The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-03-05
"OLDTOWN FOLKS"
In the Footsteps of Mrs. Stowe.

DECILy d NllldBc DIS 70 IdHi tcClA NO"H
the banks of a TRANQUIL river. Hither and thither
in the fertile tracts of meadow or upland, througI
which this little stream wound were some tw'
dozen farm houses, hid in green hollows, o
perched on breezy hill-tops while close alongsld
of the river, at its widest and deepest part, raj
one rustic street, where stood the presiding build
ing of the village This was the 90 Oldtown
Of the novcIist-The South Natick OF to-day
Here in this pretty village. made famous by I'M
distinguished authoress, your correspondent M
been soiourning in these glowing autumn Gays
visiting the localities described in the novel, anc
Gathering facts and fancies concerning the char
acters who march through the pages OF the ooos
80 Real characters, real scenes, and real incidents
Mrs. Stowe says in her preface ana IN this iettel
let me show which characters were real ane
which fictitious. and give some description OF the
places the Oldtown Folks inhabited, ano
how thew really lived in those old days good
old days Of the dim long ago,
oLDTowN.
The village of South Natick is in the southern
part of the town of Natick, and contains ABOUT
500 inhabitants. The town is situated In the
south nrrt of Middlesex county, Mass, sixteen
miles from Boston. The name of "Natick, a
Place of Hills,' was given to 1t oy the early,
Indian inhabitants, because OF its diversity Oh
scenery in hills. valleys and plains. The Pheasant,
rustic village of South Natick, which L Will mere
after in this letter call 80 Oldtown," was, over 20O
wears ago, settled by John Eliot, the devoted In
dian missionary. 1t was 30 years after the land
ing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth that Eliot. after
explorations through the forest, came to Oldtown,
and settled TO his earnest labor in Outstanding
the aboriginal inhabitants of Massachusetts,.
I Here he toiled for the savage, and gradually there
grew no around him the town and the village.
Natick proper is a smart, thriving place, with
busy workshops, and the hum and drive Of ener-
I getic Yankee lie and distinguished somewhat as
/ having given birth 10 many men and women, who
are famous the country over-orators authors,
politicians, musicians. But as it is of Oldtown
that | write-the scene of the novel and its folks,
permit me to step aside from the centre of the
town and show only the quiet village, dull and
drowsv, with n calm, peaceful dizziness, on the
banks of the Charles river.
Oldtown, though il looks modern enough to-
day, is almost rs devoid of stirring life as when
ParsOn LOthropa and sam Lawson, and Did Boston,
walked its rural ways. The houses are neat cot
tagcs, with here and there a larger and more
pretentiOus dwelling, crowned with a French roof.
Ii has one hotel-the Eliot House-several stores,
a public hall, and adOwn the stream n small fac
tory hums away, making a shOddy " feather
board, which the shoe manufacturers of Lynn
kindly and profitably use instead of good, honest
sole leather. There are two streets in the old viii
lage, the main one passing the hotel, and the
other crossing the river, and winding away up a
beautiful bill. Oaks and elms abound, and in the
hot DAYS of midsummer their shade must be cool
ing and desirable. There are two churches, one
Congregational and the other Unitarian, situated
Ol lIt 6llt III III OHl FsilOl l1i5htoi u iOE III
Indians, back of which is a graveyard, where lie
buried most Of the personages who appear in
{. Oldtown Folks
The people of Oldtown are readers and thinkers,
with all that rich intelligence, which the people
of Massachusetts villages generally are favored
with. They live in their own houses, and enjoy
a quiet life, surrounded with books and papers,
music and art and they are social and friendly.
Oldtown to them is an object of pride. Its great
age, its beauty, the scenes of its early history, the
fame Mrs. Stowe has given it, are all spoken of
with much consideration. Several old residents
clearly remember the persons described in the
novel, and in conversations with them L have been
able to gather much interesting information.
The country around this Z" sweet village of the
PLAIN " abounds in charming views. 1t nestles
almost at the foot of n small mountain called
PECAN Hill, which rises in n conical form, and
from the top of which sixteen villages can be seen
on a clear day. There are also other hills SO near
to the Charles river, that they almost seem to dip
their feet into its murmuring waters. The river
itself, at this point, has Il peculiar serpentIne
course, and in the spring and summer time must
be very beautiful. The waters are clear and sill
very it is indeed a stream well deserving Mrs.
Stoves name of ga tranquil river" On the
banks of this peaceful river, in and around the
cosy village of Oldtown, our little New England
drama of real life and romance, of ante railroad
times, is placed. And SO following in the foot
steps of the novelist, | will call the roll of the
oLDrowN FOLKS.
Society in Oldtown, at the time Mrs. Stowe
introduces us TO her characters, was divided into
two classes-the House of Lords and the House of
Commons. The House of Lords consisted of
Parson lOthrop and wife, Capt. Brown, Miss
Mehitable Rossiter, Sheriff Jones, and those
s' who wore ruf1es around their hands, rode in
their own coaches, and never performed any
manual labor" As a class, they were few. but
with them were the sturdy cultivators of the soil
The House of Comnons-who made up the
hnlb of rho nnrtfafinn Thu War Of tho RaunlY-
ton was over, and Jefferson was at the head of
government. And without more ado of statement,
we will call up the first person on the list in the
story.
PARSoN LoTHROP.
/ do not know how many of the readers of the
novel fell III love with this man of God l doubt
if there are many who do really admire him with
his old school dignity and stern manners. His
real name was Stephen Badger, and he was set
tied over the Eliot Church in the village Is years.
He was graduated from Harvard College in 1749
aud was ordained as a missionary over the Indians
in 1853. As a pastor, he was esteemed by his
people. He was a lover of literature and science,
and the author of several publications upon cleo
tricity, and other subjects, which were much
at the time. In person, he was well
formed, with an intelligent pleasing countenance,
of medium height. His manners were pol
Ished and high bred. He is remembered in the
village but dimly, as he died in 1903, some years
before his second wife, who is given a place in the
Parson Lothrop (Badger) lived 78 years
a life of evenness and of good works and he is
buried in the old church yard beside his first
wife, Abigail, and his five children.
LADY LoTHRoP
the second wife of the Parson. She was a
rich widow when Stephen Badger married her
her first husband having been a Tory merchant of
a good family. She was full Of aristocratic no
tions, and never went much into Oldtown society.
She is described, by those who remember her. as
a short and feshy woman, with pleasant, but
courtly manners,-a believer in fine dress, and
rich household articles. The people of the village
her, although her chilling manners kept
them much aloof from her. The passage of her
splendid coach down the street of Oldtown was
always the occasion of admiration on the part of
the villagers. The children of the village were
up to regard the Parson and his lady as
more than common and they had as
much dread of Mrs. Badger as they had of the
Often in a kindly mood the good lady
would stop her co Ich and invite children to ride
with her; but it was rarely they would accept,
for it frightened them To he alone in the grand