BARNSTEAD REUNION.
��303
��BAENSTEAD BE UNION.
��The most patriotic people, the world over, are those who cherish most devot- edly the love of their birth place, who keep ever fresh in memory the associa- tions of childhood and youth, who are influenced, still, by the ties of family and home, of neighborhood and social life, by which they were controlled in earlier years. As the broadest and strongest humanitarian loves his native land su- premely, so the truest citizen of our great republic, no matter in what part of the Union his abiding place may be, loves his native state with heartfelt devotion, and the most loyal citizen of the State is he who cherishes the strongest attach- ment for his native town ; and the scenes and associations of early life.
Most appropriate and most commenda- ble, then, is the growing custom of hold- ing periodical reunions of the natives of va- rious States, in the great commercial and political centres, like New York and Washington. No less appropriate and every way desirable, would be the cus- tom of town reunions — periodical gather- ings, either in the town itself, at Concord, or some more accessible point, of the na- tives and former residents of each of our New Hampshire towns. This thought takes direct expression from the recent reunion at Concord of natives and for- mer residents of the old town of Barn- stead. This occurred on the evening of February 28, at Phenix Hotel, and there were present upon the occasion, nearly two hundred persons, including the mem- bers of the Barnstead Brass Band, and a delegation of some sixty of the present residents of the town, with over a hun- dred former residents, some of whom are among the most distinguished citizens of the State, Judge Lewis W. Clark, Hon. John G. Sinclair, Hon. John P. Newell, and other well known public men being among the number.
Col. E. S. Nutter of Concord, a native,
��and formerly a prominent citizen of the town, who originated the idea of the re- union, (in carrying out which he was ably seconded by the Committee on In- vitation — Messrs. J. P. Nutter, Charles V. Dudley and A. A. Young), was president of the evening, and after a season of social greeting, followed by a supper at which ample justice was done to an elaborate bill of fare, he ad- dressed the assembly briefly, and in sub- stance as follows :
Friends and Fellow Townsmen of Barnstead : I have been reluctant to ac- cept your kind invitation to preside on this occasion, for I deem it no mean hon- or to address such a gathering, compris- ing, as it does, so much of ability and ex- perience, and it is with heartfelt pride that I look upon you as the representa- tives of the good old town of Barnstead, — my native place, and where I spent some of the happiest years, and made some of the pleasantest acquaintances of my life, — a town whose hardy ancestry were noted for their staunch integrity; a town whose picturesque hills and valleys abound with sweet memories of olden days ; a town that has sent forth far more than her quota of able, active and uprignt men, and handsome, modest and domes- tic women to valiantly light the battle of life. You may have known much of joy and sorrow since, but it is with honest pride, and earnest congratulation that I look into the faces before me, knowing that so many of you owe your birth, or something of your training and experi- ence to that New England town ; but others shall speak of its history and rem- iniscences, its sons and daughters, and, as for me, and my compatriots here, we welcome you to this happy meeting and reunion. May we have many such here on earth, and when all life's struggles shall be over, may we all be present at another joyful meeting and reunion in a better land. I will not detain you lon- ger with any remarks of mine.
Mrs. Norman G. Carr, of Concord, a daughter of Barnstead, was introduced I and read an original poem, of rare merit, followed by a most interesting historical address by George W. Drew, Esq.
�� �
