Greenfield High School - Evergreen / Exponent Yearbook (Greenfield, MA)

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THE EXPONENT 5 men are of no country ; they belong to mankind r’ Most fitting are these lines of tribute and inspiration, in¬ scribed beneath the bust of John Adams in the old meeting-house at Quincy: ‘From lives thus spent, thy earthly duties learn; From fancy ' s dreams to active duty turn; Let freedom, friendship, faith thy soul engage. And serve, like them, thy coun¬ try and thy age.” Edwin M. Clapp. ESSAY AND VALEDICTORY GLIMPSES OF GREENFIELD When we think of the great cities of the United States, of the millions of people scattered over the coun¬ try, and most of all when we look nearer, at our own large, rapidly growing town, the fact that but three hundred years have passed since the landing of the Pilgrims, and since the first settlements in this part of the United States were made seems scarcely possible. Although it is not my purpose to give a detailed account of the history of our town, I feel that the story of a town and that of its people are one. If we could look backward over the life of Greenfield, we should find many men worth knowing, some of whom attained distinction in civil and political life even beyond the bound¬ aries of our township and common¬ wealth. I can only skip along, nam¬ ing a few to emphasize what our splendid environment and the inter¬ est taken in the education of our people has done to put Greenfield in the limelight and to make her known as a town which has contained and still harbors men and women of brains, ambition and energy. But our neighbors always see us from a different angle than the world at large does, so I should like to try to show you these people as their neighbors saw them. Though it may surprise some of us a great deal, the truth is that Greenfield used to belong to Deer¬ field. Some of the Deerfield people were attracted by the land near the rivers farther north, and gradually a new settlement was formed near the Green river. The first man to set¬ tle here was Nathaniel Brooks who came in 1686. Another early settler was Joseph Petty, from whom Petty’s Plain takes its name. We can im¬ agine him with a group of fellow- pioneers seated around the fire in Aaron Denio’s tavern. The story is told that one day Denio asked his wife what was in the kettle for din¬ ner. She merely said, ' ‘Water.” He seized the kettle, and running up a hill back of the house threw the ket¬ tle down, exclaiming that she could have her old water. As the meat and vegetables rolled out and all went tumbling down hill. Landlord Denio probably realized that he had satis¬ fied his curiosity but had lost his dinner. Soon after these people had built their houses, the question of school¬ ing was considered. I imagine some of us would like to have been liv¬ ing here then, for people thought that children had had enough educa¬ tion when they were 10 years old. However, they were expected to help at home. Another early consideration of the Greenfield people was having a meeting-house. This was built as soon as possible, and Mr. Edward Billings was the first minister. In reply to the call to settle in Green¬ field, Mr. Billings said he would ac¬ cept, “though there be some circum¬ stances attending my settlement among you that are far from being pleasing.” What was the matter with Greenfield? As the settlement grew, the in¬ habitants wanted to be a separate town, not part of Deerfield. Many and bitter were the discussions, but at last the petition was granted, and the town of Greenfield was incor¬ porated in 1753. A little later, in 1792, the first paper of Greenfield began to be pub¬ lished. Thomas Dickman came to start this paper, which was known as the “Impartial Intelligencer” and later the Greenfield Gazette.” Mr. Dickman was the town’s first post¬ master, and he also kept a book¬ store. One of the promoters of the “Impartial Intelligencer” was Wil¬ liam Coleman. He later went to New York, where he became the law partner of Aaron Burr, and an inti-

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4 THE EXPONENT pleased save that of a British sub¬ ject, will be forever remembered as the “great constitutionalist.” For not only was he a member of the convention of 1780 which formulated the constitution now in force in this state, but also, as Chamberlain says, “fifty millions of people to-day live under a constitution, the essential features of which are after his mod¬ el. Thirty-eight states now have constitutions in no essential respect differing from that which he drafted. And, as his cousin, Samuel Adams’, readiness in action earned him the title of “the father of the Revolu¬ tion,” so John Adams’ readiness in words earned him the title of “the colossus of debate,” and drew forth the glowing tribute of Webster, who characterized his eloquence ah “noble,” “sublime,” and “god-like.” John Quincy Adams, prominent during the early life of our repub¬ lic, and the sixth president of the United States, inherited his father’s readiness of speech and will go down in the ages as “the old man eloquent of the House.” He also followed the steps of his father as a diplomat and statesman. In truth, concerning the first three generations of the Adams family, it has been said that “the synchronism of wars, treaties and ministerships between father and son, is so curious, that in An¬ cient History it would be treated as indubitable confusion of persons.” Perhaps one of John Quincy Adams’ greatest achievements as a states¬ man is the Monroe Doctrine, termed in recent years, the Adams Doctrine, because it has become an established fact that John Quincy Adams, as Secretary of State to Monroe, orig¬ inally formulated the principles set forth in Monroe’s document. Almost equally great, perhaps, was his suc¬ cessful war against the “gag laws” waged against tremendous odds in the National House of Represent¬ atives. Charles Francis Adams, Senior, who reached his prime during the period of the Civil War, and was our ambassador to England at that time, merits the greatest praise for his in¬ valuable services in that country, by which he is considered to have aided the cause of the Union to a greater extent than even the com¬ mander of the Army of the Potomac. The fourth generation from Johi Adams has been represented by four equally gifted and illustrious men, men to whose loss we have as yet scarcely become reconciled. John Quincy Adams, Jr., an able lawyer, has been prominent in the Demo¬ cratic party both in this state and in the nation. Charles Francis Adams,. Jr., a writer by “aptitude,” a law¬ yer by profession, has wrought a nation-wide reform by initiating railroad control legislation, has con¬ tributed to the progress of educa¬ tion as the author of the “Quincy” system of instruction, and has left an everlasting memorial of his sound judgment and clear vision in the present Metropolitan Park system of this state. Henry Adams, the writer and historian, was, perhaps, typical of the family in his love for rebuk¬ ing ideas that he considered errone¬ ous, imparting that characteristic sting to his criticisms which were all the more discomforting because they set forth plain facts, simple, unad¬ orned, and commonplace, but never¬ theless, true. The only son of Charles Francis Adams, Senior, who still lives, is Brooks Adams, the law¬ yer and author. And so closes the roll-call of the great Adamses who have gone be¬ fore. What the “gadfires” yet have in store for Massachusetts only the future knows. Fleeting as our glimpses have been in this hasty en¬ umeration, we cannot fail to recog¬ nize and appreciate the worthy pre¬ cepts and high ideals of this grand old Puritan family, which has lived in its simple, unaffected, “Quincy,” style for so many years at our very doors. Liberty, independence, and freedom will never lack a champion, whilst the unconquerable spirit of the Adamses is burning in our land. The people will never clamor in vain for honest, energetic, capable, public servants, whilst the blood of the Adamses is flowing in our veins. Hu¬ manity, itself, is indebted in a de¬ gree almost beyond human reckon¬ ing, to the wisdom and foresighted¬ ness of men of the Adams caliber. Well might it be said that, “they served their country, not alone be¬ cause that country was their own, but because they knew her duty and her destiny, and knew her cause was the cause of human nature. Such

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6 THE EXPONENT mate friend of Alexander Hamilton. About twenty years after the ‘Gazette” was started, it was bought by Col. Ansel Phelps. He also had a bookstore and published books. A story relates that once when Col. Phelps was in Boston, he saw a ship just arrived from abroad. He went on board to get news for his paper, when suddenly the ship moved away from the wharf. Col. Phelps thought he was going to be taken across the Atlantic. Rushing to the captain he demanded to be put ashore. The cap¬ tain said they could not stop. Final¬ ly, however, he explained to the col¬ onel that the ship was merely chang¬ ing its position in the harbor. As soon as they were at the dock. Col. Phelps hastened away, not waiting to get his news. At this time, too, Peter Sprague and George Mark came to town. The former was a very eccentric shoe dealer, and devoted a great deal of his life to attempting to discover perpetual motion. He was exceed¬ ingly kind-hearted and was accus¬ tomed to leave a sum of money with his grocer to be given to the poor. Mr. Mark was called “The Count.” He was a very fine sign painter, and considered himself an artist along other lines as well, but it is said that his sense of perspective was not very highly developed, and the results were quite remarkable. Some of his ' paintings now belong to Judge Franklin G. Fessenden. Some years later Mr. Henry W. Clapp came to make his home in Greenfield. He built the first town hall that the town had, and also laid out Franklin street. Mr. Clapp will always be remembered in connection with St. James Church. He was a de¬ voted churchman, and provided the stone and most of the funds for the present church building. Mr. Clapp was always very active in town af¬ fairs. And now we have come to a con¬ sideration of Greenfield during the Civil War. One has but to visit our older cemeteries to find on slab and stone names of men who lived here, and who made the extreme sacrifice for home and country. William B. Washburn was active in getting men to enlist. He was connected with several of the banks. He was deeply interested in the library association, and gave the building on the corner of Franklin and Main streets. He had a brilliant political career—was elected three times as Governor of Massachusetts; served in the Nation¬ al House of Representatives and suc¬ ceeded Charles Sumner in the United States Senate. Another citizen of Greenfield of Civil War times was Charles Dev- ens, for whom the Devens House was named. He was a well-known lawyer, and a major-general in the Civil War. Camp Devens was named for this Greenfield citizen. Associated in law with Gen. Dev¬ ens was Wendell T. Davis. It is said that when Thackeray was in this country, he found Mr. Davis the best after-dinner speaker in America. Also associated with the Civil War were Rev. J. F. Moors of All Souls Church, and Rev. Peter J. Finch of St. James. Both these men were chaplains during some part of the Rebellion. When they came to Green¬ field they became at once interested in the whole town, not confining themselves merely to their own par¬ ishes. Everyone liked them both for their cordial, pleasant ways.. Mr. Moors and Mr. Finch were especially interested in school affairs, serving for many years on the school board, helping to bring about many of the present conditions. One reason that the schools of Greenfield have been excellent is that the townspeople have always been interested, and many have devoted a great deal of time to this cause: The fact that the town is honored by having as citizens a chief justice of the superior court, an associate justice of that court, and that the Attorney-General of the common¬ wealth but a few years past made his home amongst us, speaks well for the higher education and uplift in our community. Time alone prevents mention of scores of men and women, judges, bankers, authors, politicians and bus¬ iness men, many living at the present time, who have left their stamp and imprint upon the life and reputation of the town. So we see that Green¬ field has had a brilliant past, and she