On the evening of the 16th of June, the patriotism of our citizens found expression by the firing of cannon and bonfires; and early the next morning flags were thrown to the breeze from many points all over the city; and several public and private buildings were tastefully decorated, including the City Hall (Ward Three), Eliot Church (Ward Seven), First Methodist Church (Ward One), First Church, Newton Centre (Ward Six), and the Channing Church (Ward One). The house of John L. Roberts of Newtonville was more elaborately decorated than any other in town, and erected in the front-yard was a tablet with this inscription :—

"The Old Hull House, erected in 1776 by Judge Fuller, on the site of the present residence of Gov. Claflin. Front addition built by Gen. Hull in 1814. Removed to its present position in September, 1846, by John L. Roberts, present owner."

By the side of this stood an arm-chair of antique pattern, bearing this information:

"This chair, originally owned by the Hull family, is known to be a hundred and fifty years old."

The following tablets were also posted as indicated below:

Among the graves in the Old Burying Ground designated by the 17th of June Committee in connection with Gen. Hull, is that of his bodyservant" Old Tillow," who was the last slave held in Newton. He lies close to his old master.

City Hall, Ward Three,

The Original Building for a Church, erected 1764.
Town and School House 1848,

City Hall 1874.

Tablet at the First Church, Newton Centre, Ward Six,

1776

1660

THE FIRST CHURCH.

1876

Congregational Trinitarian, Rev. John Eliot, Jr., First Pastor.

Rev. Mr. Merriam was pastor of the First Church during the Revolutionary War, Dr. Homer coming at the close. A grand-daughter of Mr. Merriam, the widow Preston, still lives on Nonantum Hill.

The following is a list of the thirteen descendants of the original families of Newton, who sang at the celebration on the 17th of June:

Mrs. J. S. Potter, Mrs. J. B. Goodrich, Miss Mary Woodward, Mrs. E. P. Wright, Miss Lucretia Fuller, Miss Clarissa S. Hyde, Mr. Francis Murdock, Mr. George S. Trowbridge, Mr. J. E. Trowbridge, Mr. W. O. Trowbridge, Miss Cornelia W. Jackson, Miss Louisa Smallwood, Miss Charlotte W. Hyde. The first four are great-great-grandchildren of Capt. John Woodward, the moderator of the town-meeting, June 17, 1776. There were also present as a chorus choir thirty-eight pupils of the Newton High School, representing the thirty-eight States of the Republic, and all under the lead of Mr. George S. Trowbridge.

Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Newton, near the Skinner place, Ward Seven.

During the past one hundred years, Newton has furnished two occupants of the gubernatorial chair,- Hon. William Claflin of Ward Two, Newtonville, and the present incumbent, Hon. Alexander H. Rice of Boston. Two citizens of Newton have also occupied seats in the national house of representatives, Hon. William Jackson and Hon. J. Wiley Edmands.

The "Claflin Guard won much praise from our citizens for their fine appearance and military bearing at the Centennial celebration on the evening of June 17th. Their dress of gray coats, white pants, and cross-belts, was very neat and tasteful; and their evolutions, &c., reflected much credit on them in a military point of view. Military men who were present say, "The steadiness of the Guard when on the platform was excellent. Regulars could not have done better."

A very pleasing incident of the meeting at Eliot Hall was the public recognition, by His Excellency Governor Rice of Massachusetts, of his great indebtedness to Mr. Seth Davis for the valuable instruction he received in his academy at West Newton, in the days of his youth. Mr. Davis, who occupied an honored seat upon the platform, was affected

to (shall we not say?) happy tears by the complimentary allusions of his Excellency, who spoke with much feeling of those pleasant days of his boyhood. Mr. Davis, by the way, in his astronomical teachings, was decidedly ahead of his times.

After a silence of one hundred years, the speech of the Moderator of Newton's Independence Town Meeting, Capt. Woodward, has been given to the public through Rev. Mr. Tarbox, the poet of our Centennial. Mr. Tarbox probably "interviewed" the old gentleman.

With the other historical relics exhibited on the evening of the 17th was an ancient picture, the property of Mr. Chas. E. Billings, representing an old Liberty Tree, from which is suspended Andrew Oliver, the stamp distributer.

The Stamp Act is represented by the monster Pym, and under him is a suspected patriot.

Boston holds out the charter; and little Rhode Island comes next. Then comes New York, followed by Virginia, represented as a female intrusted with the Liberty Cap; and the other colonies, marked U, are supporting her.

Over the heads of the patriots is a figure of Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom, defending them from the aspersions of the enemies of Liberty.

This engraving was made at the time of, or very soon after, the solemn dedication of the tree to liberty; and we find upon the tree a card bearing the following inscription: "Liberty Tree, Aug. 14, 1765."

The crayon portrait of Col. Joseph Ward was executed by Miss E. Adams of Boston, from a miniature painted by Dunkelly in 1792.