Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-06-02

makers OF Williams Flavorug Extracts.
refreshments. Many households also kept
longstemmed clay pipe and the best of
smoking tobacco in readiness for him.
His conversation was delightfully."- social,
interesting and instructive.
The ladies' association of the Brattle-
boro East parish was one of special note
and influence. George b. Blake, Esq,
noted banker and financer of Boston, or
! iginally Brattleboro boy born and bred,
and a chum of mine in boyhood, remarked
to me once at his office in Boston, that the
ladies of that association in Brattleboro
when he was boy growing up there, made
an indelible impression upon his memory;
that he had travelled over Europe and seen
much of its best society first and last, but
had never met so fine a looking set of
ladies as those of that association. 1t was
the custom of the ladies OF this association
TO meet each Wednesday afternoon at the
house of some member designated at the
previous meeting. Everybody in the vii
lage knew when it was Wednesday after
|
streets bound for their place of meeting.
Nearly all ladies of 40 years and upwards
wore nicely framed and worked caps in
those days, and they We'd with each other
as to whose cap should be the incest
Green calashes were worn in passing to
and from the place of meeting, to shelter
and protect the caps without rumplng
and disarranging them. Some religious
services were held, the interests of the
church and society were discussed, and
after that came usually social function of
greater or less extent. Such spreads for
tea and repast were sufficient, as Mr..
Blake said, to make a sick person hungry.
He described to me, in glowing terms, the
repasts that usei to occur at Madame
Francis Goodhue's, when she would send
for him to appear in his best clothes to
carry round the salver OF sugar and cream
to the ladies, who sat about the room, tax
ing their repast in their laps. At these
weekly meetings measures were adopted
for rendering assistance TO any family or
person in need thereof, watchers sent to
those in need also delicacies of various
= kinds. Undoubtedly this. association con-
tributed much to the strength, unity and
usefulness of the church and society.
As boy, unsteady inclined, to me the
old fugue tunes, then universally in use,
5 made a great impression. The congrega-
= ton, sitting in the pews, quite largely
joined in singing them to the hymns an
nounced 1t would be a curious spectacle
l now to look over a worshping congrega-
> ton and observe, as one did in the older
days, nearly every one in the pews holding
the hymn book in one hand and with the
other hand quite plainly beating the time,
for each singer in those days beat the time
also, which was usually measured, state
. ly sort of movement, rather than the rap
> id style and too hurried time for a congre-
CATION to join in OF the present day.
u For many years after the Westinghouse
was erected meetings were held in the
coolest and most clustering days of win
ter in this house, situated in very bleak
Il and exposed location, with just twice the
n number of windows now in the house,
! and with no means of warming it save the
Il warmth communicated by the audience
d and the little footstoves of live Goals car
S ried by the ladies into their pews. The
: hugest snow storms did not deter the peo-
pie from attending service. How could a
= modern audience endure such exposure to
e cold? Years after large stoves were placed
in the porch, with pipes running the en-
t tire length of the audience room above
: each side aisle, and passing out of win
n dow on each side. Sermons were usually
d about an hour long, and dealt largely in
y dry abstract discussions of knotty points
d in theology.
II The winters in those days were seeming
h ly colder and the SHOWS were deeper than
o of late years. The young men of the
: parish used to have what they styled
n "bee' in winters, to shovel out a road
# way and foot paths, across the common
/ to the Westinghouse.
IS During the pastorate of the Rev. Charles
a Walker it was decided best to remove the
h church to a more central location. 1t was
= accordingly taken down and regretted on
g its present site, better accommodating the
E people, especially in stormy or otherwise
: uncomfortable weather. The same lber-
ality and spirit of unity and loyalty which
: had at former times been displayed, were
; conspicuous in this movement for change
of location. So may we ever dwell togeth
err in unity, lberality and loyalty.
Recolections of the early history might
: be extended, but l will not tire you, my
8 friends, by dwelling longer upon them.
q Maj. A. p, Davis, who died of hear
disease at his home in Pittsburg, Penn.