Countdown to Reopening The Boutwell House
This is the first in a series of articles on Governor George S. Boutwell, one of Groton's leading men and a character of singular accomplishment and interest.
From a store clerk with no college degree, he rose to become Governor of Massachusetts and Secretary of the Treasury under President U.S. Grant. Boutwell was a well-respected farmer and agricultural experimenter as well as first president of the Groton Water Company.
Future articles will tell of his many significant achievements.
For this inaugural article, however, I have chosen to present contemporary newspaper accounts, found online, of the day 144 years ago when President Grant visited George Boutwell here in Groton in what had to have been one of the Governor's proudest moments. These accounts introduce the language and manner of the times, dispel some myths (for instance, Grant's train did NOT come into Station Ave., as many people believe) and set the stage for our upcoming articles.
GENERAL ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT'S VISIT TO GROTON
(source unknown; transcribed by Janice Farnsworth)
The visit of the President of the United States will long be memorable in the annals of Groton. General Grant passed the night of Wednesday, June 16, 1869, at the house of Governor Boutwell (of Groton) where on the next day he held a public reception, which was attended by a large gathering. People poured into the village from all the neighborhoods, and never before was there so great an assemblage of persons within the limits of the town. No accident occurred to mar the festivities and everything passed off satisfactorily, thus making the occasion a complete success.
A musical festival, known as the Peace Jubilee, had begun in Boston on Tuesday, June 15, which lasted five days. It was intended to celebrate the downfall of the rebellion and the restoration of peace and good will in all parts of the country, which at that time so recently had been rent asunder by Civil War. Several thousand voices sang in the chorus and the audiences were correspondingly large. A building known as the Coliseum was erected for the special occasion.
General Grant attended the concert in the afternoon of the second day of the Jubilee in company with Governor Boutwell, a member of his Cabinet, and with other distinguished guests. After a dinner in the evening given by the city of Boston, a special train was dispatched to Groton [Junction, now Ayer], which bore the President and his party. The following accounts of his visit were published at the time in the "Boston Daily Advertiser" and the "Springfield Daily Republican."
THE PRESIDENT AT GROTON
"Boston Daily Advertiser," Thursday morning, June 17, 1869
The President and his party left the supper room in the Revere House at a few minutes before eight o'clock last evening and after a few minutes' conversation in the ladies' parlor, proceeded to the Fitchburg Railroad station, where a special train awaited his arrival. The party consisted of the President, Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., Secretary Boutwell, [Massachusetts] Governor Claflin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hon. J. M. S. Williams, Dr. Samuel A. Green, Colonel Daniel Needham and his wife, Mrs. McAfee and Mrs. Wellington of Groton, General A. B. Underwood and the Rev. William Clark, chaplain of the New Hampshire legislature.
The President was loudly cheered as he entered the cars, where Mr. P. S. Gilmore had a brief interview with the President. The train made brief stops at Waltham, Concord and South Acton, and at each of these stations the President bowed his acknowledgments to the gathered crowds and shook hands with hundreds from the car window. During a large portion of the journey to Concord, the President conversed freely with Mr. Emerson chiefly on educational matters, and the two distinguished gentlemen evidently enjoyed the interview.
At the station in Groton Junction [incorporated as the town of Ayer in 1871] a great crowd was gathered and great enthusiasm was manifested when the President made his appearance. After a little delay he proceeded with Secretary Boutwell and a select party to Groton Centre where he passed the night [at 172 Main Street] as the Secretary's guest. A salute of guns greeted his arrival, and the whole town was in a state of excitement. A public reception is to be held at the Town Hall, at half-past nine o'clock this morning, when an immense gathering is expected.
The genial and frank conversation of the President while on the train showed that when inclined to be communicative he has no lack of words to express his ideas...It may be said, in brief, that the President greatly enjoyed his visit to Boston and that all the arrangements made for his benefit were highly satisfactory to him.
The President leaves for Worcester today at 12:30 P.M., the hospitalities of that city having been tendered to him yesterday by Mayor Blake. He will remain in the city but a few hours, returning to New York by afternoon train. He will be received by the city government, and escorted through the principal streets by the military, the Highland Cadets and the Grand Army of the Republic. He will review the public schools, and partake of a collation at the Bay State House. Secretary Boutwell will accompany the President to Worcester, but will return to Groton in the evening.
(Look for future articles from GHS to bring you back to Gov. Boutwell's time, as the Groton Historical Society prepares to reopen the Boutwell House after nearly two years of infrastructure rehabilitation and user friendly remodeling.)
