Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-30
THEpURITAN FOURTH.
How the Birthday of Our Nation Was
Observed by Our Grandfathers
IN NEW ENGLAND so YEARS AGO.
A Time of Universal Rejoicing, Weddings
and Wedding Sermons.
THE oLD-TIME MARRIAGE COVENANT.
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH !

this country and Great Britain. and made
the former free and independent nation.
When there spread throughout the 13 col
onies the great news that on the Fourth of
July, 1776, the Continental Congress, sitting
at Philadelphia, had adopted such decla-
ration, it was everywhere received with
demonstrations of delight. News Travelled
very slowly in those days, so that the peo-
pie of many places did not observe their
first Fourth of July until long after that
day had passed, but they celebrated it none
the less enthusiastically on that account
with an elaborateness, universally and
heartiness to which our more modern OBJ
servance of the day has long been q
stranger.
For several years past there has been q
great deal of talk, at each approaching re-
currence of our nations birthday, of re-
Viying the old-fashioned celebrations of the
occasion and thereby cultivating spirit of
patriotism among the people. Iu view Of
this, all that pertains to old-time obsery-
ances of the "Glorious Fourth" in
THE DAYS OF OUR GRANDFATHERs
and great-grandfathers acquires a special
interest. So many of the most important
events of the Revolutionary War and of the
causal occurrences which gave rise to 1t
transpired in New England that for many
years after John Adams wrote his famous
| letter prophesying the manner in which In
| dependence Day would be celebrated, the
| fulfllment of that prophecy was perhaps
more marked upon New England soil than
| in any other part of our country.
Among the people of that section
| the Fourth of July, or Independence
Day." as it was generally called, took the
place Of other holidays which stern Puri-
tanism severely frowned upon, and large
| degree of the general jollifcation of Christ
absorbed by the great New England holi.
day of Thanksgiving, was mingled with the
| patriotic fervor aroused by Independence
Day and found vent in various social
festivities, both of a public and private
| character, on the last named occasion. In
deed, many projected wedding parties and
other social gatherings and events were
postponed till Independence Day, which,
being general holiday, would cause them
to be better attended and to thus pass off
with greater eclat.
THE oLD-TIME YANKEE CELEBRATION.
Fifty years ago there was not town in
! the New England States. nor indeed from
Maine to the extreme Western limit of our
country, in which the Fourth of July was
| not celebrated with civic and military
| parades. with brass bands playing our ma
tional airs, with patriotic orations and with
public reading of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. Throughout New England the
last name ceremony was frequently per-
formed in the churches by the ministers,
r.
their flock, and preached to them patriotic
sermon.
It is related of the Rev. Mr.. Milton, a
very popular but eccentric clergyman who
ministered to the Congregational Church of
Newburyport, Mass, within whose walls
lie the remains of the famous evan
gelist preacher, George Whitfield,
that when he stood up to make
the "long prayer" at one of these Indepen-
dence Day services he simply said: go,
Lord, deliver US from sham patriots, amen.''
Perhaps, in these DAYS, there is even more
urgent need of such Fourth of July petit
tion than there was at the time it was
uttered.
The accounts of some of the social festiyi-
ties of Independence Day in New England
a century ago are very quaint and amusing
reading now. have in my possession the
diary of the Rev. Samuel Deane, an an
cestor of mine who, more than a century
ago. was for many years pastor of the Con-
gregational Church of the First Parish in
Portland, Maine. This diary, which has
been handed down in my family from gen.
Grafton to generation, and which I shall al
ways preserve as the most precious of heir
looms, covers period of 20 years from 1770,
and comprises several bulky manuscript
volumes. As q mirror of the
LIFE AND MANNERS OF THAT PERIOD.
1t is quite as entertaining and valuable
as is the famous diary of Mr.. Pepys in its
relation to the time Of Charles II. 7 have
been repeatedly urged to give this diary to
the public in its entirety, and it is not i'm
possible that I may some time do so. For
the present I shall content myself with
dence Day in old-time New England and
some other facts derived from it in connec-
tion Herewith. On July 4, 1778, my rev.
erend ancestor writes as follows:
To-day, being Independence Day, there as
sembled at my house more than 100 of the fair
sex. married and single ladies. most of whom
were skilled in the important art of spinning.
than in this beautiful assembly. The majotity
of fair hands gave motion to not less than 60
wheels. Many were occupied in preparing ma
terials besides those who attended to the enter
tainment of the rest, provision for which was
mostly presented by the guests themselves, or
sent in by other generous promoters Of the ex-
hibitlon. as were also the materials for the
work.
Near the close of the day my good wife was
presented by the company with 2S6 seven
knotted skefns of excellent cotton and linen
yarn. the work of the day, excepting about
dozen skeins brought in ready spun. Some had
spun six and many not less than five skeins
apiece. To conclude and crown the day nu-
merous band OF the best singers attended this
evening and performed an agreeable variety of
excellent pieces in psalmody.
As already limited, marriages were fire.
quently solemnized on Independence Day.
In Mr.. Deane's diary read that on July 4,
ITO, soon after his ordination to the minis
try, he performed his first marriage cere-
mony, the names Of the contracting parties
being John Physlck and Mary Prescott
He goes on to state that he was to preach the
wedding sermon" on the following Sab
bath, taking as his text, at the request of the
bride, "Mary hath chosen that good part"
This custom of having discourse called
THE WEDDING SERMON
preached on the Sabbath succeeding the
wedding by the minister who had solemn
ized it, from text of Scripture selected by
time throughout New England, and con-
tinued SO for many years. When Abby
Smith, daughter of Parson Smith, married
Squire John Adams, whom her father
disliked and would not invite home
to dinner, she chose for the text of her
wedding sermon, John came neither eat
ing bread nor drinking wine, and ye say he
hath q devil" Parson Smith, az in honor
bound, swallowed his discomfort as best he
could and preached his daughters marriage
sermon from the text she had selected.