees of the estate of your liberal support; and 
 that you indeed "appreciate the gift and good will of the 
 late Francis Hall,'' and are bound to amply provide for the 
 running expenses of the library. 
 
 It is therefore with the greatest pleasure and gratification 
 that they greet you all : however, their feelings of joy are 
 mingled with those of sorrow over the irrevocable loss that 
 they have sustained in the death of their brother and over 
 the fact that he was not spared to consummate the business 
 of the day. 
 
 Francis Hall made several other bequests to various 
 charitable and educational institutions in the city of Elmira, 
 his adopted home; but the sum total of them all does not 
 exceed, by many thousand dollars, the beautiful building and 
 its equipment now standing on yonder green. 
 
 In all his financial transactions Mr. Hall never made better 
 investments than in this town. The first in point of time 
 was the gift of the site on which this church stands. Many 
 of you present are familiar with its liistory and remember 
 also the part taken in this by his eldest brother, whose memory 
 he so beautifully honors besides that of his father. 
 
 The uses to which this library building may be put are 
 many. Here the literary clubs of the town may have tlieir 
 
22 
 
 meetings on the second floor in the picture gallery, or as- 
 sembly room, as it might be termed; while the children and 
 young people can gather in their department and read or 
 listen to talks, one or two hours a week, on leading topics of 
 the day from the librarian, the teacher or your pastor, Mr, 
 Jones. 
 
 Both the museum and picture gallery aiford ample accom- 
 modations for a loan exhibition of a few rare collections and 
 paintings from your homes, until some one feels moved to 
 make them, or others, more permanent. Says Mr. Emerson, 
 "I wish to find in my town a library and a museum which 
 is the property of the town, where I can deposit this precious 
 treasure, where I and my children can see it from time to 
 time, and where it has its proper place among hundreds of 
 such donations from other citizens." 
 
 The younger generation will thus be stimulated to a higher 
 and more intellectual life, and will be trained on educational 
 lines to meet the wonderful changes of the twentieth century. 
 
 ^['he older inhabitants within the hearing of my voice can 
 recall the long list of public spirited men that either spent 
 their boyhood-days at the Hall school or have been in one 
 way or another connected with, and interwoven into, the history 
 of this place. 
 
 These youths, who received their early training here or 
 were born and bred within the border of this town, and are 
 now scattered into dilferent parts of the world, until those 
 abroad outnumber those at home, owe their success to the 
 sterling character of their teachers and parents and their puritan 
 ancestors. 
 
 That eminent jurist, Hon. Henry B. Brown, a Justice 
 of the United States Supreme Court since 1890, at Washington, 
 J). C, was a fellow citizen of this town. This gentleman, ap- 
 preciating the value of this gift to you. has already signified 
 his intention to leave his choice collection of books to the 
 library here. May his example be imitated by many another 
 along the same or different lines. 
 
23 
 
 A single instance of how broad and far-reaching and lasting 
 the influence that this boys' school of the past is to-day exerting 
 upon the minds of men is illustrated in that statesman, Baron 
 Yanoski Iwasaki, of Japan, an account of whose life was 
 given in the October Century, 1901, who while on a visit to 
 this country last year acknowledged that his success was due 
 largely to the early training received under the instruction 
 of his teacher, Edward Hall. And upon being informed of 
 the history of this memorial, he without hesitation drew from 
 his purse $8,000 in gold certificates and placed the same into 
 the hands of Charles C. Hall and Mrs. Farnham, saying, "This 
 I wish to be used by you in and about the building, in ap- 
 preciation of my love and admiration for my friend and 
 former teacher, Edward Hall." 
 
 The building constructed of granite and stone, so beauti- 
 fully wrought and shaped according to the laws of classic 
 architecture, will stand, not alone as a token of brotherly and 
 parental affection for those in whose honor it was built, but as 
 a lasting monument to the giver, a single stone of whose 
 walls contains a depth of meaning greater and more enduring 
 that the famous pyramids of Egypt. 
 
 And now, sir, to you, Mr. William N. Pinney, the First 
 Selectman of the Town of Ellington, and its legal representative, 
 I transfer and hand over, in behalf of the executors of the 
 estate of Francis Hall, and through you to the Town of 
 Ellington, the library building and its appurtenances, together 
 with the trust funds, according to the terms of the vrill of 
 Francis Hall. 
 
 EESPOXSE OF ACCEPTANCE 
 
 by 
 
 William N. Pinney, First Selectman. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 In accepting the magnificent donation of the late Francis 
 Hall, I, as representing the Town of Ellington, extend to 
 you, in your representative capacity, and individually, the 
 
24 
 
 heartfelt thanks of the people of our town. \\'c are amply 
 appeciative of the generosity of Mr. Hall, who so wisely re- 
 membered his native town. Nothing that he could have done 
 would have benefited our people so much. And it is with the 
 deepest sense of our obligation to Mr. Hall that I, in behalf 
 of our people, accept this magnificent gift. 
 
 THE VOTE OF THANKS OF THE TOWN. 
 
 Address of Francis M. Charter, Esq. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Benefactors and Friends: — 
 
 On the evening of October 21st, 1903, there assembled in 
 the Town Hall at Ellington, a company of our townsmen, 
 smaller in number, but not excelled in enthusiasm, by the 
 friends gathered here to-day. 
 
 At this meeting, large in numbers, earnest in feeling, and 
 united in purpose, our people took the necessary final prepara- 
 tory steps to the grand consummating acts of to-day, which 
 have placed in the heart of our town and in the hands of our 
 people a beautiful building and library. 
 
 Among the resolutions passed at this meeting was the 
 following : 
 
 "Resolved, That the citizens and taxpayers of the town 
 of Ellington hereby unanimously express and extend to the 
 executors of the estate of Francis Hall their most hearty thanks 
 for the most generous gift of the beautiful library building 
 and the trust fund for the maintenance of the same, and that 
 a copy of this resolution be sent to the Messrs. Hall, executors 
 of the Francis Hall estate, in appreciation of the gift and 
 good-will of Francis Hall." 
 
 The same harmony, sincerity and unanimity of feeling 
 with whicli tliis resolution was passed have characterized every 
 act of our people in regard to this library and its adjoining 
 park. 
 
 We are proud of this building, and of the generous and 
 
35 
 
 noble stand our people liave taken in regard to it. We feel 
 that we have no words adequate to express our appreciation 
 of this gift. 
 
 As I attempt to express our gratitude, m}- thouglits 
 wander back to the old high school building and to the old 
 school days, and again to the pleasant years others of us spent 
 in the school of Edward Hall, and we are glad to aid in per- 
 petuating the memories of both father and son, and to join 
 with the late Mr. Francis Hall in honoring their names. 
 
 We are thankful for this gift, because we feel that no town 
 is, in these days, complete without its library — that it is as 
 necessary to the promotion of the welfare of the people as the 
 school, the newspaper and the church. 
 
 Our full and complete appreciation of the munificent gift 
 will be expressed in acts, rather than in words. While it 
 stands as a memorial to the honored dead, we shall endeavor 
 to make it a blessing to the living. 
 
 Transfer of the Library into the care of the Library 
 Directors by the Town, through its First Selectman, William 
 iST. Pinney, Esq. : 
 
 THE TEAXSFEE. 
 To the Library Directors: — 
 
 Xow, Sirs, I commit to your keeping this noble building 
 and the use of the fund for its maintenance; fully confident 
 that you will carry out the wishes of Mr. Hall, and that 
 under your administration, and that of your successors, our 
 people may use and enjoy this great benefaction forever. 
 
 OFFICIAL ACCEPTANCE 
 
 Of the Case of the Library by the Board of Directors. 
 
 Dr. E. T. Davis^ Chairman. 
 Sir:— 
 
 ■ I think, possibly, that the sons and daughters of old Xew 
 England who have cast their lots in other States mav cherish 
 
26 
 
 more dearly the recollection of their earl}- homes than do we 
 who have staid near the scenes of our youth. They are not 
 mindful so much of the present as of the glorious past, and 
 the great part which New England has had in shaping the 
 destinies of the nation. If that influence for good is to con- 
 tinue, it can only be, as in the past, that ample provision is 
 made for the education and enlightenment of our people. 
 
 Whatever is done to uplift our people at home, and to 
 knit more strongly the ties that bind those who leave to those 
 who remain by the old firesides, will tend to the betterment 
 of all. 
 
 We are, indeed, fortunate that Ellington was the early 
 home of him to whose tribute just words of praise have already 
 been said. We are glad that the ties which bound him to us 
 were not severed in life. We rejoice that he was wise and 
 able enough to provide for this beautiful building. We trust 
 that this building, and that for which it will stand, will prove 
 a tie to draw all his good kinsfolk to us, and a means, as well, 
 to the education of ourselves and our children. 
 
 Ellington has had a public library for some years and has 
 received the support and encouragement of our people; but until 
 now the library has not had a home of its own, and we have not 
 been able to undertake for it the larger things which we would 
 have liked to do. So we were very glad when we learned of the 
 generous provision made for a library building. We have 
 watched its building with increasing interest. Xow as we have 
 seen and studied its complete and perfect appointments we 
 realize as never before the possibilities for improvemnt, upon a 
 community like ours, which are contained in a well adapted, 
 well arranged, up-to-date library. 
 
 Sirs, the Library Directors accept from the town — through 
 you, its representative — the care and keeping of this beautiful 
 structure. Any proper maintenance of a library means more 
 than the care of a hall — a janitor can do that. It means, in part, 
 the gathering of the choicest thoughts of the world's greatest 
 minds, as recorded through all time to this. It means such 
 
27 
 
 arousing of public interest in the library as will draw men, 
 women and children to it. It means the stimulating of the 
 community to a fixed purpose to seek and experience the higher 
 and better things which come with education and refinement. 
 
 We realize better than any one else our utter inability to 
 do for this library that which ought to be done. We can only 
 promise for ourselves and our successors our best endeavor. 
 We shall try in so far as the means is provided, and as in us 
 lies, to keep this building with care, and to supply it — not so 
 much with a large collection of books as with choice and 
 valuable books, and to interest all in its use. 
 
 Our task will be a futile one, except all the good people of 
 this community shall take a vital interest in the library. Except 
 all think and speak of it as our library — helping towards its 
 support — visiting it often — recommending and bringing good 
 books to it — using it and inducing others to do so. 
 
 Help us to rightly sustain, rightly maintain and widely 
 use this library, and ere long the Town of Ellington will bear 
 an honored name in our Commonwealth. More and more then 
 will it be a place desirable in which to live, and to which our 
 absent friends will delight to return. 
 
 The constant sight of this building will of itself be an 
 education to us. To look upon a handsome work of architecture 
 like this is uplifting. It will inspire us to make our own 
 homes more attractive. 
 
 This building has been erected — the free gift of a noble 
 man — a thing of beauty, at a parting of the ways in our village. 
 Long may it stand a fitting monument to him who gave it, 
 and to other members of the Hall family, preserved and be- 
 loved by the people, who shall be inspired by its architectural 
 and delicate appointments, and made wiser and happier by a 
 large reading and study of that which it shall contain. 
 
28 
 
 Following the remarks by the Chairman of the Lil)rary 
 Directors, which concluded the formal exercises of the pre- 
 sentation of the library, the choir again rendered a beautiful 
 selection. 
 
 Mr. McKnight introduced the next speaker as follows : 
 Citizens of Ellington: — We have now received this benefi- 
 cent trust, and perhaps some words of counsel and instruction 
 may be well for us; and undoubtedly no man is better able to 
 give us those words of instruction and counsel than the Hon. 
 Charles D. Hine, Secretary of the State Board of Education. 
 We shall be pleased now to listen to his address on "The Relation 
 of a Town to a Public Library." 
 
29 
 
 ADDRESS OF HON. CHARLES D, HINE. 
 
 The pleasant task assigned to me to-day is to tell you what 
 you ought to do with your new library building. In what I 
 say I may exaggerate your powers, but I shall not overestimate 
 your good intentions. 
 
 I shall not expatiate upon the delights of the right use 
 of books and of reading and what books can do for us if 
 rightly used. All that can be said upon that great and ad- 
 mirable subject has been said by far wiser and greater men 
 than I can pretend to be. Good books enrich life, they refresh 
 it, they console it. After the first necessities of life have been 
 satisfied and habits of observation formed, then the taste 
 for wise reading and the cultivation of habits of reading are 
 almost the next qualities in a full and well-lived life. From 
 books, from libraries rightly used, we can gain the quickening 
 of the intelligence, the waking up of drowsy thoughts and 
 slumbering impulses. Show me a man or a woman whose 
 reading has made him or her tolerant, patient, candid, a truth- 
 seeker and a truth-lover, and I will show you a well-read man. 
 
 An admirable definition of the purposes of libraries and 
 of books was given by a worthy man of letters years ago when 
 he said their object was to bring more sunshine into the lives 
 of our fellow-countrymen, more good will, more good humor 
 and more of the habit of being pleased with one another. I 
 will make a little addition to that — namely, "the purpose is to 
 bring sunshine into our hearts and to drive moonshine out of 
 our heads." 
 
 The first thought to-day is the maintenance of this building. 
 It will stand as the center and symbol of the literary activities 
 of the town. It should always, outside and inside, be the 
 pride of every citizen. The duty of maintaining the home of 
 the library will rest upon you who are here assembled. The 
 test of civic spirit will be the care and solicitude with which 
 
80 
 
 the building is pre'=C'rved in its present beauty and convenience 
 and from time to time improved and adorned. 
 
 There is a suggestion which this occasion impose; and 
 justifies. The towns of this State should offer to tlieir citizens 
 worthy public buildings. The rule of ancient life was to live 
 at home in simple lodgings, and in public to have ever in view 
 beautiful and stately pul)lic buildings. We have hitherto re- 
 versed all this; we put the extreme luxury that we command 
 into our home and we starve our public places. Towns adorned 
 with historic monuments, v/ith convenient and beautiful puljlic 
 buildings should be the cherished birthplace of every citizen, 
 and as it was once so will it be again. 
 
 Moreover, the libraries, museums, statues, galleries, schools 
 and public halls should no longer be concentrated in our over- 
 grown capital cities, but they should be located in every town 
 of moderate size. To-day the town is deficient that has not 
 a free public library, and the time will come when art galleries 
 and music halls free to all and within the reach of all will be 
 regarded as necessary instruments of public education. To 
 this good roads, trolleys and telephones are contributing. 
 
 I know that the time will be long and the waiting weary. 
 Ideals are realized slowly, by long effort. To reach such 
 ideals we must especially reach a higher view of education and 
 an enlarged conception of human life. 
 
 The generous donor of this building has furnished an 
 example and incentive to all the sons and daughters of the 
 small towns of this Commonwealth. 
 
 This building, and the library which is the soul of the 
 building, should be managed in the broadest spirit of hos- 
 pitality. A library, as a mere receptacle of books to be jealously 
 guarded from the public, is a thing of the past. Its doors are 
 open wide ; its spirit has been expanded beyond the boldest dreams 
 of former times. To every inhabitant of the town the per- 
 vading atmosphere should invariably be that of kindness, 
 s}Tnpathy and generous dealing, such as pervades a good home. 
 
 What are some of its hospitable possibilities? 
 
31 
 
 Xot only has everybod}^ free access to the shelves, but 
 books may be sent out to seek readers, to serve neighborhood 
 life. You may locate in each corner of the town — in each 
 little community — small libraries to meet the wants and direct 
 the literary life of a few associated families. These oft- 
 appearing messengers from this center will educate, cheer and 
 unite the quiet distant homes. 
 
 You may issue home libraries. Home education is one 
 duty of the library. Introduce to homes little groups of books, 
 entrusting the care to some member of the family. In the 
 past there was no free public library and many families pos- 
 sessed only a few books. These books were the literary standard 
 of the family and connected the members with the outside 
 world of thought. Family libraries are not so common as 
 once they were. Especially to the thoughtful, perhaps to 
 the suii'ering and neglected, books will come as angels of light 
 and peace. 
 
 To reach isolated homes in the country is one phase of 
 town library activity — a plan which has been tried and found 
 feasible and successful. 
 
 For all who resort hither for study or recreation, there 
 should be bulletins of new books, guides to reading, suggestions 
 to study. There should be lists of books upon special and timely 
 topics suggested by the newspapers, by local happenings or 
 important world events. 
 
 The duty of the town is not complete when the doors of 
 this beautiful building are open. The soul of the building is the 
 books — what they contain, what they carry to mind and heart. 
 Your schools are distributed at convenient points. Children 
 are conveyed to the instruction of the teacher. To the homes, 
 to each individual, should this town extend the high ministry 
 of the library. 
 
 Sometimes we hear those favored by education, by habits 
 of reading, by love for books and by near access to libraries 
 say, "Here are books — take what you want." This is not the 
 mission of th.e library. Its mission is to open new avenues of 
 
82 
 
 reading, to assemble readers of good books, to carry happiness 
 and wisdom to many who perhaps perforce have never heard 
 the good tidings, and who therefore doubly, yes, infinitely, 
 need it. Tliis is the missionary spirit which seeks new worlds, 
 extends righteousness, broadens minds and refines human hearts. 
 
 This principle of aid can be extended to associations which 
 meet for purposes forwarded by the resources of the library. 
 There are social organizations like women's clubs. To-day 
 these clubs are intelligently and resolutely active and are leading 
 in educational directions. There are debating and literary so- 
 cieties — I wish they were more common. There are Sunday 
 school classes; there are schools; there are students of pictures, 
 of art and of music; to all these should the library actively 
 come by judiciously selected books, by guides to magazines 
 and by selected topics from the reference books. Especially, 
 and above all, may the library teach children, young women 
 and young men, how to use books. 
 
 Upon the women of this community there is a duty. In 
 this State many public libraries owe their existence and their 
 continuance to the efforts of women. They are every 
 library's friend. I hoj^e that their enterprise and unselfish 
 devotion will here find scope. 
 
 To your charities and educational associations the library 
 may be helpful. Here they may find a welcome, and thev, in 
 turn, will help to spread and strengthen the influence of the 
 books. 
 
 In suggesting the duty of the town to this library, have 
 the foregoing literary and social aspects been carried too far? 
 All these things your library can do — they have been done, they 
 are in the process of doing to-day. I am not erecting impossible 
 ideals. This is the function of the public library, this is its 
 meaning to the people. 
 
 The library does not appeal to you through books alone. 
 Here should be a center of social life. It is said that we should 
 co-operate and have sympathy with one another. Almost every 
 man and woman in these days belongs to some organized body. 
 
33 
 
 But he does not get from these fraternal, charitable and social 
 organizations real practice in harmoniously working with the 
 whole community to effect some definite and necessary end. 
 Churches, fraternal orders, social clubs, labor organizations — 
 their name is legion. I believe that these are the best schools 
 of citizenship. In them are found the leaders — not always 
 worthy ones. In them are found the arts of management — 
 not always the noblest. They teach the power of co-operation. 
 As citizens of this town, having here the books and here the 
 building — the books which will attract and the building which 
 is fit for their meeting — you can invite, encourage and allure 
 everyone to this place for all purposes plainly non-political, 
 not anti-social and truly educational. Free from the taint 
 of selfishness or personal reward, these books and this building 
 call you to kindly co-operation, to generous action, to social 
 improvement. 
 
 For all the generations since the establishment of our 
 State we have erected meeting places of religion. We have 
 chapels and churches. They stand for much that is good, 
 for the best and noblest influences of society. But thus far 
 they have not brought together in a tolerant and unified spirit 
 the communities in which they have been erected. A single 
 church is not the center of the life of all the people who live 
 within the shadow of its spire. 
 
 Since our fathers came to this goodly land we have built 
 our schoolhouses as temples of learning and good citizenship. 
 I wish they more realized our ideals of beauty, that each 
 demonstrated by its exterior and interior that all people prized 
 learning and rightly estimated the impressible years of chil- 
 dren and were ready to give them the best that this day 
 affords. These schools come nearer to bringing together the 
 best impulses of all of us than have any other of our insti- 
 tutions. They are not, however, for both young and old, as 
 I think they ought to be; sometimes, alas, they speak of rigid 
 discipline, of master and pupil, of law and immediate punish- 
 ment, instead of the fellowship and kindly association of simple 
 studv and learning. 
 
34 
 
 The donor whose generous purpose has brought to your 
 people a library has raised a temple of associated happiness and 
 wisdom common to you all. You have no other institution in 
 this town so wide in its scope, none so universal in its appeal, 
 none so attractive to old and young, none so typical of the 
 highest and best style of architectural beauty, none so open 
 and ready to teach without intolerance or arrogance, the 
 young, the ignorant and as well the wisest and best of you all. 
 
 This library ought to be your civic center, the starting 
 point and inspiration of your social efficiency and activity. It 
 should join you together as one civic commu.nity and 
 strengthen among you the sentiment that you are citizens of 
 the good town of Ellington, and co-workers each for every 
 other within the community. Is this too large a view of 
 your duty? Each member of this community can here find 
 what he needs. Those of you religiously inclined may find 
 books which will keep your thoughts from narrowness. You 
 who till the soil will find here the books which guide you 
 in your important and advancing avocation. The novel reader, 
 the seeker after amusement, will not go away empty. Every 
 trade or craft will be here illuminated. It is not impossible 
 to establish by the efficiency of the library the reading habit 
 in those who get physically weary every day. Perhaps it will 
 be necessary to wait a generation or two, until through the 
 schools and this institution the reading habit is established 
 and confirmed. 
 
 From the library we extract the essence of all that has 
 preceded us. Here by patient and tolerant reading we may 
 combine and harmonize them into one. Within our range 
 we may secure completeness and symmetry, we may learn 
 the lessons of zeal for truth, of science, knowledge and im- 
 provement, we may make our lives radiant witli poetry and 
 art. Here are found political sagacity, the orderly arrange- 
 ment of government, law and freedom. Here we may find 
 a noble sense of public life. Here, above all else, we may 
 find faith, with its discipline of devotion to the service of a 
 
85 
 
 greater power than self. These, in clue proportion, we may 
 combine with the knowledge, the variety, the activity and the 
 humanity of modern life. 
 
 Here in civic and social needs lies the duty of the town. 
 Not as the mere mender of highways, not as the custodian 
 of the poor, not as the arena for the struggles of party politics 
 and personal ambitions, not merely as the generous guardian 
 of children — but through this institution can the town bring 
 learning and happiness to every one who here abides. 
 
 Shall it be said that for the want of helping hands which 
 this work requires, your library is weak? Shall it ever be 
 said that for the want of sympathetic hearts this library has 
 failed of its highest and best mission? Shall it ever be said 
 that for the want of money which will make it largely efficient 
 this library has not accomplished these high ends? By your 
 town action with full understanding you have answered, you 
 have entered upon this beneficent and invigorating work. The 
 larger and fuller the answer will be manifest in the life of 
 this community. All concerned here with the administration 
 of this library, I am sure, feel that upon them rests a great 
 responsibility. 
 
 It matters less what books we read, what subjects we 
 handle, what topics we treat of, than the spirit in which they 
 are dealt with. The spirit of the library may be that of the 
 best that the library contains, and not the worst. The com- 
 munity may be distinctly moved to a higher plane by its 
 acquaintance with books : this is the true mission of the library. 
 
 The real thing is that reading and books would be fruitful 
 in strengthening the great foundations of character. 
 
 We meet to celebrate the opening of a public library in 
 this town, to dedicate in a becoming manner the building to 
 the great purposes which a son of this fair town, the donor, 
 has planned. The Connecticut Public Libraray Committee 
 welcomes this new building and the books which it contains 
 to that noble family of libraries which now adorn so many 
 of the beautiful towns of this fair Commonwealth. In behalf 
 
36 
 
 of the committee I venture to pronounce this building one 
 of this family. 
 
 I congratulate you, the immediate beneficiaries and 
 guardians of this library, upon the acquisition of this splendid 
 literary home; and I congratulate the State because all are 
 participators in the benefit of the part. 
 
 In all the history of this ancient town there has been no 
 similar occasion, and there has been no event of greater or 
 equal importance. In saying this I do not forget nor under- 
 estimate your churches and your schools, in which you are 
 equal to all your sister towns. But I insist that to-day is 
 the starting point in a new social and intellectual life. The 
 library becomes a center to which all the people of this town 
 will come — a building consecrated forever to the extension of 
 human knowledge. 
 
 With true vision you have placed yourselves under a per- 
 petual bond to maintain this institution. You have recorded 
 not only your acceptance and grateful appreciation, but you 
 pledge yourselves — both those men and women who are now, 
 and those who shall be — to the extension of the university of 
 books to the men and women of all the future. This day not 
 only records acceptance and gratitude, but pledges the faith 
 of the town for the continuance of the library, a promise of 
 which this building is a perpetual memorial. 
 
 Sometimes Ave feel that the old times were better than 
 these. But the Hebrew King says — "Say thou not that the 
 former days were better than these, for thou dost not inquire 
 wisely concerning these." These new libraries, the endeavor of 
 living men and women, are contributions to the betterment of 
 our towns and our State. These efforts have not the glow of 
 the twilight of history upon them, but we are called to do our 
 appointed work with fidelity and earnestness. The most hope- 
 ful forecasts are the truest. The general march of events is 
 towards moral and social amelioration — towards righteousness 
 and intelligence, and these libraries are full of promise. 
 
 This building will be an enduring memorial of the donor^ 
 
37 
 
 every book will bear testimony of his wise generosity and 
 interest in his native town. It will belong forever to the place 
 in which to-day we know it. It will be incorporated with the 
 surroundings, the people, the site. It will see generation after 
 generation come and go. It will become sacred with the as- 
 sociations of those who gather here, a standing record of the 
 life of this community. 
 
 I commend to you the using of the library and the con- 
 stant enlarging of it. To us all the thought of this hour is 
 that the attractiveness of the home is to give new power to 
 the library itself. 
 
 To all who in this goodly town abide, both in their earlier 
 and later years, may the beauty of the home and the richness 
 of its contents bring an influence which shall make them 
 forever rejoice. 
 
 The next speaker was introduced by ]\Ir. McKnight as 
 follows : 
 
 Probably not all of us present here to-day will remember 
 the Eev. Nathaniel H. Eggleston, who was pastor of this church 
 more than half a century ago; but I am sure we will all be 
 very glad of the opportunity of looking into the face of 
 the man who was the promoter of the park directly in front of 
 this building. We have all enjoyed it more or less during the 
 years that are gone. We are very glad that Mr. Eggleston 
 is with us to-day to see the result of his work in former years 
 and to supplement that work by giving us some "Eeminiscences 
 of Ellington." 
 
38 
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. NATHANIEL H. EGGLESTON. 
 
 "Eeminiscences of Ellington in the Days of Judge Hall 
 AND His Son, Edward Hall/' 
 
 I have been invited by the brothers of Mr. Francis Hall, 
 the executors of his will, to be present here to-day and to give 
 some of my recollections of Ellington in connection with 
 their father. Judge Hall, and their brother, Mr. Edward Hall. 
 I am glad to comply with their request and contribute, how- 
 ever slightly, to the interest of this occasion. 
 
 My first impressions of Ellington as a village were alto- 
 gether pleasant. The long, green meadow stretching from 
 north to south for miles, flanked on either hand by gently 
 rising hills, with the imposing school building on its so ap- 
 propriate site and the main street canopied with its stately 
 elms — formed a lovely and inviting scene. 
 
 My first impressions of the people of the place were not 
 less pleasant, and among the earliest to give me and my wife 
 a gracious welcome were Judge Hall and his son, Mr. Edward 
 Hall. The house of the latter was, in fact, my first home, 
 for by the kind arrangement of somebody I was allowed to 
 become at once a member of his family. I could not have 
 had a better introduction to the people whom I had come to 
 serve than was thus secured for me. Mr. Hall appreciated 
 the situation and needs of the young and inexperienced pastor 
 and did everything in his power to facilitate the mutual ac- 
 quaintance of minister and people. He was then conducting 
 a large family school, following in the steps of his father 
 as a teacher, with his father's spirit, and devoting himself 
 most faithfully and constantly to the welfare of the pupils 
 entrusted to his care. His was a family school most truly. 
 He was also actively engaged in the concerns of the church 
 of which he was a member, and ready also as a citizen to 
 promote every interest of the public. After the lapse of more 
 
39 
 
 than fifty years, I have most pleasant recollections of him 
 and his family and am happy to bear testimony here to-day 
 to his great worth and excellent character. 
 
 Judge Hall was then somewhat withdrawn from public 
 view. A severe illness in his earlier years had left him with 
 an enfeebled body, which had been still more enfeebled by his 
 long and unsparing labors as a teacher, and now that he 
 was no longer able to continue his arduous work, his tastes 
 and studies made him quite willing to pass most of his time 
 in the seclusion of his home, and in the companionship of his 
 family. 
 
 I was not long in discovering that no one was more re- 
 spected in the community or more influential than he. He 
 had merited the regard of his fellow townsmen and of all who 
 knew him, by the whole course of his past life. In the days 
 of his boyhood he had been known as a superior scholar and 
 in his college years he had maintained a like distinction. His 
 high scholarship and estimable deportment had led to his ap- 
 pointment as a tutor in Yale college two years after his 
 graduation. He held this office for three years and then came 
 back to Ellington to live. Five years later, at the early age 
 of twenty-nine, he became a Judge of the County Court and 
 filled that office during several years. He was sent twice to 
 represent his native town in the State Legislature and Avas 
 Judge of Probate also for a considerable time. He was like- 
 wise a candidate for a seat in the National Congress when 
 only thirty-four years of age. Shortly after this he withdrew 
 from public and political life to one more congenial with his 
 tastes and adopted the profession of a teacher, establishing 
 at his own expense a select school, which grew into the well- 
 known High School and became one of the noted educational 
 institutions of the country, known far and wide for its ex- 
 cellent character. While conducting it, as he did for many 
 years, Mr. Hall was himself not less a student than a teacher. 
 He was always and everwhere the student. He saw no limit 
 to the acquisition of knowledge and was always striving for 
 
40 
 
 now attainments. He was practical also in his search for 
 knowledge and in its use. He held these, his acquisitions, 
 not as a hoard for his own benefit alone, but for that of 
 others as well, and was never happier than when he could im- 
 part tliom to his fellow-men. He was a scholar for life, and 
 a student of books for the practical uses of life. 
 
 It was a rich privilege to be brought into frequent con- 
 tact with such a man as Judge Hall, as I knew him in the 
 maturity of his powers. It was a great privilege also to be 
 welcomed to his house and to the society of his estimable and 
 intelligent family, to taste the savor of its genial and high- 
 toned spirit, where also a true Christian nurture had been the 
 law of the family life before that familiar term had come 
 into recognized use. It was a privilege there to discuss 
 with him subjects of highest interest and the great themes 
 of religion and of Christian doctrine, with which he was so 
 conversant. And Avhile I had thus the privilege of his society 
 in his home, I was indebted to him, as the parish also was 
 — though it did not know it — in a different way, for the in- 
 citement which he gave me in the preparation of my pulpit 
 work. Judge Hall's illness, of which I have spoken, so affected 
 his eyes that he was obliged to screen them with colored 
 glasses, and whenever I was tempted to slight my study and 
 the work of getting ready my sermons, I had an anticipative 
 vision of those green spectacles which were always confronting 
 me as I stood in the pulpit and behind which I know there 
 was a power of insight and judgment which would take the 
 proper measure of my words and work. This enabled me, 
 sometimes at least, to resist the temptation to slacken effort, 
 and arouse myself to new diligence. I owe him much for this 
 and am glad to acknowledge here to-day my indebtedness in 
 this respect. At the same time it is proper to say that, although 
 he doubtless found many shortcomings and crudities in those 
 prentice sermons of a 3^outh only a few months from the theo- 
 logical seminary, he was most patient and tolerant, never 
 
41 
 
 indicating liis disapproval or inciting dissatisfaction in the 
 minds of others. 
 
 He was truly and emphatically a Christian man, an habitual 
 attendant upon the services of the church and helpful in the 
 promotion of all its interests. His voice was heard frequently 
 in its meeting for familiar conference and prayer. He was 
 greatly interested also in the work of many of our religious 
 and benevolent societies, in several of which he at times held 
 office. He was specially interested in the work of Christian 
 missions, and in the monthly meetings of the church for the 
 consideration of that work, he was alwaj's ready to report in 
 regard to the particular missionary field which was assigned 
 to his care and study. 
 
 Such, in brief are some of my recollections of Ellington 
 in connection with Judge Hall. Pie was a man who left a 
 stamp upon this place which no other one has done. Unob- 
 trusive, but of high character and unusual mental ability, a 
 student of the best things through life — he was our sage. 
 As he walked our streets — I say our streets, for I am one with 
 you again to-day — wrapped in his familiar cloak, he seemed 
 like one of the peripatetic philosophers of old, dispensing his 
 wisdom as he walked. He sought to lead others to the love 
 and pursuit of that knowledge which he had found to be most 
 promotive of the highest achievement and highest happiness. 
 
 And so I foiind also that the pleasant aspect of the village 
 as I saw it first and which distinguished it from many of the 
 villages around it, was in no inconsiderable measure the result 
 of his tastes and public spirit. His instructions and his 
 practical experiments had greatly improved the methods of 
 agriculture in use here and increased the productiveness of 
 the fields. The village had also been indebted to him for 
 the trees planted on the borders of its principal street and 
 which have long been one of its characteristic charms. 
 
 It is has been more than fifty years since his visible form 
 has passed from the sight of living man. Comparatively few 
 of those present here to-day have, or can have, any distinct 
 
42 
 
 recollections of him as he walked these streets or met his 
 fellow-men in their various places of assembly. But it is only 
 his physical form that has passed away; and during all the 
 lapse of years since his body was laid away in yonder cemetery 
 — the "God's Acre" in the proper keeping of which he took 
 so much interest — the words of Scripture have had a specially 
 appropriate application to him, "he, being dead, yet speaketh." 
 He has spoken through all the healthful influences which he 
 exerted in his visible life. We do not speak in words only. 
 There is an inaudible speech often more significant and im- 
 pressive than words — the speech of deeds done, of forces set in 
 operation, the silent but most potent influence of character. 
 So Judge Hall has still been speaking, though lost to sight. 
 He has spoken in the many who have gone out into the world 
 and held positions of influence, who were trained upon 
 yonder hill by his wise instructions and wholesome example. 
 He has lived also and spoken in his children : and now they 
 come Ijack to the old home, and with a grateful sense of the 
 blessing which he has been to them and in his spirit, which 
 ever sought to be of benefit to his fellow-men, one of them 
 has erected this best of monuments to his memory and all unite 
 in bestowing this best of gifts upon the place of his and their 
 nativity. In this beautiful building he speaks to-day and will 
 speak through generations to come. As year after year the 
 children of your households and schools and those of older 
 years shall enter its doors and consult the volumes with 
 which its shelves will be stored— the records of the lives and 
 deeds of the great thinkers and actors of all time and the 
 great benefactors of the world — he will continue to speak to 
 them, and who shall measure the influence for good upon 
 life and character which will be the continuous and ever- 
 widening result of his life, his labors and his example. 
 
 Mr. McKnight, the chairman, then announced that by 
 request a few letters from absent invited guests would next 
 be read by Burton S. Chamberlin, Esq. 
 
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43 
 
 REMARKS AND READING OF LETTERS, 
 
 il/r. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: — To the executors 
 and trustees of Francis Hall, one of the most interesting and 
 pleasant features of their labor in connection with the com- 
 pletion of the Hall Memorial Library, has been the interest 
 manifested in it by so many of those who were in former 
 days identified with the life of Ellington, in the days when 
 John Hall, and later his son, Edward Hall, were making that 
 town the center of a far-reaching educational influence. Many 
 expressions of approval and good-will have been received by 
 them in commendation of the noble object of Mr. Hall in 
 erecting this memorial, and it has been deemed a fitting and 
 appropriate part of the dedication exercises to present to you 
 several of these letters; and to me has been alloted the pleasant 
 task of reading them to 3^ou. Several letters have been chosen 
 as typical for this purpose. 
 
 The first letter I will read comes from an early student 
 in the school of John Hall, from the pen of one who for many 
 years has held deservedly a high position in the world of 
 American literature, two of whose l^ooks, "Dream Life" and 
 "Reveries of a Bachelor," have charmed and delighted thou- 
 sands of readers in the past, as they will continue to charm 
 thousands in the future — II- Marvel — Donald G. Mitchell, as 
 he really is. They require no further introduction. 
 
 Dear Mr. Hall: — 
 
 I am very sorry that I cannot join in the pleasant com- 
 memorative offices, which you have plotted for this week, in 
 Ellington, in honor of my old and revered teacher. Judge Hall ; 
 pray count me a listener (tho' absent), to your memorial 
 exercises ! 
 
 It is now seventy-three years ago — this autumn — since I 
 first stopped at "Pember's Tavern," and walked up, next 
 moirning, very much awed — to meet "The Principal," and to 
 make my first acquaintance with the surroundings, and the 
 
44 
 
 echoing hall-ways of Ellington School ! Thence forward — 
 for seven years (with one or two longish vacations) I "came 
 and went" — coming to know excellently well — the old meeting- 
 house (as it stood on the central green) and "Pitkin's Store," 
 and Martin's brick shoe shop, and "Chapman's tavern" (on 
 the way to Snipsic) and McCrea's apple orchard, and — best of 
 all — the leafy door-yard and benign presence of the head- 
 master — Judge Hall ! 
 
 'Tis well that his reverent descendants should dedicate 
 a library to his memory, and it is well that the people of that 
 Ellington region should have bookish remembrances of the 
 kind master who believed in thorough, painstaking teaching, 
 and — no less — in all honesties of speech and of living. 
 
 In full sympathy with your pious and filial undertaking, 
 I am. Very respectfully yours, 
 
 (Signed) DONALD G. MITCHELL. 
 
 Edgewood, 9th Nov., 1903. 
 
 The next letter comes from a clergyman of prominence, 
 well known to you and once a teacher in the school of Edward 
 Hall, who is at present the dean of the theological department 
 of Howard University — Rev. Isaac Clark. 
 
 My Dear Friends: — 
 
 I rejoice with the good people of Ellington, and honor 
 him whose munificent gift makes them rejoice. I am very 
 glad that the memory of two, avIio did so much for education, 
 is to be perpetuated by so fitting and enduring a monument. 
 A public library will be a continuation of their work, and 
 not a mere memorial. Though dead they will yet speak. It 
 enhances our pleasure to think that he, whose filial and 
 fraternal spirit prompted such a gift, cannot be forgotten. I 
 thank you for your kind invitation to be present at the dedica- 
 tion and presentation of the library, but I do not see how 
 it will be practicable for me to accept the invitation. In term 
 time there is constant pressure of duties upon me as teacher, 
 and as dean of the department. Be assured that I cherish the 
 
45 
 
 remembrance of my life in Ellington, and of my very pleasant 
 association with the Hall family. I rejoice that the family 
 name is to set in perpetual honor in the town which they did 
 so much to make widely known and esteemed. 
 
 With my very kind regards, believe me 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 (Signed) ISAAC CLARK. 
 
 The next letter comes from a distinguished and very able 
 jurist, the Hon. Henry B. Brown, Associate Justice of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Brown was 
 formerly a resident of the town, although not connected in 
 any way with either of the Hall schools; his letter is filled 
 with Ellington reminiscences. 
 
 Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 Washington, October 31, 1903. 
 My Dear Sirs: — 
 
 I regret that owing to the impossibility of my leaving the 
 city during the session of the Supreme Court, I shall be unable 
 to attend the opening exercises of the Hall Memorial Library 
 at Ellington. I should be delighted to do so, particularly at 
 this pleasant season, but it is only in cases of urgent necessity 
 that I feel at liberty to absent myself during the sessions of 
 our Court. 
 
 I recollect perfectly the day when as a boy of twelve I 
 first caught sight of Ellington from the hill at the east end 
 of the village, where the road turns toward Rockville, with 
 its neat houses and beautiful row of elms, which were said 
 to have been planted by your ancestor. I thought it one of 
 the most beautiful villages I had ever seen, and after a lapse 
 of over fifty years, I am still of the same mind. My father 
 had then recently purchased the house opposite the Academy 
 at the western end of the village, built by John Hall, and 
 then considered not only the finest in the village, but with 
 scarcely a rival in the whole of Tolland County. It certainly 
 made a delightful home for us for four or five years, until 
 
46 
 
 after I had entered college, when, owing to the death of my 
 mother, we were compelled to part with it. It was then sur- 
 rounded by fruit trees and gardens, commanded a view of the 
 entire village street, and was a home of which any one might 
 be proud. 
 
 Mr. Hall, himself, was then dead, but his son, Edward, 
 had recently opened a school near the center of the village, 
 which was afterwards enlarged and is still standing. The 
 leading citizen of the town was Mr. Brockway, familiarly 
 known as "the squire," whose house, standing next to the 
 church then on the green, has only been changed by the re- 
 moval of the office which was formerly attached to it. He had 
 been member of Congress from that district, and was a good 
 lawyer, a kind friend and an excellent citizen. His family 
 were the social lights of the village and made his home the 
 center of hospitality and good fellowship. 
 
 ]\Ir. Timothy Pitkin, a good old Connecticut name, kept 
 the store in the center of the village and lived in a brick house 
 on the opposite side of the street. He was also blessed with 
 an excellent wife and a family of accomplished daughters. 
 Dr. Dow was then the only physician and Dr. Patton, a most 
 genial man, the only dentist. 
 
 I entered Yale College from Ellington in 1852, and after 
 graduation returned there, took board at the hotel and began 
 my study of law at "the squire's" office. In the meantime, the 
 Eev. Mr. Hyde, a retired clergyman, had purchased the house 
 adjoining Mr. Brockway's family, I believe occupied by his 
 father, and became an inhabitant of the village. His home 
 was made specially attractive by three accomplished daughters, 
 one of whom, I believe, still lives there. I regret to say that 
 in a visit I made to the village three or four years ago I found 
 but two or three persons I recall as living there at the time 
 I was myself a resident. All were either lying in the ceme- 
 tery or had left the place for a more active life elsewhere. 
 I was pleased to see, however, that the village, excepting in a 
 few minor particulars, was unchanged. The same neatness^ 
 
47 
 
 the same order, the same quiet life. I can only wish that 
 we had more Villages of the same description, and more public- 
 spirited and generous donors to build libraries for the enter- 
 tainment of their people. I can readily understand that the 
 Hall Memorial Library will become the center of the social 
 life in Ellington, and will contribute vastly to the pleasure 
 of a residence there, and to the education of the people. The 
 value of such a gift can hardly be overestimated. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 (Signed) H. B. BROWN. 
 
 One other letter comes from Dr. Matthew Buckham, the 
 President of the University of Vermont, Burlington. Dr. 
 Buckham, I understand, was formerly a resident of this village, 
 and his father was the principal of the school in the interregnum 
 between John Hall and Edward Hall. Dr. Buckham writes : 
 
 University of Vermont, 
 
 Office of the President, 
 Burlington, Nov. 7, 1903. 
 To the Chairman, 
 
 Dedicatory Exercises, 
 
 Hall Memorial Library: 
 Dear Sir: — 
 
 A friend has kindly sent me the circular announcing the 
 services at the dedication of the Hall ]\Iemorial Library, and 
 has enclosed a cut of the very beautiful building then to be 
 dedicated. I should certainly avail mj-self of the assurance 
 that "everybody is invited and will be welcomed" did not 
 pressing duties prevent my attendance on this most interesting 
 occasion — most interesting, I assure you, to one who passed 
 some years of his boyhood in Ellington, and who cherishes most 
 delightful memories of this charming New England village. 
 Included in these delightful memories are my associations with 
 members of the family of the donor, Mr. Hall, whom I con- 
 gratulate on the pleasure he must have enjoyed in bestoAving 
 upon his native town this beautiful gift, which will be an 
 
48 
 
 unfailing source of enjoyment and culture to his fellow- 
 townsmen and their children in all time to come. • 
 Very sincerely, 
 
 MATTHEW H. BUCKHAM. 
 
 A number of letters of formal regret have been received, 
 among which is a letter from Caroline M. Hewins, librarian of 
 the Hartford Library, and the Governor of the State has also 
 sent formal regrets. 
 
 In this connection I would state that it is a source of 
 great regret to Charles and Robert Hall that their brother, 
 Frederic Hall, was prevented by the state of his health from 
 being present on this interesting occasion. 
 
 Now, in conclusion, I would like to add that it seems to 
 me these letters bear between the lines to the citizens of 
 Ellington a most significant message. That message bids you 
 to cherish and preserve the noble memorial which now stands 
 in your midst, not only as a memorial of two lives worthily lived, 
 but also as a perpetual reminder of the refining and elevating 
 influences which those two lives impressed upon the com- 
 munity. I thank you for your attention. 
 
 Mr. McKnight : We have heard written words to us 
 from our absent friends; we have a little time now we should 
 like to devote to the use of the friends who are present with 
 us. I am asked to call first upon General Baird of Wash- 
 ington, D. C. 
 
 ADDEESS OF GENERAL GEORGE W. BAIRD, 
 
 of 
 Washington, D. C. 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 
 
 As I stand here I seem to feel the touch of a vanished 
 hand, and the few words I have to say will be spoken as the 
 echo of the sound of a voice that is still. Many of you knew 
 
49 
 
 a teacher in Edward Hall's school and because he was 
 my brother, John G. Baird, and it is because he was my brother 
 that I am here, as I have myself no relation with the day or 
 the occasion except that. 
 
 As I have thought of him, and as you who knew him well 
 will think of him, I have thought how his soul is rejoicing in 
 that which this day commemorates. Of all the men whom I 
 have known, to know intimately, I have never known one who 
 more thoroughly appreciated that which could be learned from 
 books and who more thoroughly learned that which he under- 
 took to learn from books. I have often thought of him as 
 being accurately described in one particular by that which 
 Thomas Carlyle said of his own father, "The thing that he 
 had nothing to do with, he did nothing with." There was an 
 integrity — an intellectual integrity — and thoroughness of 
 knowledge about the man which marked him to those who 
 knew him. He kept that which he did know, distinct from 
 that which he did not know, and he never pretended to know 
 that which he did not know, as some who were his pupils 
 will remember. And this, added to his quite notable memory, 
 gave him the position of a man of note and marked him an 
 educated man. As I stood to-day in your beautiful God's Acre, 
 beside the graves where his dust and the dust of his beloved 
 wife commingle, I thought, as I think now, "he is not absent." 
 It is not possible for me to think of him in this connection 
 as absent or unconcerned, or indifferent to that which is going 
 on here to-day. It \Vould be worse than death for his spirit 
 to utterly forget and be unconcerned about that which deeply 
 concerned him in life. So I believe I have a right to think 
 that he enjoys with us this occasion, and that his beloved wife, 
 whose name has been mentioned in connection with the transfer 
 of securities to-day, also enjoys with him and with you this 
 occasion. 
 
 But it is much more than a personal reason that I have 
 for. rejoicing in being here. I, too, am a citizen of Con- 
 necticut. I am a native of a countrv town not unlike this, 
 
50 
 
 and I can remember vvlien the emphasis of the life of Con- 
 necticut was largely in its country towns. That emphasis has 
 somewhat departed from them and is now concentrated, rather, 
 in cities and in manufacturing villages; and there is need 
 for those who are living now — as there will be greater need, 
 perhaps, later — to see to it that the life of these country towns 
 is maintained. Three months ago I was on the Pacific coast, 
 and as I walked up and down under the live oak trees 
 that surround the University of California, it was a great 
 pleasure to me to think that the intellectual brilliancy and the 
 social charm that had centered al)out that place in its faculty 
 were in part the bestowment of my native State. 
 
 This town was accustomed to be the home of such in- 
 fluences; this library is designed to maintain forever in the 
 future a like influence. I think it was Goethe who said, 
 "Take care of the beautiful, and the useful will take care of 
 itself." I suppose there is no danger that the owners of the 
 acres of this beautiful valley will ever be negligent in their 
 agriculture by disregarding the requirements of the climate 
 and soil; that is a part of the useful for them. I don't mean 
 to imply that there is danger that other things may be 
 forgotten, but there is the need that has been expressed in 
 the quotation I have made, that we take care of them. 
 
 And among the beautiful things that we want to take 
 care of is the splendid American spirit. America lives, not 
 because there is a Capitol at Washington, not because there is 
 an army, and a nav}% and a congress — it lives because in these 
 rural communities all over the broad land there is the mag- 
 nificent American spirit. We who don't like to think of our- 
 selves yet as old men remember the splendid response which 
 that American spirit made a little more than forty years ago, 
 when tliere was a demand for it. Let this library, then, be 
 well stored with books that shall instruct in the origin, the 
 foundation of this government and this people. A short time 
 ago I was looking over the curriculum of a military school 
 in one of the European nations, and prominent in it was 
 
51 
 
 the study of the history of the imperial and royal family of 
 the nation. We have no imperial and royal family, but we 
 have a more than imperial and royal class of ideas that are 
 fundamental in this nation. Let them be perpetuated; let 
 them be stimulated; let the young people as they grow up 
 learn to revere, to honor and to determine — as their fathers 
 determined — to hold them dearer than life itself. 
 
 It is a particular pleasure, then, for me, on behalf of 
 that brother who has gone from us, to congratulate the people 
 of this town on the receipt of this beautiful, lasting, beneficent 
 memorial; and it is a particular pleasure to me to congratulate 
 the two brothers here to-day, members of the family it was 
 my pleasure to know some years ago when I was a schoolboy, 
 and it has seemed to me, as I have listened to what has been 
 said, that in one point there must be an error of the transcriber, 
 and that it should be "All" and not "Hall." 
 
 I regret that I have not the pleasure of congratulating in 
 person their brother Frederic, whom it was also my pleasure to 
 know. 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS BY THE CHAIRMAISr. 
 
 We are fortunate to have with us two brothers of the donor 
 of our library — Charles C. Hall and Robert A. Hall. We should 
 like to hear a few words from them. 
 
 REMARKS BY MR. CHARLES C. HALL. 
 
 My name is not on the program. I am not a public 
 speaker, nor have I the preparation or the purpose of making 
 any address; but at this time and in this place it seems well 
 that I should mention three purposes of the executors as yet 
 unfulfilled, but which in the very near future we hope to ac- 
 complish. 
 
 Many of you will doubtless remember a Japanese young 
 man who in 1873-4 resided in my brother Edward's family as a 
 student for something over a year. That man has now become 
 one of the leading characters of Japan, one of its most prominent 
 
hi 
 
 and wealthy citizens. On a visit to this country about a year 
 ago, he placed in my hands $3,000, to which Mr. Parnham has 
 alluded, to be spent in such manner as might seem to us best as 
 a memorial to my brother Edward. A part of this sum has 
 already been put into the memorial window with its three 
 portraits, which some of you have seen, and into the ten 
 transom lights with their "book-marks." Something over a 
 thousand dollars still remains, which we purpose to put into 
 objects of Japanese art, illustrating the wonderful beauty and 
 artistic skill shown in the work of the Japanese. We hope that 
 this will be accomplished before the end of the year. 
 
 The second purpose is that, in carrying out our brother 
 Francis' wish, we propose to make a careful selection of about 
 a thousand volumes of good books to put into the library. We 
 regret that time has not allowed us to do this before the 
 dedication, but those empty shelves — as they stand this day — 
 will have somewhat added to them. 
 
 As a third purpose, we have engaged an expert librarian 
 and indexer to properly index the books and to educate the 
 regular librarian in the work of distributing these books. 
 She is already engaged in the preparatory work. 
 
 REMAEKS OF MR. ROBERT A. HALL. 
 
 I shall speak very briefly, for I feel like an empty cistern, 
 rather than a flowing spring from which I could pour out words 
 of sincere appreciation of your gathering here to-day to be a 
 part of these dedication exercises. All my time and strength 
 have already been expended in other duties necessary to the 
 preparation for these exercises. Our time is now nearly spent 
 and I will not prolong these exercises. Even Mr. McKnight, 
 our Chairman, cannot refill my emptied resources. 
 
 Good friends all — I feel I can call you such — I may truth- 
 fully say that my brother Charles has spoken to you the very 
 words that I would have said, and I know that you do not wish 
 to have them repeated. I ask you all to kindly excuse me. I 
 thank you all. 
 
5^ 
 
 Mr. McKxight: The name of C. C. Kimball of Hartford 
 is called. 
 
 C. C. Kimball: At this late hour I should not think of 
 making a speech. We are all hap}\Y to-day. It is a gala day 
 and we are all bearing smiling faces. That condition of things 
 is only possible by this munificent friend and son of Ellington. 
 And he is a noble son of Ellington, born into a noble family, 
 a family of Halls. I will simply say, "x\ll hail the power of 
 the name of Hall !" 
 
 Mr. McKnight: The name of J. C. Hammond is called. 
 
 J. C. Hammond : I don't see why, except it may be that I 
 am a living example of what a perfect master can do with even 
 crude material. The two years that I spent in Edward Hall's 
 school — if I have even a modicum of good horse-sense — I got 
 then and there, and have him to thank for it. 
 
 A. Park Hammond: I have only a word to say as to Ed- 
 ward Hall. I came to his school in 1845, when it first opened — 
 there were only seven boys. I was there four years, and he 
 laid the foundation of my education and my business life. I 
 have always respected and honored him. I have known all 
 the family, except Mr. Francis Hall, all my life, and I am very 
 much pleased to be here to-day to see this beautiful building 
 which has been contributed by him. 
 
 Mr. McKnight: I am going to leave it now to you to 
 speak for yourselves, on one condition, that you won't all speak 
 at once. 
 
 James M. Talcott: I recollect very well the years gone 
 by. For more than three years I was a member of Mr. John 
 Hall's family— Judge Hall, as we called him. I sat at table 
 with this son of his who has presented us with this noble library. 
 It was then that I was fitted for college under the auspices of 
 Mr. Hall, assisting him, as I had nothing to help myself with 
 —assisting him to pay for my education; and I recollect those 
 days with great pleasure. I love to think back to the time 
 
54 
 
 when those children of his were so active and so full of fun 
 around the table, and when Judge Hall himself, with his grave 
 face and earnest manner, said, "Boys, be still !" — and they 
 were still. And when he said to us in the schoolroom, "Boys, 
 now is your time to speak," we had to speak. And it was a 
 great blessing to the town that we had such a man here at 
 the head of this noble institution. There were fully one hundred 
 sleeping rooms, and all were filled with students, and they 
 received from him a starting-point in life which they have 
 carried, I believe, to the ends of the earth. Let us to-day, as 
 citizens of Ellington, feel how much we owe to Mr. Hall, his 
 family and to all connected with them. 
 
 Mr. McKnight : I will call upon you to unite in the 
 closing song, "America." And after the song, Eev. Luther H. 
 Barber will pronounce the benediction. 
 
 PRAYEE BY EEV. LUTHEE H. BAEBEE. 
 
 Lord, as we come to the closing exercises of this oc- 
 casion, we miss from our presence one who would have been 
 greatly pleased if he could have been with us here to-day. We 
 thank Thee, our Heavenly Father, that Thou didst make him 
 to be what he was. Thou didst see best, in Thy all-wise provi- 
 dence, that he should be taken from us before this occasion 
 could occur, but we believe that he has been received and 
 welcomed by Him who says, "AVell done, good and faithful 
 servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." While we cannot 
 render thanks to him in person for what he has done for us, 
 yet we can remember him with great pleasure, and we shall 
 herein be rendering thanks to the great Giver himself, who 
 made him to be what he was and who enal)led him to make 
 the gift that he has for the welfare of the people of his native 
 town. We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for Thy great good- 
 ness to this people in the presentation of such a noble gift as 
 has been made. We pray that it may prove to be a blessing 
 to the people of this town in the years as they roll on; and 
 

55 
 
 in the ages to come, even the generations that shall come and 
 go, may it be a blessing to them. 
 
 And now may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
 Christ, the love of our Heavenly Father, and the communion 
 and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all forever. 
 Amen. 
 
 THE PORTEAITS AND BOOK-MARKS. 
 
 In the description of the Library, allusion has been made 
 to the stained glass portraits and book-marks in the transoms of 
 the principal windows. These beautiful and artistic leaded glass 
 are the design and work of Spence, Bell & Company of 
 Boston. They are important features in the artistic decoration 
 of the stairway, reading-room and book-room. 
 
 Those in the transoms of the triple window at the head 
 of the first landing of the main stairway are portraits. The 
 center one is that of John Hall. On the left is that of Edward 
 Hall, and on the right that of Francis Hall. 
 
 The book-marks are reproductions from the trademarks of 
 leading early printers or booksellers, as early as the fourteenth 
 century, as will be seen from the record of their use. 
 
 The two in the north window of the reading-room are Juan 
 Rosenbach — Spanish — 1493, and William Caxton — English — 
 1476. 
 
 The two in the south window in the book-room are Fust 
 and Schoeffer — German — 1437, and Plantin — Flemish — 1493. 
 
 In the east, or front, window at the north of the entrance 
 is a triple window with three book-marks. The left-hand one 
 is Elzivir — Dutch — 1583. The center one is emblematic of 
 Knowledge — a lamp and open book. The right-hand one is 
 Ottavarino — Venetian. 
 
 The other triple window in the east front, and south of 
 the entrance, has at the first or left-hand side the well-known 
 Aldus — Italian — 1502. The center one is emblematic of 
 Literature — a book, inkstand and scroll. The right-hand one is 
 the Guinta Familv — Florentine — 1495. 
 
THE ADVERTISER, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY