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PROCEEDINGS 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 
 
 #tt4 gtinir^dtfi ^nnto^r^^rg 
 
 INCORPORATION 
 
 TOWN OF MASON, N. H., 
 
 ATTOUSX 8G, 1868. 
 
 PEEPAEED FOE PUBLICATION, UNDER THE DIEECTION OF THE 
 COMMIITEE OF AEEANGEMENTS, 
 
 By JOHN B. HILL. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 ELLIOTT, TECOMiKS & TA.LBOT. 
 
 1870. 
 
FrOBB of ROCKWELL & CHUKCHILL, 
 122 WaBliington Street, Boflton. 
 
PEELIMII^AEY PEOCEEDIl^GS. 
 
 o;<Ko 
 
 At the annual Town Meeting, March 10, 1868, pursuant to an 
 article in the warrant, a vote was passed, to celebrate the one hun- 
 dredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, Vhich would 
 occur on August 26, 1868, and to authorize the selectmen of the 
 year, Charles B. Prescott, Wm. G. Lakin, and Thomas B. Tarbell, 
 to take measures necessary and proper to carry the same into 
 effect, who subsequently appointed the following-named gentlemen 
 a committee for that purpose : Thomas H. Marshall, Jonathan 
 Eussell, 2d, Abram Wright, Luther L. Barrett,' Elisha B. Barrett, 
 Charles P. Richardson, John S. Spalding, Samuel E. Adams, and 
 Alden B. Smith. 
 
 The town also voted that the expenses of the celebration should 
 be paid out of the town treasury ; but doubts having been expressed 
 as to the legal right of the town to raise money by taxation, for 
 such purposes, the committee, and other citizens uniting with 
 them, by private subscription, raised a sum sufficient to meet all 
 such charges. The committee agreed with George W. Scripture 
 to provide a dinner for the company, and appointed Thomas B. 
 Tarbell, Charles B. Prescott, Joseph B. "Wilson, Edwin B. Hos- 
 mer, Luke Newell, George Whitaker, Abram Wright, John P. 
 Wright, John Alinson, Veron Eaton, and Samuel H. Wheeler, a 
 committee to select a place and prepare a stand for the speaking 
 
4 PEELIMIKAKr PKOCEEDINGS. 
 
 and seats for the audience. The place selected was in a beautiful 
 forest, a part of the homestead farm of the Rev. Ebenezer Hill, — 
 a spot peculiarly well fitted for such a use, situate a short dis- 
 tance south of the site of the old meeting-house, on which suitable 
 and ample preparations were made for the purposes above indi- 
 cated. A letter of invitation was issued by the Committee of 
 Arrangements, copied as follows : — 
 
 " gent:^nial of mason. 
 
 " The undersigned, a committee appointed in pursuance of a 
 vote of the Town of Mason to celebrate the one hundredth anni- 
 versary of the Incorporation of the Town, cordially invite all her 
 absent sons and daughters to come home and unite in a glad re- 
 union on the 26th day of August nest. 
 
 Thomas H. Marshall, 
 Jonathan Rdssell, 2d, 
 Abram Wright, 
 Ltjther L. Barrett, 
 Elisha B. Barrett, 
 Charles P. Richardson, 
 John S. Spalding, 
 Samuel E. Adams, 
 AxDEN B. Smith. 
 "Mason, July 1, 1868." 
 
 This letter was, by the citizens, sent out to their relatives and 
 friends in neighboring and distant towns and States. Notice of 
 the time, place, and occasion of the celebration was published in 
 the public papers of the vicinity. 
 
 The day opened auspiciously. It was one of those beautiful 
 autumnal mornings, which indicate that the oppressive heat of 
 summer is gone, and which promise a day of truly enjoyable 
 weather. This promise was amply fulfilled. The day was 
 ushered in with ringing of bells and peals of cannon ; and at an 
 early hour, from all quarters, crowds assembled at the place of 
 meeting. Friendly and hearty greetings were passed between many 
 
PKBLIMIKAET PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 who had been long parted by distance, and were now permitted to 
 meet and take each other by the hand. 
 
 The following programme, issued by the committee of arrange- 
 ments, and widely distributed, served as an order of proceedings 
 of the day : — 
 
piiocESSiON fok,m:ei> ajx lo A., m:. 
 
 EXEKGXS3g:S ST THE :OE©i:S. 
 
 MUSIC sr Tsjs SciJ*rs>* 
 
 IS02VO OF "WEIiOOME. 
 
 Glad arc our hearts to-day, 
 
 And proudly heave our breasts, 
 
 While we, our greeting lay 
 
 Extend our honored guests ; 
 
 Let every tongue join the glad strain, 
 
 Oh I welcome, welcome home again, 
 
 Welcome, yes, welcome home again. 
 
 From distant lands they come, 
 Homes scattered far and wide. 
 And friends of" auld-lang-syne," 
 Here clustering side by side, 
 With cordial grasp extend the hand ; 
 United now our household band, 
 Welcome, ohl welcome home again. 
 
 We love our native town, 
 
 We own her fostering care. 
 
 And here, with grateful pride, 
 
 Her natal honors share ; 
 
 Let every voice join the glad strain, 
 
 Till the broad welkin rings again, 
 
 With our Centennial Jubilee. 
 
 Hay generations hence 
 
 Their lineage proudly tell. 
 
 And boast that no disgrace 
 
 E'er Mason's fame befell ; 
 
 Oh I be her future, as her past, 
 
 With honor bright, and we at last 
 
 In heaven sing glad welcome home. 
 
 Mrs. Louisa J, Kimball. 
 
 MUSIC, 
 ORATION, 
 
 .-ISDSi^SS OF WBICO.UB. 
 
 By the Band. 
 
 Mort, dohn B, Sill. 
 
 SaifS G OF aXJUIT.EE. 
 
 Come, children of our dear old town. 
 
 Where'er your lot may be, 
 Come join us in our gladsome song, 
 
 Our song of jubilee. 
 Upon her ivied throne of years, 
 
 With eye still bright and clear. 
 Our Mother sits in honor of 
 
 Her hundredth natal year. 
 
 Chorus •■ 
 Oh I happy hearts, now gathered here. 
 
 Join in our chorus loud and clear, [true. 
 Sing of the virtues of our Mother, fond and 
 
 Sing of her hills and vales, her sons and 
 daughters too. 
 Call them home from far and near, 
 
 Bid them banish doubt and fear ; 
 Let all with true Masonic hearts to-day 
 
 Join in our song of Jubilee. 
 
 POEM 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 CHUOXICLES, 
 
 Come, gather round the circle close, 
 
 Andleel the warmth that glows 
 Within that heart whose life has beat 
 
 A century to its close; 
 A life of trial, toil, and strife. 
 
 But yet without a stain 
 To check our honest pride to-day, 
 
 Or cause our Mother shame. Cho. 
 
 Then ye whose locks are seared with age, 
 
 And ve whose pulses beat 
 With ail the flery life of youth, 
 
 Your love of home repeat; 
 Shout loud your chorus to the skies, 
 
 And press the altars near. 
 And celebrate this glorious day 
 
 Of Centenary Year. Cho. 
 
 R. L. CumnocICf jr. 
 
 Rev. JE. R. Hodgman, 
 
 By the Band. 
 
 . Charles E. Jlill, 
 
Wmmf it li§ i'iliil F.X. 
 
 IN THE TENT. 
 
 HYMIV OF GK ATITTTDE. 
 
 O Thou, whose all- directing hand 
 Hath guided home this wandering band, 
 We own Thy power, Thy love adore, 
 Wliile future blessings we implore. 
 
 Thy love divine, with cheering ray, 
 Illumed our Father^s darkened way, 
 Though toils and dangers pressed them 
 
 round, 
 A sure support in Thee they found. 
 
 And children's children, grateful now, 
 Before Thy throne with reverence bow, 
 With one accord their hearts to raise, 
 In loudest songs of grateful praise. 
 
 From homes with peace and plenty blessed, 
 Our willing feet have hither pressed. 
 With greeting kind and cheerful lay. 
 To crown our glad Centennial day. 
 
 No songs raise we to " gods unknown," 
 Our God, our Father's Gody we own 1 
 Oh, be His love the strength and stay 
 Of all who've gathered here to-day. 
 
 And when life's scenes for us have passed, 
 When we have looked on earth our last, 
 May each receive the welcome, " Come," 
 Faithful of God, well done I come home. 
 Miss Abby H. Allen: 
 
 TOsiSTS siJ\rS) Sl^S^CSBS. 
 
 SONG, 
 
 . 62/ Mrs. Field* 
 
 " I cannot sing the old Songs," 
 
 Now as evening shadows gather, 
 
 And we're called upon to part, 
 May the warm hand-clasp be taken, 
 
 Of the love heart bears to heart ; 
 Kindly wishes, thought or spoken, 
 
 Drop as blessings or as balm. 
 And the mem'ry of this season 
 
 E'er be hallowed with a charm. 
 
 'Midst the joys of sweet reunion, 
 
 Mem'ry drops the bitter tear, 
 While recalling the loved faces 
 
 Which no more can greet us here,— ■ 
 Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. 
 
 Townsmen, held in high esteem, 
 Sowers, reapers, and sheaf-binders, 
 
 Long since passed adown life's stream. 
 
 But, though Death full oft has garnered 
 Choicest fruit we had to give. 
 
 Sterling trutli^ in ripened manhood 
 Also shows us how to live. 
 
 Heads remembered 'erst as cradled. 
 Now with silvery locks are crowned, 
 
 And Life's purpose, then unwritten. 
 Clear is set each brow around. 
 
 For all character, in forming. 
 
 Leaves its impress, good or ill, 
 And men's faces are the reflex 
 
 Of the firm or pliant will. 
 May this thought each then bear with him, 
 
 By xt'^ fruitage is life known, 
 And in heaven will joy be measured 
 
 By the harvest of truth sown. 
 
 May God's word be our foundation. 
 
 Holy life the structures reared, 
 And through Christ, our blest Redeemer, 
 
 Heavenly titles for each cleared. 
 Then, on earth, though ne'er united. 
 
 We shall meet at last above, 
 Hearts and voices joined in tribute 
 
 To the power of Jesus' love. 
 
 Mrs, H* M. C. Wright. 
 MUSIC, By the Band, 
 
b CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 The procession was formed at 10 o'clock, under the direction of 
 James L. Chamberlain, Esq., Chief Marshal, assisted by John S. 
 Spalding, Elisha B. Barrett, Thomas E. Marshall', Thomas B. Tar- 
 bell, and Marshall Kimball, Assistant Marshals, and under the 
 lead of the Brookline Brass Band, directed by Mr. Alonzo Bond, 
 of Boston, proceeded to the stand for speaking, where the Chief 
 Marshal introduced the President of the day, the Hon. Thomas H. 
 Marshall, who, with several Vice-Presidents, Jonathan Eussell, 2d, 
 Joseph B. "Wilson, Franklin Merriam, Charles Scripture, and Sam- 
 uel Smith, were conducted to seats. 
 
 Eeporters were present, and seats assigned to them, from the 
 Boston Daily Journal, and the Boston Daily Advertiser, in which 
 papers, on the next morning, full reports of all the proceedings 
 appeared, from which reports, somewhat condensed, and with some 
 additions, the following account of the doings of the day is pre- 
 sented : — 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, 
 
 AT MASON, N. H. 
 
 Procession — Oration ~ r-iterary and Mnsical Exercises — Dinner In a 
 Mlammoili Xent. 
 
 [eepokted roK the boston journal.] 
 
 The citizens of Mason, N. H., 
 yesterday celebrated the occurrence 
 of the one hundredth anniversary of 
 the organization of their town in a 
 manner appropriate to an occasion 
 so significant and interesting. The 
 large attendance of her sons and 
 daughters, coming from every di- 
 rection and almost from every State 
 to which a New Englander might be 
 expected to emigrate, and the con- 
 cert of action and universal hospi- 
 tality of those who yet remained at 
 home, well attest the enthusiastic 
 and, perhaps not less, the tender 
 feelings which the event awakened 
 In all hearts. 
 
 THE situation OP THE TOWN. 
 
 The town of Mason is situated 
 upon the southern border of New 
 Hampshire, at the present terminus 
 of the Peterboro' and Shirley Rail- 
 road, which branches from the Eltch- 
 burg at Groton Junction. In terri- 
 tory it is about six miles square, and 
 is divided substantially into two 
 communities or settlements, known 
 as the Centre and the Village. Ma- 
 son Village is the more populous of 
 the two, aud is a place of consider- 
 able manufacturing prosperity, pos- 
 sessing two cotton mills of about 
 8,000 spindles, a furniture manufac- 
 tory, of which the machinery Is car- 
 
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 ried by water power, and a grist mill. 
 The Souhegan River, which passes 
 through this sectlofi of the town, 
 could, it is said, supply power for 
 100,000 spindles, having a fall of 
 sixty feet within a distance of forty 
 rods and eighty feet withiji a quarter 
 of a mile, The approach to the 
 Village by railroad is marked by 
 several peculiar and interesting 
 features. To avoid a direct passage 
 through an intervening range of 
 lofty hills, a curve, which is almost 
 or quite a semicircle, is made, 
 which, as a citizen expressed it, 
 gives the line of road at its terminus 
 the "shape of a mackerel hook." 
 Sweeping around this curve, the 
 passenger is afforded a charming 
 view of an extensive and deeply-in- 
 dented valley, through which flows 
 the current of the Souhegan Elver, 
 and beyond wbich stretches an am- 
 phitheatre of hills, rising to a lofty 
 altitude, through one of those vig- 
 orous geologic efforts for which New 
 Hampshire is so justly celebrated. 
 To shoot across this valley from 
 highland to highland, by railroad, 
 required the construction of a bridge 
 jresting upon the borders of the 
 stream, 100 feet in height and 600 
 in length, ajid in rapidly passing 
 over it one gets a better idea than 
 before of the literal significance of 
 the phrase "a bird's-eye yiew." 
 The scenery in every direction is of 
 a similar character, lofty hills and 
 deep valleys, and over and among 
 these lies the connecting road be- 
 tween Mason Village and Centre. 
 The latter is the place where the 
 .celebration was held, and is acces- 
 sible also from another point on the 
 railroad. Its characteristics are 
 those usual to an agricultural settle- 
 ment in New England. Many wellr 
 
 cultivated farms are seen in its pleas- 
 ant valleys, and its hillsides are 
 spotted with happy homes. The 
 sons and daughters of this town are 
 now residents in every portion of 
 our country, and a majority of the 
 States in the Union were represents 
 ed in the gathering which took place 
 yesterday. The day was ushered 
 in by the ringing of bells and the 
 firing of cannon, and was observed 
 as a holiday by the citizens, nearly 
 all of whom probably flocked to the 
 Common at Mason Centre, where 
 the procession was to be formed. 
 A panorama of the war was opened 
 in a tent upon the Common, booths 
 were erected, flags thrown to the 
 breeze in various localities, and the 
 Village presented a lively appear- 
 ance. The roads in the vicinity 
 were filled with teams from distant 
 parts of the town and the surround- 
 ing country, and nearly two thou- 
 sand people gathered to celebrate 
 the happy occasion. 
 
 THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 The conduct of the celebration 
 was under the immediate charge of 
 the following-named officers of the 
 day: Hon. Thomas H. Marshall, 
 President; Jonathan Eussell, 2d, 
 Joseph B. Wilson, Franklin Mer- 
 riam, Charles Scripture, Samuel 
 Smith, Vice-Presidents; James L. 
 Chamberlain, Chief Marshal ; J. S. 
 Spalding, Elisha B. Barrett, Thos. 
 B. Marshall, Thomas B. Tarbell, 
 Marshall Kimball, Assistant Mar- 
 shals; James Kussell, Toast Mas- 
 ter. 
 
 A committee of general and an- 
 other of special arrangements had 
 been engaged for some time past 
 In making the preliminary prepar- 
 ations. 
 
10 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 A procession was formed, at 
 the square near the church, about 
 ten o'clock, A.M., and, headed by 
 the Brookline (N. H.) Brass Band, 
 led for the occasion by Mr. Alonzo 
 Bond, the well-known Boston mu- 
 sician, the march was made to a, 
 pine grove about a fourth of a mile 
 distant. Here a platform had been 
 erected, on which were seated the 
 officers of the day, the participants 
 in the proceedings, and many ven- 
 erable citizens of the town. The 
 exercises commenced with the per- 
 formance of "Auld Lang Syne " by 
 the band, after which the Chief 
 Marshal introduced the President 
 of the day, who briefly welcomed 
 the visitors to the old town, and 
 congratulated all upon the auspi- 
 cious circumstances under which 
 they were met. The Divine bless- 
 ing was then invoked by Eev. L. 
 C. Stevens, of Mason Village, after 
 which a select choir of ladies and 
 gentlemen sung an original " Song 
 of Welcome," to the tune of Sun- 
 derland, — Mts. Milton Hardy pre- 
 siding at the melodeon. Eev. Geo. 
 F. Merriam, of Mason Village, then 
 pronounced a formal address of 
 welcome in eloquent and appropri- 
 ate terms. After music by the 
 band, the Orator of the Day, Hon. 
 John B. Hill, was introduced. 
 
 ORATION OP HON. JOHN B. HILL. 
 
 Mr. Hill (who is one of the vener- 
 able citizens of the town, seventy- 
 two years of age, and favorably 
 known in antiquarian circles as 
 the author of the " History of Ma- 
 son ") commenced his address with 
 the statement that j ust one hundred 
 years ago Obadiah Parker left the 
 town of Mason for a journey to 
 Portsmouth, being instructed by a 
 vote of the citizens to procure in 
 
 their behalf from the Provincial 
 Governor, John Wentworth, an act 
 of incorporation as a town. The 
 circumstances under which the jour- 
 ney was made, through the then all- 
 surrounding wilderness, and the for- 
 malities necessary in the conduct of 
 the affair with His Majesty's august 
 representative were depicted, and 
 the cost of obtaining the franchise, 
 as recorded on the town books, was 
 stated to be £12 6s. 6d. 3 farthings. 
 It had been voted to have the town 
 called Sharon, but it was decided 
 by the Governor, and agreed to by 
 the delegate, to name it Mason, in 
 honor of Captain John Mason, the 
 original grantee of lands in New 
 Hampshire. The orator then ex- 
 hibited and read the document which 
 Parker brought back, which is in a 
 good state of preservation, and bears 
 the date of August 26, 1768. The 
 document, after describing the 
 bounds of the town, goes on further 
 to say, " always reserving to our 
 heirs and successors all the white- 
 pine trees which are or shall be 
 found growing or being on the said 
 land, fit for the use of our Eoyal 
 Navy." ■* The orator called attention 
 of the audience to the majestic pines 
 in the grove around them, as proof 
 that the pines were still there, and 
 that King George had never called 
 for them. He then reverted to the 
 history of the town within his own 
 early recollection, and gave a bio- 
 graphical sketch of two of its cente- 
 narians, — Jonathan Foster, who 
 died at the age of one hundred years , 
 
 * It was provided that the trees fit for 
 the Eoyal Navy should be marked by the 
 King's surveyor vrith the broad arrow ; any 
 one cutting a tree so marked was subject to 
 a heavy penalty, but until so marked any 
 tree might be felled by the owner of the 
 land without penalty. — J. B. H. 
 
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 11 
 
 March 31, 1821, and Oliver Elliot, 
 who died at the age of one hundred 
 and two years and sis months. He 
 also alluded to the ancient ministers 
 of the town — Rev. Jonathan Searle 
 and Bbenezer Hill — the latter being 
 his own immediate ancestor, being 
 the owner of the beautiful grove in 
 which the celebration was held. A 
 comparison was instituted between 
 the status of the town in the year 
 1777 and the year 1868, the polls 
 being 98 against 348 ; the horses i8 
 against 189; the taxation $336 
 against $12,607.78, and the popula- 
 tion 501 against 2,000. The early 
 manufactures of the town were al- 
 luded to, and the isolation of the 
 people described. The only sources 
 of news in those days were the 
 occasional journeys of the farmers, 
 with an ox team to Boston, and the 
 news there being carefully treasured 
 in memory, was detailed on their 
 return to eager listeners in front of 
 the church, between the forenoon 
 and afternoon services on Sunday. 
 The first newspaper published in 
 the State was in 1757, and now, said 
 the speaker, we have them crowd- 
 ing upon each other day after day, 
 together with a surfeit of periodi- 
 cals. He thought some of the town's 
 people would now be desperately 
 pushed for news if going to church 
 on Sunday were the source on which 
 they depended. In further contrast 
 of old times with the present, he said 
 that witches, ghosts and sorcerers 
 have disappeared along with queues, 
 knee-breeches and shoe-buckles, 
 and now we have Mormonism, Mes- 
 merism, Spiritualism and Millerism, 
 together with changes in ladies' 
 dresses, showing the least possible 
 " love of a bonnet," with the most 
 magnificent amplitude of a skirt. 
 The statistics of the town in the 
 
 ■ war of the Revolution were referred 
 to. Ninety-one men had served in 
 that war ; and in the town there was 
 only one tory. He was driven away, 
 and ended his days in poverty and 
 wretchedness at Groton, his native 
 place. A company of Mason men 
 were at Bunker Hill, two of whom 
 were killed, — Joseph Blood and 
 Ebenezer Blood; At this point in 
 his address the orator introduced 
 to the audience Mrs. Nutting, a sis- 
 ter of Ebenezer Blood, an old lady 
 of ninety-six years. The venerable 
 matron was escorted forward upon 
 the platform, and was greeted with 
 general applause by those present. 
 In this connection it was stated 
 that in the war of 1812 Mason con- 
 tributed eleven men to support the 
 government in the field, and in the 
 recent war one hundred and twen- 
 ty-one men. The speaker then took 
 a prospective glance into the future, 
 which on the whole he regarded as 
 auspicious, while deprecating the 
 frightful visage of corruption in 
 public office, which threatened and 
 might destroy liberty, law and re- 
 publican integrity. The town of 
 Mason, he said, had been the birth- 
 place of two men of world-wide 
 celebrity in the inventive arts, — 
 Jonas Chickering, the piano manu- 
 facturer, and Walter A. Wood, in- 
 ventor of a mowing-machine, for 
 which he had received the grand 
 prize, and had been decorated with 
 the emblem of the Legion of Honor, 
 at the Paris Exhibition. In conclu- 
 sion he denied the decadence of 
 New England, in which some pro- 
 fess to believe, and stated the rea- 
 sons for the view he took. He af- 
 firmed the belief in her future pros- 
 perity in agricultural interests, and 
 took occasion incidentally to advo- 
 cate the growth of forest trees upon 
 
12 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 
 
 the rocky hillsides. One-third of 
 the territory should be devoted In 
 this way, he thought, and it would 
 prove to yield a return which would 
 be satisfactory to the most greedy 
 money-lender. He referred to the 
 example of England and Holland in 
 the matter of raising Improved 
 breeds of cattle, and said that a 
 similar policy on the part of the 
 Mason farmers would insure, ac- 
 cording to the ratio of Holland, 
 1,900 cattle in the town Instead of 
 800 as at present. The orator 
 closed his address somewhat abrupt- 
 ly, but apologized for so doing on 
 account of the length to which in 
 the written form he had extended 
 It, and for the reading of which 
 there was not further time to spare. 
 
 OTHER EXBKCISBS AT THE GROVE. 
 
 At the close of the oration the 
 " Song of Jubilee " was sung to the 
 tune of " Champagne Charley," the 
 solo being finely rendered by Mrs. 
 Lucien P. Field, of New York, a 
 native of Mason. She was accom- 
 panied by Miss Lilla Larkin, of 
 Townsend Centre. A well-written 
 poem, of a historical character, was 
 then read by Eev. E. E. Hodgman, 
 which was followed by a series of 
 chronicles, also of a local-historical 
 character, and conceived in a sport- 
 ive vein. These were read by Chas. 
 E. Hill, an under-graduate of Dart- 
 mouth, and their character will be 
 indicated by the closing invita- 
 tion to the now awaiting dinner at 
 the tent, as follows: "Lo, the 
 meat offerings and drink offerings 
 are ready, and the royal Chamberlain 
 waits to hasten you to the banquet. 
 This day is Scripture revealed unto 
 you. He that hath a purse let him 
 take it, likewise Ms scrip, for the 
 money-changers await your com- 
 
 ing. Stay yourselves With flagons 
 and be comforted with apples. To 
 your tents, Israel ! " According- 
 ly Mr. Chamberlain, as Marshal, 
 conducted the party to the tent, 
 where Mr. G.W. Scripture, caterer, 
 had provided an abundant collation. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS AT THE TENT. 
 
 In the tent, which was spread in 
 an open lot near the church, some 
 eight hundred people sat down at 
 the tables and heartily enjoyed the 
 viands which were spread before 
 them, — a sharpened appetite being 
 the sequel of the somewhat pro- 
 longed exercises at the grove. 
 When all had been thus refreshed, 
 the exercises of the day were con- 
 tinued by the singing of a " Hymn 
 of Gratitude," to the tune of " Lynd- 
 hurst." Toasts and speeches then 
 followed. A sentiment in honor of 
 " The Great West " was responded 
 to by Bev. Timothy Hill, of Kansas 
 City, Mo. ; one, to " The Sons of 
 New Hampshire in other States," 
 was responded to by B. W. Mer- 
 riam, of New York City ; to " The 
 Revolutionary Patriots," by Hon. 
 John B. Hill; "The Day we Cele- 
 brate," by Kev. S. Lee, of New Ips- 
 wich; "The Town of Mason," by 
 Joseph C. Mason, of Booneville, 
 Mo.; the "Hills, Valleys, Fruits 
 and Flowers of Mason," by L. A. 
 Elliot, of Boston. 
 
 The literary exercises were agree- 
 ably varied by the singing of the 
 song entitled "I cannot sing the 
 old Songs," by Mrs. Field ; " Twen- 
 ty Years ago," by Samuel E. Wright 
 and wife, of Templeton, Mass., and 
 the "Parting Hymn," which was 
 sung by the choir to the tune of 
 " Franconia." The musical part of 
 the programme throughout the 
 day was, in the performance, of a 
 
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 13 
 
 high order of excellence, and was 
 much enjoyed and applauded. 
 
 The authors of the original hymns 
 ■were Mrs. Louisa J. Kimball, R. L. 
 Cumnock, Jr., Miss Abby H. Allen, 
 and Mrs. H. M. C. Wright, In the 
 order respectively in which the 
 hymns occurred on the programme. 
 
 The celebration, as a whole, was 
 well planned and carried out, and 
 the day was generally observed as 
 a holiday by the people of the 
 neighboring towns as well as those 
 immediately interested. The day 
 was ushered in by salutes of artil- 
 lery, which reverberated over the 
 majestic hills, whose echoes seemed 
 to catch the note of festivity. The 
 ohurch-beUs of the town also 
 
 sounded their jocund peals, delight- 
 ing Young America at the unex- 
 pected recurrence of those emotions 
 peculiar to Independence morning. 
 The side shows of the occasion 
 were sufficiently numerous to give 
 the Village Common a gala day ap- 
 pearance, and were liberally patron- 
 ized by those who preferred the 
 sportive and sensational to the in- 
 tellectual and sentimental modes of 
 celebration. Probably from two to 
 three thousand people participated 
 publicly in the festival, which must 
 be regarded as a liberal convocation, 
 in point of numbers, for a locality 
 which may, with eminent propriety, 
 be classed among the rural dis- 
 tricts. 
 
ADDEESS OF WELCOME. 
 
 bt eev. geoe&e f. mekriam, of mason villa&e. 
 
 Mr. Pkesidbnt, Ladies and Gentlemen, — 
 
 Whether cradled among these hills, adopted for a season into 
 our good mother's family, or otherwise' linked in interest with the 
 old town whose centenary day we now celebrate, permit me to bid 
 yovi a most cordial welcome. 
 
 From every place to which your enterprising feet have borne 
 you, far or near ; from every walk of life, however humble or high 
 up 
 
 "The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar;" 
 
 whether coming with the dew of youth, or the frosts of age, or with 
 life's meridian strength, bending beneath the heat and burden of 
 the day ; we gladly hail your return, and heartily rejoice with you 
 in the meetings and greetings of the hour. We give you a warm 
 grasp of the hand, as you come once more to look upon the sce- 
 nery of Mason, with all its features of beauty and grandeur ; to tread 
 the soil made sacred by the labors of holy men now gone to their 
 rest ; to re-enter the homes about which so many tender recollec- 
 tions have clustered ; to revisit the haunts of childish frolic and 
 fancy ; to worship in the churches where our fathers used to pray ; 
 to muse in the church-yards where their precious dust is laid ; to 
 speak one to another of all the way in -which our God has led us, 
 and to spend a little season together with the memories of Auld 
 Lang Syne. 
 
 And how many the spots in those early days, now transfigured 
 with rosy light, as we glance backward in our life review ! How 
 often can we say of what has here occurred, — 
 
 " Still o'er that scene my memory wakes, 
 •And fondly broods with miser care ; 
 Time but the impression stronger makes, 
 As streams their channels deeper wear." 
 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 15 
 
 How grandly do the little incidents, recalled by the forms we 
 meet to-day, loom through the mist of years ! 
 
 " 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view," 
 
 but not that alone, as we sing, — 
 
 " How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, 
 
 When fond recollection presents them to view ; 
 The meadow, the orchard, the deep-tangled wlldwood, 
 
 And every loved spot that my infancy knew ! 
 The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it, 
 
 The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell ; 
 The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it. 
 
 And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well." 
 
 Nor can we forget the trials of those bygone days : — 
 
 " There stands the old school-house, hard by the old church; 
 That tree by its side had the flavor of birch." 
 
 Trials by no means profitless in our subsequent experience, and 
 at the time attended with an overflowing measure of kindness ; 
 while to-day we look back and feel, — 
 
 " That we of all others have reason to pay 
 The tribute of thanks, and rejoice on our way, 
 For the counsels that turned from the follies of youth, 
 For the beauty of patience, the whiteness of truth, 
 For the wounds of rebuke, when love tempered its edge. 
 For the household's restraint, and the discipline's hedge." 
 
 And then what a fragrance lingers about the memory of some 
 of those early friends ! We are now consciously stronger and 
 purer for having met them. "Whatever is shining in our lives 
 must come from the golden thread of their influence wound about 
 them. One seems almost the soul's ideal : — 
 
 " His life was gentle, and the elements 
 So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up. 
 And say to all the world, this was a man." 
 
 We stand beside the mound where he sleeps, and feel the place 
 is holy ground ; that 
 
 " The actions of the just 
 Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust." 
 
16 ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 
 
 It is a privilege to scatter roses upon his last resting-place, and 
 
 say: — 
 
 " Green be the turf above thee, 
 Friend of my early days ; 
 None knew thee but to love thee, 
 None named thee but to praise." 
 
 But I am treading upon sacred ground, and engrossing too much 
 of your time. When the distant members of a household return 
 to some great family gathering, the elder members of the family 
 are wont to make ready the feast, and send one of the children to 
 swing wide the door, and cry with childish ardor, Come in, come 
 in ! So these venerable fathers, having provided a feast of reason 
 and flow of soul from the lips of eloquence and poesy, have sent 
 me to offer you their salutations, and say, Welcome, welcome ! 
 
 In doing this, allow me to express the wish that this reunion 
 may, for us, be typical of a better one above, where the angels 
 will sing welcome home. And may they, who in this place shall 
 celebrate the successive centuries of the future, have an ever 
 brightening experience of peace, prosperity, and piety to record. 
 
 Long live the good town, giving out, year by year, 
 Eecruits to true manhood and womanhood dear ; 
 Brave boys, modest maidens, in beauty sent forth, 
 The living epistles and proof of its worth. 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHI B. HILL 
 
 One hundred years ago, in August, 1768, Obadiah Parker left 
 his humble dwelling on the west border of the town, near the line 
 of New Ipswich, on a pilgrimage to Portsmouth, then the capital of 
 the Province of New Hampshire, charged by a vote of the propri- 
 etors passed January 5, 1768, with the duty " to goo to Portsmoull 
 and get the town incorporated as soon as may be." Let us follow 
 the pilgrim on his adventurous journey. There was then no pub- 
 lic conveyance by which he could make his way.* There was no 
 carriage for the conveyance of persons in the town. Indeed, the 
 ox-cart was the only vehicle then owned in town, which moved on 
 wheels. The first chaise brought into and owned in town was 
 built expressly for my father in the year 1799, after his marriage with 
 his third wife. The time is fully within my recollection when the 
 first buggy or wagon, for the carriage of persons, was brought into 
 town. 
 
 The only mode Parker could adopt for making his journey was 
 to go on horseback or on foot. It is likely he chose the latter as the 
 least expensive. Indeed, it would take little more time, as was 
 then the state of the country roads and the character of the cav- 
 alry he must use. An active man, such as Parker was, he being 
 then about forty-eight years old, would make the journey on foot, 
 probably, in less time than on horseback. He must have made 
 
 * It is doubtful if there was any such at that time from Boston to Ports- 
 mouth. In the "Boston Gazette and County Journal," March, 1770, in an 
 advertisement, Joseph Hart notifies the public in a card that "he has set 
 up a stage from Portsmouth to Boston, making one trip a week. The 
 hour of starting Crom Boston being about eight o'clock in the morning on 
 Tuesdays." 
 
 3 
 
18 ' CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 his way directly through the forests and by the sparse settlements 
 to his journey's end, which he would accomplish in about two days. 
 Arrived at Portsmouth, he would there find the only power that 
 could give success to his mission, in the person of the Eoyal Gov- 
 ernor, the representative of his Eoyal Majesty, George III., styled 
 " our truly and well-beloved John Wentworth, Esq., our Governor 
 and Commander-in-Chief of our Province of New Hampshire." 
 
 In our day charters and acts of incorporation are granted by 
 the Legislature, on application of the parties. Then, they were 
 matters of royal grace and favor, to be granted by the Governor 
 with much ceremony, not to say pomp and splendor. Parker, hav- 
 ing arrived at Portsmouth, must have made application to know 
 at what day and hour his Majesty's Eoyal Governor and Council 
 would be pleased to give him an audience, and at the set time 
 have presented himself, with the humble petition of his fellow- 
 citizens, and having made such suggestions, and answered such 
 inquiries as the case needed, he succeeded in gaining the object of 
 his journey, in the grant of the charter for the incorporation of the 
 town. 
 
 But fees and charges must be paid. The offlcials surrounding the 
 governor lived on fees. It was understood that such expenses 
 must be incurred, and Parker was charged " to disburst the money " 
 for that purpose, and promised that he " shall have a hansom re- 
 ward for the same." His bill rendered to the town for charges and 
 disbursements was £12. 6. 6. 3, amounting to about $41.00. It 
 was allowed and paid. The items composing this bill would be at 
 this day a great curiosity, but they have escaped all search. The 
 proprietors voted to have the town called Sharon ; but no one will 
 regret that Parker so far departed from his instructions as to bring 
 back the charter with the name of Mason inserted instead, un- 
 doubtedly with reference to Captain John Mason, the original 
 grantee of the Province of New Hampshire. This venerable doc- 
 ument, bearing date August 26, 1768, I have now the pleasure of 
 exhibiting to you. Thus, one hundred years ago this day, the au- 
 thority and obligation to assume the rights and powers and duties 
 of a town were granted to our fathers. 
 
 By the terms of the charter, Obadiah Parker, " Gentleman," was 
 appointed to call the first meeting of the inhabitants as a town. 
 For this purpose he issued his warrant in due form, under date of 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 19 
 
 September 5, 1768, for a meeting to be held September 19, at which 
 meeting Obadiah Parker was chosen Moderator ; Josiah Wheeler, 
 Town Clerk ; Josiah "Wheeler, Obadiah Parker, and Joseph BuUard, 
 Selectmen ; Reuben Barrett and John Swallow, Constables ; Na- 
 than Hall, Treasurer ; John Asten and Jonathan Winship, Tith- 
 ingmen ; Thomas Barrett, Enosh Lawrence, Jr., Lemuel Spaulding, 
 and Josiah Robbins, Surveyors of Highways ; Capt. Thomas 
 .Tarbell, Sealer of Weights and Measures ; John Asten, Sealer of 
 Leather ; Richard Lawrence and Joseph Blood, Fence Viewers ; 
 Samuel Lawrence and Joseph Lowell, Hog Constables ; Aaron 
 Wheeler and Oliver EUiott, Deer Officers. Thus the territory, for- 
 merly known by the name of No. 1, became legally a town, and, 
 with some additions of territory subsequently made, has remained 
 a town to the present day; 
 
 It is worth while to pause a few moments, and consider the char- 
 acter of that important political body, a New England town. No 
 such political organization was ever known in England. There 
 cities, boroughs, and parishes, have existed from time immemorial ; 
 but none of these has served as the model of our towns. These 
 last in .this country are -of New England origin, and are peculiar to 
 New England, except so far as they have, with more or less fidel- 
 ity, been copied in some of the more Western States. 
 
 Our Pilgrim Fathers, when, driven by high-church persecution 
 from their pleasant homes in England, they took refuge in Hol- 
 land, found there a division of the country into townships en- 
 trusted with the internal regulation of their own affairs, the ap- 
 pointment of selectmen, or municipal officers, the registry of deeds, 
 the establishment of highways, and the erection of houses and 
 farm buildings along the line of the travelled roads, none of which 
 existed in England, and all of which, with great public benefit, 
 they introduced into their new settled country.* 
 
 * Of Holland, in 1608, Motley writes : "It was a land where every child 
 went to school, where almost every individual inhabitant could read and 
 write, where even the middle classes were proficient in mathematics and 
 the classics, and could speak two or more modern languages ; where the 
 whole nation, with but few exceptions, were producers of material wealth, 
 and where comparatively little of unproductive consumption prevaile(J." 
 — Motley, United Netherlands, Vol. iv., p. 432. 
 
20 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 These organizations are the purest democracies the world has 
 ever seen. Every man in the town is not only a voter, but is 
 trained up in the fearless and constant exercise of the voter's 
 rights. Here no one has any peculiar or special privileges. All 
 stand on the same footing. Every man has a right to be voted 
 for, or to vote for any office. There is here no chance for an 
 aristocracy to spring up and trample on the rights of the people. 
 In the Southern States no such organizations ever existed. If 
 those States had been overspread with towns, filled with people 
 trained up in the exercise of the voter's rights, the slaveholding 
 aristocracy could never have carried the Southern people, as they 
 did, against their will, into rebellion. 
 
 One of the first incidents attendant on arriving at the condition 
 of a town was found to be taxes, and that incident has contin- 
 ued to attend its existence to the present day. To facilitate 
 the collection of tax:es, the town was divided into the West and 
 East sides. This division was made on the road leading from 
 Townsend to the north part of the town by what was then the 
 residence of Dea. Nathan Hall. All east of that road and north 
 of the centre of the town on that road belonged to the East side ; 
 all west of that road and south of the centre to the West side. A 
 list of taxes was made out amounting to £17. 16. 6. 2. and com- 
 mitted to John SwaUow, constable, for the West side, and a similar 
 list amounting £17. 10. 7. 1. was committed to Reuben Barrett, 
 constable for the East side, for collection, by warrants each bearing 
 date January 28, 1769. 
 
 These documents show who were then inhabitants of the town, 
 and the rate of taxes, and their relative wealth or means. On 
 the West side were Josiah Bobbins, Ens. Enosh Lawrence, Samuel 
 Lawrence, John Swallow, Isaac Holdin, William Badcock, Wil- 
 liam Barrett, Nathaniel Barrett, Jonathan Foster, SteVens Law- 
 rence, Thomas Robbins, Enosh Lawrence, Jr., Aaron Wheeler, 
 Nathaniel Hosmer, John Button, Widow Burge, John Elliot, 
 Moses Lowell, Richard Lawrence, Joseph Merriam, David 
 Lowell, David Lowell, Jr., Nathan Whipple, John Jefts, John As- 
 ten, Joseph Barrett, Nathan Procter, Lieut. Obadiah Parker, 
 Joseph Bullard, Zachariah Davis, Reuben Tucker, Joseph Tucker, 
 Amos Dakin, Thomas Barrett, Joseph Lowell, Benjamin King, 
 Edmund Town, Cornelius Cook, and Dennis McLean. The list 
 
ADDRESS BT JOHN B. HILL. 21 
 
 also includes two more names of persons, whom I judge to have 
 been non-residents. On this list the highest tax was paid by 
 Josiah Bobbins. ' He lived on the farm afterwards owned by Dea. 
 Jotham Webber, and now owned by his grandsons. 
 
 On the East side the names were Capt. Thomas Tarbell, Elias 
 Elliot, Jason Eussell, Nathaniel Smith, Joseph Eoss, Nathaniel 
 Tarbell, Edmund Tarbell, Jonathan Williams, Reuben Barrett, 
 Hannah Elliot widow, Samuel Scripture, James Weathee, Lemuel 
 Spaulding, Elizabeth Powers widow, Joseph Blood, Abel Shedd, 
 George Woodard, Jabez Kendall, Oliver Elliot, Daniel Fish, Mary 
 Jefts widow, Thomas Jefts, Jonathan Jefts, Nathan Hall, James 
 Hall, Patience Fish widow, Eleazer Fish, Ebenezer Blood, Jason 
 Dunster, Joseph Herrick, Jonathan Winship, Samuel Tarbell, 
 Nathaniel Barrett, Jr., John Leonard, Jonathan Fish. On this list 
 I do not recognize any non-residents. The highest tax on this 
 list, and the highest in the town, was paid by Capt. Thomas Tar- 
 bell. He lived on the farm now owned by his great grandson, 
 Thomas B. Tarbell, which farm has remained in the same family 
 for five generations, almost or quite one hundred and twenty 
 years. Of the persons named in these tax lists there are twenty- 
 three who have descendants now residing in the town, and many 
 of them upon the farms then owned by their ancestors. 
 
 One hundred years ! What a period in the life of nations ! Not 
 twenty such have passed since the birth of Christ, scarce ten since 
 pagan gods were publicly worshipped by princes and people in 
 England by our British ancestors. Of the human family, scarce 
 one in thirty-six thousand attains that age, and yet in the list I 
 have just read of the iiames of the tax-payers in the first assess- 
 ment on the town, are found two who attained that wonderful 
 age.* One of these, Jonathan Foster, died at Ashby, March 31, 
 
 * Desiring to ascertain, as nearly as might be, the ratio or proportion of 
 persons living in Southern New Hampshire in 1768, who would attain the 
 age of one hundred years or more, I addressed a letter to Dr. Edward 
 Jarvis, the well-known statistician, asking a reply to that question. In 
 reply he kindly fUrnished me a very elaborate calculation and estimates 
 from the United States census, in which he deduced from the returns for 
 the years 1830, '40, '50, and '60, that of white persons, 1 in 39,760 would 
 be found of that age, and that of the white and colored united 1 in 27,738 
 would be found to be of that age. The report of aged persons in the 
 
22 CENTENNIAL CELENRATION. 
 
 1821, at the age of more than one hundred years. He resided, 
 when I first knew him, in the south part of the town near the State 
 line, a little east of the road to Townsend, in a wretched log hut. 
 For many years, I think near forty, he was supported by the town 
 as a pauper. I remember to have seen him frequently passing by 
 on his way for his rations, to the residence of John Blodgett, Esq., 
 chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Although then extremely 
 aged, he walked with a quick military step, carrying a staff rather 
 for ornament than use ; and returning with his moderate supply 
 of provisions, a little meal, pork, and perhaps a few potatoes, in a 
 sack upon his shoulder. He had an inveterate antipathy to work 
 of all kinds, but was fond of hunting, and among other feats of 
 agility he would imitate on all-fours the running and leaping of 
 a bear. Hence the cognomen, by which he was universally known, 
 of " Bear Foster." It is not unlikely that this careful husbandry 
 of his muscular energy tended to the lengthening out of his days 
 to the unusual term of one hundred years. He was a soldier in 
 the army of the Revolution. 
 
 The other centenarian was Oliver Elliot. He was born in Gro- 
 ton, probably in what is now Pepperell, Aug. 24, 1734. He was 
 the son of Elias Elliot, who came into town about the year 1762, 
 and died Feb. 23, 1785, at the age of seventy-eight years. His 
 three sons, WiUiam, Oliver, and Elias, Jr., settled in Mason, 
 Oliver, as early as 1764 ; William, as early as 1753. Oliver was 
 an active, industrious man, and in the early period of the settle- 
 ment, both before and after the incorporation of the town, was fre- 
 quently employed in the public business, and elected to offices in 
 the affairs of the place and town. In the last years of his life he 
 felt the hard hand of poverty, but never wore the garments of a 
 
 colored population is so manifestly exaggerated as to be wholly unreli- 
 able, so that that of the white people alone should be considered. He 
 also made an estimate of the population of the southern counties in New 
 Hampshire in 1768, at (57,360, in which the number of centenarians at 1 in 
 27,738 would be 2.4 and at 1 in 39,760 it would be 1.7. 
 
 By the census of England in 1852, there were of men plus 100, 35, of 
 women plus 100, 53=88, and by that of 1853 the men were 31, the women 
 C2=93. The population of England in 1750 was estimated at 6,467,000. 
 It would thus appear that of persons living in England in 1750, about 1 
 in 36,687 lived to one hundred years or more. 
 
ADDBES3 BY JOHN B. HILL. 26 
 
 town pauper. He also was a soldier of the Revolutionary army. 
 He died in September, 1836, aged one hundred and two years. 
 He left numerous descendants residing in the town, and many 
 who have sought out homes in other places. 
 
 In 1858, I published a history of the town of Mason, in which 
 is contained everything which I judged could be of interest to 
 preserve, which I could learn from tradition or from the records 
 of the Proprietary, which exist in a perfect state of preservation 
 from the first meeting in 1749 to the last in 1773, and from the 
 recoi'ds of the town from the first meeting in 1768, to that of 1858, 
 all in like perfect preservation ; and from the records of the Con- 
 gregational Church from 1772, the date of its organization, to ' 
 1858 ; and of the Baptist Church from its organization in 1786 to 
 1858. In this work will be found a record of marriages commenc- 
 ing with that of the patriarch, Thomas Tarbell, June 30, 1666, 
 down to Oct. 31, 1857. Also a list of deaths commencing in 
 1758, and extending to 1858, and numerous family registers, taken 
 from the town records, of a date previous to 1790. Also a list of 
 the names of those who appear upon the tax lists to have been 
 inhabitants of the town previous to the year 1790, in which is in- 
 dicated, as far as could be learned from tradition or other means, 
 the place from which, and the time when, the individual came into 
 town ; the place to which, and the time when, any of them removed 
 from town, and the place of residence of each one in the town, and 
 the time of decease, age, etc., of such as died in town. A mark 
 also indicates such as served in the army or navy in the war of 
 the Revolution, and any noteworthy incidents in the history of 
 each one are also briefly stated. I also published at the same 
 time a biographical sketch of my father, the late Rev. Ebenezer 
 Hill, in which are inserted his two published lectures upon the 
 early history of the town, which contain much thaj, unless it had 
 been preserved in this form, would long since have faded from 
 memory and perished. As these works are accessible to all who 
 feel an interest to inquire into these matters, I shall not in this 
 discourse enter so fully into minute particulars of the history of 
 the town, as in ordinary circumstances it would have been advis- 
 able to do. 
 
 I have shown how the town was organized, and as to civil affairs, 
 
42 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 placed upon a foundation that remains to the present day. Next 
 in order and interest follows its ecclesiastical organization. 
 
 Our fathers esteemed their religious interests not second to 
 their secular aflfairs. I now proceed to show what they did in the 
 way of organizing for religious worship, and making provision for 
 the accommodation of the worshippers. As to the places of wor- 
 ship, one of the conditions of the grant of the township by the 
 Masonian proprietors was, that the grantees " build a convenient 
 house for the public worship of God, at or before the last day of 
 May, 1763, for the use of those who shall then or afterwards in- 
 habit there." In 1751, a vote was passed to build a house 30 by 
 24 feet. The dimensions were afterwards changed to 40 by 30 
 feet. This house was erected, and stood about three rods north- 
 east of the place where the second meeting-house stood, — a locality 
 familiar to many persons present. The first house was never fin- 
 ished, but was so far fitted for use that it served for public worship 
 and town meetings till the second was built, having, by a vote of 
 the proprietors, been made over to the town. The second house 
 was raised in 1789. It was so far finished that it was used for the 
 ceremonies of the ordination of my father, Nov. 3, 1790, but was 
 not completed and dedicated till Nov. 26, 1795. It continued to 
 be used for public worship and town meetings till the third house 
 was built, not by the town, but by a religious society in connection 
 with the Congregational Church, in November, 1837, and after- 
 wards for town meetings till the town-house was built, in Novem- 
 ber, 1848. It was then sold at auction and removed. The Bap- 
 tist society built a house placed between the roads, near the dwell- 
 ing-house lately of Nathaniel Smith. I have no means of ascer- 
 taining in what year it was built ; but I recollect the building at 
 least sixty-five years ago, and it was then no new structure. It 
 was never finisjjed outside or in, and could not be occupied in cold 
 weather. It was sold and removed in 1812. The brick meeting- 
 house in the village was built in 1827, by a new Baptist society, 
 and has been occupied to the present time. The meeting-house of 
 the second Congregational society was built in the village by sub- 
 scription of individuals, and dedicated in December, 1849. The 
 Christian Chapel was erected in 1835. These are all the houses 
 for public worship ever erected in the town. 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 25 
 
 The Congregational Churcli was organized October 13, 1772. It 
 consisted of twenty-one members, twelve toen and nine women. 
 On the same day, Jonathan Searle was ordained pastor of the 
 church, and minister of the town. Disagreements soon arose be- 
 tween him and the church, and between him and the town, which, 
 as time went on, became more perplexing and unyielding. The 
 result was his dismissal by the church, May 4, 1781, and bj' the 
 town August 14, 1781. Any one wishing to read the details of this 
 long and singular controversy will find them fully, perhaps too 
 fully, set forth in the History of Mason, before referred to. Mr. 
 Searle was born in Rowley, in 1744, and graduated at Harvard 
 College in 1764. I remember him as a grave, stately gentleman, 
 tall, and of good personal appearance, always well dressed, wear- 
 ing the cocked hat, knee-breeches, long stockings, and shoe-buc- 
 kles, — the costume of a gentleman in his early days. Soon after he 
 was dismissed he ceased to preach, and devoted himself to the 
 care of his valuable real estate and the cultivation of his farm, 
 the same now owned by Ebenezer Blood, the noble house upon 
 which, now in a fine state of preservation, was built by Mr. Searle 
 ninety-one years ago. I judge that he was not addicted to books 
 or study, and had little taste for literary pursuits. He held the 
 office of Justice of the Peace many years, but did little business 
 as such. Indeed, little in that line in his day and region needed 
 to be done by any one. He died December 7, 1812, aged sixty- 
 eight years. No monument marks the place of his burial. He and 
 his wife were buried by the side of the monument of B. Witherell, 
 his son-in-law. His successor in office was my father, the Eev. 
 Ebenezer Hill. He was born in Cambridge, in January, 1766, 
 graduated at Harvard College in 1786, pursued his professional 
 studies under Dr. Seth Payson, of Rindge, was licensed to preach 
 October 28, 1788, and was employed by the people of this town 
 to preach for them early in 1789. His services met with such 
 acceptance that the church and town united in a call for him 
 to be their minister. He accepted the call, and was ordained No- 
 vember 3, 1790. He remained minister of the town till December 
 19, 1835, when he was, at his request, released by the town from 
 the contract on their part. He continued in office as pastor of the 
 church till his death. May 20, 1854, in the eighty-ninth year of his 
 age and the sixty-fourth of his pastorship. In 1791 he bought the 
 4 
 
26 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 farm, and on it, in 1800, he built the house in which, and on the 
 farm to which lie made some additions, he passed the remainder of 
 his days. Upon this farm, with the pittance of two hundred and 
 fifty dollars for a salary, he brought up his numerous family of four- 
 teen children, only one of whom died in infancy. Order, economy, 
 and industry were the rules of his household. Abundance of plain' 
 fare, coarse, strong, but decent raiment, were provided for all. Two 
 of his sons graduated at Harvard University, and one at Dartmouth 
 College. Rev. Andrew H. Reed was settled as colleague pastor with 
 him in November, 1836, and remained till he was dismissed, at 
 his own request, December 11, 1839. My father then resumed 
 the pastoral duties of the parish, and performed the labors 
 of the station till August, 1840, when my brother, the Rev. Joseph 
 B. Hill, was employed to assist him. He was settled as co-pastor 
 October 20, 1841, and remained till April, 1847, when he was, 
 at his own request, dismissed. The Rev. J. L. Armes was 
 settled as co-pastor in 1851, and remained till after my father's death. 
 
 In 1839 and 1840, he represented the town in the Legisla- 
 ture of the State, but weary of public life, and longing for the quiet 
 of home, he declined further service in that line. From the time 
 of the settlement of Mr. Reed, my father continued to devote his 
 life and labors to the business of his sacred calling, as opportunity 
 presented in the neighboring towns, until the infirmities of age, 
 wasting his energies and strength, compelled him to retire, and 
 pass the evening of his life in the quiet of his household and fire- 
 side. I have thus briefly sketched the outlines of his life and 
 career. Thus he lived and thus he died. It is not for me to pro- 
 nounce his eulogy. 
 
 My brother, the Rev. Joseph B. Hill, after leaving Mason, took 
 charge of the church in Colebrook, N. H., where he remained ten 
 years, and then removed to West Stewartstown, an adjoining town 
 and remained in charge of the church in that place five years. In 
 1862, he purchased a small farm in Temple, N. H., and removed 
 and settled his family there. In March, 1864, he accepted an ap- 
 pointment in the Christian Commission, and in that capacity joined 
 the army, and with fidelity, industry, and zeal gave himself to the 
 duties of that office, in the army of the Cumberland, until, at 
 Chattanooga, he met with an accident on the railroad so severe as 
 to terminate in his death, June 16, 1864. These are all the pas- 
 
ADDRESS BT JOHN B. HILL. 27 
 
 tors of this church who have gone to their reward. Mr. Armes 
 was dismissed, at his own request, May 13, 1857. Immediately- 
 after Mr. Armes left, the Rev. Daniel G-oodwin commenced preach- 
 ing for this church, and continued in that employment till he was 
 installed as pastor, April 18, 1860, and he remains in oflace till the 
 present time. 
 
 The Baptist Church was, as styled in the record, "imbodied" 
 September 28, 1786. The original members were Ezra Mansfield, 
 William Elliott, and Jonathan Chandler ; Sarah Blood, Anna Law- 
 rence, Hannah Chandler, Sarah Blood, ye 2d, and Molly Ball. 
 To these were added October 26, Joseph Bullard, Aaron Wheeler, 
 widow Sarah Elliott, Sarah Tarbell, Eebecca Mansfield, and Re- 
 becca Hildreth. Several of these persons had been members of 
 Mr. Searle's church. The church gave Br. William Elliott a call 
 to settle with them in the gospel ministry, to which he gave his 
 consent, and was ordained on "ye third Wednesday of October, 
 1788." He served faithfully in that office, in his day and genera- 
 tion. He died June 4, 1830. Three of his sons were educated at 
 public institutions, and became ministers in the Baptist church. 
 Those who would know more of this church and of their worthy 
 pastor, are referred to the History of Mason. 
 
 Such as I have described were the men who, one hundred years 
 ago, assumed the burdens of the civil, political, and religious or- 
 ganization of a town, and secured to us, their successors, the rights 
 and franchises, following and attendant on that state. I shall not, 
 for the reasons already given, detail at this time, in any minute 
 and methodical way, the subsequent doings of the tcvn, but will 
 rather employ what remains of time and space in exhibiting some 
 of the wonderful changes, in all that is interesting to us as men, 
 which have taken place in the world within the past century, most 
 of them within the period to which the recollection of some who 
 hear me extends. In 1760, George the Third came to the throne. 
 No monarch more arbitrary, self-willed, and obstinate has reigned 
 in England within the last two hundred years. He was the undis- 
 puted sovereign of all the provinces and colonies on this continent, 
 which afterwards, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, 
 composed the United States. The people were all loyal, and, until 
 after the peace of 1763, there was no apprehension of arbitrary or 
 
28 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 oppressive action on the part of the crown or parliament, and no 
 thought of independence or resistance to the power of Great 
 Britain. In 1759, Quebec was talcen by Wolfe. The conquest of 
 Canada and Cape Breton followed, and by the peace of 1763 they 
 were confirmed to England. Thus the French power on this con- 
 tinent was broken and gone forever. There was no longer dread 
 of Indian wars, excited and promoted by French influence and aid. 
 No longer was the mother's sleep to be disturbed by dreams of 
 horrid Indians breaking into her lowly cabin. No more were the 
 morning slumbers of the inhabitants of the border towns liable to 
 be roused by the hideous warwhoop, or their eyes to be daunted by 
 the gleam of the tomahawk, or the blaze of the conflagration of a 
 neighbor's dwelling. The dispute between Massachusetts and 
 New Hampshire for the jurisdiction of the territory on which we 
 live, which, for more than one hundred years, had made doubtful 
 the titles and retarded the settlement of the land, had been de- 
 cided in favor of New Hampshire. The line was run in February 
 and March, 1741, and has remained the line between the States 
 from that time to the present day. The land was granted by the 
 Masoniau proprietors to the proprietors of the town, in 1749, by 
 the name of Township No. 1, and the settlement commenced by 
 Lawrence in 1751, followed by Hall, Parker, Swallow, Tarbell, and 
 others in 1752. The number increased slowly till, in 1767, at which 
 time, by a census taken by the provincial authority, it was found 
 to be two hundred and seventy-eight. After the incorporation, in 
 1768, the increase became more rapid, and in 1775 the number was 
 found to be five hundred and one. I have given the names of those 
 who were assessed to pay the first tax levied upon the town. The 
 inventory upon which it was assessed I have not found. The ear- 
 liest inventory I have found, which furnishes means to compare the 
 former with the present condition of the town, as to property and 
 valuation, is that of 1777. The mode of making out the inven- 
 tory of the real estate at that time differed so much from that now 
 in use, that no just comparison can be made between them. But 
 the inventory of the cattle and horses was so similar to that of the 
 present day as to furnish a fair criterion of comparison. In an 
 agricultural town there is no better index of the wealth and pros- 
 perity of the people than that furnished by the number and value 
 of the cattle, horses, and other stock owned by the inhabitants. 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 
 
 29 
 
 The following statement is the fairest exhibit I can make of the 
 property and taxes of the town for the years 1777 and 1868, as 
 compared with each other : — 
 
 1777. 1868. 
 
 Horses, . 
 
 30 
 
 38 
 
 . . . oto 
 
 189 
 
 Cattle, . 
 
 . 35i 
 
 761 
 
 Valuation, 
 
 . $510* 
 
 1584,730 
 
 Taxes, 
 
 . $336 
 
 . $12,670.78 
 
 Inhabitants, 
 
 . 501 
 
 . . . about 2,000 
 
 This little book which I exhibit, six inches long and three inches 
 wide, composed of eight leaves inartificially folded and ruled, con- 
 tains the whole inventory of the real and personal property of the 
 town for the year 1775.* A large share of the increase in valua- 
 tion is due to the increase in population and business in the village. 
 The Columbian Manufacturing Company have made large invest- 
 ments in cotton factories in that place, which have added greatly 
 to the wealth, population, and business of the town. The railroad, 
 opened in 1850, has greatly promoted the business interests of 
 the town. 
 
 Our predecessors of that day were a simple-minded, frugal, in- 
 dustrious people. They lived within their means. Their farms 
 supplied their wants. Their garments were composed of wool and 
 flax, the produce of their own fields and flocks. Cotton, so far 
 from claiming then to be king, and to have the right to overturn 
 the government because his claim to rule was not submitted to, 
 had not then begun to lift up his head. The seeds must be re- 
 
 * It is obvious that five hundred and forty dollars is no adequate state- 
 ment of the value of the real and personal property in the town in the 
 year 1777. I have not been able to discover the basis upon which the es- 
 timate was made. Instead of giving the namber of acres and value of the 
 farms and buildings, and of the cattle, the mode was as follows : — 
 
 Take for instance the valuation of Capt. Thomas Tarbell, of that year. 
 
 Poll, Orcliard, Arable, Mow- Pastur- Oxen & Cows, Two & three £ 8. d. 
 
 ing, ing, Horses, year olds, 
 
 1 J i 8 12 3 2 4 = 1. 18. 9. 
 
 If the taxes were apportioned according to the ratio or rule by which, the 
 property was valued, no matter what that ratio was, the burdens would be 
 equally divided. If each man's property was assessed its proper share of 
 five hundred and forty dollars, the valuation of the town, each Would pay 
 his part of three hundred and thirty-six dollars, the amount of the taxes. 
 
30 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 moved from cotton before it could be spun. "While this must be 
 done by hand, the cost was too great for its fabrics to be intro- 
 duced into common use. What was the prodiiction of cotton in 
 1768, I have no means of knowing, but it must have been incon- 
 siderable, since, in 1784, it is said that an American vessel, having 
 on board seventy-one bags of cotton, was seized at Liverpool, for 
 violation of revenue laws, on the ground that so large an amount 
 of cotton could not have been produced in the United States ; and 
 when an old planter obtained fifteen small bales from five acres, it 
 was not thought strange that he exclaimed, " Well, well, I have 
 done with cotton ; here is enough to make stockings for all the 
 people in America!" In 1791, the export was but one hundred 
 and eighty-nine thousand three hundred and six pounds, or less 
 than five thousand bales. In 1860 it had reached three millions 
 eight hundred and twelve thousand three hundred and forty-five 
 bales. This immense increase in the production of cotton, and 
 corresponding increase in the number of slaves, dates its origin 
 from the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, in 1794, and 
 its introduction into use. From that time cotton became an im- 
 portant article of production and commerce. In the times of our 
 fathers, the spinning-wheel and the loom were found in every house- 
 hold, and were in frequent if not constant use. The garments thus 
 produced were coarse, strong, warm, and enduring, and made up, 
 as they mostly were, by the busy fingers of the wives, mothers, and 
 daughters, it was a happy circumstance that there were no bills 
 left to be paid ; for the supplies of cash were scanty and hard to 
 be got.* The surplus produce of the farmers must be loaded upon 
 their ox-carts, and teamed off to Groton, Concord, and Boston for 
 a market. Slow, long, and tedious was the journey, and small the 
 aggregate of the returns, but they sufficed for their very moderate 
 wants. A newspaper then was rarely seen in town, and very sel- 
 dom a letter. The farmers, on these market excursions, gathered 
 up the news of the day, which, on their return, they retailed out to 
 
 ♦ The introiJuctlon of the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods by 
 machinery took away from the women of the families their former employ- 
 ment in malting domestic cloths. It was the first step toward that wide- 
 spread revolution in manners and customs which lias culminated in the 
 declaration of woman's rights and the claim of the ballot for the gentle 
 sex. 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 31 
 
 their neighbors and friends, eager listeners, on Sundays, at the in- 
 tervals of worship. At the commencement of this century, and for 
 many years after, there was scarce a household in the place that 
 failed to be" represented at the house of public worship on every 
 fair Sunday of the season. 
 
 The post-offices at New Ipswich, established in 1800, and at 
 Amherst probably at an earlier date, were all that we had to 
 depend upon at the commencement of this century and for many 
 years after. Once a week regularly one of the company of 
 subscribers for the "Farmer's Cabinet" went to Amherst for the 
 bundle of papers, and took letters to be mailed, and brought back 
 from the office letters found there for our people. But this was a 
 great advance on the means of intelligence enjoyed in 1768. Few 
 were the newspapers then printed in the whole country, and meagre 
 the news they had to communicate. The first newspaper printed 
 in America was the " Boston Newsletter," in 1704 ; the first in 
 Philadelphia in 1719 ; the first in New York in 1725 ; the first in 
 New Hampshire in 1757. It was the " New Hampshire Gazette ; or. 
 State Journal, and General Advertiser," — a very large name for so 
 small a paper, of which this is a specimen. [Here was exhibited 
 the paper referred to, being a folio sheet fifteen inches long by 
 nine and a half inches wide, bearing date April 2, 1788, filled 
 principally with advertisements of lands to be sold for non-pay- 
 ment of taxes ; among which were the advertisements of John 
 Lawrence, and of Thomas Tarbell, collectors for the West and East 
 sides in Mason. J This paper contained a report of debates in the 
 House of Commons, in Parliament, under date of July 27, and news 
 from the continent of Europe, under date of October 20. This 
 paper was printed on a very dingy sheet, and published at Exeter, 
 N. H. Under some changes of name it still continues to be 
 published, t|eing, so far as I know, the oldest newspaper published 
 in the United States. Now newspapers crowd each other, and 
 periodical literature is so abundant as to be a drug, and many a 
 family in our midst would be decidedly in want of news, if going to 
 church on Sunday were the condition on which their supply 
 depended. So again, instead of being forced as our fathers were, 
 to gather up the little surplus of their hai-vests and haul it off upon 
 their ox-carts to distant markets, our farmers find a ready sale for 
 their produce at their own doors, or at the neighboring cities and 
 
32 CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION. 
 
 villages, -within easy distance, or they can despatch it to Boston in 
 three hours' time by railroad. So again, with regard to the 
 knowledge of what is going on in the world abroad, the difference 
 is as marked as in the matter just alluded to. Then, news from 
 England, in our cities on the sea-board, five months old, was fresh 
 and racy ; now we must have it in three hours, or we grumble at the 
 length of time taken by the Atlantic Cable to convey intelligence, 
 and in less than a week we have news of a victory achieved by the 
 English troops in the heart of Abyssinia, — a country of which little 
 more was then known than we now know of the inhabitants of the 
 moon. Just one hundred years ago, in 1768, James Bruce set 
 out on his adventurous journey into that country in search of the 
 sources of the Nile, which eluded his vision, and were only 
 revealed almost one hundred years after to Baker, the enterprising 
 traveller. 
 
 Then news at Boston seven days old from .New York was 
 swift enough for an express. Now if we cannot obtain news from 
 Washington in less than the same number of minutes, we become 
 almost frantic, and talk of starting new telegraph companies ; then 
 sloop navigation was the only water communication between New 
 York and Albany, depending mainly on the wind, which, failing 
 often, made the voyage that of weeks, and which with the most 
 favorable winds was seldom made in less than four days. But a 
 great revolution in intercourse and means of communication 
 between distant places and countries was about to take place. 
 Steam had been used as a propelling power, but had never suc- 
 ceeded in canning itself along with what it propelled. Upon 
 raikoads, stationary engines had applied steam to the movement 
 of cars, but proved to be a very limited and inefficient mode of 
 affecting transit. But in August, 1807, sixty-one years ago, the 
 problem of the steam-power transporting itself with the vehicle it 
 moved was solved by Fulton. On the 7th of August, in that year, 
 commenced a successful operation in the use of steam, that has 
 revolutionized the business of the world. Then Eobert Fulton 
 started in the first steamboat that would go, — the Clermont, — on a 
 voyage from New York to Albany. Most people doubted the 
 success of the experiment, and many were looking on expecting to 
 witness a failure. But at the word of the inventor the wheels 
 began to move, slowly at first, but on they went faster and faster. 
 
ADDRBSS BY JOHN B. HILL. 33 
 
 until the Clermont, freighted with happy friends surrounding the 
 inventor, vanished out of sight up the river, leaving the doubters 
 and scoffers staring in blank amazement. Thousands lined the 
 banks of the river all along to Albany, to witness the wonder. 
 It is said that the inhabitants of Newburg turned out in a body 
 " to see a blacksmith shop go by." From that time to this, 
 improvements have been made in the construction of steamboats, 
 and the engines for moving them, until the ocean is spanned by 
 these swift messengers moving from land to land, from our 
 country to Europe in eight days, and carrying often one thousand 
 persons in safety, comfort, and ease. Fulton's boat moved- on to 
 Albany at the rate of about six miles an hour. In 1867, just 
 sixty years after this doubtful but successful experiment, the 
 " Chauncey Vibbard," a steamer of the Albany day-line, made the 
 voyage from New York to Albany at the rate of thirty miles an 
 hour, carrying five hundred and fifty passengers. How little do 
 we yet appreciate the immense importance of that voyage of the 
 little steamboat Clermont? Steamboats and railroads are the 
 bands that bind the Union together. Without them what could we 
 do with the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and California? 
 "Without them how could we have subdued the rebellion ? 
 
 Fulton having successfully solved the problem of making steam 
 carrjr itself and its cargo upon the water, it remained for Stephenson 
 to apply the same principle to steam upon the land ; to do which 
 with perfect success taxed his inventive powers and his patience in 
 experiments from 1815 to 1825, when the iron horse, carrying his 
 huge train of cars, was made ready to be sent careering over the 
 plains, through the mountains, across the rivers, through deep cuts 
 and over deep fillings, from land's end to land's end, and making 
 cities once a day's journey apart to be but suburbs of each other ; 
 thus giving to the business of the nineteenth century a magnitude 
 and momentum greater than that of the whole volume of the five 
 preceding centuries. Let us compare, for a few moments, the state 
 and movements of business before and since that epoch. 
 
 In 1764 the mail went twice a week from New York to Phila- 
 delphia, and since the close of the Revolutionary War a saddle- 
 bag-boy has carried the mail without any protection between these 
 cities.* When the mail-bags were placed in a sulkey to be carried 
 
 * Travelling in New York One Hundred Years Ago. — The advertise- 
 ment, of which we here give a literal copy, is deserving of preservation, 
 5 
 
34 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 over the same road, the people were lost in astonishment at the 
 increase of business, and were utterly amazed when they saw them 
 for that purpose committed to a four-horse coach. Now a large 
 railroad car is required to carry the mail between these cities, and 
 it is despatched two or three times a day for that purpose. 
 Passengers, instead of taking three days to make the journey m a 
 mud-wagon, as in 1768, now may, eight times in twenty-four 
 hours, step on board a commodious car, choosing the time to suit 
 themselves, and reclining at ease, reading the news, conversing with 
 a friend, amusing themselves in any way, or passing the hours in 
 profound sleep, make the journey between these cities in about 
 four hours.* In 1865, thirty-flve tons of mail matter were daily 
 received at the post-office in New York city, for its citizens, and 
 fifty-five tons were sent from that office every day. The average 
 
 on account of the quaintness of the inn-signs, the peculiarity of the spelling ' 
 and diction, the "shifting" of the passengers which It announces, and 
 the general idea it gives us of the way in which travelling was performed 
 in America at the time it was issued : — 
 
 " Philadelphia STAGE-WAGGON, and New York STAGE-BOAT performs 
 
 their Stages twice a Week. 
 
 " JOHNBUTLBE, with his waggon, sets out on Mondays from his House, 
 at the Sign of the Death of the Tox, in Strawberry Ally, and drives the 
 same day to Trenton Eerry, when Francis Holman meets him, and proceeds 
 on Tuesday to Brunswick, and the passengers and goods being shifted into 
 the waggon of Isaac Eltzrandolph, he takes them to the New Blazing Star 
 to Jacob Eitzrandolph's the same day, where Rubin Eltzrandolph, with a 
 boat well suted, will receive them, and take them to New York that night. 
 John Butler returning to Philadelphia on Tuesday with the passengers and 
 goods delivered to him by Erancis Holman, will again set out for 
 Trenton Perry on Thursday, and Francis Holman, &c., will carry his 
 passengers and goods, with the same expedition as above to New-York. 
 — Weekly Mercury. " March 8, 1759." 
 
 *"For speed and ease, cars are of course unsurpassed; but for ro- 
 mance, observation, interest, there is nothing like the old-fashioned stage- 
 coach. Cars are city, coaches are country; cars are the luxurious life of 
 well-born and long-pursed people; coaches are the stirring, eventful 
 career of people who have their own way to make in the world. Cars 
 shoot on independent, thrusting off your sympathy with a snort ; coaches 
 admit you to all the little humanities; every jolt harmonizes and adjusts 
 you till you become a locomotive world, tunefully rolling in your own 
 orbit, independent of the larger world beneath."— Gail Hamilton, vol.vi., p. 
 197 (Gala Days). 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HlXt. 35 
 
 number of mail-bags received was three hundred and eighty-five, 
 and of those sent out seven hundred and thirteen ; the number of 
 letters and newspapers collected by the carriers for the quarter 
 ending Dec. 31, 1865, was over thi-ee millious, and the luimln'i 
 delivered by them over three millions six hundred thousand. The 
 delivery from the post-ofBce boxes for the same time was over five 
 millions, and the business and number of bags and letters have 
 - vastly increased since that day. 
 
 But time would fail me to speak of the telegraph, by which a 
 message can be sent across the Atlantic in a space of time too 
 short to be measured ; of gas, which, in-doors, preceded by the tal- 
 low-candle through all the vicissitudes of spermaceti, of lamps of 
 various forms and patterns, consuming oils and many illuminating 
 substances, now makes our parlors luminous with a light brighter 
 than the sun, and in the streets, superseding links, cressets, lanterns, 
 and street lamps, now makes at midnight our streets bright as at 
 noonday ; of the express, by which for a very trifling charge you may 
 send a message or a package from Boston to Jerusalem, and be sure 
 it will arrive at the stipulated time, and by which orphaned children 
 have been sent from San Francisco to their friends in Connecticut ; 
 of the railroads crossing the continent and interlacing the country 
 in all directions, working a total revolution in the business habits 
 of the people ; of the Croton Aqueduct, a structure of which Rome 
 in her proudest days might well have been proud ; of friction 
 matches, which have taken the place of the tinder-box, which many 
 of you never heard of, and most of you never saw, but which a few 
 gray-headed men and women have cause to remember by reason 
 of having had the skin torn from their knuckles by the unlucky 
 collision with the flint or steel ; of the immense influx of gold, fol- 
 lowing discoveries of deposits of that metal in California, Austra- 
 lia, and the spurs of the Rocky Mountains ; of improvements in 
 machinery and manufactures of every kind ; in navigation, in the 
 means of warfare and defence, most of them tending greatly to 
 promote the comfort, convenience, and permanent good of the 
 human family, — all of which tend to make illustrious the century 
 which, with us, has just closed, the anniversary of which we are 
 assembled to-day to celebrate. Nothing shows the immense in- 
 crease of business in this country within the last few years, as 
 compared with the state of things in 1768, in a more striking light 
 
36 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 than the fact that the yearly sales of a single mercantile hou<?e in 
 Ne\y York, that of 11. B. Claflin & Co., in the year 1865, as re- 
 turned by them to the tax-gatherer, exceeded seventy millions of 
 dollars, — a sum no doubt much greater than the yearly sales of 
 all the mercantile houses in all the colonies in the year 1768. 
 
 If time permitted, I could find much to say about events in the 
 past century which have left permanent impressions, and are mat- 
 ters of interest to us of the present day. Wonderful discoveries 
 in Australia, in Central Africa, in the catacombs of Egypt, display- 
 ing to us vivid pictures of Egyptian life three thousand years ago ; 
 the unfolding of mummies, deciphering the hieroglyphics ; the dis- 
 covery and laying bare the buried cities of Nineveh and Babylon ; 
 the bringing to the light of day the long-hidden historical records 
 of those ancient monarchies, engraved in arrow-headed characters, 
 which modern ingenuity has succeeded in reading ; -the Ameri- 
 can Kevolution, which commenced a new chapter in the history of 
 the world ; the terrible wars of the French Eevolution ; the career 
 of Napoleon Bonaparte ; the growing up of the colossal empire of 
 Eussia ; the marvellous increase of the British power in India ; the 
 increase, insolence, and overthrow of the slave power in the United 
 States ; the emancipation of twenty millions of serfs in Russia, — 
 all of these might be embraced in a review of the century just 
 closed. 
 
 In matters of belief, and in the habits and customs of domestic 
 life, many changes have in the same period taken place, which 
 might be worthy of note. Witches, sorcerers, and ghosts have 
 disappeared along with wigs, cues, knee-breeches, shoe-buckles, 
 and cocked hats, and in their places have come Mesmerism, Mor- 
 monism, spiritualism, spirit-rappings, table-turnings, and clair- 
 voyance, and changes of dress on the part of ladies, through every 
 conceivable variety, culminating at this day in the smallest possi- 
 ble " love of a bonnet" contrasted with the most magnificent am- 
 plitude of a skirt. But we might point to the dandy gentleman, 
 whose period has but barely gone by ; his waist pinched to a wasp- 
 like form, decked with a shirt-collar, starch-stiffened, and rising 
 above his eyes and ears, — inconvenient and troublesome to the 
 wearer as is that useless appendage, the blinders on the bridle, which 
 many foolishly continue to keep as a part of the harness head-dress 
 of their horses, — topped out with the stove-pipe hat, and termi- 
 
ADDRESS BT JOHN B. HILL. . 37 
 
 nating with the swallow-tail coat, and conclude rightly that, oh the 
 score of the ridiculous in personal adornments, the sexes are so 
 nearly even' that neither can laugh at the other. 
 
 One hundred years ago, nails were made by the blacksmith by 
 hand labor, each hammered out singly ; now by machinery nails 
 are made by hundreds at a time and shovelled up by the bushel ; 
 then, all framing work was done with the pod-auger ; now, most 
 people, if they should meet with that tool, would not know what it 
 was, or to what use it could be put, and, if told, would still be un- 
 able to use it. Then, blood-letting was universally practised by 
 all physicians ; now, it is so rare that few have ever witnessed the 
 operation ; then, a case of small-pox spread terror through a wide 
 region ; now, it is not as much dreaded or considered so danger- 
 ous as a case of typhus fever. Trainingrdays and musters, insti- 
 tutions of that and the subsequent ages, have gone by forever ; 
 then, fish were common and plenty in our streams, and the lordly 
 salmon and luscious shad and brisk and bony alewife could be had 
 by all for the taking, and constituted a good share of the food of 
 the people. Now, a man who spends half a day and catches two 
 pounds of trout, the largest not much longer than his finger, thinks 
 he has done bravely, and that he is well paid for his labor ; then, 
 and for long after, our forests and orchards were filled with birds ; 
 the wren and the marten builded about our houses and made 
 all cheerful with their songs and busy pursuit of their daily du- 
 ties ; the woodpeckers, diligently digging the worms out of the 
 trees in our orchards, were fairly entitled to the protection of man, 
 but, instead of receiving this reward for their useful labors, they 
 have been exposed to a war of extermination on his part, and have 
 left us entirely, and in their place, as a just punishment for his 
 ingratitude and folly, he is forced to contend single-handed with an 
 army of insects, which threatens the total destruction of all the 
 fruits of the- garden and orchard. 
 
 One of the changes, which we cannot notice without sadness and 
 alarm, is the great diminution in the number of children to be 
 found among us. School-houses in some districts, in which for- 
 merly seats could not be found sufficient to accommodate the 
 crowd that flocked to them, can now scarcely muster a dozen schol- 
 ars. Then it was not unusual to find in all neighborhoods fami- 
 lies in which, going from house to house, you might count in 
 each from ten to twelve children ; you will now find the number 
 
38 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 dwindled away to two or three, and in many houses none are 
 found. How sad must be that dwelling in which the prattle of lit- 
 tle tongues and the pattering of little feet have never been heard ! 
 In this connection, I cannot but advert to the frequency and fa- 
 cility of divorces, — a change which indicates anything but a prom- 
 ising future for the republic. Marriage is now got up on the sly, 
 without publishment of the banns, and is often ended by divorce, 
 also got up by one party on the sly, without notice to the other 
 party. 
 
 Great changes have also taken place in the religious aspects of 
 the community. Public worship was then supported by taxes paid 
 by all ; now, by voluntary contribution paid by few ; then, the 
 children were trained and drilled in the Westminster Catechism, at 
 the fireside, and at times in the church, on set days ; now, the Sun- 
 day schools have banished the catechism, with what good result 
 remains to be seen. Missions to the heathen are a modern insti- 
 tution, now beginning to show good fruit. Then, there were no 
 bishops in the land ; now, the three great Episcopal churches, the 
 English, the Eoman, and the Methodist, number one hundred 
 and thirteen archbishops and bishops in the United States. The 
 first Methodist conference was held at Philadelphia, in June, 1773. 
 It was attended by ten members, among whom was Asbury, after- 
 wards bishop. Its total membership reported was eleven hundred 
 and sixty. In 1869, this church numbered nine bishops, one hun- 
 dred conferences, twenty thousand presiding elders, district and 
 local preachers, and a membership of one million five hundred 
 thousand. Bishop White, the first bishop of the English Church, 
 was consecrated in 1787 ; now that church has a house of bishops 
 numbering fifty-two. The first bishop of the Eoman Catholic Church 
 was consecrated at Baltimore in 1790 ; now that church has seven 
 archbishops and forty-five bishops. 
 
 The Universalist and Unitarian denominations were not known 
 one hundred years ago, in this country, even by name. 
 
 During the one hundred years just closed this town has passed 
 through three periods of actual war. The clouds which foreshad- 
 owed the first were gathering and threatening in the horizon at 
 the very time when our forefathers met at their first town meeting. 
 Their records soon show that they were expecting and preparing 
 for the conflict, and when war actually came they were ready to 
 meet it. Capt. Benjamin Mann, with his company, marched to 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 39 
 
 Cambridge, and joined the patriot army, and took part in the bat- 
 tle of Bunker Hill, in which one of his company, Joseph Blood, is 
 known to have been killed, and one other, Ebenezer Blood, Jr., 
 was probably killed, as he was never heard of after that day. His 
 name is not found on the roll of the company. Undoubtedly he 
 joined it only, on the time of the battle, as a volunteer. The evi- 
 dence of his service and fall in the fight rests only on tradition ; 
 but that has been uniform and uncontradicted. I mention it as a 
 remarkable fact that a sister of this soldier, Mrs. Naomi Nutting, 
 at the age of ninety-six years, hale and hearty, is present with 
 us at this meeting in the full enjoyment of her faculties.* In the 
 " History of Mason," to which I have referred, will be found the 
 names of ninety-one inhabitants of the town who served in the ar- 
 my or navy in the war of the Eevolution, most of them on behalf of 
 the town, but some for other towns or places. The number of in- 
 habitants of the town was about five hundred ; so that nearly one 
 in five of all the inhabitants of the town, including men, women, 
 and children, old and young, took part in the strife of the battle- 
 fields. It is impossible to make out, with any satisfactory certainty, 
 the amount of pecuniary burdens borne by our fathers in that war. 
 That their energies and means were taxed to the utmost is appar- 
 ent, and that the demands upon them were promptly met is also 
 shown by their records ; but the fact that all the sums paid and 
 burdens borne are not fully recorded, and the more important fact, 
 that after the year 1777 the currency was continually depreciating, 
 render it hardly possible now to ascertain what was the true 
 value of the sums assessed and paid as taxes. Very many inter- 
 esting facts and details in relation to these matters will be found 
 in the history referred to. In this war the town was united in the 
 prosecution of the contest. There was but one tory in the town, 
 and he was soon driven away. His property was confiscated, and 
 his land sold by the authorities of the State, and he ended his days 
 in Groton, his native place, in poverty and wretchedness. No 
 State in the Union was so thoroughly loyal to the patriot cause, 
 and so free from toryism, in those days, as the State of New 
 Hampshire, and no town in the State was more patriotic and unani- 
 mous in prosecuting the war to the end than the town of Mason. 
 
 * Mrs. Nutting here came forward on the stage, and was received with 
 hearty cheers. 
 
40 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 In the war of 1812, a very different state of feeling existed in 
 the town. Many thought the war was needless, and that it was 
 brought on not by any worthy cause, but by party management. 
 The politics of the town, as indicated by the choice of representa- 
 tives in the years 1811, 12, 13, 14, and 15, showing a change from 
 one party to the other, each successive year prove that the par- 
 ties were very evenly balanced. The only call for soldiers from 
 the town was made by the Governor, for the defence of Ports- 
 mouth. The names of eleven persons who volunteered, or were 
 drafted for this service,, appear on page 141 of the History of Ma- 
 son. In the report of the Adjutant-General, published in 1868, 
 the names of fourteen persons are inserted as having been in the 
 service from the town of Mason. The names of those in the last 
 list, and not in the first, are Jason Dunster, Jr., Ensign in Cap- 
 tain Putnam's company ; William Foster, " absent, sick." In Cap- 
 tain Gregg's company, Timothy Darling, Zebulon Jefts, Isaiah 
 Eobbins, Shebuel Shattuck, and J^oses Bucknam. Some of these 
 served as substitutes for those who volunteered or were drafted. 
 To these should be added the name of Ebenezer Gilman, who 
 served in the campaign, but whose name appears in the list for 
 Brookline, as substitute for Samuel Glines, of Brookline. 
 
 The war of the Rebellion found much less unanimity of senti- 
 ment among the people of the town than that of the Eevolution, 
 but still a very decided majority was in favor of supporting the 
 " old flag ; " and in this majority was to be reckoned a large num- 
 ber of the Democratic party. The purpose to make the burdens 
 and expenses of the military service a common charge upon the 
 town was very generally resolved upon and acquiesced in. In the 
 Appendix will be found a list of those who served in that war, 
 either as volunteers or drafted men, or who procured substi- 
 tutes or paid commutation. The whole number is one hundred and 
 twenty-one. The amount of money paid by the town for bounties, 
 and hiring soldiers, and other expenses of that war, is twenty-six 
 thousand four hundred and seventy-four dollars and forty-four cents, 
 as follows : — 
 
 Bounties, etc., . . $25,675.18 
 Expenses, . . 799.26 
 
 $26,474.44 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 41 
 
 I here present a few sketches or pictures of scenes which were 
 often to be witnessed here many years ago, the recollection of 
 which now rests only in the memory of a few of the aged among 
 us, who must soon join the great company of the departed, and 
 leave none behind them to tell these stories of the past. 
 
 And first, a Sunday, such as was then often seen. It is a morn" 
 ing of balmy June. Everything is fresh and green. Every tree is 
 in full leaf. Native flowers are blooming all around, and all the 
 birds are singing in chorus full of joy. The old meeting-house on 
 the hill, neatly and deftly swept by the careful hands of Dr. Bar- 
 ber's daughters, stands cool and comfortable, doors and windows 
 open, filled with sweet and refreshing odors, promising peace and 
 quiet, inviting all to enter. In all directions, the roads and the 
 by-paths across the fields and pastures are alive with men and 
 women, youths and maidens, dressed in their plain and homely 
 Sunday's best, humble, grave, and peaceful, approaching the sanc- 
 tuary. Some are on horseback, often man, woman, and child upon 
 the same steed, but most on foot. Colonel Wood winds up the 
 hill, himself and wife in chaise, and his one-horse wagon full to 
 overflowing with his woman-kind, and the rest of his numerous 
 family following on horseback or on foot. Here comes Lieutenant 
 Obadiah Parker, on foot, cane in hand, his ample waistcoat and 
 shirt-bosom open to the breeze, and his coat hanging over his arm. 
 From the same quarter and on the same road, come families of 
 worshippers by the names of Manning, Boynton, Wheeler, Ams- 
 den, Parker, Robins, Jeffcs, Searles, Merriam, Whipple, Warren, 
 Davis, Barrett, Snow. From another road, come, by names of 
 Whitaker, Flagg, Fay, Lawrence, Woods, Hodgman, Shattuck, Far- 
 well, Weston, Barrett, Hosmer, Davis, Wheelock, a long proces- 
 sion. From the south, on another road, by the naines of Wilson, 
 Winship, Swallow, Brown, Blood, Barrett, Smith, Robbins, Web- 
 ber. From the east, of Davis, Tarbell, Russell, Smith, Blood, Bar- 
 rett, Hill, Elliott, Flagg, Scripture, Gilman, Withington, Hunt, 
 Herrick, Withee, Kemp. From the north, of Buss, Tufts, Blood, 
 Elliott, Russell, Williams, Shed, Bucknam, Barrett, Boynton, 
 Brown, Baldwin, Eaton, Gray, and John Pratt walking alone in the 
 middle of the road, talking to himself, his wife following about four 
 rods behind him, in the same footsteps. From another branch 
 come families by the name of Merriam, Holden, Bachelder, Rob- 
 6 
 
42 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 bins, Hall, Sanders, Blood, Nutting, Bullard, Fish, Williams, Towns- 
 end, Richardson. On the village road, come Mann, Ames, Ken- 
 dall, Blodgett, Hill, Darling, Felton, Dunster, Adams, Chickering, 
 Newell, and a troop more from the village,* led on by Deacon 
 Dakin. All are prompt and intent to be in season. The cavalry 
 have dismounted and stabled their steeds in the horse-sheds, and 
 the crowds of foot and horse men stand collected about the door, 
 waiting the coming of the pastor. And now he appears, advanc- 
 ing with grave and reverent steps, bearing under his arm a small 
 8vo Bible, printed in Edinburgh, with the imprimatur, or rather 
 preface, of King James, in which is folded his sermon, fully written 
 out, in short hand of his own invention, very neatly in a little book, 
 the pages of which are in size about six by four inches.f As he ap- 
 proaches, the crowd opens for him to pass, each greeting him as he 
 goes by, and in his hand are placed the notes to be read, asking 
 prayers, some for those in sickness and affliction, and others of 
 thanksgiving for restored health and for mercies received. J With 
 humble mien he enters the sanctuary, and ascends the pulpit stairs. 
 
 * Then called the Harbor. A word of explanation of this term may no 
 be deemed out of place. In the early settlement of the country, towns 
 were laid out upon the sea- coast, on which in many of them there was a 
 hay, cove, or mouth of a river, used as a harbor for vessels. The meeting- 
 house, where town meetings were held and public business transacted, was 
 at the centre of the town, but it often happened that the "Harbor" was 
 the principal If not the only mart of trade in the place. And when, in an 
 inland town, a locality on its border became the principal mart of trade, it 
 was known by the same name of Harbor, as Mason Harbor, Townsend 
 Harbor, Dunstable Harbor. Of these, Townsend Harbor, a station on the 
 Shirley and Peterborough Railroad, is the only one now generally known 
 by that name in this vicinity. 
 
 t The engraving here inserted is a fac-simile of a page of one of these 
 sermons. 
 
 t These notes for prayer, though presented with the utmost simplicity 
 and sincerity, sometimes contained ideas irresistibly ludicrous. An in- 
 stance is the following, given me by an esteemed friend : A friend, a cler- 
 gyman of the neighborhood, handed to me a note, which had the Sunday 
 before been put into his hands, in a pulpit, as a matter to be prayed for in 
 the regular service of a congregation not far in the interior, as follows 
 — it was, perhaps, forty years ago : — 
 
 " Josiah and wife gratefully acknowledge the death of a sister-in 
 
 law to be for their good. He also asks your prayers for further needed 
 mercies — his wife being sick." 
 
ADDRESS BT JOHN B. HILL. 43 
 
 All immediately enter and take their seats, and the house is filled 
 with an audience of devout and humble worshippers, more in num- 
 ber than, as I judge, there now assemble in the four congre- 
 gations which now meet for worship in the town. As soon as quiet 
 is restored from the noise of entering footsteps, the town clerk, 
 John Blodgett, rises in his seat, in his pew in the front gallery, 
 and cries or publishes the intentions of marriage of such as have 
 desired him so to do. After invocation, the pastor reads from the 
 sacred volume, and then gives out and reads the psalm or hymn. 
 On this occasion let it be the sixty-third psalm of Watts : " Early, 
 my God, without delay," etc. Benjamin Kendall, the leader, or 
 quirister as he was called, names the tune ; the choir rise ; he gives 
 a toot on his pitch-pipe, and off they go with that fine old fuguing 
 tune, Montgomery. This is what is called a double tune, requir- 
 ing two verses to fill the music. The second verse, — 
 
 " So pilgrims on tlie scorching sand, 
 Beneatli a burning sky, 
 Long for a cooling stream at hand, 
 OFor they must drink or die," 
 
 embraced the fuguing part, which was upon the words, " Long for a 
 cooling (repeated ihree times) stream at hand." These words, in 
 the broad pronunciation of that day, sounded in my childhood's 
 ears. Long Father Cooling, and suggested to my inexperienced 
 mind that the Pilgrims were calling upon some tall old gentleman 
 by the name of Cooling, to show them the way to the water. The 
 singing closed, the notes asking for prayers were then read, and the 
 prayer followed. It was a sincere outpouring of the heart, in the 
 spirit of devotion. There was no long statement of what God had 
 done, or ought to do ; no long story told to the Deity of what had 
 happened ; no elaborate setting forth of doctrinal points, nor a ser- 
 mon or dissertation under the guise of a prayer. The case of all 
 who had asked prayers was presented with petitions or thanksgiv- 
 ings appropriate to each one. 
 
 The prayer ended, the second singing followed, for which the 
 one hundred and twenty-first psalm of Watts is given out, and the 
 tune, is another charming fugue found in the old books, — under the 
 name of Delight, to which the words of the third and fourth verses 
 are peculiarly well fitted and appropriate : — 
 
44 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 " No burning heats by day, " Hast thou not given thy word, 
 
 Nor blasts of evening air. To save my soul from death? 
 
 Shall take my health away. And I can trust my Lord 
 
 If God be with me there : To keep my mortal breath. 
 
 Thou art my sun, I'll go and come. 
 
 And thou my shade, Nor fear to die, 
 
 To guard my head Till from ou high 
 
 By night or noon. Thou call me home." 
 
 Then followed the sermon, the text selected for which was always 
 one that had a meaning, and presented a message, or called for «i 
 duty, suitable to the people and the times. The sermon was an ex- 
 position of the text ; in that respect difiering from many which we 
 hear in these days, in which it is difHcult to trace any connection 
 between them.* Sometimes, perhaps, with reason, we thought the 
 sermon long. The sermon ended, a short prayer and benediction 
 followed with the final amen, at which signal, as at a vrord of com- 
 mand, down fall all the seats with a bang, that, through the open 
 doors and windows in a clear day, might be heard nearly half a 
 mile off. The pews were furnished with seats hung on hinges, 
 which were turned up when the congregation rose and stood up for 
 prayer, the irreverent mode of sitting bolt-upright during the exer- 
 cise not yet having been introduced. Then there was a rush from 
 the galleries and the porches by those whose exit was by those 
 doors ; but those in the body of the house, who were to go out at 
 the front door, stood, the patriarch of the household at the open 
 pew-door, hat in hand, till the pastor descended the pulpit-stairs, 
 and approached and passed the pew-door ; then each pew, in order, 
 poured out its occupants to follow his footsteps. Thus ended the 
 forenoon services. Those of the afternoon were so nearly a repe- 
 tition of the same order of proceedings that they need not be re- 
 hearsed. 
 
 Nothing brought the pastor so near to his people as the sad ser- 
 vice for the burial of the dead. The dead is prepared for the 
 grave ; the mourners are assembled, and sympathizing neighbors 
 and friends are gathered at and around the desolated dwelling. 
 Solemn as the scenes around him is the pastor's countenance ; full 
 of sympathy with the alHicted is the tone of his voice ; full of con- 
 solation and hopefulness, or of sadness and warning, are his words, 
 as the occasion permitted or required. A tender and affectionate 
 address is made, suited to the condition of the afflicted family and 
 
ADDEESS BT JOHN B. HILL. 45 
 
 the circumstances of the case. "When the funeral services were 
 closed, and preparation were making to move to the grave, that 
 fiend, who does more than half the mischief that is done in the 
 world, is seen to step in. It was understood and believed in those 
 days that rum was a friend. His aid was invoked on all occasions. 
 He might be misused, and then matters would go wrong. Mistake 
 or over-doing was the ready excuse, and thus this simple people 
 permitted an " enemy to steal away their brains." Oh all funeral 
 occasions toddy must be mixed and administered to all the mourn- 
 ers and to all their gathered friends ; but especial provision in that 
 line must be made for the bearers. There was no hearse in those 
 days, and the bearers were literally such. They lifted the bier 
 upon which the coffin was laid upon their shoulders, and bore it in 
 that manner, even from the most remote habitation in the hamlet, 
 to the grave-yard. To strengthen themselves for this sad task they 
 must take a strong drink, and sometimes, I almost dread to say, it 
 proved too strong. Then, mostly on foot, the funeral train would 
 slowly wind its way over the hills and along the valleys, with deep 
 and solemn silence, till the grave was reached ; and even then no 
 word was uttered, — the dead was silently laid in his last resting- 
 place, and the mournful train turned away sadly to retrace their 
 steps to the desolated home. 
 
 The annual Thanksgiving was then the one great festival 
 of the year. It had not been intruded upon in the slightest de- 
 gree by Christmas. That was then hardly known by name, and 
 was observed only by here and there a rare sample of what were 
 thought by themselves, and a few others, to be tip-top gentry. 
 Thanksgiving came at a season when the labors of the year were 
 over. The barns, garners, cellars, and larders were filled with the 
 abundance of the year, and a season of leisure was presented be- 
 tween the close of the summer and autumn labor and the com- 
 mencement of winter worli, which our fathers thought it worth 
 while heartily to enjoy. The day was to be the great feast-day of 
 the year, and the preparations therefor generally began about a 
 week in advance of the day. Then there was a great slaughter of 
 beeves, porkers, geese, turkeys, and other fowls; but the great 
 business in-doors of the week preceding was the making of pies, 
 which were made and piled up in pyramids and stacks, — especially 
 of mince pies, — enough to last all winter. Another important prep- 
 
46 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 aration for the festival devolved upon the singing-choir. A meet- 
 ing was called, at which an anthem was selected, to be performed 
 as a part of the public worship of the day. It was one of the old- 
 fashioned solid pieces, in which full scope could be given to all the 
 musical talent of the body, and to which the utmost latitude was 
 given for all the noise the singing gallery could make, and in 
 which there would be no danger of overdoing. Sundry meetings 
 were held for practice, so that every one should be ready and 
 prompt in his part. These meetings were held in the evenings, 
 which were generally bright with moonlight, and were much en- 
 joyed by the young folks, offering fine opportunities for flirtings, 
 often ending in serious courtships, to be followed up in the next 
 year's crop of weddings. 
 
 The day comes. The labor of preparing the dinner calls for the 
 services of so many of the women that the audience to listen to 
 the pastor's discourse is mostly composed of men. In the dis- 
 course is given a general review of the interesting incidents in the 
 history of the town for the past year, stating in particular the num- 
 ber of marriages and of deaths within the period. The sermon 
 ended, the anthem sung, and the meeting dismissed, all hurry 
 home ; but on the way many of the " grave and reverend seigniors," 
 with hasty steps, enter into the tavern bar-room to take their modi- 
 cum of that king of all tipples, flip. They find the landlord ready 
 with his pots of beer at hand, a lively fire glowing with coals on his 
 ample hearth, in which lies a row of loggerheads, heated to redness, 
 with which to give the mixture of beer, rum, and sugar its proper 
 cooking. Arrived at home, then follows the dinner, to which all 
 the members of the family, old and young, near and distant, that 
 can be assembled, are gathered. 
 
 The table is broadly spread, and on it are placed roast beef, 
 spare-rib, roast turkey, geese, and chickens, and a bountiful sup- 
 ply of boiled meats, chickens, and vegetables is heaped upon huge 
 pewter platters. The enormous brick oven turns out its store of 
 pies and cakes and puddings, — Indian puddings, plum puddings, 
 and rice puddings, — puddings that are puddings ; that when 
 turned out of the pots will stand up and face the company, retain- 
 ing their shape till demolished by the consumers, and not, as is the 
 fashion with puddings in these degenerate days, fall fiat and squat 
 upon the dish, and spread themselves to little purpose. A relay of 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 47 
 
 * 
 
 pies, of all sorts aud sizes, is ready at hand to fill up any gaps that 
 may possibly be found in the array of viands. 
 
 But some may ask. Why a,\\ this profusion and waste? I an- 
 swer, there was no waste, for at that season of the year the cold 
 weather, which had free access to the open, airy pantries of our 
 fathers, would preserve all that was left of the feast till there 
 was ample time to put it all to use. Besides, man}' a poor widow's 
 heart was cheered with a portion of the remains, that was highly 
 acceptable to the mouths of her hungry children. 
 
 The evening of the day was spent in merry-making by the young 
 people, and by the elders in social chats in family gatherings at 
 neighboring houses. 
 
 There was one other custom of those days, which will never be 
 seen again in this place, the recollection of which will soon pass 
 away with the demise of a few of the aged among us. It was the 
 annual wood-hauling to supply the pastor's wood-pile for the year. 
 On a day agreed upon and arranged by themselves, about Christ- 
 mas or New Year's, the farmers and their sons, with axes, teams and 
 sleds, at an early hour of the day, made their way into his wood- 
 lot. Soon was heard the crash of the fall of huge trees yielding 
 to the sturdy blows of the axe-men. These were speedily cut into 
 sled'lengths, and loaded upon the sleds, and a long procession of 
 teams started for the house. These teams were kept going and 
 returning till nightfall, piling at his doors a heap like a mountain, 
 enough to supply the roaring fires of the large open fire-place, the 
 other fires, and the big oven, called into requisition once or twice 
 a week, for the full year. In the mean time, early in the forenoon, 
 could be seen another procession, tending towards the house, com- 
 posed of the grandfathers and the more elderly fathers of the par- 
 ish, with their wives and daughters, and some precious old maids^ 
 in sleighs, bringing with them, some, nice roasters of beef, others, 
 legs and hams of pork, chickens, turkeys, and geese, all ready for 
 the spit. After greetings, the men took charge of the fires, or 
 joined their neighbors in the woods ; the women donned their 
 checked aprons, and the work of preparation for the feast com- 
 menced. Roaring fires were built on the hearth and in the oven, 
 and busy fingers were at work on puddings and pies, the huge iron 
 pot was swung upon the crane, filled to repletion with articles to 
 be boiled, and the roastings were arranged with proper appara- 
 
48 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 tus about the fires ; and by the time that the weary wood-choppers 
 and the weary teams and teamsters came up, about sunset, the 
 tables were spread, and a feast was prepared which even an epi- 
 cure might enjoy, and while the oxen took their lunch of sweet 
 hay from the pastor's mow, the men taking first a hearty drink of 
 flip, after " a grace as lang's my arm," " the feast ate merrily, 
 merrily ; " which ended, all wended their several ways home with the 
 heart-cheering reflection that they had done a good deed. 
 
 Thus far we have been looking at the century that is past. 
 Let us turn our thoughts for a brief space to that which is before 
 us, upon which we have just now entered. To set forth what has 
 been is the province of the historian. He often finds it diflicult to 
 discover and state, with truth and certainty, the facts that have 
 taken place, in their proper light and bearing. To predict the 
 future belongs to the prophet. His task is more difficult still, if 
 he is left to depend on human appliances and means alone. I am 
 not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, and I shall not attempt to 
 lift the veil of the future, and show you a picture of what is to 
 come ; but I may hazard a few conjectures as to what may take 
 place within the next one hundred years, with the more freedom, 
 since I may rest assured, that if, at the next centennial celebration 
 it shall" appear that my conjectures are mere empty dreams, I shall 
 not be there to hear reproach for my presumption, or to feel 
 mortification for the failure of my predictions. 
 
 The century commenced when the English settlements in what is 
 now the United States extended along the Atlantic coast from the 
 mouth of the Penobscot Eiver to the southern limits of Georgia, — 
 thinly scattered colonies, reaching back from the coast into the 
 country scarcely one hundred miles. The population of all the 
 •colonies was at that time less than two million five hundred 
 thousand, about half of what is probably now that of the State of 
 New York. The population of New Hampshire was about flfty- 
 .two thousand seven hundred ; that of this town two hundred and 
 seventy-eight. Those feeble, disconnected colonies depended on 
 a government three thousand miles away. The French, at an 
 early period, had possession of Canada and of all the country east 
 of Maine. They had extended their posts along the lakes and 
 down the Mississippi to its mouth, thus completely encircling the 
 colonies, and cutting them ofi' from any considerable extension 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 49 
 
 of their western limits. Although by the peace of 1763 these 
 barriers were removed, no progress had been made in 1768 in 
 pushing our settlements beyond the Ohio. Now the century 
 closes upon a united people, in number between thirty-five and 
 forty millions, masters of themselves and of a territory extending 
 upon the Atlantic coast from New Brunswick to Mexico, reaching 
 across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, and upon that 
 ocean from the southern limits of California, exceptipg a fragment 
 of British territory interposed, to the North Pole. What more 
 probable than that the coming century will see our dominion 
 embracing the whole continent of North America, with the adjacent 
 islands, and our people not only masters of themselves, but, for all 
 practical purposes, masters of the world? Public and private 
 virtue, coupled with intelligence, will insure prosperity and 
 national unity, and if these remain, our flag will wave over the 
 continent and float over both oceans, and there will be no power 
 with which, in a just cause, we may not readily cope. With a 
 population of one hundred and fifty millions, more likely two 
 hundred millions ; with naval armaments upon both the Atlantic 
 and Pacific Oceans, each a match for the united navies of the 
 world, — nothing in the nature of things can prevent the consumma- 
 tion of national greatness which I have indicated. But there is loom- 
 ing up in prospect the frightful image of corruption, in public 
 servants, in legislative halls, in judicial stations, in the popular 
 elections, and in the administration of municipal. State, and 
 national oflScers, which, unless speedily checked and removed, 
 threatens the destruction of public integrity, liberty, and law. 
 When these are gone, the body politic must waste as if consumed 
 by an internal cancer, which certainly and surely will eat out and 
 destroy the national life. But it is not in numbers alone that 
 national greatness consists ; we must ask not only how many they 
 are, but what can they do ? The state of mind, sluggish or active, 
 limits national power. In this respect great and wonderful have 
 been the results of inventive genius in the past century in this 
 country, in its appliances to all the walks of life, and there are no 
 signs of its exhaustion or running dry.* Who one hundred years 
 
 * The business of tlie Patent Office is the criterion of the activity of the 
 inventive mind. Its wonderful increase in this country is shown by the 
 7 
 
50 CENTENNIAl CELEBRATION. 
 
 ago could have foretold the invention of the spinning-jenny, 
 invented in 1769, the power-loom, the machinery for the manu- 
 facturing of cotton and woollen goods, the application of steam to 
 work such machinery, the cotton-gin, the mowing, reaping, and 
 threshing machines, without which it would now be impossible to 
 reap our fields and prepare our harvests for market ; iron ships, 
 driven by steam, without the aid and against the force of wind and 
 tide; railroads which bind continents together ; telegraphs which 
 annihilate time and space ; stereotype printing and cylinder 
 presses, vrhich render the issuing from one office half a million of 
 newspapers every week, a task easily accomplished ; monitors to 
 protect our harbors ; sewing-machines ; gang-saws which take in a 
 whole tree, it may be one hundred feet long, and at one going 
 through cuts it up bodily, and at once into boards ; and although 
 small matters in appearance, not least in usefulness, because of 
 universal use, friction matches and shoe-pegs, made by the 
 million and by the bushel. All these tend to relieve the human 
 muscle from the yoke of labor, and to add to the comfort and 
 convenience of domestic life. Inventions and discoveries, as 
 wonderful and important as any of these, maybe, and undoubtedly 
 will be, the gains and glories of the coming century. Two 
 important factors in the solution of the problem of the future will 
 be associated capital in the form of railroads, manufacturing 
 corporations, and banks ; and associated poverty and labor in the 
 form of co-operative societies. Here I may remark, that our town 
 has the honor of having been the birthplace of two men, who, by 
 their inventive genius and skill in adapting it to manufacturing 
 purposes, have obtained a world-wide celebrity. Jonas Chickering, 
 who established the house of Chickering & Sons, whose pianos are 
 known, wherever in, or even out of, Christendom there is any 
 music, was a native of this town; and Walter A. Wood, the 
 founder of the house of Walter A. Wood & Co., whose mowing- 
 machines totally and entirely distanced all competitors at the 
 great Paris Exposition, was born in this town. The fathers of 
 each, Abner Chickering and Aaron Wood, were blacksmiths, and 
 were patterns of industry in hammering at the anvil. 
 
 statement, that in 1847 the number of patents issued was five hundred and 
 seventy-two ; in 1869, thirteen thousand nine hundred and eighty-six. 
 
ADDRESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 51 
 
 But let US look, for a few moments, at matters that more 
 immediately concern us all. Many think that New England has 
 seen its best days, and that signs of decadence, speedily to be 
 manifested, are discernible. I am not of that number. The 
 activity, energy, enterprise, and intelligence of her people forbid 
 such a result. All history shows that a people dwelling upon the 
 sea-board, in a tempferate climate, have always been able to hold 
 their own against the competition of dwellers inland. Of the 
 continued manufacturing and commercial prosperity of N^w 
 England none but croakers doubt. But the alarm is sounded by 
 those, who, upon a hasty survey, have pronounced its agricultural 
 prosperity not alone to be waning, but gone. This conclusion seems 
 to me hasty, if confined to the present time, and utterly false as a 
 prediction of the future. There never was a time when a greater 
 amount of what is used for the sustenance of men, and of 
 marketable articles, was produced in this town than at present. 
 The fields of skilful cultivators show no signs of exhaustion, and 
 the number of such is every year increasing. The agricultural 
 press is doing a great work in stimulating and encouraging 
 efibrts in this direction. There is not a farm in town that has not 
 on it one acre at least, and many have more than one, which 
 produces a crop as remunerating to the owner as an average acre 
 of the boasted prairie country. On all these farms such acres can 
 be increased, — in most cases largely increased, — and the coming 
 century will see the number of such acres multiplied to an extent 
 which would now be pronounced incredible. In this connection, it 
 is worth while to mention that quarries of granite have recently 
 been open and worked in this town, lying contiguous to the 
 railroad, which are said to be not surpassed in quality by any in 
 New England, and to be inexhaustible in quantity, promising in 
 the future abundant employment at remunerating prices. There 
 is much territory which is apparently exhausted, and on which 
 cultivation should not be attempted ; but this land is far from 
 being useless or worthless. About one third of our land, including 
 that just described, should be devoted to wood. All the hill-tops 
 and hill-sides which are too rough for cultivation, and on which 
 the cattle find but scanty herbage, should be given up to the 
 forest. I have travelled in many 'States, and have had many 
 opportunities of observation and knowledge in that line, and can 
 
52 CENTENNIAI. CELEBRATION. 
 
 say that in no part of our country does the forest assert its right 
 to live, with so persistent and determined a vigor, as upon our 
 hills. It cannot be subdued. Horace says, that " if you drive 
 out nature with a fork, it will come back in spite of you." 
 
 The axe, the fire, and the plough will not subdue our forests with- 
 out the most continued efforts. Let us, then, follow the plain in- 
 dications of nature, and permit the forests to clothe all our rocky 
 hill-sides. Such lands, now growing up to young wood, with 
 pjoper usage will yield a constant revenue, equal to that reaped 
 from most of the other acres of the farm, and at the same time 
 will increase in value at a ratio that would be satisfactory to 
 the most greedy money-lender. This course pursued will be at- 
 tended with another great and blessed result. It will not only 
 preserve our wasted and waning rivers and streams, but in time 
 restore them, in a good degree, to their original and native vol- 
 ume, and will aid much, with other proper efforts in that direction, 
 to re-stock our rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes, with the fish, 
 salmon, shad, and alewives, that before the dams were built, and 
 the forests swept away, were so abundant in all our waters. 
 
 Upon the topic of the agricultural future of New England, I 
 could say much ; but want of time will not permit me to enlarge. 
 I will, however, state that, in the year 1856, there was published in 
 the " New England Farmer," a series of articles, written evidently 
 by a man of education and sound sense, in which the former and 
 present agricultural condition of England was compared, county 
 by county, every one of which was gone over and carefully exam- 
 ined ; and he expressed it to be his deliberate judgment that the 
 original agricultural capacity of England was not superior to that 
 of New England ; that one hundred years ago the condition of ag- 
 riculture in England was little, if in any degree, superior to that 
 of New England at the present day ; and he went on to show that 
 the present high and flourishing state of agriculture in England 
 was brought about and is wholly dependent upon the raising and 
 feeding of cattle, of course including sheep. With the introduc- 
 tion, or rather production, of better breeds of animals, and the 
 more common-sense and scientific modes of feeding and preparing 
 them for the market, the agricultural interest there began its pros- 
 perous career, which has gone on increasing to the present day. 
 The effect was produced by so feeding the cattle that, at eighteen 
 
ADDRESS BT JOHN B. HIIL. 53 
 
 months and two years old, they would weigh more and bring a 
 higher price in the market than under the old system they would 
 weigh and produce at the age of five and six years, so that in fact 
 the expense of keeping the cattle two or three years was saved to 
 the owner. Again, the new mode of feeding added vastly to the 
 quantity and value of the manure, which is to the farmer what his 
 cash capital is to the merchant. 
 
 " When a heavy stock is kept on any farm, and fed in a thor- 
 oughly liberal way, with the very best of everything, the immense 
 quantity of rich manure will feed the land in a corresponding way, 
 and bring the whole farm into such a high condition that double 
 and triple crops can be grown. Thus the profits will go on in- 
 creasing. . . . Any man having cattle, and being afraid to feed 
 them, had best give up agricultural pursuits at once. . . . High 
 feeding is of the utmost importance, to the live stock and to the 
 land ; and any one, no matter who, having too faint a heart to carry 
 out the programme, must succumb and end his career in disap- 
 pointment."* 
 
 In England, by the improved agriculture above referred to, the 
 average crop of wheat has been increased from about eight bushels 
 to nearly forty bushels to the acre, and about the same ratio of in- 
 crease will be found in most of the other productions of the soil. 
 Such crops are not produced without a liberal expenditure of means 
 to put the land into proper order, and of manures, and of cultiva- 
 tion for the crops. There is no State of New England in which 
 farms cannot be found managed with results as profitable to the 
 owners as the average of farms in England. All that is wanted to 
 bring the agriculture of New England up to the standard of that 
 of England is capital and skill, both of which the English farmers 
 possess in an eminent degree, and both of which our farmers, in 
 general, sadly lack. There is nothing in the climate or soil that 
 forbids suQcess. An acre of Indian corn, upon an acre of land as 
 well prepared for the crop as the English farmer prepares his for 
 wheat, will produce with us a crop as valuable as the English far- 
 mer's crop of wheat, and will cost no more in cultivation. 
 
 The great difference between the English and American farmer 
 is this : The American farmer expends his whole capital, and some- 
 
 * Country Gentleman. 
 
54 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 times runs deeply in debt, for the purchase of a farm, and has noth- 
 ing left in the way of means wherewith to carry it on successfully, 
 and consequently suffers great embarrassments for want of such 
 means, all of which renders his efforts, in a great measure, abor- 
 tive ; and yet some, by perseverance and good luck, will succeed 
 in this up-hill road. On the other hand, the English farmer buys 
 no land. He reserves all his capital to furnish means to carry on 
 his farm, for which he pays a rent to the owner, and depends on 
 the proceeds of the farm for means to pay the rents and add to his 
 capital; and in this mode, all, with few exceptions, succeed to 
 their heart's content. There is nowhere to be seen a more hearty, 
 cheerful, contented individual than the English farmer. Now, why 
 should not the same mode be practised in New England ? In every 
 New England State there are thousands of farms in good condition 
 as to lands, houses, farm-buildings, and situation, where schools, 
 churches, and roads are all ready for use, left in the hands of old 
 men whose sons have gone to seek employment in the cities, or to 
 the mines or prairies, who would be glad to rent their farms to good, 
 faithful men, for a share of the crops, or for a money rent. Why, 
 then, should not our young men adopt the English system, and use 
 their capital, not in buying land, but to famish the means to carry 
 on a farm to profit, for so many years that they shall be able to 
 buy and stock a good farm for themselves? " Earn more than you 
 spend, is a rule short and simple. It is hard for a young man to 
 follow it, but it leads to independence. Good judgment, industry, 
 economy, and perseverance are sure to end in wealth. The place 
 makes little difference. While many start for the great West, 
 others will not go out of the sound of the bells of the city, and 
 will make as much money from a patch that you can throw a stone 
 across, as a Pike's Peak colonist will on his square mile. There 
 is everything in the man, nothing in the chance; for the right kind 
 of man makes his own chance." * 
 
 It is often said of an unsuccessful farmer that he has too much 
 land. It is never said of a successful farmer. The true state of 
 the case is admirably set forth by Horace Greeley, in these words : 
 " He who has but fifty acres has too much if he lets part of his 
 land lie idle and unproductive, for lack of team or hands to till it 
 
 * New York Tribune. 
 
ADDEESS BY JOHN B. HILL. 55 
 
 efficiently ; while he who has a thousand acres has none too much, 
 if he has the means and talents wherewith to make the best of it 
 all." 
 
 Four hundred years ago, Holland was nothing but heaps of sand- 
 hills, thrown up by the booming of the waves of the North Sea, in 
 the midst of bogs, liable to the overflows of rivers and of the 
 ocean ; a more unpropitious spot and condition could not be found 
 on which to attempt to build up a flourishing community. To dan^ 
 out the ocean and the waters of the rivers was the only mode by 
 which the country could be made inhabitable. To do this, it was 
 necessary to bring from Norway whole forests of trees, and mil- 
 lions of tons of rocks, — no trees nor rocks being found within its 
 bounds fit for such purposes ; and yet the sluggish Dutch, as we 
 are sometimes ready to style them, made that unpropitious and in- 
 hospitable mud-bank the most flourishing agricultural country in 
 the world. And the foundation of its agricultural prosperity rests 
 wholly upon its herds of cattle. The richest and choicest beef and 
 butter and cheese go, in Dutch ships, to the London market, 
 from pastures actually lower than the surface of the ocean, and 
 from which the water is constantly pumped out by machinery, 
 moved by immense wind-mills.* 
 
 The inhabitants of Holland are stated to be . . 3,699,744: 
 
 Their cattle, including horses, sheep, and swine, . 3,523,307 
 
 The inhabitants of Mason number about . 2,000 
 
 Their cattle, horses, sheep, and swine, about 1,200 
 
 Let our people increase their cattle to the number of, say 1891, 
 which is near the Dutch standard, and feed them and care for them 
 
 * " In every branch of human industry, these republicans took the lead. 
 On that scrap of solid ground, rescued by human energy from the ocean, 
 were the most fertile pastures in the world. On those pastures grazed the 
 most famous cattle in the world. An ox often weighed more than two 
 thousand pounds. The cows produced two and three calves at a time, the 
 sheep four and five lambs. In a single village, four thousand kine were 
 counted. Butter and cheese were exported, to the annual value of a mil- 
 lion, and salted provisions to an incredible extent. The farmers were in- 
 dustrious, thriving, and independent. It is an amusing illustration of the 
 agricultural thrift and republican simplicity of this people, that, on one 
 occasion, a farmer proposed to Prince Maurice that he should marry his 
 daughter, promising her a dowry of one hundred thousand florins." — Mot- 
 ley, United Netherlands, Vol. iv., p. 652. 
 
56 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 as careflilly and skilfully as they feed and care for theirs, and the 
 agricultural wealth of the town will at once be increased more than 
 one hundred per cent. Not only so, but the ratio of increase will 
 be constantly advancing. The more cattle the more manure ; the 
 more manure the greater and better crops, and thus the land will 
 be enriched, and will enrich its owners. But without liberal feed- 
 ing, especially of young animals, no progress can be made. A calf 
 oannot be cheated out of a pint of milk. He keeps an accurate 
 account with you, and, at the end of the year, you will find your- 
 self charged in the balance-sheet with every scanty meal, and every 
 case of neglect and ill-usage with which he has been served. It 
 should be borne in mind that agriculture is by no means the sole 
 employment of the people of Holland. A large share of their en- 
 ergies is devoted to the business of commerce, manufactures, and 
 fisheries. The same is true of the people of New England. In 
 each a happy diversity of employments tends to individual well- 
 being and to national prosperity. 
 
 The ratio of neat or horned cattle in the United States, by the 
 census of each of the years 1840, 1850, and 1860, was eighty per 
 cent., not varying one per cent, from that number in either census ; 
 that is, there were eighty cattle for each one hundred people in the 
 United States. Of course some States had more and some less 
 than that number. That average would require the number of neat 
 cattle for this town to be about sixteen hundred. It is about seven 
 hundred and sixty-one. The Dutch average would require the 
 number, including horses, sheep, and swine, to be about eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-one. It is about twelve hundred and ninety. 
 Let it be increased to the standard of the census, or to the Dutch 
 standard in numbers, and to the Dutch or English standard in care 
 and feeding ; and with our facilities for marketing our agricultural 
 and horticultural productions, our prosperity is insured for all time. 
 Shall our next anniversary witness this result? Farmers, the an- 
 swer rests with you. 
 
 Note. — For many of the facts, and sometimes for the language in 
 which they are stated, I am indebted to the " History of New York City," 
 by William L. Stone. I take this mode of acknowledgment, rather than 
 to encumber the page with marks of quotation and foot-notes. 
 
POEM. 
 
 BY EEV. EDWIN K. HODGMAN. 
 
 Two ti-avelers o'er the Alpine cliffs, 
 
 Slow toiling up from height to height, 
 Through snow, wind-whirled, in massive drifts. 
 
 Surveyed with wonder and delight 
 The grandeur of the mountain-pass. 
 
 The poised and threatening avalanche, 
 The towering crags, the deep crevasse, 
 
 The rugged ice-wall, cold and stanch, 
 Till, through a vista stretching far. 
 
 In clear perspective 'gainst the sky, — 
 As when at night some brilliant star. 
 
 Through breaking clouds, bursts on the eye, — 
 They saw revealed a sight most rare : 
 
 Carved on the pure and virgin snow. 
 In profile wrought unique and fair. 
 
 With heavenward look as if to show 
 Whence all its grace and brightness flowed. 
 
 Appeared a perfect human face, 
 And there in mellow sunlight glowed. 
 
 No painter's hand hath skill to trace 
 A portrait so divinely sweet. 
 
 So nobly grand, so simply true. 
 In every feature all complete. 
 
 Beyond what mortal art can do. 
 'Twas woman's likeness, pure, refined. 
 
 Tender, contemplative, serene, — 
 A soul by Nature's hand enshrined, 
 
 A human face with angel's mien. 
 This beauteous form, the snow- wraith's child. 
 
 Rested in statue-like repose, 
 And seemed a spirit undefiled. 
 
 Pure as the bed from which it rose. 
 8 
 
58 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 Spellbound the travelers stood ; for speech 
 
 Is tame and worthless at such time 
 When the full soul essays to reach 
 
 A thing of beauty so sublime. 
 Then ope, an artist, strove to make 
 
 A picture of that face so rare, 
 To grasp its loveliness and take 
 
 True likeness of the snow-child there. 
 A hundred times his pencil drew 
 
 An image, yet so poor, so faint. 
 So all unlike the thing he knew, 
 
 That in despair, with woful plaint. 
 He dropped his work ; then sought again 
 
 To catch and trace the subtle line, 
 The look intent, — 'twas all in vain ; 
 
 The angel baifled his design. 
 There in mute ecstasy he stood ; 
 
 The ice-fields all around him gleamed, 
 The hoary peaks seemed praising God, 
 
 And over all a glory streamed. 
 But fii-st and chief in that glad hour. 
 
 Was that sweet face to heaven inclined. 
 Whose wondrous contour foiled his power, - 
 
 Soul of the sunshine and the wind ! 
 
 So to the gaze of every man 
 
 Whose heart a true ambition fires, 
 Whose life fulfils some noble plan. 
 
 And after truth and right aspires, 
 A vision comes of something grand. 
 
 And wakens every latent power. 
 The prize appears, and his own hand 
 
 Must grasp it as his lawful dower. 
 He climbs the mount and sees afar 
 
 The thing he longs for and must gain. 
 From this no toil, no fate shall bar ; 
 
 He feels the sti'ife in every vein. 
 And strife means action, sturdy, real ; 
 
 The aim is high, the motive strong, 
 And he must reach his own ideal. 
 
 But few, indeed, of all the throng 
 Of kingly souls who seek a crown. 
 
 Here find the glory they would win, 
 Here gain the coveted renown. 
 
 Or satisfy the thirst within. 
 
59 
 
 When this new world, the Occident, 
 
 Loomed up to men across the wave, 
 Then hither came, with just intent. 
 
 The good and true, the pure and brave. 
 They fled from stern oppression's rule. 
 
 From bigotry and tyranny, 
 From the mad rage of sect and school. 
 
 To be in these wild regions free, — 
 Free as the mountain breeze that wafts 
 
 The light and fleecy cloud along ; 
 Free as the limpid brook that laughs 
 
 And sings the winsome little song. 
 The old world cast them out with Tiate, 
 
 The new woi'ld took them in with love. 
 And here they built a Christian State, 
 
 With faith and hope in God above. 
 Hard was the labor, fierce the strife. 
 
 That with heroic valor brought 
 Our great Republic into life. 
 
 Our nation's glorious birthright bought 
 With price untold, — freedom to think. 
 To dare, and do. No cowards they 
 From toil or danger e'er to shrink ; 
 
 They kept their faith and won the day. 
 
 One hundred years ago, these hills 
 
 Responded to the piercing cry 
 Of wolf or wild-cat ; at these rills 
 
 Drank trembling fawns, so coy and shy ; 
 Forests with thick, umbrageous gloom 
 
 Spread far and wide ; wild fruits matured 
 LTnplucked by man ; the choice perfume 
 
 Of flowers no human foot allured ; 
 The hawk and raven built their nest 
 
 Unscared ; the timid fish, uncaught. 
 Swam the deep pools ; and nature, dressed 
 
 In pristine garb, with grace untaught. 
 Looked queenly in the eye of heaven. 
 
 Let fancy draw the picture then, 
 Since to her touch such skill is given : 
 
 Along each winding stream and glen, 
 Stretch groves of pale, deciduous trees ; 
 
 The slopes are crowned with evergreen ; 
 
60 CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 
 
 No woodman's axe hath humbled these ; 
 
 No Vandal's touch hath rnarred the scene. 
 The circling hills in order stand, 
 
 The crown is on Monadnoc's brow, 
 And, rippling over rook and sand. 
 
 Our gentle river floweth now 
 Untrammeled to the boundless sea. 
 
 Here is primeval solitude. 
 Behold, what sweet simplicity ! 
 
 See nature in her loveliest mood ! 
 
 Not from the court or council-hall 
 
 Not from the home of wealth and pride, 
 From titled ranks, or great, or small. 
 
 With greed of gain unsatisfied, 
 Came they who first a pathway cleared 
 
 Through the wide forest, thick and drear. 
 Built their rude cabins, and upreared 
 
 A house for Him whom all revere. 
 Strong, hardy men, with instincts true 
 
 Laid the foundations of the town ; 
 They kept a noble end in view, 
 
 And worked for Ood, not for renown. 
 
 Debtors to no man's lore or skill, 
 
 They bore the stress of constant toil ; 
 With patience and unoonquered will 
 
 They strove to make a stubborn soil 
 Pay tribute to Unwearying care. 
 
 Unlearned they were, uncouth and rough, 
 But men of faith and men of prayer ; 
 
 Men fashioned of the sternest stuff. 
 Were they not heroes, though their names 
 
 Are blazoned not on martial rolls .-' 
 True men, whose sterling virtue shames 
 
 The meanness of some modern souls P 
 
 Of Lawrence, Parker, Mann, and Hall, 
 Speak we to-day with reverence due ; 
 
 Of Barrett, Dakin, Elliott, all — 
 " They huilded better than they knew.'" 
 
POEM. 61 
 
 These and their compeers passed away ; 
 
 But on, with varying fortune, ran 
 The bright succession, till to-day 
 
 Our mother boasts a worthy clan 
 Of sons and daughters, native born, 
 
 Or else adopted, re-baptized, 
 Qodrgiven, her annals to adorn. 
 
 With fondness cherished, loved, and prized. 
 
 See where with faith and trust combined 
 
 She rears memorials of her dead : 
 Earth holds their dust with love enshrined. 
 
 But ihey are gone, — ah, whither fled ? 
 Can those we knew all, all unwept, 
 
 Unhonored or forgotten lie ? 
 O loved ones ! peacefully ye've slept 
 
 Since we, who saw you droop and die, 
 In our true hearts embalmed you, gave, 
 
 With pain and sorrow all unspoken, 
 Your flower-strown bodies to the grave. 
 
 And mourned the ties so rudely broken. 
 
 With filial love we turn again 
 
 To Nature's shrine and question her : 
 What treasures in your fair domain ? 
 
 What gift for lowly worshiper ? 
 Within your broad and teeming breast, 
 
 Hidden for ages all unknown, 
 What gems unquarried darkly rest? 
 
 What diamond or what precious stone ? 
 What rare and luscious fruits are found ? 
 
 What trees in strange luxuriance grow ? 
 Do myrrh and frankincense abound ? 
 
 Or milk and liquid honey flow ? 
 
 And this the answer she returns : 
 
 Not here doth endless summer reign ; 
 Nor here the orient splendor burns, 
 
 Nor heaven rains manna on the plain ; 
 Here are no mines of native gold, 
 
 No tropic fruits, no incense sweet ; 
 But meekly here the flowers unfold, 
 
 And spread their petals at your feet. 
 
62 CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION. 
 
 And hast thou these, O sylvau maid ? 
 
 What flowers here scent the morning hours, 
 And blush along the opening glade ? 
 
 Conduct us to your floral bowers, 
 And to our gladdened eyes disclose 
 
 These nurslings of the dew and sky. 
 
 Then she aside her mantle throws. 
 And in sweet words she makes reply : 
 
 Blushing mid the withered leaves. 
 Modest, peerless, little thing, 
 
 Lo ! the fragrant May-flower weaves 
 Chaplets for the brow of Spring. 
 
 Blooming in the sunny days, 
 Humbly trailing on the ground, 
 
 Coyly shrinking from our gaze, 
 Waiting to be sought, if found. 
 
 Next of all the floral train. 
 
 Comes the wind-flower's fragile form. 
 
 Gently nursed by sun and rain, 
 Growing in the covert warm. 
 
 In the valleys, on the knolls, 
 
 Smiling with a look serene. 
 The welcome violet unfolds, 
 
 Beauteous in its shape and mien : 
 
 Springing from the humid sod, 
 
 Silent as the dewy even, 
 Kaising its meek eye to God, 
 
 Tinted with the hues of heaven. 
 
 Sparkling on the water's breast, 
 Like a jewel bright and rare. 
 
 See the lily''s form at rest, 
 Purely white and strangely fair. 
 
 Nestling in the pine-tree's shade. 
 Catching summer's latest sighs. 
 
 In its bridal state aiTayed, 
 The sweet Linncea blooms and dies. 
 
POEM. 63 
 
 Fringing all the silvery streams, 
 
 First of all in splendor classed, 
 Here the princely Laurel gleams 
 
 With a beauty unsurpassed. 
 
 Thus my fingers deftly trace 
 Lessons with true wisdom fraught ; 
 
 Types I give of mental grace, 
 Grace of feeling, wealth of thought. 
 
 Pictures of the life refined. 
 
 Far above the reach of art ; 
 Symbols of the love enshrined 
 
 In a sweet and holy heart. 
 
 Come with me now to Barrett's Hill : 
 
 The ancient landmarks yet remain ; 
 River and brook are murmuring still ; 
 
 The wide horizon bounds the plain ; 
 The distant mountains, nude and dim. 
 
 In homage seem to bend, while earth 
 Chants forth her grateful morning hymn. 
 
 Each day repeated since her birth. 
 The dark and pathless woods are gone ; 
 
 The hills and vales with verdure teem ; 
 Smooth, shady roads sweep past the lawn ; 
 
 The vexed Souhegan's hurrying stream. 
 Caught and imprisoned, deigns to spin 
 
 Fabrics for human need; and, look! 
 With breath of fire and clanging din, 
 
 The iron steed through Rocky Brook 
 Rushes like demon mad with pain ! 
 
 In pastures free the cattle roam. 
 The green, glad fields stand thick with grain. 
 
 For man finds here a quiet home. 
 And hark ! within this hallowed grove 
 
 I hear a voice, loud, sweet, and strong, 
 Rehearse the story that we love. 
 
 And this the burden of the song : 
 
 God bless New England ! brave and free 
 Are they who till her rugged soil, 
 
64 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 Labor for them has dignity, 
 And Heaven repays their hardy toil. 
 
 I love the grave simplicity, 
 And staid demeanor of her sires ; 
 
 New England is the home for me, — 
 
 Whose name to generous deeds inspires. 
 
 God bless New England ! ever famed 
 
 For just regard to public good, 
 For equal laws to virtue framed, 
 
 For enterprise and hardihood ; 
 For science, piety, and zeal 
 
 In Freedom's holy cause, and love 
 Of home, none but the free can feel, — 
 
 New England homes all homes above .' 
 
 God bless New England ! every hill 
 
 And dale are sacred unto me ; 
 I love her snow-clad forests still, 
 
 And her loud ocean minstrelsy. 
 God bless New England ! 'tis my prayer 
 
 Breathed from my inmost soul on high ; 
 With love unchanged her fate I'll share, — 
 
 Here would Hive and here Fd die. 
 
CHRONICLES. 
 
 BY CHARLES E, HILL. 
 
 THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET HILL-KIAH, AS THEY ARE WRITTEN 
 IN THE BOOK OF SHAPHAN, THE SCRIBE. 
 
 8 Now Benjamin was a scribe, and wise 
 after Ms generation, and he rose up before 
 the people, and said, Ye men of Gibeah! 
 Do ye not dwell on high places, ajnd eat 
 of the increase of the fields ? For you the 
 hills are covered over with flocks, and the 
 valleys bring forth goodly grass, even 
 " blue jint and foul medder." 
 
 9 Ye can suck honey from the rock-ma- 
 ple and oil from the fat of oxen. Have ye 
 not butter of kine and milk of sheep, with 
 the fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of 
 Bashan, and goats, and potatoes,and oats ? 
 
 10 Do ye not drink of the juice of ap- 
 ples, when ye rise up, and of the pure 
 blood of rye, when, truly, ye fall down ? 
 
 11 Lo! are not your daughters skilful 
 to weave fine linen, and all manner of 
 woollen stuffs? Wherefore do ye spend 
 money for that which is not bread, and 
 buy spices and soft raiment of the stran- 
 ger, and tea, which maketh the tongue of 
 woman sharper than a two-edged sword, 
 and causeth the hand of the strong man to 
 tremble? 
 
 12 Come, now, let us make a covenant 
 together, that we will no more have traffic 
 with the King of the East, neither partake 
 of the merchandise of those that go down 
 to the sea in ships. And this saying 
 pleased the people, and they made a cove- 
 nant as he had said. 
 
 13 Now this was called the Non-impor- 
 tation Act and Agreement.* 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early settlement of America. Oppression of 
 the King of the East. Non-importation Act, 
 
 AND certain men came from a far-off 
 country in the Bast, and pitched their 
 tents in the wilderness of Barjathaaron, 
 ■which is, by interpretation, America, and 
 made their abode there with the owl of 
 the desert and the bears of the wilderness. 
 
 2 And they became exceeding fruitful, 
 and increased, and multiplied, and drave 
 out the ancient inhabitants of the land. 
 
 3 Their sons were men of great stature, 
 skilful in all manner of cunning work, and 
 their daughters were comely and fair to 
 look upon, sweeter than honey in the honey- 
 comb, and more to be desired than gold, 
 yea, than much fine gold. And they were 
 prospered, and became a mighty people. 
 
 4 And the King of the East sent among 
 them merchants, traders, and tax-gather- 
 ers, who greatly troubled the people,taking 
 away from him that hath, and not sparing 
 him that hath not. 
 
 5 Then the chief men and elders took 
 counsel together, and said among them- 
 selves: Shall a man reap where he hath 
 not sowed, or exact a grievous tax of him 
 who hath no vote ? As for us, we will not 
 have a king to rule over us, neither will 
 we pay tribute to him who is not Caesar, 
 nor bay merchandise of the men of the 
 East at a great price. 
 
 6 And the inhabitants of Barjathaaron 
 bought no more of the spices of the East, 
 nor silver, nor gold, nor of precious stones, 
 neither of green tea, nor black tea, but it 
 is written, They tasted of adversi-te. 
 
 7 For an alarm of war was heard through- 
 out the land. And it came to pass in Gribeah, 
 which, by interpretation, is called Mason, 
 that a certain man, named Benjamin Mann, 
 called together the inhabitants of the land 
 and spake unto them. 
 
 * See History ot 
 
 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The strong men of Gibeah go down to fight 
 against the hosts of the East. The people 
 fear lest their supply of salt fail them. 
 They send down to Salem to buy there- 
 from. 
 AND war raged throughout the land. 
 For the King of the East had sent his 
 Mason, p. 75. 
 
66 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 hosts, chosen men, apt for war, that they 
 might spoil the land in the length and 
 breadth thereof. 
 
 2 Then the children of the wilderness 
 ■ rose up, and girded themselves for bat- 
 tle, and among them were many from the 
 land of Gribeah, men of might, and men 
 of war, that could handle the shield and 
 buckler, whose faces were as the faces of 
 lions, and they were swift as roes upon the 
 mountains. 
 
 3 And they went down and fell upon 
 their enemies at Baal-zephor, which is, 
 by interpretation, Bunker Hill, and pre- 
 vailed against them, so that a great pile 
 of stones was set up, which stands in re- 
 membrance of their victory even unto this 
 day. 
 
 4 And it came to pass that the inhabi- 
 tants of Gibeah were in great tribulation, 
 and sighed for their flesh-pots and pork- 
 barrels. 
 
 5 For, said they, if our meat do lose its 
 savor, wherewith shall it be salted, for we 
 have no salt ? 
 
 6 Then lifted they up their voices and 
 wept; yea, they wept when they remem- 
 bered their brine-barrels. 
 
 7 Now there stood a sanctuary over up- 
 on the hill near the valley of dry-bones, 
 and the chief men and elders went up 
 thither and took counsel how they might 
 buy salt for the people. And in those 
 days men spake as though they were 
 moved by spirit. 
 
 8 Then the man Dakin, a deacon in the 
 land, whose surname was Amos, a ruler in 
 the synagogue, and a man whom the peo- 
 ple delighted to honor, lifted up his voice 
 and cried out : Doth the wild ass bray 
 when he hath grass, or loweth the ox over 
 his fodder ? 
 
 9 Can that which is unsavory be eaten 
 without salt, or is there any taste in the 
 white of an egg ? Verily, the things that 
 my soul refuseth to touch are my sorrow- 
 ful meat. My strength is departed from 
 me. 
 
 10 The flesh of swine I abominate, and 
 even baked beans cease to move me. 
 
 11 Lo! in Salem's towels there is salt 
 enough and to spare. Let us send thither 
 and buy for a fair price, lest, peradven- 
 ture, our young men eating of the un- 
 savory flesh of rams and conies of the 
 rocks, or coons of the hollow, shall see 
 evil visions, and our old men dream bad 
 dreams. ' 
 
 12 Then the elders answered Amos, and 
 said: How now can we go down and buy 
 salt, for silver and gold have we none, and 
 our rag-money vanisheth like dew on the 
 
 morning grass? Shall we go down like a 
 thief in the night, and bind the strong 
 men of Salem that we may take their salt? 
 
 13 And Araos answering, said, Go down; 
 for it is written: Provide neither silvor, 
 nor gold, nor brass for your purses, nor 
 scrip for your journey. 
 
 14 Go down, then, and when ye draw 
 nigh unto the men of Salem, say unto them : 
 Lo ! we are of thy brethren from the land 
 of Gibeah,which is upon the hill-tops over 
 beyond Raby. 
 
 15 And the marrow drieth up in our 
 bones, and our flesh wasteth away, because 
 we have no salt. Then shall they give us 
 of their salt, that we may live and not die. 
 
 16 Then the people gave a shout, and 
 cried out, It is the voice of a deacon. So 
 let us do. 
 
 17 And they chose Samuel, James, and 
 Silas, anij Obadiah, captains of the host, 
 and Enosh, and Aaron, and Stephen, sur- 
 named Lawrence.* And these yoked un- 
 milked kine to old carts, and went down 
 through the wilderness to Salem, and the 
 sound of their going was as the rushing of 
 many waters. 
 
 18 For, in those days, the crooked ways 
 wore not made straight, nor the rough 
 places smooth ; and the riders in chariots 
 were constrained to cry out in thewords 
 of the prophet Jeremiah, my bowels, 
 my bowels ! I am pained at my very 
 heart; my heart maketh a noise within 
 me. 
 
 19 And it came to pass, when the men 
 of Salem heard the sound ot their coming 
 afar off, they went forth to meet them. 
 And as they drew nigh, they said unto 
 those who drave the carts, Is it well with 
 thee? 
 
 20 And they that drave the carts an- 
 swered, Nay, it is not well; for they were- 
 exceedingly pained. 
 
 21 Then told they the men of Salem all 
 the things which were in their hearts, 
 even as Amos had commanded. And the 
 Salemites answered them, and said, Can ye 
 not earn your salt? Verily, we will not 
 give unto thee, for we give nought, save 
 for a price. 
 
 22 Ye shall take of us enough aijd suf- 
 ficient, but in due time ye shall repay 
 again, even unto the uttermost farthing. 
 
 23 Then they took and put upon the 
 carts twoscore and ten ephahs of salt, 
 scant measure, scraped off and scooped out, 
 as the manner of men now is. 
 
 24 Then the men of Gibeah turned back, 
 homeward, going through the wilderness 
 by the same way in which they had come, 
 seven days' journey. 
 
 * History of Mason, pp. 78, 79, 80, 84, 85, i 
 
CHRONICLES. 
 
 67 
 
 25 Now, when the time drew nigh in 
 which they should pay for the salt, the 
 people were greatly perplexed. 
 
 26 For certain men, sons of Belial, who 
 dwelt in the country round about, but had 
 possessions in Gibeah, cried out to the el- 
 ders on the day of Pentecost, whieh is, by 
 interpretation, the town-meeting, saying, 
 "What have we to do with you, ye salt- 
 buyers ? 
 
 27 Verily we haye raised our own meat 
 and made our own brine; and as for us we 
 will not pay for that which we have not 
 had and which we want not, neither want 
 we that which ye have. 
 
 28 Then were the elders exceeding an- 
 gry; and they seized upon the portion of 
 those who would not pay the debt, and 
 sold it unto strangers; and the names of 
 those evil-doers were blotted from the book 
 of remembrance forever. 
 
 29 Then had the people rest from their 
 salt troubles. 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 Great prosperity in the land of Gibeah. 
 Building of the temple in Peterboro\ 
 Strength and valor of Thomas and his 
 sons. 
 
 AND it came to pass, when the sons of 
 men saw that the daughters of Gibeah 
 were exceeding fair and beautiful, they 
 took them wives of all which they chose. 
 
 2 And they were fruitful as kittens, and 
 brought forth sons and daughters of great 
 stature, even seven cubits and less. 
 
 3 And so it happened that the dwellers 
 in the land of Jabesh, which is, by inter- 
 pretation, Peterboro', builded a temple; 
 and they sent through all the region round 
 about for the mighty men of great strength 
 ■and skilful in timber-work, to set up the 
 pillars and raise the beams thereof. 
 
 4 Then went there up from the land of 
 Gibeah, Thomas and his seven sons, val- 
 iant men, each strong as a beau, and swift 
 to follow after the young heart in shady 
 places. 
 
 5 And the giants of the land assembled 
 in Jabesh; and they raised the temple 
 with great labor, beam upon beam, and 
 rafter after rafter; and they placed a. 
 watch-tower thereon. 
 
 6 And it came to pass, when they had 
 made an end of the work, that the spirit of 
 old Jamaica fell upon the strongmen, and 
 they made merry with unleavened bread 
 and dry codfish. 
 
 7 And becoming exceeding joyful, they 
 rose up from the ground and wrestled to- 
 gether, and lo, the sons of Thomas over- 
 threw all which went up to meet them, and 
 none could stand, for they smote them hip 
 
 and thigh, so that they fell heavily to the 
 ground. ' 
 
 8 But there were certain men, sons of 
 Belial, Ked -head ites, and descendants from 
 the isles of the sea, which, when they were 
 cast down, became possessed of devils, and 
 took counsel how they might slay the sons 
 of Thomas. 
 
 9 Now there dwelt in the laud of Ja- 
 besh a certain publican and wine-bibber, 
 who dealt with familiar spirits; 
 
 10 A man wonderful to behold, for his 
 nose was like a carbuncle, and his eyes 
 like rubies, exceeding red. His cheeks 
 blossomed as the rose, with toddy-blos- 
 soms, and his mouth was like a toper's. 
 His belly was like a barrel, and his legs as 
 half-barrels. 
 
 11 And the Red-headites went in unto 
 him and said. Can the stone be swiftly 
 hurled where there is no sling, t.r is the 
 head broken without a puneh ? 
 
 12 Give us, therefore, punch and sling, 
 hot and strong, that we may go up to meet 
 the strong men and overthrow them, even 
 as Goliah overthrew David. 
 
 V 13 Now these were vain babblers, and 
 understood not the Scripture. 
 
 14 Then the publican was sore amazed, 
 and hasted and made ready, and gave un- 
 to them. Then girded they up their loins, 
 and went forth to lay violent hands upon 
 the sons of Thomas. 
 
 15 And it came to pass that the old man, 
 even Thomas himself, rose and stood be- 
 fore the people, and cried out with a terri- 
 ble loud voice, If any man wants to fight, 
 let him take me, and let my boys alone. 
 
 16 Then confusion fell upon the Red- 
 headites, and they vanished like grease 
 before the fire. 
 
 17 And all those beholding were filled 
 with amazement, and cried out. Behold 
 the strength of Gibeah and the glory 
 thereof. He mocketh at fear, and is not 
 affrighted. He saith among the trumpets. 
 Ha, ha! and is more terrible than an army 
 without banners. 
 
 18 And the E-ed-headites called Thomas 
 and his sons, in their own tongue, Tarri- 
 bles, because they caused great terror to 
 all beholding, and so it is their descend- 
 ants among us are called Tarbells even 
 unto this day. 
 
 19 Now all the rest of the acts of the peo- 
 ple of Gibeah, and all that they did; how 
 their sons and daughters went forth to the 
 North and South, and the East and West, 
 through all the laud, even unto Gotham ; 
 
 20 And how they were greatly prospered, 
 and sent of the fruit of their substance to 
 bless the home of their fathers; are they 
 not written in the book of John, the coun- 
 selor, even in the ^' History of Mason " ? 
 
68 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 21 But the eyes of the prophet Hill-Kiah 
 wax dim, and his stomach groweth faint 
 bj reason of long fasting; and, lo! as in 
 a vision, he heareth the sound of a going 
 among the pine-trees, and the people be- 
 stir themselves. 
 
 22 There is the voice of one crying in 
 the wilderness, Lo! the meat offerings and 
 drink offerings are ready, and the royal 
 
 Chamberlain waits to hasten you to the 
 banquet. 
 
 23 This day is Scripture revealed unto 
 you, and now he that hath a purse let him 
 take it, and likewise his scrip, for tho 
 money-changers await your coming. 
 
 24 Stay yourselves with flagons and be 
 comforted with apples. 
 
 25 To your tents, Israel! 
 
SENTIMENTS AND EESPONSES. 
 
 No. 1. — We welcome those who have gone out from us to plant the 
 institutions of religion and social order in the Far West. 
 
 RESPONSE BT REV. T. HILL, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOTJEI. 
 
 Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen : It is a great gratifi- 
 cation to me to be present witii you on this centennial day of our 
 beloved ancestral home. It is a joy to gaze on these familiar hills, 
 graced as they are with never-failing beauty ; the old rocks and 
 trees, so familiar in all their outlines ; and yon burying-ground, 
 where sleep the honored and best-loved ones, gathered to their 
 silent homes, — all intimately blended with every associjation of 
 childhood and youth. It is a joy to me to see once more so many 
 familiar faces of friends from whom I have been so long separated. 
 I see you, the associates of my youth, the companions of school- 
 days, and the friends who were gathered in the old familiar church. 
 We are changed much now, but the memory of those days lives 
 with unchanged freshness still. 
 
 To participate in these scenes, I have come a long journey of 
 near seventeen hundred miles, from my home on the banks of the 
 rapid and ever muddy Missouri, upon whose troubled face I look 
 almost every hour. This place will seem to many of you as the 
 real Far West, to which so many have been migrating these many 
 years ; but to me it is hardly the West at all, for there is a West, 
 full of activity and busy life, so much beyond where I live, that I 
 seem to myself to be in the centre, and not in the West. I have 
 often gazed on the long trains of wagons starting on their weary 
 journey of eight hundred miles to Santa Fe, and I daily see the 
 cars, as they disappear in the west, starting on their journey to 
 cross the great plains where the buffalo may still be found in count- 
 less numbers. 
 
 The children of New England have always been a wandering 
 race ; go where you will you meet them, oftentimes where you 
 might least expect them ; yet, whesever they may be, they look 
 with fond recollections to the hills and rocks of their ancestral 
 home. Other fields may be larger, other streams may be longer ; 
 but none are more beautiful than the green hills and the brooks of 
 the home where childhood and youth were spent. But what occu- 
 
70 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 pies the sons of New England in their wanderings? What detains 
 them away from this land so filled with pleasant memories? They 
 are found engaged in everything, good and bad. Thej' are found 
 in the pulpit, pointing dying men to the realities that outlive the 
 tomb ; they are in the school-room, directing the minds of those 
 who will soon control the destinies of the nation ; they are in po- 
 litical office, from governors and congressmen down to the lowest 
 stations of influence and power ; and in whatever they engage, for 
 good or ill, they usually leave their impress strongly marked. In 
 the pulpit, they are often the pioneers on the frontiers of civiliza- 
 tion, planting the banner of the cross in advance of all others. 
 The first man who preached the Presbyterian faith beyond the 
 Mississippi was from Connecticut. Many of his early associates 
 were from New England, and from that day till this a goodly num- 
 ber of the preachers west of the great river have been from New 
 England. 
 
 In legal and political life, one can point to the Chief Justice of 
 the nation from our own New Hampshire, or can point to one who 
 swayed the populace as few men ever have done, who knew the 
 secret sources of influence far better than most men, — the great 
 Illinois Senator, who was from Vermont. The halls of Congress 
 and the chairs of governors often show men who came from a home 
 far distant from the one they represent or now occupy. 
 
 Most of these are honorable and honored men ; but some of them, 
 undoubtedly, are often the pattern of one whose repeated failure 
 for office at home was consoled by his son, who preceded him to 
 the "West, and wrote back to his disappointed father, saying, " Fa- 
 ther, come out here and run for Congress, for mighty mean men get 
 office out here." 
 
 But among the best things New England has done for the "West 
 has been her influence over education, in the way of schools. Many 
 of the colleges in the "West have had their roots in the New Eng- 
 land home ; thence came the men who founded tliem, the money 
 that endowed them, and the instructors wlio toiled for them. In 
 all the ways in which schools have been benefited. New England 
 has had her share. He who drew the present excellent public- 
 school law of Illinois was from New Hampshire ; and in many an 
 humble school-house on the edge of the prairie, or in the rising 
 cities of the "West, may be found one who learned how to teach in 
 the New England school. 
 
 But however far the son of New England may have wandered, 
 however well he may love his new home, he will look back to the 
 hills whence he came with pleasant memories. 
 
 I once spent a Sabbath in a village in Illinois. On inquiring of 
 the man, at wliose house I was entertained, whence he came, I found 
 he was from Townsend. He had been there thirteen years without 
 having returned, and when he found who I was, and whence I came, 
 he plied me with many questions in regard to the old home, — who 
 was dead, who were married, who preached, and who traded, and 
 
SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 71 
 
 all the many queries of the familiar home life. After this he said, 
 " You have some townsmen here ; " and T found and had a pleasant 
 interview with some who had known me in childhood. 
 
 A few weeks after this there came an invitation for me to take 
 the care of the church of which mine host was an honored elder ; 
 but I have never been there since. 
 
 Once, as a pastor, I sat bj- the bedside of one who had come from 
 the far East to visit her son in the West. Her stay was but few * 
 days, when the cholera laid its hand upou her, and she soon passed 
 away, faintly whispering, " Bury me by the side of my mother." 
 I have heard of a very different scene, no less illustrative of the 
 New England character, of two gamblers meeting at Santa Fe, 
 and, after discovering their common origin, they spent a long time 
 discussing the familiar scenes of the old home, and as they sep- 
 arated the one says to the other, " You are a Yankee, and so am 
 I, and now let us sing Old Hundred in memory of the past." 
 
 But why should we go from the land we remember so pleas- 
 antly? Undoubtedly it may be said of most of us, in the words of 
 Holy Writ, " If they had been mindful of the country whence they 
 came, they might have had opportunity to return." So most of 
 New England's sons prefer their western home. No ; however fair 
 New England may be, the great West presents attractions stronger 
 still ; her prairies, filled with flowers in their wild condition, filled 
 with teeming harvests in their cultivated form, call for men, and 
 bind them with links that cannot be broken. 
 
 Our country is one. Her New England homes, her broad west- 
 ern lands, her golden mountains, richer far than the Ophir of Solo- 
 mon, and her sunsets on the Pacific, — all, all make but one land, 
 and the New Englander is still at home into whatever part he 
 wanders. 
 
 We go there that we may make a broader New England ; that we 
 maj' transplant her energy and skill, her schools, and her firmest 
 religious faith on a broader field ; that we may retain what is most 
 excellent of our own, and mingle it with what is most desirable in 
 the other portions of our land. We would do what we can to make 
 our country the most glorious land of earth. From the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific we would have the land of the Puritan and the Cavalier, 
 the land of the Dutchman and the Huguenot, the land of Frank- 
 lin and of Washington, one land, free, intelligent, and holy ; one 
 land, the richest, the fairest, and the best of earth. 
 
 No. 2. — We welcome those who, having gone from us, have aided in 
 sustaining, in the commercial metropolis of our country, the character 
 of the sons of New Hampshire for Integrity, enterprise, and success 
 in business in every portion of our land. 
 
 RESPONSE BY B. W. MERRIAM, ESQ., OF NEW TOEK. 
 
 Encouraged by the above sentiment, commencing by welcoming 
 us to this banquet who commenced life here, I take pleasure .in 
 
r2 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 saying a word in response. I rejoice, Mr. President, to be here to- 
 daj', — tliis day so full of interest to us who are permitted to look 
 upon those who began life together ; and while I see but few, com- 
 parativel_v, of this class, their descendants are numerous and 
 happy. How improved is your condition, my youthful friends, 
 from that of your predecessors ! 
 
 I well remember the day when those not compelled to go on 
 ' foot rode only on horseback ; the father in the saddle, the mother 
 upon the pillion ; the brother in the saddle, the sister upon the 
 pillion. 
 
 Well I remember, Mr. President, when the first pleasure-wagon, 
 so called, was owned in this town, and also remember the name of 
 the owner, and his industry and toil to procure the amount of money 
 necessary to obtain it. At the early period alluded to, a boy to 
 see a city must walk a portion or all of the distance to it. I have 
 not forgotten, when a youth, leaving this, my home, in an after- 
 noon, and, after walking most of the journey during the night, as 
 the sun arose the next morning, was permitted to look upon the 
 great city of Boston, then containing thirty or forty thousand in- 
 habitants. 
 
 Had one predicted then that a railroad would now have been in 
 this town, we should have thought such a prophet a false one. At 
 the present day, instead of being twenty-four hours on foot, you 
 enter the' car, and in two hours reach Boston and find there four, 
 five, and six hundred thousand inhabitants ; in a few hours more 
 you reach New York, and behold its teeming millions. 
 
 Those of us who left this New Hampshire town, and whose lives 
 have been spent in commercial cities of our country, are indebted 
 to the early mental and physical training we were subjected to 
 here, for the strength which has enabled us to battle with the cares 
 and temptations of a commercial life. Here in New Hampshire 
 we learned early to assume responsibilities ; the healthful moun- 
 tain breezes helped us to obtain almost iron constitutions ; Chris- 
 tian admonitions, together with a little of Solomon's "birch," 
 taught us obedience and truthfulness ; and if we have been success- 
 ful merchants, we remember that in New Hampshire we were told 
 that " honesty is the best policy." In New Hampshire we learned 
 also that integrity and enterprise are twin sisters, and lead not 
 only to success in business, but to the confidence and esteem of 
 those with whom we are associated in life. 
 
 No. 3. — We revere and cherish the memory of our townsmen who, 
 under the command of Captain Benjamin Mann, marched to Cam- 
 bridge, joined the patriot army, and took part in the battle of Bunker 
 Hill ; and of all our patriot citizens who, on the many battle-fields 
 from Quebec to Yorktown, endured the hardships of war, and perilled 
 their lives in the cause of their country. 
 
 Eesponded to by Hon. John B. Hill. The gentleman to whom 
 this sentiment was assigned not answering when called upon, at 
 
SENTIMENTS AND BESPONSES. 73 
 
 the request of the President, Mr. Hill made a brief response, of 
 which no report has been preserved. 
 
 No. 4. — The day we celebrate. 
 
 RESPONSE BY KEV. SAMUEL LEE, OF NEW IPSWICH. 
 
 Mr. President : In the absence of the speaker expected to an- 
 swer to this toast, I address you. It maj' seem like arrogance or 
 presumption in me, on the mere spur of the moment, to attempt a 
 response to this, which is really the great sentiment of the occa- 
 sion. But it will be remembered that a very unpretending article 
 is sometimes used to fill the place of a missing pane in the window. 
 
 A centennial is sacred. It rises as an eminence between the 
 years of the century past and the indefinite future. We stand upon 
 that eminence and survey the past, then turn and gaze upon the 
 future that fades away in the distance. And we know that solemn 
 future is in no small degree to receive its character from the cen- 
 tury past and the view we take of it to-day. 
 
 As in the individual so in a community, the inceptive period is 
 specially important. Here we find the springs whence issue the 
 streams that pass into the future for good or evil, — the origin 
 of the trains of antecedent and consijquent passing out and in- 
 creasing as they go, expanding in ramifications which mingle each 
 with those of others and make up the web and quality of society. 
 The good people of Mason to-day are what the energy and cour- 
 age and perseverance and toils and self-denial and prayers and 
 holy living of the first settlers have made them. Hence that sen- 
 timent, indigenous to the human mind, of reverence for ancestors. 
 We revere the memory of the men who have sent down to us those 
 influences that have been so potent in forming at once our charac- 
 ter and condition. And then there is a sort of enchantment which 
 distance lends to the view. We see them only in the hazj'' indis- 
 tinctness of the past. Their faults, if they had them, we perceive 
 not, and think only of the good in their lives, the influence of which 
 has come down in blessed sequences to administer to our well-be- 
 ing. Their memory is blessed and salutary. We go to the locali- 
 ties where they lived and toiled, and to the graves where their 
 remains are sacredly preserved, with the feeling that we are on 
 holy ground. And we feel, too, that God is in their history and 
 in all that connects it with us and ours. And in the influences 
 that they bring to us we hear the voice of God. 
 
 A centennial serves as an occasion for collecting the facts of the 
 early, history of the town, but for which they would soon be lost 
 forever. To preserve these we owe to posterity, who as truly as 
 ourselves have an interest in them. For the influences that have 
 come down to us fronf them have accomplished only a part, and a 
 small part, of their wondrous mission. They pause not here, save 
 for the brief hours of '• the day we celebrate," that we may notice 
 them and estimate their importance, then renew their march adown 
 10 
 
74 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 the solemn, awful future. To that future,' then, we iire debtors. 
 And in the person of our competent and faithful historian of the 
 day, we have met our obligations. 
 
 i hope this centennial will be regarded as an authoritative prece- 
 dent, and be imitated by those of each of the coming centuries. 
 But who shall celebrate the next? Not one of us. It is indeed 
 possible, though not probable, that some one of the little ones that 
 are here to-day may tell with faltering utterance the story of the 
 hundred years. Perhaps these sparkling eyes, then dimmed with 
 age, may witness the scenes of the next centennial.* 
 
 No ; while the consequences of what we shall have been and 
 done shall be met in this life by our successors, we shall be meet- 
 ing such consequences in another mode of being. 
 
 But I trust that the next centennial shall be held in the midst 
 of a condition of privilege and glory to which we are strangers. 
 The pen of inspiration hath told us of a blessed future, — a new 
 heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. That 
 day hastens on. Everything in the present indicates that this 
 world is on the eve of a great moral transformation. The facts 
 betoken rapid development. God is even now getting ready that 
 New Jerusalem which shall come down from his abode and find its 
 place upon earth. The Tabernacle of God shall soon be with 
 men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people ; 
 and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 
 
 " Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time, 
 And bring the welcome day." 
 
 No. 5. — Mason: Her past is history; her future is in her own hands. 
 
 RESPONSE BY JOSEPH C. MASON, ESQ., OP BOONETILLE, MISSOURI. 
 
 Friends and Fellow-Citizens : Though I have not the honor to 
 claim in this town a nativity, yet by adoption she is mine. Her 
 intelligent inhabitants, her educational institutions, her religious 
 temples, her rocky elevations that bask in the early beams of morn- 
 ing, are dear to you, and so they are to me. The present and fu- 
 ture of Mason : — What are the duties of the present ? What are 
 its promises? The past lies behind us; and we may well turn 
 from its annals and look down the ages. When the clock of time 
 shall have recorded another centennial revolution, our descendants 
 will stand here to speak of us. What, oh, what shall be their 
 language ? What the burden of their discourse ? 
 
 The character of this ancient town is now strong, its reputa- 
 tion untarnished. Because we have inherited a legacy so rich, the 
 future will have upon us large demands. If the facilities for 
 progress are greater than ever before, a corresponding increase of 
 results will be expected at our hands. 
 
 * Just here a little boy, son of Lucius A. Elliott, Esq., passed across the 
 stage, and the speaker laid his hand upon his head as he uttered the last 
 sentence. 
 
SENTIMENTS AND KESPONSES. 75 
 
 This one thought should engage our attention here and now : 
 Our responsibility to those on wJiom no ray of light has yet shone. 
 Men and communities must labor for the unborn. He who plants 
 a tree plants for others. It is a law of our being that one shall 
 sow and another reap. Let this occasion, so fruitful in memories 
 of the past, awaken in the bosoms of all (especially the young) 
 noble resolves and lofty aspirations. 
 
 Are we as a people keeping our estate ? Could the hardy sons 
 who turned into smiling fields these once unfrequented wilds stand 
 here to-day and proudly claim us by an alliance of blood and 
 character ? Can the aged sire, whose wisdom is commensurate 
 with his years, let his mantle fall upon the son with a confidence 
 that he will wear it worthily ? 
 
 I sometimes cast about me for the coming men and women, — 
 for those to whom this fair heritage must soon be committed. How 
 many young men of Mason are preparing for the great future ? 
 How many are adding, day by day, to their stores of useful knowl- 
 edge, or are, by slow but sure degrees, forming characters 
 against which the waves of passion and prejudice may not prevail ? 
 characters in keeping with the high exigencies that so frequently 
 summon the citizens of a free country to do and to dare ? I shall not 
 be misunderstood here. The nineteenth century is full of demands 
 upon the philanthropist and the patriot. 
 
 The present happy auspices, under which we are assembled, 
 fully attest how well those demands have been met by our retiring 
 ancestors. History will do justice to their deeds and to them. But 
 some one must write our history. " The stream cannot rise above 
 its fountain." Glorious deeds cannot be born of ignorance, of in- 
 difference, of immorality. They spring from noble impulses, sup- 
 ported by heroic endeavor ; from knowledge, and virtue, and 
 courage. 
 
 My voice is to the young. "With them I plead. They hold in 
 their hands, to a great extent, the destiny of this town. They are 
 stamping indeliblyupon it features by which it shall be recognized 
 at a time when our voices shall be hushed in a dreamless sleep. 
 Let the example of our fathers, living and dead, of former resi- 
 dents who have come to us to-day from homes afar, of all the noble 
 spirits who, in the long line of years departed, have stood upon this 
 sacred soil, inspire in our hearts higher and holier purposes in the 
 present, and the future shall come to us freighted with the rich re- 
 wards of an Almighty hand. 
 
 No; 6. — Mason, her hills and valleys, her fruits and wild flowers. 
 
 RESPONSE BT LUCIUS A. ELLIOTT, OF BOSTON. 
 
 Mr. President : I thank you for appointing to me a response to 
 this rather than to any other sentiment. 
 
 You, sir, know the fond and sacred esteem in which I hold the 
 rugged hills and the sweet valleys of my native town ; how dear to 
 
76 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 me are. her name and all things pertaining to her. She is rough, 
 indeed, and her thin soil does not so generously yield a return to la- 
 bor as do the wonderful alluvial expanses of the West, from which 
 some of her prospering sons, perchance, sometimes turn a thought 
 of pity toward her well-remembered fields, of rocks and roots and 
 scanty herbage, or as does the great field of commerce in cities 
 East and West. We would fain believe, however, that from their 
 distant homes beyond the Father of Waters, or nearer the great 
 lakes, or where they swell the channels of trade in our commercial 
 centres, or where they are tarrying in foreign lands, they are ten- 
 derly thinking of their native hills to-day, and that indeed there 
 are no hills or valleys so fondly cherished as those which fill the 
 landscape of their childhood. 
 
 Mr. President, I should reverence and love old Mason if I had 
 not been cradled in her lap. Do the prairies, the mysterious 
 mounds, the vast coal-beds of the West, the submerged forests of 
 the Mississippi, and the monarchs of the Yo Semite, bid our ad- 
 miration for their great antiquity and mysterious origin ? Who shall 
 stand indifierent before our hills, with their granite boulders, which 
 had existence ages before the creation of man, — before the mighty 
 waters had detached from its parent granite the first particle of 
 dust of which the prairies were made? They speak to us of that 
 remote period when there was no verdure upon the earth, — ere 
 God had cleft a way for the rivers, or made a bed for the ocean, — 
 ere His handiwork had made the ever-changing curtain above the 
 earth, when in the silence of the ages they were alone with God, 
 and when the Great Architect was in them preparing a foundation 
 for all he has since made of beauty and majesty to live' upon 
 the earth. 
 
 Our hills and granite pebbles deserve our love. They give to us 
 the music of the brooks, and send the little fructifiers down to the 
 meadows. Ah, how many sons of the hills are there in city count- 
 ing-rooms, who, perhaps, go at night to luxurious homes, where in 
 music they hear the best imitations of nature frhich art can give, 
 who yearn to sit on their native hill-sides and hear again — what 
 piano or flute or human voice could never produce — the song of 
 the brook ! How many have homes on the vast plains, on which no 
 hill rises with its gurgling brook, who would be glad to part with 
 many of their fertile acres could they thus bring such a sight and 
 sound by their doors ! 
 
 And the cool, bracing air of our hills ! It is not a matter for 
 wonder that so many rush from the cities, when the sun burns the 
 streets, to refresh themselves in such a bath, or that sometimes 
 languishing ones — distant from their native hills — are heard to 
 long for the air that moved their infant life, strengthened them, in 
 childhood's days, and never had aught but blessing in it. 
 
 And, oh, the prospects which these hills afford ! That Masonian 
 has but little poetry in his soul, who, in a pleasant summer twi- 
 light, can ride over the "Merriam" or " Sanders Hill," without 
 
SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 77 
 
 tarrying from other thoughts to enjoy for a few moments the pic- 
 ture before him. How delightful in the morning, when the mists 
 lie along the " Merriam," and all beyond is half covered, half re- 
 vealed, through the veil, while hitherwards the chimneys of a hun- 
 dred homes are sending up their signals of awakening life, and the 
 landscape is opening its bosom to the coming king of day ! How 
 beautiful at noon, when the moisture of the morning has freshened 
 the colors of woodland, tillage, and pasture ; when the distant hills 
 put on their heavenly blue, and are flanked by a curtain of myste- 
 rious haze which speaks of fairy-land beyond ! How charming at 
 sunset, when the blue of the hills has changed to mellow purple, 
 and the long shadows of the woods and hills are adding variety to 
 the forms and hues of the familiar fields ! I well remember the 
 pleasure expressed by a lady from a western city when she stood 
 on Barrett Hill. Her journeyings had never before extended be- 
 yond the prairies, and she had never seen a hill until the visit in 
 question. It was easy to perceive that, as she approached the sum- 
 mit, she was both surprised and delighted, but when her eye had ta- 
 ken in the Temple Mountains, Joe English, the Ammonoosucs, and 
 the blue film of the White Mountains beyond, — had turned to the 
 picturesque landscape of village, farm, and woodland, with its dis- 
 tant bound of blue in the south-east and south, — had swept 
 around to Ashby, and to New Ipswich, with her white hamlets 
 nestling under the hills, with dark Wachuset and hoary Monad- 
 nock behind all, — she exclaimed, with every appearance of rapture, 
 " This is Paradise 1" 
 
 My friends, we emigrants rejoice in the hills and valleys of Ma- 
 son. They furnish pictures for the halls of our memories, such as 
 no artist can provide ; for not only are they redolent with moving, 
 living varieties, such as no pencil can animate, but the associa- 
 tions of youth, in the midst of which we transferred these scenes 
 to our mental canvas, can never accompany the work of a human 
 artist. He cannot restore to us the happy circle at the foot of the 
 hill, — the dear friends who gazed with us on these scenes, but 
 who have ceased from the earth. There are two other hills where 
 many of them sleep, — hills which shall yet be most glorious of 
 all, when they become the scenes of the mightiest miracles of human 
 history, as in the Master's good time they will. Fondly do our 
 hearts turn to them and their sacred mounds to-day, and some of 
 us are saying. Oh that my father, my mother, my child, my sister, 
 or my brother were here ! Thanks to our gracious Father, we are 
 not forbidden the hope that in holy sympathy they do mingle with 
 us on this occasion, and that they rejoice in every worthy exercise 
 that gives us joy. 
 
 And now, Mr. President, what shall I say for the wild flowers 
 of Mason? Her sons and daughters "know them so well that no 
 poet botanist is needed to speak their praise to them. How can I, 
 neither a poet nor a botanist, speak of them to strangers ? Let me 
 
78 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 seek to make them tell their own praises. Bring vases, and let us 
 see if we can set for our guests a bouquet for each month. 
 
 What shall cold January, the midnight of the year, provide? A 
 background of spruce, with spreading arms decked with brown 
 cones and delicate vermilion cups of moss ; a foreground of oak, 
 brown and purple, gathered from the old BuUard woods last fall. 
 
 February, not as cold as usual, shall let us find mosses and the 
 beautiful miniature of the ivy vine on which the fox-plum grows. 
 "We will build a mound of moss, twine the vine about it, drop here 
 and there a red and yellow thornberry, twist a spray of crooked 
 laurel into a chair, and, placing it in the midst, will make a throne 
 fit for Titania. 
 
 March will send us to the woods again, where, lifting the snow, 
 we shall find the dwarf evergreen, which we can train about the 
 vase in festoons and bunches of green, so that we shall forget that 
 
 " The stormy March has come at last ; " 
 
 a few toes from the " pussy-willow," found jby any brook, and 
 sprigs of brown-alder tassels will mingle beautifully with the 
 green. 
 
 Waiting till late April, we may be compensated by a cluster of 
 violets, which, with swelling buds of birch, and perchance a touch 
 of crimson from the rock-maple blossom, a back of hemlock, and a 
 few early grasses, will well furnish April. 
 
 And now comes the month in which spring seems fully born, 
 and we shall have no lack of delicate flowers just opening their 
 eyes upon the earth. Once we could have filled dozens of vases 
 in the Adams woods, near Chamberlin's mill, with the carefully 
 pencilled Benjamin, and we doubt not the boys and girls 
 know where they may now be found so soon as May has fairly 
 driven the snow from the ground. But here is the trailing ar- 
 butus, the pure, simple, sweet May-flower, in pink and white, and 
 here the modest and graceful anemone. May shall have two 
 vases. The ferns and larger flowers shall show their glory alone, 
 and, since we shall have nothing so lovely again, we will let 
 the May-flower, the anemone, and the meek-eyed strawberry blos- 
 som rest in each other's bosom. 
 
 June will quite satisfy us with her wonderful laurel, — its deli- 
 cate flower of pink flecked with deep brown, and its rich leaf of 
 green. See, the pastures near Pratt Pond are all aflame with 
 them. In our June vase we will drop a few blossoms of the wild 
 grape near Luther Nutting's, to get the most delicate of perfumes. 
 
 July shall give us wild roses, blueberry balls, blackberry blos- 
 soms, the beautiful pink hardback, white elder blossoms, daisies, 
 chestnut pendules, and the meadow pink from the little marsh 
 near the top of Barrett Hill, with rich ferns for a setting. 
 
 August will furnish a plenty of broad leaves for a background, 
 with the Canada thistle and the great thistle, on which the yellow 
 fitlch so loves to swing, the wild primrose, the white hardback. 
 
SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 79 
 
 the golden rod, and the cardinal flower, from Felton Brook, for 
 relief. 
 
 Upon September we will call for a spray of chestnut-bearing 
 clusters of filling burrs, and before it we will place some berries of 
 ripened sumach, and intertwine the clematis with its hazy blossom. 
 In the woods on Dunster Hill we will find plenty of fungi of all 
 tints needful for any efiect of colors, and Mr. Whittaker will add 
 a few vines of cranberry. 
 
 And what shall we do with the wealth that October brings ? — ^her 
 sprays of sumach, green and red, her trembling birches of all tints 
 of yellow, and her mosses, with bird's wheat and delicate cups of 
 many forms and hues, soon to sleep under the snow? 
 
 We must have a late Indian summer, that November may have 
 for us some of the maples, the woodbine, the ivy, and the sarsapa- 
 rilla. I know a pasture maple in this town that, with its wondrous 
 variety of autumn tints, would be an object of greater interest in 
 Hyde Park than is any one of its famous trees. 
 
 For the December setting we will have a twig of brown oak 
 with its acorns. If the winter is not too early, and the winds have 
 not been too rough, we will find some sprays of silver leaves from 
 the beech, a few spines from the pine, and brown flag blossoms, 
 yet waiting in the Eocky Brook marsh, near Uiicle Charles Scrip- 
 ture's. 
 
 Now, stranger friends, do not think we have gathered for you 
 half the varieties of wild flowers with which, in their season, our 
 fields and roadsides abound. An expert botatiist only could recall 
 them. If, however, those we have named have been well set, we 
 have a display of which any Masonian may be proud, and we ask 
 you if our delicate and gorgeous array of summer flowers, in their 
 rich brown frame, are not at least worthy of " honorable men- 
 tion " on this festal day ? 
 
 I give you, sir, again. The fruits and flowers of Mason : the 
 fairest are the characters and the benefactions of some of her sons 
 and daughters. The hills of Mason : the best are the little Hills, 
 whose Ebenezer was established here about eighty years ago. 
 
 No. 7. — Glimpses of our fathers one hundred years ago. 
 
 RESPONSE BT SAMUEL DDNSTER, ESQ., OP ATTLEBORO', MASS. 
 
 I am glad to return to this good old habitat, to participate in the 
 pleasures and enjoyments of the first centennial celebration of 
 Mason, and to mingle again with the friends and companions of 
 my early days; although I find many of them, like myself, to have 
 passed the limits of easy recognition. It is my privilege at this 
 time to be the representative by lineal descent, as well as name 
 which no longer exists in this community, of the head of a family ; 
 and the ladies and gentlemen will please pardon me, if, in the few 
 words I may venture to say, I may seem to be egotistic in referring 
 to an ancestor who was a resident, and freeholder of fair estate. 
 
80 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. ' 
 
 of this town at the time of its incorporation, and who took an 
 active part in bringing it into municipal existence. 
 
 Although our knowledge of the personal efforts of each 
 individual in organizing the town must of necessity be mere 
 glira))ses, j'et we have the highest assurance that he, from his well- 
 kno\yn religious character, used his best endeavors for that pur- 
 pose, that as a corporation thej' could more readily promote the 
 welfare of the settlement, advance the cause of truth, hire preach- 
 ing, and " to see if they could come into some measure for further 
 finishing the meeting-house." 
 
 In the establishment of the church as a distinct organization, 
 three or four years afterwards, he was a zealous worker, When it 
 was fully established he was appointed " to serve the Table of the 
 Lord for a time until the church shall proceed to make choice of 
 Deacons." 
 
 His wife, also, was one of the nine sisters whom the twelve men, 
 as soon as they had become a visible, distinct church, regularly 
 and scripturally embodied, admitted to communion. They unani- 
 mously "voted to receive ye hereafter mentioned sisters as stand- 
 ing in full chh. membership with ym." 
 
 He was one of the committee "to wait on Ebenezer Hill and 
 invite him to become their Pastor." When the Rev. Mr. Hill, who 
 had accepted the call, was ordained, he and Hobert Russel were 
 voted to be a committee to wait on the honorable council at his 
 ordination. It was at his house that Mr. Hill was entertained 
 while preaching as a candidate for settlement. He was amiable 
 and uniform in temperament, as an old gentleman, now in his 
 grave, told me, who knew him well. In stature he was about six 
 feet high, and wore a white linen cap under his three-cornered hat, 
 which was exchanged on the Sabbath for a green one, when he 
 went to meeting. 
 
 The genealogy of Jason Dunster, to whom I refer, is clearly 
 traced by authentic records to the Rev. Henry Dunster, the first 
 President of Harvard College, who was, as one of his contempo- 
 raries says, a prodigy of learning, of undoubted piety, energetic in 
 character as well as firm in decision. Uncompromising with the 
 world, he dared to preach manfully the truths he conscientiously 
 believed and sincerely regarded. For this he fell under the ban 
 of meddlesome Massachusetts, not yet quite cured of her intoler- 
 ance. He was indicted by the grand jury, tried and convicted by 
 the court, sentenced to pay a fine, and be admonished on lecture- 
 day, put under bonds for good behavior, and afterwards ordered 
 to leave the town for preaching against the ordinance of infant 
 baptism. 
 
 In the discipline of the college President Dunster availed him- 
 self of the belief of the age in the active agency of malevolent but 
 invisible beings, and deemed it proper to apply this, at that time, 
 potent instrumentality to the government of the unruly. A tradi- 
 tion is still extant among his descendants that one day, being at 
 
SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 81 
 
 Concord, he suddenly ordered his horse to be saddled, for he must 
 instantly return to Cambridge. On being asked the cause of his 
 abrupt departure, he replied that he had received word that the 
 students there had raised the devil, and being unable to control his 
 exhibitions had become alarmed. This practice, if we may believe 
 the stories of recent college boys, is not obsolete, but understood 
 by them in a very different light from that received in former times. 
 On arriving at Cambridge he took his well-filled powder-horn, and, 
 pouring a part of its contents on the floor, he abjured the presence 
 of such a visitor, and to the relief of the affrighted boys directly 
 flashed him out of college. It is added that, when thus summarily 
 sent away, he was heard to say that he would never trouble any 
 of the Dunsters afterwards ; but this consoling assurance, as far 
 as I am informed, does not make a part of the tradition in the 
 Mason branch of that family. 
 
 It is not wonderful that such a strange mixing up of piety with 
 superstition, of truth with delusion, by our fathers, should have had 
 a mighty influence on the first settlers of this town. They had 
 imbibed from their ancestors many notions of the physical power 
 of invisible agents, and given them a large credit for acts of won- 
 der. 
 
 It was fully believed by some here a hundred years ago that the 
 same old fellow who raised such a rumpus at Cambridge had de- 
 posited in the solid rock, near the foot of the high falls on the right 
 bank of the Souhegan Kiver, a pot of money, — veritable coins of 
 gold, now almost become a myth. How he got it into the solid rock 
 they stopped not to inquire. It was there, — so they said and 
 believed. How to get it, was the practical inquiry. Deacon Da- 
 kin, probably thinking to anticipate his less vigilant neighbors and 
 avail himself of the hidden treasure, or, perhaps, to outwit the de- 
 positor, resolved to blow the rock away. Making a confederate of 
 the blacksmith living close to him, and enjoining strict privacy in 
 the matter, they began operations ; the blacksmith to make the 
 necessary drills and other tools, the deacon to work and blow until 
 the coveted treasure should be brought to light. Laboring dili- 
 gently, they persevered until a huge hole was made in the rock ; 
 but no wealth, as may be readily conjectured, was ever obtained. 
 The hole blowed out I have often seen ; no doubt it remains there 
 yet.' It was said, when the matter leaked out, that they continued 
 to dig until they were admonished that they were taking too large 
 a liberty with the depositor's domain. 
 
 Upon a granite stone, mostly covered by lichens, on lot number 
 ten, in the eighteenth range, formerly owned by my father, was a 
 singular impression, which really was not a natural one. It was 
 reputed to have been the track of the same agent who had hid the 
 money at the high falls. The story connected with it was, that 
 Benjamin Knowlton, who lived on the next lot north, close to the 
 old road, which was on the Mason and New IjDswich line, had a 
 quarrel with his wife, in which she proved to be his better half in 
 
 11 
 
82 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 reality. The women in those days were some of them athletes as 
 well as amazons. I have seen one, — a daughter-in-law of Jonathan 
 Foster, or old Bear Foster, as he was familiarly called, whose lon- 
 gevity was mentioned by the gifted orator of the day, in the grove 
 this forenoon, — who could lift a barrel of cider, and, holding it on 
 her knees, drink from it. 
 
 Knowlton, exasperated at his discomfiture, invoked, as the story 
 goes, the help of one whom he believed was more than a match for 
 his belligerent wife. Responding promptly to the summons, he made 
 his appearance, somewhat to Knowlton's alarm. Nothing daunted, 
 his wife " pitched in " upon the new-comer, not exactly according 
 to the etiquette of the prize ring, but in a way that soon satisfied 
 him that it was not best to fight it out on that line, when, with a sin- 
 gle bound he lighted on the stone referred to, some ninety rods dis- 
 tant. When a child, I never dared to visit that stone except in com- 
 pany with older people. The spot said to be his track was free 
 from moss ; but whether sulphur was unfavorable to vegetation, 
 or some wag kept it carefully rubbed off to perpetuate the wonder, 
 I leave the audience to guess. Such are some of the incoherent 
 glimpses of our fathers in times gone by. 
 
 Permit me to close with the sentiment : Mason village, — my 
 native place. May his footprints never come nearer to it. 
 
 No. 8. — The Flag of our Union and its Literary Namesake. 
 
 RESPONDED TO BT JAMES E. ELLIOTT, OF BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 No. 9. — Our Common Schools. 
 
 RESPONDED TO BT KEV. E. J. EMERY, OP MASON. 
 
 No. 10. — The Homes of our Youth. 
 
 RESPONDED TO BY HON. WILLIAM W^. JOHNSON, OP NEW IPSWICH. 
 
 No. 11. — The Memory of John Boynton. 
 
 RESPONDED TO BY REV. D. GOODWIN, OF MASON CENTRE. 
 
 No report of this response having been furnished, I have thought 
 it suitable to copy and insert here the following : — 
 
 " Memorial notice of John Boynton, Esq., offered by the Presi- 
 dent and adopted by the Trustees of the Worcester County Free 
 Institute of Industrial Science, at the annual meeting held June 
 5, 1867. 
 
 " The death of John Boynton, Esq., the worthy and respected 
 founder of the Worcestei- County Free Institute of Industrial Sci- 
 ence, on the 25th of March last, is an event which demands a brief 
 memoir on our records. Mr. Boynton was born in Mason, N. H., 
 on the 31st of May, 1791. He worked as a farmer with his father, 
 
82 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 

SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 83 
 
 until near the year 1821. Then he began, at New Ipswich, the 
 manufacture and sale of tin ware. In a short time he removed to 
 Templeton, where he remained till he retired from active business, 
 in 1846. He was representative of the town of Templeton in the 
 State Legislature, but declined other public offices. After he dis- 
 posed of his business in Templeton, he resided in Athol, where he 
 was the first president of the Miller's River Bank in that town. 
 He was twice married, and had no children, and was a widower at 
 the time of Ms death. He died unexpectedly and suddenly, at 
 Templeton, after an attack of inflammation on the lungs, occa- 
 sioned by the exposure of a ride in a severe storm. 
 
 " He had little school instruction, and no literary taste. He 
 directed his powers less to intellectual culture than to the business 
 by which he sought to acquire wealth. He was modest and re- 
 served in his disposition, and quiet and orderly in his habits, and 
 he had a reputation for carefulness and moderate thrift, rather 
 than for large acquisitions, or a philanthropic spirit. He was re- 
 garded as an honest, unambitious man, whose thoughts and care 
 did not reach beyond his private affairs and his personal comforts. 
 His love of concealment was injurious to his acts of individual 
 kindness and his general popularity. This disposition was grati- 
 fied, in hiding in his own breast the benevolent enterprise to which 
 he intended to devote the largest part of his property, during his 
 life. It was, therefore, a subject of general surprise and admira- 
 tion, when his reluctance to make display could no longer conceal 
 the fact that this severe economist had acquired so large a power 
 of public beneficence, and that he had generously parted with it 
 during his life, to provide for young men the advantages of scien- 
 tific and skilful training in mechanic arts, and in other depart- 
 ments of active business, which he himself had not enjoyed, and 
 he had not been thought capable of appreciating. It is unneces- 
 sary to repeat here, that he was most liberal and accommodating 
 in adopting modifications of his original instructions, by which the 
 objects of this Institute could be more fully presented. He made 
 no provision or suggestion for his personal advantage or distinc- 
 tion, or for the honor of his name. No grain of selfishness tar- 
 nished the beauty of his noble benefaction. After giving to his 
 relatives such doAgitions as he judged proper and suflicient, he 
 transferred to this Institute one hundred thousand dollars, care- 
 fully invested, for the purposes set forth in his letter of gift. And 
 he reserved for himself a small amount of property, suflQcient 
 for his frugal habits and simple tastes in the residue of his life. 
 Several years ago he gave, in his peculiar and quiet manner, ten 
 thousand dollars for the public schools in Mason, N. H., where he 
 was born. 
 
 " "While he lived it was proper to respect his wishes as to any 
 personal distinction, in connection with his gifts. Now that the 
 providence of God has withdrawn him from participation in the 
 labors and feelings of this life, these trustees have a duty to pre- 
 
84 CENTENNlAl CELEBRATION. 
 
 serve his memorj' for honor and gratitude. The following resolu- 
 tion is, therefore, adopted : — 
 
 '■'■Resolved, That the principal building for instruction, of the 
 Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science, shall be 
 designated and called Boynton Hall, to perpetuate the honored 
 name of the founder of the Institute, and to enlarge the good in- 
 fluence of his wise and liberal benefaction." 
 
 It may not be improper to remark that Mr. Boynton acted upon 
 the principle which has rendered the name of G-eorge Peabody 
 illustrious for all time, that of bestowing his wealth and adminis- 
 tering his estate in his lifetime, not leaving it to be contended for 
 in, or wasted by, the expenses incident to lawsuits. He was buried 
 in the graveyard at Mason Centre, by the side of his first wife. 
 A chaste monument, erected in good taste, marlcs the appreciation 
 in which he was regarded by his friends and fellow-townsmen. 
 
 No. 12. — The Memory of Jonas Chickeiing. 
 
 No. 13. — The New England and Western States.in the same latitude ; 
 may no longitudinal line ever divide them. 
 
 EESPONDED TO BT BEV. GEORGE E. MERRIAM. 
 
 Of responses Nos. 8,9, 10, 12, and 13, inclusive, no report has 
 been furnished. 
 
 No. 14. — " The Doctors of Mason." 
 
 RESPONSE BT DR. JOHN BACHELDEE, OF PLYMOUTH, MASS. 
 
 1. William Barber. — He was born in Worcester, Mass., in 
 1767, and obtained a good private medical education. He came 
 to Mason in 1789, as a school-teacher. He was paid for his first 
 term of teaching, in the south district, $8.12J, besides waiting a 
 year and a half before the town voted to pay it.* He commenced 
 the practice of medicine in 1791, probably teaching school during 
 the preceding winter. In 1793, he purchased of the town a little 
 farm, at the rate of 18.67 per acre, which constituted the north- 
 east corner of the common or parade-ground on the Brookline 
 road, on which he erected a spacious house and other buildings. 
 The house is still standing, seventj'-five years old. He possessed 
 superior conversational powers and social qualities, employing lan- 
 guage at once chaste and fluent. Indeed, he was a model gentle- 
 man of the old school, and a careful and conscientious physician. 
 He continued in practice until disabled by infirmities of age, near 
 the close of his life, — about sixty-one years. He died in 1852, 
 aged eighty-flve years.f 
 
 * It is probable that this was a disputed arrearage, requiring special 
 vote of the town. 
 
 t Dr. Barber was a fellow-boarder with my father in the family of Mr. 
 John Winshlp, from the time he commenced practice In town until my 
 
SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 85 
 
 2. Joseph Gray. — He was born in Providence, R. I., was prob- 
 ably an officer of the Revolutionary army, perhaps surgeon, pro- 
 cured a thorough medical education in the best medical school 
 then in the United States, first settled in the town of Hudson (then 
 Nottingham west), removed to Mason in 1790, when he was 
 thirty-nine years of age. He settled on a farm,- one mile north of 
 the centre of the town, on the Wilton road. It is probable that 
 he erected the buildings oh his farm, and resided there nineteen 
 years. He appears to have been a physician of more than ordi- 
 nary attainment and skill, for the time. 
 
 3. Henry Gray. — He was son and successor of the preceding, 
 born in Hudson, 1783 ; practised medicine in Mason from 1809 to 
 1814, then relinquished his practice to Dr. Johnson, and removed 
 to Londonderry, Vt., where he was residing as late as 1859, being 
 then seventy-six years of age. 
 
 4. Willis Johnson. — He was born in Sturbridge, Mass., in 
 1786. He studied medicine with private tutors three and a half 
 years, which is more than the usually required time. He first set- 
 tled in Jaflfrey, in 1807, but removed to Peterborough the following 
 year, and remained there till he removed to Mason, in 1814, where 
 he remained until his death, in 1859. He was the only physician 
 of the list here mentioned who served in any civil office. He was 
 Town Clerk twenty-two years, — longer than the term of any other 
 Town Clerk. He was chairman of the Board of Selectmen five 
 years, and was Justice of the Peace from 1823 to the time of his 
 death, thirty-six years. Dr. Johnson was the latest and best 
 known of the deceased or removed physicians. He had a fine per- 
 sonal appearance, — large, well proportioned, dignified and com- 
 manding. He possessed an inexhaustible fund of anecdote, from 
 which he was always ready to draw on all proper occasions. He 
 never seemed to grow weary in relating reminiscences of the past, 
 
 father became a house-keeper. He then made his residence in his family 
 until he was married and began house-li;eeping. And after the death of his 
 first wife he returned, and resided with my father till his second marriage. 
 He was of a large frame, and possessed a vigorous constitution ; was 
 strong, resolute, and hardy,— qualities which peculiarly fitted him to endure 
 the hardships incident to his professional labors in a new and rough coun- 
 try, which required him often to travel on snow-shoes over the deep fields 
 of snow, saddle-bags on arm, or to breast and struggle his way through 
 immense drifts, impassable in any other way. Never, even in the most 
 severe weather, did he fail to respond to the calls of the suffering. Not 
 unfrequently, in the early years of his practice, would he find the houses 
 of the poor people whom he visited, destitute of all appliances for his con- 
 venience, often without candle or lamp, and he would be compelled to 
 spread his simples on the hearth, and on his knees before the fire to manip- 
 ulate his mixtures by its light; and sometimes he could find no cup or 
 vessel In which to mix liquid preparations, but a fragment of a broken 
 bean-pot, or of some other article of coarse earthen ware. He was of a 
 cheerful, genial disposition, kind and tender-hearted, ready to rejoice with 
 the prosperous, or to sympathize with the afflicted. -r t, tt 
 
 J. 13. H. 
 
86 CBNTENNIAI, CELEBRATION. 
 
 and thus often inducing his patients to forget their sufferings. He 
 exceeded all his predecessors and contemporaries in the extent of 
 his practice, which was not limited to the town in which he resided. 
 Notwithstanding his charges were extremely moderate, even for 
 the times, and his great indulgence towards his debtors — (I have 
 even been told that he never asked a debtor for payment ! Perhaps 
 this is not strictly true, but if partially true, it is a circumstance 
 worthy of note. What physician at the present day can live in 
 the exercise of a like indulgence ?) — yet he acquired a competence, 
 and probably no physician in this town had so large a circle of 
 friends and so few enemies, in proportion, as he had for many 
 years. For a period of forty years, these physicians (above 
 named) held almost the entire practice of the town and much out 
 of it. 
 
 In the village : — 
 
 1. George Chadwick, 1829-30. 
 
 2. Israel Herrick, 1831-34. 
 
 3. Otis Hoyt, 1835-37. 
 
 These, all holding a high rank as physicians, and in the popular 
 favor, maintained so brief a residence in the town, I will not speak 
 of them particularly. The doctors of Mason merit honorable 
 mention on this festival day — consecrated to the memory of our 
 ancestors. I shall only speak of the deceased and removed, who 
 cannot speak for themselves. These worthy men filled a large 
 place in the imagination of my boyhood. Their presence inspired 
 a feeling of awe which I felt in the presence of no other persons. 
 They appeared to me more than common mortals, — a kind of 
 demigods. The contents of the saddle-bags seemed to possess a 
 marvellous potency for good or evil, whose life-giving energy 
 could only be unlocked by the magic hand of the medical diviner. 
 With trembling eagerness I watched the changing features, while 
 his finger rested on the patient's pulse, or his eyes on the protruded 
 tongue, to catch the first monition of life or death. Then, the 
 prescription, — those mysterious mixtures of white, yellow and red, 
 which were just the composition required to charm away the 
 dreaded foe. The vocabulary, so strange, so awfully mystic ! Was 
 it Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or the language of immortals ? Pneu- 
 monia, hydrocephalus, hydrothorax, ascites, neuralgia, etc., etc. 
 What profound, superhuman learning ! Who could comprehend 
 such language ? The names of drugs were equally recondite, — 
 cinchonict, antimony tartarized, submuriate, steel. I knew that 
 many familiar tools were made of steel ; but what could doctors 
 do with steel, except in surgery ? The symptoms were of the same 
 sort. If the patient recovered, as he generallj' did, all honor to 
 the divine art, and to him who so skilfully wielded it. If he died, 
 still I knew there was One from whom proceed the issues of life 
 and death, and who could dispose of the one or the other according to 
 his behest, and the physician lost nothing in my estimation. His 
 
SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 87 
 
 skill was as conspicuous, I had faith to perceive, in the one case 
 as in the other. 
 
 Now this picture of a childish imagination, although somewhat 
 overdrawn, yet is a tolerably correct representation of the estima- 
 tion in which the conscientious physician was held by our grand- 
 fathers and grandmothers. The only learned men in their day 
 were the mini ster , the doctor, and the school -m aster. Lawyers found 
 no resting-place among the sternly upright yeomen of old ; and I 
 believe they still find it an uncongenial soil. The simple faith and 
 integrity which characterized the people then, themselves illiterate, 
 tended to exalt the skill and wisdom of those who attended them 
 through scenes of suffering and affiiction. The physician seemed 
 to possess a charmed life. Though in the midst of disease and 
 death, who ever heard, years ago, of a physician dying, or sick? 
 These events are of recent occurrence. The two Grays removed 
 from town, — the elder after-a residence of nineteen years. The 
 remaining and succeeding physicians enjoyed firm health through 
 a long term of practice, — one of sixty-one years, the other of 
 forty-flve. Who can wonder that they were regarded as a kind of 
 demigods bj' our simple-minded ancestors? But they have at last 
 yielded to the claims of mortality. Their dust now mingles with 
 the dust of those whose mortal woes they sought to alleviate. 
 
 Requiescant in pace ! All honor to a people, so confiding, so 
 conscientious, so prompt in remunerating those to whose care they 
 committed " their dearest earthly interests." 
 
 LETTER OF EDWAHD S. HILL. 
 
 RosEMOND, III., Aug. 19, 1868. 
 Dr. MarsJiall, Jona. Bussell, Esq., and Associates: — 
 
 Gents : Your letter of invitation to be present at the Centennial 
 Celebration in Mason, reached me in due time, and it would be to 
 me a source of much pleasure to be present on that occasion, but 
 my business is such that I must forego that pleasure. Many years 
 have passed since I was a resident of that town, yet it has always 
 been a source of great pleasure to me to visit the home of my 
 youth. When a boy I used to go to mill for Aaron Wood, Capt. 
 Wilson, and other neighbors, whose boys were too small to ride 
 astride the horse on top of two or more bags of grain to the Har- 
 bor, as the village was then called. Capt. Wood used to pay me 
 six cents each time. I put the cents in a small purse, and when I 
 had one hundred cents my purse was full ; that was the first money 
 I ever earned. The little purse of pennies to me. looked large, 
 and with it I bought a Bible, which I still possess. I have ever 
 loved to travel that road, over the Darling Hill to the Village. 
 Every tree, every rock, is an old acquaintance, and if any of them 
 have been removed, I miss them. I well remember many of those 
 who were the active men of the town one hundred years ago : Obadiah 
 Parker, Deacon Hall, Capt. Joseph Barrett, Samuel Smith, John 
 Swallow, Elder Wm. Elliott, Joshua Davis, and the old chorister, 
 
a» CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 Benj. Kendall, and others. Many of those named I think now 
 have none of their descendants in the town. Some portions of 
 the town have changed but little during the hundred years now 
 passed, while iu others many and great are the changes made, and 
 the progress onward. The old bog meadows and swamps, that 
 used to be thought worthless, are now of great value, and the 
 time is not far distant when all the productions of the town will 
 be brought into use. The shrubs, brakes, ferns, and innumerable 
 granite rocks and stones will be a source of profit to the inhabi- 
 tants of the town. I love to recall my early schoolmates and 
 school days, and the good old strict discipline and drill of the 
 schools, when persons passing a school-house would receive a 
 graceful bow from the children and youth, instead of a volley of 
 snow-balls, as is often the case at the present time. I know of 
 but few of the many who have emigrated from Mason, whose sub- 
 sequent lives have been a disgrace to the land of their birth. 
 May the present and the future generations of the town be an im- 
 provement on the past. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Edward S. Hill. 
 
 No. 16. — Twenty years ago. 
 
 Song sung by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel E. Wright, of Templeton, 
 Mass., who .left Mason to take up their abode iu Templeton, 
 just twenty years before the Centennial day : — 
 
 TWENTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 I've wandered to the village, Tom, 
 
 I've sat beneath the tree 
 Upon the school-house playgi-ound, 
 
 Which sheltered you and me ; 
 But none were there to greet me, Tom, 
 
 And few were left to know, 
 That played with us upon the grass 
 
 Some twenty years ago. 
 
 The grass is just as green, Tom; 
 
 Barefooted boys, at play. 
 Were sporting as we did then, 
 
 With spirits just as gay ; 
 But the master sleeps upon the hill, 
 
 Which, coated o'er with snow, 
 Afforded us a sliding-plaoe 
 
 Just twenty years ago. 
 
 The river's running just as still ; 
 
 The willows on its side 
 Are larger than they were, dear Tom ; 
 
 The stream appears less wide ; 
 
SENTIMENTS AND RESPONSES. 89 
 
 The grape-vine swing is ruined now, 
 
 Where once we played the beau, 
 And swung our sweethearts, "pretty girls V 
 
 Just twenty years ago. 
 
 The spring that bubbled 'neath the hill, 
 
 Close by the spreading beach. 
 Is very low ; 'twas once so high 
 
 That we could almost reach ; 
 And kneeling down to get a drink, 
 
 Dear Tom, I started so. 
 To see how much that I was changed, 
 
 Since twenty years ago. 
 
 Near by the spring, upon an elrn, 
 
 You know I cut your name, 
 Your sweetheart's just beneath it, Tom, 
 
 And you did mine the same. 
 Some heartless wretch had peeled the bark ; 
 
 'Twas dying sure but slow ; 
 Just as that one, whose name was cut. 
 
 Died twenty years ago. 
 
 My lids have long been dry, Tom ; 
 
 But tears came to my eyes, 
 I thought of her I loved so well, 
 
 Those early broken ties. 
 I visited the old church-yard, 
 
 And took some flowers to strew 
 Upon the graves of those we loved, 
 
 Some twenty years ago. 
 
 Some are in the church-yard laid, 
 
 Some sleep beneath the sea. 
 But few are left of our old class. 
 
 Excepting you and me ; 
 And when our time shall come, dear Tom, 
 
 And we are called to go, 
 I hope they'll lay us where we played 
 
 Just twenty years ago. 
 
 12 
 
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MASON 
 
 FKOM 1858 TO 186 8. 
 
 BY JOHN B. HILL. 
 
 " Mason, Sept. 5th, 1868. 
 
 "At a meeting of the Committee of General Arrangements for 
 the Centennial Celebration, held this day, it was voted unani- 
 mously to invite the Hon. John B. Hill to prepare for publication 
 the proceedings of the Centennial Celebration, Oration, Poem, 
 Chronicles, Responses to toasts, etc., so far as they can be ob- 
 tained, and to write the history of the town from the year 1858 
 to the present year, for publication. It was also voted that Abraam 
 Wright be a committee to inform Mr. Hill of the above action. 
 
 " Charles P. Richakdson, Clerk." 
 
 Pursuant to the preceding vote, the foregoing pages have been 
 prepared for publication, and I now proceed to complete the his- 
 tory of the town, having published, in 1858, a volume of 324 pages, 
 comprising the history of the town from the grant of the terri- 
 tory by the Masonian proprietors Nov. 1st, 1749, to the close of 
 the year 1868, in which will be found full lists of marriages and 
 deaths in the town for one hundred j'ears, lists of revolutionary sol- 
 diers, of town officers, and all particulars and incidents in the his- 
 tory of the town, both civil and religious, which were deemed to be 
 of importance. 
 
 It is said, " that is a happy people whose condition furnishes no 
 item for the historian." Such was the state of this people in the 
 years 1859 and 1860 ; but in 1861 they felt, with the rest of the 
 community, the approach of that great civil war, the magnitude 
 and horror of which are without example in the history of the 
 world. 
 
 At a town meeting May 16th, 1861, Voted, to appropriate 
 $1,500 for the use of volunteers who shall enlist in the service of 
 their country for three years. James L. Chamberlin, George 
 Taft, John 8. Spalding, Joseph B. "Wilson and Willard Jefts were 
 appointed a committee to have charge of the disbursement of the 
 said appropriation. 
 
 Voted, to present each person, a resident, who shall enlist for 
 three years, with a revolver. Voted, that the increase of the pay 
 of soldiers, above the government price of $11.00, be left to the 
 
HISTORY OP MASON. 91 
 
 discretion of the committee for the assistance to the families of 
 the volunteers. 
 
 1861, Oct. 7th. Voted, to pay to the wives of the volunteers en- 
 listed in the service of the United States, and their children under 
 16 years dependent on them, one dollar per week, not exceeding 
 $16 a month, for one family if necessary; and the disbursement 
 of the same was left with the above committee. 
 
 1862, Aug. 12. Voted, to pay a bounty of $100 to each volun- 
 teer from the town for three years, in the service of the United 
 States. Voted, to add $50 to the above bounty, if accepted by the 
 proper authorities. Voted, to pay $100 to volunteers for nine 
 months ; chose a committee, George W. Scripture, William Clag- 
 gett, Jacob Rideout, James Taft, John S. Spalding, to enlist 
 volunteers. 
 
 1863, Aug. 10. Voted, to pay to each volunteer, or to each 
 drafted man, or his substitute, out of the town treasury, $300, 
 not to be paid until ten days after he shall be mustered into the 
 service of the United States, and to raise $5,100 for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 1863, Sept. 29. Voted, to rescind the vote passed at the meeting 
 Aug. 10, and voted to pay to each drafted or conscripted man, or 
 to his substitute, to serve on our quota, $150, agreeably to the 
 act of the Legislature of June last, and that the selectmen borrow 
 the money for that purpose. 
 
 1863, Dec. 8. Voted, that the town will advance the money to 
 pay the volunteers the amount of the National and State bounties, 
 also to raise $400 to pay the volunteers in addition to the Na- 
 tional and State bounties. Wm. Gr. Lakin was chosen agent to 
 procure the volunteers to fill the quota of men now called for. 
 
 1864, March 8. Voted, to reimburse those who have paid for 
 substitutes under the recent draft to the amount of $300, inclu- 
 sive of $150 already paid by the town. Voted, to reimburse those 
 who have paid commutation to the amount of $150. 
 
 1864, Aug. 8. Voted, that the selectmen be instructed to pro- 
 cure substitutes to fill our quota under the present call for troops, 
 and to pay any sum not exceeding $200 for one year's, $400 
 for two years', and $600 for three years' men ; and any person 
 enrolled in the town, by paying the difference above the State and 
 town bounties, shall have the privilege of a substitute, and his 
 name be stricken from the enrolment. Voted, that the selectmen 
 be authorized to borrow $15,000 for the above object. Voted, 
 to sanction the doings of the selectmen in procuring substitutes 
 under former calls, and that they be authorized to borrow money 
 to paj' for the same. Voted, to pay $200 to each man that is 
 drafted to fill the quota of the town, when he is accepted and 
 mustered into the service of the United States, and that the 
 town borrow $5,000 for the same. 
 
 1865, March 14. Voted, that the selectmen be authorized to 
 procure substitutes to fill future quotas, and to borrow money for 
 
92 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 the same. Voted, that the selectmen be authorized to refund to 
 those Tvho have furnished substitutes to fill the town quotas, and 
 paid the commutation fee, the amount paid by them for that pur- 
 pose and to borrow $5,000 to pay for the same. 
 
 1867, March 12. Voted, to pay the soldiers who enlisted without 
 bounty in the late war, and were credited to the town, $100 a 
 year, and in that ratio for the time spent in the service of the 
 United States. Voted, to raise $1,800, for that purpose. 
 
TOWN OFFICERS. 
 
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ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 
 
 Under this head, it is my purpose to continue the history of the 
 churches and societies from 1858 to 1868. 
 
 In the first Congregational Church the Eev. Daniel Goodwin 
 continued his services, as stated in the " History of Mason," p. 251, 
 until he was installed as pastor, April 18, 1861, and he continued 
 in office at the close of the decade. 
 
 In the Christian Church the Eev. Mr. Nason was succeeded by 
 the Eev. Mr. Ham, whose successor was the Eev. Mr. Phillips. 
 The loss in this church and society by the death and by the re- 
 moval of members from town is probably the reason that since 
 the close of Mr. Phillips' ministry there has been no settled pastor 
 over this church. 
 
 In the Baptist Church, the ministry of Mr.. Cutting closed 
 March 31, 1861. In his ministry thirty members were added to 
 the church. He was succeeded by the Eev. E. J. Emery, April 
 14, 1861. His ministry closed March 21, 1865, during which the 
 additions to the church were fourteen. He was succeeded by the 
 Eev. L. C. Stevens, April 1, 1865, who still continues in ofHce. 
 Under his ministry fortj^-two have been added to the church. 
 The number of members, July 30, 1869, was eighty-four. Dea. 
 Jonas Adams died Feb. 28, 1859. Dea. Samuel Hartshorn died 
 Sept. 16, 1861. Benjamin H, Day and Sewall F. Adams were 
 chosen deacons Aug. 31, 1860. Eben Tilton was chosen deacon 
 July 3, 1868. In 1866 the church repaired their house of worship 
 at an outlay of about $600. In the same year Lucius A. Elliott, 
 Esq., of Boston, conveyed to the church, as a free gift, the prop- 
 erty including the dwelling-house and out-buildings in the village, 
 formerly owned by his father, the late George Elliott Esq., after 
 putting the same in good repair, to be used as a parsonage. 
 
 THE CONGEEGATIONAL CHUECH IN MASON VIL- 
 LAGE. 
 
 The death of Dea. Stephen Smith was soon followed by that of 
 Dea. Simeon Cragin, who departed this life Sept. 2, 1858, ripe in 
 years and graces of Christian character. The loss of these two 
 pillars has been deeply felt by the church, in the decade of years 
 that has since passed. A spirit of harmony has prevailed among 
 its members, with a good degree of outward prosperity, and yet, 
 for a variety of reasons, it has failed of that growth and strength 
 for which its friends have hoped. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 95 
 
 After a very brief pastorate, Eev. Samuel J. Austin resigned his 
 charge, April 24, 1859, and was succeeded bj' Rev. George E. 
 Fisher, who labored with great zeal and devotion, till Oct. 29, 
 1862, when he, too, at his own request, was dismissed from his 
 pastoral care. Soon after. Dr. M. N. Root was engaged as stated 
 supply, and continued Ms ministrations till the summer of 1864. 
 During the same season (August 27), a call was extended to 
 Rev. Andrew Jaquith ; but it reached him only on the eve of his 
 call to the heavenly service. In October, 1864, Rev. George, 
 F. Merriam, the present pastor, entered upon his ministry, and 
 March 9, 1865, was ordained and installed over the church. He 
 has found the field a very pleasant one, among the friends of youth, 
 and has enjoyed with them one season of special refreshing during 
 the winter of 1865, 1866. 
 
 The other officers ^f the church are. 
 
 Deacon Merrill G. Dodge, chosen Sept. 25, 1857. 
 " Marshall Kimball, " Nov. 5, 1858. 
 " Charles Baldwin, " Sept. 23, 1859. 
 " Charles Wilson, " " " 
 
 The Sabbath school, so long under the charge of Dea. Smith, 
 has, since his decease, continued to prosper in the care of super- 
 intendents Dea. Dodge, Bro. E. B. Barrett, and Dea. Wilson. 
 The present membership of the church is one hundred and ten, of 
 which thirty-eight are males, seventy-two females. The number 
 belonging to the Sabbath school is about one hundred and twelve. 
 Within the past few months the church has had special cause 
 for gratitude to its friends, and, above all, to Him who putteth 
 liberal things into the hearts of His people, for the gifts of a new 
 communion service, from Mrs. E. C. Brown, of Boston, and a par- 
 sonage from George D. Cragin, Esq., of New York. Both of 
 these presents were peculiarly welcome, and the latter, purchased 
 at a cost of three thousand dollars, is a munificent token of the 
 giver's kind remembrance of his native village, and love for the 
 church, to which, from its first organization, his parents were so 
 devoted. 
 
 The old Roman mother, pointing to her children, said, " These 
 are my jewels ;" and with similar spirit this church cherishes the 
 memory of her sainted ones. Among others, she mourns the early 
 death of Rev. Edwin E. Merriam, who was for years a member of her 
 Sabbath school, and though unable to mark any time when he did 
 not cherish Christian hope, was always accustomed to speak with 
 tender interest of the religious impressions here received. He 
 afterwards united with the church in Plymouth, Mass., graduated 
 at Amherst College in 1858, with high reputation as a scholar and 
 a writer ; taught in the South and West ; graduated at Union The- 
 ological Seminary, New York, in 1863 ; and was soon afterwards 
 called to the Presbyterian Church in Salem, Penn., where among 
 a loving people, and with the brightest prospects of usefulness, he 
 died, Feb. 17, 1865, aged twenty-eight years. His end was peace. 
 
96 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 List of Marriages from Kov., 1857, to close of the Year 
 1868. Taken from the Town Records. 
 
 1857, Nov. 22. George R. Elliott, Mason. Eliza E. Stevens, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 26. Leonard Elliott, Pepperell. Augusta S. Hodg- 
 
 man, Mason. 
 " Dec. 17. Henry Kirke, Mason. Sarah Gardiner, Mason. 
 " " 31. Kendell Davis, Sharon. Lucinda Chamberlin, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 1858, Jan. 4. Edmund Holden, Mason. Elizabeth Flagg, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 " April 15. Edmund Blood, Townsend. Nancy W. Simonds, 
 Townsend. * 
 
 " " 22. John Campbell, Mason. Lavinia Hemphill, 
 Mason. 
 
 " June 27. Moses Towne, Townsend. Nancy Razen, Town- 
 send. 
 
 " July 4. Charles H. Hanaford, West Brookfield. Jennie 
 A. Nason, Mason. 
 
 " Sept. 20. James H. Furgeson, Mason. Ellen M. Kim- 
 ball, Mason. 
 
 " Oct. 1. Elbridge Howe, Peterboro'. Henrietta Felch, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 " " 5. George M. Frederic, Mason. Mary J. Wright, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 " Nov. Joshua J. Hobart, Mason. Melvina S. Davis, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 " " 17. William G. Ober, Mason. Alice C. Glover, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 " " 20. Benjamin F. Lusk, Mason. Lucretia Butler, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 " " 25. Edward B. Richardson, Mason. Harriet S. 
 
 Watson, Mason. 
 
 " " " Abram H. Seaver, Mason. Martha F. Rich- 
 
 ardson, Mason. 
 
 " Dec. 28. John R. Lynch, Mason. Abbie J. Kimball, 
 Mason. 
 
 " " 30. Alfred M. White, Mason. Marietta Holt, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 1859, Feb. 29. Benjamin F. March, Mason. Ellen Finley, 
 
 Mason. 
 " April 15. Perry Farrar, Mason. Mary Blood, Mason. 
 " May 15. Marshall Kimball, Mason. Loisa J. Allen, 
 
 Mason. 
 " Nov. 20. John S. Bennett, Nashua. Sarah J. Dinsmore, 
 
 Nashua. 
 
MAKKIAGES. 97 
 
 1859, Dec. 4. Elisha B. Barrett, Mason. Carrie McClure, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 20. Eufus Smith, Danville. Susan A. Ingalls, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 1860, Jan. 17. Joseph B. Bobbins, Mason. Helen M. Wyman, 
 
 Mason. 
 " June 2. C. N. Bennett, Boston. Olive M. Kelley, 
 
 Pittsfield, N. H. 
 " " 30. Elbridge H. Howe, New Ipswich. Carrie H. 
 
 Baldwin, New Ipswich. 
 " " " Charles M. Pierce, Dempster. S. Dizzie Howe, 
 
 New Ipswich. 
 " Sept. 20. Samuel L. Gerould, Stoddard. Ducy'A. Mer- 
 
 riam. Mason. 
 " Oct. 8. John K. Mills, Mason. Elizabeth B. Holt, 
 
 Mason. 
 " ■ Dec. 30. James P. Nutting, Mason. Mary A. Phillips, 
 
 Fall River. 
 
 1861, Jarl. 1. William W. Pritchard, Mason. Emeline E. Div- 
 
 ingston. Mason. 
 " " 28. Jeremy Weston. Dydia J. Karkin. 
 " May 12. Edmund Merriam, Mason. Maria A. Pierce, 
 
 New Ipswich. 
 " " 19. Charles H. Dix, Mason. Jannette Sherwin, 
 
 Mason. 
 " July 4. Aaron Wheeler, Fitchburg. Dorcas Sawyer, 
 
 Mason. 
 " Nov. 26. Morton L. Barrett, Mason. Rhoda M. Jones, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 26. Nelson L. Barrett, Mason. Hattie A. Russell, 
 
 New Ipswich. 
 
 1862, March 27. Albert Taylor, Wilton. Mary E. Tibbetts, 
 
 Mason. 
 " April 6. Thomas Jackson, Wilton. Anna E. Blood, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 10. Charles L. Robbins, Mason. Abby J. Davis, 
 
 Mason. 
 " June 10. John A. Wright, Keene. Julia A. McCoy, 
 
 Grilsum. 
 " July 6. Elisha K. Frederick, Mason. Emeline V. Rolf, 
 
 Sharon. 
 " " 18. Henry B. Hosmer, Mason. Hattie E. Elliott, 
 
 Mason. 
 " Aug. 14. Milton H.Hardy, Mason. Mary Jane Marshall, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 16. George D. Reed, Mason. Eliza Elliott, Mason. 
 " Nov. 11. Samuel H. Wheeler, Mason. Augusta Camp- 
 bell, Manchester. 
 13 
 
98 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 1862, Dec. 31. Luther A. Blood, Mason. Harriet A. Fuller, 
 
 Charlestown, Mass. 
 
 1863, Jan. 1. Henry Kendall, Shirley. Mary E. Felton, 
 
 Mason. 
 
 " " 1. Joseph McGown, Shirley. Clementine E. Bax- 
 ter, Mason. 
 
 " Feb. 10. Lyman K. Sawtell, Springfield, Mass. Mary 
 Jane Whitehead, Rindge. 
 
 " " 11. George H. Goodwin, Mason. Mary Holbrook, 
 Groton Junction. 
 
 " May 24. Charles W. Tarbell, New York. Sarah D. 
 Goodwin, Mason. 
 
 " June 6. J. Harrison Hutchinson, Wilton. Emma T. 
 Moore, Temple. 
 
 " " 27. Warner Eussell, Mason. Phebe Elliott, Mason. 
 
 " " 27. Bradley Stone, Milford. Harriet E. J. Temple, 
 Milford. 
 
 " " 30. Adin A. Smith, Wilmington, Vt. Lucy Ellen 
 Tenney, New Ipswich. 
 
 " July 19. William's. White, Mason. Mary M. Emery, 
 New Ipswich. 
 
 " " 19. Levi Johnson, Deering, N. H. Hannah F. 
 Warby, North Chelmsford. 
 
 " Nov. 1. Oren J. Manning, Townsend. Martha Camp- 
 bell, Mason. 
 
 1864, Feb. 11. James M. Nutting, Mason. Susan A. Lobdel, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 18. Jacob H. Bachelder, Mason. Maria S. Hodg- 
 
 man. Mason. 
 " " 18. Perry Farrar, Mason. Sophronia N. Tarbell, 
 
 Mason. 
 " March 8. Charles A. Wright, New Ipswich. Mary E. J. 
 
 Sanders, Mason. 
 " 20. Marquis L. Holt, Mason. Rocene Sherwin, 
 
 Mason. 
 " July 28. Joseph B. Wilson, Mason. Persis S. Blodgett, 
 
 Mason. 
 " Aug. 15. Jonas Richards, Jr., Mason. Isabel Ferman, 
 
 Townsend. 
 " " 17. Seth Preston, Jr., Mason. Katie A. Fuller, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 27. George L. Creighton, Mason. Martha M. Hol- 
 
 den, Mason. 
 " Nov. 20. Edward J. O'Donnell, Mason. Nellie F. Fres- 
 co tt. Mason. 
 " " 20. Frank L. Peabody, Mason. Emeltne A. Pres- 
 
 cott. Mason. 
 " " 24. George Cutting, Fitzwilliam. Jane McGown, 
 
 Mason. 
 
MARRIAGES. 99 
 
 1865, Feb. 9. John Richards, Mason. Winfred Richards, 
 Townsend, Mass. 
 " " 27. George E. Smith, Ashby, Mass. Eliza A. 
 
 Badger, Mason. 
 " " 28. Moses C. Wilson, Sharon. Amelia "W. 
 
 Sylvester, New Ipswich. 
 " " 28. Artemas Sylvester, Jr., New Ipswich. Hannah 
 
 P. Wilson, Sharon. 
 " April 2. Franklin B. Heald, Mason. Emma E. Pritch- 
 
 ard, Mason. 
 " May 8. Prucius W. Manley, New Ipswich. Martha A. 
 
 Swallow, New Ipswich. 
 " June 10. John S. Sargeant, Milford. Abby A. Putnam, 
 
 Mason. 
 " Aug. 19. Abbott A. Forbush, Peterborough. Lizzie M. 
 
 Putnam, Mason. 
 " " 31. Charles Russell, Appleton, Wis., Sarah A. 
 
 Wilder, Mason. 
 " Sept. 20. Henry L. Stone, Groton. Juliette R. Bond, 
 
 New Ipswich. 
 " Oct. 24. Samuel N. Barrett, Mason. Eliza Brown, 
 
 Ashby. 
 " " 29. Herbert Willard, Ashby. Abby J. Robbins, 
 
 Mason. 
 1866, April 19. Samuel H. Oliver, Mason. Emma E. Sawtell, 
 
 Mason. 
 " May 16. Samuel McGown, New Ipswich. Charlotte L. 
 
 Johnson, New Ipswich. 
 " June 15. George W. Russell. Sarah A. Ewing. 
 " " 16. Oliver Felix, Mason. Mary Percy, Mason. 
 " " 16. Stephen Austin, Mason. Lydia S. Boynton, 
 
 Mason. 
 " " 16. Mitchell Lafayette, Mason. Eveline L. Preue, 
 
 Mason. 
 " July 5. Alfred J. Morse, Mason. Almira J. Upton, 
 
 Peterborough. 
 " " 8. William O. Robbins, Mason. Martha Jane 
 
 Barrett,, Ashby. 
 " " 31. Michael P. Donley, New Ipswich. Hattie A. 
 
 Christie, New Ipswich. 
 " Dec. 2. Joseph C. Mason, Mason. Hattie J. Kings- 
 bury, Mason. 
 " " 5. Francis A. Spaulding, South Reading. Orinda 
 
 York, Peterborough. 
 " " 13. Abner Holden, Mason. Rachel Boynton, Ma- 
 
 son. 
 " " 25. George E. Blood, Mason. Lizzie Gailey, Ma- 
 
 son. 
 
100 
 
 
 
 1867, 
 
 Jan. 
 
 1. 
 
 
 a 
 
 2, 
 
 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 
 a 
 
 20, 
 
 
 Feb. 
 
 3. 
 
 
 u 
 
 3. 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 George H. Livingston, Weymouth, Mas?. 
 
 Mary J. Pierce, Mason. 
 John Rhoades, Fayette, Iowa. Ruvina M. Cra- 
 
 giu, Mason. 
 Franklin B. Holden, Mason. Fannie L. Ken- 
 dall, Jaffrey. 
 George S. Smith, Nashua. Almira S. Flagg, 
 
 Mason. 
 Amasa Ai Wright, Ashby. Lizzie Susan Badger, 
 
 Ashby. 
 Joseph A. Cragin, Temple. Mary E. Sheldon, 
 Temple. 
 " 23. Patrick Murphy, Mason. Lizzie Lary, Mason. 
 Aprilll. Job Siiattuck, Mason. Azubah F. Davis, Ma- 
 son. 
 " 30. George R. Elliott, Mason. Sarah Austin, 
 Mason. 
 Oct. 4. Ai Richards, Mason. Ellen E. Day, Town- 
 send. 
 " 24. Otis P. Pratt, New Ipswich. Emma C. Ball, 
 Mason. 
 Edmund B. Newell, Maso;i. Fannie A. Fessen- 
 
 den. New Ipswich. 
 Joseph Chambeylin, Mason. Elizabeth Putnam, 
 
 Mason. 
 True Robbins, Mason. Louisa Ames, Mason. 
 Louis H. Robbins, New Ipswich. Abbie E. 
 
 Wheeler, New Ipswich. 
 Anthony Denevere, Mason. Matilda St. Peters, 
 Mason. 
 April 22. Enville J. Emery, Mason. Melissa Emery, 
 
 Mason. 
 June 2. T. E. Oxford, Fitchburg, Mass. Genevieve 
 A. Becker, Fitchburg, Mass. 
 " 10. Daniel P. Blake, Westminster, Mass. Melissa 
 R. Newell, Mason. 
 July 2. William F. March, Mason. Adeliza Bolton, 
 West Boylston, Mass. 
 " 5. Henry A. Barker, Dublin, N. H. Abbie J. 
 Lovejoy, Mason. 
 Aug. 19. Henry W. Wilson, New Ipswich, N. H. Viola 
 
 M. Davis, New Ipswich, N. H. 
 Sept. 24. Otis C. Elliott, Mason. S. Georgie Nutting, 
 Mason. 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 30. 
 
 a 
 
 Nov. 
 
 9. 
 
 a 
 
 Dec. 
 
 7, 
 
 ii. 
 
 (t 
 
 17. 
 
 1868, 
 
 Jan. 
 
 25 
 
101 
 
 lAst of Deaths from Jan. 1, 1858, to Dec. 31, 1868. Taken 
 from, the Town Records, corrected hy the Records of the 
 Clergymen. 
 
 1858, Jan. 1. Cunimings McClure, 27. 
 
 " " 1. Infant child of Levi Joslin, 5 ms. 
 
 " Mar. 18. John H. Sawtell, dropsy. 
 
 " " 20. Infant child of Jona. Connell, 9 mos. 
 
 " " 31. John P. French, suicide, 34. 
 
 " April 1. Hannah Adams, 62. 
 
 " May 10. Charles O. Hodgman, suicide, 34. 
 
 " " 30. Elnathan D. Boynton, palsy, 51. 
 
 " June 1. Anna C.Henry, convulsions, 1. 
 
 " " 7. Peter Mullen, drowned, 24. 
 
 " " 7. Infant child of Thomas Ganey, 8 days. 
 
 " " 10. Willie P. Adams, scarlet fever, 5. 
 
 " " 16. Augustus E. Chapman, scarlet fever, 11. 
 
 " " 26. Charles C. Eobbins, scarlet fever, 8. 
 
 " " 26. Hattie M. Bobbins, scarlet fever, 4. 
 
 " July 4. Caroline E. Claggett, scarlet fever, 7. 
 
 " " 6. Ella Florence Wilson, scarlet fever, 6. 
 
 " " 10. Addie E. Adams, scarlet fever, 5. 
 
 " " 14. Charles W. Wilson, scarlet fever, 3. 
 
 " " 21. Euth Harding, old age, 95. 
 
 " Aug. 26. James D. Goddard, scarlet fever, 7. 
 
 " Sept. 21. Simeon Cragin, consumption, 71. 
 
 " Oct. 2. Dr. Willis Johnson, heart disease, 71. 
 
 " Nov. 1. Michael Grady, scarlet fever, 3. 
 
 " " 7. Lorena Russell, consumption, 22. 
 
 " Dec. 11. Timothy Jones, 78. 
 
 1859, Feb. 14. Mr. Ward, 23. 
 
 " " 18. Eunice B. Hosmer, dropsj', 77. 
 
 " " 27. Jonas Adams, fever, 74. 
 
 " Mar. 7. Micah Eussell, consumption, 67. 
 
 " " 8. Clara E. Merriam, 9 ms. 
 
 " " 20. Mrs. Abigail Hill, old age, 87 ys. and 6 ms. 
 
 " May 20. Irish child, 6 ms. 
 
 " June 28. Susao Cragin, consumption, 25. 
 
 " " 30. Mrs. S. Tarbell, old age, 69. 
 
 " Aug. 12. Martha Merriam, 43. 
 
 " " 16. Andrew Elliott, cholera, 69. 
 
 " " 16. Euth Withee, consumption, 71. 
 
 " " 29. Child of Wm. Claggett, fever, 1. 
 
 " Sept. 11. Martha Eussell, mortification, 50. 
 
 " Oct. 3. DeWitt C. Claggett, fever, 1. 
 
 " " 12. Noah Winship, consumption, 74. 
 
 " " 14. Asa B. Hodgman, consumption, 34. 
 
102 CENTENNIAI, CELEBRATION. 
 
 1859, Nov. 23. William Webber, cancer, 77. 
 
 " " 25. Zebiah Fletcher, consumption, 36. 
 
 " Dec. 9. Elijah Davis, old age, 80. 
 
 " 12. Eunice Davis, old age, 80. 
 
 1860, Jan. 19. James Gordon, consumption, 19. 
 " Mar. 3. Mary Wheeler, consumption, 44. 
 
 " " 7. Dea. Amos H. Hosmer, consumption, 47. 
 " " 16. Maria Withington, consumption, 16. 
 " " 19. Harry Larl^en, fits, 5 ms. 
 " July 21. Mary Morse, dropsy, 63. 
 
 [No record of this year later than July 21.] 
 
 1861, Jan. 9. Mrs. E. K. Hardy, 39. 
 
 " " 21. Lucy M. Cutter, consumption, 20. 
 
 " " 29. Periey Sanders, 84. 
 
 " Feb. 5. Edward A. Hurdy, fever, 14. 
 
 " " 20. Edwin B. Watson, 7 mos. 
 
 " Mar. 10. Luther Elliott, 47. 
 
 " 10. Timothy P. Elliott, 42. 
 " " 31. James Proctor, old age, 83. 
 " " 31. Hannah Taft, old age, 75. 
 " " 31. Sarah Felt, fever, 17. 
 
 " April 7. John Baldwin, lung fever, 60. 
 
 " May 2. Sarah Lawrence, 70. 
 
 " June 2. Wilson, scarlet fever, 3. 
 
 " July 29. Hannah Fisher, 3 ms. 
 
 " Aug. 29. Rebecca Kussell, consumption, 23. 
 
 " Sept. 14. Samuel Hartshorn, consumption, 78. 
 
 " " 19. Martha, Green, fever, 23. 
 
 " Oct. 5. Nancy Flagg, dropsy, 69. 
 
 " Nov. 11. Charles Prescott, fever, 58. 
 
 " " 12. Henry E. Blood, fever, 22. 
 
 " " 21. Daniel L. Merriam, fever, 20. 
 
 1862, Mar. 10. Morton Ingalls, fever, 2] . 
 " " 13. Henry Russell, 17. 
 
 " May 19. Roger Weston, consumption, 73. 
 
 " June 26. Jennie McClure, fever, 6. 
 
 « " 29. Melinda B. Wilson, 49. 
 
 " Aug. 25. George W. Watson, 25. 
 
 " Sept. 14. Amos Rbbbins, old age, 87. 
 
 " " 22. F. M. Knapp, cholera infantum, 4 ms. 
 
 " Oct. 7. Mary Winship, fever, 31. 
 
 " Nov. 12. Thankful Sawtell, dropsy, 61. 
 
 " " 12. Charles E. Merriam, in army, 19. 
 
 " " 27. Hannah H. Merriam, erysipelas, 52. 
 
 " Dec. 2. Ephraim Russell, old age, 97. 
 
 " " 13. Mary Darling, heart disease, 73. 
 
 1863, Jan. 11. Edward Lamb, diphtheria, 2. 
 
 " " 15. Ira M. Whitaker, measles, in army, 17: 
 
DEATHS. 
 
 103 
 
 1863, Jan. 19. Abijah Elliott, disease of kidneys, 61. 
 " Feb. 8. Abby Hayward, consumption, 30. 
 " " 12. Lucinda Chamberlin, 67. 
 " " 17. James W. Merriam, 26. 
 " " 17. Hannah Webber, old age, 74. 
 " " 21. Infant child of G. L. Blood, lung fever. 
 " " 22. Sally Easterbrook, 80. 
 " Mar. 14. John B. Smith, diphtheria, in army, 18. 
 " " 20. Lyman L. Sanders, diphtheria, in army, 19. 
 " " 21. Mary Merriam, fever, 66. 
 " " 23. Mary Russell, dropsy, 79. 
 " April 22. Wm. Eastman, 53. 
 " " 24. Calvin Amsden, consumption, 50. 
 " May 6. Wife of Joseph White, 54. 
 " " 25. Joanna Newell, 66. 
 
 David Amsden, old age, 82. 
 Cynthia Bachelder, consumption, 37. 
 George Martin, consumption, 81. 
 Eliza Chamberlin, 60. 
 Thomas Eussell, apoplexy, 77. 
 Claytie O. Scripture, cholera infantum, 2. 
 Joseph White, apoplexy, 67. 
 James Davis, died in army, 40. 
 George L. Adams, chronic diarrhosa, 37. 
 Frederic P. Scripture, cholera infantum, 1. 
 Gustavus Johnson, dysentery, 66. 
 Calvin Davis, consumption, 58. 
 Charles E. Russell, dysentery, 10. 
 " 23. Franlde Scripture, cholera infantum, 2 ys. 10 mos. 
 " 26. Lydia Hunt, gravel, 89. ■ 
 " 26. Emogene Russell, 8. 
 Sept. 5. Bell C. Pierce, consumption, 19. 
 " 9. Eunice Holden, dysentery, 67. 
 " 12. Rachel Barber, old age, 94 ys. 6 mos. 
 " 15. Samuel Withington, dysentery, 77 ys. 9 mos. 
 " 16. Freddie L. Richardson, " 2 ys. 8 mos. 
 " 19. Lucy A. Hosmer, " 4 ys. 11 mos. 
 
 " 26. Esther Flagg, dysentery, 70. 
 
 " 28. Eobbins, croup, 3. 
 
 " 28. Adams, diphtheria, 4. 
 
 « 30. . Nutting, " 2. 
 
 " 30. Eobbins, croup, 1. 
 
 Oct. 1. Azubah Withington, dysentery, 83. 
 " 5. Clarrisa A. Barrett, 33. 
 " 13. Wm. W. Pritchard, consumption, 37. 
 " 18. Harriet B. Hosmer, consumption, 22. 
 " 28. Mary B. Farrar, dysentery, 53. 
 " 31. Finis D. Creighton, fever, 10. 
 
 June 10, 
 
 u 
 
 19. 
 
 (( 
 
 28. 
 
 July 
 
 2. 
 
 31. 
 
 Aug, 
 
 . 1. 
 2. 
 
 (( 
 
 10. 
 
 IL 
 
 18. 
 
 £( 
 
 21 
 
 ii 
 
 21 
 
 a 
 
 21, 
 
 ii 
 
 22, 
 
104 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 1863, Nov. 9. Albert Taft, apoplexy, 57. 
 
 " " 11. Child of James S. Tnttle, 3 mos. 
 
 " " McGown, diphtheria, 3. 
 
 " Dec. 5. Josiah Flagg, fever, 78. 
 
 " " 11. Thomas Wilson, fever, 85. 
 
 " " 18. Orie H. Elliott, diphtheria, 3 mos. 
 
 " " 20. Maria Whitaker, consumption, 38. 
 
 " " 28. Lydia Tarbell, old age, 78. 
 
 " " 31. Albert F. Davis, diphtheria, 21. 
 
 1864, Jan. 8. Lucy Wilson, old age, 86. 
 
 " " 21. John E. Stearns, chronic diarrhoea, 32. 
 
 " " 24. Elva E. Blood, dropsy of brain, 3ys. 10 mos. 
 
 " " 24. Lucy Scripture, 82. 
 
 " " 26. Sarah G. Gilman, diphtheria, 3. 
 
 " " Patrick Mullen, colic, 1. 
 
 . " Feb. 2. Hannah Shattuck, consumption, 68. 
 
 " " 19. Emma F. Gilman, diphtheria, 9 ys. 6 mos. 
 
 " Mar. 25. Mary Heald, palsy, 70. 
 
 " " 28. Eobbins, whooping cough, 2 mos. 
 
 " " Sarah Lobdell, diphtheria, 6. 
 
 DIED IN THE ARMY. 
 
 Ralph Weston, 
 Granville Robbins, 
 Nathaniel Smith, 58. 
 Albert Austin, 
 Charles Baldwin, 
 Barzillai Russell. 
 
 " Apr. 15. Etta M. Wright, diphtheria, 9. 
 
 " " 25. Wife of Oliver Allen, 66. 
 
 " May 11. Son of Wallace Pritchard, 2 ys. 
 
 " " 18. H. Dix, in rebel prison, 25. 
 
 " " 31. Mrs. Mary Kimball, 68. 
 
 " " 31. A French child, 4 or 5 ys. 
 
 " July Mr. Ellis, 45. 
 
 " " 28. Widow of Joel Ames, 89. 
 
 " Aug. 25. Son of Leander Nutting, 27. 
 
 " Sept. 3. William Davis, 58. 
 
 " " 5. Clemena Winship, 37. 
 
 " " , Mr. Worcester, 80. 
 
 " Dec. 5. Francis Cragin, 37. 
 
 1865, Jan. 18. John Withee, 79. 
 
 " " 22. Lucy Barrett, old age, 86. 
 
 " Feb. 6. Daughter of Mr. Fontaine, 20. 
 
 " " 7. Sally Smith, consumption, 71. 
 
 " " 14. Sarah E. Farwell, croup, 3 mos. 
 
 " " 15. Luther Livingston, heart disease, 67. 
 
 " Mar. 13. Olive A. Wilson, consumption, 39. 
 
DEATHS. 105 
 
 1865, Mar. 13. Child of Mr. Reed, 
 " " 25. Lucy Eobbins, 85. 
 
 " " 30. Benoni C. Kimball, diabetes, 74. 
 
 " " Harriet Allen, 67. 
 
 " Apr. 24. Judith, wife of Abijah Eaton, 78. 
 
 " June 23. Sarah, widow of Andrew Elliott, 79. 
 
 " Aug. 16. Wife of John Felt, 72. 
 
 " Sept. Abial A. Nutting, dysentery, 61. 
 
 " Oct. Infant son of Charles Lynch, 7 mos. 
 
 " " 11. Abijah Eaton, 80. 
 
 " Nov. 24. Freddie Arthur Claggett, croup, 2. 
 
 " Dec. 17. Child of E. B. Hosmer, 2 mos. 
 
 1866, Jan. 2. James A. Wyman, consumption, 22. 
 " " 12. Mrs. Martha Burdick, 33. 
 
 " Feb. 10. Wm. Darling, 79. 
 
 Child of James Tuttle, 2 mos. 
 
 " July 15. Mary, widow of Samuel Hill, old age, 86. 
 
 " Aug. 11. Child of Abial Nutting, 
 
 " " Child of Whitney, 11 mos. 
 
 " " 20. Amelia Adams, consumption, 20. 
 
 " " 28. Clara A. Eussell. consumption, 17. 
 
 " Sept. 22. Infant child of S'. H. Wheeler, 5 weeks. 
 
 « " 8. Ellen Sheridan, 15. 
 
 " Oct. 31. Amos Flagg, 84. 
 
 " Dec. Wm. P. Smith, dropsy, 62. 
 
 1867, Jan. 3. Sarah W. Adams, 78. 
 " Feb. 9. Sarah Brasen, 65. 
 
 " " 13. Lillie Adams, congestion of brain, 1 m. 
 
 " " 14. John S. Proctor, fever, 50. 
 
 " Mar. 8. Frank M. Pierce, rupture, 13. 
 
 " " 10. Polly Carlton, old age, 89. 
 
 " " 11. Son of Charles Lynch, 2 days. 
 
 " " 15. Katie F. Preston, consumption, 22 ys. 9 mos. 
 
 " Apr. 15. James Gailey, consumption, 21. 
 
 " " 22. Anne J. Emery, suicide, 39. 
 
 « " 24. George Tibbetts. 
 
 " May 18. Charles Hayes, diabetes, 11. 
 
 " " 18. Dailey, 5 mos. 
 
 " June 6. George Mansfield, 1 day. 
 
 " Julj French child. 
 
 " Aug; 10. Abigail P. Winship, heart, 78. 
 
 " Oct. 5. Sally Merriam, paralysis, 79. 
 
 " Nov. 10. Patrick Murphy, heart, 30. 
 
 " Dec. 19. Seth Preston, Jr., accident, 24. 
 
 1868, Feb. 17. Elizabeth Hodge, old age, 90. 
 " Apr. 26. Sophia Hunt, suicide, 59. 
 
 " May 17. Mrs. Lucy Wyman, 28. 
 
 " May 18. Infant child of Wm. Crighton, 
 14 
 
106 CENTENUIAI, CELEBRATION. 
 
 1868, June 14. Joel Smith, consumption, 50. 
 
 " July 15. Alfred Davis, sunstroke, 61. 
 
 " " 19. John Gordon, 38. 
 
 " Aug. 8. Mrs. Mary Nutting, 32. 
 
 " " 10. Infant son of Samuel N. Barrett, 4 mos. 
 
 " Sept'. 6. Preston Elliott, 10. 
 
 " Oct. 26. Infant child of Otis Robbing, 1 month. 
 
 The record of births in the town-books is so deficient and imper- 
 fect, as not to be worth publishing. 
 
 A Report of the N'umber and Names of Soldiers Furnished 
 by the Toivn of Mason, for the Suppression of the Re- 
 bellion, as tnade out Feb. 29, 1866, by Charles JS. Fres- 
 cott. 
 
 Thomas E. Marshall, Co. G, 2d Reg't, June 5, 1861. Wounded 
 July 2, 1863. Promoted to second Sergeant, and then through 
 every grade up to Captain. Re-enlisted January 5, 1864. In that 
 year he was placed in command of a companj' of sharp-shooters, 
 in which he served till the close of the war. 
 
 Charles H. Dix, Co. G-, 2d Reg't, June 6 1861. Discharged 
 for disability, Dec. 3, 1861. 
 
 Charles E. Foster, Co. G, 2d Reg't, June 5, 1861. Re-enlisted 
 January 1, 1864. 
 
 Levi J. Josslin, Co. G, 2d Reg't, June 5, 1861. Promoted 
 Corporal. Mustered out June 21, 1864. 
 
 John Kenney, Co. G, 2d Reg't, June 5, 1861. Mustered out 
 June 21, 1864. 
 
 Augustus G. Nutting, Co. G, 2d Reg't, June 5, 1861. Mus- 
 tered out June 21, 1864. 
 
 Andrew Corbit, Co. H, 2d Reg't, June 5, 1861. Deserted at 
 Concord, May 5, 1863. 
 
 Michael C. Haley, Co. H, 2d Reg't, June 5, 1861. Promoted 
 Corporal. Mustered out Sept. 21, 1863. 
 
 Marquis L. Holt, Co. E, 3d Reg't, August 23, 1861. Promoted 
 Corporal. Re-enlisted Feb. 15, 1864. 
 
 Ephraim Crandall, Co. C, 4th Reg't, Sept. 18, 1861. Died of 
 disease June 23, 1863. 
 
 Romango L. Nutting, Corporal, Co. E, 6th Reg't, Nov. 28, 
 1861. Not officially accounted for. 
 
 Henry A. Jones, Co. E, 6th Reg't, Nov. 28, 1861. Re-enlisted 
 Dec. 25, 1863. 
 
 Seth Preston, Co. B, 8th Reg't, Dec. 20, 1861. Re-enlisted 
 Jan. 4, 1864. 
 
THE MASON BOYS. 
 
 The men of Jlusiiii here are they, 
 
 Tlicy fear no foe connives ; 
 Here nro the men who courting are, 
 
 And those -n-ho leave their wives. 
 
 Om' Sergeant Ilearns a farmer wa^^. 
 
 And clerk in a hotel ; 
 Oiu' Corporal Adams he is bound 
 
 His duties to do well. 
 
 And now wt' have two gallant men. 
 Who fear no monarcli's thrones. 
 
 And both indeed are livuig men, 
 And both are lining stones. 
 
 Sam Reed is on Ins duties bound. 
 
 As he goes on his way, 
 But where are those five dollars due ? 
 
 Oh L— i M 1 say. 
 
 t)ur Corporal Davis has a son 
 
 Enlisted for three years ; 
 And Edward of his father thinks. 
 
 Amid life's toils and fears. 
 
 Dav. Bobbins he has left liis farm, 
 Sam Wheeler did the same ; 
 
 AVed since he was a soldier boy — 
 Let's honor Samuel's name. 
 
 Xatli. Adams does forgot his years. 
 
 No draft has he to fear. 
 And yet our Nathan dauntless stands, 
 
 A ITnion Vohmteer. 
 
 Tom .Tackson is a patriot 
 
 A\'ho does not fear a foe ; 
 He thinks of days he traveled with 
 
 The famed Van Amburg's Show. 
 
 Then Deacon Marshall Kimball comes, 
 
 Witli principles so true ; 
 Nathaniel Smith, om' veteran, 
 
 The traitor would subdue. 
 
 Syd. Barrett was bormd to enlist, 
 
 He tried to go three years. 
 And when they woidd not lake him in 
 
 lie j,-,t_j.^:„y. A'ojuntecrs. 
 
 Uur Sergeant Stevens taught a school 
 And ti-aveled in the West ; 
 
 And Edward Davis, James's son, 
 Can truly stand the t*st. 
 
 Witli knapsack packed upon his back, 
 
 Another man I see ; 
 He's starting for the seat' of war — 
 
 Cliarles (iorham, our II. D. 
 
 And Charlie Baldwin ne.tt arrives, 
 Of sweet -hearts has a share. 
 
 And Albert Austin he was bound 
 The traitor foe to daro. 
 
 And Chaimcey .\dams, Niilhan's son, 
 
 And Lvman Saunders bold, 
 And Granville Bobbins who would not 
 
 Be left out in the cold. 
 
 Our brave lieutenant ntnv behold, 
 
 Ho left Ins old piusuits, 
 And came himself after he fminil 
 
 Some t"wcnty new recruits. 
 
 E. J. O'Donnell is the man, 
 
 And we will for him clieer ; 
 And each of us does love that name — 
 
 A Mason Volunteer. 
 
 George Creighton •v\ill this list conclude— 
 
 George is of earnest movdd ; 
 They say he is a fanner boy, 
 
 .Just twenty years old. 
 
 George Scripture he has clevor been. 
 
 Deny it now who can ; 
 This Breckenridge Secessionist 
 
 Has proved to be a man. 
 
 Avaunt all slanderers of him. 
 
 For he has been our friend. 
 And to aid on our Union cause 
 
 Did time ancT money spend. 
 
 His liorse was for the soldiers' mo. 
 
 And, oh, wliere'er v>e loam, 
 AVe'll not forget that oft his house 
 
 Has been the soldiers' home. 
 
 And we have scores of other friendv, 
 
 Who A\'ill oiu' friends remaui ? 
 And Mason's friends cannot foi'get 
 
 The noble t^^ambcrlain. 
 
 Here let me speak about a youth. 
 
 Who oft has b?en a brag ; 
 Oh where would be Mason's recruits 
 
 If they went without their Elagg ? 
 
 His sickii»i"-< oirlT-ijros'ca a sham. 
 And Shattuek's proved the same ; 
 
 But if we had sucli men to fight 
 \\'c'd never bag our game. 
 
 Our brave Lieutenant let us cheer. 
 
 God grant him couulliss joys, 
 And let us prove an on we go, 
 
 That wc are Mas.,n's boys. 
 
 And wives and sweet-hearts whom v,'.:- h ave. 
 
 Our hearts to you do yearn ; 
 We know and tliank you for yoM' love, 
 
 And will if we return. 
 
NAMES OF SOLDIERS. 107 
 
 Henry Shattuck, Co. B, 8th Reg't, Dec. 20, 1861. Died at 
 Camp Parapet, La., Aug. 6, 1862. 
 
 Eobert G. Phinney, Co. E, 8th Reg't, Dec. 20, 1861. Promoted 
 Corporal July, 1862. Wounded Oct. 27, 1862. Promoted Ser- 
 geant Feb. 14, 1863. Discharged for disability Nov. 27, 1864. 
 
 George Cutting, Corporal, 1st Light Battery, New Hamp- 
 shire Volunteers, Sept. 26, 1861. Reduced to the rank. Mustered 
 out Sept. 25. 1864. 
 
 Willard C. Burdick, 1st Light Battery, New Hamp- 
 shire Volunteers, Sept. 26, 1861. Mustered out Sept. 25, 
 1864. 
 
 George H. Dix, New Hampshire Battalion, 1st New England 
 Cavalry, Oct. 24, 1861. Missing Oct. 12, 1863. 
 
 David Moran, New Hampshire Battalion, 1st New England 
 Cavalry, Dec. 24, 1861. Re-enlisted Jan. 5, 1864. 
 
 Enoch Leavitt, New Hampshire Battalion, 1st New England 
 Cavalry, Dec. 24, 1861. Re-enlisted Jan. 5, 1864. 
 
 Patrick O'Brien, New Hampshire Battalion, 1st New England 
 Cavalry, Dec. 24, 1861. Not officially accounted for. 
 
 Milton H. Hardy, Sergeant, Co. G, 13th Reg't, - New Hampshire 
 Volunteers, Sept. 19, 1862. Commissioned as Lieutenant. 
 
 John G. Blood, Corporal, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire 
 Volunteers, Sept. 19, 1862. 
 
 Joel E. Boynton, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 19, 1862. Died Feb. 25, 1863. 
 
 Wm. W. Bailey, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 19, 1862. Wounded severely June 8, 1864. 
 
 Willianii D. Carr, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teers, Sept. 19, 1862. Promoted to Corporal. Wounded severely. 
 May 13, 1864. Died of wounds, at Point Lookout, Md., June 12, 
 1864. 
 
 Edward W. Davis, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teers, Sept. 19, 1862. Wounded Sept. 29, 1864. Died of wounds, 
 at Hampton, Va., Oct. 12, 1864. 
 
 Charles H. Russell, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teers, Sept. 19, 1862. 
 
 George D. Reed, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept, 19, 1862. Discharged Nov. 29, 1863. 
 
 Ralph Weston, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 13, 1862. Died of disease March 21, 1868. 
 
 Ira M. Whittaker, Co. G, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teers, Sept. 19, 1862. Died of disease, Jan. 15, 1863. 
 
 Charles A. Austin, Co. I, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teers, Sept. 20, 1862. Discharged April 27, 1863. 
 
 E. T. Elliott, Co. I, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 20, 1862. 
 
 Joseph P. Elliott, Co. 1, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 20, 1862. 
 
108 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 M. V. B. Elliott, Go. I, IStli Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 20, 1862. 
 
 Erastus E. Elliott, Co. I, 13th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teers, Sept. 20, 1862. 
 
 Dauiel Parker, Co. I, 13th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 23, 1862. 
 
 John B. Smith, Co. I, 13th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 Sept. 20, 1862, Died March 14, 1863. 
 
 Joseph E. O'Donnell, Second Lieutenant, 16th Eeg't, New 
 Hampshire Volunteer Inf., Co. C, Nov. 4, 1862. Mustered out 
 Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Henry H. Stevens, Sergeant, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire 
 Volunteer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 John E. Stearns, Sergeant, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire 
 Volunteer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered, out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Harrison Livingston, Corporal, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hamp- 
 shire Volunteer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 James Davis, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Died Aug. 10, 1863. 
 
 George L. Adams, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Died Aug. 19, 1863. 
 
 Chauncey A. Adams, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Vol- 
 unteer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Nathan Adams, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 27, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Albert A. Austin, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Died Aug. 1, 1863. 
 
 Charles P. Baldwin, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Died June 1, 1863. 
 
 Sydney A. Barrett, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf, Oct. 18, 1862. Discharged Dec. 16, 1862. 
 
 George L. Crighton,' Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Discharged for disability. 
 
 Charles P. Gorham, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Thomas Jackson, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Marshall Kimball, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Benjamin G. Livingston, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire 
 Volunteer Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 David Eobbins, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Samuel S. Eeed, Co. C. 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf, Oct. 18, 1862. Discharged Dec. 15, 1862. 
 
 Granville Eobbins, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Nov. 19, 1862. Died of disease March 20, 1863. 
 
 Nathaniel Smith, Co. C, 16th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Died May 12, 1863. 
 
NAMES OP SOLDIEES. 109 
 
 Lyman Sanders, Co. C, 16th Reg't, New Hampshire Vohmteer 
 Inf., Oct. 18, 1862. Died March 21, 1863. 
 
 Samuel H. Wheeler, Co. C, 16th Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Oct. 28, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Thomas B. Russell, Co. E, 16th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Nov. 13, 1862. Mustered out Aug. 20, 1863. 
 
 Thomas R. Clement, Assistant Surgeon, 10th Reg't, New Hamp- 
 shire Volunteer Inf., Oct. 26, 1863. Honorably discharged Sept. 
 17, 1864. 
 
 James S. Manlove, Co. K, 6th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., 'Oct. 14, 1863. 
 
 William H. Gage, Co. I, 6th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., March 31, 1864. 
 
 Charles H. Thompson, Co. I, 7th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., 7th Reg't, Oct. 15, 1863. 
 
 George Beford, Co. K, 8th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Sept. 1, 1863. Killed at Bayou De Glasse, La., May 17, 
 1864. 
 
 WiUiam Hunt, Co. C, 8th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer Inf., 
 Sept. 1, 1863. 
 
 Madison Colby, Co. K, 11th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dee. 12, 1863. 
 
 Alonzo Carter, Co. D, llth Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dec. 12, 1863. Wounded July 27, 1864. 
 
 Francis Bernard, Co. I, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dec. 11, 1863. Deserted at Point Lookout, Md., March 10, 
 1864. 
 
 John Grant, Co. K, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer Inf., 
 Dec. 11, 1863. Transferred to U. S. Navy, April 29, 1864. 
 
 Thomas Ganigan, Co. K, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dec. 11, 1863. 
 
 James M. Howard, Co. C, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Dec. 10, 1863. 
 
 William Kingsland, Co. I, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Inf., Dec. 10, 1863. 
 
 George Lansing, Co. K, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dec. 11, 1863. 
 
 William Meaney, Co. E, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dec. 11, 1863. Wounded May 6, 1864. Deserted near Pe- 
 tersburgh, Va., July 10, 1864. 
 
 George Nichols, Co. D, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dec. 11, 1863. Transferred to U. S. Navy, April 29, 1864. 
 
 Louis Schafft, Co. C, 12th Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Inf., Dec. 12, 1863. Wounded June 3, 1864. 
 
 John Tupper, Co. E, 12th Reg't, New Hampshu-e Volunteer Inf., 
 Dec. 10, 1863. 
 
 James Abbott, Troop G, 1st Reg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Cav., April 5, 1864. Missing Nov. 12, 1864. 
 
110 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 Charles S. Cheeney, Troop G, 1st Eeg't, New Hampshire Vol- 
 unteer Cav., March 31, 1864. 
 
 Louis Curtois, Troop G, 1st Keg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Cav., March 31, 1864. 
 
 James Dailey, Troop D, 1st Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Cav., June 26, 1864. 
 
 James Eastman, Troop D, 1st Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Cav., April 30, 1864. 
 
 Elton Harrington, Troop M, 1st Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Cav., March 22, 1864. 
 
 Joseph Arquette, Troop M, 1st Eeg't, New Hampshire Volun- 
 teer Cav., March 25, 1864. 
 
 John Marsau, Troop M, 1st Eeg't, New Hampshire Volunteer 
 Cav., March 25, 1864. 
 
 Henry Goodwin, Co. A, 11th Eeg't, April 5, 1864. 
 
 Charles Buries, Co. A, 7th Eeg't, Sept. 21, 1864. Deserted at 
 Staten Island, N. Y., Nov. 12, 1864. 
 
 John Staw, Co. I, 7th Eeg't, Sept. 22, 1864. Deserted to the 
 enemy, Oct. 29, 1864. 
 
 Thomas Fletcher, Co. E, 7th Eeg't, Sept. 22, 1864. Deserted 
 at Staten Island, N. Y., Nov. 7, 1864. 
 
 Edward Prial, Co. A, 9th Eeg't, Aug. 25, 1864. Missing at 
 Poplar Grove Ch., Va., Sept. 30, 1864. 
 
 Peter Baker, Co. C, 9th Eeg't, Aug. 26, 1864. Deserted on 
 route to regiment. 
 
 John L. Blance, Co. F, 5th Eeg't, Sept. 13, 1864. 
 
 Charles H. Dogherty, Co. B, 5th Eeg't, Sept. 17, 1864. 
 
 Thomas Florence, Co. A, 5th Eeg't, Aug. 17, 1864. 
 
 Joseph French, Co. A, 5th Eeg't, Aug. 19, 1864. 
 
 Daniel Finn, Co. B, 5th Eeg't, Sept. 1, 1864. Deserted near 
 Petersburg, Va., Oct. 12, 1864. 
 
 Walter Jones, Co. I, 5th Eeg't, Sept. 13, 1864. 
 
 Joseph Marshall, Co. F, 5th Eeg't, Aug. 18, 1864. 
 
 Edward McGuire, Co. F, 5th Eeg't, Aug. 19, 1864. 
 
 Thomas McGuire, Co. F, 5th Eeg't, Sept. 2, 1864. 
 
 John Mahoney, Co. F, 5th Eeg't, Sept. 3, 1864. 
 
 John Mountain, Co. K, 5th Eeg't, Sept. 19, 1864. 
 
 William H. Rand, Co. E, 5th Eeg't, Aug. 25, 1864. 
 
 John Sweeney, Co. F, 5th Eeg't, Aug. 31, 1864. 
 
 Sydney A. Barrett, Veteran, Eegular Army, Aug. 31, 1864. 
 
 James Gilson, " "' Sept. 23, 1864. 
 
 Thomas Dunham, " " Sept. 21, 1864. 
 
 James Smith, " " Sept. 15, 1864. 
 
 Jacob Johnson, ' " " Sept. 20, 1864. 
 
 Morton Ingalls, enlisted in the Navy, but fell sick and died 
 March 10, 1862, before joining his vessel. 
 
KAMES 01' PERSONS DRAFTED. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Natnes of Persons Drafted from Mason, Sept. 2, 1863. 
 
 Jerome Davis, furnlshecl substitute. 
 
 Otis Walters, 
 
 Morton L. Barrett, 
 
 Horace E. Davis, 
 
 Joseph McGown, 
 
 James Q. Conant, 
 
 Albert Whittaker, 
 
 Henry P. Adams, 
 
 Marshall H. Nutting, paid commuta- 
 tion. 
 
 Edwin B. Hosmer, discharged for 
 disability or other causes. 
 
 William S. Merriam, discharged for 
 disability, etc. 
 
 Edmund B. Newell, discharged for 
 disability, etc. 
 
 Harrison Hutchinson, discharged 
 for disability, etc. 
 
 Benj. F. March, discharged for disa- 
 bility, etc. 
 Calvin Barrett, discharged for dis- 
 ability, etc. 
 
 Thomas Ganey, discharged for dis- 
 ability, etc. 
 
 Israel D. Balch, discharged for dis- 
 ability, etc. 
 
 Robert L; Cumnock, Jr., discharged 
 for disability, etc. 
 
 Nelson L. Barrett, discharged for 
 disability, etc. 
 
 Patrick Meloney, discharged for dis- 
 ability, etc. 
 
 Barnard Lamb, discharged for dis- 
 ability, etc. 
 
 Charles H. Nutting, discharged for 
 disability, etc. 
 
 Elliott Merriam, discharged for dis- 
 ability, etc. 
 
 Isaiah E. Scripture, discharged for 
 disability, etc. 
 
 Franklin B. Holden, discharged for 
 disability, etc., 
 
 James P. Nutting, discharged for 
 disability, etc. 
 
 Names of those who furnished Substitutes under the Call 
 of July 18, 1864. 
 
 Principals. 
 
 Substitutes. 
 
 James L. Chamberlain, 
 
 Thomas McGuire. 
 
 Charles P. Richardson, 
 
 Edward McGuire. 
 
 James Taft, 
 
 John Mahoney. 
 
 Abel E. Adams, 
 
 Thomas Florence. 
 
 Sewall F. Adams, 
 
 Joseph Marshall. 
 
 Enville J. Emery, 
 
 Joseph French. 
 
 Edwin L. Nutting, 
 
 John L. Blance. 
 
 Charles E. Keyes, 
 
 Jacob Johnson. 
 
 Eufus P. Boynton, 
 
 James Smith. 
 
 James Russell, 
 
 Thomas Fletcher. 
 
 Anson J. Eldeout, 
 
 David Finn. 
 
 George W. Scripture, 
 
 Peter Baker. 
 
 Barnard Lamb, 
 
 Charles Barles. 
 
 Joel H. Elliott, 
 
 Thomas Dunham. 
 
 William A. Adams, 
 
 James Gilson. 
 
 Isaiah E. Scripture, 
 
 John Starr. 
 
 John L. Taft, 
 
 John Mountain. 
 
 Amos A. Smith, 
 
 Edward Prial. 
 
 Alvah Lakin, 
 
 John Sweeney. 
 
 George L. Blood, 
 
 Wm. H. Rand. 
 
 Horace K. Hodgeman, 
 
 Charles H. Dogherty. 
 
 Nelson L. Barrett, 
 
 Walter Jones. 
 
 Amount paid for substitutes. 
 
 $22,455 00 
 
 Highest amount paid, $1,225 ; 
 
 lowest, $900. 
 
 State Bounty, $300 — town dc 
 
 ). $600, 900 00 
 
 Paid by principals, 
 
 140 00 
 
 Total average cost, 
 
 $1,040 00 
 
112 CENTENNIAI, CELEBRATION. 
 
 It appears by a report made by the selectmen to the Town; that boun- 
 ties were paid as follows : — 
 
 To three years' men, 1862, $2,550 00 
 
 " nine months' men, 1862, 2,200 00 
 
 " conscripts, 1863, 2,100 00 
 
 " " 1864, 3,150 00 
 
 Substitutes, etc., 1864, 27,327 35 
 
 Services of selectmen and others, U'. 3 15 
 
 $35,620 50 
 Received from the government, 944 00 
 
 $34,676 50 
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 The Committee of General Arrangements met, and organized by 
 making choice of Dr. Thomas H. Marshall, Chairman, Charles P. 
 Richardson, Clerk, and Jonathan Russell, Esq., Treasurer, and 
 immediately took measures to raise by subscription the sum nec- 
 essary to meet the expenses incident to the celebration, June 13, 
 1868. 
 
 The following is a list of the names of the subscribers, with the 
 sum paid by each : — 
 
 Charles P. Ricliardson, 
 Jonathan Eussell, 
 Thomas H. Marshall, 
 L. L. Barrett, 
 E. B. Barrett, 
 Samuel E. Adams, 
 Alden B. Smith, 
 James L. Chamberlin, 
 George W. Scripture, 
 Wm. G. Lakin, 
 Samuel Smith, 
 Samuel Ingals, 
 T. B. Tarbell, 
 Horace K. Hodgman, 
 James H. Barrett, 
 Charles B. Prescott, 
 A. M. HiU, 
 E. P. Peabody, 
 W. D. Hero, 
 John Alinson, 
 A. P. Barrett, 
 Joseph P. Blood, 
 N. H. Shattuck, 
 P. L. Peabody, 
 Otis Childs, 
 Jason Webber, 
 E. H. Hildreth, 
 E. B. Hosmer, 
 G. L. Blood, 
 Leonard Morse, 
 George L. Morse, 
 Solomon A. Davis, 
 Sampson Spalding, 
 Nelson Blake, 
 Gardner B. Gay, 
 Henry L. Newell, 
 Edwin J. Hodgman, 
 Ephraim Hildreth, 
 Stilman Earrar, 
 N. L. Barrett, 
 M. Ii. Barrett, 
 Thomas Eitzpatrick, 
 Wm. Bobbins, 
 
 15 
 
 10 00 
 
 True Bobbins, 
 
 1 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 Amos A. Smith, 
 
 1 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 Henry L. Hodgman, 
 
 1 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 Luke Newell, 
 
 1 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 H. R. Amsden, 
 
 1 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 J. Hammond Elliott, 
 
 10 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 Isaac A. Brown, 
 
 3 00 
 
 25 00 
 
 J. S. Spalding, 
 
 5 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 Preeman EUiott, 
 
 5 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 Samuel Tarbell, 
 
 2 00 
 
 5 00 
 
 C. A. Elliott, 
 
 2 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 Veron Eaton, 
 
 6 00 
 
 5 00 
 
 Jason Eussell, 
 
 2 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 S. H. Eussell, 
 
 1 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 James KusseU, 
 
 2 00 
 
 5 00 
 
 Amos Scripture, 
 
 3 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 M. C. Dodge, 
 
 5 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 John Felt, 
 
 50 
 
 1 00 
 
 E. B. Heald, 
 
 2 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 J. Q. Conant, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 E. K. Hardy, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 Joseph McGown, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 N. Y. Oliver, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 C. N. Corey, 
 
 10 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 John Kenney & Co., 
 
 i 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 Asa Webber, 
 
 2 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 Thomas Bennett, 
 
 1 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 Leander Nutting, 
 
 50 
 
 1 00 
 
 A. A. Lovejoy, 
 
 1 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 B. H. Savage, 
 
 60 
 
 1 00 
 
 H. Eaton, 
 
 50 
 
 1 00 
 
 E. Arthur, 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 Jos. B. Pope, 
 
 60 
 
 1 00 
 
 George Hartshorne, 
 
 60 
 
 2 00 
 
 M. H. Hardy, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 G. M. Earrar, 
 
 1 00 
 
 2 00 
 
 George H. Preston, 
 
 60 
 
 1 00 
 
 Geo. E. MitcheU, 
 
 50 
 
 1 00 
 
 Eben. Eichardson, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 Joel Ball, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 Peter Liberty, 
 
 50 
 
 1 00 
 
 G. Simeneau, 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 Patrick Mullen, 
 
 1 00 
 
114 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 Frederic Mansfield, 
 
 5 00 
 
 Sewall F. Adams, 
 
 3 00 
 
 Abner Holden, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Harrison Livingston, 
 
 50 
 
 Joseph Felix, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Benjaman Livingston, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Lewis Charlon, 
 
 50 
 
 Boynton Jcfts, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Lymau K. Sawtelle, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Benj. Sawyer, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Charles Wilson, 
 
 1 00 
 
 E. J. Emery, 
 
 50 
 
 Josiah Sawtell, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Nathan Adams, 
 
 6 00 
 
 Mitchell Bobilee, 
 
 50 
 
 C. A. Adams, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Wm. Cray, 
 
 1 00 
 
 M. Kimball, 
 
 5 00 
 
 Heury G. Amsden, 
 
 50 
 
 J. B. Wilson, 
 
 5 00 
 
 Charles A. Deniver, 
 
 50 
 
 E. B. Richardson, 
 
 1 00 
 
 James MoGown, 
 
 1 00 
 
 D. H. Cochran, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Charles Baldwin, 
 
 50 
 
 Calvin Barrett, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Nicholas Cray, 
 
 50 
 
 John Campbell, 
 
 1 00 
 
 E. G. Heald, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Wm. Webber, 
 
 1 00 
 
 C. B. Shelden, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Jerome Davis, 
 
 1 00 
 
 John Martin, 
 
 1 00 
 
 John Taylor, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Oliver Felix, 
 
 1 00 
 
 J. K. Mills, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Mrs. J. Sheriden, 
 
 50 
 
 Joel Nutting, 
 
 2 00 
 
 Richard Bobilee, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Albert Whitaker, 
 
 1 Oo 
 
 Genery Avery, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Levi W. MitcheU, 
 
 2 00 
 
 Wm. St. Germane, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Samuel N. Barrett, 
 
 2 00 
 
 John Centere, Sr., 
 
 50 
 
 Daniel Goodwin, 
 
 2 Oo 
 
 Mary Bans, 
 
 50 
 
 W. W. Whitaker, 
 
 2 00 
 
 Ann Ball, 
 
 50 
 
 Simon T. Smith, 
 
 1 00 
 
 H. J. Whitney, 
 
 3 00 
 
 George Whitaker, 
 
 2 00 
 
 Peter Luce, 
 
 50 
 
 Luke Newell, 
 
 50 
 
 Alexander Sherbro, 
 
 50 
 
 S. H. Wheeler, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Antony Bobilee, 
 
 50 
 
 Joseph Saunders, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Abraham James, 
 
 1 00 
 
 John K. Lynch, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Otis Pratt, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Amos Robbins, 
 
 2 00 
 
 W. W. Sanderson, 
 
 1 00 
 
 A. Henry, 
 
 2 00 
 
 Luther Austin, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Franklin Merriam, 
 
 2 00 
 
 Calvin Searle, 
 
 1 00 
 
 W. R. Collins, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Jason Merrill, 
 
 1 00 
 
 C. W. Russell, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Caleb BuUard, 
 
 50 
 
 Warner Russell, 
 
 1 00 
 
 Edwin Nutting, 
 
 50 
 
 Charles Jenkins, 
 
 2 00 
 
 D. P. Stowell, 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 Michall Cavenaugh, 
 
 50 
 
 Total amount 
 
 $3M 50 
 
 J. H. Hartshorn, 
 
 3 00 
 
 
 
 The Treasurer's account rendered and allowed is as follows : 
 
 Jonathan Russell to the Centennial Celebration Committee 
 
 To amount of subscriptions, 
 " 837 tickets for dinner. 
 
 By paid Geo. Hobart, for music, 
 
 " Asher Peabody, for horse-keeping, 
 
 " 20 dinner tickets furnished the Band, 
 
 " 17 free tickets, 
 
 " 123 tickets remaining unsold, 
 
 " for lumber for seats, 
 
 " Moore & Berry, for printing, 
 
 " G. W. Scripture, for dinner, 
 
 " for powder. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 $344 
 
 60 
 
 837 
 
 50 
 
 Jl,181 
 
 50 
 
 < 
 
 C!r. 
 
 $75 
 
 00 
 
 3 
 
 00 
 
 20 
 
 00 
 
 17 
 
 00 
 
 123 00 
 
 2 50 
 
 22 
 
 50 
 
 700 00 
 
 10 
 
 40 
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 115 
 
 By paid T. H. Marshall, Express postage, 3' 07 
 
 T. H. Marshall amount voted by Committee, 4 00 
 
 C. P. Richardson " " " " 3 OO 
 
 Luther L. Barrett, " " " " 2 00 
 
 Abram Wright, " " " " 1 00 
 
 Elisha B. Barrett, " " " " 5 00 
 
 Alden B. Smith, " " " " 4 00 
 
 Jona Russell, 2d, " " " " (6 00 
 Thomas B. Tarbell, for procuring flags and getting lumber 
 
 to the grove, 10 70 
 
 Chas. B. Prescott, " ticket office sign, 1 00 
 
 Uncollected subscription, 5 00 
 
 Amount of Debits, 
 ' Credits, 
 
 Amount due Committee, 
 
 fl,181 50 
 1,018 17 
 
 f 163 33 
 
 .,018 17 
 
 By vote of the Committee, the above balance is to be applied towards 
 paying the expenses of publishing the proceedings of the Centennial Cele- 
 bration, 
 
 Note. — I have for sale a few copies of the " History of Mason." 
 Those who make an early application therefor can be supplied at 
 $1 50, or if sent by mail postpaid at $1 75 per copy. Also a few 
 copies of the " Memoir of the Rev. Ebenezer Hill,"in which will be 
 found his two published lectures, on the early history of the town, 
 and two of his sermons. Price 25 cents, for which it will be sent 
 post-paid by mail. 
 
 J. B. Hill. 
 
 Mason, Feb. 21, 1870.