HISTORICAL RECORD.
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Jan. 25.—About one hundred and fifty members of the Old Colony Historical Society were present at the society rooms in the State House, and listened to the concluding portion of Hon. Colin M. Ingersoll’s paper entitled “Leaves from the Diary of a Young Man in St. Petersburg, 1848-49.” Among those present were ex-Gov. English, Hon. C. B. Bowers, ex-Mayor Robertson, Rev. Mr. Leonard, Dr. Ayers, Judge L. E. Munson, Capt. C. H. Townshend, and many other well-known gentlemen, besides a party of friends of Mr. Ingersoll from New York. The paper was a rare treat. A vote of thanks was tendered the speaker, on motion of ex-Mayor Robertson, and interesting remarks were made by Prof. Baldwin.
Feb. 10.—The annual dinner of the Washington Association of the Bowdoin Alumni took place at Welcker’s. Some thirty-five persons sat down, among them Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Hon. L. D. M. Sweet, Senator Frye, Hon. W. W. Rice, Judge W. B. Snell, Gen. Ellis Spear, Col. J. H. Gilman, U.S.A., Rev. J. S. Sewall, D.D., Gen. John Marshal Brown, Mr. Israel Kimball, and Rev. S. M. Newman. The following officers were elected: President, Commodore Horatio Bridge; Vice-Presidents, Israel Kimball and Judge William B. Snell; treasurer, I. N. Whitney; Corresponding Secretary, Prof. J. W. Chickering, and Recording Secretary, James C. Strout.
The Bowdoin Alumni Association of New York also ate their annual dinner, and elected officers as follows: E. B. Merrill, president; Francis R. Upton, secretary; D. F. H. Dillingham, treasurer.
Feb. 10.—About one hundred sons of the Granite State, the majority of whom belong to the New Hampshire Club, assembled at the Quincy House, Boston, under the presidency of Hon. J. C. Moore, of Manchester. Among the company were many distinguished gentlemen, invited because they were natives of the State, and among these were: Senator J. Gault of Hookset, Naval Officer A. O. Kent, Gen. J. L. Stevenson, Speaker J. Q. A. Brackett, Mr. Charles F. Morrill of Manchester, Mr. George B. Clifford of Grand Forks, Dak., Gen. Charles H. Burns of Wilton, Landlord Crufts of the Maplewood House, Bethlehem, Mr. A. A. Folsom of the Boston & Providence Railroad, Mr. A. A. Copp of Nashua, Dr. A. H. Hayes of Alton, Gen. F. S. Nickerson, and Mr. Charles Pattee of Boston, Mr. Walter C. Taft, superintendent of the New York & Boston Dispatch Express Company, and Mr. H. B. Dwight, superintendent of the Adams Express Company.
Feb. 15.—At an adjourned meeting of the Maiden Historical and Genealogical Society the following gentlemen were unanimously elected permanent officers of the society for the ensuing year: President, Hon. E. S. Converse; Vice-Presidents, Hon. J. K. C. Sleeper, Hon. L. L. Fuller, Hon. Marcellus Coggan; Corresponding Secretary and Librarian, George D. B. Blanchard; Recording Secretary, George D. Ayers; Treasurer, Thomas Lang. These officers are constituted a Board of Directors of the society.
Feb. 22.—The annual meeting of the Cape Cod Historical Society convened in Lyceum Hall, Yarmouthport, Hon. Charles F. Swift in the chair. The treasurer’s report showed the society to be in good financial condition. Steps were taken to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the formation of Barnstable County, which occurs some time in June. These officers were chosen: President, Hon. Charles F. Swift, Yarmouthport; Vice-Presidents, Thomas P. Howes, Dennis, S. B. Phinney, Barnstable, Alonzo Tripp, Boston, E. S. Whittemore, Boston, James Gifford, Provincetown; Treasurer, Samuel Snow, Barnstable; Secretary, Josiah Paine, Harwich; Executive Committee, J. C. Howes, Dennis, Eben B. Crocker, Barnstable.
March 3.—Annual meeting of the Dedham Historical Society. The Act of the General Court, empowering the society to hold real estate to the amount of $25,000, was accepted, as was the bequest of land and money from the late Hannah Shuttleworth. A memorial sketch of the late Judge Colburn was read by Erastus Worthington, Esq. The society chose officers as follows: President, Henry O. Hildreth; Vice-president, Alfred Hewins; Recording Secretary, John D. Cobb; Treasurer and Librarian, J. H. Burdakin; Curators, Erastus Worthington, Henry W. Richards, Don Gleason Hill, J. H. Burdakin, Elijah Howe, Jr.; Auditors, George F. Fisher, A. Ward Lamson; Chronicler, Don G. Hill; Historiographer, J. H. Tuttle.
March 9.—Meeting of the Bostonian Society. The essayist was J. M. Hubbard, whose subject was “Boston, in 1710, Preparing for a Small War.” It appeared during the reading that the military enterprise on hand was the capture of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, then in the hands of the French. The reason why Boston was peculiarly interested in it was that this Nova Scotia harbor was a resort and head-quarters for a great number of French privateers, which made short cruises along this coast, capturing many merchant-vessels and fishing-craft, greatly to the injury of the commerce of Boston. The English Government accordingly sent hither a small fleet with a body of marines, expecting that the force would be augmented by troops raised in the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire provinces. The whole expedition was to be commanded by Colonel Francis Nicholson, who came in the fleet from England. To provide for the requirements of the local forces the Provincial Council of Massachusetts ordered that £15,000 in bills of credit of the province be printed, which was a ready way to raise the money.
March 9.—The Concord Monitor, in announcing the result of the vote on this day on the question of calling a constitutional convention, says that New Hampshire towns have been directed to vote on the expediency of calling a constitutional convention by the Legislatures of 1799, 1806, 1813, 1820, 1832, 1833, 1837, 1844, 1846, 1849, 1857, 1860, 1862, 1864, 1868, 1869, 1875, 1883, resulting in the conventions of 1850-1 and 1876-7. The proposition had a sufficient majority this time.
March 10.—An explosion on the tug-boat “John Markee,” in Boston Harbor, instantly killed the entire crew, consisting of five men.
March 12.—At a special meeting of both branches of the Cambridge City Council, a special committee was appointed on the part of the city government to confer with the committee on the part of the citizens relative to a suitable observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the departure for the seat of war of Co. C, Third Regiment of Infantry, of Cambridge. This was the first volunteer company organized for the war of the rebellion in the city. Ex-Mayors Montague, Saunders, and Harding, ex-Aldermen Thurston and Chapman, and Mr. J. W. Merrill, made short addresses, urging the necessity of making the 17th of April a day of local pride for Cambridge. The following committee on the part of the citizens was chosen: ex-Mayors Bradford, Harding, Montague, and Saunders, ex-Alderman F. L. Chapman and D. H. Thurston, and Messrs. George H. Howard, J. C. Wellington, and L. B. Porter. On the part of the City Council there were chosen Mayor Russell, Aldermen Hincks and Lindsay, and Councilmen Kemp, Ivers, Coveney, and President Corcoran.
March 15.—At a meeting of the committee having in charge the preparations for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Lowell, the following programme was agreed on, for April 1: In the morning, singing by public-school children, and address by C. C. Chase, former principal of the High School. In the afternoon, prayer by the Rev. Owen Street; address by Mayor Abbott; oration by the Hon. F. T. Greenhalge; in the evening, addresses by ex-mayors.
March 15.—The regular monthly meeting of the Methodist Historical Society was one of unusual interest. Rev. Hebron Vincent, of Edgartown, occupied the chair, and Rev. C. L. Goodell, of Providence, presented and read an interesting sketch of the rise and progress of Methodism in Rhode Island, bringing out particularly the history of the Chestnut Street Church, of which he is the present pastor, and whose semi-centennial was recently observed. Rev. Dr. Chadbourne, of Charlestown, found in the files of the Columbian Sentinel for 1806 the following: “On Thursday morning Mrs. Maria Odiorne, aged 29, wife of Mr. George Odiorne, eldest daughter of the Rev. Jas. Creighton of London, Eng. Her funeral will proceed from the dwelling of Mr. O., in May Street, this afternoon at half-past three o’clock, which the friends and acquaintances are requested to attend.” The interest of the Methodist fraternity in this lady arises from the fact of her being the daughter of one of Mr. Wesley’s most intimate friends and associates, and whose home was the scene of this great man’s oft-repeated visits when she was but fourteen years of age. Her husband, Mr. George Odiorne, met her in London on one of his business trips across the ocean, and they were married there, she accompanying him to his American home. Her son, James Creighton Odiorne, born at his grandfather’s house in London, graduated at Yale College in 1826, and was one of the founders of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, among whose members was the late William Lloyd Garrison, and of which Oliver Johnson, Esq., is the only living member. The next meeting of the Society occurs on Monday, April 12. Rev. L. B. Bates will present a sketch of the late Rev. Lewis Bates.