Adin and Lucy (Hunt) Ballou |
Pearley Hunt |
Hopedale History July 15, 2016 No. 304 An Old-Fashioned Fourth Hopedale in July Additions to existing pages on hope1842.com during the past two weeks include: Hopedale History Timeline (A Draper timeline has been added) Boarding Houses in Hopedale (A list of boarding house tenants, and a page of owners and other statistics.) The Gannett Family (Milford News article - auction at the Gannett home, July 7.) The Dutcher Family (Genealogical information on the Dutcher family from Adin Ballou's History of Milford.) The General Draper Statue (Souvenir program for the unveiling - the event was a very big deal.) Deaths <><><><><><><><><><> The village (Hopedale) has a Unitarian Church; it probably has a physician, but it has not a rum shop, and will not as long as the present influences are potent, as all the land sold is deeded with the condition that no groggery shall ever exist thereon. Boston Journal, 1885 To insure and abundance of stock for this increased capacity {to produce bobbins}, we have been steadily adding to our holdings of standing timber. Our lumber lands now comprise more than 150,000 acres in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondack section of New York. On some of these the soft wood has been cut off for pulp, leaving for our use the hard wood such as maple and birch. Cotton Chats, December 1948 More on Draper bobbin manufacturing at Beebe River and Tupper Lake. <><><><><><><><><><> The subject of No. 343 was a Milford Daily News article from 1914 about Rev. Adin Ballou's oration given in Milford on July 4, 1827. Below, from Ballou's autobiography, is his recollection of that occasion written decades later. An Old-Fashioned Fourth By Rev. Adin Ballou As the anniversary of American Independence, 1827, drew near, the Republican citizens of Milford resolved to celebrate the day in some becoming manner, and I was favored with an invitation to deliver the oration in my own church, more commonly known as the "brick meeting house." Patriotism - civil, military, and religious - was then an essential part of my Christianity and I cheerfully accepted the proffered honor. The occasion was one of unusual importance and one long remembered by those participating in it. Extraordinary preparations were made for it. Besides the oration, the dinner, and a grand military display, with martial music and other accompaniments, there was to be a formal presentation of a "splendid standard" by the ladies of the town to the long-famous Artillery Company, which had been organized in 1803 under Pearley Hunt, Capt., as a testimonial of respect and admiration. Announcement was duly made in all the neighboring towns of what was to be done and such a time was provided for and expected as Milford had never seen before. Nor were the promise and anticipation unfulfilled. The day was ushered in not only by bells and cannon, but by a resonant and copious thunderstorm, the last of which, however, soon passed away, leaving as clear a sky and atmosphere as mortals could desire. The programme was carried out in full and everything went off to universal satisfaction. The streets were thronged with people from all the surrounding region, eager to share in the festivities and keep in patriotic fashion the nation's holiday. The more formal proceedings began with the presentation of the flag. The company to be honored was out in full numbers and bright uniforms, Capt. Clark Sumner commanding it, with Lieut. Isaac Davenport, second officer, and John Corbett, Jr., third or standard bearer. A suitable platform had been erected on the common where the exercises were to take place, and when in due season the principal actors in the scene were gathered, surrounded by interested multitudes of people. A prayer having been offered, Miss Lucy Hunt, oldest daughter of Pearley Hunt, Esq., (with Miss Laura Ann Adams on her right and Miss Harriet Hunt on her left, all tastefully attired) came forward bearing the elegant gift, and partially unfurling it, presented it with an appropriate address to 2d Lieut. Corbett. He received it with an appreciative response, at the close of which the band struck up one of their liveliest airs, amid whose inspiring strains and the plaudits of the delighted populace, the ladies were escorted back to Col. Sumner's hotel, whence they came. A long civic procession was immediately formed, and began its march through some of the principal streets to the meeting house, led by an imposing array of soldiery. The auditorium of the building was crowded to the full, many desiring entrance being obliged to remain outside. The oration, which was the principal feature of that part of the celebration, was delivered at the proper time, being preceded and followed by anthems, prayers, odes, and other customary accompaniments. There was nothing unique, profound, or eloquent about it, but it probably compared favorably with the old-style productions of that sort. A copy was asked for the press and the request being granted, a considerable edition was at once printed and widely distributed, a few numbers of which are still in my possession and will be preserved wholly or in part with a complete set of my published works. The services at the church having been concluded, such of the audience as were disposed, with others of like mind, repaired in processional order to the dinner-tables - those for the ladies being spread in the hotel - the others under spacious tents or awnings outside where the post-prandial exercises were to be held. These were presided over, if my memory serves me, by Pearley Hunt, Esq., assisted by Newell Nelson, Esq., as toastmaster - most of what transpired consisting of regular and volunteer toasts, which, as they were announced, were washed down after the old ante-Temperance fashion, and responded to by cannonry and strains of martial music. Autobiography of Adin Ballou, pp. 126- 128 Hopedale HIstory Ezine Menu HOME . |
From Adin Ballou's History of Milford. |