| Show new NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC genealogical SOCIETY ADDRESS OF MARSHALL P WILDER ON OX ITS HISTORY DEL bel IVEnD iverd OX ON THE OCCASION OF HIS eighteenth ELECTION AS ITS PRESIDENT JAN 7 we meet on the fortieth anniversary this very day of the organization of the society which was completed by the choice of officers january 7 1845 IM nearly one half of these forty years I 1 have had the honor of holding the office of president res ent and it Is fitting on this occasion t that at I 1 should review the history to of the association time however w will ill iii not permit me to enter into nto de details lis nor need I 1 do so for fifteen years ago on the of march 1870 which completed a quarter of a century from the incorporation of the tile society the rev edmund F r delivered an appropriate discourse in which the history of the society is tuli full given two years ago I 1 addressed yo you u on the origin and progress of historical studies in new england and glanced at the thu history of the historical and antiquarian so cletes which have preceded receded and followed this in the kniten united state states this society was the ninth of these institutions in new lew england enc Enz land and the fifteenth in this country the tha peculiar pecullar fields which the founders chose for investigation vesti gation local and family history were ripe for the hand ot the worker and the abundant harvests which have followed our labors have shown that they were needed at thed thee the close lose of the first year the society numbered forty two resident or paying members besides a number of non honorary and corresponding members the growth of the society at first was steady and healthy though not rapid its members finances and library gradually increased in 1868 when you elected me your president and when when the society had attained a little more than halt half its present age it numbered resident and seventy a two life members making a total of members contributing to its support it had four funds the barstow bond towne and life membership funds amounting to and its library contained cont alnea bound volumes and I 1 pamphlets am the society seventeen years no building of of its own at the annual meeting in 1869 1 urged upon the members in my address the importance of beginning be nning at once a subscription for procuring a building before the close of the year 1870 a tull Tuil guilding building ding had been purchased and the funds for paying it and making the alterations necessary to fit it for our purposes were subscribed for I 1 myself devoted four months to soliciting subscriptions in which I 1 was ably seconded by the treasurer of the society the late william B towne esq on the of march 1871 the Socie tys Is house was dedicated when an able abie abbe address was delivered by the hon charles II 11 bell L L D since governor of new hampshire in jan 1872 1 called the attention of the society to the want of a fund to provide for the payment of a curator and librarian the whole amount raised for the building and librarians fund as reported by the treasurer in 1876 amounted to W 56 5 the society has now resident and ilfe life member making a total of active members besides the honorary and corresponding members the library contains 91 ja volumes and sixty sixta thousand pamphlets while the In invested vested funds amounts to over forty two thousand dollars and the Socie tys building cost an equal amount the library in these forty years has been of much service to the students of the history and genecology genea of our country the number of persons who use it has was has nas every ever year been increasing our bur rooms are visited not only by the people of new england but by strangers from all parts of the country especially cia cla ally aily lly ily frum from places where the sons sona of new 1 england aj anand and and their descendants are found whether it be on the banks of the onlo and mississippi in the flourishing ishou states and terri territories tories in the interior still further west on the pacific coast or on the borders of the gulf of mexico having found on its shelves the information they had long sought they have expressed their gratitude to the liberal minded per persons who have gathered the library and opened it freely to all comers and this they have done in various ways often by adding to it works which otherwise could not be procured the library has been of great service to those who compiled town hi histories starles and gene genealogies genealogy alog rles ries and most mont of those who have used it for their purpose have presented copies of thear aks books to the society here allow me i to add that during the past year by the generosity of the lion hon john went i worth of chicago we have a complete set of the new hampshire registers handsomely and strongly bound many I 1 of ot the volumes are extremely rare and the whole set Is of great value only one or two complete sets are known and there is no other in a public library the society has done much to foster antiquarian research in new now england and incidentally in other parts of the country from its earliest days members bi ers have been engaged in compiling works on local history or genealogy and many of these have stated that but for their connection with this society and the help they derived from its col sections and the assistance of their fellow members they would never have attempted their respective undertakings nor have been able to perform them in iu so satisfactory a manner in genealogy especially the influence of the society has been great in coi col lecurg materials for the histories of their own families its members have se sent nt out letters of inquiry all over the land and have awakened in their correspondents spon dents an interest in the lives of their ancestors and other kindred of whom they have not known this interest in family history they have communicated munica ted to others till at the present resent time a spirit of genealogical inquiry I 1 pervades the whole country two y years rs only had elapsed after tl the ie organization of the society when the first number of the new england historical and und genealogical register was issued under the direction of the society thirty eight volumes have already been completed and the thirty ninth volume has been commenced behave we have brought together in the register a vast amount of historical and genealogical matter much of which would otherwise i haye have baye been lost its quarterly visits to its subscribers have been of much service in fostering an interest in historical subjects it has had no small influence in lea iea leading d ing g people eople to appreciate the value of family ily lly papers and public documents by showing them their use in an historical point of view it has led them to search their theli garrets and other deposit ories of old papers and has brought to 11 light lit many a priceless document which fire or the paper mill would otherwise have destroyed three volumes of memorial biographies have been issued at the char charge e of the fund und f contributed by bythe the late will william iam lam blanchard bianchard towne and another will soon be ready for delivery these volumes show not only that the series will be a storehouse of blo bio biography graphy but that there will be found in it many facts 11 illustrating lu the manners and cus customs of the people of new england history is the great chronicler of time empires may rise and fall nations and people may pass away monuments may crumble into dust but history the record recording log angel of the past the counsellor of ages for the future will live on ever beaning bearing in hand band the light of wisdom to illumine the way for successive generations of men while time shall last |
