The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-07-23


 spoon that belonged to the ancestor in
 whose honor the gathering was held
 were used by Mrs. Lavonia Moulton of 4 Ware, the oldest woman present,
 After dinner Calvin Hitchcock. na-
 tive of Brimfeld. read an exceedingly
 bright and Interesting historical
 ske oh, which nlt only pertained to the
 Hitchcock family, but brought out i'm
 portant "reminiscences, traditions and
 historical facts concering Brimfield. An
 original poem, which greatly amused
 and entertained the company, was
 read by John Hitchcock of Ware MT,
 Hitchcock SD Ike in part as follows: My
 kindred and friends, l am happy to
 meet you in this hallowed town, hal
 lowed to us because it is here that so
 many of our early ancestors lived and
 died, and where so many of us spent our early years. I am told that as
 am the eldest patriarch of the tribe of
 Jesse that 1t devolves upon me on this
 occasion to make some statements in
 regard to the somewhat obscure origin of our race and the settlement of our
 ancestors, and relate "reminiscences of
 more modern times. It is said that the
 roof of our race is French, and the
 branches are Saxon and BTiton, and
 probably Scetch and Irish. Ii is sup
 posed that the Hltchcocks went from
 Normandy in France with William the Conqueror to F lgland in the early part
 of the 11th century, where they are nu- merCus in some counties to this day. Two b~others. Matthias and Luke,
 came oyer to this country about 1885.
 Tn following our direct line, Luke set
 tied in New Haven, Conn. Two of his
 TOTS, Luke and John, later went to
 Springfield and Nathaniel, the son of
 John, was the first white man that set
 tied In Brmfeli. He had a son Noah.
 who was the father of Jesse, whose
 memory we celebrate to-day. It would
 seem that Matthias and Luke, the orig inal and probably the only importation of Hitchcocks that have left any pos
 terity of record, were deeply imbued with the Puritan theology and like Miles Standish and Parson Bradford were driven from F gland by the intpl- erance of the English church as they so soon followed them. The Hitch cocks were numerous in this vicinity in the early part of the 18th century They are a peace-loving and indus trious race with nothing very remark able in their general characteristics, though there are noted judges, lawyers, doctors. preachers and professors in colleges and one noted general in the army. They have good respect for re- llg'on, usu9lly of the Orthodox or Pres byte1ian order. They are not remark able fo" berevol ence, though some have made good use of their m ans in pub lie way. There was a noble example just across the street here, in Samuel Austin Hitchcock. They are seldom seen in the court records either as pla ntiff or defendant and never known to be in jail. They aJe not often veal thy, but I rever knew one to make a total failure We nll inherit more or less some p2culiariti s of our ancestors. Sometimes they extend backward fir . number of generations. They may be good prints and they may be otherwise I'm q son queried "How shall we get rid of that black drop of blood placed in our veins by eur arcestors?' and the answer was, By taking heed thereto" From what we know of our ancestors, they must have taken go7d heed that no drop of bad blood should exist in their veirs
 The Hitchcocks are now in every state in the Union a~d in every calling for a liveIHoo Villages and towns bear their name. There was a time when tFe law required voters to be list ed ard read off by the selectmen be- tt.a,- ba rh oi,,r,, n ,1f a pol tical meeting in Brimfield, and at the same time e candidate. in calling the names O. the voters, said: Ira Artemus Hitchcock, and all the rest of the damned Hitchcocka, come up here and vote, He qualified them in this way, for he knew them to be whigs who would vote against him. John of Springfield was quite a noted man of his time: he married into the Chapin family, the direct ancestor of Chester w. Chapin of Boston and AL banv railroad fame. John built a house on the site where the old court house was afterward built in the heart of the city of SD ingfe'd. Tn Hartford he was called the London merchant l well re- member my great grandfather, Noah lie dleQ Tn 1SZb, aged hi. lie was His son, Jesse, died in 1886, aged 72 He was a revolutionary sol dier, and was a feeble man for some years before his death I am told that there is a Noah in one line of the fam ily, in every generation from Noah the first
 Ire descendants of Jesse Hitchcock are represented in BNimfeld by George Morris Hitchcock and his daughter, Miss Lydia Brown Hitchcock. George 1 M has always been one of the most | active, useful and public spirited men ] of the town, where he was born No- | vember 1o 1S37 He has held many po- | siti9ns eff trust, having held the offices | of town treasurer and clerk for several | years, and other town offices He has been clerk of the board of trustees of l he Hitchcock ire academy since the ! leath of Henry r, Brown, and he has 1 7een treasurer of the Brimtield Hotel | company since it's incorporation. He | las served as S s7Xton in the town for | good many y ars. He was married tA / Della A. Parker November 19 1892 md there are two daughters from this lnion, Mrs. Mary Boardman of Water- ,ury Conn, and Miss Lydia Brown Hitchcock. There is a grandson, Allan 5oardman. George M. Hitchcock is he son of the late Alfred Hitchcock ,