The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-05-20
FOR "OLD HOME WEEK"
Huge Family Reunion Planned
by New England States.
JUST A MILLION SOULS INVITED.


Are Arranging For Mig General
CeIebrations-some Data About the
Ties of Sentiment That hind Down
East states to Each Other.
New England expects to welcome
nearly half a million Of her scattered
children back under their old rooftrees
during the summer, says the Brooklyn
Eagle. She is planning-eyery state Of
lher with the solitary exception Of
Rhode IsIand-a mammoth family re-
union to take place during the summer
vacation. Nearly every town in Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu-
sets and Connecticut has planned an
"old home week" for some time be-
tween the middle of July and the mid
die OF September. They have invited
their wandering sons and daughters,
who went forth many years ago to
make their fortunes, and their grand
sons and granddaughter, who We're
born in many instances on the soil Of
some upstart western state and have
never seen the old home, back for a
week on the old sod. And the invita-
ton is being numerously accepted, and
during the vacation thousands and
hundreds Of thousands viii turn their
steps eastward.
just million have been invited, all
told. They have been invited by one
or another Of the New England towns
to come back and Join hands with the
people still around the old fresides
whose grandfathers were the friends
and neighbors Of their grandfathers.
And the idea has taken nightly. All
Yankeeland is interested. State as
sociations Of the most prominent clti-
zens are arranging for big general eele-
brations, and each individual town is
preparing to look well to its own.
AS is usual in such cases it is not en-
tirely matter Of sentiment New
England has a reputation for practical
hard headedness which will put even
sentiment on a practical, paying basis.
She expects to derive a tremendous
benefit from this whole "old home
week" movement. She is planning the
biggest reunion ever projected in fact,
a series Of hundreds Of reunions com
bined into one tremendous whole. And
she expects to combine profit with the
pleasure OF the meeting
Scarcely a city, town or hamlet east
OF the New York state line but win
have its day of welcoming its old
townsfolk The boys that went away
poor, the girls that married and made
new homes for themselves, will come
back prosperous, with their families
The experience Of the past four years
has shown what they will do. sum
moned by this call to the old homes,
which they would probably not other
wise have visited, they will be feted
and made much Of. The old love will
return. Some of them viii buy old
farms and turn them into beautiful
country places, others win give libra
ries or other public buildings, rebuild
ancient churches, erect tablets and
monuments.
Some idea of the strong ties Of senti-
ment that bind the New England
states to each other ana to the other
states Of the Union may be gathered
BY the following summary. In CON
sidering the data we should remember
that It represents only present eondi-
tions and does not refer III any way
to the thousands of native emigrants
who have in generations past gone out
from these states to fight the battles
Of civilization, and who have done
SO much toward pushing our frontier
from the upper Hudson to the Mis-
sissippi, from the Mississippi to the
Rocky mountains, and from the Rocky
mountains to the golden sands Of the
Pacific.
Maine has furnished 21G,551, New
Hampshire 124,04s, Vermont 16s.542,
Massachusetts 29o,614. Rhode Island
6l542 and Connecticut 142.254 toward
this grand total Of 1,012,367.
OF these New Englanders $4,000 have
gone to the middle and extreme west.
They have founded cities there and
built up states in which the spirit Of
New England institutions Is reincar-
mated and which stand as a unit with
New England on an great questions OF
public policy and national honor Scat
tered along the southern seaboard
from Delaware to Florida are $4,000
more and In other parts Of the south
about 5000 In the nearer states Of
New York, New Jersey aud Pennsyl-
vania are 1882, while the inter-
change between the New England
states themselves amounts to about
half a million.
California has been the objective
point of over 10000 from New England,
and 10000 have settled in Colorado,
Washington and Oregon. Illinois
stands close to California, with 10000
to her credit Next in order are Mime
sofa, with 10000; Wisconsin, with %
000; Michigan, with $4,000. Iowa, with
2i,000; Ohio, with 10000, and Missouri,
Indiana, Kansas and Nebraska, with a
total Of 1900 which is equal to the
entire population Of Nevada.
New York has drawn upon New Eng
land for 10000 Of her people, and the
draft has been honored. Sixty-five
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