YalellniyeRitiLibraij ii,iit,iii|i! iiiiii 39002012517513 ;J. , r^ps^, f ¦iV^^^^ r D RE S S TO THE PEOPLE OF DARTMOUTH, ENGLAND. ADDRESS. To the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of the City of Dart mouth, County of Devon, England : Gentlemen, On this day of our solemn festivity, while we are assembled to commemorate the incorporation, two hundred years ago, of the town called by a name which your historic city has borne for nearly a thousand, we, the people of the city of New Bedford, and of the towns of Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven and Acushnet, municipalities into which the territory of the mother town has been separated, would to you, and through you to the inhabitants you represent, send a greeting of remembrance and regard. Forcibly and pleasantly have we at this time been reminded of the many interesting circumstances which con nect your ancient borough with the town whose corporate birth-day we now commemorate. We call to mind the fact, that it was from Dartmouth, and in a Dartmouth ship, bearing a name significant of that feeling of Concord which will we trust forever characterize the intercourse between the nations to which we respectively belong, that Bartholo mew Gosnold in 1602 put forth upon his voyage to America, landed upon our shores, and upon an island often called by his name, in sight from the spot upon which we are now assembled, erected the first white man's dwelling upon, the soil of New England. Deeper still have been our recoUective associations as we have remembered, that it was in your noble harbor, and in the nofeler hearts and homes of the then inhabitants of your city, that our Pilgrim Fathers found a shelter, when the perils of the storm drove them from their course across the ocean to found an empire in the New Woeld. It was the 40 memory of that providential preservation, and of the hospi tality extended to them in that hour of despondency and weakness, that prompted them, when they went forth from Plymouth Rock to subdue the forest and extend the borders' of their Commonwealth, to bestow upon this portion of their goodly heritage the name of that city by the Mouth of the Dart, from which they had taken their last departure for their new home amid the wilds of America. The occasion demanded of those who had been selected to address us a brief recital of that conflict which led to the political separation of the United States of America from the land our people have ever loved to call the Mothee COUNTEY. And while we have been moved and saddened by the recital, we have with deep and grateful feelings remembered, that it was William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of the Colonies under George 3d, and who derived his title from your ancient city, who gave the force of his character and commanding talents in opposition to the Grenville Administration, for conciliation and peace. For the memory of this friend of Franklin, the friend of justice, the friend of peace, this high-minded Christian gentleman and Peer of England, we shall ever cherish the sentiments of profound respect. Such are some of the links of that Golden Chain of associations which at this moment stretches across the ocean, and binds together the city whose noble harbor sheltered the crusading fleet of the Lion-Heaeted Richard, with the family of communities which are resting near the waters of Gosnold's Hope. We would add, as a circum stance calculated to strengthen the force of the historic reminiscences to which we have alluded, that we, too, are to a great extent a family of fishermen. At a period not remote, a whaling fleet of nearly four hundred ships belong ing to the communities we represent, manned by more than ten thousand seamen, was afloat upon the ocean. We would assure you, gentlemen, that in sending you this 41 greeting, which finds its justification in, and depends- for its interest upon, the incidents and circumstances we have recited, we have a purpose deeper than the extension of a compliment, or the indulgence of pleasant and interesting associations. We wish not to withhold the expression of the fact, that in the civil strife which is now raging in our land, its loyal people would fain have extended to them that moral encouragement and support that attends upon the favorable testimony of enlightened Englishmen. They feel that they are doing battle for principles which they have derived from their Saxon ancestry, and dear to the heart of every Briton. Allow us, therefore, to express the hope, that the reception of our earnest and affectionate greeting will give such a direction to your feelings and lead to such an examination of the questions at issue between us and our infatuated Southern fellow-countrymen, as shall result in your giving the weight of your enlightened minds and the testimony of your Christian character to the cause of universal freedom. We address you amidst the smoke and the roar of the conflict ; but we hope and believe that the end is near — and when peace shall be restored and 'the flag of our country shall again wave over an undivided soil and a united people, we feel assured that such will then be our condition, that closer than it has ever been before will be the union between us and our Mothee Country. New Bedford, Sept. 14, 1864. The following is a copy of the vote passed in connection with the foregoing address, by the company at the City Hall. Voted, That the address to the Corporate Authorities and the people of the ancient city of Dartmouth, in the county of Devon, in England, which has now been read, be adopted — that it be properly engrossed* — that it be signed * The copy of this address wliich is to be sent across the Atlantic, has been prepared by George B. Hathaway of this city. It is a beautiful piece of work, and will add to the high reputation which Mr. Hathaway has long sustained for excellence as a cliirographer. 42 on behalf of the people of Dartmouth, New Bedford, West- port, Fairhaven and Acushnet by their respective corporate authorities, and authenticated by the seals of the several municipalities — and that, when thus prepared, it be for warded to those for whom it is intended by the committee of arrangements, in such a manner as they shall think proper. LETTERS FBOM INVITED GUESTS 45 Letters declining the invitations of the committee of arrangements were received from His Excellency Governor Andrew, Hon. Henry H. Crapo of Michigan, Rev. Orville Dewey, Hon. Alexander H. Bullock, Hon. J. H. W. Page, Martin L. Eldridge, Esq., Thomas Almy, Esq., Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, President Massachusetts Historical Society, Rev. Charles Ray Palmer, Hon. Lemuel Williams, Rev. W. S. Studley, Daniel Ricketson, Esq., Hon. Stephen Salisbury, President of the American Antiquarian Society, and others. Want of space restricts the publication to the communi cations received from the gentlemen whose names we have given. From His Excellency John A. Andrew. Boston, September 10, 1864. Hon. George Howland, Jr., Mayor, &c., New Bedford, Mass : My Dear Sir, I sincerely regret that a visit to Washing ton, which is important to be made immediately, will prevent my enjoying the pleasure I had anticipated in attending the centennial celebration at New Bedford on the 14th instant. The occasion is one of intrinsic interest; and I am sure that the gentlemen who will assist in its illustration will not fail to render it an honorable and pleasant memorial of your beautiful and prosperous city. I trust that I may be able partially to compensate myself for the loss I shall suffer, both of instruction and recreation, in being obliged to decline your friendly and valued invitation, not only by reading the addresses and proceedings which will be doubt less in print hereafter, but also by finding some other early opportunity of enjoying your hospitality. I am, with much regard, your friend and servant. John A. Andeew. 46 Prom Hon. Henry H. Crapo. Flint, Mich., August 29, 1864. Hon. George Howland, Jr., Mayor of the City of New Bedford, Mass. : My Dear Sir, I am in receipt of your esteemed favor of the 24th inst., inclosing the invitation of^ yourself and the several chairmen of the Boards of Selectmen for the towns of Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven and Acushnet, to be present, on the 14th proximo, at the " celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dartmouth." I am indeed gratified, not only by the invitation itself, but more especially by your friendly and flattering letter inclosing it; and be assured that nothing short of an imperious necessity would deprive me of thp exquisite pleasuDe I should most certainly enjoy by being present on that occasion, and taking by the hand my old and well remembered friends, and exchanging once more with them those cordial and heartfelt greetings so expressive of mutual friendship and regard.- But I regret to say, that notwithstanding my most earnest desire to be present, circumstances are such that I am compelled to deny myself the pleasure. The occasion will undoubtedly be a source of great enjoy ment to all who are permitted to be present; whilst to those who are not it will be a prolific source of reflection, consequent upon a review of the past, and of the various changes incident to human life, which the occasion can hardly fail to call up. In regard to myself, as I peruse your kind and friendly letter, my mind is at once forcibly and irresistibly carried back through all the varied scenes and amid all the numerous associations of a period of nearly fifty years of vivid recol lection; and as these pass in review before me, I again behold, at least in imagination, the spot where I was born in that, even now, apparently new and unclaimed and uncul- 47 tivated region in the north part of the present town of Dartmouth — and further on, in another portion of her territory, I see the old and worn out fields, with their hard, sterile and rocky soil, in which my boyhood and youth were spent in a round of unceasing toil ; — whilst in the foreground of the picture appears in vivid colors all the scenes and incidents and associations consequent upon a busy life, in the prime of manhood — surrounded by warm and true and devoted friends — for a period of nearly thirty years in your own beautiful city. How forcibly your invitation and your kind letter recall to my mind all the important events of my whole life, until Providence, by some mysterious influence, directed my steps to Michigan, the State of my adoption — my present home — and where I trust my future days will be spent. But although now an acknowledged citizen of Michigan, a State still in its infancy, yet destined ere long to stand at the head of the States of this Union in prosperity, in wealth, and in refinement, as well as in every material element of greatness and power — whose area is nearly as large as that of all New England, and whose population in the brief space of a few years has nearly reached that of the good old State of Massachusetts — whose soil is rich and productive — whose climate is healthy — whose society is good — and whose people are intelligent, enterprising and industrious — and whose resources, the development of which has scarcely begun, in almost every variety of the richest and most useful mineral substances, as well as in vast forests of choice tim ber, and in extensive fisheries — are of incalculable value ; — and although in some at least of these particulars the com parison may be to the disadvantage of our native town, whose birth you commemorate, yet after all, for one of her sons, I must bear unqualified testimony that what she may lack in some things she amply makes up in others. And although I am well pleased with and proud of the home of my adoption, yet I still appreciate and love, and will ever strive to honor, as she deserves, my native home. 48 And to her sons and daughters who may meet with you on this occasion I would say, that I am proud of " Old Dartmouth," the place of my birth, and the home of my childhood, my youth, and my manhood for so many years; and that the recollection of all her dealings towards me, one of her truant sons, are ever sweet and grateful, for they were infinitely above my deserts. Let me also say to those who still abide by the old " roof- tree," and who still cling to " Fader Land," and let me ask those who like me have strayed from the fold, to unite in the sentiment, that it shall ever be our study, our constant and unalterable purpose, wherever we may be in the future, in whatever position the calls of duty may place us, or under whatever circumstances our lives may be cast, that we will remain true to our native land, that we will foster and cherish every right principle of our fathers, that we will hold fast to the lessons, and constantly maintain the habits of industry, prudence, and virtue, which we received upon her rugged soil, and that we will ever honor tliat dear old home, which has given us, by her efficient training, a will to overcome difficulties and to surmount obstacles, and an ambition for right progress and for honorable advancement, that is not excelled by the sons of any other soil. If we do this, I am sure that whether still denizens of the " Dear Old Home," or wanderers in more highly favored lands, we shall have no just cause to regret, but shall remember with an honest pride, that the " Old Dartmouth " of 1664 was the place of our birth; nor will that home have occasion to regret that we are her sons, or blush to acknowledge us as her children. You have my dear sir, been pleased to allude, in very friendly and flattering terms, to the circumstance, that my son is the chosen orator of the day. I am indeed proud to learn that he is deemed worthy, on such an occasion, of occupying so prominent a position ; and I may perhaps be pardoned this expression of my gratification. With sentiments of the highest esteem and regard to 49 yourself personally, and to your associates, and with the most friendly and cordial greetings to all who may be present on the occasion, I remain, very truly, yours, &c. Henry H. Crapo. From Eev. Orville Dewey. Sheffield, Sept. 8 th, 1864. To the Mayor of New Bedford, and his Associates : Gentlemen, I have received your invitation to the com ing two hundredth anniversary. Circumstances make it inconvenient for me to take the journey at the present time ; but I thank you for remembering me on this occasion, and thus recognizing my claim to belong to New Bedford. I belong to it, though not by birth, yet by a residence there, during the first ten years of my professional life. Thirty years have passed since; and time, I must suppose, has weakened any interest felt in me, more than it has mine, in the good old town — so many of whose dwellings and very streets are dear to my recollection. Thirty years is the life-time of a generation ; and more than six of those periods have passed since the first settle ments were made at Buzzard's Bay. Six generations, now swelling, I suppose, to 30 or 40,000 people — what worlds, if earnest and anxious, of sad and joyous life, since the first settlers came 1 Pleasant place they came to ; I do not wonder that they were attracted to them — the banks of the Acushnet ; the view-commanding slopes of New Bedford ; the lovely Point, skirted now, by a magnificent Promenade Road; and the quiet fields and shores of Padanaram — pleasant to my remembrance, like the scenes of the old Bible story — like "the memory of joys that are past, pleasing and mournful to the soul." The commemoration of epochs is the recognition of a history. And New Bedford has a history; in its arduous 50 and prosperous business ; in its growing wealth ; in its pub lic schools; in its flourishing Lyceum,* and in its goodly tabernacles of worship ; in the strong moral tone, and, as I well believe, in these perilous times, the Devoted Loyalty of its people. I send to it, on its honored two hundredth anniversary, my respectful and affectionate greeting. Orville Dewey. From Hon. Alexander H. Bullock. Worcester, Sept. 4, 1864. My Dear Sir, I thank you for the invitation to attend the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Dartmouth, and only regret that my engagements on the 14th instant will prevent my attendance. There is peculiar signification in these municipal celebra tions at a time like the present. Massachusetts owes what she is and what she has accomplished, to her municipal individualities. Their culture, their patience and trials, their patriotism and sacrifices, have made up her sovereign power, and crowned her with glory. In them she learned Liberty. From them she derived those lessons of govern- ernment, of economy, of virtue, which she has promulgated over this country and over the globe. These are the nurseries of her principles, her faith, her all. Looking back over a period of two centuries, how the inhabitants of the ancient town, now become five, may con gratulate themselves that the great principles of Liberty and Government, now in the peril of war, have at all times and under all difficulties, had a shrine there ! I believe, also, that after such a survey and review, your fellow-citizens will arouse with fresh stimulation to the manly defence of those blessings which their ancestors achieved by their toil, • Doct. Dewey wrote the notice for pubUcation that called the first meetuig in relation to the Lyceum. 51 their treasure, and their blood, and which are now placed in hazard by an atrocious rebellion. May the lesson of Liberty be treasured and transmitted ! Yours most truly, Alexander H. Bullock. His Honor George Howland, Jr., and others. From Hon. J. H. W. Page. Boston, Sept. 3d, 1864. To ihe Mayor of New Bedford, and his Associates : My Dear Sir, I have received yours, enclosing invitation to attend the " two hundredth anniversary of the incorpora tion of the town of Dartmouth," on Wednesday, Sept. 14. I need not tell you how much my heart is interested in that matter. I lave New Bedford, although fate has for some years placed me elsewhere. If I can ever do her good, I shall do it with all my heart. I expect to leave for Pennsylvania Monday morning, and shall not probably return before the 14th. If I should, I will be with you. If I am not there, please take my kindest sympathies and best wishes with you all. Ever gratefully and truly yours, J. H. W. Page. From Martin L. Eldridge, Esq., of Acushnet, Teacher in the State Nautical School. Dear Sirs, Your kind invitation to be present at " the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dartmouth," was duly received. I fear my engagements are such as to deprive me of the happiness of being with you on that interesting occasion. 52 Dartmouth, in point of time the twelfth town in the Colony of Plymouth, was settled in a dark and stormy period. In England, the transient joy of an afflicted people at the restoration of a Stuart king was giving way under the encroachments of new tyrannies, to well-grounded fears and gloomy discontent. The unsettled policy of the parent country towards its infant colonies was now assuming a shape which filled the colonists with the greatest apprehen sions and misgiving. A fleet of ships of war was crossing the Atlantic, bearing an obnoxious commission and armed soldiery to the shores of New England; and the deepest solicitude was felt for the fate of the colonies. But the determined men of those days turn not from their settled purpose. They erect new townships, they subdue the wilderness, and, unmindful of hardships, perils, or dis couragements, build as for a bright future. What a sublime example of faith in God and a good cause 1 Let us hope that the lessons taught by the retrospect of two centuries may increase our veneration for those remark able men who laid the political foundations, not of a munici pality merely, but of the Republic ;¦ who amid perils we can never justly estimate, with unexampled fortitude, battled in those early days for human freedom. Let it not be forgotten that it was from the Colony of Plymouth that the first suggestion of Union came ; and in coming time, whatever communities of men may forsake the faith and doctrines of her Fathers, on the soil of the Old Colony let us hope a people may be found whose devotion to " Liberty and Union " shall be forever unconquered and unconquerable. Very truly yours, Martin L. Eldeidge. To George Howland, Jr., and others. 53 From Thomas Almy, Esq. "Quansett," Sept. 13th, 1864. . Dear Sirs, I am very grateful, as one of the inhabitants of the ancient town of Dartmouth, for the generous hospi tality tendered us by the citizens of New Bedford. Having nearly reached my ninetieth year, I fear that the undertaking and excitement would be too much for me; otherwise it would afford me great pleasure to be present at so agreeable a re-union. I trust that this festival will be the means of strengthen ing the bonds of sympathy and good-fellowship for future generations. I am, ve.ry truly, yours, Thomas Almy. [A. B. Almy, Scribe.] Messrs. George Howland, Jr., Mayor, and others. From Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, President Massachusetts Historical Society. Boston, 10th Sept. 1864. Hon. George Howland, Jr., Mayor of New Bedford : My Dear Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge your obliging communication, inviting me to represent the Massa chusetts Historical Society at the " Old Dartmouth " festival on the 14th instant. I regret extremely that previous engagements for that day will prevent my being with you. It would have given me great pleasure to unite in commemorating the two hun dredth anniversary of the incorporation of a town, which, in addition to its own bright record of usefulness and honor, is able to exhibit, as one of its numerous offspring, the noble city over which you are privileged t^ preside. 54 I offer you the congratulations of the Massachusetts His torical Society on the occasion of so memorable an anni versary. It carries us back to a period when that old Mother Country, of which Plymouth and Massachusetts were but humble colonies, was rejoicing in the restoration of peace and prosperity after a long and bloody civil war. Let us hope that our own day of Restoration is not far distant; and that Peace and Union and Constitutional Liberty may soon be welcomed again throughout' the length and breadth of our beloved land. I will endeavor, agreeably to your request, to make arrangements for the representation of our Society at your festival by some other one of our officers or members. But if no other should appear, your valued fellow-citizen. Gov ernor Clifford, is one of our number, and we should gladly leave it to him to speak for us on an occasion in which he cannot but feel the deepest interest. I am, respectfully and truly. Your obliged and obedient servant, Robert C. Winthrop. From Kev. Charles Ray Palmer. Salem, 12th Sept. 1864. [After mentioning that illness would prevent him from being present at the festival, Mr. Palmer says :] I have a great interest in Old Dartmouth, and a high appreciation of the usefulness, from many points of view, of such a celebration as is proposed. It will quicken those local attachments which seem to be part of, if not essential to, true patriotism. It will have a great value to the histori ographer. It will collect and secure the permanent preser vation of much traditional information, that soon would be forgotten. It will also be an interesting occasion for the interchanging and the cultivation of those friendly affections that refine and adorn our social life. 55 My interest in Old Dartmouth is owing to the connection with its early history of William Palmer, from whom I am a descendant of the seventh generation. He was born in Plymouth, June 27th, 161^4. His father and grandfather, (both "Williams,") were among the "Old Comers," having landed in the Fortune at Plymouth, Nov. 9, 1621. William Palmer, Jr., was, at the date of his landing, about eight years old. He died in Plymouth in 1635 or 1636, leaving a wife and two children. William of Dartmouth, his son, married first a daughter of Robert Paddock, of Plymouth, who soon died ; second, Susannah Hathaway, who survived him. He died in 1679, having been constable, surveyor, and selectman. He received other marks of the respect of his fellow-citizens. His older sons (two) removed to Little Compton in 1684. The remainder of his family continued in Dartmouth. Mrs. Philip Dunham (Ruth Palmer) of Dart mouth, is a descendant of the fifth generation. The late Richard A. Palmer, of New Bedford, was of the sixth. Very respectfully yours, Charles Ray Palmer. His Honor George Howland, Jr., and others, committee. From Hon. Lemuel Williams. WoECESTEE, Sept. 12th, 1864. Gentlemen, I received your invitation to attend the Centennial Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dartmouth, and should have gladly complied with it, if my health would have permitted. Not being able to attend in person, I commenced a sketch of my knowledge of many interesting incidents in the history of that ancient town, my reminiscences of what have been told me by my father and other aged persons, extending back more than one hundred and fifty years, but ill health 56 has prevented my completing it, which I regret, as many of these incidents remain only in my recollection. With many thanks for your kind invitation, I am respectfully, your obedient servant, Lemuel WiLLiAifS. Messrs. Geoege Howland, Jr., and others. Committee of two hundredth anniversary. From Rev. W. S. Studley. Boston, Sept. 12, 1864. Dear Sirs, I thank you heartily for your invitation to the Dartmouth " Centennial." As a former resident of New Bedford — one of her territorial progeny — it would afford me real pleasure to be present with my adopted grand mother's household to celebrate her two hundredth birthday ; but my other duties, I fear, will prevent. Through you, I herewith extend to the whole family my best wishes for a happy re-union. I have little skill at " sentiment," but here is one honest wish. Dartmouth, the aged matron — mother of cities — in time to come, as now, may her children be her proudest jewels. Yours, truly, W. S. Studley. Messrs. George Howland, Jr., and others. From Daniel Ricketson, Esq. Brooklawn, 10th Sept. 1864. Friends and Fellow-Citizens, While I yield to my disinclination to be present at public festivities, I can most heartily unite with you in the commemoration of the first settlement of the old township of Dartmouth, within whose limits stands our bejoved city. As a native of New Bedford, and in a line of six genera tions from the first settler of my family name, who was also 57 one of the original proprietors of the township in the " eight- hundred-acre division," I need not assure you how much I am interested in the welfare and success of the several members of the ancient township, comprising the present towns of Dartmouth, Westport, New. Bedford, Fairhaven, and Acushnet. The early settlers of Dartmouth, as is known to many of you, were mostly Friends, and to their industry, as well as to their moral and religious character, we owe much of the prosperity of our place ; not only in the cultivation of the soil, whereby they left a goodly heritage to their posterity, but in the more venturesome employment upon the ocean. " The father of the whale fishery," as he has sometimes been called, though not himself a sailor, was Joseph Russell, a Friend, whose house stood within the memory of many of us, on County street, near the head of William. He was an extensive land-holder whose domain comprised several hundred acres, now in the most busy and prosperous part of our city. His cart-way to the shore was on Union street, known prior to the Revolution as King street, and then as the Main street of our boyhood. It was not however, until the removal from Nantucket of those eminent merchants, William Rotch, Sen'r, and William Rotch, Jr., and Samuel Rodman, Sen'r, that New B'edford became known much abroad as a commercial place. Others of our own people soon became engaged in business, and before the last war with the Mother Country, our place had become known to most of the commercial emporiums of Europe, whither our vessels had carried cargoes of oil, bringing return cargoes of the products of other lands, many of them articles of manufacture for household and agricultural use. Although I have not personally taken a prominent part in the affairs of our city, none the less have I felt interested in her welfare ; and while much is to be said in her praise, a word of counsel and caution may not be out of place. The looker-on at a play may oftentimes better see and 58 understand it than they who take parts therein : so often while observing the state of our affairs in the several fields of public interest, whether civil, commercial or religious, I have regretted the apparent decay of that ancient good faith and integrity which so marked the founders of our city, and in lieu thereof, that struggle for wealth irrespective of the rights of others. The society of New Bedford from thirty to fifty years ago, would by no means lose in the comparison with that of the present. It could show many highly cultivated minds, of both sexes, and few houses of the better class but had their library, though small, of the choicest literature of the English language, while a generous and hospitable spirit almost universally prevailed. Better days are, I trust, still in store for us, when the fierce spirit of war shall be quelled and the smiling spirit of peace shall return once more to our bleeding and sorrow- stricken people, which will undoubtedly be best secured by a close attention to those higher and more sacred interests of our moral and religious natures. Thanking you for your kind invitation, and with my best wishes for the success of the celebration, I remain your friend and fellow-citizen, Daniel Ricketson. Hon. George Howland, Jr., Mayor, and the other members of the committee. From Hon. Stephen Salisbury, President of the American Antiquarian Society. Hall of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Sept. 13, 1864. Hon. George Howland, Jr., Mayor of the city of New Bedford : My Dear Sie, Returning home yesterday afternoon from an excursion of a week, I find your respected letter of 5th instant, which invites the American Antiquarian Society to 59 the honor and satisfaction of participating in the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the good old town of Dartmouth, which will take place to-morrow. I present the thanks of the American Antiqua rian Society for this distinguished hospitality, and I thank you for the personal compliment of the request, that I should represent the Society. As I have an official engagement that must detain me from the enjoyment which you offer, I have attempted to exercise the privilege you offer to me, in selecting some other member to go as a delegate of our society, and at so short notice I have not been successful, to my great regret. This society has the deepest interest in the combined efforts of the prosperous dwellers within the limits of that venerable town, to honor the virtues of the Fathers and to open the sources of history, which may show whence the life-blood and strength of that wealthy and • intelligent population was derived. Will you permit me to offer the sentiment written below and to assure you Of my high and grateful respect ? Stephen Salisbuey, President American Antiquarian Society. " Old Dartmouth, the comely mother of more beautiful children, whose prosperity has a diverse origin. ' The depth says it is wholly in me,' for their line has gone out through all the earth, and their enterprise encompasseth the land and the sea." i^D D RE S S HIS HONOR GEORGE HOWLAND, JR., MAYOR OF NEW BEDFORD. ADDRESS My friends and fellow-citizens qf Old Dartmouth : Ladies and Gentlemen, We are convened this day on an occasion of no ordinary interest. We are met to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dartmouth in the year 1664. We find in the records of the Plymouth Colony for the year the following : " 1664, June. — Att this Court, all that tracte of land comonly called and knowne by the name of Acushena, Ponagansett and Coaksett, is allowed by the Court to bee a townshipe, and the inhabitants thereof have lib ertie to make such orders as may conduce to theire comon good in town consernments ; and that the said towne bee henceforth called and knowne by the name of Dartmouth." The territory within the limits described in that record, includes the present towns of Dartmouth, West- port, Fairhaven, and Acushnet, and the city of New Bedford, and was at that time probably an almost un broken wilderness ; how different now ! Where to-day we find the bustle and din of business, hear the hum of the spindle and the shriek of the locomotive, and see the gallant ships entering our harbors freighted with the rich products of other and far remote waters, then. 64 with the exception of an occasional settler engaged in clearing up a portion of the wilderness and reducing it to his necessities* or the swiftly gliding canoe of the Indian rippling the placid waters of the streams, all or nearly all partook of the silence of nature. But leaving the remote past to abler hands, let us come down to a more recent period ; there are those present whose recollections take them back to a very different condition of things from what we now see. Even I, at my comparatively early period of life, recol lect when New Bedford contained only about three thou sand inhabitants ; the details of a painting, made some twenty-five years since by one of our native artists, rep resenting the " Old Four Corners," are all familiar to me ; many a time have I accompanied my respected father to the shed market there represented ; the old store on one of the corners, then and now known as the " Four Corners," with the upper half of the window shutter propped up on a. stick, and nearly all the other objects handed down to us of the present day by this picture, I recollect as though they were still extant, not forgetting some of the more prominent persons so faithfully represented, nor yet the little old No. 1 fire engine, nor the old chaise with the small round seat in front, upon which sat old "Tony," when he drove his excellent master, the venerable William Rotch, Sen., through the streets. I have heard my maternal grand mother relate, that when the house which stood upon the north-west corner of Union and First streets, on a portion of the site now occupied by Thornton Block, was raised, she sat at the window of her house on Water street, between School and Walnut streets, and 65 looking through ihe fcrrest witnessed the operation. In that house, many years after I was born, I have been told by an uncle of mine, that when he was a boy, and went with other boys after berries, if they thought to go so far from home as where I now live, on Sixth street, they considered it necessary to take their dinners with them. These, and many other incidents that might be related, show the changes that have taken place in a few years. I have also very pleasant recollections of many of the old people of forty or more years ago. Of the venerable William Rotch, Sen., before alluded to, who lived in what is now the "Mansion House," who on one occasion, when I was quite a boy, placing his hand upon my head, said to me, "Ah George, I have worn out, I have not rusted out." Of John Howland, my honored grandfather, who was acknowledged by all to ha^ve been a strong-minded man, a useful man too, and one who served his generation faithfully, who, once on the even ing after a " town meeting " put to me this question : " George, been to town meeting to-day ?" I replied, " No, grandfather, why should I go to town meeting ?" (being only a boy,) when he immediately added in the style peculiar to that day, " Go to lam." Little did I at that time appreciate the force of the expression, "Go to larn." Whether or not I have heeded the injunc tion since, I leave for others. These men, and such as these, acted on the belief that there was something for every one to do, and that it behooved every one to do something. With them there was no place for drones; — would that such senti ments prevailed more fully at the present day. There 66 would be more of "wearing out," and less of "rusting out." I might name many other noble men of that day, whose descendants are still with us, such as the Aliens, the Davises, the Grinnells, the Hathaways, the Rodmans, the Russells, the Spooners, the Tabers, the Thorntons, &c., &c., not omitting some who still live amongst us, and who, by the even tenor of their lives, and the excellent example which they set us, command the ad miration and respect of all, and who, I hope, may yet be spared to us for years to come. When I look over our city, and see the improvements which have taken place within my time, and over the territory represented by you, my fellow-citizens and neighbors, and then go further and embrace our whole country, I sometimes ask myself the question, Can these improvements continue ? and will science and art make the same rapid strides for the next fifty or one hundred years, as for the past? The only answer I can make to the query is the real Yankee one ; Why not ? What reason have we to suppose that we have reached the ne plus ultra in anything ? Although the steam engine in all its various appliances on the land and on the water, the magnificent clipper ship, the electric tele graph, and the photographic art, are attainments the origin of which is within the recollection of many of us, and which seem, each in itself, to have arrived at a, high state of perfection, who of us can say the end has yet been reached? I for one do not think it has; when this wicked re bellion which now presses upon us like an incubus, par alyzing our energies, or forcing us into unwonted chan- 67 nels, shall be ended, and peace shall again smile over our beloved and undivided country, may we not hope to go on improving in all that is real, in all that is enduring, until we shall have reached the highest posi tion to which any country can attain, honorable, digni fied, exalted, on a foundation like adamant, with a superstructure of truth and righteousness ? A.D DRESS WILLIAM W. CRAPO At a meeting of the committee of arrangements, Sept. 15th, 1864, it was Voted, That the thanks of the committee be com municated to William W. Crapo, Esq., for his highly interesting, valuable, and appropriate address delivered on the 14th instant, on the day set apart for the com memoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dartmouth, and that he be requested to furnish the municipal authorities with a copy for the press. George Howland, Jr., Chairman. New Bedford, Oct. 1, 1864. Hon. George Howland, Jr., Chairman, &c. : My Dear Sir, Yours of the 17th ult., accompany ing the vote of the committee on the Centennial Cele bration, has been received. Herewith I inclose to you for publication a copy of the address delivered by me, as requested by your committee. Yours, very truly, William W. Ceapo. ADDRESS At the June term of the Plymouth Colony court in the year 1664, it was ordered that " All that tract of land commonly called and known by the name of Acushena, Ponagansett, and Coaksett, is allowed by the courts to be a township, and the inhabitants thereof have liberty to make such orders as may conduce to their common good in town concern ments, and that the said town be henceforth called and known by the name of Dartmouth." This event — the birth of our municipality — demands a recognition. There are duties which we owe to our fathers as well as to our children. While posterity claims of us a faithful transmission of all the rights and privileges and blessings which have come to us from the past, and insists that we add our contribution to the sum of human progress, our forefathers as justly demand that we recognize by grateful acknowledgments and filial re membrance, their services, self denial, and heroism. There can be no more fitting occasion wherein to give expres sion to these sentiments than that which .assembles us together to-day, upon the two hundredth anniversary of the municipal existence of the old town of Dartmouth. The occasion dictates the character of the discourse. The thoughts turn instinctively to the early history of this ancient town, and to the incidents and institutions 72 and men which marked its origin and progress. In no better way can we commemorate the Past than by recalling these events, bringing to memory the names of those who then acted, and reciting their services and deeds. We come together to-day, a family of towns, the children of a common origin, having left from time to time the protection of the old Mother town for that separate corporate existence which the growth of population and the diversity of business interests ren dered necessary. We come from all quarters of the old township to celebrate its two hundredth birth-day, reviving the feeling of the family bond by recalling olden times and linking the present with the past, We look back upon this history with the same emotions as those who trace the record of a revered and honored ancestry. In the year 1664 our town received its corporate existence and name. Let me briefly allude to its history prior to that time. In the summer of 1602 Bartholo mew Gosnold, while fortifying his settlement upon the little islet within the island of Cuttyhunk, had crossed the Bay — described by Gabriel Archer, the chronicler of the expedition, as a "stately sound" — and had trod upon our shores. The Indians from the main land had visited him and his band of adventurers in their island home, and Gosnold had returned their visits. He landed somewhere in the vicinity of the Round Hills, called by him Hap'a Hill, and followed the coast westward to Gooseberry Neck. The locality is described as possess ing "stately groves, flowery meadows, and running brooks," and the adventurers were delighted with the climate, the beauty of the country, and the fertility of the soil. 73 Gosnold's idea of planting a colony in this vicinity failed, and the territory was uninhabited by the white man until after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Looking back over this long period of time we can hardly fail to discern why the settlement at Cuttyhunk was a failure and the settlement at Plymouth a success. Gosnold and Gilbert and Archer and Rosier and Brier- ton were gentlemen adventurers, in quest of novelty and the excitement of a bold, daring enterprise, with a hope of gain ; and when they had unfolded this fair land and had collected a sufficient quantity of sassafras root and cedar and furs to load their little bark, the only bond which then united them was the cargo they had collected, and each one was ambitious to return with it to. England to profit by its sale and tell the marvellous stories of their adventures. We do not wonder then that although they found the red and white strawberry " as sweet and much bigger than in England," with " great store of deer and other beasts," and feasted and grew fat upon the young sea fowl which they found in their nests, they did not build up a permanent settlement. On the other hand. Carver and Bradford and Wins low and Brewster and Standish, the men of the May flower, came from far different motives; not from gain, adventure, or novelty, but to plant a colony which should be permanent and enduring ; to carry out, heedless of privations and sufferings, heedless of the scorn and oppression behind, and the uncertainties and dangers be fore, their ideas of a government founded upon equal ity, justice, and religion. The colony at Plymouth, con quering all obstacles, achieved permanency and growth. 74 and from thence came the early founders of Dartmouth. We are proud of our ancestry, — proud that the men of Dartmouth were Puritans. Those "stout-hearted and God-fearing men" were our fathers. Never can they be mentioned but with honor, for none ever did more or suffered more for the human race. Oppression did not intimidate, nor privations turn them. They were stern and unyielding in their convictions of the right, and thoroughly fixed and resolute in their purpose to found a Christian Commonwealth. Inspired with the one grand idea of a government resting upon liberty and religion, they thought not of policy, expediency, or com promise, but listened only to the dictates of conscience and duty. Under their sturdy and unconquerable wills the wilderness yielded and the new world was opened to a nation of freemen. In the history of New England not enough prominence has been given to the pioneer colony of Plymouth. The settlement of the Massachusetts Colony seems to have overshadowed in history the importance of this first civil body politic. The Plymouth Colony led the ' van, and in the years in which they were alone, rested the whole problem. Encouraged by the success of the Plymouth settlement the Massachusetts colonists were emboldened, under the protection and guidance of the former, to apply for a Royal charter. We would not detract from the merit of Winthrop, Dudley, Saltonstall, and their associates, "gentlemen of figure and estate," for they were men of faith and fortitude, men of un common wisdom and heroism ; but let us not be for getful of those earlier men who smoothed away some of the rough places of the forest and opened to the men 75 of Massachusetts Bay and Boston, even though for a short distance and in a rude way, the path which led BO triumphantly to civil and religious liberty. On the 29th day of November, 1652, the Indian Chief, Wesamequan (better known as Massasoit.) and his son Wamsutta (who was sometimes called Alexander by the English,) conveyed by deed to William Bradford, Cap tain Standish, Thomas Southworth. John Winslow, John Cooke, and their associates, all the tract or tracts of land lying three miles eastward from a river called Cushenegg to a certain harbor called Acoaksett to a flat rock on the westward side of the said harbor. In this conveyance was included all the land within these boundaries, "with all the rivers, creeks, meadows, necks and islands that lie in and before the same, and from the sea upward to go so high that the English may not be annoyed by the hunting of the Indians in any sort of their cattle." The metes and bounds of this grant do not appear to be very definitely or clearly stated. More attention seems to have been given by the conveyancer to the consideration which the Indian chieftains were to receive. The price paid was thirty yards of cloth, eight moose- skins, fifteen axes, fifteen hoes, fifteen pair of breeches, eight blankets, two kettles, one cloak, two pounds in wampan, eight pair stockings, eight pair shoes, one iron pot, and ten shillings in other commodities. Even in those early days, when the forests and meadows and streams apparently were not valued very highly, dis sensions and disputes arose concerning the title. A younger son of Wesamequan, Philip, Sagamore of Pokan- 76 nockett, afterwards known as one of the most bloody and remorseless of all the Indian warriors under the name of King Philip, had not been consulted, or had not given his written assent to the original conveyance. He soon began to annoy the settlers by frequent acts of trespass, and to question the correctness of the boun dary lines. We find by the records, that agents — referees — were appointed "to set out and mark the bounds," and in 1665 Philip gave a quit-claim which quieted the title. This large tract of land, comprising the limits of old Dartmouth, was divided into thirty-four parts or shares. Two of these were subdivided, so that the original proprietors numbered thirty-six persons, of whom three were women — Sarah Brewster, Miss Jennings, and Sarah Warren. Not all of the thirty-six original proprietors settled here. Some undoubtedly bought the land as a specula tion pr investment rather than for a home, but an inspection of the names convinces us that many of them located permanently within our borders. We find in the list, the names of Howland, Morton, Manasses Kempton, Dunham, Shaw, Cooke, Soule, Paunce, Sampson, Delano, Bartlett, Palmer, Doty, Hicks, Brown and Bumpass, names familiar to us even in this day, and constantly recurring in the history of the town. It has always been stated that the old township of Dartmouth included and comprised the present town ships of Dartmouth, Westport, New Bedford, Fairhaven, and Acushnet. The grant of land from the Indians embraces these towns. But the records of the colony of Rhode Island show that a part of the present towns 77 of Tiverton and of Little Compton were, prior to 1746, a part of Dartmouth.* The origin of the name of our town is a matter of conjecture, yet the inference is an easy and natural one. The Mayflower and Speedwell, the latter having taken on board her priceless freight at Leyden in Holland, sailed from Plymouth in Old England, and that name was given to the spot where they landed in New Eng land. After the vessels left Plymouth, England, a dis aster occurred to the Speedwell which compelled both vessels to put back, and they made a harbor in the seaport town of Dartmouth in the British Channel. Many of the original purchasers and some of the early settlers of the town came in the Mayflower, and the name of Dartmouth was so associated in their minds with the home left behind that it may naturally be pre sumed it furnished them with the name for their new home. There is a further coincidence connected with the name. The little vessel — the Concord — which brought Gosnold to our shores in 1602, belonged to Dartmouth, in England. It has been very fairly inferred by one of our local historians that the reports of the fair land they had visited in the new world which were carried back upon the return of this vessel, had been kept alive, and stimulated the adventurous of that sea port town to seek their fortunes here, and give the spot the name of their former home. There can be no doubt but that we derive our name from this fish ing town on the river Dart in the English Channel. How wonderful the change since then ! While the Dart- * Records of Colony of Ehode Island and Providence Plantations, vol. 5, p. 204. K 78 mouth whose birthday we celebrate has an aggregate population of thirty-five thousand, with a commerce known over the whole globe, the old town in England, with a population of less than five thousand, is as little known to-day as it was two hundred years ago. The inquiry naturally suggests itself. What were the prominent causes which led to this settlement ? It might have been due in part to the spirit of emigra tion and change of locality which displayed itself even in those days as a trait in the New England character; it might have been the rich and fertile soil in the valleys of our rivers, fertile certainly when compared with the sand hills around Plymouth, enticing to agri cultural labors ; it might have been the accessible and capacious harbors of the Acushnet and Apponagansett, and the safe aud sheltered anchorage they afforded, giving promise of future commercial importance ; and attractions perhaps were found in the winding beauties of the Paskamansett and Acoakset. However much these and kindred influences may have contributed to the early settlement of' Dartmouth, there is, in my opinion, a cause beyond them all, and which a careful reading of the records of the colony and the town forces me to adopt as the chief reason for the removal from Plymouth to Dartmouth. I have said our fathers were Puritans. They were more than that — they were the protestants of the Puritans. They were in sympathy with the established government at Plymouth in every thing except the one matter of compulsory taxation for religious purposes. Fully believing in freedom of con science, they had early conceived a strong aversion to 79 the arbitrary imposition of taxes by the civil power for the support of a ministry with which they were not in unison and over which they had no control. The early records of the town, imperfect and fragmen tary as they are, in connection with the history of the colony, plainly tell us how earnestly and even bitterly this controversy was waged, and for how many years it was the source of discord and of persecution. The Plymouth Colony court annually apportioned to the town a tax for the support of ministers, in addition to the Province tax, but the Baptists and Quakers of Dart mouth were inflexible in their resistance to it, and while the province rates were faithfully met, those for the maintenance of ministers were refused. It also troubled our good rulers at Plymouth that our fathers were so negligent in providing stated preaching according to the established puritan faith. We find this order of the court, passed in 1671 : " In reference unto the town of Dartmouth it is ordered by court, that whereas a neglect the last year of the gathering in of the sum of fifteen pounds accord ing to order of court to be kept in stock towards the support of such as may dispense the word of God unto them, it is again ordered by the court that the sum of fifteen pounds be this year levied to be as a stock for the use aforesaid, to be delivered unto Arthur Hathaway and Sergeant Shaw, to be by them improved as oppor tunity may present for the ends aforesaid." But this order, like others, seems to have been of no avail, for three years afterwards, when the inhabi tants of Dartmouth had met together for the settling 80 of the bounds of the town, the occasion was seized upon for haranguing the people, " at which time the Governour, Mr. Hinckley, the Treasurer, Mr. Walley, Lieutenant Morton, and John Tomson did engage to give meeting with others to propose and endeavor that some provision may be made for the preaching of the word of God amongst them." Even the calamity which came upon them at this time from the violence and cruelty of the Indians, in the destruction of their homes and the loss of their prop erty, did not soften the displeasure of the government at Plymouth, but rather served as an opportunity for renewed complaint and upbraiding. This appears by the order of court, passed in October of the following year. " This Court taking into their serious consideration the tremendous dispensation of God towards the people of Dartmouth, in suffering the barbarous heathen to spoil and destroy most of their habitations, the enemy being greatly advantaged thereunto by their scattered way of living, do therefore order that in the rebuilding and re settling thereof, that they so order it as to live compact together, at least in each village, as they may be in a capacity both to defend themselves from the assault of an enemy, and the better to attend the public worship of God, and ministry of the word of God, whose care lessness to obtain and attend unto we fear may have been a provocation of God thus to chastise their con tempt of His gospel, which we earnestly desire the people of that place may seriously consider of, lay to heart, and be humbled for, with a solicitous endeavor after a reformation thereof, by a vigorous putting forth 81 to obtain an able, faithful dispenser of the word of God amongst them, and to encourage him therein ; the neglect whereof this court, as they must and God will ing, they will not permit for the future." However earnestly the Plymouth court were deter mined to subdue the rebellious and heretical spirit of the early settlers, it does not appear that much success attended the effort. The Quakers and Baptists of Dartmouth were from the same stern, unyielding stock, and they were animated by a sense of religious duty as sincere and exacting as that which influenced the rulers at Plymouth. Stringent laws were from time to time enacted, but much of the legislation was inoperative, as the people of the town, while complying with the letter of the law, would give no heed to its spirit. Laws were passed in 1692 and 1695 requiring the towns to provide able, learned and orthodox ministers to dispense the word of God. Dartmouth did elect a minister, but the question of orthodoxy then arose. In 1704 the town was indicted for non-compliance with the law. At the town meeting held January 4th, 1705, this indignant reply was sent back to the court: " To the quarter sessions to be holden at Bristol the Sth day of January, 1705 — we understand that our town is presented for want of a minister according to law, to which we answer that we have one qualified as the law directs — an honest man, fearing God, conscientious and a learned, orthodox minister, able to dispense the word and gospel to us." The name of this minister does not appear upon the records of the town. 82 In order to meet this question of orthodoxy the As sembly passed a law in 1715, in which the prevention of the growth of atheism, irreligion and profaneness is suggested as a reason of its enactment, in which it was provided that the • determination of who should be min isters should rest ultimately with the General Court or Assembly. Dartmouth still refused obedience, and claimed the selection of her own minister. At the March town meeting, 1723, in defiance of an Act of that year, Nathaniel Howland was chosen minister, receiving 55 votes, while Samuel Hunt, a Presbyterian or independent, and the first preacher of that sect in our town, received 12 votes. The struggle culminated in 1724. In the year 1722 the Assembly of Massachusetts passed an Act to raise one hundred pounds in the town of Dartmouth and seventy-two pounds eleven shillings in the town of Tiv erton, (then a part of Massachusetts,) for the support of ministers whose selection was subject to the approval of the General Court. These two towns were the only ones in the Province that had not received any Pres byterian ministers. To blind the eyes of the people this sum was put with the Province tax and was afterwards to be drawn out of the treasury. The spirit with which this was met by the inhabitants of Dartmouth can best be seen by quoting the record of the town meeting held November 26th, 1722. The record says : " It being put to vote whethei' the whole rate of one hundred eighty-one pounds twelve shillings, called Dartmouth's proportion of our province tax, be made by the selectmen, it passed in the negative. And it was put to vote whether eighty-one pounds twelve 83 shillings, being as we are informed by our Represent ative, to be our just proportion of our Province tax, be forthwith made by the selectmen of said Dartmouth. Voted that it shall be made. Thirdly, Voted that the charges arising or set on the selectmen of said Dart mouth either by execution on their bodies or estates or in appealing to his Majesty for relief be raised by town rates. Fourthly, Voted that seven hundred pounds be raised on the inhabitants of said Dartmouth by a town rate for securing the selectmen for not making the rate of one hundred pounds, and also for all ex penses arising in our sending to England to his Majesty in the above premises. Fifthly, Voted that the select men are to be allowed shillings each of them a day for every day they lie in jail on the town account." The town was thoroughly in earnest. Only five taxpayers protested against this appropriation of the seven hundred pounds. This sum, large for those days, was to be met by the tax of that year, and was not bequeathed to posterity in the form of a town debt. Prior to this — in 1696 — the town had instructed the selectmen not to make the rates sent for by the General Treasurer for this purpose, and in the same year it was voted that Recompence Kirby and Mark Jenne should have fifty shillings apiece, part of the money they paid to Captain Pope, upon the account of their being "pressed," — and it was also voted that there should be a rate made of twenty-four pounds for a town fund. The bold and defiant attitude taken by the town could not be overlooked by the Province Rulers. The refusal of the selectmen to assess the tax was followed 84 by their imprisonment in Bristol jail, where they re mained about eighteen months. The persons who were imprisoned were Philip Taber and John Akin, select men of , Dartmouth, and Joseph Anthony and John Sis son, selectmen of Tiverton, a part of whom "were Baptists and a part Quakers. An embassy was sent to England. Thomas Richardson and Richard Partridge, who were Quakers, interceded in their behalf Their petition, addressed to the King in Council, was an able document, and nobly did it plead for freedom of con science and security of religion, civil liberty and prop erty. The petition was considered at the Court of St. James on the 2d day of June, 1724, when were present the King's most Excellent Majesty and all the Lords of the privy council, and it was ordered that the obnoxious taxes be remitted, and that Philip Taber and his fellow-sufferers be immediately released from their imprisonment, -and the Governor and all other officers of the Province of Massachusetts Bay were notified to yield obedience to these orders.* This brief but brilliant record of the sacrifices and sufferings, the persistent fidelity and the triumphant suc cess of the humble fathers of the old town of Dart mouth, in the great struggle for the rights of conscience, which is still going on throughout the Christian world, entitles them to a high place in the veneration and gratitude of their posterity. They share, with Roger Williams, the exalted honor of declaring to their rulers, and to the world, that having fled from ecclesiastical oppression in the old world they would resolutely maintain their resistance to it in the new ; and that * Dough's ffistory of the Quakers, vol. 4, p. 219. Benedict's Baptists, vol. 1, pp. 503-4. 85 through the confiscation of their goods, the incarceration of their persons, amidst all the hardships of a new settlement in the wilderness, and under all the horrors of savage warfare, they would never falter in the asser tion and maintenance of the great principle of "perfect liberty in all matters of religious concernment." We, their descendants, have entered into the fruits of these sacrifices and sufferings. Let us never forget to whose heroism and fidelity we owe the priceless blessing of our spiritual freedom, — that it is to the hardy yeomanry who two centuries ago cleared these fields, now waving with the coming harvest, of the primitive forests which covered them, we are indebted as well for "a church without a bishop," as for "a state without a king."* The larger portion of the early settlers were Friends, and we find them recognized as a religious body in the town as early as 1683. Their first meeting house was built in 1699, and was located upon the spot now occupied by them at Apponagansett. Their influence as a sect can be plainly seen and felt even now, and much of the high toned morality, generous and practical phi lanthropy and pure minded Christianity which have blessed and developed our people is owing to their religious teachings. Next to the Friends, in numbers and influence, stood the Baptists. John Cooke, whose name we meet with on the first and on nearly every page of the early records of the town as a deputy and a selectman, filling various offices of trust and honor, was a Baptist minister for many years. But this same town official, October 29th, 1670, was fined ten shillings "for break- 86 ing the Sabbath by unnecessary travelling thereon." If the record of the case had been preserved it would have appeared, we think, that Elder John Cooke was not a Sabbath-breaker but travelling upon his circuit as a Baptist preacher. The first Congregational Society was formed at Acush net. No history of this religious body in our town can be complete without a mention of Samuel West, D. D., who was the pastor of the Congregational Church at Acushnet from 1761 to 1803. Doctor West was a man of great learning, of earnest piety, and sincerely devoted to his pastoral duties. A lover of disputation, he was always ready and keen in argument ; possessed of -'an original and vigorous mind, and thoroughly in formed upon all of the doctrinal issues of the day, he was an able champion of the cause he espoused. His memory is cherished not only for his successful labors and his great influence in the religious teachings of a hundred years ago, but for his patriotic services in the war of the revolution. Few men have lived in our town who for so long a period of time exerted so beneficial an influence and commanded so high respect and confidence as Doctor Samuel West. Nowhere upon the face of the globe has the prin ciple of self government, the capacity and right of men to make laws for themselves and regulate their munici pal affairs, been so fully illustrated as in the early history of New England. The most perfect democra cies that mankind has ever known are found in the early New England towns. Their town meetings were the places where the whole body of the citizens met, 87 and where were discussed, with equal freedom by every one, all topics of importance, whether local or national, moral or political. Here they learned to understand their rights and privileges as citizens, and acquired moral and intellectual strength to defend them. In those days there was no centralization of official duties and responsibilities as now, the government did not rest upon a few, but every man was compelled to give his time and judgment to the administration of the town affairs. In order to secure that full and prompt attendance upon the deliberations of the town which the business required, Dartmouth voted, — in July 1674 — ten years after its organization, "that all town meet ings shall begin at 10 o'clock and continue until the Moderator duly release the town, not exceeding four o'clock. Also that all such persons as do neglect for a year all the town meetings shall forfeit to the town six pence apiece, and for coming to the meeting ' too late three pence an hour." No wonder that with such rules our early municipal affairs were ably administered. True, some of the leg islation of the town may seem to us trivial, for example, that every householder shall kill twelve black-birds be tween the months of January and May or pay a penalty for the neglect, and that a crow should count for three black-birds, but yet every inhabitant became most thor oughly a part of the town and identified in its pros perity and well being. This close attention to public business, as might be supposed, was at times annoying and irksome, and_ efforts were sometimes made by individuals to avoid these duties. In 1751, this article was inserted in the warrant of the annual meeting — " Whereas the Easterly and Westerly villages in said town, experience teaches, have often neglected and omitted their duty in coming to said meetings to help carry on and manage the affairs of said town, especially in the difficult seasons of the year and foul weather, (and not in danger of being chosen to troublesome offices,) and so have at such times trusted and almost entirely relied and de pended on the Middle village, of which the body of the people therein inhabiting live remote from said house, to do all the business of said town, which said Middle village is obliged to do though a hardship ; otherwise said town would have incurred many a fine for neglect of duty, the want of grand and petit jurymen, and otherways suffered." In order to meet this difficulty it was voted to move the town-house. But the removal of the town-house did not remedy the evils complained of, or, if this end was attained new evils arose, for the next year the select men inserted an article in the warrant — "To see if the persons who carried away the town-house will bring it back again and set it up in the same place where they took it from, in as good repair as it was when they took it away, and for the town to act on the affair as they should think proper." This town-house I infer was the one voted in 1739 to be built, the dimensions of which were to be "nine feet between joints and twenty-two feet wide and thirty- six feet long, with a chimney at one end with a suita ble roof and windows at the same." The mode of conducting the town business was similar 89 to that now adopted, but the style of some of the warrants would not be tolerated in these days. It was customary for the selectmen in calling a town meeting not only to state the business to be considered, but also very elaborately to discuss the several ' subjects. thereby furnishing to the people not only the question but the arguments in favor of or against it. It might have been that this full presentation of the merits of the case and the reasons for action elicited more at tention, and in the language of the old town clerks was productive of "large debate." As an illustration of this peculiar and amusing feature in the presentation of the topics for town action, let me quote from the records. The sixth article in the selectmen's warrant for the March meeting, 1741, reads thus: "That whereas such course does much abound within said town, many running about from house to house to supply their own present want miserably neglecting their families at home, which is the only cause of manys suffering who are not capable of labour, which practise is to the grate detriment of that part of the inhabi tants that are industrious and laborious, which perni cious practice together with spending idly what they have or earn is a grate if not the only cause of scarcity of bread in said town, now to pass a vote at said meeting for the building a workhouse in said town for the setting and keeping to work all such persons who misspend their time as above stated which said vote is thought by all those that request the same cannot be spoken against except by those which are in danger of breaking into said house themselves." 90 Another example of this presentation of reasons in the warrant of the selectmen occurs in 1746, when an effort was made to divide the county or create a new county seat. This question both before and after this date engaged the attention of the people of Dartmouth for many years. At one time it was proposed to divide the county and join Tiverton and Little Comp ton with us as a new county. At another time it was proposed to change the county seat to Assonet as more central than Taunton. The question was finally set tled in 1828, after an agitation of over one hundred years, by making New Bedford a half-shire town. The article in the warrant for the town meeting held in 1746 is as follows : "To consult and vote something with respect to petitioning the General Court that we may have a County taken off or made on this side of Assonet River, otherwise we must unavoidably be expressed to go and our children after us, for what we know, to Taunton, which will be upwards of thirty five miles distance for many of said inhabitants, which will be in the journey extremely tedious and expensive, it being too far to set out from our homes to get there before the Court Setts, as likewise the largeness of the County agravates the case by reason that one case must waite for an other and is at times the occasion of adjournment. In the whole it will be tedious and expensive to Plaintiff, Defendant, Jurymen and Evidences. But more especially to Poor Widows who are oft times obliged to go several times before an Estate can be settled with the Judge of Probate." It was certainly very convenient for the people to 91 have the arguments all arranged for them before they were called upon to vote. That our fathers took no offence at this course is evident from its constant re currence. The topics suggested by an occasion like the present are numerous. The subject is a fruitful one, and there should be written with fullness and accuracy the history of the town. No simple address, however carefully and elaborately prepared, can meet this want. Let this anniversary stimulate and encourage the work. The materials are fast fading away, and in a few years much that can now be recorded with precision and correctness must become a matter of mere conjecture. Of equal, if not of greater importance is the rescue and preservation of our early records, which have been heedlessly and, I am disposed to say, criminally suffered to become lost or destroyed, but whose restoration, so far as possible, is now in able hands.* In the remaining time allotted to me on this occa sion, I can only refer, and that very briefly, to two of the most prominent events of the past two hundred years. No one epoch of the town deserves to be mentioned more prominently than its devastation by the Indians * The importance of gathering together and arranging the fragments of town records which are still left to us may be inferred from the action of the town meeting held in May, 1774, when a committee was appointed " to overhaul the town records and make report what part of said records stand in need of new drafting." The committee reported, among other things, that some of the records " were so worn and in pieces and the leaves so defaced that the records stand in danger of being almost wholly lost or obUterated." Although Benjamin Aikin and Benjamin Russell, Jr., were authorized to new draft said records at the expense of the town, yet it does not appear that anything further was done, and there has been ninety years of wear and tear since then with all the casualties of time and neglect. Measures wore taken in 1862, by the authorities of New Bedford and Dartmouth, to have the town records now remaining arranged and copied. James B. Congdon, Esq., was ap pointed to execute the work, which has been prosecuted vrith his accustomed earnestness and fidelity and vflth the most satisfactory progress, ensuring its speedy completion. 92 during King Philip's w'ar. No other portion of terri tory was so desolated by the ravages of the savage warfare carried on by this Indian Chieftain. Tradition informs us that every white habitation within the lim its of the town was destroyed. The inhabitants took refuge in garrisons — the principal one of which was Russell's garrison,, named after John Russell, a prominent man in the town, which was situated near the head waters of the Apponagansett on the east side of the river. Near this on the opposite bank the Indians had a rude fortification. There was also a garrison for the whites on Palmer's Island. During this war Dartmouth was relieved, on account of her home defences, from fur nishing any men under the military levies, and during the war and for several years afterwards she was omit ted in the tax rates of the colony. It is an interesting fact that while this destitution and suffering existed " contribution was made by divers Christians in Ireland " (so says the record) "for the relief of such as are impoverished, distressed and in necessity by the late Indian war."* How nobly has this charity been returned many times since then by the Christian people of Dart mouth in contributing relief to the famishing and suf fering of Ireland ! And whenever hereafter the cry shall come from that generous-hearted people for aid and succor, let it be liberally furnished, for it is but the payment of a debt which our fathers have charged upon us. The other prominent event to which I would allude is the burning of Bedford Village in the war of the • Plymouth Colony records 1676-7, 6th of March. 93 revolution. This act of the British army appears to have proceeded from motives of retaliation and punish ment rather than for purposes of plunder. Our harbor had from the beginning of the war been noted as a rendezvous for privateers, and the damage inflicted upon English commerce by the whalemen of Dartmouth had excited the deepest resentment. As early as May, 1774 — but a few weeks after the skirmish at Lexing ton and before the battle of Bunker Hill, the British cruiser Falcon had captured in the Bay three vessels belonging to Sandwich. A schooner was fitted out from Dartmouth under the command of Captain Equy which recaptured two of these vessels with fifteen Brit ish officers and marines. The captors were perplexed what disposition to make of the prisoners, but they were finally sent to the Provincial Committee of Safety then in session at Cambridge, the headquarters of the American army, and by that body were ordered into confinement at Concord. The privateer Providence, whose name is associated with so many brilliant naval achievements, had her rendezvous here. She was a sloop of about ninety tons, and had formerly been employed in the whale fishery. At one time, it is said, she was under the command of the illustrious John Paul Jones. Her most famous exploit, under Captain Hacker, was with His Majesty's brig Diligent of twelve guns, which she captured and brought into our harbor after a most de termined and bloody engagement. The fame of this ves sel and other privateers of Dartmouth excited to acts of retaliation and vengeance. Accordingly Major-General Grey, with a fleet of two frigates, an eighteen gun brig, and about thirty-six transports, comprising a force of 94 five thousand men, was ordered to the work of destruc tion. On Saturday, the Sth day of September, 1778, the British fleet appeared in the Bay. The official reports of the English are well known, but there never has been published any full and detailed American ac count of this affair. Edward Pope, Esq., a man of distinction and holding a judicial position in the town, furnished a brief notice of it in 1784. I am enabled, from the manuscript collections of a former resident* of the town to present the events of that day as gathered from the lips of those who were actors in its exciting ficenes. Perhaps I cannot better use a portion of your time on this occasion than by a recital of those inci dents. A company of artillery consisting of about eighty privates had been sent from Boston for the protection of the town. The building occupied by them as bar racks was the "Poor House" — a long, low building which stood on Sixth street near the present site of Philip Anthony's dwelling house. The officers quartered at Mrs. Doubleday's, on Water street, a short distance north of the "Four Corners." The company was com manded by Captain James Cushing, Lieutenants Joseph Bell, William Gordon, and James Metcalf. This com pany, although stationed here, had, a short time previous to the landing of the British, been ordered to Howland's Ferry, now called Stone Bridge. But during the day. Lieutenants Gordon and Metcalf had returned with a small part of the company and one gun. There was a garrison at Fort Phoenix, commanded by Captain Timo thy Ingraham, with Lieutenant Foster and thirty-six men, » Hon. Henry H. Crapo. 95 where there were eleven pieces of cannon mounted, with a supply of twenty-five casks of powder. About one o'clock in the afternoon Worth Bates, who lived near McPherson's wharf, at Bellville, and who had been down the Bay fishing, landed at the Fort and informed Captain Ingraham that a British fleet was in the Bay. The fleet soon made its appearance. The two frigates and brig anchored opposite the mouth of the Acushnet River and a little below Clark's Point. A portion of the transports were anchored outside the Great Ledge and opposite the mouth of the Cove, while another portion of them dropped in' to the east ward of the larger vessels. The troops, including light horse, artillery, I "ill*** 'rVl-'"' * 'j ^'/ yvjS'' T 7 Y i' !« ¦^ifc.'"«i*k.j; ?srr^^ '..' ¦jifBai^B. nnaiini-JtlMrf'" Tni-mtti ' " » ' '^*^