Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1922-08-25

| visit TO this village was Mt an Old Home
gathering 20 years ago. Mr.. Mont.
.gnmery is n man of attractive manner and
appearance who carries his 20 years
lightly.
Mr.. Montgomery said:
''Mr. Chairman and Friends:
standing in this presence on this
notable occasion, my first duty is to ex,
| press thanks and appreciation for the
honor and privilege of joining with you
in celebrating Old Home day. In All the
| years of the separation from the scenes
and friends of early life my thoughts
| have often reverted to Dear Old Town
shend. Recollections rush into the mind (;
all the burial places of memory give up
their dead; the present becomes the past
and L again become boy.
"One of the accepted privileges of the
old is to reminsce, therefore you will
please pardon me running reference to
my past, not in the spirit of conceit but
to bring before you the salient facts of
my life. Celebration of Old Home day
commends itself to all, lest we forget the
fundamental facts which have shaped our
character and destiny.
"Some of us recall the time when men
parted the garments of the country and
cast lots over the vesture of the govern
ment. Still vivid in our minds is the
picture of that magnificent host of young
men from the North with swords
wreathed in the beauty of the lilies as
they went forth to save the Union. Yer
mont of her bravest and best freely gave.
Friends, my purpose is simply to por-
tray my connection with the Green
Mountain Boys in that tremendous con-
flict.
1.-THE opening thunders of the Civil
war were heard while l stood little
slave boy on the banks of the Mississippi
A I...t.
the Sth Vermont regiment was encamped
at Algiers, opposite New Orleans. AL
most daily saw soldiers 60 through their
maneuvers. saw the glittering guns and
bayonets the flashing swords, heard the
rolling drums and the inspiring music
of the band.
"Boy-like I was charmed with the
spectacle and an irresistible impulse
seized me to be with the soldiers. l ran
connection with the regiment. They did
not call me mascot-the word was not
then current-but as q matter of fact
was. Two splendid officers were espe-
cially kind to me: 1t. s. e. Howard of
Jamaica and Capt. II. f. button of Lud-
low. With the regiment l made the cam
paign in Louisiana, and eventually
reached Port Hudson, where for Al days
the gallant 9Th engaged in the siege of
that impregnable stronghold.
"The investment of this Gibraltar of
the confederacy was costly in the death
of many men of the regiment. / have a
CHASTITY picture of the dead as they were
being buried in narrow, shallow trenches.
At last Fort Hudson fell, and we were at
once ordered to the Shenandoah valley,
Virginia, for service under Gen. Phil
Sheridan, the brilliant cavalry officer.
Here occurred the battle of Winchester,
Va, and Col. button while leading the
regiment into the battle had his arm
shattered and was borne to the rear with
hundreds of others whose bleeding forms
have never faded from my eyes.
Col. Dutton was sent to Townshend
and accompanied him. Through many
weary months of suffering he was nursed
by his devoted wife and Mrs. Cathan, and
under their skillful and loving care he
passed the danger point.
Il was accepted as member of the
Cathan household and accorded the kind
est consideration and treatment by all.
The God-fearing men and women of the
town extended to me a warm and hearty
welcome; the young people-the boys
and girls-made me companion and
forgot that ! had dark face.
over the graves of the noble fathers
and mothers of that time, the grasses of
many. years have been waving. If for
get them let my right hand forget her
cunning, let my tongue cleave to the roof
OF my youth if l remember them not
II will ever cherish and hold them in
enduring and honoring memory. All that
l am, all that l have achieved in life |
owe to the good people of Townshend,
and 1t is with sense of profound graft
tude that l here and now declare the
debt. In this presence on Old Home day
may L ask you to accept this humble
tribute from one cast by the red tide of
war into your midst. one who has tried
to maintain in his life and work the su.
cred traditions and ideals of vermont
The people of New England brought
God into the country and have grand.y
Kept him there during all the years of the
marvellous developments which have
made our country great, grand and glo
rious.
Living during the impressionable pc
Rod OF my career among the Christian
people of the town, / early chose that
good part to which / have chung through
all the vicissitudes of life and as a mar
whose sands of life are running low, who
has given thought to life and it's prob
lens, make bold to say to the young
people before me that religion is a goo(
thing to live by, and great cloud Of
witnesses through all the ages have de
clared it better thing to die by.
."Cursorily, briefly, brokenly, l hav,
| thC events Wnlcl
linked my life with the people of Town
shend. l cannot express the emotions OF
gratitude that spring up in my heart
when l recall what / was and what
am, cannot forget the men whose yalor
snatched me from bondage, who rest
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the Judgment Day.
81 cannot forget the noble fathers and
mothers of the long ago ; and will cher.
ish in grateful and lasting memory the
good will and the high honor you have
this day shown to me-"
Rev. II. ii. Bosworth gave brief re.
marks in humorous vein and original
verses We're read by V. w. sBoyden, the
underlying thoughts of which were that
though hundreds attended the celebration
yet our minds could picture the tens of
thousands who have peopled the town
during past years and whose spirit is
with us today.
Miss Alice Dale gave three solos, The
Pine Tree, by Mary Turner Salter
HOming, by Del Reigo, and Nanny \
Song by Porter. Mrs. Walter Plumb
was accompanist.
The tickets for the comedy, Deacon
Dubbs, presented in the town hall in the
evening, were sold out long before night.
The packed house was in continuous
uproar of laughter throughout the play.
ISHha tudicrOlta aharo ctar no 80 80 n .I..