Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-06-01
FRIDAY MORNING. JUNE / 1877

eStly pray for fpll realization Of hishorcS-
| The Republican party South, with all IT. or
rOrs, waged Il noble contest for right and
the courage and sclEsacril;cc displayed by it,
members are cmbalmcl IN history. The
warmer sympathcS of Republicans Of the
North attend those OF the South in thcir des-
olatc and undone condition, with the earnest
hope that the dark, overhanging cloud may
have silver lining, and that there may be Il
day of speedy resurrection. BY the voluntary
withdrawal of the army the Government has
been placed on her good behavior. Following
the bloody campaigns for political power. they
have been treated with magnanimity, and
should they iai! to protect all claS-cS and
races in the enjoyment of their rights, the
most conservative Republicans will sec that
there is no security but to preserve the Gov
eminent in the hands OF the Republican
party As the Democracy have acquired
solid South bv force, Republicans should re-
quirc solid North by vigilance and eternal
Justice to their cause. Northern Rcpuhi
cans arc now admonished that thew can en-
durc no divisions that will endanger their
success. Should the North. by unhappy dis
cords, be divided and thus fall prey to the
SulIu ti't i'''NiAi'Ai VIA
have been Suppressed in vain, the fruits of
war will be lost, and our last condition worse
than our first
The LATE PETER l.. BRIGHAM, THE Bys-
TON CATERER.-Peter L. Brigham, Of Bos
ton, died on Thursday evening, at the age
of 10 years. lie was Vermontcr by birth.
the youngest of six sons and was born at
Fairfax, Franklin county. IIi' property is
estimated at a million dollars. Although
bachelor he had luxurious home, adorn-
ed with rare flowers inside and out. lie
leaves brothers and si,tars. number of
nicces and two nephews. one Of whom is
Ira ". Clarke. Esd, of Middlebury, who
is now in the BratteborC Insane Asylum.
The Boston Journal gives an extended
notice of Mr.. Brigham, from which We copy
the following:
Peter Brent Brigham, va, born in North
ern Vermont. His ancestors were Of Mari
boro' in Massachusetts,. whence his family
removed to Vermont in 1899. His father
died some years before Peter was OF age.
The mother, smart woman in humble cir
cumstsnces on small farm. babe her sons
seek their fortunes in the world. keeping
only one with her. When this Young
est turn came. well in his teens. he start
ed off for Boston on an old gray horse,
pair of saddle bags, stores of luncheon, a
stout will, big hopes and Sll in money.
The horse was to be sold, and the money tor
it, with the saddle, bags and bride. sent to
his mother. The animal. weak kneed, broke
down at Tyngsborough. Peter snapped
with the minister of the town for an old
mare and $50 boot; sold the mare little
further on Tor SIS AMI a watch; got aboard
q freight boat on the Mldicsex Canal,
so working his way to Cha7!cssown
The boatmen liked him he stood
treat at Simon Robiuson's grocery-end
Of the bridg,-rum and molas,cs All
things gave him ideas; they showed him,
too, how to get square meals for q shilling.
The second day in. he said he saw big
fish, almost filling hanG-cart; he thought
if it might be whale, but the bOatman
told him it was a halibut; thon he puzzled
over lobster. His first night in this city
he lodged in Bowdoin square. Next day
he footed it to Marlboro to see some unclea,
stayed with them ten days and returned to
see Levi Lincoln take his seat or tAe Com
mon as Governor. After the show was over he
at once sought work, al hired himself in a
grocery store in Sea street. Thrown OGt of
employ in the Winter, he went home to his
mother. Returning in the Spring of lS26.
the took job OF selling Holsters at $50 a
month. His employer. finding he generally |
sold his whoelbarrOw full, promoted him in
1927 to the Faneuil Hall stand, and soon
after to Concert Hall street corner. These
busy spots opened his eyes to chances for
trade. So, in ISIS. getting the good will |
of NT. Eaton, who kept Concert Hall, he |
hired a little shop on Hanover street side,
on condition that he should live with the |
Eatons, and opened an oyster shop. Work |
ing early and late, resisting all manner of |
temptations, among them offers to |
go into the lobster business with his |
first employer. he had earned and got,
by 1886, Sl5,0C0. Then he took the |
whole establishment of Concert Hall. For |
40 years his business career was in that one |
spot. Here was made, night and day, the /
bulk OF a great fortune, and, too, the only |
great mistake he evtr made, namely, that of
not buying the estate. Peter Brigham and
Concert Hall were one and the same express
sion for nearly two generations of Boston
people. When Concert Hall, for century
noted Tor balls, all sorts of Entertainments
and junketings, ceased to be what it always
had been, becoming only an historical mem
Dry, then. at the same moment, stepped
forth into Boston streets, looking like the
great Professor Agassiz, Peter Brigham.
the capitalist. tho big, sagaciOus real estate
owner; the Fitchburg Railroad director
the man of positive opinions; the sympa
thizer with radicalism, but ever the self
same genial. atlable, unstuck-up, plain,
sensible man, as when he smiled on the
passerby, with a winsome invitation to buy
q lobster.
Mr. Brigham was too devoted person TO
his affairs to be styled what is termed
public spirited man. Yet he was free and
ready with opinions upon all topics, with
intelligence, and evidence of close ohserva-
ton on the general concerns of the comma
nifty in which he lived In lSi4 he was
made member of St. Andrews Lodge of
Masons. and withdrew in 1915. lie never
belonged to any religious society, nor lid
he attend church. His religious ideas were
Ill his own. In the heat of an animated
protest against what he considered bigotry,
oriestcraft. intolerance or cant, he might
De taken for a scutier, but he was not
cotfer. With the light he had, he felt
trongly and spoke strongly. In the neigh
)orhOod of his birth there were no religious
Illustrations at all. lie said his mother
old him when he started for Boston. that
hey were church-going folks there and he
rad better fall in with the current, and he
lid 60 for a few Sabbaths to the "Old
south, with As good an appearance as he
Ould make, but he took it that they did
lot like to give him 4 good seat. and the
asst time. after asking the sexton, that func-
ionary went off and did not return to him,
Vhereupon, said Mr.. Brigham. II never
rent inside Of a Boston church to worship
forward"