OF THE

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

OF THE

TOWN OF WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASS.,

Wednesday, March 25th, 1874,

WITH THE

HISTORICAL ADDRESS OF

THOMAS E. VERMILYE, D. D., LL.D.,

THE POEM OF MRS. ELLEN P. CHAMPION,

AND OTHER FACTS AND SPEECHES.

Thos M. Cooley.

COMPILED BY J. N. BAGG.

PUBLISHED BY VOTE OF THE TOWN.

1874.

TO THE

CITIZENS OF WEST SPRINGFIELD,

AND ALL THE

CHILDREN AND RELATIVES, NEAR OR REMOTE,

THIS LITTLE

MEMORIAL

IS DEDICATED.

INTRODUCTORY.

Lo

A CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY is an event in human history too important to pass unnoticed, for very few mortals are privileged to bridge its mighty chasm from shore to shore. calities depending upon individuals for characterization have, in a lesser degree, the same necessities and the same laws. In both, the scenes are frequently changing, the acts often independent and fragmentary, and the curtain sometimes suddenly falls in the midst of an important action. A century is a great landmark in any local history, and has the same uses to mankind that the guide-board and the mile-stone have to the uncertain traveler.

"Remove not the ancient landmarks which the fathers have set," is the graphic language of inspiration, and it fully accords with the highest human wisdom. This is sufficient evidence that landmarks are needed, and if needed surely they should be heeded.

What better use of a Centennial Anniversary can a township make, than to review its past; to rub off the moss and dusts of time, accumulating on its historic tablets; and by gathering up the scattered wastes of the way, plant new boundaries, and take fresh bearings for its further journey. The present owes to the future its legacies of precious and pleasant memories, its royal deeds, its noble examples of self-denial for the public good, its characters of great men, who, in molding communities have made their names illustrious and their lives sublime, and as far as possible its garnered histories.