Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-06-14

and To assure them that our love and fralty
10 State ahd country is not les. strong and
unswervln9 than that We bear TO our town.
Next in order came the Grafton by Prof
c. c. Everett
The Birthday Of "a Town.
10 commencing his Grafton Prof. Charles
Carroll Everett pictured in eloquent language
the force and unity Of the New England town
A. an essential thing ia the naiion-tbe unit
out of which nations are made up. The
town is the IDEAL of doing our business Al,
ntt hand. In the city several wards
which are artificial divisions where there
seems less of common interest than in the
town meeting where men come together to do
their own business, look into one snothers'
faces aud hear one anothers' voices. doubt
less the time viii come. said Prot Everett.
when even our toSn hall will be too small
for the thronging voters of Brunswick At
least can hope without dslOyalty 10 ou
faith and our pride in the town that We love
that the change from the dignity of the town
meeting To the prrfuuctorness of the ward
room. and the Indirect and often question: le
methods of the common cOuncil may be- put
of as long a. possible" Continuing Prof
Everett said
Bruns~iek has HE'D its place in the State
and nation II has furnished its share of
men who have been prominent in the STATE
and the army and the church. We are proud
of them to-day But it is not this that gives
10 its name the special significance of which
| speak. Perhaps It ~ in part the charm of
its situation 1t is, indeed, surrounded by
no magnificent scenery of which it is simply
an aided feature. The town il the centre
10 which the nature about it is tributary
There is the river which curves about it as
it with gentle caress There are the falls
in their beauty and the rocks that rise by
their side while the noise and jar of mills
and the pungent odor Of the freshly sawed
boards add something to the charm of th''
scene. SO far a the practical mind is con
cerned, and hardly lessen 1t for the lover of
the picturesque There are the pines that
stand in their ststeIiness encircing the
village. ard there is, not far off. the sea
whose breath comes softened and strained
through the pine forest Within, there are
the broad and shady street, and the pleasant
mall. There is the church in " htch We are
gathered somewhat shorn of its Original
beauty, to be sure. but still a striking fgurc
in its prominent position. And beyond the
church there is the college yard, sometimes
shut in as it nv ts hedge Of lofty trees. with
its smooth. unbroken beauty of grass, Nth
its fair chapel ard its qniet halls. as if it
might be the scene of new story of some
sleeping beauty Behind the college is the
spot to which many hearts turn with the ten
deret love; a peaceful sunny nook, about
hich stand the solemn pines together SYM
boifing the glad and the sorrow full memories
that mingle there. Picturing at further
length the associations and "reminiscences of
the village and college life, the distn-
gushed individuals making up its early so
ciety both of town and school, the speaker
said. The presence of the students
these waves of Young men coming year after
year, may be also reckoued among the ele
meuts that have given to the town its lis
tnctive quality. II is pleasant to think how
many of those who were, for little while
smoog us. will feel a special interest in our
celebration To day. From how many widely
-undered regions Of the earth the thoughts
turn to US, of those who remember Bruins
wick as we remember them"
Passing then To the beginning of Bruins
wick's history Prof Everett paid fine
tribute to the historians of the town John
McKeeu and the brothers Wheeler who have
each done so much to preserve its history
and then described the historic beginning of
the country in geologic and Anglo Saxon
periods the lat er being represented by
Thomas Purchase who came to America il
1925, and who should have somewhere Il
statute to his memory as the simple
pioneer. even If Untitled to no higher honor,
Purchase probably Ind the virtues and TIE
failings of his time. both in the full measure
of the frontier mans life But his coming
made an epoch in American history-it was
not the man, but the race that came in him
Contiuuing-Prof. Everett said
Whatever may have been Purchases rude
ness, his coming meant civilization. II
meant schools and colleges and the unceas
ing productivity of the press. Whatever
his faults, his coming meant Christianity
Whatever his loneliness. his coming meant
this fair town. Whatever his hardships, his
coming meant our comfort. But to the In
dian it meant destruction He seemed so
weak among them They could sack his
house, they could drive hun away, What
was he. the man with his little family about
him, alone In the wilderness alone among
the savage hor'ies? But his coming m, an,
their destruction. The deadly work began
at his first appearing. Its first instrume Mt
was rum His coming meant as
have said. the destruction of the
Indian But before his destruction it meant
his degradation. Thomas Purchase did
something 10 lessen this latter DOOM mas
much AS it would appear that the rum which
he sold was largely watered. At least one
of them complained that he had pail a
hundred pounds for water drawn out of Mr.
Purchsses we'll" | fear, however, that the
water was not added till the liquor had be-
4 -. = ~.
thetic in the elaborate deed full of where
asses and aforesaid" and other legal
phrsseology in hich the Indian chiefs
signed away much of their inheritance to
later corners. each sf'i1ing his seal. the figure
Of bow and arrow. or of serpent, or some
arbitrary device. For the coming Of Thomas
Purchase was like the frs, .picula of ice
which is followed by the solid mass He
WAS followed after some changes of less
interest by the Pejebscot Company.-Anglo
Saxon business enterprise following close
npon Anglo-Saxon pluck In l7l5 the 2, jeb-
scot Compsry became possessed of what
forms the sites of eight towns, including
Brunswick, Topshsm and Lewiston and
part of four more. For this they paid fl+0.
That. in the deprecated currency of that
time, may be estimated not far from $500
The first settlers bought lots of 100 acres
each for f5, which in 1887 would amount to
shout 81 so. Later this price was doublrs
for lots in Brunswick while f25. or abort
sl1 30. were paid for lots in the richer land
of Topshau. This would seem pretty cbesp
for our land to-day, but considering the price
that the company paid for it, We must judge
that the speculation ras coed one.
Another element in the profits of the Pc
jebscot Company is found in the fact that
they were oblig, d to pay no taxes. So soon
- land vas occupied by settler he had to
pay his TAI. but the unsppropristed land
owned by non residents was not taxed.
Whether this distinction WAS based upon
aame arixfnfrYnfin p.,fian liz that .rh,ol,