Plymouth memories of an octogenarian

by William T. Davis

William Alfred Buckingham, born in Lebanon, Conn., May 28, 1804, was a merchant and manufacturer, and Governor of Connecticut from 1858 to 1866, and in 1869 was chosen U. S. Senator. He died in Norwich, February 3, 1875.

Anson Burlingame was born in New Berlin, N. Y., Nov. 19, 1822, and studied law at the Harvard Law school and in Boston, where he was admitted to the bar. He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1852, a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention in 1853, and member of Congress from 1856 to 1861, in which latter year he was appointed minister to Austria. From 1861 to 1867 he was minister to China, and while in the service of China, died in St. Petersburg, February 23, 1870.

George Sumner was a brother of Charles Sumner, born in Boston, February 5, 1817, where he died October 6, 1863. He published memoirs of the Pilgrims in Leyden, and delivered the Fourth of July oration in Boston in 1859.

Francis P. Blair, Jr., son of Francis Preston Blair, and brother of Montgomery Blair, was born in Lexington, Ky., February 19, 1821, and graduated at Princeton in 1841. He studied law and began practice in St. Louis. During the Mexican war he enlisted as private and served until 1847, when he returned to St. Louis and resumed practice. In 1848 he was a Free Soiler, and edited the Missouri Democrat. In 1852 and 1854 he was a member of the Missouri Legislature, and in 1856 was chosen member of Congress, and again in 1860 and 1862. He was commissioned Colonel in the army in 1861, and Brigadier General and Major General in 1862. In 1866 he was appointed Collector of Customs at St. Louis. In 1868 he was the candidate of the Democratic party for Vice-President. In 1870 he was chosen U. S. Senator from Missouri, and died in St. Louis, July 8, 1875.

In 1870 the Society voted to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims on the 21st of December, and to establish that day for the first time and forever as the true day, instead of the 22d. Without entering upon any detailed explanation of the error leading to the observance of the 22d, it is sufficient to say that in 1620 the difference between the Julian calendar, and the Gregorian calendar, now used, was ten days, and that consequently an almanac made up in accordance with the latter, would have marked the 11th of December the day of the Landing, as the 21st. It follows, of course, that what was then the Gregorian 21st, must be the 21st for all coming time.

I was then Vice-President of the Pilgrim Society, and at a meeting of the trustees held on the 7th of September, it was voted that the committee of arrangements for the celebration be appointed, of which the Vice-President should be chairman. The committee as appointed consisted of Wm. T. Davis, Wm. H. Whitman, Eleazer C. Sherman, Charles G. Davis and Wm. S. Danforth, by whom subsequently the following additional members were appointed, John Morissey, Albert Mason, Samuel H. Doten, Nathaniel Brown of Plymouth, Thomas Russell and George P. Hayward of Boston, and Richard Warren of New York. Albert Mason was appointed chief marshal, and Wm. S. Danforth, treasurer. A finance committee was also appointed, and to the committee of arrangements as managers of the ball, the following honorary managers were added, Richard Warren of New York, Thomas Russell, Wm. G. Russell, James T. Hayward, Benjamin W. Harris of Boston, James H. Harlow of Middleboro, James H. Mitchell of East Bridgewater, Wm. Savery of Carver, Wm. L. Reed of Abington, George W. Wright of Duxbury, C. B. H. Fessenden of New Bedford, and Charles F. Swift of Yarmouth. The following were selected as floor managers, Henry G. Parker of Boston, Dwight Faulkner, Francis H. Russell, B. M. Watson, Jr., Benjamin O. Strong, Wm. P. Stoddard, James D. Thurber, Robert B. Churchill, Edward W. Russell and Isaac Damon.

The committee of arrangements voted to have a public dinner in the Old Colony Railroad station, the use of which had been tendered for the purpose, and that L. E. Field of Taunton be engaged to furnish both the dinner, and the supper at the ball. The Standish Guards were invited to perform escort duty, as the guests of the Society, and Gilmore’s band of Boston, and the Plymouth brass band were engaged for the occasion. At an early meeting of the trustees of the society held before any arrangements had been entered upon, it was voted to invite Hon. Robert C. Winthrop to deliver an oration, and it was after his acceptance that the plans for the celebration were perfected. A large number of guests were invited to attend the celebration, including one hundred and twenty-two men of distinction, and fourteen historical, and New England Societies, but it is only necessary to mention those who were present. At eleven o’clock a procession was formed at Pilgrim Hall, under the direction of Albert Mason, chief marshal, assisted by his aids, Capt. Charles C. Doten and Major James D. Thurber, and by twelve marshals, and under escort of the Standish Guards, and with the music of the Plymouth brass band, and Gilmore’s band of Boston, marched through Court, North and Leyden streets to the First Church. As it passed Plymouth Rock a National salute was fired on board the U. S. Revenue Cutter Mahoning, Capt. R. A. Fengar, who was a guest of the society. Seats reserved for ladies in the church were occupied previous to the arrival of the procession, and seats reserved for the press were occupied by representatives of two Plymouth journals, one Abington, one Hingham, one North Bridgewater, one Middleboro, one New Bedford, one Weymouth, one Yarmouth, one Northampton, one Hartford, one Chicago, one Mexico, N. Y., three New York, and nine Boston.

The services in the church were as follows: Voluntary, prayer from “Moses in Egypt,” by Gilmore’s band, ode, “Sons of Renowned Sires”; scriptures read by Rev. Dr. Frederic H. Hedge; hymn; oration; prayer, by Rev. Dr. Joseph P. Thompson of New York; hymn; benediction, by Rev. Frederic N. Knapp; voluntary, “Selection from Il Trovatore,” by Gilmore’s band. The choir was a double quartette, consisting of Mrs. Winslow B. Standish and Miss Olive M. Collingwood, sopranos; Mrs. E. W. Atwood and Miss Lina Rich, contraltos; Joseph L. Brown and Dr. Thomas B. Drew, tenors; Chas. H. Richardson and James M. Atwood, bassos.

In arranging for the celebration, Hon. Edward S. Toby, president of the Pilgrim Society, stated to the committee that he should be necessarily absent during most of the time at the dinner, and I, as vice president, consequently presided in his place. After my opening address, the following gentlemen made speeches: Hon. Edward S. Tobey, Major General O. O. Howard, Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, Hon. Henry Wilson, Hon. George S. Hillard, Hon. John H. Clifford, Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, Hon. Charles S. Bradley, Hon. Marshal P. Wilder, Hon. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Hon. T. Sterry Hunt, and Hon. George T. Davis. Mr. Clifford spoke as chairman of the board of overseers of Harvard, Mr. Shurtleff as Mayor of Boston, Mr. Bradley as Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and Mr. Hunt as President of the Montreal New England Society. Mingled with the speeches, was a poem read by Mr. William Everett. In the evening a brilliant ball was held in Davis Hall.

Hon. Robert Charles Winthrop, son of Thomas Lindall and Elizabeth (Bowdoin) Winthrop was born in Boston, May 12, 1809, and graduated from Harvard in 1828. His father was Lieut. Governor of Massachusetts from 1826 to 1833. He studied law with Daniel Webster, and was admitted to the Boston bar in 1831. He was a member of the legislature from 1835 to 1840, being speaker of the House of Representatives the last two years. He was a member of Congress from 1840 to 1842, and from 1844 to 1850, serving two years as speaker. When Daniel Webster left the Senate to become secretary of state in 1850, he was appointed to fill out his term. In 1851 he was the Whig candidate for Governor, and though receiving a plurality vote, failed to receive a majority, as then required by the law. The election then went to the legislature, and George S. Boutwell was chosen. He published the “Life and Letters of Gov. John Winthrop,” and delivered many speeches and orations, which have been published in a book form, the most notable of which were his Pilgrim oration of Plymouth in 1870, and his oration on the Anniversary of the surrender of Cornwallis in 1881. He died in Boston, November 16, 1894.