One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of patriot's day.
Sam. Adams, the proscribed patriot, must have had a vision when he said at
Lexington, ‘What a glorious morning for
America!’
But he and the other proscript,
Hancock, found it desirable to move further away to the quiet home of Parson
Marrett in
Woburn precinct.
A century and a half and the provincial
America has become ‘America the beautiful, from sea to shining sea.’
The anniversary of that battle day, made a holiday by our General Court, was wisely named by
Governor Greenhalge ‘Patriot's Day.’
It is well that special observance of it is made, all the way from
Boston to
Lexington and
Concord.
Medford did well her part for two days this year, as
[p. 31] the nineteenth fell on Sunday.
In the churches, at morning service, especial notice was taken, and at
Medford theatre, in the afternoon, a great concourse of citizens assembled.
Appropriate addresses were made by our
Governor Fuller and
Mayor Coolidge.
The latter was especially commemorative of the
Medford Minute Men of 1775.
The local press said, ‘No more comprehensive story of
Medford's part in the opening days of the Revolution has ever been prepared.’
The Register will preserve the same in a coming issue.
Monday (of course) was the day of celebration.
No snow had fallen since January 29, but the early morning of April 20 brought some—the ground white—with chilly air and adverse conditions, a contrast to the waving grass of April 19, 1775.
But a thousand of the school children and ten thousand people gathered for the occasion about the old home of
Captain Isaac Hall.
As usual (in recent years) a cavalryman, representing
Paul Revere, ‘rode over the bridge into Medford town’ with his escort.
Later came the mayor of
Boston, with
General Pershing, who inspected the
Medford Minute Men of today.
The genial owner,
Edward Gaffey, made them welcome and opened hospitable doors to many friends.
The few Grand Army men left to us turned out, true to the colors, as ever, as well as their associates, and the Legion.
A Medford girl read the ‘Ride of
Paul Revere;’ ‘America’ and Star Spangled Banner were sung, and the mayor made the brief address which we present.
Then the rider started, and was followed to
Lexington by the fifty-nine Minute Men with their old guns and costumes, not omitting the famous rum barrel.
There was a Sioux Indian chief upon his broncho (
Sergeant Brewster), a feature not in
Captain Hall's old command.
All present houses which were there when
Revere rode by were marked for the occasion with a placard by the city messenger, directed by a committee of the Historical Society.
Medford did herself proud that day.
