valuable. The town voted to purchase as few British goods as possible,
and sent sixty-five fat sheep to Boston as a contribution to alleviate
what the town records call "the distressed and suffering circumstances"
of that city. Captain Elisha Child, Charles Church Chandler, Jedediah
Morse, Captain Samuel McClellan, and Nathaniel Child, were appointed
a committee[96] "for maintaining a correspondence with the towns of
this and the neighboring colonies." The spirit of revolution, which had
been growing, rose to fever-heat when the powder stored in Cambridge
by the patriots was removed, in September of 1774, to Boston. The news
flew as fast through the New England towns as horses' hoofs could
take it. A son of Esquire Wolcott brought the news to Curtis' tavern
in Dudley, and a son of Captain Clark carried it to his father's
house in Woodstock, where it was carried to Colonel Israel Putnam in
Pomfret.[97] The young men of Woodstock did not wait for the call to
arms. They hurried to Cambridge, and, with the inhabitants of that and
other towns, were with difficulty restrained from marching into Boston
to demand, with their loaded muskets, the return of the powder. At the
very beginning of the Revolution Woodstock was eager to do its duty.
When the cry went through New England that blood had been shed at that
"birthplace of American liberty," the historic Lexington, one hundred
and eighty-nine men from Woodstock answered that call.[98] Ephraim
Manning, Stephen Lyon, Asa Morris, and William Frizzel were officers
in Colonel Israel Putnam's regiment when that regiment was stationed
at Cambridge, while Captain Samuel McClellan had charge of the troop
of horse, of which John Flynn was trumpeter. Captain Nathaniel Marcy,
Captains Elisha and Benjamin Child, Lieut. Josiah Child, Captain Daniel
Lyon, Jabez and John Fox, Samuel Perry, and many other Woodstock men,
rendered services in this war equally efficient. When Samuel Perry,
in his old age, used to go up to the store on Woodstock Hill in the
evening, the boys would ask him to tell them about the battle of Bunker
Hill, and would always ask if he had killed any of the British in that
battle. "I don't know whether I killed any," was his reply, "but I took
good aim, fired, and saw them drop!" Another Woodstock name, always
honored at home as another of the same family name is to-day no less
honored abroad, was Dr. David Holmes He had served as surgeon in the
French war, and--
----"lived to see
The bloodier strife that made our nation free,
To serve with willing toil, with skilful hand,
The war-worn saviors of the bleeding land."[99]
When Washington assumed charge of the troops in Cambridge, the Rev.
Abiel Leonard, the beloved pastor of the First Church at Woodstock,
preached most acceptably. Washington heard him and became his warm
friend. Woodstock's importance during the Revolution was considerable.
One line of stages between Woodstock and New London and another line
between Woodstock and New Haven and Hartford were established, which
carried the war news weekly to be distributed through the colony and
thence taken to New York. During the entire war Woodstock did more
than her share. While there were many from this town who served the
patriot cause with glory to themselves and honor to Woodstock, the
name of Capt., afterwards Gen., Samuel McClellan stands out the most
illustrious. When the currency of the Continentals had depreciated and
no funds were forthcoming with which to pay the soldiers, Gen., or more
exactly Col., McClellan advanced £1,000 from his own private purse to
pay the men of his regiment. But a memorial of the Revolution in which
Woodstock may well take the greatest pride is found in the historic
elm-trees in South Woodstock, planted by the wife of General McClellan
on receiving the news of the battle of Lexington. All honor to the
men of Woodstock who fought for and gained their liberties in the
Revolution, and all honor to their wives, who were equally patriotic at
home!
In the War of 1812 Woodstock was also ready to do its duty. When Major
William Flynn, of Woodstock Hill, received the news, one evening just
after dark, that several British men-of-war were hovering about New
London, and that it was in danger of attack, he rode horseback about
the country during the night, to see officers and men and warn them
to assemble on the Common at noon the next day; but when he returned
to his home at sunrise he found the Common covered with soldiers
ready to go to New London immediately. The patriotic spirit always
characteristic of Woodstock was conspicuous in the War of 1812.
Woodstock was no less patriotic during the Rebellion. When President
Lincoln called for volunteers to maintain the unity of the country,
this town did her full share in that struggle. Many of you remember
attending the funeral of General Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed at
the beginning of the war and was buried with military honors in our
neighboring town of Eastford. Though not a native of Woodstock, Gen.
Lyon was descended from an honored family which has been conspicuous
in the history of this town from the day of its settlement. But a
name even more illustrious is that of Gen. George B. McClellan, whose
grandfather was a native of Woodstock, and whose great-grandfather
was Gen. Samuel McClellan, and who himself, as a boy, visited the
town. You saw him beneath these very trees two years ago. You heard
him speak at that time words of love for Woodstock and words of
welcome to distinguished strangers. His voice is no longer heard, but
the name of General McClellan will be remembered as long as the name
of Woodstock itself shall last. Blessed then be the memory of Gen.
George B. McClellan! Woodstock will ever cherish his services and the
services of all its sons who fought for their country in the terrible
struggle between the North and the South! The graves in the different
burying-grounds of the town, that you annually decorate with flowers,
tell more eloquently than words what Woodstock did during the Civil
War.
X.
Woodstock has never been negligent in the cause of education. As soon
as the settlement became an organized town, John Chandler, Jr., was
appointed to instruct the children to write and cipher. As the town
grew in population, it was divided into school districts. In 1739
was established the United English Library for the Propagation of
Christianity and Useful Knowledge. Col. John Chandler was the moderator
at the first meeting, and the Rev. Abel Stiles, John May, Benjamin
Child, and Pennel Bowen, of Woodstock, and leading citizens of Pomfret
and Killingly, assisted in the organization.[100] It was Gen. Samuel
McClellan and his sons John and James McClellan, the Rev. Eliphalet
Lyman, William Bowen, Parker Comings, Nehemiah Child, Ebenezer Smith,
William Potter, Hezekiah Bugbee, Benjamin Lyon, Ebenezer Skinner, and
Amos Paine who established Woodstock Academy, at the beginning of the
present century, and the influence of that honored institution has been
deep and far-reaching. But who can measure the good done by Woodstock
Academy, or by the different churches and other organizations of the
town? Such institutions are our heritage, and our duty and privilege it
is to improve their character and transmit them to future generations,
with the memories and traditions of the town itself.
XI.
Citizens of Woodstock, listen while I call the roll of some of the
distinguished men who have lived or were born in the town. Of the
first settlers was Col. John Chandler, probably the most distinguished
citizen that Woodstock had during its first century, the man who made
Woodstock known and respected throughout New England. His descendants
include the Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, D.D., Winthrop Chandler, the
artist, the Hon. John Church Chandler, Judge John Winthrop Chandler,
and others, who have been prominent in Woodstock and throughout the
country. No one of the first settlers was more distinguished than
Edward Morris, who died three years after the town was settled. His
family was prominent in the history of old Roxbury, and all through
the last century in Woodstock. Commodore Charles Morris, a native[101]
of Woodstock and well known in the War of 1812, and his son, Commodore
George N. Morris, Commander in the Civil War of the United States
sloop-of-war _Cumberland_ in Hampton Roads, belong to the same family,
as well as the Hon. J. F. Morris, of Hartford, whom I am sure we are
glad to welcome as our presiding officer to-day. John Marcy, a first
settler, was the ancestor of Hon. William Leonard Marcy, Governor
of the State of New York, Secretary of War under President Polk and
Secretary of State under President Pierce. Abiel Holmes,[102] D.D.,
LL.D., author of "Annals of America," and his father, Dr. David Holmes,
a surgeon in the French and Revolutionary wars, were born in Woodstock,
and were descended from John Holmes, a first settler. Abiel Holmes'
son, Oliver Wendell Holmes, though not born in Woodstock, will be
remembered, I am sure, for the beautiful tribute he paid his ancestors
in the poem he read in this very park in 1877. The name of Morse has
always been identified with Woodstock. Deacon Jedediah Morse held about
all the offices in town that he could lawfully hold, and was deacon
of the First Church for forty-three years. His son, the Rev. Jedediah
Morse, D.D., a graduate of Yale College and the father of American
geography, was also born in Woodstock. His grandson was Prof. Samuel
F. B. Morse, who was more widely known as the inventor of the electric
telegraph. Another Woodstock boy was General William Eaton[103] who ran
away, from home at the age of sixteen to enter the Revolutionary War,
and was distinguished during the first years of the century as the
protector of American commerce in the Mediterranean. Amasa Walker, too,
was born in Woodstock, the father of political economy in this country,
or better still, the father of Gen. Francis A. Walker, the respected
President of the School of Technology in Boston. Another honored name
in Woodstock is that of Williams, including Samuel Williams, Sr., the
Commissioner of Roxbury in the settlement of New Roxbury, the Rev.
Stephen Williams, the first pastor of the church at West Parish, and
Jared W. Williams, the Governor of Vermont and a native of this town.
Governors, members of Congress, men distinguished in law, theology, and
medicine, in trade and on the farm, have been born in Woodstock. The
roll of honor could be multiplied; but in speaking of the distinguished
men it would be impossible to forget the lessons taught, the struggles
endured, and the sacrifices made by the mothers of Woodstock, who all
through these two centuries have inspired their sons with feelings
that have made them industrious, honored, and religious. Praise be,
therefore, to the women of Woodstock! This town has the right to be
proud of such noble sons and daughters, and we have the right to be
proud that such a town as old Woodstock has nourished us and blessed us
with such memories and influences.
XII.
What has the town done to make us proud of it? It has exerted an
influence for good upon the country wherever its inhabitants have
settled. Such settlements have been many. During the early history
of the plantation, Woodstock men assisted largely in the settlement
of Ashford, Pomfret, Killingly, and other neighboring towns. As the
surplus population increased, migrations were made to the wild regions
of Vermont and New Hampshire. Later came the settlements made by
Connecticut, in the provinces of New York and Pennsylvania, in which
Woodstock families were almost without exception represented. At the
close of the Revolution the wave of emigration extended still farther
West, and some of the oldest families in Ohio trace their ancestry back
to this very town. To-day Woodstock has its representatives in almost
every State in the Union, and the material growth and prosperity of
the country has been in full measure owing to the settlements made by
men from towns in New England like Woodstock. The ideas inherited from
Puritan ancestors and modified according to existing circumstances have
made towns, cities, even States, in which the whole country to-day
takes the warmest pride. The man who inherits New England traditions
from towns like Woodstock is worth more to the country than an army of
Anarchists and Socialists.
Woodstock is distinguished, too, for its "notable meetings," inherited
from the Woodstock in England, of which Judge Sewell speaks. The first
"notable meeting" was when John Eliot preached to the Indians on Plaine
Hill. The second "notable meeting" was when the first settlers drew
their home lots in Wabbaquasset Hall. The third "notable meeting"
was at the funeral of Col. John Chandler in 1743, attended by the
leading men in the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The
church meetings of the last century, the town meeting when Woodstock
transferred its allegiance to Connecticut, meetings during the
Revolution, the old "training days" on Woodstock Common, have been
followed by no end of "notable meetings" during the present century.
But the one "notable meeting" that those of us present here to-day have
in mind, was when Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Army, Savior of the
Country and President of the United States, visited the town in 1870.
But the chief glory of the town of Woodstock has been its love of local
law. The source of the power of the continental nations of Europe may
be traced back through the centuries to the village communities and
Teutonic townships. In the mark, tithing, and parish of England the
same principle of local self-government may be seen; and so our own
nation's greatness, through Anglo-Saxon inheritance, has its source,
not in the State, city, or county, but in the little school districts,
villages, and towns of New England. Woodstock has been like a miniature
republic, and has always believed in the supremacy of local law. Its
refusal to send its representative to the General Court at Boston
unless it could tax its own property as it pleased, and the refusal,
for political reasons, of its delegates at the State Convention in
1788 to vote for the ratification of the Constitution of the United
States, are instances of the extreme independence of Woodstock. What
it conscientiously believed, the town has never been slow to proclaim.
Tenacious as Woodstock has always been of its privileges and its
rights, its loyalty to the country, from the day the thirteen colonies
became a nation, has never been questioned.
XIII.
I have given scarce more than a sketch in outline of what the history
of Woodstock has been during the two hundred years since that historic
band of brave boys and sturdy men, of deft-handed girls and sober
matrons, swarmed like bees from the Roxbury hive[104] and settled on
the Wabbaquasset hills. What Woodstock's history shall be remains for
you, men and women of Woodstock, to develop. The fathers have kept
bright the honest traditions and stout independence, the industrious
thrift and religious faith which their Puritan fathers brought to the
new settlement. The sons of this generation can be trusted to preserve
and transmit them to their descendants. You, men of Woodstock, have
your duties in the family, on the farm, toward your schools, and to
your churches. All that the fathers have done puts an added obligation
upon you. The improvement and development of the town depend on the
individual exertions of its citizens. If you are young, infuse some of
your own enthusiasm and intelligence into its different organizations.
If you are old, remember these institutions in a substantial way.
Woodstock will be what you make it. Michel Angelo saw in the block the
exquisite unsculptured statue. Many blows of the chisel were necessary
to disclose the perfect ideal to the eyes of a wondering world. In
thought, in plan, in ideal, this town has been almost a perfect
organization; but only those whose high vision is willing to pierce
through all encrusting imperfections shall be the artists whose toil
and sacrifices shall make this dear, noble, historic town of Woodstock
an honor to the State and a blessing to its citizens. It is said that
old John Eliot, from the high pulpit in Roxbury, used to pray every
Sabbath for the new settlers at Woodstock. The words of those prayers
are not preserved, but may the spirit of them come down through the
centuries to inspire the hearts of all who inherit the blood of the
early settlers of this ancient town. God, our fathers' God, bless old
Woodstock!
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Also spelt Roxberry, Roxborough, Rocksborough.
[2] July 30, 1630.
[3] Young's "Chronicles of Massachusetts," p. 396.
[4] Winthrop's "Journal," by Savage, vol. i., p. 111.
[5] "Ordained over the First Church, Nov. 5, 1632."--Eliot's tomb in
Roxbury.
[6] "Memorial History of Boston," vol. i., p. 403.
[7] Though the Williamses did not settle permanently in Woodstock till
some years after the first settlement, the family was most prominent in
Roxbury, and one of its representatives visited the grant officially in
1686.
[8] Drake's "Town of Roxbury" and "Memorial History of Boston," vol.
i., pp. 401-422.
[9] De Forest's "Indians of Connecticut," and Palfrey's "History of New
England," and Miss Ellen D. Larned's "History of Windham County."
[10] Also "called the Wabbaquassett and Whetstone country; and
sometimes the Mohegan conquered country, as Uncas had conquered and
added it to his sachemdom." Trumbull's "History of Connecticut," vol.
i., 31.
[11] September.
[12] Winthrop's "Journal," by Savage, vol. i, 132. Palfrey's "Hist. of
New England," vol. i., 369. The same year (Nov. 1633), "Samuel Hall and
two other persons travelled westward into the country as far as this
[Connecticut] river." Holmes' "Annals," vol. i., 220.
[13] Winthrop's "Journal," vol. i., 171.
[14] Possibly some of the Dorchester emigrants, including Henry
Wolcott, William Phelps, and others, may have passed a little south of
this line. Dr. McClure's MSS., in the possession of the Connecticut
Historical Society: "In a conversation with the late aged and
respectable Capt. Sabin of Pomfret, Ct., he related to me the following
discovery, viz.: About forty years ago he felled a large and ancient
yoke about the north line of Pomfret adjoining Woodstock. On cutting
within some inches of the heart of the tree it was seen to have been
cut and chipped with some short tool like an axe. Rightly judging that
at the time when it must have been done the Indians so far inland were
destitute and ignorant of the use of iron tools, he counted the number
of the annual circular rings from the said marks to the bark of the
tree, and found that there were as many rings as the years which had
intervened from the migration of the Dorchester party to that time.
Hence 'the probability that they had journeyed along the north border
of Pomfret, and as they traveled by a compass, the conjecture is
corroborated by that course being nearly in a direct line from Boston
to the place of their settlement on the Connecticut River.'"--Stiles'
"History of Ancient Windsor," p. 26.
[15] "Memorial Hist. of Boston," vol. i., 263.
[16] "Historical Collections of the Indians in New England. By Daniel
Gookin, Gentleman, Printed from the original manuscript, 1792." See
"Collections Mass. Hist. Soc.," vol. i., First Series, pp. 190-192.
[17] Wabbaquasset, or Woodstock.
[18] Dudley.
[19] 1674.
[20] Black James was a distinguished Indian. He met Eliot again in
Cambridge in June of 1681, where a meeting of the claimants of the
Nipmuck country was held. The village and much of the land of the town
of Dudley was known years after the settlement of Woodstock as "The
Land of Black James and Company."--Ammidown's "Historical Collections,"
vol. i., 406, 461.
[21] Named after "Wabbaquasset Hall," built in the spring or summer of
1686.
[22] Palfrey's "History of New England," vol. iii., 159.
[23] Mrs. L. H. Sigourney's "Pocahontas."
[24] Feb. 10, 1682.
[25] Ellis' "History of Roxbury Town": "When the people of Roxbury came
to take up lands, they selected their locations amongst the praying
Indians or where Indians had been converted to Christianity.... This
certainly is a sure indication of the steady adherence of his [John
Eliot's] fellow-townsmen and their belief in the actual benefits of
his missionary labors."
[26] Oct. 6, 10, and 17.
[27] Joseph Griggs, John Ruggles, and Edward Morris.
[28] Dec. 5, 1683.
[29] "Records of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New
England," vol. v., 426.
[30] Oct. 27, 1684.
[31] Jan. 28th.
[32] "Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in
New England," vol. v., 468.
[33] Committee appointed May 14, 1686, and reported to Roxbury June
12th.
[34] Though the name of John Ruggles was on the list of "goers" and a
house lot was drawn for him, he did not settle in Woodstock. The family
of Ruggles is prominent among the first settlers in Pomfret.
[35] This Jonathan Peake was the father of Jonathan Peake, Jr., born in
1663, who came to Woodstock in April of 1687.
[36] Lot 43 was given to Clement Corbin soon after the drawing of home
lots. The inscription of his rude gravestone reads: "Here lies buried
the body of Clement Corbin, aged 70, deceast August ye 1st, 1696."
[37] The inscription on this small gravestone in the burying-ground on
Woodstock Hill is read with difficulty and is as follows: "Here lies
buried ye body of Lieu. Edward Morris, deceas'd September 14, 1689."
Many of the first settlers now have no stones to mark their graves, and
perhaps never had.
[38] At that time twenty-four years old.
[39] MSS. of Deacon Jedediah Morse, in the possession of Henry T.
Child, of Woodstock.
[40] Windsor was first called Dorchester and Hartford was first called
Newtown.
[41] Born in England, son of Henry Sewell of Rowley, Mass., and
grandson of Henry Sewell, mayor of Coventry, England. In 1684, he
became an Assistant.
[42] Memorial "History of Boston," vol. i., 210, 540.
[43] Hildreth's "History of the United States," vol. ii., 130.
Trumbull's "History of Connecticut," vol. i., 401, 402. Palfrey's
"Hist. of New England," vol. iv., 46. Holmes' "Annals of America," vol.
i., 430, 431. Bancroft's "Hist. of the U. S.," vol. iii., 183.
[44] "Collections of the Mass. Hist. Soc.," vol. v., Fifth Series, p.
315, foot-note. Palfrey's "Hist, of N. E.," vol. iv., 48, foot-note,
and appendix. The other six members of the Committee were Simon
Bradstreet (Governor), Sir William Phips (Governor, 1692-95), Maj. Gen.
Wait Winthrop, Maj. Elisha Hutchinson, Col. Samuel Shrimpton, and Maj.
John Richards.
[45] Thomas Gilbert, D.D., of Oxford University, author of "Carmen
Congratulatorum." Judge Sewell visited him in England, and was shown
by Dr. Gilbert the Bodleian Library, "a very magnificent Thing." See
Sewell papers: Fifth Series, Mass. Hist. Soc. Collection, vols, v.,
vi., vii. We may be allowed to suppose that Dr. Gilbert took Judge
Sewell to Woodstock, only eight miles from Oxford University, where
the latter perhaps was impressed for the first time with the name and
historical associations of Woodstock.
[46] Capt. Ruggles of Roxbury, who died Aug. 15, 1692, of whom Sewell
says, in his Diary, Aug. 16th: "Capt. Ruggles also buried this day,
died last night, but could not be kept."
[47] Proceedings of Mass. Hist. Soc. for Feb., 1873, p. 399.
[48] Rev. Mr. Dwight, of Woodstock, dined with him Aug. 24, 1718,
and made a prayer at his court Nov. 7, 1718. Also see Diary, Jan. 2,
1724: "Paid Mr. Josiah Dwight of Woodstock in full, of his demands for
boarding Madam Usher there about six or seven weeks in the year 1718,
£2-11." John Acquittimaug, of Woodstock, an Indian, who lived to be
one hundred and fourteen years old, was entertained by Judge Sewell
in 1723. _Boston News-Letter_, Aug. 29, 1723. The wills of Woodstock
people were proved before "the Honorable Samuel Sewell, Judge of
Probate." MSS. of Martin Paine of South Woodstock.
[49] Paraclete Skinner, of Woodstock, who remembers the second
meeting-house that was taken down in 1821, says that that structure
never had a bell.
[50] While in custody at Woodstock, Queen Elizabeth, according to the
chronicler, Raphael Holinshed, wrote with a diamond on a pane of glass
in her room these words:
"Much suspected--of me Nothing proved can be, Quoth Elizabeth, prisoner."
[51] Sir Walter Scott's novel of "Woodstock."
[52] The last time that the name of New Roxbury, as applied to the name
of the whole town, appears in the Proprietors' Records of Woodstock is
March 18, 1689. The first time the name of Woodstock appears is May 26,
1690: Woodstock Records.
[53] 1691.
[54] March.
[55] Town meeting November 27th and 28th.
[56] Woodstock, at this time, was under the restrictions of frontier
towns. It was called a "frontier town" in 1695.--Mass. Hist. Society
Proceedings, 1871-1873, p. 395.
[57] December 28th.
[58] Lincoln's "History of Worcester County."
[59] Sept. 7th.
[60] Manuscript Records of Second Precinct of Woodstock, or Parish
of New Roxbury, in the possession of G. Clinton Williams, of West
Woodstock.
[61] May 16th.
[62] Petition to town Nov. 2, 1736.
[63] July, 1737.
[64] 1739.
[65] Oct. 2, 1741.
[66] April, 1742.
[67] Letter of Aug., 1742, to selectmen.
[68] Nov. 18, 1742.
[69] Sept. 14th.
[70] In the school-house Sept. 27th.
[71] Line dividing East and West Parishes approved by General Assembly
of Connecticut in 1753, and name of New Roxbury approved in 1754.
[72] The old First Church. See Records of First and Third
Congregational Churches, and Miss Larned's "History of Windham County."
[73] July 27th.
[74] Class of 1733.