The Republican journal., 1912-10-17


jackson, and following the first agita-
ton general committee was appointed,
consisting of H. Phillips Body, Harold
G. Booth, Everett E. Morton, John
Body, Laura Chase and Ora M. Morton.
These are among the leading people of
the town, and members of the church,
and one and all have labored faithfully
to bring about the success that has at
tended this celebration. AS soon as they
had completed their arrangements the
following invitation was sent out to for
mer residents Of the town and disti:l-
guished guests in all parts of the coun-
try:
The Centennial of the
Jackson Congregational Church
and the
One Hundredth Anniversary
of the organization OF the
Jackson Plantation
will be jointly observed at
Jackson, Maine,
on the
9Th and 9Th of October, 1912.
You are cordially invited to, be present at the
exercises,
The response to this invitation was
generous and from all points people
f1ocked to the old town Saturday. A
large number of these guests claim the
town as their birthplace, while many
others have come simply to do honor to
one of the fine old towns of Maine that
has escaped the changes that so many
other towns haye met and that still re-
tains the blood and the customs of the
fathers. 1t was day of genuine joy,
and but few of the residents did not
welcome some friend or relative from
distant points.
The literary exercises commenced at 2
o'clock Saturday afternoon, and when
Chairman Body called the gathering to
order in the old Congregational Church it
was large audience that he faced.
The Brooks orchestra was present and
the opening feature was the Crown
Prince overture, by Barnard. Then came
the singing of America by a chorus made
up Of the best singers in Jackson. 1t was
fine music that they made and never did
the grand old anthem ring out more in
spirlngly. The prayer was made by Rev.
Harold G. Booth. and this was followed
by an address of welcome by the same
gentleman. 1t was cordial in tone and
kindly received by all who were present.
Several centennial poems were then
read by the secretary, and these all
breathed tender sentiment of love and
reverence Cor the good old town.
A vocal solo was then given by Mrs.
Wynifred Staples Smith, daughter of
the town. Her song was The Penitent,
by Van De Water, and it was given in
rich voice that brought out tremendous
applause and encore from the great au-
dience. To this Mrs. Smith graciously
responded.
The next feature was an historical ad-
hv H.
the beginnings of the town and its de-
was closely followed to the end.
Music was then given by the Brooks
orchestra, after which the centennial
Grafton was delivered by Hon. David A.
Body of New York, native of Jackson
and now the leading member of the bank
ing firm of Body, Mcclellan & Co. of
New York city. 1t was an able address.
Mr.. Body said:
HON. DAVID A. BoODY'S ADDRESS.
"Fellow-Townsmen and Fellow Citi-
zens: One hundred years ago a little
band of men and women decided to con-
vert these rough forest lands of Jackson
Plantation into primitive farms and on
them make their homes. They had no
visions of wealth, no dreams of great
achievements. They belonged to no
favored class, the nobility of rank was
not theirs.
''They believed that the home, the
schoo! and the church were the founda-
tons upon which to build individual and
national lives, and so no matter whether
fortune smiled or frowned, no matter
whether crops were good or bad, no mat
ter how narrow the margin of receipts
over expenditures, with expenditures re-
duced to the lowest necessity, these in
situations were sustained and honored.
''These men were our fathers and our
fathers fathers; these women were our
mothers and our mothers mothers. Their
ashes are ashes, the spirit is immortal.
If it be true that Nature, working in her
great laboratory, never loses or wastes
one particle of matter, must believe
that in the economy of God not one noble
purpose, not one self-sacrificing deed is
ever lost. Not a sparrow falls without
your Heavenly Fathers notice. The
grave did not cover the spirit of our
noble dead, it was not of earth, earthly,
it did not die, it went forth, and today,
wherever churches and colleges and libra
ries abound, wherever trade grows and
commerce expands, wherever the wealth
of mines is unlocked, wherever the
secrets OF nature are revealed, wherever
the highest powers of our national life
are seen, there is found the old New Eng
land spirit.
''And so from the contemplation of
these individual lives, we come to that
larger life, the life of the nation of which
the New England spirit is today large
and dominating influence.
''And in this connection l have sug-
gested the following words as indicating
the line of thought which we might fol-
low in celebrating the centenary Of this
town and of this church: The Town and
the Church as Elements in our National
Life"
THE TOWN.
''By the town mean, speaking gener-
ally, the smallest unit in our system of
government. In the town we have, of
course, smaller units with specific pur-
poses, such as the school district and the
highway district, but the town is the unit
recognized by the State and is the unit
where every man, not disqualified by well
known and proper reasons, exercises the
rights, performs the duties and assumes
the responsibilities of government. The
town with US is the nursery or the kind
ergarten Of government. Here every
man shares in the responsibility OF de-