AT a meeting of the committee of arrangements, September 15th, 1864, it was VOTED, That our thanks are due to James B. Congdon, Esq., for the poem delivered by him on the occasion of the commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Dartmouth, and that he be requested to furnish a copy for publication. GEORGE HOWLAND, Jr., Chairman. His Honor George Howland, Jr., Mayor of New Bedford, Chairman of the committee of arrangements for the Centennial Celebration: MY DEAR FRIEND, The manuscript of the poem read by me on the 14th instant is at the disposal of the committee. With the highest regard, JAMES B. CONGDON. New Bedford, September 27th, 1864. PREFATORY. Dartmouth was incorporated 1664. In 1676, during the war with Philip of Mount Hope every white man's dwelling was destroyed, and the inhabitants who escaped with their lives found refuge in the garrisons. In 1764 the blundering legislation of England began-war soon followed, and in 1778 the raid of General Grey laid the fairest portion of Dartmouth in ruins. The ending of the second century and the beginning of the third finds us again at war. The Indian has not fired our dwellings or massacred our people; no foreign raiders have laid waste our homes or shot down our citizens: but many a home and many a heart between "Cushnet and Coackset" are desolate, and the bones of our strong men and youth are bleaching upon the battle-fields. We celebrate the close of the second century of our municipal existance in the midst of the most awful civil war known in history. A blow is now, as before, aimed at our NATIONAL LIFE; and now, as before, shall we triumph, and secure, may we not hope, liberty for all within our borders and more than a century of peace and prosperity. POEM. I. From NACATA to † COAKSET's shore, Upon the quiet hills and plains, Descends full charged with direst woe The vengeance of the savage foe, In storm of fire and blood. II. By broad ACUSHNET's rising shore, By COAKSET's gently moving stream, Guide through the soil the cleaving share, In healthful labor blest. * Nacata-generally known as West's Island, belonging to the town of Fairhaven. Many years ago John West gave by will one half of this island to trustees, who were to bestow the income upon the industrious and worthy poor. As but little income was derived from it, the property was sold. The New Bedford monthly meeting of Friends has the appointment of the trustees, and the fund is now a means of relief to many a poor but worthy person. "From Nacata to Coakset," that is from West's Island to Westport, was the description of the old town of Dartmouth. † Coakset-Westport. Dartmouth was early divided into three settlements, constantly referred to in the old records. Acushnet, now New Bedford, Ponagansett, the present Dartmouth, and Coakset. The settlements were on the banks of the three rivers generally called by the same names, so that the names sometimes were used for the villages and sometimes for the rivers. The tract of land in the neighborhood of the Acushnet is frequently called the Acushnet country. |