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 E lip ha let Trask, born Ja7iuary 8, 
 i8o6y died December g, i8go. 
 
 Rtiby Sqttier Trask, born August 
 22, i8i I, died November 26, i8go. 
 
 Married March j, i82g.
 
 Ci.AiiK W. Bryan & Co., Pkintkus. 
 SriiiNGKiEi.i). Mass.
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 W 
 
 ;;^ LIPHALET TRASK came of a sturdy ancestry. He 
 
 belonged unmistakably to that class who consider 
 
 _^ useful labor the highest condition of New England 
 
 manhood ; and to produce that which is useful far more impor- 
 tant than to consume the results of other people's labor. He 
 had quick perceptions of the rights and the wrongs of his own 
 community, and of the State and the Nation. He had warm 
 sympathies and a tender interest in the misfortunes of others. 
 He loved justice for justice's sake, and he was not easily 
 turned from his convictions and from whatever he held a duty. 
 He was during his early life a hard worker and a busy man. 
 As years brought larger means and better opportunities he 
 more fully entered into that rest which had been earned 
 in the full strength of his own powers. 
 
 The Trask family, like many of the early settlers in New 
 England, are of English origin. The earliest probable ancestor 
 of Eliphalet Trask was Osmond Trask, who, in 1645, came 
 from Somersetshire, and settled on Cape Ann. Somersetshire, 
 in the South of England, was the cradle of the Trask family, 
 as it was of some of the earliest emigrants to this country.
 
 ^ rHASK MKMOUIAL. 
 
 There is lucking ii complete registei' <>l llic various familv 
 lines to clearly connect them with Osmond Trask,biit there is 
 niiicli to strengthen the belief that Eliphalet Trask was one of 
 his descendants. His great-grandfather, Josiah Trask, was 
 born in lieverly, Mass., in 1720. He married Annie Putnam 
 of Sutton, Mass., October 31, 1745, and they settled in Monson. 
 Their son, Peter Trask, was born May 22, 1746, and he married 
 Rachel Colburn of Stafford, Ct., who died in Wales, August 
 9, 1845, aged ninety-nine years one month and twelve days. 
 Their son, Josiah Trask, the father of Eliphalet Trask, was 
 born in 1776, and he married, in 1801, Elizabeth Weljb of Staf- 
 ford, Ct., daughter of Eliphalet and Jemima Webb. Their 
 third son, Eliphalet, was born in Monson, January 8, 1806. 
 
 He was one of eight children — six boys and two girls. His 
 childhood was spent with his parents on the old farm in 
 Monson; but at twelve years of age he went to live with his 
 grandfather Webb in Stafford, Ct., where he remained most of 
 the time until he began working in different ])laces. His 
 parents desired that he should be a farmer, but farming 
 seemed to offer but little inducement for him, and as soon as he 
 was old enough he was woi'king at anything he could find to 
 do. He found employment in drawing the brick used in build- 
 ing the Lafayette furnace in Stafford. When it was finished, 
 some time in 1826, he began work in it to learn the trade of an 
 iron founder. The business did not prove successful and the 
 furnace was closed within about a year. There was another 
 furnace in the town, where an older brother was employed, and 
 he went into that, where he remained a year. Then, lor a
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 7 
 
 brief time, he went to his home in Monson, and while there he 
 learned of the furnace in Brookfield, at which he applied for 
 employment. Securing it, ho went there in 1828 to begin 
 work. The next year, March 8, 1829, he married Ruby Sqnier 
 in Monson. His father died a short time before and the farm 
 was sold to settle the estate, fie bought it of the other heirs, 
 and for a time made that his home after he was married. His 
 great-grandfather, Josiah Trask, who was the first of the Trask 
 family to live in Monson, came there as a colonist and took up 
 the land for the farm upon which the family lived, giving it 
 the name of Ziklag, a name derived from the Bible, and a part 
 of the farm still retains this name. It descended to Josiah's 
 son Peter, then to his son Josiah — father of Eliphalet — and 
 then, by purchase, to Eliphalet. He continued to own it for 
 some time, but finally disposed of it. His wife remained on 
 the old homestead until 1830, when he moved her to Brook- 
 field. Before taking his wife to Brookfield, it was his custom 
 to walk every Saturday night, after finishing his day's work in 
 the furnace, to his home in Monson, to spend Sunday with 
 her. Sunday night he walked back to Brookfield, covering a 
 distance both ways of forty miles. 
 
 His wife. Ruby Squier Trask, was born in Monson, Mass., 
 August 22, 1811, and died in Springfield, November 26, 1890. 
 She was the daughter of Solomon and Sarah Moulton Squier, 
 both of Monson, and the youngest of fifteen children. Her 
 childhood was spent in her native town, where she was married, 
 by the Rev. Dr. Ely, to Eliphalet Trask, March 3, 1829. She 
 was the mother of ten children, five girls and five boys^one of
 
 f> TRASE MEMORIAL. 
 
 whom, a son, died in infancy, the other nine living to manhood 
 and womanhood. Her ancestry is I<]nglish, her great-grand- 
 i'ather, Daniel Monlton, and his wife (who was a Miss Wolfe, 
 and a near relative of Gen. Wolfe, famous in the Ijattle of 
 Queijec), having come from England to America about the year 
 1750. Her grandfather was born during the voyage, and was 
 named Freeborn Monlton, because born out of the king's 
 dominion. His parents settled in Monson, where, in 1763, 
 Daniel Moulton erected the old Monlton Manor House, 
 now a quaint old farm-house, with a large, square stone 
 chimney surmounting it, and Ijcaring the date of its erec- 
 tion. Tiie place is still held by his descendants, and for 
 years, so the story ran, the old broadsword carried by 
 Daniel Moulton in the Revolutionary War was one of the 
 treasures of its garret. 
 
 Mrs. Trask's childhood's home, and her home for the first 
 two years of her married life, was within a short distance of 
 this old family home. It is easy to believe that the virtues of 
 patience, gentleness and unselfishness which were not only her 
 strong individual characteristics, but traits common to her 
 brothers and sisters, wei'e developed and strengthened by the 
 home-life of so large a family ; while loyalty and devotion, not 
 only to her immediate kindred, l)ut to all her friends, was a 
 part of her every-day life and education. She was a woman 
 of almost Puritanical simplicity of character, and although 
 singularly modest and unassuming, she was clear in her views 
 of right, and firm in her adherence to those views. In her 
 own home she was (he true housewife and mother. Under
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 9 
 
 her quiet rule, the neccssarv work of a Inrac household seemed 
 to move on like well-kept machinery. Always busy and in- 
 dustrious, until age compelled her to relinquish her cares to 
 others, with every hour of the day full of duties, yet her child 
 ren never remember to have seen her impatient, or fretful. 
 Yet this unvarying gentleness was not the calm placidity of 
 one who lacked energy, or force of character. On the contrary, 
 she had the ability to plan, and the force to execute her plans, 
 and whenever she had once decided on the right of her method, 
 she was firm and unyielding. 
 
 While her husband was interested in business and public 
 affairs, all the care of a large family and the management of 
 her children came upon her. It was not a household of rules 
 and regulations, yet her government was absolute down to the 
 last detail. Her rule was guiding rather than authoritative, 
 leaving to her children that sense of individuality and freedom 
 which made their home life'so pleasant. She belonged to the 
 race of old-fashioned mothers, who were wholly devoted to 
 home and family. She was to her children the friend, the 
 peacemaker, the adviser, the physician and nurse, as well as 
 the lawgiver. All authority was left with her, because " the 
 heart of her husband did safely trust in her." Yet, with all 
 her cares, she had always time for the entertainment of friends, 
 who were constantly coming and going ; time to devote to the 
 social pleasures of her children ; time for much quiet and un- 
 ostentatious charity to those needing aid, and time for much 
 active work in the church of her faith. Her religion was not 
 a subject of tali<, or a matter of words with her, but a very
 
 10 TRASK ME MORTAL. 
 
 active piu't of lici liiL'. One ol' (he |ile:tsantes( pictures Ihat 
 memory brings ol' her, is, as slie sat on many a quiet Saturday 
 evening, the week's work all done and laid aside, and. with 
 the influence ol" the strict Puritanical habits of her childhood 
 stron<r upon her, when Sundav beuan with the settino- of Sat- 
 urday's sun, she would open the family Bible, with its plain, 
 old binding, and read chapter after chapter, until she had gone 
 from cover to cover, two or three times in the course of such 
 reading. Although, to use a favorite phrase of her own, she 
 found it "best not to make too great pretensions to Ciii-is- 
 tianity," yet, none the less, was she consistent and faithful in 
 every duty, as it came to her. 
 
 Jt has been said of her that "she had no enemies, and ne\er 
 lost a friend." Perhaps, because, as Jeremy Taylor says, "A 
 Christian knows no enemy he hath, because he knows no one 
 he is not bound to love and to forgive, and none he is not 
 bound to treat kindlv and iustlv, liberallv and obligingly." 
 Yet, while all who came in contact with her were her friends, 
 still she was essentially and chiefly domestic and home-loving, 
 bound up in hei- love and care for her family. From the date 
 of the deaths of her three oldest children, came a change in 
 her, and she seemed gradually to lose her interest in outward 
 affairs, and turn l)ack to those hajjpier days when her family 
 was as yet unbroken, drawing more closely still within hei' 
 own home, and to those who were left, until at last she was 
 like a gentle, affectionate, little child, dependent on those 
 whom she, herself, had spent her best years in cari;ig for. To 
 them she leaves the mcunories of a charactiu", whose beauties
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 11 
 
 and graces arc riot for the eyes of strangers, but to those who 
 knew and loved her. 
 
 " The idea of hei* life shall sweetly creep 
 Into their study of imagination ; 
 And every lovely organ of her life 
 Shall come appareled in more precious habit, 
 More moving, delicate, and full of life 
 Than when she lived indeed." 
 
 Eliphalet Trask,with his brother Lauren, and their families, 
 came to reside in Springfield from Brook field, October 1,1834. 
 They went into the foundry business on their own account at 
 the south end of the town, on the Longmeadow road, now 
 known as South street. Here they also lived, having pur- 
 chased a single and a larger double house. In 1836 Eliphalet 
 purchased a house on Court street, standing on the lot now 
 occupied by his son Henry's residence, to which he moved his 
 family. He remained there until April 1, 1841, when he 
 moved to the house on Water street, which he occupied nearly 
 fiifty years, up to the time of his death. The foundry business 
 remained on South street until 1836, when it was moved to 
 Court street, to the lot adjoining his house. In 1840 he moved 
 his foundry business to the lot on Water street, where it is 
 still located. He did not often sell a piece of land, being dis- 
 inclined to part with any property which he had bought. 
 
 His wife was quite as strong in her own way as was he in 
 his. Whatever she held was best to be done, she was sure to 
 do. The matters pertaining to the house were always left to
 
 12 TRASK MKMOin.lL. 
 
 her, and it' aiiytliintr was done in opposition to his wislios, he; 
 took it pleasantly, after it was done, and was fond of relating 
 an incident which occurred soon after coniinii' to Sj)rin,<>field. 
 The two l)i'others. wlieii tiiey went to South street to live, occu- 
 pied the duuide house. The single house remained unoccupied. 
 Mrs. Trask desired to move to the single house. Her husband 
 was not in favoi' of it; l)ut slie thought it would be !)etter to 
 have a house that was entirely separate from any other, even 
 if it was smaller. During the day, in the absence of her hus- 
 band, she moved everything, except the largest articles, and 
 when he came home at night he found the family occupying 
 the single house, much to his surprise, but to the enjoyment 
 of himself to know that whatever his wife undertook to do was 
 done. The few remaining articles he moved over to the new 
 (piartcrs, thus establishing themselves in a more desirable place. 
 When he was working in Brook field he received about 
 ninety cents a day for his labor, and his accumulations were 
 necessarily slow. The blast furnace was running on full 
 time, seven days in the week, and, during the three years he 
 had his familv in Brookfield, he worked nine hundred and 
 ninety-nine days. After beginning business in Springlield, 
 the (ii-st money the two brothers made came from getting 
 scrap iron out of the ruins caused by a fire. An old factory, 
 situated in VV\are, had been burned. There was considerable 
 scrap ii-on in the ruins, and Eliphalet and his brother went to 
 the owners of the mill to make arrangements to buy it, who 
 said, in reply, that not enough could be got to pay them for 
 their trouble. " Never mind that ; we are willing to try it,"
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. ]3 
 
 was the response. Arrangements were made, and when the 
 work was over, they had obtained a sufficient quantity to give 
 each 1400, besides paying for the iron and the expense of get- 
 ting it out, and it was this that gave the two brothers their 
 first start in business. 
 
 His first trip to New York to buy iron for his foundry, and 
 what followed in connection with it, were without doubt the 
 turning point in his life towards success in his early business 
 career. He carried with him to New York some -1300 or $400, 
 but, before leaving home, he had computed the expense, and 
 made up his mind as to the quantity of iron he could buy. 
 As he had never been to New York before, he did not know 
 precisely where to go ; so he went through the streets looking 
 at the signs, and liunting for a place where iron was sold. He 
 noticed bars of such iron as he wished to buy displayed out- 
 side of a store, and, on entering, he met an elderly gentleman, 
 who proved to be Thomas J. Pope, the proprietor. After in- 
 quiring the price, he informed Mr. Pope of the quantity he 
 wished to get, who, looking over his youthful customer, and 
 as Mr. Trask afterward used to say, " right in the eyes," in- 
 quired if he had a business of his own ; if he was married ; if 
 he owned his own house ; the kind of work he was doing ; and 
 other questions of like nature. To these Mr. Trask made 
 direct answers, and then Mr. Pope said, " Young man, let me 
 give you some advice. I have a vessel at the dock loaded with 
 iron. Let me send that right up to Hartford for you." Mr. 
 Trask demurred ; said that he had not money enough with 
 him to buv so much, and could not take it ; that he was a
 
 U TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 sti'iuigcr ill New York ; no one knew him, and he did not like 
 to take as much, anyway. To this Mr. Pope again said, 
 "Young man, let mo advise you further; take your money 
 home with you to pay your men ; keep them paid up, and if 
 you will take that vessel-load of iron you can give me notes 
 for the amount of the bill." Mr. Trask was still averse to 
 taking so much ; but Mr. Pope finally persuaded him to do it, 
 and he gave three notes in settlement — one due in three 
 months, the second in six months, and the third in nine. 
 When the notes were ready for signing Mr. Trask's courage 
 beuan to fail him again, and he was in favor of takintr onlv 
 what he could pay for. " Never fear, young man," said Mr. 
 Pope, "I will trust you for any amount. If you cannot meet 
 these notes when duo, I will renew them ; do not worry about 
 the jiayment ; the business is a good one, and you will come 
 out all right." 
 
 The notes were signed, but the transaction began to hang 
 over his mind on his way home like an unpleasant dream. He 
 was sick at heart, and if ho could only undo the bargain he 
 would gladly do so. He had taken three or four times the 
 amount of iron that he really needed for immediate use ; but 
 it was too late to make any change, and he soon formed the 
 determination never to ask for a renewal of the notes. When 
 the first and second notes became due, he had no trouble in 
 meeting them ; but just before the last one was due he began 
 to think ho should have to ask for a renewal. This he 
 dreaded to do, and put it off until it was too late. The after- 
 noon of the day the last note was due, some ono who was
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 15 
 
 owing him came in and paid a bill that he was not expecting 
 so soon, and that gave him a sufficient amount to take up the 
 note and leave him ^125 besides. Immediately upon getting 
 it, he rushed over to the bank and made the payment, and he 
 afterward frequently said, "I was the happiest man alive when 
 I took up that note. I was young and green, but he trusted 
 me, and I will never forget his kindness." This transaction 
 not only made Mr. Trask a customer with Mr. Pope and his 
 successors for life, but it left a lasting impression on his mind, 
 and in frequently alluding to what Mr. Pope said to him, 
 "You look like an honest man," he would often say, "You 
 can tell an honest man by his face; there are more honest 
 men in the world than thieves; thieves are not plenty, and if 
 we trust people they will be more apt to be worthy of our 
 confidence." This belief and this practice were tlie guiding 
 impulses of his whole life, and it was not often that he was 
 mistaken in his estimates of men and of character. He saw 
 the bearing of private and public questions quickly, and their 
 importance and relative merits. He readily discerned the due 
 proportion that each bore to the other in the consideration of 
 events, as they awakened interest in the community. 
 
 His parents and grand-parents were Baptists, and his early 
 reliaious traininu' came from that denomination ; but as soon 
 as he began to exercise individual responsibility, his own relig- 
 ious belief broadened beyond the church and the prevailing 
 theolouical sentiment of his home and neighborhood. His 
 grandfather Webb, although a firm Baptist in religious belief, 
 was a fair-minded man, who paid deference to the religious
 
 16 TliASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 faith and riulits of his neighbors, and it was this regard, no 
 doubt, which had its inflnenco upon the early convictions of 
 his grandson, and led him to think for himself, and carefully 
 weigh the words and opinions which he heard expressed. In 
 the earlier days of Stafford, those who held the Universalist 
 faith were not sufficiently strong in numbers to support a reg- 
 ular minister. Some of them were attendants of the Baptist 
 church, and it was agreed that the Universalis<s should have 
 the use of the chui'ch in which to hold meetings one Sunday 
 in the month. Mr. Webb was one of the Baptists who favored 
 accordinu' this riirht to the Universalists. Hosea Ballou, the 
 great light of Universalism in New England at that time, oc- 
 casionally occupied the pulpit. Eliphalet, scarcely more than 
 a boy in years, heard him preach, and was deeply impressed, 
 and would say, " This is the kind of preaching I like." It 
 appealed strongly to his reason and to his heart, and it was 
 this that gave form and strength to those religious views 
 which he afterwards cherished, and firmly maintained through 
 his long life. His mother was as strongly grounded in the 
 Baptist faith, and might have grieved that her son followed, 
 with something of her own zeal, what to him was a broader 
 view of Christian duty and belief, but to her not the religion 
 of her convictions in her childhood, and of her maturer years. 
 Her own home had been the center of religious expression 
 which was in accord with her own belief. As that part of 
 Monson in which she lived after marriage was without a meet- 
 ing house of her denomination, meetings wei-e often held in 
 her own home, and she desired her children to follow her
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 17 
 
 example. After her son Eliphalet went to Stafford to live 
 with his grandfather Webb, and had come under the occasional 
 preachings of the Universalists, he was so deeply impressed 
 with the latter, that when the Universalists held meetings in a 
 separate place, he would quietly slip out of the Baptist church 
 and go to the Universalist meetings, where he would I'emain 
 until nearly the close of the services, and then return to the 
 Baptists, that his family relatives might not know where he 
 had been. His mother, had she known of it, would have been 
 horrified to think that her son was departing so widely from 
 her own faith and teachings. The great opposition on the 
 part of some in Stafford in permitting the Universalists to 
 have use of the church a given number of Sundays in the year, 
 the decision of his grandfather Webb in favor of according 
 the right, and the ardent sermons delivered by Ballou, and 
 others of his faith, the humane side of the Universalist doc- 
 trines, shorn of those harsher features of the orthodox belief 
 prevalent at that time, turned his thoughts and convictions 
 towards a higher spirituality and a more just conception of 
 the infinite purposes of the Creator. Man's duty to man in 
 this world, as set forth to him l)y the teachers of Universalism, 
 and that their God was a God of love and not of hate, could 
 have produced no other than a liberalizing influence upon a 
 young mind seeking honestly for the light. The doctrine of 
 endless punishment of the orthodox faith was abhorrent to all 
 the better impulses of his own mind, and with such tender in- 
 terest and faith in humanity as was yearly ripening with him 
 into solemn conviction, it was not at all strange that he should
 
 18 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 liiid more comfort and greater spiritual satisfaction in those 
 broader doctrines which have since had their influence upon 
 all religious opinion and denominations in New England. 
 
 When he came to Springfield with his family, the Univer- 
 salists were without a church edifice ; they were few in 
 numbers, and without influence in the community ; their 
 meetings were held in ;i hall, and were not regarded with 
 favor by the orthodox community. The Fii'st Church organi- 
 zation was the leading and influential church of the town. 
 I'rominent members went to Mr. Trask and solicited him to 
 attend its meetings. Universalism, they said, was not jjopular, 
 and as he was a young man, just starting in business, it would 
 be better for him to attend their church. To this he answered, 
 " My principles are not for sale." It was further intimated 
 that their brothers in the church might l)e influenced not to 
 trade with him. This had as little effect. His reply was, " 1 
 have asked nothing of them, and 1 ilo not intend to. Mv 
 princii)les are not for sale." Everybody at that time paid the 
 " minister's tax," to support preaching in the First Church, 
 and he was honored at several times with calls from special 
 committees to urge him to attend its services, lie paid no 
 heed to their solicitations, but cast his lot and his influence 
 with the Universalists, and finally, lie had so })rospered in 
 l)usiness, that be went about building a clinrch edifice for the 
 use of his own denomiuation. A piece of land was purchased 
 on the East sidi; of Main street, below State street, where a 
 building was erected, tb(; ground floor to be used for mercan- 
 tile purposes, and the upper room for religious meetings, and
 
 TRASK MEMOIilAL. 19 
 
 it was here the Society met and worshipped until the present 
 church was built on Chestnut street. Of the one hundred and 
 twenty shares held in the Main street church edifice, ^Ir. 
 Trask owned one hundred, which indicated his interest and 
 zeal in the denomination. 
 
 He was a warm friend of the pastor of the First Church, 
 Rev. Dr. Samuel Osgood, whom he admired for his courage 
 and outspoken views, although he did not like his theology. 
 When they were digging for the foundation of the Universalist 
 Church, which was built in 1844, Dr. Osgood came along and 
 asked Mr. Trask what they were doing, to which he replied, 
 " We are going to build a church where we can have the 
 Gospel preached." " Hum})h," began the Doctor, " there will 
 be a scattering among you,^^ and passed on. This witticism of 
 the Doctor's, so characteristic, greatly pleased Mr. Trask, 
 who frequently alluded to it, as well as the visit of the com- 
 mittee from the First Church, when he came to Springfield to 
 live, and he often said that the First Church members re- 
 spected him quite as much as though he had sold his opinions 
 to them when he first came here. 
 
 When the First Church held its two hundred and fiftieth 
 anniversary, both Mr. and Mrs, Trask were invited, Mr. 
 Trask having been asked to speak on the character of their 
 former pastor, Dr. Osgood. Mrs. Trask was un'able to attend, 
 and the seat reserved for her at the dinner in the Sunday- 
 school room was given to the late Rev. Dr. Gage of Hartford, 
 who sat through the exercises which followed, by the side of 
 Mr. Trask. As Dr. Gage was not acquainted with Mr. Trask
 
 20 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 and his theological oj)iiiions, hu comiiiented very pleasantly 
 upon what he had said of church aft'airs half a century ago, 
 and rather hesitatingly, and in a delicate way, inquired," May 
 I ask what church you attend?" "Oh, yes; certainly," re- 
 plied Mr. Trask, "T attend St. Paul's, the Universalist 
 Church." "Why," replied J)i'. Gage, who was a strict ortho- 
 dox, but blessed with a good vein of humor, " I had judged 
 from your remarks that you were a broad-aisle Presbyterian." 
 In the report of the celebration published in the local news- 
 papers is the following summary of Mr. Trask's speech: "I 
 have lived," said Ex-Oovernor Trask, "for more than fifty 
 years in the shadow of Dr. Osgood's church. 1 came to 
 Springfield in 1884, and at once became acquainted with Dr. 
 Osgood, who was not only tlu; loading divine of the place, 
 but its foremost prominent citizen and most influential pub- 
 lic character. At that time there were four other churches 
 in the town. Dr. Osgood made a special point of seeking 
 out strangers and visitors, for whom he had the most coi'dial 
 of greetinu's. Unless the stranger hnd a letter to one of 
 the other churches in the town, the pastor of the First 
 Church regarded him as one of his flock, and showered 
 on him the light oi his i)ersonal friendship and spiritual 
 guidance." The speaker then spoke in the warmest and 
 tcnderest terms of his personal friendship with and regard 
 for Dr. Osgood, and em|)hasized th(^ fac't that the doctor 
 was not only ;i pastor l»ut a relonucr. a leader of the 
 (diurch, tli(! town, and of pul>lic sentiment in this section oi 
 New Entrland. ''The doctor was a ujan of (^\ti-aoi-dinai-ilv
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 21 
 
 strong- sentiments and force of character. lie feared nolKjdy. 
 Fie had the coiirag(! of his convictions, and labored with all 
 the force of his will ;md his intellect in whatever he iindei- 
 took. Everybody respected him. His infhicnce was thrown 
 boldly and earnestly on the right side in two most import- 
 ant movements of national interest dnring his pastorate. As 
 regards the first, the anti-slavery movement, Dr. Osgood was 
 one of the pioneers in the noblest humanitarian enterprises 
 of the century. He was a leader in the second, the Wash- 
 ingtonian movement, which so intimately affected this city. 
 He was a good man and he had a good word for every one, 
 and he never frowned and looked down on any one. I have 
 said many times, and I say it now, that he was the only true 
 reformer in Springfield. When he preached, three sides of 
 Court S(|nare used to be lined with horses, Sabbath after 
 Sabbath, until they ate up the fence. How different it is 
 now! It has got to be the fashion to hold services in the 
 morning and in the evening, and the day has become a half- 
 holiday and all seek after pleasure. So far as I can learn, 
 nothing is said from the pulj)it or by the i)ress against it. 
 Is not this true V And is it not a step backward from the 
 time and teaching of Dr. Osgood ? " 
 
 On the evening of the Sunday when the First Baptist 
 Church Society held its farewell services in the old edifice at 
 tile corner of Main street and Harrison avenue, Mr. Trask 
 was invited to attend, and, as one of the oldest citizens, to tell 
 what he knew of the church. In the course of his remarks, 
 he said that he had always been interested in it, as an aunt
 
 22 TRASE MEMORIAL. 
 
 of his, who lived in Chicopce Falls, was one of the original 
 nienibeis, and that she, with her husband, used to drive down 
 every Sunday from there to attend its meetings. The minister, 
 in s])eaking with him afterward, paid him a hai)py compliment 
 by saying, " I always knew you had a good Baptist streak in 
 you." lie always entertained a conciliatory spirit towards 
 other denominations, even if he could not agree with their 
 theological tenets, and as he grew older he was pleased to 
 be recognized and invited to their im})ortant gatherings. He 
 did not so much hold this as a personal compliment to him- 
 self as he did to its being an indication that the times had 
 changed. As he looked back upon the past, he could see 
 that there was a better feeling prevailing among the differ- 
 ent religious sects, which was a great source of pleasure 
 to him. 
 
 lie was in every ])articular loyal to his church, and it was 
 unpardonable on the part of his own family to criticise the 
 minister, or to say that the sermon was not good. In reply 
 to them he would say, " If you cannot say anything good, do 
 not say anything at all." "Now," sometimes, a differing 
 member of the family would say, "you do not think it was a 
 good sermon, yourself, do you ? " " Yes, I do ; it was a good 
 sermon, and if you think it over, you will find many good 
 points in it." He woidd never breathe a word against his 
 church, or his pastor. No one could have been more devoted 
 or more willing to overlook a minor defect in sermon, or in 
 minister. He was a regular attendant, and he and his family 
 went to church, through rain or sunshine, twice every
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 23 
 
 Sunday. He would say to liis children, wlio niiglil plead ill- 
 ness as an excuse for \V!intin,u' to stay at home, " Yon will icel 
 just as well sitting' in church, as sitting" iiere at home, so come 
 along,"' and along they all went. On a certain Sunday it 
 snowed very hard, but, as usual, his family went to meeting, 
 and there were just twelve persons in the church on that day, 
 nine members of Mr. Trask's family, the minister, and two 
 others. For twenty years he gave the society free use of the 
 church, and, of the four members of the choir, three were 
 members of his family. 
 
 He was always a warm friend of the leading lights in the 
 church. In fact, liis home on Water street might be said to 
 have been, throughout his residence there, " the minister's 
 house." He used to say to every minister of his church, 
 " When you come to Springfield, come right to my house." 
 He always enjoyed his friends, and he was well acquainted 
 with every prominent man in the church. There was scarcely 
 a man in the ministry whom he did not know, and his warm- 
 est friends were among the older ministers in the church to 
 which he was so strongly attached. His sympathy with his 
 church was the same as it was with his home life — it was 
 everything to him. Charles Spear, who was formerly a 
 Universalist minister, who had given up preaching to devote 
 his whole life to the improvement of prisons and of prisoners 
 (doing a similar work in this country that Elizabeth Frye and 
 George Howard did in England), was one of his more frequent 
 visitors. He went all over the country, and the fact that he 
 was devoting his life to such philanthropic work touched the
 
 24 TUASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 liiiuuinc side of Mr. Trask, ami he nlways gave liini a warm 
 welcome whenever lie came. 
 
 Mr. Trask always attended the animal conventions of 
 his church until within very recent years. He went to every 
 United States convention for more than forty years, and to 
 the State conventions until within a year oi- two. He greatly 
 enjoyed them, and his marked personality made him a con- 
 spicuous ligure in all the gatherings of the denomination. He 
 found in these gatherings hearty greetings and sincere friend- 
 ships, and a bond of union grew up between him and the 
 leaders of the church, that increased, rather than diminished, 
 as the years passed, and which were sundered only as death 
 took from earth those whom he chei'ished with a sincere and 
 lasting affection. 
 
 Right living was as equally imj)ortant to Mr. Trask as right 
 believing. Hence, the temjierance question very early came 
 to his notice, and it impressed itself upon his mind. It stood 
 next in importance with him to his religious convictions, in 
 his work and line of duty. He had early seen the evils of in- 
 temj)erance, and had had fre(pient occasion to feel its baneful 
 influence u]>on those within his own circle of ac(piaintance. 
 When he was a boy, it was one of the customs to offer 
 s|)irituous li(juors to such friends as called, or had come to 
 make a visit. The jug of rum was even brought out to treat 
 the minister when he came to preach, or to make a {lastoral 
 visit. It was not thought strange of at the time — it was the 
 way jyeople had in those days of showing their hospitality. 
 This early belief and interest in temperance principles was
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 25 
 
 iilways k('|»t ii)), and after coming to S|)iMn.u(i('l(l 1o livo, liis 
 interest was not abated, bnt grew with liini as new circum- 
 stances brought it before liim. Come wliat might to liis 
 personal fortunes, or future jjrosjjects, he stood (irmly by his 
 early convictions, and what he held as best for the community. 
 However zealous he might have been in the cause of temper- 
 ance, there was at no time acrimony in his opposition to 
 rumselling, nor to the rumseller, as an individual. He bore 
 in personal feelings against the practice, and to the individual, 
 the same good natui-e which at all times marked his treatment 
 of everv one. While he did detest the business of rumsellino:, 
 he did not quite give up to the feeling that there was abso- 
 lutely no good in the man. He was firm and decided at all 
 times, and he never left anything undone which would in his 
 belief further the triumph of the temperance cause. He never 
 entertained the slightest feeling of personal fear, or that 
 injury to his property would come fi'om any action he might 
 take. He never turned to the right, or the left, to placate 
 those who entertained different views. The writer of this 
 well remembers a speech he delivered in the police court 
 room against transferring Hampden Park from the custody 
 and ownership of the Hampden Agricultural Society to the 
 iSpringfield Club, fearing that the change might bring an 
 influence that would lead some from sobriety to intemperance. 
 It was a heartfelt appeal, and the picture he drew of young 
 men who could not resist temptation, and were led to give 
 way to overmastering apj)etite, was as eloquently expressed as 
 the utterance of the most i)olishcd orator. The words were
 
 26 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 well chosen, and liis earnest appeal to the better instincts of 
 the audience was lull of pathos, and carried a decsp conviction 
 to those who watch the results <jf tr;insj)iring' events, and can 
 see some of the causes which tuin the young from good to 
 evil habits. His advice did not prevail, but that speech had 
 its influence, and it will not be forgotten. Some of those who 
 voted against him were his personal and business friends, but 
 his voice had been lifted against what he feared might prove 
 injurious to the comniunitv, without regard to friendships, or 
 differing opinions. 
 
 When he was elected mayoi-, he appointed a deacon of the 
 First Church, Levi P. Rowland, city marshal, and active steps 
 were taken to sui)press the sale of intoxicating liquors. 
 Seizures were made and offenders brought to justice. People 
 began to be afraid of renting i)roperty in which to store the 
 seized li(pujr, and when the marshal made this statement to 
 Mr. Trask, he would say, " luring it down and put it into the 
 cellar of my office. " The marshal did so, and often the room 
 in which it was stored was pretty well filled with barrels and 
 casks of all kinds of li([Uors. He would say in regard to the 
 cause of temperance, " The only way is to keep hammering, 
 and hang until the last breath." There was no flinching with 
 him. As to the intemperate, he would say, no matter how 
 low a man went, there was still some good in him. If a man 
 who was intoxicated wanted to stop and shake hands with 
 him, he would take him kindly by the hand, and say, " Now 
 if I was in your place, 1 would go home and try to get over 
 this. There is a good deal of a man in you, if you will only
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 27 
 
 think so." His advice wms well received, even il' the rt'cipicnt 
 did not always follow it. Few, indeed, even among the lii| nor 
 sellers, hore him any ill will. He never entered into angry 
 disputes with them, and never answered back when attacked 
 for his belief. Tt soon became known that he Mas sincere in 
 his opinions, meant what he said, always clung to his own 
 views, and lived in strict accordance with them. 
 
 The three leading characteristics which gave him reputation 
 beyond the limits of Springfield, were his views concerning 
 religion, temperance and politics. To these he held firmly, 
 although, in his daily intercourse with friends and neighbors, 
 he was in no sense a disputant. Every one knew his opinions, 
 but he never brought them forward in ordinary conversation, 
 unless there was an appropriate reason. Touch upon either 
 of his favorite beliefs, in a way that indicated honest accord 
 and sympathetic interest, and the door to his confidence and 
 to his heart was widely opened. He cast his first vote for 
 president in 1828, when John Quincy Adams was the candi- 
 date of the National Reiniblican party, and Andrew Jackson 
 of the Democratic party. It was Adams' ami Jackson's 
 second contest for {)residential honors. Adams had defeated 
 Jackson in 1824, and was president during this political 
 campaign. Political opinions were generally very pronounced 
 throughout the country. Mr. Trask was then a little more 
 than a year in his majority, and he took interest in the con- 
 test. He cast his vote for John Quincy Adams, but his 
 favorite candidate was defeated. He continued, however, 
 with the party, and in 1840 he went with it when it became
 
 2ft TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 tlic Wliiti" party, wliicli, under its new iiumc, and tlic condition 
 of till! country, swept its cundidute, Gen. William Henry Har- 
 rison, into oflice, over Martin Van iJuren. His niai-riage in 
 1829, came near being- identified with Jackson's entry into 
 ofificc as the chief executive of the nation. It occurred the 
 day before the inauguration, when his favorite, but defeated 
 candidate, was about to surrender his ollicial duties at the 
 White House and retire to his Massachusetts home. He con- 
 tinued to act with the Whig partr in national affaii's until tlie 
 change of events converted it into the Republican i)arty, 
 including in a measure, as it did, the more anti-slavery 
 elements in Massachusetts of both the Whig and the Dem- 
 ocratic parties— the ])eginning of the end of slavery in this 
 country. 
 
 He voted in iHol! for Fremont, in IStiO and in 1864 for 
 Abraham Lincoln, and in 1868 for (xrant. Before the presi- 
 dential election following (J rant's first election, he became 
 dissatislicd with the a])parently strong di'ift towards what 
 was claimed to l)e corruption in ofhce. The Republican 
 party from its long continuance in ])Ower was drifting away 
 from its eai'ly professions. (Jrant was renominated in 
 1872. Tlie Democrats nominated Horace Greeley as their 
 standard-bearer, tliiuking, no doubt, that tlie veteran editor 
 of the New York Tribune, who as much as any single person 
 had quickened political opinion into resistance to the slave 
 power before the Rebellion, might draw away the dissatisfied 
 elements in the Republican })arty and carry them into office 
 again. Mr. Trask knew the man and admired his outspoken
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 29 
 
 and independent opinions, and when election day came, he 
 cast his vote for him, perhaps as much as a protest to the 
 action of his own i)arty as from a belief that he would be 
 elected. He was a great admirer of Charles Sumner, and it 
 is possil)le that the antagonism between Grant and Sunmcr 
 had something to do with his forming an unfavoi'able o{)inion 
 of Grant's services as President. From this time forward he 
 became more independent of party affiliations, and while, in 
 the main, he voted for the subsequent Republican presidential 
 candidates, he supported St. John, the prohibitory candidate, 
 in the campaign of 1884. 
 
 In town, city and state elections he had been largely guided 
 by his convictions on the temperance question, and by others 
 more closely connected with local and state affairs, without 
 strict regard to previous party connections, although, when 
 there was no question affecting his belief under consideration, 
 he voted with the Whig and Republican parties; but as years 
 passed he grew more independent of party lines. Whatever 
 view he held, it was never disguised, and his action was al- 
 ways from a high sense of duty. The passage of the fugitive 
 slave law, the return of the runaway slaves to their masters, 
 the growth of anti-slavery ojjinions here in ^Massachusetts, 
 helped to quicken his sense of duty. Every element of his 
 character was quickly aroused against oppression in any form, 
 and the more the slavery spirit reached toward the North, and 
 threatened to make even New England »ul)servient to tlu; 
 demands of the slaveholdei-s, (he more active and pronounced 
 were his views concerning that gigantic evil. As this convic-
 
 rto TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 tion ripened, to him, every man who had the courage to raise 
 his voice for freedom was hailed as a messenger of truth. 
 Every runaway negro who apjjcaled to him for aid was helped 
 on his way towards Canada, then the only asylum of the op- 
 pressed. He, Dr. Osgood, Dr. Jefferson Church, Dr. E. D. 
 Hudson, Rufus Elmer, and others, were active agents in 
 Springfield of the " underground railroad" when it was speed- 
 ins; scores of fleeing colored men from hondaszc to freedom. 
 
 In February, 1851, there occurred the most disgraceful 
 scene that ever took })lace in the history of Springfield. 
 George Thompson of England, a member of the House of 
 Commons, who in private life was above reproach, and who 
 had rendered valiant service in the abolition of slavery in the 
 British colonies, had been invited by Garrison and others to 
 come to this country and speak, under their auspices, in behalf 
 of abolition. He had given sixty lectures in New England 
 without disturbance, save at Faneuil Hall in Boston, when he 
 came to Springfield to fulfill an engagement. Rufus Elmer, 
 Amaziah Mayo, Dr. Jefferson Church, Dr. E. D. Hudson, and 
 others, were interested in his coming. Hampden Hall had 
 been engaged for the meetings, which were to be held on 
 Monday and Tuesday, February 16 and 17. The proprietors 
 of the American Machine Works were making cotton presses 
 for the South. The Supei'intendent of the United States 
 Armory was in nccoid witli the southern sentiment. The 
 local newsi)apei' endeavored to convey the imjtression that it 
 favored the sacred rights of free speech, while it invoked the 
 aid of the mob to trample free speech under foot. An inflam-
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 31 
 
 raatory handbill, signed " Lexington," was issued and scattered 
 up and down this region, from Thompsonville to South Hadley, 
 calling out the "Regulators" (the mob), and notifying them 
 that a " British Serf," a " British Spy," had come here to stir 
 up strife, and to libel our great men and the Christian church, 
 and that Irishmen should remember Emmet. A committee 
 called on Thompson, after his arrival, to dissuade him from 
 speaking, and the selectmen, with one exception, voted to 
 direct the town clerk to notify the owner of Hampden Hall 
 that, if he permitted its use, the town would not be responsible, 
 nor would it pay for any damage that might be done to it by 
 the mob. This vote of the Whig selectmen had its intended 
 effect, and the owner of the hall closed its doors against those 
 who had i)reviously engaged it. The press continued to join 
 with the mob element and to encourage mob violence. About 
 one o'clock of the Sunday morning before the meeting was to 
 have been held, a crowd gathered on Court Square and sus- 
 pended from the tallest elm two effigies, one bearing the 
 name of " George Thompson," and the other of " John Bull." 
 Here began Eliphalet Trask's real education in anti-slavery 
 opinions. That Sunday morning, while on his way to church 
 with his family, he saw the two effigies, and feeling it was a 
 disgrace to the town, and an indignity to a public man, he re- 
 quested his family to continue on their way to church, while 
 he went in search of the authorities and induced them to cut 
 down the suspended figures. George Thompson arrived Mon- 
 day forenoon, and stopped at the Hampden House. Wendell 
 PIiilli{)S and Kdmiiiid Quincy of Boston followed him to
 
 32 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 Spi'ini2:(icld Monday evening. There was no hall ojicn to 
 them, and no meeting was licld. That evening the rowdy 
 clement of the town again gathered on Court Square and 
 made a bonfire, and a stone, or a brick, was thrown through 
 the window into Mr. Thompson's room, which, it was said, 
 came near hitting Dr. Osgood, who had gone there to make 
 a call. Mr. Trask met Dr. Osgood in. or near, the hotel, on 
 his way to Mr. Tliompson's room, and both were ])resent when 
 the missile was thrown through the window. These indigni- 
 ties, and the throwing of an egg at him, as he was about to 
 enter the train at the depot, on his way to Albany, were the 
 extent of the insults and injuries that the pro-slavery sympa- 
 thizers dared to offer the man whom they characterized as a 
 " British Spy," but who was really an unsellish patriot, and 
 who had consecrated his life to resisting oppression and 
 to teaching his fellow-mon their riiihts and the truth. 
 
 Tuesday a small hall, on Sanford street, known as Dwight's 
 Hall, was opened, its owner having a greater love of fair play 
 than he had fear of the mob. The first meeting was held in 
 the forenoon, with scarcely any disturbance. Rev. Samuel 
 Osgood, ])astor of ihe First Church, opened the meeting with 
 prayer, and Eliplialet Trask was one of the vice-presidents. 
 In the afternoon the meeting was held in the colored church, 
 on Sanford street, which would seat a larger number. That 
 meeting was also only slightly disturbed. Thompson and 
 Phillips s|)oke at both meetings with great force, and Mr. 
 Phillips with his accustomed clo(juence and sarcasm. Mr. 
 Trask, subsequently alluding to this cve'ut, said, that the time
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 33 
 
 Thompson came to Springfield he was not so much interested 
 in the anti-slavery question as he was soon afterward. What 
 he at first objected to most strongly, was that Thompson was 
 not allowed to speak his mind unmolested. He was a firm 
 believer in the freedom of speech, and that every one should 
 have the right to express his opinions. 
 
 The whole town appears to have been greatly interested in 
 what had been done by the mob — many siding with it, and 
 others justly indignant. Rev. George F. Simmons, pastor of 
 the Unitarian Church, preached two sermons on " Public 
 Spirit and Mobs," which were published, and were as out- 
 spoken as could be expected at that time, when his congrega- 
 tion were not particularly interested in anti-slavery principles. 
 There was, however, a small band of men, representing the 
 abolition and the free-soil opinion in the town, who firmly 
 condemned the doings of the mob, and what had been done to 
 foster mob rule. Mr. Trask did not attend the meeting of the 
 abolitionists in the forenoon, at Dwight's Hall, where he was 
 chosen one of the vice-presidents, but those who elected him 
 knew that he would uphold free speech. He had previously 
 given the use of the Universalist Church to the abolitionists, 
 when they wanted to hear Stephen S. Foster, and his wife, 
 who had been excluded from the public halls, and they believed 
 he would maintain, what they held as a sacred right, the free 
 discussion of public concerns. 
 
 This was not only the beginning of Mr. Trask's decided 
 views concerning slavery, but of his active political life, which 
 extended over the followmg ten years. The next town meet-
 
 34 TRASI\ MEMORIAL. 
 
 iiig, held in the following April, turned on the events growing 
 out of the Thom})Son mob. The Whigs, the Democrats, and 
 the Free Soilers, each nominated a ticket for town officers. 
 The United States Armory, under the direction of the !su])er- 
 intendent, closed business that its employes might attend the 
 aimual town meeting. OHkm- mauufacturei's sent thoir men 
 to vote down those who favored discussing tlie slavery ijues- 
 tion. Mr. Trask, who had hing been n Whig, was nominated 
 as one of the candidates for selectmen on the Whig ticket, 
 and on that of the Free Soilcrs. The meeting took place on 
 April 7,1851, and the Democrats were slightly in the lead of 
 the Whigs, they casting a little rising of 600 votes, tlie Wliigs 
 about 100 less, and the Free Soilers a little more tluin 200. 
 The total vote cast was 1,409, and iMr. Trask received 750, and 
 was the (jnly candidate elected. An adjourned meeting was 
 held on the fourteenth of A))ril, but there was no choice. At 
 the third meeting, held April 28, William IJ. Calhoun and 
 Joel IJrown were chosen. Mr. l>rown decliniHl to serve, 
 and on the following day, April 2V>, Theodoi'e Stebbins 
 was elected. At (he first meeting it was voted to choose 
 a board of live men, and as that number had not been elected 
 the town clerk hesitated to administer the oath of ollice to 
 those who had been elected ; but he changed his mind, and on 
 the fifth of May they were duly sworn. Tin; newly elected 
 members issued a call tor a meeting, which was ht?Jd May 
 !'.». At tlie o|)ening, a series of resolutions were offered, 
 which wei'c adopted, and which declared, that as " no 
 legal boai'd had been chosen to succeed the old board, the
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 35 
 
 attempt by three individuals to assume control of the public 
 affairs, in direct opposition to a recorded vote of the town, is 
 high-handed and revolutionary, and calculated to seriously 
 embarrass the town ; that we deny the right of such persons to 
 act in our behalf; and that this bold attempt can be excused 
 only by the charitable supposition that their eagerness for 
 office made them blind to the rights of the community and 
 the interests of the town." It was voted to jilaco these reso- 
 lutions on the records of tbe town, but at the next meeting, 
 held May 30, public feeling had changed, and they were 
 expunged from the records. This closed the heated strife, 
 but all the patterns which the Armory had at Mr. Trask's 
 foundry were immediately taken away, and he received no 
 more work from the Armory for several years. This, how- 
 ever, did not change his views ; on the contrary, it served to 
 strengthen his determination to stand by the friends of 
 free speech. 
 
 At a town meeting, held March 1, 1852, called by the select- 
 men, steps were taken to make application to the Legislature 
 for a city charter. The measure passed the Legislature, and 
 Mr. Trask was one of the committee to divide the town into 
 wards, previously to holding the election for city officers. 
 He was also elected alderman, to represent Ward Two in the 
 first city government, receiving 1,155 votes out of the total of 
 1,370. In 1855 he vvas chosen mayor. The whole number of 
 votes cast were 1,393, and he received 904. The opposing 
 candidate was E. I>. I>each. In the autumn of 1856 he was 
 elected Representative to the Legislature, receiving 1,333 votes.
 
 3G TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 He was nominated at the next city election for mayor fur tlie 
 second term, but Ansel Phelps, Jr., the Democratic candidate, 
 was elected over him, receiving 195 more votes than were 
 cast for Mr. Trask. 
 
 Mr. Trask had for a few years identified himself with the 
 American })arty in State politics, and was a su{)porter of 
 Henry J. Gardner for governor. At the State convention 
 held in Boston in 1856, fifty-eight votes were cast for him as 
 a candidate for lieutenant-governor, on the ticket with Gov- 
 ernor Gardner, but Henry W. l>encliley, then in office, was 
 nominated, he receiving 144 votes more than cast for Mr. 
 Trask. The? next year the disintegration in the American 
 party which had begun was openly manifested, and the anti- 
 Gardner party held a convention in IJoston, June 16, at which 
 N. P. Banks was nominated for governor and Eliphalet Trask 
 for lieutenant-governor. June 24 the Republicans held a 
 convention at Worcester, and nominated Nathaniel P. I3anks 
 for governor, and Oliver Warner of Northam])ton for lieuten- 
 ant-governor. In the autumn a committee, representing tlie 
 anti-Gardner party and the Republicans, met and made 
 changes in the State ticket, placing Mr. Trask on the Re- 
 pu))lican ticket, as candidate for lieutenant-governor, and 
 Oliver Wai'iier on the ticket, as secretary of state, thus 
 uniting the two iiolitical interests in one ticket. The entire 
 Republican ticket was elected by a large majority over op- 
 posing candidates. Mr. Trask was twice subseciucntly re- 
 elected, serving during 1858, 1859 and 1860, through the 
 entire administration of Governor J]anks, and taking nnicli
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 37 
 
 of the practical details of the work uj)on himself. Governor 
 Banks was frequently away, and in such absences the duties 
 of Governor often fell upon him. 
 
 In 18G0, when George Ashmun was sent to the Chicago 
 convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln as the Re- 
 publican candidate for ])i-esident, Mr. Trask, at his urgent 
 request, accompanied him as a companion to Chicago. At 
 the close of the convention, Mr. Ashmun as president of 
 the convention, and the committee which had been duly ap- 
 pointed, went to Springfield to officially inform Mr. Lincoln 
 of his nomination. Mr. Trask, at the request of Mr. Ash- 
 mun, made one of the party. After their arrisal in Spring- 
 field they called upon Mr. Lincoln. Each was presented to 
 Mr. Lincoln, and Mr. Trask, who was six feet two, when in- 
 troduced, remarked as he took Mr. Lincoln by the hand, "I 
 am glad to meet a man whom I can look up to^ " Six feet 
 four in my stockings," was Mr. Lincoln's quick reply. Mr. 
 Trask, as did others, formed a very favorable opinion of Mr. 
 Lincoln at the time of their visit to him, which grew in sub- 
 sequent years into admiration. 
 
 During the war of the rebellion he was actively interested 
 in every measure which would crush secession, and his in- 
 fluence and aid always went towards sustaining the Govern- 
 ment. He frequently went to Boston to recommend to 
 Governor Andrew such men as he thouuht would make ijood 
 officers, and he had the personal satisfaction of knowing 
 that his requests were granted. Nothing would induce him 
 to recommend an unfit person for any position in the army.
 
 ;J8 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 lie WHS often solicited to goto Wasliiiiji,loii to assist in getting 
 sonic unfortunate soldier out of lri)ul)lc. or 1o have the re- 
 mains of one killed in l)attle sent home to friends, and during 
 the entire war he was active in doing what he could to assist 
 the unfortunate, and in fui-thering the cause which every 
 patriotic Northern man felt it a duty to uphold. Distress of 
 every nature appealed (piickly to his feelings, and when his 
 sympathies were aroused lie took hold with great determina- 
 tion to relieve those who had ai){)ealed to him. 
 
 The last time he held an elective ol'lice was in 1870, when 
 he served on the Board of Aldermen, making four terms that 
 he sat in that board from Ward Two; hut he always con- 
 tinued to take great interest in both state and national i)oli- 
 tics. lie was a warm fiieiid of Andrew and Sumner, and 
 firmly held to the cause to which they had given the best 
 years of their lives, lie often acted independently in both 
 state and city politics, but his impulses were always on the 
 side which he held as best f(ji' the Cily and iState. His iiiui 
 adherence to principle often brought severe criticism in the 
 local newspaper, which, however, gave him no pain or trouble, 
 so long as he was correctly reported; but when misrepre- 
 sented he insisted n\m\\ being set right before the community. 
 In all j)olitical disagreements he was never in the slightest 
 degree disturbed by the criticism of his opponents, even if 
 they at times became angry and abusive. 
 
 Daring his entire residence in Springheld he fully entered 
 into the life of the town and city, and whatever interested the 
 people in general, interested him. lie was an active member
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. ?,u 
 
 n\' f]\o TTorso fiunrds. and in 1.S4i' lioiifonnnt in tlio conififinv 
 ami in IS;")! ils (tajitain. 
 
 Ik' took i^rcat interest in educational matters, and desired 
 that not only his own diildren hut others should enjoy good 
 educational advantages. There was a good deal of discussion 
 concerning the location of the High School ])uilding, when it 
 was erected on Court street, and not a few were opjjosed to 
 having a high school, and during this conflict of opinion he 
 was chosen one of the committee to erect the new building. 
 He favored building a good, substantial structure, while others 
 opposed him. He kept on, and some one in authority for a 
 time refused to audit his accounts. He advanced his own 
 money and kept the work progressing, willing to take his 
 chances of getting his money back. Subsequently he was 
 fully reimbursed by the town. When the Iniilding was fin- 
 ished, there was still lacking a good sidewalk. At that 
 time there was trouble in getting brick ; he, however, found 
 one dealer who had just enough pressed brick on hand to 
 make the walk. On estimating the cost of ordinary and 
 pressed brick he found the difference was only -ii^S or $4, and 
 he ordered the walk to be made of the pressed brick. This 
 raised another accusation of extravagance, and there was 
 some hesitation about paying the Ijill. Mr. Trask told the 
 authorities that they might estimate the cost of the two 
 kinds and he would pay the amount in excess of ordinary 
 bricks. The amount was carefully figured up, and the differ- 
 ence found to be so small that nothing more was said about 
 it, and the town paid the bill.
 
 40 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 It was during his administration as mayor that the City 
 Hall was built, and ho favored, in that as in other matters 
 with which he had been connected, thoroughness of work. 
 He wanted an iUuminated dial on the clock, so that the time 
 might be seen at night as well as by day. It would cost $300 
 more; but as it could not be readily obtained he yielded to 
 the views of others. The delivery of the bell had l)een de- 
 layed, but it finally came just in time to be rung at the dedi- 
 cation. There had been some intimation that the dedication 
 should be made a very select affair. To this Mr. Trask said, 
 " No ; this hall is for the people ; let every one come." His 
 view was adopted, and the people were in attendance. 
 
 In 1856 he was appointed by Governor Gardner one of the 
 trustees of the Northamj)ton Lunatic Hospital, in which 
 capacity he served for nineteen years, until 1875. He had 
 charge of the erection of the buildings, sometimes furnish- 
 ing funds, before the accounts could be audited and passed 
 by. the state authorities, to those in need of payment. He 
 was an active member of the board during his entire ad- 
 ministration, and was as zealous in administering its affairs 
 as he would have been in the management of his own busi- 
 ness. His sound, practical advice carried weight, with the 
 other members of the board, to such an extent, that it has 
 been said of him by one who had occasion to know, that 
 " he was the whole board." 
 
 In ISTO he was ap})ointed by Mayor W. L. Smith one of 
 the Board of Managers of the Springfield City Hospital on 
 its organization, and by the board he was chosen its lirst
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 41 
 
 president, which office he held until 1879, giving during 
 his term of service the same careful attention whicli marked 
 his connection with other institutions. 
 
 He was connected with the Hampden Savings Bank in an 
 official position from its organization to the close of his life. 
 He was one of its incorporators when it was chartered. May 
 21, 1852, and at the first meeting held. May 29, 1852, he was 
 elected one of the Vice-Presidents, which office he held until 
 February 16, 1871, when he was elected President. He con- 
 tinued as such up to his death. He was made a member of 
 the Finance Committee at the first meeting of the Trustees, 
 June 5, 1852, upon which he served faithfully until his death, a 
 period of more than thirty-eight years — a service which he gave 
 freely and gratuitiously for the sole good of the institution and 
 of those who were the bank's depositors. An excellent portrait 
 of him hangs in the banking rooms. The records of the Fi- 
 nance Committee show that his habit of attending faithfullv 
 to all his duties was continued to the end, and that nearlv 
 every loan and investment made by the bank, during his term 
 of service, was passed upon by him and received his approval. 
 
 He was a Director of the First National Bank, of the 
 Agawam Paper Company, and of the Hampden Mutual As- 
 surance Com{)any, where he gave his services with as much 
 interest and regularity as characterized all his other busi- 
 ness transactions. He was President of the Agawam Paper 
 Company from its organization, in 1858, up to his death, and 
 during the more than thirty years in office he never failed 
 being present at its annual meetings.
 
 4_' TliASK MKsMOIilAL. 
 
 Few iiicii maintain sucli youihfulnpss ol' fcclin.u' iij) to the 
 close of lite as did Mr. Trask. Uc liad a waim interest in 
 the worhl's affairs, and onjoycd the society of his friends 
 down to his hist ilhiess. Struu-g-les for hir<>cr liherty in its 
 truest sense, for hiuher conditions on the part of the people, 
 always interested him Among- the many newspajicr clip- 
 pings which he had preserved, and which were found after 
 his death, was one relating to the struggles in Ireland during 
 the advocacy of the disestaldishment of the Irish Protestant 
 Church, as a government institution, running l)ack to events 
 which took -place more than thirty years ago. His last at- 
 tendance at a puhlic meeting in the City Hall, was to listen 
 to an address on Irish affairs by T. P. O'Connor, and others, 
 only a short time before he died, and at the close of the 
 meeting he passed his contribution to the collector. During 
 his last sickness his mind seemed to go back to that meet- 
 ing. " See there," motioning to a member of the family, 
 not long before he died, " they are passing the hat ; got 
 a five? Put it in; perhaps they will get it, and perhaps 
 not ; but put it in." 
 
 In his long l)usiness career in Si)ring(ield he came in con- 
 tact with a larger part of its inhabitants, and no one had more 
 sincere fi'iends who were always pleased to meet or exchange 
 a passing word with him. To more than a usual degree he 
 embodied the highest character of New England manhood. 
 He was in its best sense a typical New Englander, maintain- 
 ing the sturdy convictions, the habits of industry, and of 
 frugality, the characteristics of the early settlers. He seemed
 
 TRASK MEMOJilAL. 4:5 
 
 to look (lir()u,<ii:h coiiHictiiii;' interests directly ;il the lii^lits of 
 his fellow-inen. He loved <o see tliein pi-osjicr ;iiid fully 
 enjoy those rights which had l)een ])romiscd to evei-y one 
 who had cast his lot and his life in his own neighborlnjod. 
 His own life was pledged to duty and to law. Ilis example 
 shall be a living ins])iration to those who follow him, and the 
 good that must come, his best memorial. 
 
 He always had the same kindly greeting for every one, 
 whatever his station in the community. It was his custom 
 for years to attend the Sunday afternoon services, and often- 
 times address the prisoners, at the county jail, and as he 
 passed down the aisle of the chapel to take his seat, it was 
 touching to see the men lean forward and stretch out their 
 hands to him, to receive, perhaps, the only smile, kind word 
 and friendly clasp that came to them, other than from their 
 chaplain or keepers, during the week. He was particularly 
 interested in young men and women, those of his own church, 
 and others whom he frequently saw about the city. He 
 seemed to have almost the same watchful interest in their 
 habits and pursuits as if they had belonged to him by tie of 
 kinship, having always a word of praise for the good, and re- 
 gret for the evil or misfortune that came to them. In his 
 life he had the same genial and kindly nature. He was, so to 
 speak, one of the children of his own family, always youthful 
 in feeling and expression ; interested in everything that his 
 children were engaged in, and as his family were growing to 
 manhood and womanhooil he would often say to them, "Have 
 all the company you want, only have them at home." When-
 
 44 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 over he and liis wife were leaving home, and the family were 
 to be left to look after themselves for a time, his last word to 
 them would be, " Have just as good a time as you can wliile 
 we are gone, only leave the outside walls standing." He was 
 full of mirth, and always ready to help on whatever partook 
 of it. Often when young people had casually gathered at his 
 house, with his children, he would say, " Now let us have a 
 little dance," and he was always an interested spectator. He 
 had great fondness for little children, and great pride in his 
 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and was never dis- 
 turbed by the noise they made. Time and the busy hand of 
 improvement, has robbed the old home outwardly of all that 
 was attractive in its surroundings, until it is hardly possible to 
 fancy, that it could ever have been a pleasant, homelike spot, 
 with no puff of smoke or shriek of locomotive to mar its quiet. 
 But within the remembrance of all his children, especially of 
 the older ones, it was, while an unpretentious house, yet roomy 
 and pleasant, on a (piiet street, with a garden of fruit and 
 fiowci's at the side, and back of that a long kitchen garden, 
 with its trim rows of vegetables and waving corn, sloping 
 dow^n the bank, to the very edge of the blue waters of the 
 Connecticut. To the children and grandchildren, for whom 
 this little ])ook is chiefly designed, there are within those walls 
 a thousand memories of sweet and pleasant things, and many 
 sad and sacred ones, which lead down to the very close of the 
 lives of the two who made it a home to all who came Avithin 
 its doors. The many anniversaries of their marriage which 
 were celebrated as the years rolled by are among the [feasant-
 
 TRA8E MEMORIAL. 45 
 
 est. The thirty-fifth was made a day of rejoicing, as was also 
 the golden wedding day, when their house was thrown open 
 and nearly every member of their family was with them, 
 together Avith friends and neiiihbors, until the house was 
 filled. And again, ten years later, when the sixtieth anniver- 
 sary was reached, their family and nearest relatives gathered 
 about them, and a delightful evening was passed, but owing 
 to the failing health of Mrs. Trask this was the last gathering 
 of the home circle, although they were spared to pass on 
 earth their sixty-first anniversary together, but before the 
 close of another year they were both taken to begin the 
 home life beyond with those of their family who had gone 
 before. 
 
 The head of the house, who in his younger days was the 
 protector and father, became in his age like the patriarchs 
 of old, around whom gathered all who needed the kindly in- 
 fluence of a home. And who can say how much the man, 
 who outside of home was peculiarly strong and self-poised, 
 relying only on his own powers, seldom or never seeking the 
 advice and counsel of others, but forming his own opinion of 
 men and affairs, by the clear light of his own integrity and 
 honest faith in the belief of "good in everything," who can 
 say how much he leaned on the quiet, gentle woman, who was 
 indeed a helpmeet for him V Certainly it was only when she 
 began to turn from the things of the })rcsent to those of the 
 past, and long to " go home," that he also began to show 
 signs of age and weakness, as if, when she went, he, too, must 
 follow. And when at last death came for her, it was to him
 
 46 rUASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 the signal of the harvest. " In the evening he is cut down 
 and withcrcth.-' 
 
 He gave to her all that the most loving care could give — a 
 tender burial ; and a few days after, holding the reins him- 
 self for the last time, he drove, through bitter cold, to her 
 grave to see that all was in ordei' and as he would have 
 it. Life ended there for him. The strong frame that had 
 held itself so well, hardly ever knowing sickness, suddenly 
 weakened and with feeble, hastening steps he followed on 
 where she had led. 
 
 " Only the memory of the just, 
 Smells sweet and blossoms in the dust."
 
 CHILDREN OF ELIPHALET AND RUBY TRASK. 
 
 Charles B. Thask, born September "24, 1830, died May 
 30, 1858. 
 
 Edwin E. Trask, born February 5, 1832, died February 
 18, 1860. 
 
 LuRANCiE Trask, born August 16, 1833, died January 
 29, 1869. 
 
 Albert Trask, born July 6, 1835, died July 5, 1836. 
 
 Albert Trask, born February 19, 1837. 
 
 Emma Trask, born September 18, 1839. 
 
 Lauraette Trask, born May 9, 1842. 
 
 Harriet F. Trask, born March 23, 1845,) 
 
 ; Twins. 
 Henry F. Trask, born March, 23, 1845, ) 
 
 Ellen Jl. Trask, born February 5, 1847.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES OF MRS. TRASK. 
 
 The funeral of Mrs. Trask was held at her late home on 
 Water street, November 29, Rev. M. Crosley, her pastor, 
 conductino- the services. 
 
 Mr. Crosley spoke in substance, as follows : 
 We feel at such times as this as though there was nothing 
 but darkness surrounding us. We can see so little outside 
 our own sorrows. But when we come to pause and reflect, 
 we find that there is something for us to cling to above and 
 bevond our immediate surroundings. There is an outlook 
 for us even from the lowest and darkest valley. We can 
 Avith the eye of faith penetrate the clouds and discover the 
 fact that the sun is still shining. Our loved and absent ones 
 are above the clouds. We are in the valley and shadow of 
 what is called death. It is only a valley and the darkness 
 with which we are surrounded is only a ><hadow. There is 
 light beyond, or there coidd be no shadow. Our departed 
 sister, the mother and wife, has passed on up the mountain 
 side where there is more light, and where she begins to see 
 her way more clearly. She is at rest and " at home " with 
 those who have gone on before. Mrs. Trask Avill be greatly 
 missed, not only in this house where she Avas so true and 
 faithful, l)ut also in the society in which she moved ; in the 
 church, and among her friends, who were many. Her 
 motherhood was of the best type ; she was loyal and devoted 
 as a wife, and loving and true as a friend. While she was
 
 52 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 constant in the discharge of her home duties, she did not 
 forget, nor neglect the duties she owed the community sur- 
 rounding her. She performed faithful service in the church 
 of her choice, and in the sick-rooms among her neighbors 
 and friends. She was ready and willing to render aid and 
 sympathy where they were needed. She lived well, and those 
 bereft will rise up and call her blessed. She has at last 
 found the home for which she was looking and sighing, she 
 has found those she loved in her childhood, that j)assed on 
 before her. She passed on within the vail very quietly and 
 peacefully. The golden bowl was broken piece by piece. 
 The threads of life gave way one by one until all were gone, 
 and her immortal spirit was freed from this bondage of cor- 
 ruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Her 
 memory so i)recious we leave in this stricken home and witli 
 her friends, her lifeless form we convey to the ground from 
 whence it came, and we leave her spirit with God who gave it. 
 
 Hymn — " Consolation." 
 
 Come unto me, when shadows darkly gather, 
 When the sad heart, is weary and distrest. 
 
 Seeking for comfort from your heavenly Father, 
 Come unto me and I will give you rest. 
 
 Large are the mansions, in thy Father's dwelling; 
 
 Glad are the homes that sorrows never dim; 
 Sweet are the harps in holy music swelling; 
 
 Soft are the tones which raise the heavenly hymn. 
 
 There like an Eden blossoming in gladness, 
 
 IJlooni the fair (lowers, the earth too rudely pressed, 
 
 Come unto me all ye who droop in sadness. 
 Come unto me and I will give you rest.
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 53 
 
 Hymn — "There is a Land Immortal." 
 
 There is a land immortal, 
 
 The beautiful of lands, 
 Beside its ancient portal 
 
 A silent sentry stands, 
 He only can undo it 
 
 And open wide the door, 
 And mortals who pass thrduj^h it 
 
 Are mortals never more. 
 
 Though dark and drear the i)assafi,e 
 
 That Icadcth to the gate, 
 Yet grace comes with the message, 
 
 To souls that watch and wait. 
 And at the time appointed 
 
 A messenger comes down, 
 And leads the Lord's annointed. 
 
 From cross to glory's crown. 
 
 Their sighs arc lost in singing. 
 
 They're blessed in their tears. 
 Their journey heavenward winging. 
 
 They leave on earth their fears. 
 Death like an angel seemeth, 
 
 "We welcome thee," they cry, 
 Their face with glory beameth, 
 
 'Tis life for them to die. 
 
 " Only Waiting." 
 
 Only waiting till the shadows 
 
 Are a little longer grown, 
 Only waiting till the glimmer 
 
 Of the day's last beam is tlOwn, 
 Till the night of earth is faded 
 
 From the heart once full of day. 
 Till the stars of heaven are breaking 
 
 Through the twilight soft and gray.
 
 54 TRASE MEMORIAL. 
 
 Only waiting till the reapers 
 
 Have the last sheaf feathered home; 
 For the summer-time is faded 
 
 And the autumn winds have come; 
 Quickly, reapers, leather quickly 
 
 These last ripe hours of my heart, 
 For the bloom of life is withered 
 
 And I hasten to depart. 
 
 Only waitiDf^ till the sliadows 
 
 Are a little lonj^er grown, 
 Only wailing till the glimmer 
 
 Of the day's last beam is flown, 
 % Then from out the gathered darkness 
 
 Holy deathUss stars shall rise, 
 By whose light my soul shall gladly 
 
 Tread its i)ath\vay to the skies.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES OF ELIPHALET TRASK 
 
 AT ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD, MASS., 
 December 12, isytii , 
 
 I. Organ Voluntary. 
 
 II. Chant (male voices^. 
 
 " OuK Days on Eaktk." 
 
 Our days on earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. 
 We are as yesterday, there is but a step between us and death. 
 Man's days are as grass, as a flower of the field so he flourisheth. 
 He appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 
 
 Watch! for ye know not what hour your Lord may come. 
 
 Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man 
 
 Cometh. 
 It is the Lord's, let him do what seemeth him good. 
 The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the 
 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
 III. Scripture Readings, by the Rev. Marion Crosley. 
 
 IV. Prayer, by the Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner. 
 
 Let us unite in prayer. Reverently, God, do we bow at 
 Thine alter, sensible that Thou hast come very nigh unto us, 
 that Thou art overshadowing us by Thy Holy Spirit, and 
 prollering consolation to these hearts so deeply bereaved. 
 Devoutly do we thank Thee, great God, that in every ex-
 
 5G TRASK MEMOniAL. 
 
 igency of lilc we may draw nigh unto Thee ; that it is Thy 
 hand that has fashioned us ; it is Thou who didst hi-eathe 
 into us the hreath of life, to make us to hecome living souls, 
 didst implant Thine own image within us,^and, by the fac- 
 ulties bestowed upon us, hast made us, by no figure of rheto- 
 ric, by no courtesy of language, but in deed and in truth, 
 Thy children ; that our souls in every exigency go out unto 
 Thee, as the tendrils of the vine reach out after and cling to 
 the oak by which it is supported. We praise Thy great name 
 that we can thus lean upon Thee ; that Thou art a very pres- 
 ent help in every time of need ; that we may pillow our 
 heads upon Thy bosom ; and though Thou oftentimes Icadest 
 us in dark jjathways, oftentimes through mysterious provi- 
 dences, and liftcst to our lips ofttimes the waters of bitter- 
 ness, and we know not whither we go, yet Thou, () God, 
 knowest all things, Thou declarest the end from the begin- 
 ning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet 
 done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my 
 pleasure. 
 
 Help us, great God, to bow in subordination to Thy doings. 
 Help us in this our affliction. Hcl[) tliese children, these 
 grandchildren, and especially Thine handmaiden who, under 
 the shock of this great bereavement, is deprived of being- 
 present to share in these ceremonies. Upon them all com- 
 numd Thy Holy Spirit to rest. Sanctify to them the sacred 
 memories of the venerable father now removed from them, 
 and help them, we pray Thee, to cherish his life and example, 
 the manifold counsels that have fallen upon their ears, in the 
 period of youth and of early manhood and womanhood ; and 
 that those counsels may be more to them in the years that 
 shall come, even than thev have been in the vears that are 
 past ; that they may feel that Thou hast dealt graciously with 
 tliora, in that Thou hast preserved the venerable and honored
 
 TR A SK ME MO U I A L. 57 
 
 sire to nearly four score and five years, that Thou hast made 
 liis life rich from the beginning unto the end, in the holy pre- 
 cepts of Thy word, in the gracious influences that lie in the 
 sweet testimonies of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
 Christ. illl, we pray Tliee, their chambers of memory with 
 all the gracious [pictures of blessedness which the dear father and 
 mother, the latter so recently gone from their presence, have left 
 with them, and make them, though dead, yet to speak in the 
 tender tones of parental affection, parental wisdom, parental 
 example, and parental fidelity, before Thee. Be with all of 
 theui, the older and the younger. Help the younger to grow 
 uj) in the manliness of that character and example which have 
 now been left in sacred testimony unto them. Make them, 
 we prav Thee, as tliev honor the name that thev cherish with 
 such affection, to assiduously copy the example which hus 
 been set before tliom. 
 
 While we invoke Thy blessing, gracious God, to rest upon 
 these knit unto Thy departed servant hy all the holy ties of 
 family relationship and of consanguinity, we pray that upon 
 this vast assembly of citizens, fellow-citizens, so many of 
 them having journeyed lifelong with Thy servant who has 
 fallen before them, Thy blessing may rest. Sanctify to them 
 all the experiences of the years gone by, all the hopes that 
 have been begotten by their successful endeavors, and by all 
 the blessings that crown duty well performed. We pray that 
 Thou wilt sanctify the lessons of this life to all the neighbors 
 and acquaintances this day here before Thee, and to all those 
 who are prevented, by whatever cause, from mingling their 
 sympathies with these here assembled. 
 
 We ask Thee, gracious God, that the life and example of 
 Thv servant, his zeal in the interest of this citv, in the interest 
 of its institutions, its charities and its morals, may remain 
 with those who shall succeed him, among the younger mem-
 
 58 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 bers of this municipality, that they may all grow up in patriot- 
 ism and honor and glory before Thee. 
 
 And while -we invoke Thy blessing to rest upon the city at 
 large, we especially pray Thy favor upon the Christian church 
 of which Thy servant was an honored and lifelong supporter. 
 We thank Thee for what he has been to this individual church, 
 for the strength and stability he has proffered it so generously 
 and persistently year after year, from its very foundations to 
 the ])rescnt hour. We thank Thee for what he has been to 
 our church at large, dispersed throughout the commonwealth 
 and nation, })rcsent at its great occasions, always honoring 
 those occasions by that presence, often presiding over them. 
 We pray that Thou wilt sanctify the memories that will remain 
 in the hearts of all the older members of our church universal, 
 and sanctify them to our individual and spiritual profit. 
 
 Wilt Thou hear us, gracious God, in heaven Thy dwelling- 
 place, and give unto us answers of ])eace more abundantly 
 than we can ask or even think, and unto Thy holy name, 
 tlirough Him who hath i-edeemed us, will we render ceaseless 
 praise. Amen. 
 
 V. Singing. 
 
 Ilynin — ''Auide with Me." 
 
 Abide with niu, last iuils the cvczitide, 
 The darkness deepens. Lord with me abide! 
 When t)ther lielpers fail, and comforts llee, 
 Help of the heli)less, O abide with me. 
 
 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; 
 Earth's joys fjrow dim, its i^'lories fade away 
 Chanf^e and decay, in all around I see; 
 O Thou who chaugest not, abide with me.
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 59 
 
 irold Thou tliy cross before my closins; eyes; 
 Sliiiio thro' the j^loom, and point me to the skies; 
 Heaven's moruinj;' breaks, and earth's vain shadows llee; 
 In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. . 
 
 ADDRESS BY THE REV. MARION CROSLEY. 
 
 We are here under a cloud. I have been makinu' every 
 effort within my power to restrain my feelings so as to be 
 able to speak a fitting word upon this occasion. I felt from 
 the first that I could not conduct these services alone, because 
 the feeling came over me that I was one of the mourners in 
 this great procession of mourning ones. Although I have been 
 the pastor of this church only a year and three-quarters, yet 
 it was my privilege to form the acquaintance of our brother 
 more thim a quarter of a century ago, in one of our general 
 conventions. I have met him since at a number of them, as 
 they have been held ivist and West, North and South. 1 have 
 served with him on committees at different times, and always 
 found him thoughtful, prudent and far-seeing in the various 
 affairs of our whole church. He was always quiet and unas- 
 suming at these gatherings, consuming little time in the 
 delil)erationB. His wisdom and judgment were valual)le in 
 the committee room. It was from the quiet committee 
 room that his benign influence went out far and wide in our 
 church. I find the same to be true all around in his every- 
 day life. The inihience he exerted was always quiet and im- 
 pressive. When 1 came to this city for the first time, and 
 stood in this pulpit, his face was the only one I had ever seen 
 before, so that, taking it altogether, up to that time and from 
 that time to the present our brother has been very much to 
 me, in friendshii), in faith, and in a common cause; and in 
 some indefinable wav he seems nearer to me than anv one
 
 no TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 else in all our communion. I feel deej)ly his loss as a friend 
 as an adviser, as a counselor, as a brother, and as a member of 
 this church and congregation my loss is a personal one in a 
 very broad sense, and it is with extreme diOiculty that I even 
 attempt to speak words of consolation in this })resence, as I 
 am in si)ccial need of them myself. 
 
 As 1 look over this congregation, as I look into your faces, 
 and ui)on these symbols, what more need I say with reference 
 to the departed ? These tears, the tears that have fallen since 
 last Tuesday night are symbols deeper and more express- 
 ive than language, with reference to the life and labors of 
 him who has gone from us. Everything around us in this room, 
 speaks to us of his worth, of how his life seemed to touch 
 everybody in this community. The life he lived came in con- 
 tact with all, great and small, high and low. lie was the 
 friend of all, no matter as to the class which they belonged 
 or the condition of life they were in. So far as our common 
 humanity is concerned he made no distinctions. He was ever 
 ready to hel[) and encourage the unfortunate, and made special 
 efforts to lift up those who had fallen by the way. 1 have 
 heard many expressions from those who have known him long 
 and well, indicating how it was that he came in contact with 
 so many and won their confidence and esteem. The influence 
 he exerted was silent, but effective and far-reaching. 
 
 T need sav but few words Avith reference to the deceased. 
 You are all more familiar with his life work than I am myself. 
 Many of you have known him intimately and for a long time. 
 You know more about him than I do myself. 1 see before me 
 many classes represented from the various walks and ways ot 
 life ; from the business and professional life, from the shops, 
 the stores, the lodges, the offices and the counting-rooms you 
 have come to i)ay your respects and to express ymii- deep 
 sense of appreciation of a wurthy citizen and co-laborer, who
 
 TRASK MEMOIilAL. 61 
 
 has been called from your midst. You are here mino;lino: your 
 tears with these broken hearts. His was a life of simplicity 
 that has made a deep and favorable impression upon us all. 
 He won our hearts without making the effort. He was a man 
 of few words, but he has by his noble, upright life, engraved 
 himself, his strong personality in the very chambers of our 
 souls. These tears you are shedding, speak louder and clearer 
 than anything I can express as to his worth. I can readily 
 appreciate your feelings by my own. 
 
 In making arrangements for this service I felt the need of 
 help. We were assured that there were those in the ranks of 
 the ministry of this city who would willingly say something 
 with reference to the life and character of the deceased. It 
 was a question of time. It was desirable on the^ part of the 
 family that the services be made as brief as possible. We are 
 very thankful that the ministry of our city is so well repre- 
 sented. I am sure I can bear from you to this group of mourn- 
 ers your sympathies and good wishes. By your presence, you 
 clearly indicate that the departed was held in very high esteem 
 by this whole community. I can truly say to these friends in 
 sorrow, that they do indeed have the sympathy and the tears 
 • of this community flowing toward them in this hour of so deep 
 a bereavement. I can do no more than point you to Him who 
 is over all and in all. I can simply call your attention to the 
 words of truth spoken for our comfort and consolation. I 
 must also call your attention to the faith of our brother. It 
 was unclouded and free from doubts. If you but look with that 
 faith to-day toward the sky you will find everything bright and 
 inspiring. So that while we are here in the presence of his 
 lifeless form, while we are shedding our tears, we are not with- 
 out God, and we are not without hope. We have God with us 
 in our thoughts, and in our faiths. We have the future life 
 very near us in our hopes. We feel assured that it is well
 
 02 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 with our brother, and that he is not very far away from us. 
 We are in sorrow to-day, so far as the home, the church, the 
 city and the whole community arc concerned. For when you 
 met him in the home it would seem tliat he had never been 
 anywhere else, so true Avas he in filling the place, in every 
 sense of the word, as husband and father. Then when you 
 met him at church, it would seem that all his love and energy 
 were centered here. And so it was no matter where you found 
 him, he was the same interested and unassuming person, ab- 
 sorbed in what was before him at the time. Next to his home 
 was this church. He looked upon this room as one of the 
 rooms belonging to his own house. He looked upon every 
 room in this building as a part of the house where he dwelt. 
 It was his religious liome in tiic truest sense of the word. He 
 had a decj) interest in the welfare of this church. He had an 
 abiding, living interest in everything — in the affairs of the city, 
 the community, and especially for the poor and forsaken. I 
 can but suggest to these bereaved frinds that they have cause 
 for feelings of gratitude, that the Heavenly Father left him to 
 you for so long a time. It is cause for thankfulness that he 
 was i)crmitted to keep up and move about, and take such a lively 
 interest in that which concerned others, even up to the very 
 last. It is tndy wonderful how vigorously he held on to the 
 leading questions of the day. Among the last things he s!)oke 
 of was the church of his love. He did not forget that part 
 of our humanity struggling for freedom. He even referred to 
 Ireland in her misfortunes, and expressed the hope that she 
 might soon be permitted to govern herself. 
 
 Then, when it came to the last, when his earthly vision liad 
 failed, he looked l)cyond, and with the eye of the spirit saw 
 something, or somebody, that caused a smile to come over his 
 face. It was a well-known smile, common to him when he 
 met and greeted a friend. In this way he left behind a testi-
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 63 
 
 mony of the fact that he is now living; for after his earthly 
 sight had given out, there was a vision to him brighter than 
 he ever had before. We are, then, to think of him as livinir, 
 and not dead. He lives now more than he ever lived before. 
 ITe lives in the memory of these loving hearts, children and 
 grandchildren. He lives in the memory of this church and 
 Sunday-school. The class of which he was a faithful teacher 
 cannot forget him. And, more than all, he lives in a brighter 
 world than this, where sorrows are no more. He has met 
 those who had passed on before. He has greeted wife and 
 children with a kiss, and is at peace with his God. His 
 memory is blessed and will linger in the places that knew him 
 for many years to come. 
 
 Mr. Crosley closed by announcing that on the next Sabbath 
 he would speak further as to the loss the church had sustained, 
 mentioning that the deceased was the virtual founder of it, 
 and that he had been connected therewith some fifty years. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Miner of B.oston was then introduced. 
 
 VII. J.dc?re.s-.s, by the Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner. 
 
 A venerable citizen has fallen in your midst. The scores, 
 if not hundreds, of venerable men in this presence attest the 
 high place he held in your city, and the strong hold he had upon 
 your respect. He was favored with a remarkable presence, 
 towering above his fellows, may I not say, not simply in his 
 physical altitude, but in the breadth, and generosity, and per- 
 sistent fidelity and humanity, that moved him in all his life 
 woik. Where have you had a public enterprise in hand, that 
 Eliphalet Trask has not been prominent in the work ? Where 
 have you had occasion to draw upon the resources of your 
 best citizens, on which the Hon. Eliphalet Trask was not 
 among the more liberal contributors ? In what noble work of
 
 04 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 charity or reform have yon, venerable men, been engaged, in 
 which yon did not find a most hearty supporter, if not a wise and 
 generous leader, in him whose venerable form lies silent in the 
 embrace of death ? Moved by no superficial consideration, l)ut 
 by those ])rinciplcs, those deep and profound convictions, that 
 made him feel that his life was a part of every other man's life, 
 and every other man's life a part of his, knit, as has already 
 been intimated, to the lowliest and the poorest in your midst, 
 p]liphalet Trask was one child in the great family of God. 
 And he found it out. He knew it. He behaved like a l)rother 
 to the whole family. Of course, human endeavors are limited, 
 human opportunities are restricted, the possibilities of indi- 
 vidual contact arc still more restricted, but the principles of a 
 good man mold, sweep the whole field of humanity; and 
 out of those principles comes what a generous man, an assidu 
 ous laborer, and a persistent, watchful member of society may 
 accomplish. His methods of doing good were not petty, not 
 flimsy. He did not spend his energies in lifting a trilling woe 
 from the burdened shoulder, and turn round and give his in- 
 liuence to intensify a hundred woes that he did not touch. 
 Contrariwise, he knew what would strike to the very root of the 
 world's mischiefs. A few days ago a most worthy Christian 
 woman in my own city called upon me, and solicited my name, 
 and whatever little inflence it might give, to a pet scheme of 
 hers, to found a charity a dozen or fifteen miles from the city, 
 a home for the waifs of the town. She would gather^ in the 
 breadth of her love five hundred of them, and there do what 
 she could to educate them, build them up in useful domestic 
 industries, and prepare them for usefulness in life. You will 
 say, what I say, that this was a noble conception. It would do 
 some good. But it would leave multitudes of like waifs un- 
 cared for in the slums of our great city. A deeper method 
 of work is possible. Instead of taking children from the
 
 TRASK MEMOEIAL. G5 
 
 homes where they ouoht to be warmed into generous life by the 
 love and example of father and mother, and ])utting them into 
 a great institution, it w^onld be infinitely better to adopt those 
 methods which should lift up the homes into which they were 
 born, and make them such homes as would recover them from 
 the condition of waifs, or, better, such homes ns would pre- 
 clude their being waifs. I need not say that the venerable 
 man whose life Avork is closed understood this matter. He 
 believed in the principles of Christianity that would carry all 
 endeavors down to the root of things. We hear much in our 
 day about applied Christianity. It is a fitting enongh phrase. 
 It is not new in its meaning. The great master himself ap- 
 plied every principle he taught wherever he went, and every 
 true follower of his from that day to this has rejjeated his ex- 
 ample as best he could. But in the hands of many, or on the 
 lips and tongues of many, it means a flower mission. All 
 right and well in itself. It means an outing for poor children 
 of a week more or less. Very good as far as it goes. But 
 from such outings those children return to the same squal.d 
 homes in which they had spent their lives thus far. How 
 much more comprehensive, how much deeper, how much more 
 sublime, to elevate those homes by the removal of the curses 
 that burden them, and perpetuate such renewed homes. The 
 Hon. Eliphalet Trask long q.go did not hesitate to rejnidiate 
 the dominion of parties of whatsoever name, and to give him- 
 self to a work that has down to the present hour been despised 
 among men. Nor did he care, save as his love of humanity 
 made it painful to him, that he was among the ostracized. 
 He saw clearly enough that so long as the masses in com- 
 mmiity are divided into great parties which resist and abjure 
 this duty, they can be nothing else than what they are, with 
 their leaders and party presses, and with corrupt forces |)oison- 
 ing the public mind and perpetuating these evils. You know
 
 00 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 with what stability, with what persistency, he turned from the 
 public view of things, and gave himself fundamentally to this 
 work. And Avhy ? By no ostentation, by no mere formalism, 
 by no copying of the tradition of his fathers, by no enslave- 
 ment of, or thraldom to, superstition did he do this work, but 
 out of the deep, calm, even, spontaneous princijjles of Chris- 
 tian conviction, and that universal humanity which Christianity 
 enjoins. And 0,my friends, if you will put aside for a moment 
 all the prejudice of party feeling, all customary predilections, 
 and look the faults of our so-called Christian communities 
 directly in the face, and ask yourselves what it is that multi- 
 plies waifs, what it is that manufactures woe, what it is that 
 burdens us with taxation, what it is that makes the cloud over 
 the home of the drunkard, what it is that breaks the heart of 
 the wife of the drunkard, and makes worse than orphans his 
 children, tell me if there does not something remain in the 
 way of applied Christianity, that we have not heartily entered 
 into yet ? Tell me if our Christianity — and I speak generally — 
 if our Christianity, in the light of these facts, is not exceed- 
 ingly thin ? Prayers are good. Pious ejaculations are good. 
 But God has a hundred times the respect for a prayer that is 
 embodied in downright Christian work, than he has for peti- 
 tions to Him to do for us what we ought to do for ourselves, 
 and can do if we will. And wjien you have weighed that 
 thought, you have got very near the convictions and living ex- 
 ample of our departed friend. 
 
 You will not think it strange that with such convictions, 
 our departed brother held a high place among his Christian 
 brethren throughout our commonwealth, throughout our whole 
 church, our entire general church. It is more than fifty years 
 since I was accustomed to meet him at our state and national 
 conventions. Always calm, free from bitterness or hate, can- 
 did, patient, true ; true as the very needle to the pole, true as
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 67 
 
 the sun itself to its rising and setting, he never failed to exert 
 a most wholesome influence, wherever he went. He was re- 
 spected in all his labors in your city, whether in business or 
 in the filling of oflice in the city or the commonwealth. As 
 a representative he was more frequently met in our larger 
 gatherings, state or national, than almost any other layman 
 whom I recall. He was a wise counsellor, as you have already 
 been truthfully told. He Avas a man whose very presence was 
 a benediction, a man who in the few words uttered from time 
 to time by him, would exert an influence that was wholesome, 
 from which no man would shrink, which was still and true, 
 and which has done not a little, allow me to say, in revolution- 
 izing the general thouu-ht of manv a man in our church ; and 
 as such a representative I am here, and glad to bo here, to 
 honor him. Such is my own number of years, that I might 
 well call him " Brother Trask," but it is much more congenial 
 to my feelings to say " Father Trask." I have never met 
 him but with satisfaction and joy, and do not I'cmember 
 that there has ever been an occasion when T differed from 
 him in any of the subjects under discussion, and that is a 
 pretty strong assurance that he and I were rigbt. T do not 
 say this boastfully, of course, rather playfully, perbaps: but 
 I say it to emphasize my conviction that the Hon. Eliplialet 
 Trask desired nothing under heavens more unostentatiously 
 or more truly than he did to be right in the influence he ex- 
 erted. I am not surprised at the testimony which some of 
 your venerahle citizens have given me since my arrival here, 
 tbat his labors in your midst, in the varied forms of business 
 into which he entered, and in the varied public offices that he 
 assumed, commended him to your confidence and good judg- 
 ment. I am not surprised to learn that the children by the 
 wayside were always glad to meet him. I should be very 
 much surprised if those children and grandchildren, accus-
 
 (58 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 tomed to be taken in his arms, do not feel his loss as truly as 
 you who are older, whether in the family or in the commu- 
 nity at large. 
 
 And, my friends, as touching consolation, what can I not 
 say. Tears have been referred to, but I scarcely feel that 
 tears are befitting this occasion. A man who has reached so 
 venerable an age belongs in that higher realm. God's ways are 
 wise, often mysterious. Happy the heart that can feel they 
 are wise, and bow in submission. The Psalmist, a thousand 
 years before Christ came, did not hesitate to say, borrowing 
 his figure from his own occupation as a shepherd, "The Lord 
 is my shepherd." Grant the premise, and what is the conclu- 
 sion? "I shall not want." Following the figure, he says, 
 " He leadeth me in green pastures." Not an occasional oj)- 
 portunity to obtain the blessings of life. " He mtikcth me to 
 lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still 
 waters," still because deep and abundant. And remembering 
 the duty of the shepherd to restore the wandering laml)s, he 
 adds, "He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the i)atlis of 
 righteousness for His name's sake." And remembering, again, 
 the duty of the shepherd to protect the flock against the rav- 
 ages of beasts of prey, a duty which the Psalmist had at least 
 twice discharged at the imminent hazard of his own life, he 
 says, "Yea, though 1 walk through the valley and the shadow 
 of death," — observe, it is not death, it is only the shadow of 
 death, and the shadow falls in the valley where for the flock 
 all the fat things are, — "I will fear no evil." It is no evil. 
 Why ? " For Thou art with me ; Thy rod and Thy staff they 
 comfort me." If, a thousand years before Christ came, the 
 Psalmist could speak with this confidence and joy, what ought 
 not to be our condition of mind, when twenty centuries of 
 Christrian light have shone upon our pathway. Can we won- 
 der that the apostle John should say, " We love Him ])ecause
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 69 
 
 He first loved us?" Can we wonder that the Master himself 
 should sav, " On these two commandments," love to God and 
 man, " hang- all the law and the prophets ? " Can we wonder 
 that the apostle Paul should add, "Love is the fulfilling," the 
 filling full., " of the law." Bear ve one another's burdens, and 
 so fill full the " law of Christ," and so live together as one 
 family. 0, with what shamefacedness should we remember 
 that we are so slow, and cold, and superficial, that, forgetting 
 these truths, we are too apt to lay our emphasis upon some- 
 thing that waits to be seen. "Yes," says some hearer, "but 
 all this is shadowy." About this corruptible putting on in- 
 corruption, how is it possible ? " I cannot conceive it," says 
 an intelligent man, a little secularized, whose thought has 
 been drawn away from high things, and centered upon 
 visible things ; "how is it possible for the human soul to live 
 beyond the grave?" The question of method, how is it 
 done ? We fold our arms, friend, and confess to you, frankly 
 and openly, we do not know. What then? Superstition? 
 Not a whit. What then ? This : while we have come to 
 know much about many tilings, there is absolutely nothing 
 that we know all about. I appeal to you, men of science, pro- 
 fessional men. I repeat it. Scientists have grown egotistic 
 and dogmatic, and they charge dogmatism on the pulpit. They 
 have, indeed, come to know and make revelations about many 
 things to a great extent, but, absolutely, nothing is known to 
 its very roots. Every fact, every experience, whether within 
 or without us, strikes its roots into unfathomable depths. 
 These beautiful testimonials of affection, so profusely pre- 
 sented, may serve as an illustration. You cast a tin}- seed of 
 the lily into the black, offensive earth, and when it springs up, 
 it unfolds the most delicate whiteness, and exhales the most 
 delicious fragrance. But, you ask how it is possible for that 
 minute seed to unfold from the blackness of the earth such
 
 70 Tit ASK .MEMORIAL. 
 
 whiteness, and to exhale from the offensiveness of the earth 
 such delicious fragrance ; and the wisest philosopher can no 
 more answer you, than the unborn babe. We think we are very 
 wise about these things, but we know very little, and what we 
 know is very su})erficial. The mineralogist will tell you from 
 the form of the crystal what is the nature of the mineral, for 
 it has always a given geometric form. Now, how is it j)ossible 
 to make an invisible power, operating by a common law, to 
 work one form in one case, and another form in another case ? 
 The method entirely eludes us. It is absolutely beyond us. 
 What, then, if we do not know the way into the realm eternal ? 
 It only places these high things of God in the same categoi-y 
 with the ordinary things of life. We canuol deny Ihesc mys- 
 teries that lie all about us, whose depths no human science can 
 explain, or has been able by its fathoming-line to measure. 
 Who, then, can wonder that we have never been able to lift 
 the veil, to look into the face of the Almighty, and read the 
 mystery of immortality ? Let a master mechanic of your 
 city lead his little child through a wondrous machine shoj), 
 and that child will see one Avheel moving one way, and another 
 wheel another; and he says, "Father, how is this? I can- 
 not understand it. One thing undoes what another accom- 
 plishes." The father is obliged to say, " Not until you have 
 learned about the laws of mathematics, and been trained in 
 the laws of mechanics, can you fathom it." There is a good 
 deal in the realm of matter and of spirit that remains for in- 
 vestigation, You can teach a young child as wisely as youug 
 child was ever taught, pouring into its ears all the wisdom of 
 the greatest philosophers, and Christian philosophers at tliat, 
 and yet it is not until he has been reared in the alphabet of 
 right living and Christian pi'inci{)les ; it is not until he has 
 gone into the world and tested those principles ; it is not 
 until he has moved among his fellow men, with men in abrasion
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 71 
 
 one with another ; it is not until the principles of righteousness 
 are ingrained into his very soul, that he can know what the 
 peace of the venerable Christian means. We are children in 
 the hands of God. He is dealing with us as seemcth to him 
 good. One man thinks one thing and another another. It is 
 the glory of our institutions at present to leave every man to 
 think his own thought, and move the general thought, as far 
 as he is able, with a view of the general advancement. 
 
 I beg, my friends, in closing, to present my sympathies with 
 you in your bereavement, by the stroke that has fallen upon 
 the tall oak in the midst of this family forest that has fallen ; 
 and to commend to you, so far as you shall find it in your 
 calmer judgment to be in harmony with the teachings and 
 precepts of our Lord and Master, to emulate these virtues, and 
 enlarge upon this gracious influence, with the power that this 
 life has shed upon and infused into the community, and thus 
 carry forward to a noble completion the gracious work of 
 which so much has been done. 
 
 VIII. Closing words, by Rev. Mr. Crosley. 
 
 I just wish to repeat a farewell word to our brother in be- 
 half of this congregation and these friends. And I now 
 say, farewell, in behalf of this church and this place, where 
 he was a member, and where he delighted to be, and where 
 he has so often come. A week ago last Sabbath he sat in that 
 pew that is now draped, and it seemed to me that I was speak- 
 ing to him for the last time. It came to me in spite of myself, 
 and frequently, as I looked into his face. It seemed to me 
 that he was looking through windows into the life that is to 
 come. For whenever I referred to that life, his eye seemed 
 to brighten, and indicate that that was the life he was about 
 to enter upon, so I will repeat these lines :
 
 72 TliASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 " Yet must we part and, partitifj, weep; 
 
 Wliat else lialli earth fi)r us in store ? 
 These farewell pan<;s, how sharp and deep! 
 
 These farewell words, how sad and sore! 
 
 " Yet we shall meet aj2;ain in peace, 
 
 To sing the son<^ of festal joy; 
 Where none shall bid our jjladness cease, 
 And none our fellowship destroy. 
 
 " There hand to hand, firm linked at last, 
 And heart to heart enfolded all; 
 
 We'll smile upon the troubled past. 
 And wonder why we wept at all." 
 
 " There are brif^hter skies than these I know, 
 
 Lands were no shadows lie. 
 Fields where immortal flowers bloom. 
 
 And founts that are never dry. 
 There are domes where tlic stars are never dim, 
 
 Whei'c the moon forever <;leams. 
 And the music-breath of the radiant hills 
 
 Sweep o'er the crystal streams." 
 
 There in that brit>'ht luiul we leave the spirit- of our brother, 
 and bear his lifeless form to its kindred dust. 
 
 IX. Singing. 
 
 Clianl. — " (jATllKIMNCi iloMK." 
 
 Tl ey're jiathcrinj;' homeward from every land, 
 
 One by one, one by one. 
 xVnd their weary feet touch the shininjf strand. 
 
 Yes, one by one. 
 I heir brows are inclos'd in a golden crown, 
 1 heir travel-stain'd garments are all laid down, 
 And cloth'd in white raiment they rest in the mead, 
 Wlieie the Lamb of God his saints doth lead.
 
 TUASK MEMOlilAL. 73 
 
 Gatheiiiij:: home, s^tlieriiig home. 
 Foidiiiji the river one by one. 
 Gatherin<f home, gathering home, 
 Yes, one by one. 
 
 Before they rest they pass thro' the strife. 
 
 One by one, one by one. 
 Thro' the waters of death tliey enter Hfe, 
 
 Yes, one by one. 
 To some are the floods of the river still 
 As they ford on their way to the heavenly hill; 
 To others the waves run liercely and wild, 
 Yet they reach the home of the undeliled. 
 
 Gathering home, etc. 
 
 We, too, shall come to the river side, 
 
 One by one, one by one. 
 We are nearer its waters each eventide. 
 
 Yes, one by one. 
 We can hear the noise and dash of the stream, 
 Now and again, tho' our life's deep dream. 
 ISometinies the Hoods all the banks overflow 
 And sometimes in ripples and small waves go. 
 
 Gathering home, etc. 
 
 Jesus, Redeemer, we look to thee. 
 
 One by one, one by one. 
 We lift up our voices, tremblingly, 
 
 Y'es, one by one. 
 The waves of the river are dark and cold. 
 We know not the place, where our feet may hold. 
 May Thou who didst pass through, in deep midnight. 
 Stand by us, and guide us, our staff and light. 
 
 Gathering home, etc. 
 
 ODD FELLOWS' SERVICE. 
 
 The burial service of the I. 0. 0. F. was conducted liy ot'li- 
 cers of the Ham|»deu Lod<>e, No. 27, Harrison Jolin.son, 
 Chapkiin ; Daniel A. IIo])kins, Noble Grand.
 
 RESOLUTIONS.
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 First Universalist Society. 
 
 Whei-en.'^, Since we last met, Eliplialet Trask and IJuby Sqnier 
 TiMsk, his beloved wife, both organizers of this Society, botli 
 founders of its Church and Sunday School, have been called to 
 their home on high. In one we have lost our presiding officer for 
 all onr years, our most faithful and efficient worker, our most 
 consistent and devoted friend, counselor and brother ; in tlie 
 other, a tender and devoted sister, alwaj-s with us in all good 
 works and deeds. In both, our chiefest man and woman ; 
 therefore, 
 
 Rei<olved, That we place upon onr records how deeply and 
 keenly we feel our loss ; but that deprived of their wise coun^-ol 
 and tender companionship, we still have ever in our possession 
 their clear faith, their ardent hope and their bright examjjle. 
 
 Resolved, That we convey to the afflicted family and immedi- 
 ate friends, in their double bereavement, our sincere sympatby. 
 and pray that they may be comforted by the faith so well kept 
 and so well lived, by our departed friends. 
 
 M. Crosley, 
 
 H. S. Hyde, 
 
 Wm. W. Gardner. 
 
 Committee. 
 Springfield, Mass., Feb. 19, 1891. ^
 
 78 tea sk m emo uial. 
 
 First Universalist Chirch. 
 
 Whereas, In the dispensation of Divine Providence, Eli])hiilet 
 Trask, our associate in St. Paul's Church since its orijanizaLion, 
 lias been called upward to a better life ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, Tliat we will give some tangible expression of our 
 love and esteem for his character and our tliauivfulness for the 
 blessings his life has given ns. 
 
 Resolved, That his numifestations of faithfulness, so great, so 
 exceptional in every phase of his pul)lic or private life, commands 
 our adminition, and makes him a leader for ns to follow in that 
 particular virtue which distinguished him from the multitude 
 of men. 
 
 Resolved, That while we here express our sorrow at the loss 
 of our associate, we will honor his memory by striving to imi- 
 tate those qualities of his nature which in himself he taught us 
 to approve. 
 
 Resolved, That we extend to his family our sympathy and 
 condolence, with the comforting assurance that his spirit will 
 console us so long as we heed its admonitions to ever be true to 
 what our judgment believes to be right. 
 
 Resolved, That we will place upon our records this prenmlilc 
 aud resolutions, and also transmit a cojiy to his family. 
 
 W. W. (lAllDNKl!, 
 
 li. F. Leacif, 
 
 H. Y. Lewis. 
 
 Committee. 
 
 At a meeting of St. Paul's Church, held Thursday evening, 
 December 25, 1S(»0, it was voted to accept and adopt the al)Ove 
 resolutions. 
 
 Attest : Henry V. Lewis, Clerk.
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 70 
 
 AptAwam Papet! Company. 
 
 At a moctiug of the Stockholders of the Agawam Paper Com- 
 pany, held at their mill on Tuesday, January 20, lS!tl, the f(>l- 
 lowing resolutions were passed : 
 
 Eesolvcd, That in the removal by death of the Hon. Eliphalct 
 Trask, the President of this Company since its organization in 
 1851), we recognize the loss of one who has always taken an intel- 
 ligent interest in the affairs of the Compaii}^, and has contributed 
 by his counsel and advice to its business and prosperity, and the 
 community has lost a valued and honorable citizen. 
 
 Jiesolved, That we tender to the children and friends of our 
 late President our heartfelt sympathy in their deep affliction. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be recorded in the records of 
 the Company by the Secretary, and a copy be transmitted to his 
 family. 
 
 Attest : Wm. K. Baker, Secretary. 
 
 Hampden Savings Bank. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Trustees of the Hampden Savings 
 Bank, held December 11, 1890, the following resolutions Avere 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the Trustees of the Hampden Savings Bank 
 in fulfilling the sad duty of recording the death of our honored 
 President, Eliphalet Trask, cannot refrain from adding to their 
 expression of great regret at the loss of his valuable services to 
 this Bank, the expression also of their own personal feelings of 
 grief and bereavement. Eliphalet Trask as he grew to an hon- 
 ored and ripened old age, kept fully abreast with the times. His 
 personal virtues, his intellectual vigor, his kind heart, his prac- 
 tical interest and help, and his rare business judgment, all kept 
 bright and active to the end, and render his death not alone our 
 loss, but a loss to the community in which he lived so long, and 
 which he loved so much.
 
 80 TJIASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 Bcs-olved, That our profound sympiitliies are hereby tendered 
 to the family of our deceased friend in tlieir deep affliction. 
 
 Resolved, That these resohitions be entered on the records of 
 tlie Bank, and a copy be sent to his family. 
 
 First National Baxk. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the First Nationnl 
 Bank of Springfield, held Tuesday, January 13, 1891, the 
 following resolutions were offered by James Kirkham, and were 
 unanimously adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That in the removal by death of the lion. Eliphalet 
 Trask, a member of this Board the past twenty years, we recog- 
 nize the loss to this Board of one of its most etlicient Directors, 
 .'ind to this community of a valuable and honored citizen. 
 
 Resulred, That we tender to the children and grandcliildren 
 of the deceased the sincere sympathy of the meml)ers of this 
 Board. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be jilaced upon the 
 records of the P>oard, and also be transmitted to the family of 
 the deceased as ;i, token of our real sympathy and respect. 
 
 D. A. FoLSOM, Clerk. 
 
 Mutual Fire Assurakck Compaxy. 
 
 [Extract from tlie Records. ] 
 
 .Mr. \'. N. Taylor then presented the following resolution, and 
 moved that it he accepted and adopted by a rising vote, and it 
 was so voted : 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Hon. Eliphalet Ti-ask, for 
 eighteen years a Director in this Company, who died of pneu- 
 monia, on Tuesday, the ninth of December, instant, after a short 
 illiu'ss of four ila3's, at the age of eigl*fcy-four years and eleven 
 months, and who was so long and pleasantly associated witli the
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 81 
 
 members of tins Board, (lemunds of us h williii,s; expression, not 
 only of our deep sympathy with his family, but also of our 
 appreciation of his services to the Company, and to this commu- 
 nity, as well as to our high respect to his memory. Of strong 
 ami commanding will ; of incorruptible integrity ; considerate 
 and charitable in his judgment of men; fearless in doing his 
 duty as it Avas given him to see it ; thoughtful and kindly in all 
 liis relations to the members of this Board ; interested heartily 
 in the things of the present, and interesting in his reminiscences 
 of the things of the past, we feel that in his death has gone a 
 good man, a good friend, a good citizen. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to his family 
 and spread upon the repords of the Company. 
 
 A true copy. Attest: Frank E. Youno, 
 
 Secretary.
 
 TRIBUTES OF THE PRESS.
 
 TRIBUTES OF THE PRESS. 
 
 The obituary notices printed by the Spring-field newspapers 
 immediately following the death of Eliphalet Trask are here in- 
 serted as they appeared. For w^ant of time in which to prepare 
 them, it is but reasonable to expect that they should contain a 
 few unimportant errors. Those have been corrected in the 
 biographical sketch given in preceding pages. They are, in the 
 extracts, so closely interwoven with statements of opinion that 
 it is difficnlt to make changes in them Avithont materially alter- 
 ing the spirit of each. They very truthfully reflect the estimate 
 placed upon Mr. Trask by his neighbors and friends. 
 
 Right thinking, right believing, industry, temperance and 
 
 frugality were the inspirations of his own life — principles which 
 
 he held as of the highest importance. It gave him great 
 
 satisfaction when others seemed to be gnided by the same high 
 
 impulse, and he rejoiced to see them following in the same path 
 
 which he had chosen for himself. It was my privilege to have 
 
 known him during his most active political life, wlien devotion 
 
 to the right cost something. He carried through victory and 
 
 defeat the same hopeful nature — never unduly elated by success, 
 
 nor cast down by defeat. I have presented in the preceding pages 
 
 the man as I knew him. The minor iocidents, as well as those 
 
 of higher importance are given that a just estimate may be 
 
 placed npon him by those who are yet to follow, and who are to 
 
 be inspired by his most worthy example. 
 
 Henuy M. BuiiT.
 
 so TRA SK MEMOR I A L. 
 
 From the Ckrislian Lcadcf, Dcccntbcr 18, IS'JU. 
 
 A sharp pang of personal grief came to nic with the news that 
 this honored citizen and noble Christian Avas dead. His eighty- 
 live years might liave suggested that he w;is in tlic period of 
 precarious old age; but wlien I have met liim he has been so 
 buoyant of heart and so hale, and I have heard so uniformly tliat 
 he was completing his eighty-firth year with vigor and confidence, 
 that 1 have naturally expected to meet him again under these 
 earthly skies. I now recall tiiat he has never seemed to me like 
 an old man, or like one approaching age. He has had such fel- 
 lowshi}) with young people ; he has kept sucHi a discerning eye 
 on the i)resent aspect of alfairs ; he has be(.'n so ardent in his 
 hope of human progress, so devoted to good causes that have en- 
 gaged his heart — that he has always seemed to me, in perceptible 
 degree at least, as I now recall, like a young man with life all 
 before him. Occasionally, it is true, he would delight in telling 
 of the old times ; he did not forget his early struggles or limita- 
 tions ; it was a i)eculiar 2)le;isure to him to speak to a sympathetic 
 listener of the slights and sot;ial ostracism he endured in e.irly 
 manhood for the s;ike of his dearly-cherished Universalist faith. 
 But his yesterdays were all cheerful. lie made no suggestion, 
 in tone or word, that to him the foimcr days were better than 
 these. So I had come to feel toward liim as 1 would toward one 
 who could not grow old — a pereimial in earth's garden, a stand- 
 ard for the generations. During the twenty years that I have 
 known him, I have scarcely noted the customary signs of age in- 
 creasing upon him. Those wdio have been constantly in his 
 presence nuiy have observed them, hut there was such light 
 of youthfuluess in him whenever it was my good fortune to see 
 him, tiiat the usual signs of fourscore years were most conspicu- 
 ous by their absence. 
 
 Uut now the word comes that, from the time when his estima- 
 ble wife, who IkuI l)een the light of his earthly dAvelling sixty-one 
 years, Avas called to her long home — 'twas, as I count the time,
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 87 
 
 only fifteen days before his going — he rapidly sank. The light 
 of his earthly life then went out. An attack of pneumonia 
 came. He quietly submitted. His old wish to live among his 
 well-loved fellow-men failed in him ; he went yonder in peace. 
 
 My sense of personal loss is fresh upon me as I write such 
 words of the good and true man as my heart prompts. He was 
 once my parishioner ; and since the day of our first acquaintance 
 he has favored me with a kindly friendship. His home — his 
 patriarchal home, as it might well be called — has been tempora- 
 rily mine repeatedly during the two decades past. To spend an 
 evening and a night with "Gov. Trask" in Springfield, was a 
 ple;isant break in many a journey east or west. These things 
 I say only as suggesting my right to speak of my old friend. 
 
 The external facts of his life have, I doubt not, before this 
 been stated for public reading. For fifty-four years he was in 
 the iron-foundry business in Springfield, and had growing and 
 ample prosperity. Did ever one in all that period question his 
 integrity or his leaning to the generous side in business ? As 
 well question whether the sun dispenses light. His integrity, 
 his honor, was ingrained and transparent. He was Mayor of his 
 city ; he was a Representative in the State Legislature ; he Avas 
 for three years Lieutenant-Governor of the old Bay State ; he 
 was in the marrow of his bones, a patriot. In the war-time he 
 gave himself unreservedly to the raising of regiments for the 
 front, and was so true a friend of the soldier that he achieved 
 the distinction of being elected an honorary member of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic without having himself been an 
 active sharer in the hardships of the field. His patriotic sagacity 
 had its best opportunity at home. His most conspicuous trait, 
 however, has been his steadfast and earnest devotion to the cause 
 of temperance. His love for men made him hate alcohol with 
 might and main. l\\ the temperance^ cause he was ready to fulfill 
 any duty, stand at any post, lead any forlorn hope, endure any 
 human enmity. Nothing could discourage him in the good cause. 
 In the hist conversation I was privileged to bold with him, I re-
 
 S8 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 call how coiilidently he predicted the time, yet himself scarcely 
 expecting to live to see it, when the American people would 
 arise in moral indiefuation and drive the saloon out of the land. 
 lie believed in law as an agent, but far more believed in the 
 moral majesty and irresistible power of the right. 
 
 It is a peculiar delight to remember Eliphalet Trask in his 
 home. What a home-loving man he was I Many of our clergy- 
 men have ex[)orienced the liosj)itality of the old mansion on 
 Water street, and every one, I am sure, has been made to feel 
 that the old place was thereafter, in some sense, his own home. 
 Mr. Trask, and his wife as well — how perfectly the two were one 
 in goodness and true greatness I — clung tenaciously to that old 
 mansion. AVhen his earthly fortunes warranted, he built an ex- 
 pensive modern house for his home. It was comi)letcd ; the 
 question arose whether, after all, he could leave the old place 
 which had become sanctified by such memories of children and 
 sorrow and happiness ; and the dear old couple, who had fulfilled 
 the very ideal of marriage, honored their past and exalted their 
 true home love, by choosing to remain in their old home to the 
 end of their days. Truly, it was a home-like place I If wanting 
 in modern embellishments, it was beautified — on some familv 
 anniversaries almost glorified — as a memorial of hapi)y years. 
 One of the pleasantest things I remember of Gov. Trask, is a ride 
 witli h'm through the city of Springfield one autumn day, when, 
 after lie had with a citizen's pride exhibited the architectural 
 improvements, he drove to the lower end of the city to show me 
 the house in wliich he lived when he first came as a poor yTung 
 man to Springfield. His moist eyes as he spoke of the children 
 born in the angular little house, the affectionate interest with 
 which he noted every change made in the place, revealed what 
 an inward fountain he had in his home memories and do- 
 mestic affections. 
 
 And what citizen of Springfield, what brother of our ciiurch 
 in Massachusetts, does not know how truly, how ])rofoundly, 
 how zealously and generous he was a Universalist ? lie could as
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 89 
 
 soon have lived witliout his home as without his cliurch. At one 
 time he entirely owned the Universalist J\Ieeting-honse, and gave 
 freely its use to the struggling Universalist parish, and in addi- 
 tion paid freely towards the pastor's salary. And lie was so 
 simple, so cheerful, so fraternal in his great giving I *' Never 
 fear the one-man power in a church," said a former pastor to me 
 while I was in Springfield, "if the one man be Elijahalet Trask." 
 Never was a man more free from self-assertion in the objection- 
 able sense. Never was there a truer or more generous friend of 
 any pastor who even moderately tried to do his best. Yet what 
 a determined and heroic believer this rugged man could be. 
 When it was seen that he was prospered in the things of this 
 world some members of the First Church, in the days when the 
 denominational lines were rigid, waited on him with an invita- 
 tion to come into their church. '•' But I am a Universalist," he 
 said. " Yes, but you want to stand well in the community ; you 
 know the Universalists have no standing ; you can, if you have 
 such religious hopes, be free to enjoy them quietly by yourself 
 while among us," " I am as much obliged to you as I can be," 
 said Mr. Trask, ''but I feel it my duty to say that my j^rincii^hs 
 are not for sale." More than once I have asked him in reference 
 to an anecdote which was current in reputed orthodox minister 
 circles, and of which he was said to be the subject, if not the 
 hero. Eev. Dr. Osgood of the First Church was passing the 
 Universalist Church, the first one, while in process of building. 
 ''What building is this?" he asked of Mr. Trask. "It is a 
 church, where the truth Avill be preached." " If it is," said the 
 old wit, "some of your ears will tingle, I guess." "Yes," said 
 Mr. Trask, "something like that occurred; but Dr. Osgood 
 lived long enough to preach in that UnivcTsalist Church one 
 Snnda}^ and to testify that its influence had been good in the 
 community. These anecdotes will suggest to those who did not 
 know Mr. Trask, the spirit that was in him. From the deeps of 
 his soul, in every fibre of his great nature, he was a Universalist 
 Christian. A member of the church, humble and reverent, a
 
 00 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 toucher in tlie Suiiday-scliool I believe to tlie very last, a Chris- 
 tian so good and true that he was in his later years — to his mani- 
 fest joy- -recognized as such by Christians of all denominations 
 in the city. What an exami)le in devotion and in the uplifting 
 power of the great hope was he to all his brethren. 
 
 I have not attempted to analyze the character of this honored 
 father in Israel. I write under impulse, rather than in calm re- 
 llection. Yet what a grand specimen of manhood he was. His 
 commanding presence, his massive head and abundant shaggy 
 hair, his penetrating yet kindly eyes, and not unhandsome fea- 
 tures ; these are the items I see in the photograph in my 
 memory. And in the album photograph his hand once gave me 
 — that hand, how hard to think it, now cold — I see the same 
 characteristics. Some day the qualities of his personality may 
 be fittingly summed up. He shall be my personal benefactor 
 who does this work as it ought to be done. 
 
 It was a pang to me to hear of Mr. Trask's death. Now it has 
 become, after a little reflection, a gladness to me to think of it. 
 Beautiful that the two, Eliphalet Trask and his wife, who had 
 shared life together more than threescore years, should go 
 almost together into the world toward wliicli they had so long 
 looked with growing hope. In life they were united ; in death 
 not divided. Among all the victoi'ious Christians it has been 
 my blessing to know, I can recall none more worthy of praise 
 than these. She Avas as great in her home as he was in the 
 world. To them, if to any of any historic age, belongs the 
 Crown of Life. 
 
 Rev, Dr. Oscar F. Saflord, 
 
 Deering, Maine, December 11, 1890.
 
 TRA8K MEMORIAL. 91 
 
 From the Sprinyjield llepitMican, December 10, 1890. 
 
 The venerable Eliphiilet Trask of this city, who was eiglity- 
 four years and eleven months old, passed away last evening after 
 a brief illness. He was out driving on Thursday, but a cold 
 rapidly developed into pneumonia. His indisposition was not 
 regarded as serious until Monday, when a nurse was engaged. 
 Undoubtedly the recent death of his wife had much to do with 
 his breaking down. With the departure of this man, once Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor of Massachusetts, the most picturesque figure 
 on the streets of Springfield has been removed. He was of 
 striking appearance, and kindly and comijanionable nature, liked 
 by everybody, one of the links that bound the new life of this 
 progressive city to the old days of the town, and he will be 
 greatly missed. He had shared in public movements during all 
 his mature life, and was full of the memories touching them all, 
 and this made him exceedingly interesting. His appearance was 
 attractive and grew more genial as he aged. He was of uncom- 
 mon stature, and always carried a cane, which seemed to be a 
 part of the man. His head was well shaped, crowned with 
 abundant gray locks, the eyes deep set and looking out from 
 under heavy eyebrows, the nose firmly cut, and under his gray 
 and drooping moustache a cigar was always lurking. He was 
 invariably present on important public occasions, being the one 
 Avliose attendance had been longest and most faithful on the cer- 
 emonies attending the induction of our mayors into office, and 
 large social gatherings were sure to attract him. He retained a 
 wonderful degree of interest in life up to the last day on which 
 he appeared in our streets. He had an absorbing attachment for 
 his home, which was extended to everything relating to Spring- 
 field, and to the Universalist Church here, in which he was a 
 pillar. The story and incident of his career offer materials of 
 uncommon interest for such a sketch as this. 
 
 Eliphalet Trask was the son of Josiah and Eliza Webb Trask, 
 and was born in Monson, January 8, 180G, His father died when
 
 <)2 TBASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 he was ii mere lad, and as there was a hirge family he had to shift 
 for himself. For a time he lived with his grandfather in Staf- 
 ford, C!t., working for his board and clothes and attending 
 school when he could. His trade as a foiindrymiin was learned 
 at East Brookfield, and he often related how he walked out there 
 from Monson Sunday night so as to be on hand Monday morning 
 for work. March 3, 1829, he married Ruby Squier of Monson, 
 and two years later the couple moved to East Brookfield, where 
 they lived until coming to Springfield in 1834. Here his brother, 
 Lauren Trask, Avhose homestead stood nearly where Kinsman's 
 store now is, was engaged in the foundry business, and this was 
 continued by the two brothers at the South End. They soon sep- 
 arated, however, and Eliphalet Trask moved into a little white 
 house at the foot of Court street, in the rear of which he fitted 
 up a foundry. Then came the beginning of his prosperity, for 
 the railroads were finding their way to Springfield and iron 
 founderies were scarce. There are a few older residents who re- 
 member the horse-power blast furnace in the rear of Mr. Trask's 
 house, where most of the hands in the shop boarded. Each new 
 railroad increased the busiuess. Mr. Trask secured valuable 
 patterns and he made most of the frogs for the switches. He 
 also set up the first stationary engine in the city. The foundry 
 was soon moved to the west side of Water street, and forty-nine 
 years ago last April the family moved into the house near the 
 foot of Vernon street, which they afterward occupied, and where 
 so many of the delightful reunions have been held. 
 
 Politically Mr. Trask did his first service of consequence to 
 Springfield as one of its selectmen. It was a famous town meet- 
 ing, that of April 7, 1851, for he was the only selectman sworn 
 into office, such were the complications attending the anti-slave- 
 ry agitation. AVhen the city government was inaugurated Mr. 
 Trask was elected alderman from AVard Two. He had early act- 
 ed with the Federalists, but was soon identified with the Whigs, 
 and the only one of the latter party chosen on the Board of Al- 
 dermen in 1853. lie kept his seat on the Board of Aldermen
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 93 
 
 until elected mayor on a tidal wave in 1854. Tlis administration 
 was a stormy and conspicuous one. lie was an uneomj)romising 
 Prohibitionist, and chose Levi Roland for his marslial when he 
 started to close the rum shops. No one questions that an honest 
 effort was made to prohibit liquor selling, but with 2iu1j]ic senti- 
 ment against total abstinence, success was much hampered. One 
 principal feature of his administration was the completion of the 
 City Hall and the purchase of a bell, which had to be hurried on 
 from Troy in order to be rung when the hall was dedicated. On 
 retiring from the mayoralty Mr. Trask was elected to the Legis- 
 lature, was returned in 1857, and again sent to Boston in 18G2. 
 He reappeared in the Board of Aldermen in 1870, but had held 
 no public office in recent years, although repeatedly nominated 
 on the Prohibition ticket. 
 
 In social and religious life ex-Grovernor Trask was active. He 
 was one of the organizers of the First Universalist Church, and 
 Mrs. George S. Lewis is the only survivor of ;those who labored 
 with him. He organized a stock company that built the Uni- 
 versalist Church, now occujDied as Sibley & Moore's grain store. 
 When the Society was pressed, he bought nearly if not quite all 
 the stock, and allowed the Society to use the building free of 
 rent. Though an earnest supporter of the Universalist faith he 
 was far from narrowness, and many will remember his recent re- 
 marks in the First Baptist Church dedicatory exercises. He 
 helped Ariel Parish start the first high school here and went 
 deep into his pocket to meet the expenses. His friendship with 
 Governor Andrew gave him influence during the war, and he 
 took an interest in the recruiting of regiments and their home 
 support. At the recent Eeunion of the Twenty-Seventh Regi- 
 ment he was one of Captain Dwight's principal guests. He 
 spoke, and his son, Henry F. Trask, sang a war song, and the 
 veterans voted honorary membership to both with considerable 
 enthusiasm. When the old company of Horse Guards flourished, 
 there was no finer ajipearing man in red coat, flourishing a heavy 
 sabre, than Captain Trask. With Odd FellowshiiJ he was early
 
 04 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 identified, joining Hampden Lodge, in which lie passed through 
 the chairs of the principal offices. lie held the uniqiie position 
 of "Past Warden'' in the Grand Lodge, resigning from the of- 
 fice before the expiration of his term. He was also a Slason, hut 
 in late years had not taken a prominent part in that organi:^ation. 
 
 In business matters Governor Trask held many positions of 
 trust. He was one of the directors of the old Western Bank, 
 and for years had been a director of the First Xational Bank, 
 where he succeeded the late T. W. Wason. He was a director 
 in the ''Stonewall " Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and presi- 
 dent of the Hampden Savings Bank, taking an active interest in 
 its affairs up to his last sickness. He was also president of the 
 Agawam Paj^er Company of Mittineagne. For a time he was 
 active in the Hampden Agricultural Society, serving for a time 
 as its president. He was a stockholder in the Boston and Alba- 
 ny, and New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroads, and 
 attended the annual meetings with regularity. He went down 
 to New Haven this fall to vote at the Southern Railroad meeting. 
 
 Since the sad accident to Mrs. Trask last March, which result- 
 ed in growing weakness and death November 20, ex Governor 
 Trask has not been the same man. The strain told on him 
 greatly, and when he attended church the Sunday after her death 
 it was remarked that for the first time Governor Trask appeared 
 like an old man. He kept his grip Avith remarkable power, how- 
 ever, and insisted on voting at the recent city election, good- 
 naturedly chaffing Mayor Bradford on the prospects the day 
 before. His last appearance on a public platform was when the 
 Irish envoys were in City Hall, and he was particularly impressed 
 with Mr. O'Connor, of whom he spoke frequently. 
 
 Eliphalet Trask rose to prominence in State affairs when Na- 
 thaniel P. Banks secured the governorship in 1858, and the 
 Springfield man served as lieutenant-governor during the three 
 years that his chief sat in the executive chamber. Those were 
 interesting times in politics. In 1854 the flood of Know-noth- 
 ingism had risen in Massachusetts to sweep down the Whigs and
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 05 
 
 to lift Henry J. Gardner to the governoi'ship l)y 79,000 votes, to 
 26,000 for Governor Emory Washburn, Whig, with 14,000 for 
 Lawyer Beach, the Democratic candidate and a Springfiekl man, 
 and 7,000 for Henry Wilson, the candidate of the young Repub- 
 lican party. Gardner was given three terms. In 1857, General 
 Banks, fresh from his brilliant career as Speaker of the National 
 House, was made the candidate for governor by the Republican 
 party. The convention Avas held June 24, and Oliver Warner of 
 Northampton was placed with him as the candidate for lieuteu- 
 ant-srovernor. Banks had also taken awav from Governor Gard- 
 ner a wing of the American party, and on that ticket Eliphalet 
 Trask had been named for lieutenant-governor. But as the 
 campaign progressed, the State committees of the Republican 
 and Banks American jmrties met and pooled their issues on a 
 single ticket. Oliver Warner retired as the candidate for second 
 place and Trask was retained, while Warner was made candidate 
 for secretary of sta'te — the post which he held from 1858 to 1876. 
 Another Western Massachusetts man, by the way, Jonathan E. 
 Field of Stockbridge, was candidate for lieutenant-governor on 
 the Democratic ticket. Governor Trask enjoyed his experience 
 in Boston, and was re-elected for the three terms with Banks ; 
 but in 1860, just before the Republican State convention. Gov- 
 ernor Banks declined a re-nomination, and with his retirement 
 went that of Lieutenant-Governor Trask. John A. Andrew was 
 then elected governor, with John Z. Goodrich of Stockbridge as 
 his lieutenant. 
 
 Governor Trask stood with the Republican party thereafter 
 until his temperance convictions led him to Join the ranks of the 
 Prohibitionists, where for almost a quarter of a century he had 
 been a leader. Until advancing years lessened his activities he 
 was the foremost man of Springfield in the third party, the leader 
 in its caucuses and meetings, and prominent at the State con- 
 ventions. The Governor was fond of telling how as chairman of 
 the platform committee he on one occasion secured Benjamin E. 
 Butler to draw up the platform for a Prohibitory convention.
 
 no TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 wliich was duly accepted. The Governor, by the way, was always 
 a warm friend of (general Biitlcr, and his position in the Prohi- 
 bition camp did not prevent him from supporting " the old man "' 
 during his campaigns for the governorship, and he was one of 
 the most enthusiastic local admirers of Butler. 
 
 Governor Trask was a democratic man, and a truly "^ Jefferso- 
 iiian simplicity" characterized his life and surroundings. As he 
 clung to his old home on Water street, so he kept his old oHice 
 unchanged when everybody else was refitting and refurnishing. 
 It is a quaint old-fashioned corner room in a two-story brick 
 house contiguous to the foundry-yard, with ancient, well-worn 
 liigh desks and stools, imd plain armchairs of the early part of 
 the century : on the shelves scattered castings and packages. 
 Mere the politics of nation, state and city were discussed with 
 great wealth of reminiscence, between the Governor and his old 
 friends, and many a hard-fought game of checkers absorbed their 
 attention of an afternoon. The foundry before it burned down 
 some fifteen years ago was even a more modest building than its 
 successor; and as Governor Trask witnessed the ilamcs conquer 
 the weather-beaten flag-staff that surmounted it, he recalled the 
 day when that staff was raised, in the Harrison log-cabin and 
 hard-cider campaign. 
 
 To few people have been accorded happier home relations than 
 to Mr. and Mrs, Trask. The golden wedding came in 1879, the 
 sixtieth anniversary, also the occasion of a gathering of children, 
 gi'andchildren and great-grandchildren, came ten years later. 
 Six children survive : Henry F. Trask, Albert Trask, Mrs. Har- 
 riet F. Davis, Mrs. E. A. Chapin of this city, Mrs. Edward 
 Newcomb of Albany, N. Y., and Mrs. William H. Hawkins of 
 Schagbticoke, N. Y. No arrangements have yet been made for 
 the funeral, which will, of course, be held in St. Paul's Church.
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 97 
 
 From the Spring field Daily Union, December 9, 1800. 
 
 Ex-Lieutenant-Grovernor Elipbulet Trask, whose illness with 
 pneumonia was first announced in yesterday's Union, died last 
 evening at his home on Water street. His death coming so sud- 
 denly is a shock to the community in wliich he has been promi- 
 nent for over half a century, and was no doubt hastened by the 
 recent loss of his wife. 
 
 Governor Trask has been one of the most picturesque figures 
 in the Connecticut valley, and he was a man held in universal 
 esteem. No man in any community has had a more honorable 
 record than he made during his fifty-six years' residence in this 
 city. Active in church and social life, trusted and successful in 
 business, and honoring the important offices to which he was 
 called, his whole life affords a good example of the best New 
 England manhood. 
 
 Eliphalet Trask was born at Monson, January 8, 1806, and 
 was a son of Josiah Trask and Elizabeth Webb, the latter a resi- 
 dent of Stafford, Ct., at the time of her marriage. Mr. Trask's 
 father was a farmer and a natural mechanic, seldom finding it 
 necessary to employ a man to do any piece of work. Eliphalet 
 attended the common school at Monson till he was twelve years 
 old, when he went to live with his grandfather at Stafford. While 
 there he worked summers and attended school winters at '^ Fur- 
 nace Hollow." He began work in a foundry when about twenty 
 years old, and was engaged in that business till his death. He 
 became an expert molder, and from 1828 till 1834 was employed 
 in a foundry in East Brookfield. The work was hard and wages 
 low — not more than ninety-two cents a day — but Mr. Trask was 
 industrious and faithful, and few men can point to a record of 
 more day's work in a year than he accomplished during that 
 time. Those were the days of the old-fashioned blast furnaces, 
 and it was necessary to work on Sundays as well as other days. 
 One year he worked 329 days, the next 330 and the third 340, 
 making a total of 999 days in three years.
 
 98 TliASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 During his residence at East liruuiviield, March 3, 1829, Mr. 
 Trask married Ruby, daughter of Solomon Squier of Monson. 
 the ceremony being performed by Rev. Dr. Ely. The marriage 
 was on Tuesda}^, and the day following was that of the inaugura- 
 tion of President Jackson. 
 
 In 1834, Mr. Trask and his wife decided to come to Springfield 
 and make their home here, and the journey from East Brookfield 
 was made by stage, October 1. In partnership with his brothers, 
 Lauren and Abner, he established a foundry on South street, at 
 Mill river, below the bridge, and Trask's pond took its name 
 from his works. He remained there two years, and then sold his 
 interest in the business to his brothers and built a foundry on 
 Court street, on the present site of his brick dwelling houses, one 
 of which is now occupied by his son, Henry F. Trask. After 
 three or four years he established the foundry on Water street, 
 which he has conducted ever since. The foundry now employs 
 about ten men, but years ago the business was much larger than at 
 present. Much work was done for the Western Railroad Com- 
 pany, and the patterns and castings for the first locomotive built 
 in this city were made at Mr. Trask's foundry. He at one time 
 had five pattern makers engaged on work for the railroad comjoa- 
 ny, and the heavy iron arches which supported the roof of the 
 old Union depot were made under Mr. Trask's direction. As 
 many as forty men have been employed at different times. 
 
 Governor Trask began political life as a Whig, and his first 
 presidential vote was cast in 1828 for John Quincy Adams, who 
 had been nominated for a second term and was defeated by An- 
 drew Jackson. He remained a Whig until the " Know-nothing " 
 party came up ; but he was no fugitive slave law Whig, and he 
 and the late Rev. Dr. Osgood of the First Church worked to- 
 gether for years in connection with the so-called " underground 
 railroad." When George Thompson of England came to Spring- 
 field in February, 1850, to speak against slavery — a public hear- 
 ing having l)een refused him at Boston — Mr. Trask refused to 
 join in the clamor which was raised against Thompson, and said
 
 TEA SK MEMORTA L. 99 
 
 that he did not believe in muzzling any man. Tie and Dr. Os- 
 good were with Thompson in the old Hampden House when the 
 excited crowd gatliercd about the building. In the fall of 1857, 
 just as the tidal wave of Know-nothingism was receding, the 
 Republicans and part of the Know-nothings nominated and 
 elected N. P. Banks for governor and Eliphalet Trask for lieu- 
 tenant-governor. Henry J. Gardner was nominated for his 
 fourth term as governor that year by a remnant of Know-noth- 
 ings, and E. I). Beach was the Democratic gubernatorial candi- 
 date. Banks and Trask were twice re-elected, the Democratic 
 candidate for governor in 1858 being Mr. Beach and in 1859 
 General Butler. The Democratic candidate against Lieutenant- 
 Governor Trask in 1859 was the late Stephen C. Bemis of this 
 city. In 1860 Governor Trask went to the National Reiiublican 
 Convention at Chicago, not as a delegate, but as a companion to 
 the late George Ashmnn and as a close friend of Governor Banks, 
 who had developed considerable strength as a candidate for vice- 
 president. Only a few months ago the Governor spoke to the 
 writer of that convention, and referred to the many courtesies he 
 received from Mr. Aslimun, who was chairman of the convention. 
 Mr. Ashmun insisted upon his accompanying him to Springfield, 
 Illinois, to notify Mr. Lincoln of his election, and of the little 
 group which surrounded Mr. Lincoln when he was notified of his 
 nomination. Governor Trask was one of the last survivors. When 
 the Republicans of Massachusetts divided upon the issue of nom- 
 inating General Butler for governor. Governor Trask espoused 
 the Butler cause very warmly, and in recent years had not been 
 closely identified with any party, but had voted as he pleased. 
 In municipal politics he had been for many years a Prohibition- 
 ist, but in national politics he voted for Clevehind in 1884, and 
 also, we believe, in 1888. When he was lieutenant-governor, 
 11. Q. Sanderson was a representative from Ward Five, and they 
 boarded together at Boston in the old Bromfield House, kept by 
 Mr. Crockett. The Governor was as fond of backgammon and 
 checkers in Boston as in Springfield, and whoever dropped into
 
 100 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 the Bromfield of an evening was pretty sure to find the Governor 
 measuring his skill at one of his favorite games at the hotel office. 
 Governor Trask was a member of the last Board of Selectmen 
 which Springfield had, and under whose administration Spring- 
 field became a city. Probably there was never a more exciting 
 election than that for town officers for the year 1851. The 
 Thompson episode had stirred the town to its very depths, and 
 even the United States Armory stopped work on town meeting 
 day that the workmen might have an opijortunity to vote. The 
 only member of the Board of Selectmen who was elected at the 
 regular town meeting was Mr. Trask, and a special meeting was 
 necessary to complete the Board. When Springfield became a 
 city, Selectman Trask was elected an alderman from Ward Two, 
 and he was twice re-elected, and thus served under Caleb Rice 
 and P. B. Tyler. Mr. Rice was mayor for two terms and was 
 nominated by the AYhigs for a third term, P. B. Tyler was the 
 Democratic candidate, and there was also a third candidate, and 
 there was no choice at the December election. At the special 
 election in January, 1854, for the city government of 1854, the 
 Whigs nominated Mr. Trask, who had been elected alderman at 
 the December election, as their candidate for mayor, and Mr. 
 Tyler was elected over him. In December, 1854, Alderman 
 Trask was the Whig candidate for mayor, and the late E. D. 
 Beach, who was a member of the first Board of Aldermen, was 
 the Democratic candidate, and the vote stood 904 for Trask and 
 480 for Beach. AVith his service as mayor for the year 1855 Mr. 
 Trask's official connection with Springfield's municipal adminis- 
 tration ceased. The City Hall was completed and dedicated 
 during his administration. Among the present survivors of the 
 three municipal administrations with which Governor Trask was 
 connected as alderman are : W. C. Sturtevant and H. Q. Sander- 
 son, who were members of Springfield's first Common Council ; 
 William Pynchon, E. W. Bond and T. M. Walker, who were in 
 the second Common Council, and Frederick II. Harris, Tilly 
 Uaynes and Henry A. Robinson, who were in the Common
 
 TliASK MEMORIAL. 101 
 
 Coancil of 1854. \V. C. Sturtevant was an alderman nnder 
 Mayor Trask, and is the only survivor of that Board, and D. H. 
 Brigliam and John W. Hunt were in the Common Council. 
 Mayor Trask's city marshal was Levi P. Rowland. \Vhen he 
 retired from the mayoralty he was elected representative for the 
 years 185(i and 1857, and was again elected representative 
 in 1862. 
 
 He has for many years been president of the Hampden Savings 
 Bank, and was also president of the Agawam Paper Company, 
 and a director of the First National Bank and the Springfield 
 Mutual Fire Assurance Company. He was also president for 
 many years of the Agawam Canal Company. 
 
 Governor Trask became an Odd Fellow on January 6, 1845. 
 Soon after he was chosen treasurer of Hampden Lodge and held 
 that ojffice for two terms, retiring to become Vice-Grand of the 
 Lodge. In 1847 he was elected Noble Grand of the organization. 
 He was the first Noble Grand to serve the six months's term, the 
 change from three months being made just before his election. 
 He joined the Agawam Encampment soon after its institution, 
 and in 1850 he was Chief Patriarch of the " Camp." He soon 
 became interested in the work of the Grand Lodge and several 
 times efforts were made to induce him to become an ofl&cer of 
 that body. Finally he accepted office long enough to be titled 
 "Past Warden" of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. He could 
 not be persuaded to accept the highest office within the power of 
 that body to give. In recent years he has only been present at 
 Lodge meetings on special occasions. The annual gathering 
 of the Hampden Lodge veterans was always an occasion of much 
 interest to him. The members present at this gathering a year 
 ago will remember with pleasure the anecdotes with which he 
 entertained the audience, all of them having a direct connection 
 with lodge affairs. 
 
 Governor Trask was one of the leading organizers and pro- 
 moters of the Universalist Church, and to him and the late 
 Thomas W. Wason, the church probably owes its existence, as
 
 102 THASK MEMOlilAL. 
 
 they gave helping htuuls just when they were needed. Tlie Gov- 
 iTiior organized the coini)any which built the old church on Main 
 street, where Sibley & Moore now are, and finally became the 
 owner of the ))uilding and furnished it to the church free of rent. 
 Notwithstaniliug his loyalty and devotion to his own church, he 
 was a warm friend of all churches and of all moral and educa- 
 tional movements and activities. He was a good man and a 
 good citizen, and Springfield will miss him. At the celebration 
 of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of 
 the First Church, Governor Trask was an interested participant, 
 and no one who heard his earnest plea at that time for right 
 living, will ever forget his impressive and pathetic address. We 
 shall all miss his familiar figure and his cheery greetings, for no 
 man was too poor or too humble to be numbered among the 
 Governor's friends. He was simplicity itself in his habits and 
 his life, and after he built his new house on Court street for him- 
 self and his sou, he clung to his old homestead ou AV'ater street 
 because he and his wife "felt more at liomc there.'' Governor 
 and Mrs, Trask's long wedded life was only shadowed in its hap- 
 piness by Mrs. Trask's illness, and her death was the beginning 
 of the end for him. 
 
 Governor and Mrs. Trask had an unusually loug and happy 
 married life, and the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage was 
 celebrated by a family gathering at their home last year. Tliey 
 had ten children, six of whom are living, twenty-nine grand- 
 children, nineteen of whom are living, and four great-grand- 
 children. Their surviving children are Henry F. Trask, Albert 
 Trask, Mrs. Harriet G. Davis and JNIrs. E. A. Chapin of this 
 city, Mrs. Edward Newcomb of Albany, N. Y., and Mrs. Wil- 
 liam II. Hawkins of Schaghticoke, N. Y. Their grandchildren 
 are : Harry, Samuel and Jennie, children of Mr. and Mrs. H. F. 
 Trask of this city ; Charles B., Edward and Xellie, children of 
 Albert Trask of this city; Edward, Leila and liuby, children of 
 Mrs. Newcomb ; Frederick, Philip, Louis, Henry, Reynolds 
 and Isabel C, children of Mrs. Hawkins ; liuby, daughter of
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 103 
 
 Mrs. Davis, tind Luvancie, Lantie and Eliplialet T., tlic last 
 being the city treasurer, children of yhs. L. A. '^I^ifTt. The 
 gi-eat-grand children, are two children, a boy and a girl, of 
 Charles B. Trask of this city, and two boys of E. T. Tilft, all 
 quite yonng. 
 
 From Progressive Springfield. 
 
 Ex- Lieutenant-Governor Eliplialet Trask, whose death occur- 
 red on the ninth of December, thirteen days after his wife's, was 
 in every respect the typical business man who has made within 
 the last fifty years Springfield what it is. His life was in the 
 line of producing something, rather than following that fleeting- 
 phantom, speculation, which makes millionaires to-day and beg- 
 gars to-morrow. The good old-fashioned New England notion 
 that wealth must come from work and saving, were the charac- 
 teristics and bent of his mind, and yet he was at no time so 
 absorbed in accumulating wealth that appeals for charitable pur- 
 poses, and other good works, were unheeded. His kindly nature 
 and sympathy with those struggling under a misfortune that 
 could not have been avoided, made him a ready helper and well- 
 wisher. He has frequently said, " There is no mystery about 
 gaining wealth — the true way is to spend less than you earn, 
 each year, and in time you will have a handsome competence ; 
 that is all there is to it.'' Into public life he carried the same 
 stern sense of duty that he maintained at home — faithfulness to 
 every trust. No man had a higher sense of what we call "fair 
 play.^' He wanted nothing for himself that he was not willing 
 others should enjoy. In politics and in religion he wanted faith- 
 fulness to pledges, and the right of private judgment,- and he 
 was equally willing to accord the same to others. In all public 
 questions which he deemed important he was steadfast and cared 
 not for the opinions of others who might differ. The question 
 for him to solve was, " Is it right?" He was often in the minor- 
 ity, fighting valiantly for what he held as best against those
 
 104 Tit ASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 whom he ix'spected and agreed witli in oilier iiiatlcrs. He was 
 ever opposed to slavery, and his voice was ever on the side of 
 freedom. lie stood firmly for temperance because he saw the 
 evils of intern i)erance and knew that poverty, wretchedness and 
 crime followed as resulting causes. Few men changed less as old 
 age came on. He had the same pleasant greeting, the same love 
 of pleasantry, and the same interest in public affairs, l)oth at 
 home and abroad, that he did in earlier years. There was no 
 feebleness in interest and no decay of intellect. Only little 
 more than two weeks before he died he sat through the long ad- 
 dress of Thomas Power O'Connor, in the City Hall, on the affairs 
 in Ireland, and as he passed his contribution into the hat, he 
 remarked, " It is worth something to hear such good speaking/" 
 indicating that popular ajDpeals in causes in which he had an 
 interest were as of much moment to him as when he was in the 
 prime of life. 
 
 Selectman, alderman and nuiyor, were the offices he held at 
 home, and lieutenant-governor, when General N. P. Banks was 
 governor, was the most important office held in »State affairs. 
 He was for a long time one of the trustees of the Northampton 
 asylum for the insane. At his death he was a director of the 
 First National Bank, and ])resident of the Hampden Savings 
 Bank, and had been prominently connected with other business 
 affairs, as director and president. He was president of the Aga- 
 wam Paper Company from its organization in 1858 up to the 
 time of his tleath. The company began business in 1859 and he 
 had the proud record of having attended every annual meeting 
 from the beginning, covering a period of over thirty years, and 
 its successful business career was a source of satisfaction to him 
 to know that others as well as himself shared in its prosperity. 
 The large attendance at the funeral, held at St. Paul's Church, 
 on Friday, the twelfth ultimo, testified to the great regard for him. 
 He was born in Monson, January 8, 1806, and therefore lacked 
 but little of being eighty-five years old. His early life was like 
 that of many successful New England boys — a struggle for even
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 105 
 
 :i living ; but he entered upon his life work witli energy and de- 
 termination, and a magnificent success followed. Could he have 
 had those advantages of a liberal education that now come to 
 evci'y boy, and maintained the same determination and i)ui-suit 
 of business, he would have been a man widely known and as 
 widely felt. No man grasped the right of things more quickly 
 tlian he, and although not a trained speaker he was always forci- 
 ble, and at times even eloquent, in debate, especially when the 
 wrong he was trying to meet had come near to iiim. His life 
 has been a grand .example to the community in which he so long 
 lived, and it should be full of encouragement to the young about 
 to start out to achieve wealth and an honored name. 
 
 From the Sp7-i?i(/field Homestead. 
 
 The distinguished face of the venerable ex-Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor will be seen no more forever in his accustomed haunts. 
 He passed away on Tuesday evening of pneumonia, surviving his 
 wife only thirteen days. Of his eighty-four years, and nearly 
 eighty-five, fifty-six were passed in this city, which he served 
 first as selectnitm, then as Ward Two's first alderman ; again 
 chosen to this office, on the Whig ticket, he served several years 
 in succession. He was elected mayor in 1854, and, as staunch a 
 tem2)erance man then as at the close of his life, he made a hercu- 
 lean effort to enforce the liquor law. He was elected to the 
 Legislature in 1856, 1857) 18G2 and 1870, and was elected lieu- 
 tenant-governor in 1858, on the Republican ticket, serving the 
 three years that Nathaniel P. Banks was governor. Shortly af- 
 terward he joined the third party, in which he was a leader 
 thereafter until his death. As active in church as in i)ublic 
 matters, Governor Trask was the foremost Univers.dist of this 
 city and vicinity. He was one of the organizers of the First 
 Universalist Chui'ch and his co-operation and liberality did much 
 to make St, Paul's Church what it is. His career as a business
 
 106 TliA^rn: MEMORIAL. 
 
 man closed fully a quai'ter of a century ago, when he turned over 
 to other heads and hands tlie management of his iron foundry, 
 having accumulated enough property to enable him to i)ass his 
 old age in good works and congenial pleasures. From his child- 
 hood in Monson to the close of his life Eliphalet Trask was pure 
 gold. The six children who survive him are Henry F. Trask, 
 Albert Trask, Mrs. Harriet F. Davis and Mrs. E. A. Chapin, all 
 of this city, and Mrs. Edward Newcomb of Albany and Mrs. 
 William H. Hawkins of Schaghticoke, N. Y. 
 
 The extended sketches of ]\[r. Trask's life which have appeared 
 the past Aveek might be still further increased by story and anec- 
 dote, so full was his life of action and incident. That he was 
 hung in cfligy, as stated in one ])aper, is a mistake. Those stir- 
 ring days of abolition agitation brought this man's force of 
 character and quick decision into play in a way which gave rise to 
 the story. It was George Thompson, the English abolitionist, 
 whose ethgy swung from the elm tree still standing on Court 
 Square, opposite the Chicopee Bank, and not the cflfigy of Eli])h- 
 alet Trask. But the latter man was connected with the famous 
 affair which stirred the town to its very foundation. It came 
 about in this way : A small debating society, which numbered 
 among its members Ruf us Elmer and Dr. Church, and other well- 
 known people, invited this Thompson, who was an ex-member 
 of Parliament and a man of surpassing eloquence, to lecture in 
 this city upon East India, a country which he h<xd visited to in- 
 vestigate the slave tratlic of the East India Company. 'J'he least 
 symptom of anti-slavery feeling in Springfield stirred up a hor- 
 net's nest. Major Ripley, Superintend(!nt of the Armory, and 
 Master Armorer Allen were so anxious lest anv discussion of this 
 subject might endanger their chances in Congress for good ap- 
 propriations for the local Armory, that they set about immedi- 
 ately to kindle a feeling against the Thompson lecture. They 
 succeeded notably. On the day set for the lecture, which was 
 Saturday, a howling mob, with fife and drum, marched the 
 streets of the town, threw rotten eggs at the windows of the
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 107 
 
 nainpiltMi House, where Mr. Thompson was stopping, and suc- 
 ceeded in preventing the delivery of the lecture. The next 
 morning, as the good people of Springfield wended their way to 
 the old First Church, an effigy of the lecturer dangled from t he 
 limb of the old elm. Sherilf Caleb Rice ordered the figui'e cut 
 down immediately, but the excitement was not over. The anti- 
 slavery people engaged a room onSanford street, and on Monday 
 forenoon Mr. Thompson and Wendell Phillips addressed as lai'ge 
 a company as could bo crowded into the room. The very man 
 who beat the drum in Saturday night's mob was there, and 
 among others was so eager to hear more from the famous Eng- 
 lishman that he called repeatedly for him, and Wendell rhillips 
 retorted by reminding the company that they should have heard 
 him Saturday night when he was advertised to speak. The 
 meeting organized with a chairman and several vice-presidents, 
 including young Eliphalet Trask, who was chosen on this occasion 
 because on his own account he had ojiened the Universalist 
 Church (which he almost owned) to abolitionist meetings when 
 other churches were closed against them. Tliis brave stand for 
 free thought and free discussion established him in the favor of 
 the abolitionists, although he had not announced himself such. 
 A committee of prominent citizens, who feared his influence, 
 visited him after the Thompson meeting and asked him to sign 
 a document stating that it was without his sanction and against 
 his will that he was appointed a vice-president of this 
 anti-slavery gathering. Although he did not attend the 
 meeting, and knew nothing of the use of his name thus, 
 the stalwart young man thundered "No!" and his visitors 
 retreated. One of the first results was the removal by Major 
 Ripley of all the Armory patterns from Trask's foundry, where 
 considerable Armory work had been done. Thereafter M;ijor 
 Ripley gave this woi'k to P. B. Tyler & Co., on the hill. 'J'his 
 episode served to In-ing young Mr. Trask into a i)rominence 
 from which he never receded. He soon became an abolitionist, 
 and in the famous contested election in 1851 he was the onJv
 
 108 Tit ASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 selectman elected, because he was the candidate of both the 
 Wliiujs and Free-soilers. 
 
 The foundation of his fortune was laid by the work he did for 
 the New Haven, Hartford (I\: Springfiekl Iiailroad while it Avas 
 building. The frogs for the switches were cast at his foundry, 
 the company paying him partly in cash and the balance in shares 
 of stock, which then had but little market value and paid no 
 dividends. This stock Mr. Trask kept and increased afterwards 
 by purchases, until he owned a large amount. He was a stock- 
 holder also in the Boston and Albany railroad, and an officer of 
 various local enterprises. 
 
 St. Paul's Church could not accommodate all who wished to 
 attend the funeral of Governor Trask yesterday afternoon. A 
 quartet composed of James C. Ingersoll, George II. Bond, H. G. 
 Chapin and Edward Morris sang 'MVatch, for Ye Know Not," 
 ''Thou Who Changest Not" and ''Gathering Home." Rev. 
 Marion Crosley read the Scripture lesson and Rev. Dr. A. A. 
 Miner of Boston offered prayer, Mr. Crossley spoke feelingly of 
 the deceased. He said he felt as if he were one of the chief 
 mourners. He met Governor Trask twenty-five years ago in the 
 West, when they were attending a general convention. Since 
 then he had met him and served on committees with him. His 
 wisdom and influence were always felt. When Mr. Crosley oc- 
 cupied the pulpit of St. Paul's Church for the first time, the face 
 of the venerable ex-mayor was the only one before him that the 
 speaker had ever seen before. " He was nearer to me than any 
 one else in the church," said the sj^eaker. "I feel his loss as a 
 friend, an adviser and a brother. It is difficult to speak words 
 of consolation, because I want to hear them. I need to say but 
 a few words in reference to him because you all know him so 
 well. His life of simplicity won us to him. These tears speak 
 more eloquently of our feelings for the departed than anything 
 that can be said." Mr. Crosley paid a tribute to the character 
 of the deceased and referred to the fact that he was the founder 
 of St. Paul's Church. Rev. Dr. Miner spoke of him as a leader
 
 TRASK MEMORTAL. 100 
 
 in the Universalist denomination, not alone liere, but tlironghout 
 tlie country. He spoke of his public Avork, his broad charities, 
 his interest in public enterprises, his work in temperance and 
 other reform lines. Eliphalet Trask was one child in the great, 
 family of God, and he found it out ; he lived with his fellow-men 
 as a brother. Tears were not in keeping with the ending of such 
 a life. When a man has reached that venerable age he belongs 
 to the other world. 
 
 The pew which Governor Trask had occupied was draped with 
 green and on the seat rested an open book from his Sunday-school 
 class, bearing the word "Teacher." A cross, a scroll, a floral 
 sickle across a sheaf of wheat, an Odd Fellows' design, and nu- 
 merous bouquets of flowers were about the casket and pulpit. 
 The Odd Fellows' burial service was read after the other. Messrs. 
 Henry F. and Albert Trask, sons, and E. T. Tifft, Charles B. 
 Trask, Edward Newcomb of Albany and Philip, Louie and Henry 
 Hawkins of Schaghticoke, N. Y., grandsons, were the bearers. 
 Mayor Bradford and the entire city government attended the 
 funeral in a body. John Ledeaux, who has been for forty-three 
 years in Governor Trask's emjjloy, W. W. Thomas with thirty- 
 seven years of service, and M. P. Hickey and T. A. King, each 
 with twenty-two years of service for Mr. Trask, occupied a pew 
 together. 
 
 From the Springfield Daily Union. 
 
 To THE Editor of the Union : 
 
 When a true and good and honorable man dies, our memory 
 of him naturally reverts with mournful pleasure to the many 
 things he may have done or said, especially if we were personally 
 cognizant of the things done ; or if things were personally said 
 to us ; and thus, my mind goes back to some less than a year ago, 
 when I met ex-Lieutenant-Governor Trask at a religious meeting 
 in St. Paul's Church vestry, during a week's series of preaching 
 services, last winter. It was on the lust two evenings of the
 
 no Til ASK MKMOHfAL. 
 
 series. I was early there as was the ex-lieiitenant-governor, wlio 
 sat at my side, near the pulpit, each evening, lie greeted me in 
 his usual genial, friendly manner, and at once entered into con- 
 versation with me on various topics. I said to him, for one thing, 
 that I had seen in the Union a few days before, that some one 
 had shown its editors an old State ticket with the names of Na- 
 thaniel 1*. Banks and Eliphalet Trask at its head. '' Yes," he 
 said, "I saw it;'' then remarked, ''I served with Banks the 
 three years he was governor.'' I remarked that I voted that ticket. 
 From that we went ou to talk of the stirring political times dur- 
 ing the Fremont campaign of 1850, and just before the war of 
 the rebellion broke out. Then he told me of his ])eing a delegate 
 to the National Republican Convention in Philadelphia, in I80G, 
 that nominated John C. Fremont for president. I will say here, 
 that I have not seen this part of his political life stated in any of 
 GUI' papers. The Union mentioned, however, that through the 
 urgent invitation of George Ashmun — a chosen delegate to the 
 Chicago convention in 1860 that nominated Lincoln, and of 
 which Mr. Ashmun was the chairman — he went to Chicago to 
 witness the convention proceedings, and also went after the con- 
 vention, liy request, with Mr. Ashmun, to be present at the 
 tendering of the nomination to Mr. Lincoln — a notable event, 
 truly. The ex-lieuteuant-governor related to me a fact, not gener- 
 ally known, that "some of the Southern delegates to the 1856 
 convention — Clay Whigs, I sujipose, — came there with revolvers 
 in their pockets, and in laying aside some of their wearables in 
 the cloak-rooms, placed their revolvers upon them, for the pur- 
 pose," as the ex-licutenant-governor said, " to intimidate the 
 Northerners ; but the Northerners did not scare worth a cent, 
 hut went ahead and nominated their man, Fremont, to the 
 Southerners' chagrin." "This fact," he said, ''shows the feel- 
 ing at the South that was brewing, and culminated at last in the 
 civil war, four years afterward." I replied to this, that ''I re- 
 membered very well the forebodings I felt during the Fremont 
 campaign, that some terrible calamity was coming upon our
 
 TEASK MEMORIAL. Ill 
 
 country, because of the excited stiite of feeling of the Southern 
 oligarchy, who were determined to rule or ruin. I could hardly 
 believe it could be civil war, but I felt something terri])le was to 
 happen, I said I suppose thousands of others felt similarly, 
 and our feelings proved to be a j)rescience of that four years' 
 terrible, bloody struggle that came through Lincoln's election, 
 or was made to come by that election. 
 
 One other thing the ex-lieutenant-governor related to me, 
 which was this : "In the last year of the governorship of Gov- 
 ernor Banks, one morning in the council chamber at the State 
 House, the governor in talking to me, made this remark in very 
 emphatic language, — ' There is going to be one of the d — dest, 
 bloodiest wars this country ever experienced.^ I was amazed, 
 and asked, 'Do you believe that, governor ?' 'Believe it, yes, 
 and you mark my works, it will come very soon, too ! '" The cx- 
 lieutenant-governor apologized to me for the governor's profane 
 expression, " that if forcible, it was not elegant, but it seemed 
 to emphasize the governor's convictions as nothing else would." 
 He said, " The governor had a prescience, we must believe, that 
 a political crisis was fast precipitating itself upon the country, 
 as thousands of others did, but none could give a clear reason 
 why, only that it was their feeling, so profound was the impres- 
 sion on people's minds." I made this reply to the ex-lieutcnant- 
 governor, that " I had a cousin, a Northerner, who Avas an assist- 
 ant editor on the leading Democratic paper South, the Charleston 
 Mercury, who afterwards told me, that after Lincoln's election, 
 he was thoroughly convinced that secession was to be a real 
 thing, and that he resigned his position and retired before the 
 terrible blow was struck, he was so certain of it. He learned this 
 fact from the leading men South, who came into the Mercurifs 
 editorial rooms, for they were earnest and outspoken, and em- 
 phatic, as to their determination ; so it now seems that secession 
 was in the air and that Governor Banks, with thousands of others, 
 felt it, knew it, all over the North, as the South were sure of it, 
 by their own decision." The war came, and, oh, how terrible it was!
 
 1 12 TEA SK MEMORIA L. 
 
 Now, that it comes to my mind, I will rehite a touching inci- 
 dent happening on this particular evening in question. When 
 the ex-lieutenant-governor came into the room, he seated him- 
 self in an armless chair. With sharp, observant eyes, a young 
 lady back in the audience detected this, and came up the aisle 
 to one corner of the room, and from it brought an armcliair, 
 with a request that he should take it, as he did, with a smile and 
 a " thank you ;^' and then said to me, ''that the young lady 
 was one of his Sunday-school class, who thought it would l)c 
 easier for him, and that the chair was the one he sat in in his 
 large class of young ladies" — pointing to the corner where the 
 class assembled on Sundays. I felt the touching force of this 
 tender and considerate act on my own feelings ; for I saw the 
 watchful solicitude with which his Sunday-school class regarded 
 him. Let me add in this connection, that I heard the ex-lieu. 
 tenant-governor say to a city minister, last summer, that "he 
 had been a Sunday-school teacher for upward of forty years, and 
 still loved the Sunday-school as well now as ever in his life." 
 What a noble record ! 
 
 Now I will relate something of the second evening at the 
 vestry services. The ex-lieutenant-governor occu2)ied the same 
 seat as the evening before, near me. He stated to me who was 
 to preach, and gave me a little history of the preacher. Rev. Mr. 
 Farnsworth. From this he went on to speak how it was he be. 
 came a Universalist. When a boy he lived at Stafford, Ct., and 
 was brought up in the strictest tenets of Calvinism, his mother 
 being a strict l^aptist ; that he used to go with her to meeting ; 
 that the great founder of Universalism, TJev. Ilosea Ballon, nsed 
 to often preach in Stafford, and having a boy-curiosity to hear 
 liim he would slip out of the Baptist meeting and go to hear 
 him and then get back again before meeting was out, so to make 
 all appear well to his mother, Avho would have been horrified if 
 she liad known where he had been ; thus, he heard ^\y. r)allou, 
 when possible, and not have his mother know of it. This kind 
 of preaching made a strong impress on his mind ; it a])])ealed to
 
 TliASK MEMORIAL. UP. 
 
 his reason iiml his heart ; it seemed to him to be more like the 
 teachings of Christ than any thing he had ever heard before ; 
 that it nnfokled to liiin the loving fatherhood of God, instead of 
 a repcllant, wrathful God; that all men were his children, Avhom 
 the good Father would not cast off forever from his presence, but 
 would somehow, some way, bring them all to himself finally ; 
 that Christ, his loving Son, had made the way plain, and would 
 lead all men to the Father by the Holy Spirit, and that all at the 
 last would find a haven of rest in the eternal kingdom of this 
 loving father. Thus, he said, he was led on, until the reason- 
 ableness of universal salvation commended itself to his reason, 
 his heart and his whole soul ; that he had been seventy years a 
 Universalist, and had never wavered from that day to this. He 
 here ended the talk, that I have repeated in outline, that has 
 never been resumed ; but that talk I shall never forget. 
 
 Now this grand old man has pnssed over to the "majority," 
 on the other shore ; and I am told that he smiled a welcome to 
 death, when the transition came, and seemed to be anticipating 
 a blessed home and a glorious rest, as if in a heavenly vision. In 
 such a death I feel that I can never again criticise the denomi- 
 national belief of any other person ; for who will dare say an- 
 other's belief was not the true faith? The ex-lieu tenant-gov- 
 ernor dejwrted with the full conviction that Universalism is 
 true ; that his trust in God would not be in vain ; that he was 
 willing to abide by the result of that belief ; that his loving 
 Father would welcome him as his child into His ever-enduring 
 kingdom. In this life and death creeds ami denominational 
 differences fade to nothingness, in my mind, in determining 
 who shall merit the 'MVell Done" of the beneficent, loving 
 Father of us poor weaklings of earth, when an exchange of 
 worlds shall come to us. Who dares to be our judge, or can be 
 our judge, but God? Less ecclesiastical formuhv and more true 
 and holy living would do more to settle our demominational 
 differences than any thing else, I do believe. It is a true adage, 
 I think. '•' That none are all bad — that none are all good."
 
 114 TEASE MEMORIAL. 
 
 One otlier tliought. I quote the iirst IIiil; of tliis puper: " A 
 true and good and honorable man," and I might liavu added, 
 "and great man ;" for ex-Lieutenant-CJovernor Trask combined 
 all these (pialities, and more, lie was " a true man ;" true to 
 liimsclf, to hi.s fellow-ineU;, and to humanity ; — "a good man," we 
 know, for liis goodness could be read of all men that ever saw or 
 knew him; ''an honorable man/' for his whole life proves that, 
 and his fellows, often, in years past, have made him their 
 standard-bearer in places of position, and he added honor to his 
 constituency and to himself, for he was never sullied with any 
 dishonor ; and, also he was a " great man ;" a man who had (puU- 
 ities tliat would have made him more of a marked character than 
 he was, if he had had the educatioiuil advantages of young men 
 in our time; in fact, as it Avas, he has held many positioiis of 
 trust, that few men in our day can ever have the i)rivilege of 
 holding the like. He had the qualities of a statesman, and 
 would have done the duties of a statesnum better than most of 
 those do nowadays, in AVashington. Jle Avas no orator oi' 
 speechmaker, which passes with many men for statesnumshij) in 
 our national Congress and elsewhere, but he was a faithful doer. 
 lie also had nobility of character that counts largely to make a 
 great man. lie was one who would greet you with a smile, not 
 repel you with a cold look ; you never would go from him with 
 a chill tiiat would nuike you say, ''I will never speak to that 
 man again." What a compliment for a man, to have men in his 
 emi)loy — one for forty- three years, another for thirty-seven years, 
 and two others for twenty-two years each. It was a touching 
 spectacle to see these men occupying a })e\v together at the 
 funeral of their old eni2jloyer with other mourners. The city 
 and commonwealth have lost a gi'eat and good man. Truly, " a 
 prince" among men has gone from usi 
 
 Stephen Lamson. 
 
 Springjicld, December 22.
 
 DEATH OF MRS. TRASK. 
 
 From the Christian Leader, November '^11, 1890, 
 
 The wife of our honored aud veneruble co-worker, Hon. 
 Eliphalot Trask of Springfield, closed her earthly career Wednes- 
 da}^ November 26, at the age of seventy-eight. She began to fail 
 about six weeks ago, and at the end all her six children were 
 gathered at her bedside. Mrs. Trask was the daughter of Solomon 
 Squier of Monson, and the youngest as well as the only survivor of 
 fifteen children, eleven of them boys. She was married March 3, 
 1829, to Eliphalet Trask, and the couple lived in Monson until 
 1831, when they moved to Brookfield, while three years later they 
 went to Springfield. For nearly fifty years Mr. Trask has oc- 
 cupied the house at 106 Water street. There their children 
 have been reared, and their family anniversaries have been cele- 
 brated by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 
 Her children are Henry F. Trask and Mrs. H. CI. Davis, twins, 
 Albert Trask and Mrs. E. A. Chapin of Springfield, Mrs. Ed- 
 ward Newcomb of Albany, N. Y., Mrs. W. H. Hawkins of 
 Schaghticoke, N. Y. City Treasurer Tifft and his two sisters 
 are "children of Mrs. L. A. TifPt, a daughter of Mrs. Trask, who 
 died some years ago. Mrs. Trask was a member of St. Paul's 
 Church almost since its organization, and she was actively identi- 
 fied in the society. Although she had been devoted to her home, 
 her husband's career as mayor and lieutenant-governor brought 
 her before the public, but she met the responsibilities with the 
 simplicity and modesty that characterized her life. There will 
 be abundant sympathy with Mr, Trask in the loss of the com- 
 panion of sixty years, and with the other members of the family, 
 llclatives of Mrs. Trask had come from Monson, Palmer,
 
 IIG TEASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 Belchertown and other places, aud so numerous were they that 
 sixteen carriages were filled with the relatives alone. The sing- 
 ing was by the men's quartette, made up of Messrs. Chapin, 
 Bond, Morris and Ingersoll, who sang "^^ Only Waiting/' "There 
 is a Land Immortal,^' and "Come Unto Me." The bearers 
 were Mrs. Trask's eight grandchildren. The flowers were un- 
 usually abundant and beautiful. Among the most striking de- 
 signs were a standing wreath of ivy with a sickle of roses, a 
 basket of red and white roses and violets, and a floral pillow with 
 the word " Grandmother.'* Then there was a bunch of pearl 
 roses with ribbon, a bunch of Easter lilies, another of ivy and 
 white roses, and one of hyacinths and white violets. There Avere 
 also several boxes of cut flowers, chiefly roses and chrysanthe- 
 mums. The burial was at the Springfield cemetery. 
 
 From the Springfield Repuhlican, Noveniber 27, 1800. 
 
 A long wedded life has been broken by the death last evening 
 of Ruby Squier, wife of Eliphalet Trask, who yielded to the in- 
 firmities of old age, which were aggravated by injuries received 
 in a trying exposure last March. It will be remembered that 
 she wandered away from home March 17, and was found the 
 following day with a badly broken arm and serious bruises. The 
 broken member healed, and she recovered partly from the shock 
 and exposure, but her mind had wandered. She pathetically 
 repeated that she wanted to "go home," referring to the old 
 family place in Monson. When able to drive out last summer, 
 the family took her to the house in Monson, where she spent 
 her childhood, and she returned on her 78th birthday. She be- 
 gan to fail a few weeks ago, and at the end last evening, all her 
 six children were gathered at the bedside. Mrs. Trask was the 
 daughter of Solomon Squier of Monson, and the youngest, as 
 well as the only survivor, of fifteen children, eleven of them 
 boys. She was married March 3, 1829, to Eliphalet Trask, and 
 the couple lived in that town until 1831, when they moved to
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 117 
 
 Ijiookficltl, while three years hiter they came to this city. For 
 netirly fifty years Mr. Trask has occupied theliouse at lOG Water 
 street, there their children have been reared, and there the fami- 
 ly anniversaries have been celebrated by children, grandchildren 
 and sjreat-£;randchildren. Her children are Henrv F. Trask and. 
 Mrs. H. G. Davis, twins, Albert Trask and Mrs. E. A. Chapin 
 of this city, Mrs. Edward Newcomi) of Albany, N. Y., Mrs. AV. 
 H. HaAvkins of Schaghticoke, N. Y. City Treasurer Tifft and 
 his two sisters are children of Mrs. L. A. Tifft, a daughter of 
 Mrs. Trask, who died some years ago. Mrs. Trask was a mem- 
 ber of St. Paul's Church, almost since its organization, and she 
 was actively identified in the society. Although she had been 
 devoted to the home, her husband's career as mayor and lieu- 
 tenant-governor brought her before the public, but she met the 
 responsibilities with the simplicity and modesty that character- 
 ized her life. There will be abundant sympathy with Mr. Trask 
 in the loss of the companion of sixty years, and with the other 
 members of the family. Arrangements have not yet been made 
 for the funeral. 
 
 From the Sprhigfield licjmUican, November 30, 1890. 
 
 The funeral of Mrs. Eliphalet Trask was conducted at her late 
 home on Water street, by Rev. Marion Crosley, at two o'clock 
 yesterday afternoon. Mr. Crosley spoke briefly but feelingly 
 upon, personal qualities and long and useful life of the dead 
 woman, alluding particularly to her past activity in good works 
 in connection with her church. He closed with consoling words 
 for the family and friends, a large number of whom were present. 
 Relatives of Mrs. Trask had come from Monson, Palmer, 
 Belchertown and other places, and so numerous were they that 
 sixteen carriages were filled with the relatives alone. The sing- 
 ing was by the men's quartet, made up of Messrs. Chapin, Bond, 
 Morris and Ingersoll, who sang, " Only Waiting," " There is a 
 Laud Immortal" and "Come Unto Me." The bearers were
 
 118 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 Mrs. Trask's eight grandcliildren. The flowers were unusually 
 abundant and beautiful. Among the most striking designs were 
 a standing wreath of ivy with a sickle of roses, a basket of red 
 and white roses and violets, and a floral pillow witli the woi'd 
 " Grand mother.^' Then there was a bunch of pearl roses with 
 ribbon, a bunch of Easter lilies, another of ivy and white roses 
 and one of hyacinths and white violets. There were also several 
 boxes of cut flowers, chiefly roses and chrysanthemums. The 
 burial was at the Springfield cemetery. 
 
 From ihe iSpri7ig/iehl Union, November 28, 1890. 
 
 Mrs. Eliphalet Trask, wife of ex-Lieutenant-Governor Trask, 
 died at her home on Water street, Wednesday evening at 0.20 
 o'clock. She was seventy-nine years old, and was very well known 
 and much respected throughout this section. She came of an 
 old New England stock, being the youngest and the last of 
 fifteen children. Her father was Solomon Squier of Monson, 
 and she and Eliphalet Trask were married March 3, 1820. In 
 1831, she and her husband moved to Brookfield, and removed to 
 this city about 1835. Their home on Water street has become 
 a familiar landmark for a great many years, and the scene of 
 many pleasant family gatherings. Mrs. Trask, in her younger 
 days, and when she was in the full possession of her vigor, was 
 prominently identified with church and charitable work, being 
 an early member of St. Paul's Church. One of her daugliters, 
 Mrs. L. A. Tift, was the mother of City Treasurer Tift and his 
 sisters. Mrs. Trask's other children are: Henry F. Trask, 
 Mrs. H. G. Davis, Albert Trask and Mrs. E. A. Chai)in of tliis 
 city, Mrs. Edward Newcomb of Albany, N. Y., and Mrs. W. II. 
 Hawkins of Schaghticoke, N. Y. 
 
 Mrs. Trask sustained a severe shock by the injuries she received, 
 when, last March, she wandered away, trying to find her old 
 homo in Monson. Her broken arm was liealcd, but the sliock to 
 her system was so severe that she was never the same since. A
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 119 
 
 cliaiige for the worse sot in Monday, and lier mind wandered a 
 little. She was in a semi-conscious state, and was surrounded 
 by her children when the end came. Of a singuhirly sweet 
 character and an earnest Christian, she belonged to a wider circle 
 than those in her own home, and will be sadly missed. JMuch 
 sympathy is expressed for ex- Lieutenant-Governor Trask, who 
 has lost his life-long companion. 
 
 The funeral will take place at the ohl house on Water street, 
 to-morrow afternoon at two o'clock. Eev. Mr. Crosley will take 
 charge of the services, and the quartet which will sing, Avill con- 
 sist of James 0. Ingersoll, Edward Morris, Henry G. Chapin 
 and George R. Bond. The burial willbe a private one, and will 
 take idace at the Sjaringfield cemetery. The bearers will be 
 eight of Mrs. Trask's grandchildren. 
 
 From the Sprincjfield Union November 29, 1890. 
 The funeral of [Mrs. Eliphalet Trask took place this afternoon 
 at two o'clock, at the old homestead on Water street, a large com- 
 pany of old friends being present. Rev. Marion Grosley had 
 charge of the services, and delivered an imj)ressive address on the 
 life and character of Mrs. Trask. A quartet consisting of James 
 0. Ingersoll, Edward Morris, Henry G. Cliapin and George R. 
 Bond sang three hymns, ''Only Waiting," "There is a Fjand 
 Immortal " and " Come Unto Me." Interment took }dace at the 
 Springfield cemetery, and the bearers were the following grand- 
 children of Mrs. Trask: E. T. Titlt, Charles W. Trask, Samuel 
 II. Trask, Harry B. Trask, Phillip Hawkins, E. T. Newcomb, 
 Louis Hawkins and Henry Hawkins. The floral tributes were 
 I )eautiful, and among them was a pillow from the bearers, in- 
 scribed, " Grandmother.'' 
 
 From the SpringfieJd Homestead November 29, 1800. 
 Thanksgiving was turned into a day of mourning at the home 
 of ex-Lieutenant-Governor Eliphalet Trask on Water street, the
 
 120 TRASK MEMORIAL. 
 
 liouse wliicli luis seen so inuuy joyous family gatherings. Mrs. 
 'I'rusk passed awjiy W'ldiiesday evening, in lu-r seventy-uiiil li 
 year, witii all her six ehiUlren around ht-r bedside. >Slie was the 
 daughter of Solomon Squier of JVlonson, the youngest of liftucn 
 children, and the last to go. In j\larch, 1889, ]\lr. and Mi's. 
 Trask eelebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary, and the 
 portrait which appears herewith was printed at that time in 
 these columns beside that of her husband. The children are 
 Henry l'\ Trask and 3li-s. 11. (I. Davis, twins ; AUtert Trasi-; and 
 .Mrs. E. A. Chai)in ol'this city, Mrs. Edward Newcomb of Albany^ 
 and .Mrs. W. II. Hawkins of ISchaghticoke, N. Y. A daughter 
 who died several years ago was Mrs. L. A. TilTt, mother of City 
 'J'reasurer TilTt. Mrs. Trask was an active member of .St. Paul's 
 ('liureh, and a much beloved woman.
 
 A GOLDEN WEDDING.
 
 A NOTABLE ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 The Approaching Golden Wedding of Ex-riOVRi;NOK 
 
 Teask. 
 
 From the Springfield Daily Union. 
 
 Decidedly the most interesting social event of the season will 
 be the celebration, next Monday evening, of the golden wedding 
 of ex-Governor and Mrs. Eliphalet Trask at their residence on 
 Water street, where they have lived for thirty-seven years come 
 the first of next April. The Governor is still so yonng looking 
 and active a man, that it seems almost impossible he can have 
 been married fifty years, and still more so that he can be seventy- 
 three years old. But that is what the records say, and the 
 golden wedding anniversary really having come round, there will 
 be hosts of people happy to have a chance to offer their congrat- 
 ulations and express their good wishes on the occasion. ]?oth 
 Mr. and Mrs. Trask (the maiden name of the latter being T\ubv 
 Squier) are natives of Monson, and there they were married on 
 the eve of the inauguration of President Jackson, March 3, 1829. 
 Mrs. Trask's father, Josiah Trask, was a farmer, and he helped 
 till tlie paternal acres until he was twenty-one, having only such 
 moans of education as were furnished by the common schools of 
 the time. On striking out for himself he decided to learn the 
 foundry business, at which he worked in Furnace Hollow, 
 Stafford, Ct., and East Brookfield, before coming to Springfield, 
 in October, 1834, to start in business on his own account. He 
 has been engaged in the same business ever since, for some time 
 in partnership with one or more brothers, and in different locali- 
 ties in the city, having, however, occupied the present site of his
 
 124 TRASK MEMOUIAl.. 
 
 foundry on AVater street since 1841. Of his success in business 
 it is only necessary to say, that beginning without means, he has 
 gained a handsome competence, and he has done it by the practice 
 of imlustry, tbrift and prudence, wliich, added to integrity, 
 have often brouglit rich returns to "self made men " in New 
 England before., and wliich. " liomely virtues " though tbey may 
 be, will continue to pay better in the long run than any amount 
 of vicious smartness. Doubtless Mr. Trask has had reverses, like 
 others. But he has not wbined about them. He has also had 
 troubles and sorrows. Of the ten children with which his mar- 
 ried life lias been blessed, four ''are not, for God took them," 
 and many of the friends of his youth and middle life have 
 passed on before. But with wife and six children still spared 
 to him, and troops of friends yet remaining, he has reason to 
 think, as we are sure he does, that life has brought him more of 
 sunshine than of shadow. 
 
 Governor Trask has always taken a great interest in public 
 alt'airs, and it is his prominence as a public man that makes the 
 coming anniversary of more than private or merely local interest. 
 So long ago as 1851, wdien Springfield was yet a town, Mr. 
 Trask was one of the selectmen, and when the "infant city" was 
 organized, he became an alderman, serving in the upper branch 
 of the City Council in 1852, 1853 and 1854, and again in 1870. 
 In 1855 he w^as mayor of the city, in 1857 and again in 1863 he 
 Avas a member of the Legislature, and from 1858 to 1860 he was 
 lieutenant-governor of the State, during tlie administration of 
 Governor Banks. He was also county coroner for fourteen or 
 fifteen years, has been a trustee of the Northampton Insane Asy- 
 lum for eighteen years, has been one of the managers of the City 
 Hospital since its establishment, and has held many other offices 
 of trust and responsibility, both political and in connection with 
 the Universalist Church, of which he has always been a promi- 
 nent and active member, doing much for the building up of that 
 denomination in this city and vicinity. Mr. Trask's zeal in the 
 temperance cause is well known all over the State. He believes
 
 TRASK MEMORIAL. 125 
 
 in iirohibition thoroughly and earnestly, and is just as pro- 
 nounced in his opinions now as Avhen prohibition was a political 
 force of much greater importance than at present, or ])erhaps 
 ever likely to be again. 
 
 Of course no man could have been as long prominent in pub- 
 lic life as Governor Trask has been, without exciting enmities. 
 His views have often been denounced, but no one has ever ven- 
 tured to question his honesty or doubt his integrity. lie has 
 given and taken some hard blows in politics, as men in the front 
 must. But his genial face belies him if he bears malice toward 
 any man living, and we are sure that none of his political foes, 
 of however long standing, bear a grudge toward him. On the 
 contrary they will be among the first and heartiest to congratu- 
 late him Monday night, as he rounds out a half-century of 
 happy married life. Owing to their presence being required at 
 Washington, General Banks, General Butler, and other mem- 
 bers of the Massachusetts delegation in Congress, who have long 
 been associated politically with Governor Trask, will probably 
 be prevented from attending the golden wedding, but the public 
 men of the State will be well represented, and the home friends 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Trask will be there in force, testifying by their 
 presence and their words of their good will, and all wishing that 
 the host and hostess of the evening may still ''live long and 
 prosper."
 
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