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 COMPLIMENTARY 
 
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 CHARLES LARNED 
 MEMORIAL 
 
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 1906 
 
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 LIBRARY 
 
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SOUVENIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHARLES EARNED MEMORIAL 
 
 AND THE 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 ^OXFORD, MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 1906 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 GEO. H. ELLIS Co., PRINTERS, 272 CONGRESS STREET 
 1906 
 
GIFT 
 

 U33ARY 
 SCHOOL 
 
 FOREWORD. 
 
 The prime object of the following pages is to 
 report the dedicatory exercises of the 
 
 CHARLES LAKNED MEMORIAL, 
 
 but its character as a memorial and as a working 
 factor in the individual and social life of the com- 
 munity cannot be fully appreciated without a some- 
 what detailed account of its history and structural 
 features, while the only fitting introduction thereto 
 is a brief sketch of the 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 whose needs called it into being and with which hence- 
 forth it is to be identified. This sketch has been 
 extracted from the Town Report of 1890, which 
 with all other material has been selected and 
 arranged for this brochure, that, as far as limits 
 would permit, it might at least approach complete- 
 ness and symmetry. 
 
 M893542 
 
BENEFACTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 1868. 
 
 HON. IRA M. BARTON, FOUNDER, 
 $1000. 
 
 1876. 
 HON. GEORGE L. DAVIS, 
 
 $500. 
 
 1892. 
 
 GEN. NELSON H. DAVIS, 
 $250. 
 
 1895. 
 
 MRS. MARY S. T. WALLACE, 
 $1993.25. 
 
 1898. 
 JEREMIAH LEARNED, ESQ., 
 
 Residuary Portion of Estate. 
 
 1902. 
 ORRIN F. JOSLIN, ESQ., 
 
 $1000. 
 TOWN OF OXFORD, 
 
 $4500. 
 For Purchase of Present Site. 
 
 1904. 
 
 Miss MATTIE E. SAWTELLE, 
 
 $700. 
 
 HON. RICHARD OLNEY, 
 
 $1000. 
 CHARLES EARNED, ESQ., 
 
 The "Charles Lamed Memorial." 
 
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EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 
 
 1890. 
 
 In the belief that everything contributing to the 
 formation of our own Free Public Library would be 
 of interest, a brief historical sketch of this and 
 kindred enterprises preceding it has been compiled 
 from material kindly furnished by Mr. George F. 
 Daniels. 
 
 PASTOR'S LIBRARY. 
 
 The first collection of books in Oxford, con- 
 stituting a library of perhaps not over ten volumes, 
 was contributed, some as early as 1719, by Paul 
 Dudley, Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, and other 
 gentlemen of Boston and vicinity, well-wishers of 
 the town, for the use of the minister. Several of 
 these volumes were preserved as late as 1840, in 
 the receptacle of the " Social Library," which was 
 formed later. Among them were specimens of 
 costly book-making, ponderous volumes, books of 
 
sermons, commentaries, and prolix treatises on re- 
 ligious subjects. Some volumes are still in exist- 
 ence, two of which contain interesting inscriptions. 
 The first, being a Scripture Commentary printed in 
 London in 1624, was in 1701 the property of Mr. 
 Wadsworth, minister of the First Church in Boston, 
 once President of Harvard College. On the margin 
 of the first leaf is written "For Oxford Library," 
 opposite, on the blank page, "The gift of the 
 Rev'd Mr. Benjamin Wadsworth for the use of 
 the Church or Parish Library of Oxford in the 
 County of Suffolk, 1719." The other is entitled 
 " Hexapla," or Commentary on Romans. On the 
 back of this title-page is written " Roxbury, 3d 
 July, 1736. For the use of the Parish Library in 
 Oxford, New England, the Rev. Mr. Cambel being 
 the present minister. Given by Paul Dudley." 
 There was also a large folio in Latin, being " An 
 Exposition of the Psalms, given by Rev. Dr. Col- 
 man," a volume of Sermons by Samuel Hieron, 
 given by Samuel Taylor of Boston, and one 
 written by William Morice, Esq., given by Paul 
 Dudley.* 
 
 *A receipt of Deacon Samuel Harris, 15 Nov. 1784, indicates that 
 five volumes at least had been in the custody of Rev. Joseph Bowman, 
 and were at that date delivered up to the church; described as "one 
 folio in Latin, an Exposition of the Psalms, and four other small folios 
 in English, being Hieron's Sermons, one written by Samuel Morice, Esq., 
 one a Sixfold Commentary on Romans, and the fourth a Commentary on 
 Proverbs and Psalms." 
 
 (These volumes were finally given to the Free Public Library by the 
 First Congregational Church. See Town Reports for 1890-91.) 
 
SOCIAL LIBRARY 
 
 The second, called the "Social Library/' was 
 established about the time of the Revolutionary 
 War. It was founded through the influence of 
 Josiah Wolcott, Dr. Stephen Barton, Jonathan Davis, 
 and others, and was an important institution of the 
 village during the latter part of the last century. 
 Its early records are lost. It was at first a stock 
 company, and the proceeds of the sales of shares 
 were expended in purchasing books. Donations of 
 books were also made by individuals. Its deposi- 
 tory was, for many years, at the Butler tavern. 
 Later it was removed to the dwelling house of 
 Peter Butler, in whose care it remained until his 
 decease in 1857. A catalogue and list of members, 
 dated 1 March, 1818, gives 113 volumes and 30 
 proprietors. Total cost of books, $254.27.* 
 
 *In 1839 Judge Barton, then of Worcester, presented to the library 
 four large Supplementary Volumes of the British Encyclopaedia with a 
 volume of plates. In his accompanying note addressed to Mr. Peter 
 Butler, he says, " In tendering it to your Association, I shall only make a 
 small but grateful return for the pleasure and benefit derived in the days 
 of my boyhood from their useful library-" 
 
 (These volumes, together with Vol. VIII. of Rollin's Ancient History, 
 passed into the hands of Mrs. John Pratt of Oxford, who gave them 
 to the Free Public Library. See Town Reports for 1890-91.) 
 
 The Catalogue was as follows: British Album, Brown's Elements, 
 Barclay's Apology, Chesterfield Abridged, Clark's Travels, 3 vols., 
 Campbell's Narrative, Dean's Husbandry, Dialogue of Devils, Domes- 
 tic Encyclopaedia, 5 vols., Domestic Cookery. Encyclopaedia, 18 vols., 
 Franklin's Works, Female Biography, Goldsmith's Works, 6 vols., 
 Grandpre's Voyage, Holmes' Sketches, 2 vols., The Hive, Herriot's 
 Travels, Heathen Gods, Indian Wars, Locke on the Understanding, 2 
 vols., Life of Washington, 5 vols., Paradise Lost, Memoir of Cumber- 
 land, Modern Europe, Prideaux' History of the Bible, 4 vols., Parent's 
 Friend, Pope's Works, 4 vols., Parke's Travels, Porteus' Evidences of 
 Christian Religion, Relly's Works, 2 vols., Rights of Women, Rambler, 
 4 vols., Rollin's Ancient History, 8 vols., Robertson's America, 2 vols., 
 Seneca's Morals, Self Knowledge, Shakespeare, 6 vols., Spectator, 8 vols., 
 The Task, Thomson's Seasons, Telemachus, 2 vols., Thinks I to Myself, 
 
 9 
 
It is known that in 1841 some shareholders drew 
 out their proportion of books permanently, but not 
 nearly all did so ; and on 7 March, 1859, the 
 balance of the collection was sold at auction to Mr. 
 Daniel Rich for $8.55, and the books were scat- 
 tered in all directions. 
 
 SOCIETY LIBRARY. 
 
 In January, 1792, the Congregational Church 
 voted an appropriation of 30 from the Hagburn 
 fund toward a new library. Mr. Dudley seems to 
 have been the prime mover in this matter, and with 
 Captain Elisha Davis, Deacon John Dana, and 
 Captain Ebenezer Humphrey was deputed to buy 
 books. The record recites : " The following are 
 the conditions on which the church agrees to lay 
 out money ... in junction with other gentlemen 
 subscribers in the town." The following, outside 
 the church, paid each 15 shillings and were mem- 
 bers : John Ballard, Jonas Eddy, Lemuel Crane, 
 Anthony Sigourney, Simeon Kingsbury, Ebenezer 
 Shumway, Jr., Jesse Stone of Ward, Allen Han- 
 cock, Amos Shumway, Jr., Joseph Hurd, Daniel 
 Kingsbury, Ambrose Stone, Jr., Sylvanus Town. 
 
 Sigourney sold in 1796 to Elias Pratt. 
 
 Vicar of Wakefield, Views of Religion, Whitney's History of Worcester 
 County, Mr. Williams' Letters, Winchester's Letters. 
 
 The names of the proprietors were as follows: James Butler, Peter 
 Butler, Lemuel Crane, Jonathan Davis, Rufus Davis, Abijah Davis, 
 Nehemiah Davis, Stephen Davis, Jonathan Davis, Jr., William T. Fisk, 
 Asa Harris, Samuel Harris, Jonas Hartwell, Bradford Hudson, Jeremiah 
 Kingsbury, Samuel Kingsbury, Stephen Kingsbury, Sylvanus Learned, 
 Abisha Learned, William Lamson, John Mayo, Richard Moore, Thomas 
 Meriam, Jotham Meriam, John Pratt, John Putnam, Amos Rich, Joseph 
 Stone, William Sigourney, Samuel Ward. 
 
 10 
 
Iii February, 1792, books to the value of 27 
 14s. were bought, and the library was soon opened. 
 According to the by-laws, the pastor, Mr. Dudley, 
 was librarian, acting efficiently while he remained 
 in town.* 
 
 The library opened with about 80 volumes. 
 Later, from time to time, additions were made by 
 gift and purchase, so that the aggregate was prob- 
 ably nearly or quite 150 volumes. It is no slight 
 compliment to the intelligence, character, and good 
 taste of the members of the church and this associ- 
 ation that, as the records testify, these solid vol- 
 umes were, for many years, extensively circulated 
 and read throughout the town. 
 
 A prudential committee of five was chosen annu- 
 ally to manage the general affairs of the institution, 
 and for the first twenty years the following consti- 
 tuted this committee : Ebenezer Learned, Elisha 
 Davis, Samuel Harris, Samuel Crane, John Ballard, 
 
 *The titles of works first purchased were: Gibbon's Abridgment, 2 
 vols., Robertson's America, 2 vols., Guthrie's Grammar, Morse's Gram- 
 mar, Dodd's Thoughts, Fordyce's Sermons, Paley's Philosophy, Citi- 
 zen of the World, 2 vols., Blackstone's Commentaries, 4 vols., Web- 
 ster's Essay, Paradise Lost, Night Thoughts, Beattie's Evidences, 
 Beattie's Moral Science, Stackhouse's History of the Bible, 6 vols., The 
 Task, Edwards on the Will, Jennyn's View, Mason's Self Knowledge, 
 Watts' Death and Heaven, Ramsay's History, Doddridge's Rise and 
 Progress, Child's Friend, 2 vols., Minot's Insurrections, Keats' Pelew 
 Islands, Vicar of Wakefield, Edwards on Sin, Edwards on Redemption, 
 Gardiner's Life, Blair's Sermons, 2 vols., Boston's Distinguished Char- 
 acters, Edwards on the Affections, Edwards against Chauncey, The 
 Spectator, 8 vols., Doddridge's Sermons, Christian Theology, Pilgrim's 
 Progress, Martin's Grammar, Newton on the Prophecies, 2 vols., Seneca's 
 Morals, Hopkins on Holiness, Edwards on Virtue, American Preacher, 
 3 vols., Butler's Analogy, Price's Dissertations, Hervey's Meditations, 
 Bigelow's Tour, 2 vols., Millot's Elements, 5 vols., Locke's Essay, 2 vols., 
 Ferguson's Astronomy. 
 
 (The remnant of this library was given to the Free Public Library by 
 the First Congregational Church. See Town Reports for 1890-91.) 
 
 11 
 
Ebenezer Humphrey, Joseph Hurd, Joshua Turner, 
 John Dana. 
 
 On Mr. Dudley's removal in 1799, Jonathan 
 Harris was chosen librarian, and continued until 
 January, 1806, when Rev. J. Moulton became ex- 
 officio the custodian. He only retained it till April, 
 when Col. Sylvanus Town was elected, serving until 
 the settlement of Mr. Batcheller in 1816, who 
 assumed charge. He died October, 1822 ; and Jan- 
 uary, 1823, Calvin Perry was librarian, at which 
 time interest had much declined. In January, 
 1825, the church voted sixty dollars to replenish 
 the collection, and Seth Daniels was chosen libra- 
 rian. About this time the name was changed from 
 " Society Library " to " Second Social Library." 
 Among the important additions at this time were 
 Scott's Bible, 6 volumes, Rollin's History in sev- 
 eral volumes, Silliman's Travels, 3 volumes, Mas- 
 sillon's Sermons, Kimpton's History of the Bible. 
 
 In July, 1831, the books were removed to the 
 custody of John Wetherell, where they continued 
 two or three years at least, and later, a proposition 
 being made for a removal to the new meeting- 
 house, as being more central, they were taken to 
 the vestibule of the gallery, where they remained 
 until the removal of the house to its present loca- 
 tion, when they were put in the basement, where 
 they have since remained. 
 
 After the removal of the library to the church, 
 having no responsible custodian, it was but little 
 used ; and, being in a public place, many volumes 
 disappeared, so that at present only about twenty- 
 
 12 
 
five remain. The case is now used by the Sunday 
 School.* 
 
 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 
 
 This was an organization of the young people, 
 numbering fifty or more, formed in 1856. While 
 its ultimate object was to establish a library, it 
 first took the form of a reading club, meeting at 
 private houses once in two weeks. Conducted by 
 its members, there was a literary paper called the 
 Evening Star. An effort was made to raise funds 
 by lectures, but was relinquished. In December a 
 dramatic entertainment was given at Sanford's Hall, 
 which put more than fifty dollars into the treasury, 
 which with membership fees, fines, etc., enabled the 
 Society in December, 1857, to buy 84 volumes and 
 a case, and a library was opened under the name of 
 the "Association Library." The public were given 
 the privileges of it by the payment of one dollar 
 per annum for each person. The number of books 
 was increased by donations and purchase until it 
 reached about 150 volumes, and the selection was 
 good. Issachar Shumway was first librarian. 
 Changes were made in this office every three 
 months. The books were kept for a time at the 
 office, formerly Dr. Nichols', near the present Dr. 
 Cushman house, since removed to Barton Street. 
 
 *Some of the entries on the records of fines are quite suggestive of 
 the olden times, as when Mr. Lemuel Crane "greased Blackstone"; 
 Peter Shumway " dropped tallow on the American Preacher " ; Silas Eddy 
 " dropped tallow on and burnt Stackhouse " ; John Dana, " a drop of the 
 candle on book " ; Amos Shumway " blurred (snuff) Josephus." Fines for 
 tallow drops were common. 
 
 13 
 
In January, I860, the interest in the Society had 
 fallen off. In February, meetings were suspended 
 and a committee chosen to care for the Library, 
 funds, etc. In November, meetings were, by vote, 
 discontinued. 
 
 The Library was removed to the store of B. W. 
 Childs, one of the committee, and remained there 
 for several years ; and later the books were trans- 
 ferred to the Free Public Library. 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL. 
 
 The High School was opened in 1856. A year 
 or two later a small library had been gathered for 
 its use, chiefly by private contributions. In May, 
 1859, with a view to concentrate forces, the High 
 School voted to incorporate its library with that of 
 the Library Association, then in a flourishing con- 
 dition. The books continued in the care of the 
 Association for two years; and in May, 1861, at 
 the closing up of its affairs, it was unanimously 
 agreed to return to the school the volumes received, 
 and also a case in which the whole had been kept, 
 and the school library was re-established in its old 
 position. 
 
 Additions to it have been made from time to 
 time by private contributions, purchases from the 
 proceeds of entertainments, etc., and the collection 
 now numbers about 250 volumes,* and is consid- 
 ered a valuable adjunct to the educational appli- 
 ances of the school. 
 
 * Since increased to upwards of 1500, 
 14 
 
FARMERS' LIBRARY. 
 
 The Oxford Agricultural Library Association was 
 formed July 25, 1859. The town had been can- 
 vassed by an agent of certain book publishers, and 
 sixty-eight shares at three dollars each were sold. 
 A constitution and by-laws were adopted, and a 
 library of 148 volumes, costing $225, was estab- 
 lished. George Hodges, Jr., was first president, 
 and William E. Pease treasurer and librarian, con- 
 tinuing from first to last. The books were kept at 
 the post-office, and for a few years were read ; but, 
 as few additions were made, interest declined, and 
 on August 15, 1870, the collection was by unani- 
 mous vote given to the town to be incorporated in 
 the Public Library. 
 
 SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 
 
 As early as 1841, school libraries were being 
 printed and established in Massachusetts under the 
 sanction of the Board of Education. The plan con- 
 templated one hundred volumes, at a cost of $57. 
 At this date thirty-seven volumes had been issued, 
 and such a library was projected in District No. 7, 
 North Gore, when $23.55 was raised by subscrip- 
 tion and paid March 17, 1842. By-laws were 
 adopted, officers chosen, and the library opened. 
 In 1843 it became the property of the district. 
 George W. Hartwell was chosen librarian, and the 
 books were kept at his house. 
 
 15 
 
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 
 
 By such enterprises, modest in their aims and 
 pretensions, but suited to the wants of the times 
 and communities in which they found birth, the 
 way and no inconsiderable material were prepared 
 for the Free Public Library. It owes its origin to 
 the kindly regard and generous impulses of a dis- 
 tinguished son of the town, Hon. Ira M. Barton. 
 Bearing in mind the benefits he, in his youth, re- 
 ceived from a similar source, and the appreciation 
 in which he had been held by the people, he gave 
 in his wiU the sum of one thousand dollars towards 
 establishing a Free Public Library.* 
 
 This gift was formally accepted by the town in 
 April, 1868. In November, 1869, on the report of 
 a committee appointed in April previous to consider 
 the subject, it was voted to organize a town library 
 under the provisions of the State laws. In April, 
 1870, it was voted to appropriate an ante-room of 
 the High School house to its use, and a committee 
 was chosen to fit up the same, purchase books, and 
 provide for putting the library in operation, the ex- 
 pense of which was to be paid from the Barton 
 Fund. The money refunded from the dog tax was 
 appropriated to the library, in accordance with 
 Chapter 250 of the Acts of 1869. In the autumn 
 of 1870 the library was opened. In April, 1871, 
 Charles A. Angell, George F. Daniels, and E. Har- 
 
 * Judge Barton's will, dated 1 June, 1867, contained the following: 
 "One thousand dollars to the inhabitants of the Town of Oxford, my 
 native place, towards establishing a Free Public Library in that town, as 
 an inadequate return for the kindness and patronage of their fathers in 
 my early professional life." 
 
 16 
 
ris Howland were chosen a committee with the 
 power to employ a librarian and to make by-laws. 
 In 1874 the books, then numbering 1700, were 
 removed to their present location in the Town Hall. 
 The town has, since the beginning, with the ex- 
 ception of one or two years, voted to it the dog tax 
 fund, which, besides paying current expenses, has 
 increased the number of volumes to upwards of 
 4000.* 
 
 REFERENCE LIBRARY. 
 
 A most valuable feature of the Free Public Li- 
 brary is its Reference Department. It is rich in 
 general works, art and other illustrated books, too 
 cumbersome or too costly for the circulating depart- 
 ment, but indispensable for occasional use. For this 
 the town is indebted to the liberality of Hon. George 
 L. Davis of North Andover, who, alive to the im- 
 portance of public records and of proper indexes to 
 make them available, in the spring of 1876 proposed 
 to present to the town $500 for the benefit of its 
 library, on condition that it would cause its earlier 
 records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths to be copied 
 and indexed. In April of the same year this offer 
 was accepted, and the proposed work completed 
 during the following summer. 
 
 The number of volumes in this department is 
 about 450.1 
 
 In addition to the Circulating and Reference De- 
 
 * NOW 8000. 
 tNow 1200. 
 
 17 
 
partments, the Reading Table is constantly supplied 
 with the following : 
 
 Periodicals.* 
 
 MONTHLY. 
 
 North American Review. Forum. 
 
 Harper's Magazine. Century. 
 
 Scribner's. St. Nicholas. 
 
 Cassell's Magazine of Art. Literary News. 
 
 Traveler's Record. Manifesto. 
 
 WEEKLY. 
 
 Illustrated London News. American Notes and 
 
 Harper's Bazar. Queries. 
 
 Youths Companion. The Open Court. 
 
 London Graphic. West Shore. 
 
 *This list revised and brought up to date includes the following : 
 
 QUARTERLY. 
 
 The Forum. 
 MONTHLY 
 
 The Atlantic. The North American Review. 
 
 The Century. The Outing Magazine. 
 
 The Cosmopolitan. The Outlook. 
 
 Country Life in America. Public Libraries. 
 
 Everybody's Magazine. The American Review of Reviews. 
 
 Good Housekeeping. The School Arts Book. 
 
 Harper's Bazar. Scribner's Magazine. 
 
 Harper's Magazine. Success Magazine. 
 
 Masters in Art. The Technical World. 
 
 McClure's Magazine. The Protectionist. 
 
 Munsey's Magazine. The Worcester Magazine. 
 
 New England Magazine. The World's Work. 
 
 WEEKLY. JUVENILE. 
 
 Frank Leslie's. The American Boy. 
 
 Harper's Weekly. Our Dumb Animals. 
 
 The Illustrated London News. St. Nicholas. 
 
 The Webster Times. The Youth's Companion. 
 The Woman's Journal. 
 
 18 
 
With numerous occasional periodicals and other 
 matter of current interest. 
 
 The rapid increase and growing appreciation of 
 the Free Public Library are constantly impressing 
 its larger demands and suggesting new devices for 
 its improvement, and we cannot close this brief 
 sketch more fittingly than by quoting from the 
 Committee's last report the concluding paragraphs : 
 
 Provision for the future is a work requiring the 
 co-operation of present and succeeding committees ; 
 of town authorities and their constituents ; of all 
 those who or whose ancestors have called Oxford 
 their home ; of public men who in the councils of 
 state or nation have the disposal of public docu- 
 ments ; of the wealthy and public-spirited, whether 
 living or dying, and especially of our citizens, rich 
 and poor alike, who by the exercise of generosity 
 and self-denial can contribute an occasional book, 
 picture or other object of interest, and, so, adding to 
 the general aggregate, can engender and foster a 
 feeling of individual proprietorship more helpful 
 than wealth and its purchases. 
 
 In conclusion, it is proper to suggest another 
 problem whose solution will fall to the not distant 
 future, " What provision shall be made for this pro- 
 tege of the town when it has outgrown its present 
 quarters ? " The good fortune of such towns as Con- 
 cord, Quincy, Lincoln, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and a 
 host of others whose public library buildings are at 
 once a just cause of local pride and an honor to 
 New England civilization, suggest the hope that 
 some public-spirited benefactor may find immor- 
 tality by linking his name to a modest architectural 
 pile in which the Oxford Free Public Library may 
 find its permanent home. 
 
 19 
 
Ten years later this " Public-spirited Benefactor " 
 whom the prophetic vision of a New England Faith 
 dimly descried, appeared in the person of our es- 
 teemed former townsman, and the outcome is set 
 forth in the last report of the Trustees of the 
 Library. 
 
 EXTRACT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 REPORT OF TRUSTEES, 
 1905. 
 
 In our annual report to the town last year, we 
 were privileged to congratulate our fellow-citizens 
 on the near completion of the magnificent new 
 Library Building then in process of construction 
 the princely gift of Mr. CHARLES LARKED of Bos- 
 ton, a native and former resident of the town for 
 the use of the Free Public Library and as a per- 
 petual memorial of his mother. 
 
 Since that report was made, the beautiful build- 
 ing has been finished, the extensive grounds have 
 been graded, and the borders planted with a varie- 
 gated selection of plants and shrubbery. The an- 
 cient elms at the front, the literal groves of great 
 maples at the north and south, the massive edifice 
 in the centre, and the tasteful walks and borders 
 that conveniently span the boundaries, make the 
 grounds, in the season of green leaf and blossom, 
 one of the most charming spots in this or any other 
 village. 
 
 And here we are happy to add one other fact to 
 the above description. By deed of gift, signed, 
 
 20 
 
Ten years later this " Public-spirited Benefactor " 
 whom the prophetic vision of a New England Faith 
 dimly descried, appeared in the person of our es- 
 teemed former townsman, and the outcome is set 
 forth in the last report of the Trustees of the 
 Library. 
 
 EXTRACT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 REPORT OF TRUSTEES, 
 1905. 
 
 In our a^AM^^e^oi^^tl^^iM^town last year, we 
 were privileged to congratulate our fellow-citizens 
 on the near coitiJ3lkti#n'' M 9f the magnificent new 
 Library Building then in process of construction 
 the vjM^^o?W*Qkffi&*&am of Bos- 
 ton, a native and former resident of the town for 
 the use of the Free Public Library and as a per- 
 
 . 
 Since that report was made, the beautiful build- 
 
 ing has been fii^^d fel |ji^ u extensive grounds have 
 been graded, and the borders planted with a varie- 
 gated selec^aept^ia^ ca^4^ ru bbery. The an- 
 cient elms at the front, the literal groves of great 
 maples at the north and south, the massive edifice 
 in the centre, and the tasteful walks and borders 
 that conveniently span the boundaries, make the 
 grounds, in the season of green leaf and blossom, 
 one of the most charming spots in this or any other 
 village. 
 
 And here we are happy to add one other fact to 
 the above description. By deed of gift, signed, 
 
 20 
 
sealed, and publicly delivered, all this has become 
 the property of the town, and the town has entered 
 into possession. Here, for all time, will be the 
 home of the OXFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. Our 
 limit is now about 8000 volumes. The building is 
 planned to accommodate 40,000, so that we may 
 safely say its conveniences will be ample for a hun- 
 dred years to come, or so long as its massive walls 
 shall withstand the dangers of fire and flood, or the 
 slower disintegration of the elements. 
 
 It was in the spring of 1900, at the annual April 
 meeting, that the purpose of Mr. Lamed to donate 
 a large sum toward a new library building was first 
 made known to the town. The Library had out- 
 grown its quarters in the rooms aUotted to it in 
 Memorial Hall, and its cramped and crowded condi- 
 tion had become a matter of serious consideration 
 by the officials in charge and by the great public 
 who availed themselves of its advantages. A read- 
 justment of partitions to give more room would dis- 
 commode other departments occupying the lower 
 floor of the town building, and would be an expen- 
 sive and, in the growing condition of the library, 
 but a temporary remedy. The proposal of Mr. 
 Larned, coming in this opportune time, was a prac- 
 tical solution of the difficult problem. The town 
 accepted his generous offer with thanks, and chose 
 a committee acceptable to Mr. Larned to select and 
 purchase a site and to superintend the erection of 
 the contemplated library building. 
 
 There was a delay of two years, during which a 
 site was selected, plans procured, the contract given 
 
 21 
 
out, and everything made ready for the commence- 
 ment of the work. It was at this stage that Mr. 
 Lamed assumed the whole financial responsibility. 
 In the spring of 1903 ground was broken, the 
 foundations put in, and during the season the work 
 progressed toward completion. May 20 the corner 
 stone was laid by the Most Worshipful Masonic 
 Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, under the escort of 
 the local Lodge. It was a magnificent ceremony, 
 and the occasion was made a holiday in the town. 
 In the winter and spring of 1904 the carpenters had 
 finished their work, the elegant furniture was put in, 
 the stack-rooms and book-shelves arranged, and, 
 when all things were ready, the library was moved 
 into its new home. On the 16th of July the doors 
 were first opened to the public and the first books 
 issued from the new quarters. The building had 
 not then been given over to the town, and its early 
 occupancy was therefore through the courtesy of 
 the Building Committee. 
 
 But the 5th of October, 1904, was the great day 
 in the history of the Library, when the title of this 
 splendid property passed into the possession of the 
 town, and the buildings and grounds dedicated by 
 imposing ceremonials to the uses and purposes of the 
 OXFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY forever. These 
 formalities took place in Memorial Hall, after an 
 inspection of the new building and grounds by all 
 who were interested. The house was packed with 
 an audience composed of home-comers, former citi- 
 zens, interested visitors, and our own people. Upon 
 the platform were seated the town officers, the 
 
speakers, and the especial guests of the occasion, 
 among whom was Mr. CHARLES LARNED, the ob- 
 served of all observers as the generous giver of 
 the building we were dedicating. The exercises, in 
 brief, were as follows : 
 
 INVOCATION Eev. I. A. Mesler 
 
 VOCAL Music Double Quartet. 
 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL, Esq., Chairman of the Building Commit- 
 tee, presided, who, after an appropriate introductory 
 address, called on the following gentlemen for brief 
 responses : 
 
 EDMUND M. BARTON, Librarian of the American Anti- 
 quarian Society and son of Hon. Ira M. Barton, the 
 Founder of the Library. 
 SAMUEL S. GREEN, Librarian of the Free Public Library 
 
 of Worcester. 
 
 Hon. DAVID I. ROBINSON, President of the Robinson 
 Family Genealogical and Historical Association. 
 
 VOCAL Music Oxford Male Quartet. 
 
 DELIVERY OF DEED AND KEYS to Town Authorities and 
 
 transfer to Trustees of Library. 
 DEDICATORY PRAYER .... Rev. Charles M. Carpenter 
 
 ADDRESS, 
 Hon. CARROLL D. WRIGHT, President of Clark College, 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 SINGING, " AMERICA " . . The Audience, led by Quartet. 
 BENEDICTION Rev. Albert Tyler 
 
 The steps which have led to this consummation 
 were as follows : 
 
 At the Annual Town Meeting held on the 2 April, 
 1900, under Article 13, "To see if the town will 
 designate a Committee to confer with Mr. Charles 
 Larned, of Boston, in relation to a proposed gift to 
 
 23 
 
the town," the following letter was read by Mr. 
 John E. Kimball : - 
 
 EOOM 1025, TREMONT BUILDING, BOSTON, MASS., 
 
 February 15, 1900. 
 
 To THE VOTERS OF OXFORD : 
 
 Gentlemen, It has been my desire, for many 
 years, to do something in a substantial way for my 
 native town where my parents lived and where their 
 mortal remains repose. 
 
 If this desire is ever realized, it is important, not 
 to say essential, that it should be, not only with the 
 approval, but with the hearty co-operation, of the 
 residents of the town. 
 
 My plan contemplates the erection of a building 
 for the Free Public Library, which shall be a 
 memorial to my mother. In designating the Free 
 Public Library, I assume that there is no other insti- 
 tution in the town the promotion of whose interest 
 would so enlist the sympathies of all the people. 
 Also, aside from the promptings of filial gratitude, 
 it seems to me not unfitting that we keep in remem- 
 brance those who, though best known in the 
 domestic circle, trace their lineage to such Makers 
 of New England as Rev. John Robinson, of Leyden. 
 
 I, therefore, respectfully suggest that, if deemed 
 expedient, you provide for the selection of a Com- 
 mittee to confer with me at Boston in relation to 
 the details of the project. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 CHARLES LARNED. 
 
 In accepting the proposition, it was unanimously 
 
 Resolved, That the voters of Oxford heartily re- 
 spond to the suggestion of Mr. Charles Lamed, of 
 Boston, and in pursuance thereof designate as a 
 
 24 
 
Committee for conference Messrs. Walter D. Tyler, 
 Franklin G. Daniels, and Alfred M. Chaffee. 
 
 Resolved, That this Committee is instructed to 
 communicate with Mr. Lamed without delay, and 
 hold itself in readiness to wait upon him at such 
 time and place as he may indicate. 
 
 Resolved, That the result of this conference, the 
 expenses of which shall be borne by the town, 
 should be embodied in a written report to be sub- 
 mitted at a special meeting called by the Selectmen, 
 as early as possible. 
 
 This special meeting was called for the evening 
 of 29 May, 1900, at which the Committee made the 
 following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the Town of 
 Oxford at their annual meeting held April 2d, 
 1900, to confer with Mr. Charles Larned, of Boston, 
 Mass., in relation to a proposed gift to the town, 
 have completed their labors and offer the following 
 report : 
 
 The Committee waited upon Mr. Larned at his 
 office in Boston on April 7th, and received the fol- 
 lowing proposition from him, viz. : 
 
 Mr. Larned wishes to cause to be erected in Oxford 
 as a memorial to his mother a Free Public Library. 
 Building upon the following conditions : 
 
 The building shall be used as a Free Public 
 Library Building for all time, and to be always 
 known as the " Charles Larned Memorial." 
 
 The cost of the building to be borne two-thirds 
 by Mr. Larned and one-third by the town, and the 
 cost to be from $15,000 to $18,000, exclusive of 
 site, 
 
 25 
 
The location to be central, with ample grounds, 
 and the building to be set back from the street and 
 the site to be acceptable to Mr. Lamed, but to be 
 provided by the town. 
 
 The building to be of brick or stone, and to be 
 constructed in good workmanlike manner. 
 
 Your Committee, having talked with Mr. Lamed 
 concerning the best method of carrying out his 
 ideas, offer, as a part of this report, the following 
 resolution, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the town accept the proposition 
 of Mr. Larned, and that a committee of three citi- 
 zens of Oxford, consisting of John E. Kimball, 
 Orrin F. Joslin, and Alfred M. Chaffee, be hereby 
 appointed a Building Committee. 
 
 It shall be the duty of this Committee to consider 
 all practical locations for the building, to ascertain 
 the cost of each and Mr. Larned' s choice in the 
 matter, and to report to the town at a special meet- 
 ing to be called for that purpose, with their recom- 
 mendations on the subject. 
 
 It shall be the duty of this Committee to attend 
 to the erection of the building and all other matters 
 appertaining to the subject. 
 
 WALTER D. TYLER, 1 
 
 ALFRED M. CHAFFEE, > Committee. 
 
 FRANKLIN G. DANIELS, J 
 
 Approved. CHARLES LARNED. 
 
 In the acceptance of this report it was voted to 
 adopt the resolution incorporated therein, and that 
 the Committee chosen report at an adjournment of 
 this meeting to be held June 30 at 7.30 P.M. 
 
 A Committee of three, consisting of C.I. Rawson, 
 C. S. Lyman, and H. A. Larned, was appointed by 
 the Chair to wait upon Mr. 0. F. Joslin, who had 
 
expressed his willingness to give a site for the 
 building, for which a vote of thanks was passed at 
 the adjourned meeting held on the 30 June, 1900. 
 
 In accordance with the above action the ad- 
 journed meeting was held at the date specified, and, 
 the report of the Building Committee on a site for 
 the Charles Lamed Memorial being called for, it 
 was presented by the Chairman as follows : 
 
 To THE VOTERS OF OXFORD : 
 
 In pursuance of instructions coupled with the ap- 
 pointment of a Building Committee at the special 
 town meeting held on the 29 May, 1900, a careful 
 and exhaustive examination of available locations 
 for the proposed 
 
 CHARLES LARNED MEMORIAL 
 
 has been made in conjunction with Mr. Lamed in 
 person, and has resulted in reducing the question of 
 selection to a choice between three eligible sites, 
 to wit : the Hyde property, the White property, 
 and the Cushman lot. 
 
 Aside from the essential features of ample space 
 and central location, the considerations which have 
 focussed the attention of your Committee upon 
 these three sites are that all, perhaps in varying 
 degrees, are easily accessible, reasonably quiet, 
 adapted to proper architectural effect, upon the 
 main street, upon the right side of the street, and 
 well shaded. 
 
 The Hyde property, on the north-west corner of 
 Main and Sigourney Streets, presents a frontage of 
 about 180 feet on Main Street by 200 feet on 
 Sigourney Street, and contains a two-story house 
 with ells and barn. The price is $6,500. 
 
 27 
 
The White property, near the C 
 church, consists of two lots, a corner lot with a 
 frontage of 109 feet on Main Street by 200 feet on 
 Church Street, containing a dwelling and barn, also 
 a lot of irregular form opposite the north-east corner 
 of the old cemetery and contiguous to the first, 
 with a frontage of 93 feet on Church Street, run- 
 ning north 133 feet, where it narrows to 40 feet, 
 and containing a tenement house. All this prop- 
 erty can be bought for $3,000 ; or a part of the 
 corner lot, without the buildings, measuring 109 
 feet on Main Street and 109 feet on Church Street, 
 for $1,500, on condition that the barn shall be 
 moved a few feet to the west and made to front the 
 east, at the town's expense. 
 
 The Cushman lot, immediately north of Mrs. 
 Cushman's house, may be described as a parallelo- 
 gram, with the north-east corner 42 feet front by 
 172 feet cut out : this leaves a frontage on Main 
 Street of 88 feet, with a depth westward to the line 
 of the High School lot of nearly 450 feet, and ap- 
 proaching within about 75 feet of Barton Street. 
 The lot can be purchased for $1,200, and will cost 
 the town nothing. 
 
 As other elements than mere eligibility of a site 
 for library purposes enter into the problem of se- 
 lection, it has seemed to your Committee to accord 
 more fully with the spirit of the instructions given 
 not to attempt to pronounce upon the question of 
 cost by recommending unconditionally a specific 
 site, but rather to eliminate non-essential features, 
 and so reduce the problem to manageable propor- 
 tions, and thus hand it over to the voters in the 
 compact form which it now bears. 
 
 The considerations pro and con touching each 
 of the above-named locations have been carefully 
 canvassed by the Committee, but it has been 
 
thought best not to encumber this report by setting 
 them forth in detail. 
 
 In view of the fact, however, that we are called 
 upon to act, not for ourselves alone, but for genera- 
 tions yet unborn, and that probably no local ques- 
 tion during all the years of the century now closing 
 so vitally concerns the mental and moral well-being 
 of the young people of Oxford, present and future, 
 and while not unmindful of the limitations of our 
 prerogatives as a committee appointed for a special 
 purpose, it may not be improper to suggest that, as 
 we have enjoyed and are now enjoying the bounty 
 of a long line of liberal benefactors in the past, it 
 becomes us, who are but temporary custodians of 
 the welfare of others, to plan generously and well 
 for the future Oxford in which we of to-day can be 
 at best only a memory. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL. ) r> - 7 ? 
 OBRIN F. JOSLIN, \Buildmg 
 ALFRED M. CHAFFBB, j Com ttee - 
 OXFOKD, MASS., 30 June, 1900. 
 
 A motion was then made by Mr. Lawrence F. 
 Kilty, that " we reconsider the vote whereby we 
 voted to accept the proposition offered by Mr. C. 
 Lamed, at a previous session of this meeting." 
 Carried by a vote of 76 to 28, whereupon it was 
 voted to lay the report of the Building Committee 
 on the table. 
 
 Mr. Lamed having in private generously inti- 
 mated his willingness to allow his proposition of 
 April, 1900, to remain open for action another year, 
 which intimation was reaffirmed by a letter to the 
 Committee dated at Cocoanut Grove, Fla., March 
 
14, 1901, at the annual meeting held 1 April, 
 1901, the subject reappeared in Article 16 of the 
 Warrant, " To see if the town will accept the 
 propositions of Mr. Charles Larned and Mr. Orrin 
 F. Joslin in relation to a Free Public Library Build- 
 ing, and raise and appropriate money therefor, as 
 petitioned for by John E. Kimball, Alfred M. 
 Chaffee, and Orrin F. Joslin, or act thereon." 
 
 Mr. Joslin's proposition is embodied in the fol- 
 lowing memorandum : 
 
 I propose to convey to the Town of Oxford by 
 warranty deed all that portion of the present 
 Cushman lot lying north of a line from a point on 
 the Highway about 88 feet south of the Newton 
 line, running westerly about 450 feet to the Barber 
 line and including the section to the south and west 
 of the Newton Estate, about 42 x 272 feet, upon the 
 following conditions, viz. : 
 
 The gift shall be held and occupied in perpetuity 
 for a Free Public Library Building, or, if not all 
 required for such building, the residue for a Free 
 Public School Building. In case the Town prefers 
 for such purpose some other site, I will give in lieu 
 of the Cushman lot the sum of ($1,000) One Thou- 
 sand Dollars. 
 
 ORRIN F. JOSLIN. 
 
 OXFORD, March 30, 1901. 
 
 It was voted to accept the propositions of Mr. 
 Charles Larned and Mr. Orrin F. Joslin, and to carry 
 into effect their provisions. The same Building 
 Committee was appointed, and the sum of $500 was 
 raised and appropriated for their expenses. 
 
 A special meeting of the voters was called for the 
 
 30 
 
evening of 18 May, 1901, at which the following 
 report was read and accepted : 
 
 Your Committee, having discharged its duties, 
 submit the following report : 
 
 The Cushman Lot, about 88 feet front on Main 
 Street and running back to the High School lot 
 \y% acres, will cost the town absolutely nothing. 
 
 The Cushman Farm, including the whole of the 
 Cushman property, house and barn, between Mrs. 
 Newton's and Mrs. Wheelock's, will cost the town 
 $4,000. 
 
 The Morgan Corner, including it and the Chaffee 
 property, two houses and one barn, will cost the 
 town $4,900. 
 
 The Hyde Lot, house and barn, will cost the 
 town $4,500. 
 
 The White Lot, north of the Congregational 
 church, two houses and one barn, wih 1 cost the town 
 $2,000. > 
 
 The Sigourney Lot, 85 x 145 feet, opposite Town 
 Hall, house and barn, will cost the town $3,000. 
 
 0. F. JOSLIN. 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL. 
 A. M. CHAFFEE. 
 
 From these the Hyde lot was selected by the 
 following baUot : 
 
 Whole number of votes cast, 152. 
 Blank 
 
 Sigourney Lot 1 
 White Lot 
 Cushman Farm 
 Cushman Lot 32 
 Morgan Lot 33 
 
 Hyde Lot 79 
 
 31 
 
and the Building Committee was authorized to 
 make the purchase. 
 
 It was then voted to sell the buildings, also to sell 
 80 feet of land fronting Sigourney Street, with the 
 house and barn. 
 
 At a special meeting called for the evening of 
 17 September, 1901, after a nearly unanimous vote 
 refusing to borrow and appropriate the sum of 
 $4,500 for the purchase of the aforesaid Hyde lot 
 it was 
 
 Voted, " To annul and revoke all acts and votes 
 heretofore taken relative to a new building and site 
 for a Library." 
 
 The way was thus cleared for history to repeat 
 itself, and accordingly the Warrant for the next 
 Annual Town Meeting held on the 7 April, 1902, 
 contained such Articles as the f oUowing : 
 
 Article 12. To hear the report of the Library 
 Building Committee and act thereon. 
 
 Article 13. To see what action the town will 
 take in regard to the gifts of Mr. Charles Larned 
 and Mr. Orrin F. Joslin for a Free Public Library. 
 
 Article 14. To raise and appropriate a sum of 
 money not exceeding Fifty-seven Hundred Dollars 
 ( $5700) to pay for the Hyde Lot as purchased by 
 the Building Committee, as authorized by vote of 
 the town at a Special Town Meeting held May 18, 
 1901. 
 
 Article 15. To raise and appropriate the sum of 
 Eighteen Hundred Dollars ($1800) to build a Free 
 Public Library, or act thereon etc. 
 
 32 
 
The outcome was a new departure in the passage 
 of two motions, both by Mr. Edwin Bartlett : 
 
 That the School Committee act in conjunction 
 with the old Library Committee (sic), and confer 
 with Mr. Charles Larned in relation to a Library 
 and High School Building combined, and report at 
 a special meeting to be called as soon as possible. 
 
 also 
 
 To authorize the Library Committee, J. E. Kimball, 
 0. F. Joslin, A. M. Chaffee, and the School Commit- 
 tee, acting jointly, to propose to Mr. Larned to allow 
 his gift of $12,000 and accrued interest to be used 
 in building a Union Building to contain a library 
 and the high school, costing not to exceed $28,000. 
 
 At the special meeting called for the evening of 
 6 May, 1902, "to hear the report of the joint 
 Committee in regard to a Union Building to accom- 
 modate a High School and a Library," the report was 
 as f oUows : 
 
 OXFORD, MASS., May 6, 1902. 
 
 Your joint Committee appointed at our last Annual 
 Town Meeting to confer with Mr. Charles Larned 
 in regard to using his gift and accrued interest in 
 the construction of a Union Building to accommo- 
 date a Library and High School, having discharged 
 its duty, submit the following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 On Saturday, April 12, Edwin N. Bartlett, 
 David Glass, 0. F. Joslin, and A. M. Chaffee, went to 
 Boston on the 8.58 train from Worcester, going 
 direct to the office of Mr. Larned. 
 
 After a careful consideration of the subject Mr. 
 
 33 
 
Lamed signified his willingness to write a letter 
 setting forth his views, which letter reads as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 BOSTON, MASS., April 15, 1902. 
 
 Mr. A. M. CHAFFEE, 
 
 Oxford, Mass. 
 
 Dear Sir, Replying to your request that I write 
 you a letter defining my position on a proposed 
 building for library and school combined, I beg 
 leave to say that a combination building for library 
 and school for the town of Oxford has to my mind 
 many serious objections ; but, should the voters of 
 Oxford decide that a combination building is what 
 they want, my offer of $12,000, with interest 
 thereon, I am willing should be used as part payment 
 for such a building, which you tell me may cost 
 about $28,000. 
 
 The Building Committee to remain as named in 
 my original proposition. 
 
 Trusting that herein I have covered all the points 
 of your inquiry, I remain, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 CHARLES LARNED. 
 
 On Monday, April 14th, your joint Committee met 
 at the residence of Mr. 0. F. Joslin to discuss the 
 matter, and after careful consideration of the subject 
 it was decided that your Committee make no recom- 
 mendations, but desire that the voters should carefully 
 consider the propositions and decide the question as 
 it seems in their wisdom best. 
 
 On April 18th your Committee received a further 
 communication from Mr. Lamed, as follows : 
 
 34 
 
BOSTON, MASS., April 18, 1902. 
 Mr. A. M. CHAFFEE, 
 
 Oxford, Mass. 
 
 Dear Sir, You doubtless have my letter of 
 April 15. I would like to say in addition that, 
 should the town vote to build a library building 
 on the Hyde lot and a school building on another 
 lot, I would be pleased to donate $1,000 toward the 
 school building. In that case the town would 
 have full control of erection of school building. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 CHARLES LARNED. 
 
 In conclusion the Committee would recommend 
 that, whatever action the town may take in the 
 premises, that a vote of thanks be passed expressive 
 of their appreciation of Mr. Charles Lamed' s and 
 Mr. 0. F. Joslin's most generous offers. 
 
 All of which is most respectfully submitted, 
 
 0. F. JOSLIN. 
 A. M. CHAFFEE. 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL. 
 DAVID GLASS. 
 JOHNSON R. WOODWARD. 
 EDWIN N. BARTLETT. 
 
 It was voted to accept the report of the joint 
 Committee, including the two letters from Mr. 
 Charles Larned, and that the same be spread upon 
 the records of the town. 
 
 At this meeting it was also voted that the Select- 
 men and Treasurer be directed to borrow a sum not 
 to exceed Fifty-seven Hundred Dollars ($5700) to 
 pay for the Hyde lot, purchased by the Building 
 
 35 
 
Committee, as authorized by vote of the town at a 
 Special Town Meeting held 18 May, 1901. 
 
 Under another article, that they be directed to 
 turn over the license fees for this year to the 
 Library Building Committee. 
 
 (This "tainted money" was subsequently turned 
 back into the treasury.) 
 
 And, finally, "that the town accept the gifts of 
 Mr. Charles Larned and Mr. Orrin F. Joslin in re- 
 lation to a Free Public Library, said gifts, Twelve 
 Thousand Dollars ($12,000), with interest, from 
 Mr. Larned, and One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) 
 from Mr. Joslin, coupled with conditions which 
 they have stated in writing," with a vote of thanks 
 to these gentlemen, with acceptance, thanks, and 
 acknowledgment for Mr. Larned' s gift of One 
 Thousand Dollars ($1,000) for a High School 
 Building. 
 
 In the accepted belief that, despite the contradic- 
 tions of two years' experience the final vote of 
 acceptance meant what it purported to mean, the 
 policy of obstruction seeming to have fairly ex- 
 hausted itself, from this time the enterprise pro- 
 gressed steadily and without interruption to its final 
 accomplishment. Henceforth the Building Com- 
 mittee was left to prosecute its work unmolested, 
 and at the Annual Town Meeting held on 6 April, 
 1903, reported progress as follows : 
 
 Perhaps no report from this Committee is caUed 
 for till our work is done. When that period ar- 
 rives, we hope the work will speak for itself. Con- 
 scious of the fact, however, that the public is deeply 
 
 36 
 
interested, we have deemed it best to report prog- 
 ress coupled with some considerations touching its 
 financial aspect. 
 
 One year ago, as you remember, preliminary 
 sketches by several architects were submitted, which 
 led to the choice of Cutting, Carlton & Cutting of 
 Worcester, who proceeded at once to embody our 
 plan in working drawings. On the completion of 
 plan and specifications the season was too far ad- 
 vanced to justify an attempt to erect the building 
 before winter. The time was improved, however, 
 in devising improvements in the plan, selecting ma- 
 terials, and seeking out the right men. The con- 
 tract was finally, in January, awarded to Kankin & 
 Woodside of Worcester, for the sum of $21,100 
 and the stone and brick on the lot. Meanwhile the 
 buildings and other property had been sold and re- 
 moved, and the site placed in readiness for the 
 builders, who began work about two weeks ago. 
 
 It will be remembered that a printed statement 
 submitted to the town in 1902 represented the 
 " Balance " over and above available funds " needed 
 to complete the library building" to be $1,800, the 
 members of the Building Committee being person- 
 ally pledged to be responsible for any excess in cost 
 over $18,000. 
 
 A letter just received from Mr. Lamed may mod- 
 ify these conditions by relieving the town of the 
 necessity of raising even the $1,800, and placing at 
 our disposal for better and more complete equip- 
 ment the funds already on deposit. 
 
 The letter is as follows : 
 
 EOOM 1025 TKEMONT BUILDING, BOSTON, MASS., 
 
 April 3, 1903. 
 
 To THE VOTERS OF OXFORD : 
 
 Gentlemen, Whereas the town has generously 
 secured and purchased a more expensive and ell- 
 
 37 
 
gible lot for the Free Public Library building than 
 was at first anticipated, said lot being devoted ex- 
 clusively to the library building, and on which said 
 building is now in process of erection, and 
 whereas said library building will, when completed, 
 cost largely in excess of the original sum men- 
 tioned, $18,000, after due consideration I have de- 
 cided, with the consent and approval of the town, 
 to modify my original proposition, to wit : 
 
 To assume and bear the entire expense and cost 
 of the library building up to the sum of Twenty- 
 four Thousand Dollars ($24,000), thereby enabling 
 the town, through the Building Committee, to fur- 
 nish and equip the library in a more liberal manner 
 than they would otherwise feel like doing. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 CHARLES LARNED. 
 
 Perhaps the Building Committee might consider 
 its duty discharged when the building was com- 
 pleted, and leave the matter of equipment and 
 adornment of grounds to other hands; but the 
 comprehensive plan upon which we have labored 
 covers every detail inside and outside the building, 
 all of which should be harmoniously wrought out, 
 and it would be more in accordance with the fitness 
 of things, not to say our own views, to turn over 
 the property finished, equipped, and ready for use. 
 
 Therefore, we submit the following recommenda- 
 tions : 
 
 I. That the proposition embodied in the accom- 
 panying letter of Mr. Charles Larned be accepted 
 with appropriate acknowledgments. 
 
 II. That the proceeds of the sale of buildings 
 and other property on the library premises be ap- 
 
propriated to the grading and laying out of the 
 grounds. 
 
 III. That all funds in the town treasury or on 
 deposit available for library purposes be turned 
 over to the Building Committee, to be used, or such 
 portion thereof as may be necessary, to properly 
 furnish and equip the new building. 
 
 Building 
 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL, 
 0. F. JOSLIN, 
 A. M. CHAFFEE, 
 
 Committee 
 
 of the 
 Charles Lamed 
 
 f Memorial. 
 
 ,x 
 
 OXFORD, MASS., 6 April, 1903. 
 
 The report was supplemented by the statement 
 that the property on the Hyde lot had been sold for 
 nearly $700, and that the Building Committee this 
 day had voted to refund to the town the $2,250 
 license money set apart for their use on 6 May, 
 1902. 
 
 By a unanimous vote the report of the Building 
 Committee was adopted, and thanks tendered to Mr. 
 Charles Lamed, of Boston, for his generous additional 
 gift, which the Town Clerk was instructed to enter 
 upon the records and communicate to Mr. Larned. 
 
 At the Annual Town Meeting held on 3 April, 
 1905, after the completion and dedication of the 
 building, the following resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted : 
 
 Besolved, That the inhabitants of the Town of 
 Oxford desire to place upon record an expression of 
 their appreciation and gratitude for the munificent 
 gift of the 
 
CHARLES LABNED MEMORIAL 
 
 recently dedicated to the use of the Free Public 
 Library. 
 
 It will stand through the years to come a monu- 
 ment of rare public spirit guided by wisdom and 
 intelligent foresight, while presenting to old and 
 young an ever-abiding object-lesson inspiring loy- 
 alty and filial gratitude and beckoning to higher 
 planes of thought and life. 
 
 While thus voicing the sentiment of every resi- 
 dent of Oxford, coupled with the hope that the gen- 
 erous Donor may long be spared to witness and 
 enjoy the fruits of his noble benefaction, we trust 
 he may find satisfaction and reward in the reflection 
 that such acts are not bounded by the span of a 
 single life, but are self -perpetuating and immortal. 
 
 Resolved, That the claim upon Mr. Charles 
 Larned for $1,000, pledged for a High School 
 Building to forestall the adoption of a plan whose 
 unwisdom is now universally recognized, is hereby 
 voluntarily relinquished. 
 
 40 
 
LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE. 
 
 Excavation having been made and the founda- 
 tions completed, the 20 May, 1903, was designated 
 for the ceremony of Laying the Corner-stone. An 
 invitation had been extended to the Masonic 
 Grand Lodge of Massachusetts to take charge of 
 this ceremonial, whose acceptance and willing ser- 
 vice were highly appreciated by the citizens and 
 invited guests. Weather conditions were most 
 favorable, and when at 2.30 P.M. the representa- 
 tives of the Grand Lodge, consisting of Most 
 Worshipful Grand Master Baalis Sanford and fif- 
 teen associates, escorted by the local lodge and led 
 by the Pulaski Cornet Band of Webster, reached the 
 site of the building, they were welcomed by a con- 
 course whose number and enthusiasm were in keep- 
 ing with the significance of the occasion. 
 
 The exercises were opened by the following 
 hymn sung by the Worcester Masonic Quartet : 
 
 Great Architect of earth and heaven, 
 
 By time nor space confined, 
 Enlarge our love to comprehend 
 
 Our brethren, all mankind. 
 
 Where'er we are, whate'er we do, 
 
 Thy presence let us own ; 
 Thine eye, all-seeing, marks our deeds, 
 
 To Thee all thoughts are known, 
 
 41 
 
While Nature's works and Science's laws 
 
 We labor to reveal, 
 Oh! be our duty done to Thee 
 
 With fervency and zeal. 
 
 With FAITH our guide, and humble HOPE, 
 
 Warm CHARITY and LOVE, 
 May all, at last, be raised to share 
 
 Thy perfect light above. 
 
 The formal request for the service of the order 
 was extended by the Chairman of the Building 
 Committee in these words : 
 
 Most Worshipful Grand Master, Guests and 
 Friends : 
 
 A former resident of this historic town, actuated 
 by a sentiment of filial gratitude and regard for the 
 well-being of the people of his early home, is erect- 
 ing upon this spot a permanent abode for an insti- 
 tution which is typical of New England community 
 life in the twentieth century. 
 
 It means much to us, it is even more significant 
 to the nation, the corner-stone of whose fabric rests 
 upon the intelligence of the masses and whose insti- 
 tutions open up the avenues of wealth to the private 
 citizen, native and foreign born alike, at the same 
 time prompting the consecration of wealth to no- 
 blest uses. 
 
 We are here to-day publicly to inaugurate the 
 enterprise so auspiciously begun ; and in recognition 
 of your ancient and honorable order, whose tradi- 
 tions are linked with some of the most notable 
 structures of the Old and New Worlds, past and 
 present, we have invited you, sir, and your asso- 
 ciates, as representatives of that order, to come hither 
 and, in the presence of an appreciative public in 
 
 42 
 
whose interest the work is done, to officiate, accord- 
 ing to established forms, in laying the corner-stone 
 of the 
 
 CHARLES LARNED MEMORIAL, 
 the permanent home of the 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF OXFORD. 
 
 The response of the Grand Master was as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Brethren : 
 
 From time immemorial it has been the custom of 
 the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and 
 Accepted Masons, when requested so to do, to 
 lay, with ancient forms, the corner-stones of build- 
 ings, both public and private, devoted to learning, 
 to benevolence, to religion, and for the purposes of 
 the administration of justice and free government 
 and the commemoration of great and humane bene- 
 factions to mankind. 
 
 And we are assembled here to-day to lay this 
 corner-stone in accordance with our law ; and thus re- 
 newedly testifying our reverence and love for Him 
 whom we worship as the Giver and Guardian of our 
 souls, and our respect, loyalty, and allegiance to the 
 laws of our country, we shall proceed in accordance 
 with ancient usage. 
 
 Let us first give our attention to the contempla- 
 tion of a lesson from the " Book of the Law," and 
 in accordance with the usual Masonic custom at 
 the commencement of every undertaking unite with 
 our Reverend Grand Chaplain in an invocation to 
 the Great Architect of worlds, that his mercy and 
 favor may be with us, and with the whole brother- 
 hood of man. 
 
 43 
 
The following selections with responses by the 
 brethren were then read by Rev. Albert Tyler, Chap- 
 lain of the Oxford Lodge : 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Bless the Lord, my soul. Lord 
 my God, thou art very great ; thou art clothed with 
 honor and majesty. Psalm civ. 1. 
 
 BRETHREN. But thou, Lord, shalt endure for 
 ever ; and thy remembrance unto all generations. 
 Psalm cii. 12. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy 
 upon Zion : for the time to favor her, yea, the set 
 time, is come. Psalm cii. 13. 
 
 BRETHREN. For thy servants take pleasure in 
 her stones, and favor the dust thereof. Psalm 
 cii. 14. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Where wast thou when I laid the 
 foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast 
 understanding. Job xxxviii. 4. 
 
 BRETHREN. Who hath laid the measures thereof, 
 if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line 
 upon it? Job xxxviii. 5. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Whereupon are the foundations 
 thereof fastened? or who laid the corner-stone 
 thereof? Job xxxviii. 6. 
 
 BRETHREN. When the morning stars sang to- 
 gether, and all the sons of God shouted for joy ? 
 Job xxxviii. 7. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Is it time for you, ye, to dwell in 
 your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste ? Thus 
 saith the Lord of hosts : Go up to the mountain, 
 and bring wood, and build the house; and I will 
 
 44 
 
take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the 
 Lord. Hag gal i. 4, 7, 8. 
 
 BRETHREN. Ye also, as lively stones, are built 
 up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up 
 spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. 1 Peter ii. 5. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, 
 Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a 
 tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure founda- 
 tion : he that believeth shall not make haste. Judg- 
 ment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to 
 the plummet. Isaiah xxviii. 16, 17. 
 
 BRETHREN. Open to me the gates of righteous- 
 ness : I will go into them, and I will praise the 
 Lord. Psalm cxviii. 19. 
 
 Honor and majesty are before him, strength and 
 beauty are in his sanctuary. Psalm xcvi. 6. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Except the Lord build the house, 
 they labor in vain that build it : except the Lord 
 keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 
 Psalm cxxvii. 1. 
 
 BRETHREN. One generation shall praise thy 
 works to another, and shall declare thy mighty 
 acts. They shall abundantly utter the memory of 
 thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteous- 
 ness. Psalm cxlv. 4, 7. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. come, let us worship and bow 
 down : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 
 Psalm xcv. 6. 
 
 BRETHREN. For he is our God ; and we are the 
 people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. 
 Psalm xcv. 7. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name ; 
 
 45 
 
show forth his salvation from day to day. Psalm 
 xcvi. 2. 
 
 BRETHREN. All thy works shall praise thee, 
 Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. Psalm 
 cxlv. 10. 
 
 Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord : for 
 great is the glory of the Lord. Psalm cxxxviii. 5. 
 
 Prayer was offered by the Grand Chaplain, Rev. 
 Charles A. Skinner, after which a list of articles 
 deposited in the copper receptacle enclosed in the 
 corner-stone was read by the Grand Treasurer, 
 Henry G. Fay, as follows : 
 
 1. Documentary History of the Charles Larned Memorial. 
 
 2. Sealed Package from Mr. Larned, the Donor of the 
 Building. 
 
 3. A Copy of the Town Eeport for 1890, containing a His- 
 tory of the Free Public Library. 
 
 4. Catalogue of the Free Public Library 1895. 
 
 5. Daniels' " History of Oxford." 
 
 ti. Freeland's " Kecords of Oxford." 
 
 7. The Assessors' Keport for 1902. 
 
 8. Town Keport for 1903, with the Present Board of Select- 
 men and the Building Committee. 
 
 9. Oxford and Auburn Directory 1903. 
 
 10. Copy of The Mid-Weekly for Wednesday, 11 August, 1897. 
 
 11. History of Masonry in Oxford from 1795 to 1903. 
 
 12. Collection of Forty or Fifty Photographs and Local 
 Views in Oxford, including a View of the Foundations of 
 this Building. 
 
 13. Miscellaneous Local Documents, Business Cards, etc. 
 
 14. The McKinley Memorial. 
 
 15. Copies of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the St. 
 Louis Republic, containing an account of the Inauguration 
 Ceremonies of " The Louisiana Purchase Exposition." 
 
 46 
 
16. A Set of Silver and Minor Proof Coins for 1903, from 
 the United States Mint at Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 17. Specimens of Fractional Currency issued during the 
 War of the Kebellion. 
 
 18. Copies of The Worcester Telegram and The Worcester Spy 
 for 20 May, 1903. 
 
 The corner-stone in place, the imposing ritual 
 was continued by the Application of the Jewels, the 
 Libation of Corn by the Deputy Grand Master, 
 J. Gilman Waite, 
 
 When once of old in Israel, 
 
 Our earthly brethren wrought with toil, 
 
 Jehovah's blessing on them fell 
 
 In showers of Corn, and Wine, and Oil. 
 
 the Libation of Wine by the Senior Grand Warden, 
 John A. McKim, 
 
 When there a shrine to Him alone 
 They built, with worship, sin to foil, 
 
 On threshold and on corner-stone, 
 
 They poured out Corn, and Wine, and Oil. 
 
 the Libation of Oil by the Junior Grand Warden, 
 William H. H. Soule, 
 
 And we have come, fraternal bands, 
 
 With joy and pride, and prosperous spoil, 
 
 To honor Him by votive hands 
 
 With streams of Corn, and Wine, and Oil. 
 
 an Invocation by the Grand Chaplain, the Presen- 
 tation of Working Tools to the Architect, and the 
 closing address by the Grand Master : 
 
 47 
 
May this undertaking be conducted and com- 
 pleted by the craftsmen according to the grand 
 plan in Peace, Harmony, and Brotherly Love ; and 
 by the skill and taste of the architect may an edifice 
 here arise which shall render new service and honor 
 to this ancient town. 
 
 May it be blessed with Wisdom in the plan, 
 Strength in the execution, Beauty in the adorn- 
 ment ; and may the Sun of Righteousness enlighten 
 those who build, the generous Donor, and the com- 
 munity for whose benefit this structure shall be 
 erected. 
 
 Proclamation was duly made by the Grand Mar- 
 shal Frank W. Mead, and after the singing of the 
 hymn, 
 
 Lord! Thou hast been our dwelling-place, 
 Through years of old and ages past; 
 
 And still Thy laws we seek to trace. 
 On Thee our trust we humbly cast, 
 
 Father of Light ! Builder Divine ! 
 
 Behold our work, and make it Thine, 
 
 the address of the day was delivered by Rev. 
 William H. Rider, D.D., of Gloucester, Mass. 
 
 As this address by force of circumstances was 
 largely impromptu, it cannot be reproduced, but was 
 listened to with close attention and deep interest. 
 
 The flowering beauty of the opening spring-time 
 suggested to the speaker the more beautiful sen- 
 timent of maternal and filial love from which 
 emanated this project and this occasion. By a 
 natural transition it was declared most fitting that 
 a fraternity seeking light and "More Light," thus 
 
 48 
 
leading to the Source of all knowledge, should par- 
 ticipate in the consecration of a building sacred to 
 tender memories and all best thought and life. 
 
 Familiar as is the dedication of libraries in New 
 England, we shah 1 never see too many of them. 
 
 The victories of the twentieth century are to 
 be intellectual, victories of science and education. 
 The war-drums are muffled, and a new song, the 
 song of peace and good wiU to men, is heard in 
 the land. The prophecy of this peace is to be 
 fulfilled by just such buildings as this. 
 
 There is nothing to be compared with the lasting 
 effects of a public library in a community. It is 
 the privilege of everybody in such community to 
 keep company with the ages. 
 
 Not one of ah 1 the marvelous things that have 
 come to us through modern improvements the 
 trolley car, the electric light, the telephone, the 
 telegraph is to be compared in real value to a 
 good book. It transformed Abraham Lincoln from 
 an ignorant boy into the First American. 
 
 Books are light-houses erected in the great sea of 
 time. He who gives, gives also guides for finest 
 conduct and inspires with greatest hope. 
 
 In conclusion, the speaker made among other 
 practical suggestions this excellent recommendation, 
 that the library which was to be here installed 
 should be made complete in some one line, be it a 
 department of history, of science, or of literature, so 
 that it should be known far and wide as possessing 
 an exceptionally rich, if not exhaustive, collection in 
 that special department. 
 
 The singing of "America" by the assemblage 
 
 49 
 
and the benediction pronounced by the Grand 
 Chaplain concluded the exercises of a day memo- 
 rable in the history of the town. 
 
 In response to the following invitation, at the 
 hour appointed the auditorium of Memorial Hall 
 was filled with an expectant assemblage made up 
 of present and former residents of Oxford, invited 
 guests from all parts of Massachusetts and neigh- 
 boring States, including names prominent in literary, 
 professional, and public life. 
 
 50 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 Sty* 
 
 irirtratum 
 oftfy* 
 
 CI3MHAJ WOSWiaOH A88IHAJQ 
 
 in mntuirg of (Elartaaa Subtamm 
 ntdoH arnfin 
 
 tii the uar of th? 
 
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 bill take 
 
 an W^nwbag, 5 rtnbrr, l^J/J^rftt 1:30 n'rlork p 
 
 moil 
 
 bnelloH 
 Joiiu . Kimball 1 
 
 Alfrri* 4fl. Olljaff^ J 
 
 51 
 
 Cfiummtttfr. 
 
9 Februar 
 
 LARNED 
 
 Vermont 
 
 29 April, 1817, Jo 
 
 1 May. 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 thr 
 Charles, 6 Elijah, s Benjamin^ Peter,^ Isaac, 2 
 
 from 
 
 Rev. John' Robinson, of Leyden 
 Holland 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 Op 
 
 irttiralum 
 of % 
 
 Sn mcmarji of (Clarissa ihifaiusnn Earned -- 
 
 to thr uflF of th^ 
 
 tr ffitbrarg 
 
 httll takr plarr at 
 
 on M^bnwbag, 5 rtob^r, 19fl4, at 1:30 o'rlork p. m. 
 
 bg ^0tu Qlarrnll i. Wrt 
 of gour 
 
 JoJyn IE. IKtmhaU 
 
 _ 
 
 rrtn Iff. Jofilin 
 
 (fiummtttcr. 
 
 iJ. 
 
 51 
 
, 1004. 
 invocation. 
 
 VOCAL Music, "Jehovah Reigns." Mendelssohn. 
 
 DOUBLE QUARTET. 
 
 Untrotwctors. 
 IResponses* 
 
 "HoN. IRA M. BARTON, Founder of the Free Public Library." 
 EDMUND M. BARTON, American Antiquarian Society. 
 
 "PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN MASSACHUSETTS." 
 
 C. B. TlLLINGHAST, Chairman of Free Public Library Commission of 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 "THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AS A PUBLIC EDUCATOR." 
 
 SAMUEL S. GREEN, Free Public Library of Worcester. 
 
 "THE ROBINSON FAMILY." 
 
 HON. DAVID I. ROBINSON, President of the Robinson Family Genealogical 
 and Historical Association. 
 
 VOCAL Music, "The Old Arm-chair," Eliza Cook, music by Henry Russell. 
 OXFORD MALE QUARTET. 
 
 Delivery ot 2>eefc ant) 
 
 To TOWN AUTHORITIES To TRUSTEES OF LIBRARY. 
 
 Dedicators prayer* 
 
 REV. CHARLES M. CARPENTER. 
 
 Hfcfcress. 
 
 HON. CARROLL D. WRIGHT. 
 
 SINGING, "America." 
 The AUDIENCE, led by the QUARTET. 
 
 Benediction. 
 
 52 
 
The exercises conformed to the above program, 
 John E. Kimball, Esq., Chairman of the Building 
 Committee presiding. 
 
 CHAIRMAN: The divine blessing will be invoked 
 by Rev. I. A. Mesler, of Oxford. 
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 We are very grateful, our Heavenly Father, for 
 that which brings us together to-day. We recog- 
 nize the fact that every good gift and every perfect 
 gift cometh from thee. We pray for thy blessing 
 upon it. We pray for thy blessing upon all the ex- 
 ercises of this day. May the Holy Spirit rest upon 
 those who shall speak to us, and guide in every 
 thought and every word ! In Jesus' name we ask it. 
 Amen. 
 
 SINGING. 
 
 Jehovah Reigns. 
 
 CHAIRMAN : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, In behalf of the 
 Building Committee of the Charles Lamed Memo- 
 rial I extend to you a cordial welcome and thanks 
 for the interest manifested by your presence. 
 There are scores, perhaps hundreds, who would like 
 to be here, but cannot, and I am constrained to 
 read, in their behalf, a sample letter of regret expres- 
 sive of the sentiments of those who, from age or 
 infirmity, distance, or other engagements can be 
 with us to-day only in spirit : 
 
 53 
 
I am very grateful for the invitation so kindly 
 sent me the 25th to attend the exercises in Memo- 
 rial Hall October 5, and regret that I cannot be 
 present at that time. Certainly, my native town is 
 to be congratulated that the generosity of her pub- 
 lic-spirited son Mr. Charles Larned has taken 
 such a beautiful form, one which not only adds at- 
 traction to her main street, but which will furnish 
 her residents pleasure and profit so long as the 
 memorial shah 1 stand. May it be a "joy forever!" 
 
 It was a happy thought of Mr. Larned to asso- 
 ciate his mother's name with the building, and I trust 
 this silent witness of a son's filial love and respect 
 will be a lesson to all the young people who fre- 
 quent the Library, and be an aid in making them 
 also noble sons and daughters. 
 
 Friends, we have met to dedicate to public uses 
 a building typical of what is best in New England 
 civilization, filial reverence and gratitude, intelli- 
 gence and character in the masses, and public spirit, 
 which is but another name for patriotism. 
 
 It is not for us to know what tender memories 
 and cherished associations are built into this me- 
 morial temple, imparting a touch of peculiar grace to 
 this happy combination of utility and beauty. That 
 belongs to the sacred privacy of the domestic circle, 
 which we may not invade; but we do know the 
 value of such sentiments in molding character and 
 shaping destiny, not alone of individuals, but of 
 nations; we do know that loyalty in the home 
 begets loyalty to the State, the logical outcome of 
 which is individual and social betterment. 
 
 This simple ceremonial may fade from the mem- 
 
 54 
 
ory and be forgotten ; methods and usages will 
 change, grow old, and be superseded by that which 
 is better, but the lessons of yonder structure will 
 deepen with the years, they can never become obso- 
 lete, for they are vital to our continuance as a people, 
 and, happily, in their very nature are self -perpetu- 
 ating. 
 
 The conditions which render this gift timely and 
 most acceptable are the growth of more than a gen- 
 eration. A flourishing Free Public Library has long 
 been the protege and pride of the people. Oxford 
 has been fortunate in her benefactors ! We con- 
 gratulate the recipients of Mr. Carnegie's bounty, 
 and ah 1 honor to that broad philanthropy which has 
 given us a new lesson in the uses of great wealth, 
 while doing so much to cement the brotherhood 
 of the nations ! But we count ourselves more fortu- 
 nate. Our benefactors are "to the manner born" 
 and bred among us, and their benefactions are evi- 
 dence not only of successful endeavor and generous 
 impulses, but of affection and gratitude as well. 
 Especially is this true of the honored Founder of 
 our Free Public Library, who in his will remem- 
 bered the inhabitants of his native town by a gift 
 for that purpose "as an inadequate return for the 
 kindness and patronage of their fathers" and it 
 will be a special pleasure to hear a word from the 
 representative of Hon. Ira M. Barton in the person 
 of his son, Edmund M. Barton, of Worcester. 
 
 55 
 
Mr. BARTON: 
 
 Mr. Chairman, My duty is strictly filial, it 
 seems to me, to-day. On beautiful Oxford plain 
 there were born into the family of which my 
 honored father was the head four sons and one 
 daughter ; while Worcester was the birthplace of 
 three sons and one daughter. Among the papers of 
 the first-born William Sumner Barton, born in 
 Oxford, Sept. 30, 1824 is a brief sketch of the 
 founder of this library, to which T call your atten- 
 tion during the few moments allowed me. 
 
 The Hon. Ira Moore Barton, of Worcester, first 
 named Ira, was born in Oxford, Oct. 25, 1796, and 
 in 1839, by act of the General Court, was authorized 
 to take the additional name of Moore in memory of 
 his revered maternal grandmother, Dorothy Moore, 
 and of his great-great-grandfather Moore, the first 
 magistrate of his native town. He was a grandson 
 of Dr. Stephen Barton, who was born at Sutton, 
 June 10, 1740. Dr. Barton's father and mother, 
 Edmund and Anna Flynt Barton, were married in 
 Salem, April 9, 1739, and probably moved to Sutton 
 soon afterward. Mr. Barton graduated with high 
 honors at Brown University in 1819, and at the 
 Cambridge Law School in 1822. He practised law 
 in Oxford from 1822 to 1834, and was representa- 
 tive from that town during the years 1830 to 1832, 
 inclusive. In 1833-34 he represented the county 
 of Worcester in the State Senate. He removed to 
 Worcester in 1834, and in 1836 was appointed by 
 Governor Everett judge of probate for Worcester 
 County. In 1840 he was chosen one of the electors 
 
 56 
 
for President in the famous Harrison or log-cabin 
 campaign. He resigned his judgeship in 1844, and 
 in 1846 represented the then town of Worcester in 
 the legislature. Judge Barton continued the prac- 
 tice of his profession until 1849, when he visited 
 Europe in pursuit of much-needed rest and recrea- 
 tion. Upon his return in 1850 he resumed his 
 office practice only, finding leisure during the inter- 
 vals of business for the indulgence of his literary, 
 historical, and antiquarian tastes. He was an active 
 member and for many years a councilor of the 
 American Antiquarian Society. He died very sud- 
 denly at his home in Worcester, July 18, 1867. 
 
 I submit also the f oUowing character picture by 
 one who knew him intimately : " Judge Barton was 
 distinguished for purity, simplicity, and integrity of 
 character ; and as a public servant, in numerous 
 offices of trust and responsibility, his conduct was 
 marked by signal ability, fidelity, and success. He 
 was eminently the accomplished lawyer, the upright 
 magistrate, the enlightened patriotic citizen; and 
 the community which, through a long and busy life, 
 he has benefited and honored, will hold in grateful 
 remembrance his services and his virtues. He has 
 been described as a man of very striking personal 
 appearance, with tall and commanding figure, fine 
 head and Websterian eyes. He showed something 
 of the Roman mould in his aspect, which was well 
 reflected in his character." 
 
 The tributes paid by Mr. George F. Daniels in 
 his History of Oxford and by Samuel Foster Haven, 
 LL.D., in his Report of the Council of the American 
 
 57 
 
Antiquarian Society, read Oct. 21, 1867, may well 
 be had in remembrance. 
 
 While this beautiful memorial appeals strongly 
 to the gratitude of all, the surviving children of 
 the founder may lay claim to a special cause for 
 thankfulness to the wise and generous giver. 
 
 CHAIRMAN : The Free Public Library Commis- 
 sion has achieved an enviable reputation in placing 
 Massachusetts in the forefront of States on either 
 side of the Atlantic in free library facilities for the 
 people. We hoped to listen to its chairman to-day, 
 but instead the following letter comes to hand this 
 morning : 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION 
 
 OF 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Oct. 4, 1904. 
 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL, Esq., Chairman, etc. : 
 
 My dear Mr. Kimball, Though it will be im- 
 practicable for me to accept your kind invitation to 
 participate in the dedicatory services of the Charles 
 Larned Memorial, I wish to express through you 
 my appreciation of the gift which has come to your 
 people and which enriches the Commonwealth. 
 
 I have known something of the sweet spirit the 
 giver has shown in his desire to provide a building 
 which shah 1 be a source of inspiration and pride to 
 the present and future citizens of his native town. 
 
 Similar gifts are not uncommon in Massachusetts. 
 They bear witness to the growing sentiment that 
 the library, supplementing the public school, adds 
 
 58 
 
to the pleasures and refinement of the home, the 
 happiness and prosperity of the people, and the 
 civic virtues which insure good citizenship and pure 
 government. 
 
 All honor to Mr. Larned, a modest and philan- 
 thropic citizen, who, from the results of a lifetime 
 of mercantile honor and thrift, provides a chaste, 
 beautiful, and permanent home for the literary treas- 
 ures that tend to perpetuate and increase the wis- 
 dom and intelligence which are the heritage of New 
 England culture. 
 
 Yours most cordially, 
 
 C. B. TlLLINGHAST, 
 
 Chairman, 
 Free Public Library Commission. 
 
 Fortunately, however, we have another represen- 
 tative of the Commission in our neighbor of the 
 Free Public Library of Worcester. He can tell us 
 all about Libraries and the Library Commission, for, 
 wherever they are in evidence, we are quite sure to 
 see or hear the name of, Samuel S. Green. 
 
 MR. GREEN : 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is 
 my first duty and my pleasure to greet you in be- 
 half of the libraries of the Commonwealth. In 
 1890, when the Free Public Library Commission 
 was established, the record of Massachusetts had 
 been most honorable when compared with that of 
 any other State. But still there were one hundred 
 and three towns which at that time had no public 
 library. I am able to say to you to-day that there 
 
is not remaining in this State a single town that 
 has not a public library. All these towns sym- 
 pathize with you to-day as you come here to dedi- 
 cate this beautiful and convenient building, for 
 which you are indebted to the munificence of the 
 venerable gentleman who sits here upon the plat- 
 form. In the name of the Public Library Commis- 
 sion of the Commonwealth, in behalf of the libraries 
 of this State, in behalf of its whole people, I thank 
 him for what Mr. Tillinghast says he has done, 
 " enriching the Commonwealth." 
 
 I must also greet you, ladies and gentlemen, in 
 behalf of the library of the principal town in this 
 county. Please accept of the hospitalities of the 
 Free Public Library of Worcester, and I will add 
 with Mr. Barton, the librarian, and Colonel Wright, 
 a member of the Council, that I also, as a member 
 of the Council, extend to you a cordial welcome to 
 use the library of the American Antiquarian Society. 
 
 You have asked me, Mr. President, to speak upon 
 public libraries as educational institutions. It is not 
 only in their connections with colleges and schools 
 that libraries exert an educational influence. I sup- 
 pose, when I speak of them as instruments of value 
 in connection with formal educational institutions, 
 you wish me to speak mainly of their usefulness to 
 the public schools, even though this town has the 
 name of one of the great universities of the world. 
 But a word before I do this. This is a town of 
 farms. Is it not true that the best farmers 
 here are those who attend institutes, read agricult- 
 ural papers, and make themselves conversant with 
 
 60 
 
agricultural literature? What are you doing when 
 you do this thing? Why, you are simply educating 
 yourselves by adding to your own experience as 
 farmers and to the results of experience which has 
 been given to you by your fathers and neighbors 
 the experience of other men engaged in similar 
 pursuits as recorded in books, the experience often 
 of men who have had rare opportunities for experi- 
 ment and investigation, and the results of whose 
 researches it is of the greatest value for you to 
 become acquainted with. What an educational in- 
 fluence, then, Mr. President, may a library exert in 
 a town if the farmers of the town read papers and 
 magazines, United States and Massachusetts Agri- 
 cultural Reports, and books treating of the various 
 departments of agriculture! What a blessing a 
 library may be if the people use this kind of books, 
 and if they are provided for them in sufficient num- 
 bers in the town! 
 
 There is manufacturing in Oxford. Suppose for 
 an instant that everybody connected with a large 
 shop the proprietor, the manager, the foreman, and 
 the workmen were all readers ; suppose they made 
 it, all of them, their business to become acquainted 
 with the principles of science which underlie the 
 processes which they are engaged in performing 
 every day ; supposing they paid especial attention 
 to the literature of the particular occupation in which 
 they are engaged, can you doubt for an instant 
 that the products of that shop would be better or 
 that instructed managers and informed workmen 
 would do better work, that there would be more in- 
 
 61 
 
ventions, and that the value of the work of all would 
 be so much increased that higher wages and salaries 
 would be commanded? 
 
 But, Mr. President, I suppose that you wish me to 
 speak especially of the connection of libraries with 
 public schools. Supposing a library affords especial 
 privileges to teachers, allows them to take a con- 
 siderable number of books which they may need in 
 preparing themselves for school exercises ; supposing 
 the teacher is allowed to take a still larger number 
 of books to be used in any way he pleases for the 
 benefit of the scholars do you not see at once that 
 those teachers and scholars have a great advantage 
 over such as do not have such privileges? How 
 much more interesting and profitable a teacher can 
 make his work if he can have accessible a large libra- 
 ry of books, and be able to take to the school-room 
 and to his home a considerable number to use in 
 connection with the work in hand ! How much more 
 interesting it is to a scholar to be allowed, when he 
 is studying upon any subject, to read graphic and 
 interesting accounts of that subject to add to the 
 interest which comes from a dry paragraph in a text- 
 book alluding to the subject ! Why, ladies and 
 gentlemen, you can often make study fascinating to 
 children if you point out to them sources of infor- 
 mation where, in an interesting way and with a pro- 
 fusion of details, matters treated of briefly in their 
 text-books are treated of at length and in a clear and 
 agreeable style in larger books accessible to them in 
 public libraries. 
 
 But there is another feature. Suppose a teacher 
 
 62 
 
is allowed to take a large number of books from a 
 public library, display them in the school-room, and 
 allow the scholars to rummage freely among them 
 and select such as they like to take home to read, 
 care having been taken by the teacher to acquaint 
 himself with the best literature for children, and 
 opportunities being afforded him to consult with 
 the librarian, who, it may be, has a large knowledge 
 of children's literature; suppose a teacher to be 
 thus situated, to have interest enough to inform 
 himself in regard to what are really the good books 
 for children, and ample opportunities in the library 
 to obtain those books and place them before the 
 children ; suppose that work of the kind men- 
 tioned begins when the children are small, and is 
 continued for a series of years while they remain in 
 the public schools, can you doubt that a teacher 
 of tact will so interest the children that a large part 
 of their leisure time, all the time they have for 
 reading, will be taken up in reading good books? 
 And can you doubt, if this course is pursued long 
 enough and faithfully enough, that the taste of the 
 children will improve, and that you will find after a 
 series of years that poor books are not attractive to 
 them? 
 
 Mr. President, I should like to speak to you of 
 the value of a library in cultivating the imagina- 
 tion and the moral sense, and particularly in aiding 
 in the cause of good morals in the community 
 where a library is established. I have no time to 
 do this, sir, but will hint at one argument which I 
 should like to develop. If you find that young 
 
 63 
 
people are loafers or idlers and are beset with the 
 temptations which men who are idle are influenced 
 by, if you find boys and girls in this condition, 
 where the lower parts of their nature are certain to 
 come to the front, what are you to do for them ? 
 It is a cardinal principle in philanthropy that, if you 
 would get rid of what is bad, you must substitute 
 for it something that is interesting and good. Now 
 supposing you create a taste for reading, you may 
 even make a passion for reading in young people. 
 Supposing you make it the pleasure of people as 
 they grow up to turn when they have leisure to read- 
 ing and study as a recreation. Can anybody doubt 
 that you are giving them an immense safeguard? 
 A philanthropist in Boston, a lady whose name you 
 would recognize as one of those who have been very 
 successful in doing good work in a large city, said 
 to me, " When I find that a person whom I am 
 trying to influence has an interest in reading, I feel 
 a strong hope that I can do good to that person." 
 Now, ladies and gentlemen, if your young people, as 
 the result of a free use of books in school and in 
 the home, can arouse in themselves a strong interest 
 in reading, even though they read only newspapers 
 and magazines and good stories, what a beneficent 
 work you are doing in awakening this interest, and 
 giving them an occupation to which they turn 
 spontaneously instead of becoming idle and gratify- 
 ing the lower appetites of human nature ! 
 
 Now, Mr. President, I ought to stop, but I have 
 just come from the beautiful library building which 
 Mr. Lamed has given you, and I saw there a window 
 
 64 
 
which interested me. I cannot forget that two 
 months ago I stood on the spot at Delftshaven 
 where John Robinson knelt and blessed the Pilgrims, 
 and bade them God-speed as they went on board the 
 vessel to go first to England and then to America, 
 to found in the Old Colony of this Commonwealth 
 their little republic and become exemplars of man- 
 kind. A few days later I stood in Leyden, in the 
 church where John Robinson is buried, and on the 
 outside of that church I read the inscription on 
 the tablet which has been placed there by the 
 American lovers and admirers of John Robinson, 
 who is regarded as the father of Congregationalism. 
 On a house opposite the church I saw another tablet 
 which announced that here was the site of the house 
 in which Robinson lived, the house in which he 
 preached, for he gathered his congregation about 
 him in his dwelling-place, and connected with 
 which was a garden in which there were numerous 
 little houses in which a considerable portion of his 
 congregation lived. It was thrilling, Mr. President, 
 to stand there amid the things which reminded one 
 of our Pilgrim forefathers, and to think what a 
 work John Robinson, Edward Winslow, William 
 Bradford, and the others had done for this country 
 and the world. 
 
 Libraries do much, sir, in an educational way to-day 
 through pictures. We have in our own library in 
 Worcester a magnificent collection of the largest- 
 sized and best photographs that can be procured in 
 Europe, illustrating the different schools of art and 
 objects of interest throughout Europe and Asia. 
 
 65 
 
You have, sir, what pictures you can afford to have, 
 but whatever others you get, and I assure you that 
 they exert a great educational influence, whatever 
 others you get, you have the picture of John Robin- 
 son. A noble man he was. I will not speak of his 
 love of learning, or of the University of Leyden, 
 close by his house, of which he was a member and 
 with whose professors he delighted so much to asso- 
 ciate. I would rather have you think of him as the 
 Apostle of Righteousness, as the man who was ready 
 to sacrifice everything for what was right, and I 
 would recall to your minds that particular feature of 
 his righteousness which to me makes John Robinson 
 stand out as one of the finest types of men to be 
 found in history. He had an open mind. He was 
 always a student, and, whenever new light came to 
 him, he immediately, readily, willingly, heartily, gave 
 up old views which he had found to be incorrect. 
 
 CHAIRMAN : Few who have heard of the Charles 
 Lamed Memorial and none who have passed its por- 
 tals have failed to observe the prominence of the 
 Robinson name, looking out from its memorial tab- 
 let and further suggested by the illuminated window 
 over the entrance. Some years ago the Robinsons 
 of America awoke to the fact that they had an 
 ancestry worth looking up ; and accordingly an asso- 
 ciation was organized for that purpose. The presi- 
 dent of that association is with us to-day, having come 
 all the way from Gloucester to recognize and honor 
 the spirit and motive of this occasion. I take pleas- 
 ure in introducing Hon. David I. Robinson, of 
 Gloucester. 
 
 66 
 
MR. ROBINSON : 
 
 Mr. Chairman, It is with extreme pleasure that 
 I bring to you to-day the greetings of the Robinson 
 kinsfolk ; for the erection of the Charles Lamed Memo- 
 rial Building is to them of more than passing interest. 
 
 This building commemorates the name of one 
 very dear to the heart of Mr. Lamed, for the one 
 word "mother" expresses much. She was one whose 
 long line of honorable ancestry reaches back to the 
 Rev. John Robinson, of Pilgrim renown: she was 
 a worthy descendant of a worthy ancestor. 
 
 My own line of genealogy I am able to trace to 
 Abraham Robinson, who settled at Agassquam, or 
 Annisquam, now a part of Gloucester, on Cape Ann, 
 in 1631 ; but here the link is broken, and, try as we 
 will, we cannot definitely connect with the Rev. John 
 Robinson, although tradition is wholly on our side. 
 "We find from the Ley den records that he had a son 
 Isaac and a son Jacob. We think, therefore, he ought 
 to have had a son Abraham. If he did (and tradition 
 gives it as a fact), then that son Abraham was our 
 ancestor, and the chain is complete. 
 
 A few weeks ago the Robinson Family Genea- 
 logical and Historical Association met at the historic 
 spot where nearly three centuries ago the flock of 
 Rev. John Robinson sought religious freedom on our 
 shores. Mr. Robinson, you remember, was pre- 
 vented from coming with the colony or from joining 
 it later, on account of not obtaining the consent of 
 the English Association which controlled the enter- 
 prise. He died before this consent could be obtained, 
 but he cheered and counseled his flock until his death, 
 
 67 
 
which occurred in 1625, when a life of suffering from 
 religious persecution, but of devotion to the cause 
 of religious freedom, was brought to a close. 
 
 On account of his strenuous life, the reverential 
 devotion of his followers, his fatherly care over them, 
 and his wise counsel, we are wont to think of the 
 Rev. John Robinson as an aged man, who lived 
 beyond the allotted life of threescore years and ten ; 
 yet he died at the comparatively early age of fifty 
 years. His life was one so full of devotion to others 
 and of self-sacrifice as not to be measured by the 
 flight of years, a life which the boundless ages of 
 eternity alone can embrace. 
 
 In the rush and turmoil of the busy world of 
 to-day there are to a greater or less degree just such 
 characters, which stand out in bold relief, those 
 who, forgetful of self and living for the good of 
 others, are the world's benefactors, heroes and hero- 
 ines in the battle of life. Every such a one is 
 making the world better by living in it. 
 
 This thought will call vividly to mind the great 
 life which has just come to a close in your neighbor- 
 ing city of Worcester, or rather which is just begin- 
 ning to shine in the endless ages of eternity. Sena- 
 tor Hoar belonged to the state, to the nation, to the 
 world : he belonged to that class of which I speak. 
 He lived not for himself. Wealth, honor, title, 
 position, were nothing to him except as he could use 
 them for the good of others. His life was a bene- 
 diction ; his death a sublime transition. 
 
 Monuments do not make such men great, but they 
 serve to remind generations to come that great men 
 have lived. 
 
This beautiful library building which to-day the 
 town of Oxford receives from the hand of Mr. 
 Charles Lamed is a monument the best, the most 
 enduring in memory of her who was the honored 
 daughter and seventh descendant of one of the great 
 characters of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
 turies, the Rev. John Robinson, of Leyden. 
 
 SINGING. 
 The Old Arm-chair. 
 
 I love it ! I love it I and who shall dare 
 
 To chide me for loving that old arm-chair? 
 
 I've treasured it long as a sainted prize, 
 
 I've bedewed it with tears, and embalmed it with sighs ; 
 
 'Tis bound by a thousand bands to my heart ; 
 
 Not a tie will break, not a link will start. 
 
 Would ye learn the spell ? A mother sat there ; 
 
 And a sacred thing is that old arm-chair ! 
 
 In childhood's hour I lingered near 
 The hallowed seat, with listening ear ; 
 And gentle words that mother would give, 
 To fit me to die and teach me to live. 
 She told me shame would never betide 
 With truth for my creed and God for my guide ; 
 She taught me to lisp my earliest prayer, 
 As I knelt beside that old arm-chair. 
 
 I sat and watched her many a day, 
 
 When her eye grew dim, and her locks were gray ; 
 
 And I almost worshiped her when she smiled 
 
 And turned from her Bible to bless her child. 
 
 Years rolled on, but the last one sped 
 
 My idol was shattered, my earth-star fled ; 
 
 I learned how much the heart can bear, 
 
 When I saw her die in that old arm-chair. 
 
 69 
 
CHAIRMAN : This Memorial is to be transferred 
 to the town finished and complete in all its details, 
 therefore, no report upon the building itself is 
 caUed for. It will be open for inspection at the 
 conclusion of these exercises, and will speak for 
 itself. A few facts, briefly stated, however, may be 
 of interest. 
 
 The subject was first broached to the town at its 
 annual meeting on the 2d of April, 1900, four and 
 a half years ago. Seven and a half sufficed for the 
 building of Solomon's temple, but Solomon and 
 Hiram wrought in harmony. Four and a half years ! 
 A period marked by vicissitudes "grand, gloomy, 
 and peculiar," and by enactments wise and otherwise, 
 which have passed into local history, and need not 
 here be recounted. 
 
 The total cost to the donor of the building, with 
 its fixed furniture, has been upwards of $27,000, 
 more than two and a quarter times what he first 
 proposed to give. For the movable furniture and 
 incidentals about $3,000 from the funds of 
 former benefactors has been expended, making the 
 total cost of the building and equipments about 
 $30,000. 
 
 The original cost of the lot was $5,500, fur- 
 nished by the town and a member of the Building 
 Committee; while the expense of grading, walks, 
 shrubbery, etc., increased that item to nearly $6,000, 
 thus adding to the non-taxable but large divi- 
 dend-paying property of the town approximately 
 $36,000. 
 
 70 
 
It would be more in accordance with our sense of 
 the fitness of things for Mr. Larned, in person, to 
 present the symbols of ownership and enjoy the 
 heart-felt applause of the beneficiaries, but his liber- 
 ality is even exceeded by his modesty ; and he has 
 begged to be excused, since his forte is "Deeds 
 rather than Words." In deference to the wishes 
 of others, however, to which he is not indifferent, 
 I understand he has penned a brief note, which 
 embodies the substance of all he could say, and 
 will be read by our now friend, Mr. Robinson, of 
 Gloucester. 
 
 MR. ROBINSON: 
 
 OXFORD, MASS., Oct. 5, 1904. 
 
 To THE CITIZENS OF OXFORD AND OUR WELCOME 
 GUESTS : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, It affords me great 
 pleasure to meet and greet you all to-day. It is an 
 occasion for mutual congratulations. We have a 
 common pride in this historic old town, and the 
 memories of my early life which I passed here have 
 prompted me to erect upon your beautiful street the 
 Memorial Building which we dedicate to the use 
 and benefit of all. I am glad to do this, for the 
 character and purpose of the structure mean much 
 to me, and I feel assured that it will be used, en- 
 joyed, and appreciated by you and your successors 
 for many, many years. 
 
 In tendering, through the Building Committee, 
 the deed* of the property with the keys to the repre- 
 
 * See page 96. 
 
 71 
 
sentatives of the town, I wish publicly to thank all 
 who have in any way contributed to the success of 
 the undertaking, and especially to express my high 
 appreciation of the gratuitous services of our Build- 
 ing Committee, to whose untiring exertions this 
 happy consummation is chiefly due. 
 
 Cordially yours, 
 
 CHARLES LARNED. 
 
 CHAIRMAN : "Exegi monumentum cere per ennius," 
 cried the enraptured Latin poet, as he contemplated 
 his triumphs in verse, "I have reared a monument 
 more lasting than brass" and ages have proved it 
 no vain boast. There are other earthly pledges of 
 immortal honor no less sure. An American poet 
 whose laurels, like those of Horace, will be green 
 through the centuries, James Russell Lowell, 
 once said on an occasion similar to the present : 
 
 "There is no way in which a man can build so 
 secure and lasting a monument for himself as in a 
 public library. Upon that he may confidently allow 
 Resurgam to be carved, for through his good deed 
 he will rise again in the grateful remembrance and 
 in the lifted and broadened minds and fortified 
 characters of generation after generation. The 
 Pyramids may forget their builders, but memorials 
 such as this have longer memories." 
 
 And in similar strain the eloquent and lamented 
 Henry Stedman Nourse, worthy representative of 
 the Library Commission, thus voiced the same senti- 
 ment: 
 
 72 
 
"There is no more enduring thing, as human 
 matters are accounted, than the free public library, 
 and he who puts his name over its portals, either as 
 founder or as benefactor, has built for himself a more 
 graceful and a more enduring monument than any 
 that his heirs can erect in any cemetery, though they 
 pile granite skywards or with its foundations cover 
 a rood of ground." 
 
 And so, despite all modest protests, in the far-off 
 years when you and I shall have gone to our rest 
 and the young life of other generations shall cluster 
 around yon delivery desk, haply some one may ask, 
 "Where is the resting-place of him who in the long- 
 ago planned for us so wisely and so well, that we 
 may at least stand in the shadow of his monument 
 and do him honor?" And the answer shall come 
 over seas from the silent crypt of St. Paul's, where 
 rest the remains of its great architect, Sir Christopher 
 Wren: "Si monumentum qumris circumspice" 
 "If you seek a monument, look about you" and the 
 spontaneous tribute of grateful hearts shah 1 rise like 
 incense, and haUow all the place. 
 
 It only remains for the Building Committee to 
 surrender its trust and responsibilities by turning 
 over to the authorities of the town the deed of gift 
 which, as Mr. Larned's representative, I hold in my 
 hand, with the keys which give the people free ac- 
 cess to the building and its treasures. Upon one of 
 these keys is inscribed MASTER, which indicates that 
 it will open the way to every room in the building. 
 In it I see a type of the library itself in its sumptu- 
 ously appointed home, which, rightly used, is a master- 
 
 73 
 
key to all the chambers of human knowledge. [De- 
 livery of deed and keys to Lawrence F. Kilty, chair- 
 man of the Board of Selectmen.] Guard it well, 
 and may the town be indulgent and liberal to this 
 child of its old age, so making its future career of 
 enlarged opportunity and increased usefulness tell 
 upon the generations following, 
 
 "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their 
 youth ; that our daughters may be as corner-stones, 
 polished after the similitude of a palace." 
 
 MR. KILTY: 
 
 Mr. Chairman, It gives me pleasure, in behalf 
 of the people of Oxford, as their chosen represen- 
 tative on this occasion, to accept from your hand 
 the keys to this new and valued acquisition by the 
 town. 
 
 Oxford, rich in the munificence of her former 
 sons and daughters, is again reminded of those who, 
 in her earlier history, by lives and labors have contrib- 
 uted so much to the character and reputation which 
 she now enjoys. This costly memorial places within 
 easy reach of our people the key of knowledge and 
 education. It dignifies town office, and it will be a 
 just matter of pride to those intrusted with town 
 affairs to see that the interests of the Free Public 
 Library do not suffer at their hands, but rather that 
 its usefulness is enhanced. 
 
 In behalf of the town I wish to extend thanks to 
 the donor of the Charles Lamed Memorial for one 
 of the most beautiful free public library buildings 
 in the Commonwealth. 
 
 74 
 
The chairman of the Board of Selectmen in turn 
 transferred the keys to the Trustees of the Free 
 Public Library, represented by Orrin F. Joslin, 
 chairman, who responded as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman, In behalf of the Trustees of Ox- 
 ford Free Public Library I accept from you the keys 
 of this building. In their acceptance we realize 
 that we are taking upon ourselves a great respon- 
 sibility, for on the public schools and public libra- 
 ries depend in a large degree the developing, uplift- 
 ing, and ennobling of future generations. We 
 realize this fact, and pledge ourselves to untiring 
 devotion to its best interests in every department of 
 its work. 
 
 In order that this building may fulfill in the 
 highest degree the purpose for which it has been 
 erected, we would earnestly request the hearty co- 
 operation of the citizens of Oxford, both old and 
 young. Assured of this, we believe that this beau- 
 tiful library building, given to the town by one 
 deeply interested in its welfare, can be made a 
 great power for good in this community. 
 
 CHAIRMAN : The prayer of dedication will now 
 be offered by Rev. Charles M. Carpenter, of Oxford. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Let us unite our hearts in prayer. 
 Lord our God, Thou art from everlasting to 
 everlasting. Thy days change not, Thy years are 
 
 75 
 
ever the same. And so we know, we are conscious, 
 fully conscious, that Thou dost still love Thy chil- 
 dren, and that Thou dost bestow upon the sons of 
 men great gifts. Heaven and earth are full of them. 
 The heavens declare Thy glory, and the earth speaks 
 forth Thy handiwork, and yet they cannot tell us 
 all the things Thou wouldst have us know as Thy 
 sons and Thy daughters, created in Thine own 
 image; and so Thou hast moved mightily upon 
 man, and Thou hast inspired great minds to record 
 great events, and record the noble thoughts which 
 are born of God. And we praise Thee that gene- 
 ration after generation are the recipients of Thy 
 bounty in this direction. We praisie Thee, Infi- 
 nite God, that as the days come and go, ripening 
 into centuries, the events which have gone to make 
 up this great world's history, the events which have 
 gone to ennoble and purify and lift up man, have 
 been treasured by movable types and upon papers 
 and parchments that are enduring. 
 
 And we bless Thee also that Thou didst move 
 upon mighty men to come to this land, barren, des- 
 titute, gloomy, forbidding, and to establish here the 
 republic that should endure as long as time endures. 
 We praise Thee that in the hearts of these noble 
 men there was the desire to worship the everlasting 
 God, and to bring up generations that should honor 
 Him forever and forever. And now we praise Thee 
 that Thou didst send to these shores representatives 
 of a man whose heart was full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord, and who cried out for more light. May 
 that be the petition of all descendants of him who 
 
 76 
 
loved his own land, but sought for his own people 
 a larger heritage. And we pray that these genera- 
 tions now existing may rise, and in his memory do 
 their best for this our beloved land. And we thank 
 Thee for the memory of her who looked back through 
 generations to him who loved his God and who loved 
 his native land, and who desired for his people better 
 things. We thank Thee for that spirit of philan- 
 thropy which she fostered in him who has so won- 
 derfully blessed this town. We thank Thee for this 
 donor to our Free Public Library, who has made a 
 home for that collection which has so long been 
 dear to this people. 
 
 We thank Thee for the hearts that inspired men 
 and women to plant this library here in our midst. 
 And so, Lord, we beseech Thee for Thy blessing 
 upon all who have in any way contributed to this 
 great event in the history of Oxford. We pray for 
 Thy blessing upon all donors. We pray for Thy 
 blessing upon all who have arduously toiled. We pray 
 for Thy blessing upon the recipients of this gift. We 
 pray for Thy blessing upon the generations yet to 
 come and to enjoy these things; We pray for Thy 
 benediction upon aU that pertains in any way to this 
 acquisition to our town's wealth. Hear us, we en- 
 treat Thee, and, as we dedicate this building to Thee 
 and to Thy glory, we would dedicate it to these 
 fathers and these mothers, these sons and these 
 daughters; we would dedicate it to the children of 
 generations yet unborn ; we would dedicate it as a 
 memorial forever. 
 
 And we beseech Thee to hear our petitions and 
 
 77 
 
give us "more light*' until the day when Thou shalt 
 gather us all into Thy kingdom, with Jesus Christ, 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 CHAIRMAN : Friends, this is, in character, a kind 
 of " Old Home Week" gathering. Most of those 
 who have participated are in some manner connected 
 with Oxford, if not residents. The Orator of the 
 Day, however, we regret to say, is a native neither 
 of Oxford nor of Worcester County. If he were, 
 we could not claim him, for he belongs to the nation 
 and the age. We are, nevertheless, no less happy to 
 welcome him here to-day, and I take great pleasure 
 as I have the honor to introduce to you the distin- 
 guished gentleman who will deliver the dedicatory 
 address for this occasion, 
 
 HON. CARROLL D. WRIGHT, President of Clark 
 College of Worcester. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 Dreams, books, are each a world ; and books, we know, 
 Are a substantial world, both pure and good. 
 Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, 
 Our pastime and our happiness will grow. 
 
 WORDSWORTH, in " Personal Talk," Stanza 3. 
 
 In books lies the soul of the whole Past Time ; the articu- 
 late audible voice of the Past, when the body and material 
 substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream. 
 
 CARLYLE, Heroes and Hero-worship. 
 
 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has the 
 proud distinction of being the only State in the 
 
 78 
 
world that can announce the great fact that every 
 city and town within its borders has the right and 
 privilege of a free public library. The importance 
 of this proclamation is enhanced by the fact that 
 there are 353 cities and towns in the State. One 
 might ask why it is that this Commonwealth of ours 
 has achieved this great work. I think we may look 
 for an answer in the principles involved in the set- 
 tlement of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay 
 Colonies, notwithstanding the diversity of the char- 
 acteristics of the settlers or founders of the two colo- 
 nies. Those of the Plymouth Colony took on the 
 freedom of thought of the Independents who made 
 up the body of Pilgrims, on the one hand, relig- 
 ious, broad-minded men and women as they were, 
 while, on the other, the men and women that made 
 up the Massachusetts Bay Colony were Puritanical, 
 dogmatic, narrow, proscriptive, but thoroughly im- 
 bued with the idea of the observance of a strict re- 
 ligious life, accompanied by the desire and the 
 determination to secure educational privileges, the 
 latter being evidenced by their establishment of 
 Harvard College at an early date. There seemed 
 to be two lines of thought in the two colonies al- 
 most antagonistic in their nature, yet running along 
 in other directions on parallel lines. The basis of 
 their new civilization was the church, as evidenced 
 by the parish, the unit of municipal organization. 
 Out of this there naturally grew the desire to es- 
 tablish the two fundamental elements of American 
 civilization, the church and, by its side, the school- 
 house. Intolerant as they were of religious free- 
 
 79 
 
dom for others, fighting for the liberty of con- 
 science, and by that they meant the liberty of 
 their own conscience and not that of others, they, 
 nevertheless, established those institutions and in- 
 sisted upon those elements of civilization which have 
 marked the course and the progress of this Com- 
 monwealth, and which have had an enduring in- 
 fluence in the establishment of American constitu- 
 tions. Keligious to the extreme of bigotry, and 
 dogmatic and intolerant as they were, they were 
 nevertheless statesmen in a large sense, and so 
 ordered their lives that they have reflected on all 
 other political organizations in this country the firm 
 principles of political liberty and the loftiest ideals 
 of statecraft. 
 
 The leader of the Pilgrims, standing in their midst 
 in Holland on the 21st day of July, 1620, gave 
 to the world a new Magna Charta, when he said : " I 
 charge you if God should reveal anything to you 
 by any other instrument of his, be as ready to 
 receive it as ever you were to receive any truth 
 by my ministry, and I am confident that the Lord 
 hath more light and truth yet to break forth out 
 of his holy word." It was not immediately that 
 his disciples saw the force of this utterance. In 
 fact, it was not until after generations that the real 
 import of John Robinson's foresight was understood 
 by the people of the New World ; but the new and 
 the other light came gradually, however, and the 
 growth of our new civilization can date its birth 
 from the utterances of John Robinson, whose de- 
 scendant, in his generosity, and with a clear under- 
 
 80 
 
standing of the necessity of intellectual growth to 
 secure the highest ethical results, establishes this 
 beautiful memorial as the receptacle for the public 
 library of this ancient municipality. No other town 
 has the satisfaction of receiving a public library 
 erected to the memory of a lineal descendant of the 
 Rev. John Robinson of Leyden. Your town appre- 
 ciates this generosity, and more, it appreciates the 
 opportunity given it for perpetuating not only the 
 memory of the one who gives it, but the lofty senti- 
 ments of the ancestor who did so much to inspire 
 the growth of the highest qualities of mind in our 
 Commonwealth. 
 
 You have struggled here to gain a library for the 
 benefit of your citizens. As I read your history, I 
 find that several attempts were made to secure a col- 
 lection of books that should be of service to your 
 citizens, and from these small beginnings you finally 
 established a public library. But you needed a case, 
 and Charles Lamed has furnished it, and so well has 
 he done in its furnishing that you may justly be 
 proud of the rank you now take as the owner of 
 one of the most beautiful library buildings in the 
 State. 
 
 When we undertake to grasp the vast domain of 
 knowledge, we often regret that it cannot be be- 
 queathed as can other possessions; that the men who 
 have spent their lives in the pursuit of some depart- 
 ment of human knowledge or have sacrificed all com- 
 fort for the attainment of science should not be per- 
 mitted to transmit their acquisitions. In our short- 
 sightedness we feel that the world loses in some way 
 
 81 
 
from its sum of information when such men as 
 Agassiz are called from their labors. This feeling 
 of loss has taken possession of the minds of men in 
 all the ages that have witnessed the development of 
 the human race, and the desire to give to the world 
 that which has been dearly won in the varied fields 
 of learning has induced scholars to put into books 
 the gems of their possessions. 
 
 To transmit the results of research, to record the 
 deeds of men, to sing the praises of heroes, even to 
 perpetuate the names of men, these are motives 
 which have stimulated the labor of book-writing 
 from the days of papyrean records to present times. 
 And yet the origin of books cannot be traced. 
 How can it be traced when the scholastic Greek lost 
 all tradition of the birth of his nation? And books 
 existed long before the birth of the Greek nation. 
 The Scriptures were written in language dead even 
 at the time of their discovery; but the grand litera- 
 ture of the times of Moses and the Prophets has 
 found in modern scholarship the most correct inter- 
 preters. 
 
 The knowledge of the past has been bequeathed 
 to us, and we in turn shall bequeath the accumula- 
 tions of all the ages to those succeeding. To be- 
 queath the intellectual treasures of the past necessi- 
 tated the institution of libraries, and so we read of 
 the coUection of books as among the earliest works 
 of man. Even the Assyrians and Babylonians had 
 what have been aptly designated "libraries of clay," 
 being collections of inscribed bricks and tiles. 
 
 It is contended by some authors that the Hebrews 
 
were the originators of libraries proper, and that the 
 care they took for the preservation of their sacred 
 records and the story of the actions of their ances- 
 tors furnished an example to other nations. It is 
 recorded that Osymandyas, an Egyptian king, taking 
 the hint from the Hebrews, established a library in 
 his palace. He had inscribed over the door of his 
 library, "The Storehouse of Medicine for the Mind." 
 The Ptolemies were not only curious as to books, 
 but preserved them in magnificence in the city of 
 Alexandria. It was, indeed, a library that Nehemiah 
 instituted in the temple of Jerusalem, and in which 
 he preserved the books of the Prophets and of David, 
 and the letters of the kings. The first public library 
 at Athens was founded by Pisistratus. Rome had 
 its great collections of intellectual treasures, and in 
 ancient times every large church had its library, the 
 first church library having been founded by Pope 
 Nicholas at the Vatican in 1450. 
 
 The invention of the art of printing, which fol- 
 lowed the revival of learning in the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries, of course led to a wonderful in- 
 crease in the production of books, and consequently 
 to a new era in the history of public libraries, until 
 to-day the grandest monuments of civilization man 
 has been able to erect are the vast libraries of the 
 world. 
 
 So it seems that the library, almost coeval with 
 man, certainly with the growth of acquired knowl- 
 edge, has given the means for bequeathing that 
 knowledge, and thus rendered the sacrifices of the 
 devotees of science and of all learning the direct in- 
 
 83 
 
heritance of all who may inquire as to the nature of 
 their inheritance, but to none others than those who 
 knock at the door. The history of libraries shows, 
 of course, that ever-varying fortune which attends 
 the history of art and of all that belongs to man's 
 finer development, but the library has been the 
 door which wise men have erected everywhere at 
 which the seeker after knowledge can knock for ad- 
 mittance ; and the only condition has been the ex- 
 istence of the desire to learn. How many have 
 wanted to enter, but could find no door ! How 
 many have recognized the portal, but have failed to 
 give the sign ! 
 
 A generation before our Revolution a young 
 man, a Boston boy, who had run away from his 
 apprenticeship to a printer in Boston and had made 
 his home in Philadelphia, and who had felt the 
 great want of books, determined to institute means 
 by which he and others like him could have the 
 benefit of the brains of men who had recorded the 
 results of their labor. This young man had been 
 obliged to beg and borrow books ; had pinched his 
 stomach, that his mind might expand. The mem- 
 bers of a little club to which he belonged con- 
 tributed the few books they each owned to a com- 
 mon stock, and with these and a subscription of two 
 pounds each and ten shillings a year from about fifty 
 young men Franklin inaugurated his first impor- 
 tant movement for the good of his fellow-men. He 
 laid the foundation of the Public Library of Phila- 
 delphia. Franklin, in his Autobiography, in speak- 
 ing of this enterprise, says : " This was the mother 
 
 84 
 
of all the North American subscription libraries, now 
 so numerous. It has become a great thing itself, 
 and continually goes on increasing. These libra- 
 ries have improved the general conversation of the 
 Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers 
 as intelligent as most gentlemen from other coun- 
 tries, and perhaps have contributed in some degree 
 to the stand so generally made throughout the col- 
 onies in defence of their privileges." 
 
 The importance Franklin attached to this institu- 
 tion was great indeed, and the realization of the 
 value of the library resulting from his own wants 
 only influenced him still more in urging its founda- 
 tion. While the creation of this subscription li- 
 brary at Philadelphia was, as I have said, and ac- 
 cording to Edward Everett's testimony given at the 
 dedication of the Boston Public Library, Franklin's 
 first work of importance to his fellow-men, the li- 
 brary he established was the first of the kind of 
 which there is any record. It was not only the 
 mother of subscription libraries, but the parent of 
 the distinctly American free city and town libraries 
 which exist all over our country. 
 
 Andrew Carnegie, who has given several hundred 
 libraries to different municipalities, has testified that 
 he was induced to take this course through the de- 
 sire in early life to have access to books, and, when 
 a friend loaned him works from his own library, he 
 resolved that, if he ever had the means, he would do 
 all in his power to secure like privileges for others 
 seeking like advantages. 
 
 This matter of bequeathing knowledge through 
 
 85 
 
books and through collections of books called libra- 
 ries is well illustrated by an anecdote related by Mr. 
 Samuel S. Green, librarian of the Free Public Li- 
 brary of Worcester, in his address at the opening 
 of the library building of Clark University last Jan- 
 uary. Mr. Green was undertaking to show how 
 students seeking to add to the sum of human knowl- 
 edge must, in order to prevent a waste of time and 
 energy, first learn what is already known. Hence 
 the need of libraries to serve as storehouses of the 
 records of existing knowledge. He stated that the 
 process by which civilization grows, in so far as it is 
 advanced by the use of books, is a simple one, and 
 that this is obvious even to the untutored savage, as 
 is well illustrated by the remarks of Geroiiimo, an 
 Indian prisoner of the United States a few years ago, 
 who, when asked, " Do not the products of civilized 
 life astonish you?" replied, "No, I see how they 
 come about. A man does something, and writes a 
 book to describe it. Another man comes along, and 
 reads that book, and it occurs to him that he can do 
 better the thing that has been done. He improves 
 upon his predecessor, and writes a book to record his 
 accomplishment. A third person improves upon the 
 work of the second, and succeeding scholars and 
 thinkers, adding their own achievements to those of 
 their predecessors, in time produce the glorious re- 
 sults of high civilization. But," he added, " I was 
 taken to New Orleans, and shown an establishment 
 in which ice was made. At one end of a building I 
 saw wood thrown into furnaces, and out of the 
 other end came blocks of ice. Man did not do that : 
 
only God Almighty can make ice from fire." And 
 Mr. Green added, after relating this interesting an- 
 ecdote, that, although Geronimo had not come to 
 understand fully the power of man when he avails 
 himself of the forces of the universe, he certainly 
 had grasped an underlying principle in the process 
 of civilization. The garnered treasures of past 
 learning and the knowledge of the present are step- 
 ping stones to higher achievements and greater en- 
 lightenment. Standing on the shoulders of earlier 
 scholars, we gain a wider outlook and broader views. 
 
 So we need have no fear of losing the results of 
 the work accomplished by the human intellect. The 
 man who accomplishes results is mortal, and dies, 
 but his work survives him, and the library is the 
 storehouse that perpetuates all that is worth remem- 
 bering and what the student needs to enable him to 
 go forward in his researches, while it furnishes the 
 opportunity to man to gain a broader culture in life, 
 even if he does not secure the fundamental facts of 
 knowledge. Literature, art, everything that helps 
 to adorn the human character, can be gained by 
 reading, by the study of what is and of what has 
 been. 
 
 So the library is what Carlyle called it. He said, 
 " The true university of these days is a collection of 
 books." That author, given to epigrammatic say- 
 ings, never recorded a wiser one. The library is 
 the university of the town, and every town in our 
 honored Commonwealth has this university. It is 
 the source to which all citizens can freely go when- 
 ever taste, inclination, or the desire for knowledge, 
 
 87 
 
inspires them. And in the light of this grand in- 
 fluence we may overlook the criticisms that are 
 often made upon the character of the collection. 
 This world is not made up entirely of wheat. In 
 the divine plan there is chaff. The thistles will 
 grow up and help smother the pure grain, but the 
 pure grain is there, and the care exercised by the 
 managers of our public libraries is evidence that 
 the tares are kept to the minimum. 
 
 The influence of the library as the university of 
 the town is felt to a large degree in the new proc- 
 esses or new methods, rather, of instruction. Many 
 of us remember that the teacher's task as a teacher 
 was finished when she had asked the questions at 
 the bottom of the page of the text-book ; that there 
 was no indication or suggestion of what the student 
 better read in a collateral way in order to interest 
 him and to enable him to gain other information 
 than that given in the text-book, or to broaden his 
 mind by understanding the views of other authors 
 than those given him to study. In fact, there would 
 have been little use fifty years ago of the teacher's 
 suggesting to the student a course of collateral read- 
 ing, for the source of such reading was not at hand, 
 except in a very few private libraries, and then only to 
 a limited degree. Now the teacher knows well that 
 putting the questions which the text-book contains 
 is the smallest or slightest part of her work. She 
 must illuminate the whole subject ; she must stimu- 
 late the young mind in its plastic stage ; she must 
 throw around her work the elements that will induce 
 the boy or girl to seek further light and to secure 
 
 88 
 
greater enjoyment in the acquisition of knowledge. 
 If it be a class in history, she can easily say to its 
 members, "You will find in such and such works 
 an elaboration of this principle or the facts given 
 more in extenso" and the pupil has recourse to the 
 public library, where he can supplement the some- 
 what rigid work of the curriculum by interesting 
 collateral reading and gain a new insight into the 
 dryness of the text-book. 
 
 This course leads the young mind to comprehend 
 the real power of knowing well what is taught in 
 a preliminary way only in the public schools. The 
 pupil learns the power which he gains by a fuUer 
 knowledge, and, if he be industrious and his selec- 
 tions are wise, he can lead his class, and be an in- 
 fluence in his school and in his community. While 
 this is peculiarly true of history, it is also true that 
 other branches afford the same opportunity in dif- 
 ferent degrees, perhaps of acquiring that collateral 
 knowledge which is so necessary in the study of any 
 branch of learning. 
 
 Truly, the public library is the university of the 
 town, but it goes beyond this. The use of the 
 books of a public library by the pupils in the schools 
 carries its influence to the father and the mother and 
 the older members of the family, and a taste for 
 reading is acquired. Those of us who are passing 
 down the closing years of our lives know well that 
 the man who has a taste for reading, who never 
 allows an hour to pass in idleness when he can oc- 
 cupy himself with a good book, has a hold that no 
 other man has. He is not only entertaining himself ? 
 
but he may entertain others ; and he is a safer man, 
 a better citizen, a truer patriot, than the man who 
 has never had the good fortune to acquire the taste 
 for reading. The library helps him in his declining 
 years to make himself an agreeable companion and 
 a real helper in the progress of the studies of the 
 youth of his community. 
 
 We often hear some condemnation of the public 
 library. You will recall that the distinguished play- 
 wright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, in " The Rivals," 
 puts it in the mouth of one of his characters to say 
 that "a circulating library in a town is as an evergreen 
 tree of diabolical knowledge." This sentiment was 
 uttered 130 years ago, but we still hear it. We are 
 still told that the public library feeds the ambition 
 of the young, causes degeneration of the mind, and 
 pollutes morals ; and here and there we hear of a 
 youth who has been led into criminal courses by read- 
 ing trashy novels and adventures. We hear that 
 much reading creates discontent among the people, 
 who, it is assumed, ought to confine their lives in 
 the narrow limits of a workaday existence; that 
 through this discontent they are constantly grasping 
 for things not within their reach, and that by such 
 grasping they fail to perform the duties belonging 
 to an industrious life. 
 
 All these things may be true, but I assure you 
 they are true only in a very limited degree ; and the 
 extent to which they are true is offset by a higher 
 element which comes into the lives of those who 
 have free access to books. Every day I meet men 
 of the strongest mental capacity, men hard at work 
 
 90 
 
in their particular walk in life students of science, 
 writers, men whose labors cannot be limited to an 
 eight or a ten hour day, the products of whose 
 minds are giving to the world some of the best 
 thought and the best results that can be secured, 
 but who seek recreation, relaxation, rest, in fact, 
 by reading romance. We may say this is perfectly 
 safe for a mature mind, but unsafe for the young. 
 I believe too much novel-reading by the young is 
 pernicious to some degree, but chiefly because it may 
 vitiate a taste for reading of a higher order. The 
 good, clean, and wholesome novel only stimulates 
 mental activity : it does not dull it ; but, carried too 
 far, the better works are laid aside or neglected, 
 just as too much magazine reading after a while 
 vitiates the taste or dulls the desire to read more 
 sustained works. A man who reads magazines con- 
 stantly, shrinks from taking up a work of four or 
 five hundred pages on some subject which would be 
 of advantage to him. And yet the magazine is the 
 chief source to which many in their busy lives can 
 turn for the gratification of the desire to read at all. 
 The skimming of newspapers a necessity in our 
 day takes the edge off the desire to read books. 
 But, when we study the statistics of libraries and see 
 the character of the works that circulate in any com- 
 munity, especially in New England, I think one is 
 fully satisfied that there are no works of substantial 
 merit in a public library that do not receive gratify- 
 ing attention. 
 
 We are living in the day when competition is 
 mind with mind. Life is exacting. The necessity 
 
 91 
 
to earn one's living and to support one's family 
 leads to the desire for recreation, and this modern 
 condition superinduces the desire for general read- 
 ing. The activity of the mind must be fed, and the 
 degree in which the feeding process goes on de- 
 pends upon the facility of securing the food. 
 
 I believe that the reading by any man or boy or 
 girl of even what we may call trashy novels is bet- 
 ter for him or her than the idling away of his or her 
 life on the street or in questionable places, though 
 by such reading we may occasionally witness a wreck. 
 In every work there will be found something good ? 
 and, if a book takes a boy off the street and from 
 vicious companions, so much good has been accom- 
 plished. The influence may not be immediate, but 
 it is there. It is always in every book, as in every 
 play, however low down it may be, that virtue is 
 lauded, and when virtue triumphs, even in the old 
 Bowery Theatre in New York, the applause which 
 comes from the galleries is stronger than that from 
 any other part of the house ; and no author of a cheap 
 novel would allow his created viUain to secure per- 
 manent success. Many a child reading light and 
 even frivolous works has often had his taste for 
 reading stimulated to the selection of better books, 
 and this process may secure to him that general 
 taste for reading which enables one to obtain higher 
 positions in life than would otherwise have been 
 possible. There is no one so poor as the man who 
 does not read. 
 
 We must not condemn utterly all reading simply 
 because some is of such a character as to exert a bad 
 
 92 
 
influence. This is just as true of life as it is of 
 books. We must not condemn all men because 
 some are vicious. The better way to overcome the 
 influences which come from strong drink is by some 
 healthful substitute. It may not be a radical sub- 
 stitute, but whatever it is that prevents the presence 
 in the saloon or the idling away of hours in the 
 streets in dissolute companionship is certainly to be 
 commended, in so far as it accomplishes this result. 
 
 But there is one grand satisfaction in considering 
 this side of the public library, and that is that in 
 the sterling virtues of our people, as exercised 
 through the town meeting, the purest type of de- 
 mocracy that has ever existed, there is a careful scru- 
 tiny in the selection of books for the shelves. This 
 must be kept up. There must be a judicious cen- 
 sorship in the management of every public library, 
 and with this censorship we need have no very 
 alarming fears of the result. 
 
 I think it is safe to say that the public library 
 now completes the trinity of public influences in 
 shaping thought. Our forefathers established the 
 church and the school-house. We have added to 
 these the public library, and now these three great 
 institutions are with us, and aim for the very best 
 civilization. How can it be otherwise ? What has 
 been the great influence that keeps this country true 
 to the principles established by the settlers? We 
 are not a warlike people. We believe in education, 
 and are willing to take the results. France, with its 
 brilliant history, with all its science and its literature, 
 now spends $4 per capita for military purposes per 
 
annum, and only 70 cents per capita for general 
 public educational work ; and England, our mother, 
 spends $3.72 per annum for military purposes, and 
 only 62 cents per capita for the education of her 
 people. Prussia spends $2.04 for her military es- 
 tablishment per capita, and only 50 cents for her 
 public schools. The United States expends 75 cents 
 per capita per annum for military equipment, and 
 $3 per capita for her public education, while we in 
 Massachusetts spend $4.96 for every man, woman, 
 and child within the State's borders for public 
 schools. 
 
 These facts testify to the influences which have 
 worked with us. They show that we care more for 
 the qualities of the mind than for any other, and 
 that we are following the great exhortation of John 
 Robinson to receive light whenever it is revealed to 
 us; and this library, citizens of Oxford, this gen- 
 erous memorial, is an evidence that in your triple 
 position of Pilgrim and Puritan and Huguenot you 
 have not lost sight of those great principles which 
 mean religious and political liberty and intellectual 
 freedom. 
 
 CHAIRMAN: Permit me to repeat the notice al- 
 ready given, that the Charles Larned Memorial will 
 be open for inspection at the close of these exer- 
 cises. 
 
 You are now requested to rise and join in the 
 singing of " America, "and remain standing until the 
 benediction is pronounced by Rev. Albert Tyler, of 
 Oxford. 
 
 94 
 
SINGING. 
 America. 
 
 BENEDICTION. 
 
 And now may the Father's everlasting blessing 
 rest upon this edifice which we have upon this occa- 
 sion dedicated. May the Father's kindly hand rest 
 in blessing upon the head and heart of him who was 
 inspired to build it. May the memories of this glo- 
 rious occasion be with us in days to come, inspiring 
 us to work for humanity and for the glory of God. 
 Amen. 
 
 05 
 
DEED. 
 all men bn tlK0c presents, 
 
 , CHARLES L ARM ED, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk 
 and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in consideration of one dol- 
 lar and other valuable considerations paid by the TOWN OF 
 OXFORD, in the County of Worcester and Commonwealth of Mas- 
 sachusetts, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, do hereby 
 remise, release, and forever quitclaim unto the said TOWN OF 
 OXFORD a building constructed of Kittanning gray brick with 
 Milford pink granite foundation and trimmings, designated on 
 a granite slab at the front of the balcony over the main entrance 
 and known as the CHARLES LARNED MEMORIAL, for the 
 purpose set forth on a metal tablet set into the front wall in a 
 niche north of said main entrance, bearing the following legend : 
 
 I 
 
 @ THIS BUILDING *** 
 
 ERECTED 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 CLARISSA ROBINSON LARNED 
 
 A LINEAL DESCENDANT 
 
 IN THE SEVENTH GENERATION 
 
 OF 
 
 REV. JOHN ROBINSON 
 
 OF LEYDEN 
 
 IS PRESENTED 
 
 TO THE 
 TOWN OF OXFORD 
 
 FOR THE USE OF ITS 
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 FOR ALL TIME & 
 
 Said building being located on what was formerly known as 
 the "Captain De Witt lot" and later as the "Hyde lot," on the 
 west side of Main Street, at the corner of Sigourney Street, in said 
 
 96 
 
Oxford, bounded and described as follows : on the east by Main 
 Street about one hundred seventy-five feet; on the north by land 
 of Orrin F. Joslin about two hundred feet ; on the west by land 
 of Herman H. Sigourney about one hundred seventy-five feet ; on 
 the south by Sigourney Street about two hundred feet; being the 
 same premises conveyed to Orrin F. Joslin by Mary D. Hyde by 
 deed dated the twenty-third day of July in the year one thou- 
 sand nine hundred one (23 July, 1901) and recorded in Worcester 
 District Registry Book 1690, page 444, corrected by a quitclaim 
 deed from said Hyde to said Joslin, dated 20 May, 1902, and 
 -filed for record in Worcester District Registry. 
 
 o Ijatu? and to Ijolb the granted premises, with all the privileges 
 and appurtenances thereto belonging, to the said Town of Oxford 
 and its heirs and assigns, to their own use and behoof forever. 
 
 And I do hereby, for myself and my heirs, executors, and 
 administrators, covenant with the said grantee and its heirs 
 and assigns that the granted premises are free from all incum- 
 brances made or suffered by me, and that I will and my heirs, 
 executors, and administrators shall warrant anJ brfimb the same to 
 the said grantee and its heirs and assigns forever against the 
 lawful claims and demands of all persons claiming by, through, 
 or under me, but against none other. 
 
 SH imturss rnlf*mtf, I, the said CHARLES LARNED, being un- 
 married, hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-ninth day of 
 September in the year one thousand nine hundred and four. 
 
 Signed, sealed, and delivered ") 
 
 in presence of CHARLES LARNED. [SEAL] 
 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL. \ 
 
 <E0mmrmfa?ttltlf 
 
 Suffolk ss., 29 September, 1904.. Then personally appeared the 
 above-named CHARLES LARNED, and acknowledged the fore- 
 going instrument to be his free act and deed, before me, 
 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL, 
 Worcester, ss. Justice of the Peace. 
 
 November 15, 1904, at 3 hours, 16 minutes, p.m. Received 
 and entered with Worcester District Deeds, Book 1794, page 4-87. 
 
 Attest : 
 
 DANIEL KENT, 
 
 Register. 
 97 
 
THE BUILDING. 
 
 The plot upon which the Charles Larned Memo- 
 rial stands is the most eligible, for library purposes, 
 within the limits of the town. Sufficiently removed 
 from the noisy activities of village life, it is yet 
 hard-by the business and residential centre and 
 within easy reach of post-office, stores, schools, and 
 churches. 
 
 " Oxford Plain," so called, is noted for the beauty 
 of its Main Street. Seven rods in width, this well- 
 shaded thoroughfare extends north and south for 
 nearly a mile on a level. 
 
 Upon its west side with a frontage of about 
 180 feet and a depth westward of 200 feet on 
 Sigourney Street, its southern boundary, bor- 
 dered on the north and west by private estates, these 
 amply shaded and spacious grounds, retired, yet easy 
 of access, offer an ideal location for an institution 
 upon which more than upon any other is focussed 
 the interest of the whole community. 
 
 The building, in the form of a Roman cross and 
 Renaissance in style of architecture, is placed in the 
 centre of the lot, facing eastward, the extreme 
 width from north to south being about 70 feet, and 
 its length, east and west from entrance steps to rear 
 of stack-room, upwards of 82 feet. 
 
PE, R.A. 
 
 land 
 
 in 1620 
 
THE BUILDING. 
 
 The plot upon which the Charles Lamed Memo- 
 rial stands is the most eligible, for library purposes, 
 within the limits of the town. Sufficiently removed 
 from the noisy activities of village life, it is yet 
 hard-b^'^h^^ft^in^^^cf^slifeM^Lal centre and 
 within easy reach of post-office, stores, schools, and 
 churches. 
 
 61 Oxford Plain,'' so called, is noted for the beauty 
 
 , ., fcP"l.M"Af .*>!. ; v>j tf i ,n8i',*h4 8v : J 
 
 or its Mam fetreet. seven rods in width, this well- 
 
 shaded thoroughfare^ extends north and south for 
 nearly a mile on a level. 
 
 iKl^atybJKfl&r^ tFJf&i^tfegtege of about 
 180 feet and a depth westward of 200 feet on 
 Sigourney Street, its southern boundary, bor- 
 *leradbtiBf r^fefc mtk/aiij[i^eti by pmvateefetart^sy these 
 amply shaded an^sgacgojis^poirnds, retired, yet easy 
 of access, offer an ideal location for an institution 
 upon which more than upon any other is focussed 
 the interest of the whole community. 
 
 The building, in the form of a Roman cross and 
 Renaissance in style of architecture, is placed in the 
 centre of the lot, facing eastward, the extreme 
 width from north to south being about 70 feet, and 
 its length, east and west from entrance steps to rear 
 of stack-room, upwards of 82 feet. 
 
The central portion is two stories in height, 
 affording a spacious room on the second floor for 
 the display of art and antiquities, smah 1 gatherings 
 for conference, a trustees' room, attic storage rooms, 
 etc. 
 
 A broad granolithic walk leads from Main Street 
 to the front entrance, the head of the cross, and, 
 ascending a flight of eight granite steps flanked 
 by heavy buttresses, we stand in the entrance 
 porch between polished granite columns and pilas- 
 ters. Over our heads, in heavy block letters cut 
 from the solid stone, stands out 
 
 FKEE PUBLIC LIBKAKY, 
 and surmounting this, in front of the balcony above, 
 
 CHAELES LAKNED 
 MEMOKIAL, 
 
 while just to the right of the porch, in a niche 
 corresponding to the window on the left, is placed 
 a massive bronze tablet, bearing the legend repro- 
 duced on page 96. 
 
 Entering the vestibule, a flight of stairs on the 
 right leads to the basement. Passing through the 
 door in front, we are in the Delivery Hall. On 
 the right, stairs lead to the floor above. On the 
 left is a small room furnished with cases, table, and 
 chairs for special study or conversation. Directly 
 in front is the Delivery Counter and Cataloguing 
 Eoom, immediately in the rear of which is the 
 Stack Room. On the right or north of the delivery 
 counter is the Librarian's Room, with Toilet Room 
 
adjoining. Corresponding to the librarian's room 
 on the left or south of the delivery counter is the 
 Reference Room. South of the delivery hall and 
 reference room and extending from front to rear of 
 the main building is the General Reading Room, 
 lighted by windows on three sides. In the corre- 
 sponding wing on the north side is the Juvenile 
 Room, somewhat smaUer. Each of the two latter 
 being furnished with a spacious fireplace, bordered 
 by enamelled tile-work and a rich mantel. 
 
 The stack-room, including the basement, is 
 designed for three tiers of stacks, with a total capac- 
 ity for 40,000 volumes, and is practically fireproof, 
 being separated from the main building by fire- 
 proof walls and doors. Between the stack-room 
 and main structure there are outside stairways lead- 
 ing up to the cataloguing room being the rear 
 entrance connected with Sigourney Street by a 
 granolithic walk and down to the basement, 
 which with its whitened walls and cement flooring 
 is spacious and well lighted, affording accommoda- 
 tion for the steam-heating apparatus, coal bunkers, 
 toilet and storage rooms, and any additional equip- 
 ment which may be required in the future. The 
 building is heated by steam and is piped for gas, 
 though lighted throughout by electricity, and sup- 
 plied with running water from a neighboring hill. 
 
 The building material is Milford pink granite 
 and a light gray brick. The ashlar basement, in- 
 cluding water-table, steps, and entrance porch en- 
 tire, door and window sills and caps, chimney caps 
 and coping, are of selected granite, while the brick of 
 
 100 
 
which the walls are constructed is from Kittanning, 
 Armstrong County, Pa., and so thoroughly vitrified 
 in the process of manufacture as to be impervious 
 to moisture. 
 
 The roof of the main structure is covered with 
 
 g Monson black slate, trimmed with copper hip, ridge 
 crestings, and finials, and that of the stack-room 
 with rolled copper. The floors of the first and sec- 
 
 (~ ond story are of kiln-dried quartered oak, the 
 
 < general reading, reference, and juvenile rooms hav- 
 ing inlaid patterns, except those of the delivery hall 
 
 u. and vestibule, which are Italian marble mosaic, 
 
 < flecked with the French fleur-de-lis, with ornamental 
 border of classic design, the base-boards, plinths, and 
 thresholds being of the same rich material, while in 
 the centre of the space a graceful wreath incloses 
 the monogram of Mrs. Lamed, for whom the build- 
 ing stands as a memorial. 
 
 The stack-room is exceptionally well lighted and 
 well ventilated, with ample windows upon three 
 sides, and furnished with Library Bureau clutch 
 double steel stack, glass floor, hand lift, and iron 
 stairway. 
 
 The walls and ceilings are tastefully tinted and 
 decorated, while the interior finish, with all furni- 
 ture, fixed and movable, designed and made to order, 
 is of choice quartered oak, finished in natural tints. 
 
 One of the most artistic features of the structure 
 is the stained glass work of Redding, Baird & Co., 
 Boston. While plain, polished plate glass, from 
 considerations of utility, was adopted for windows, 
 doors, and sometimes partitions, the leaded glass 
 
 101 
 
bordering the main doorway, transoms, and espe- 
 cially the large arched window over the porch ap- 
 peal strongly to the aesthetic sense, and are notable 
 for their appropriateness and artistic merit. The 
 latter commemorates " The Departure of the Pil- 
 grims from Holland in 1620," and represents a 
 group from the famous painting of Charles West 
 Cope, R.A., one of a series decorating the British 
 House of Parliament. 
 
 This superb creation, about eight by ten feet in 
 size, consists of a large central panel surrounded by 
 border panels at the top and sides, with emblematic 
 medallions representing "The Mayflower," "The 
 Open Bible," and " A Burning Lamp, " which 
 serve as foils to the main group. 
 
 The central figure of the devout circle kneeling 
 at the water's edge is that of the revered Robinson, 
 with outstretched arms and eyes turned heavenward 
 as he commits his charge to Him who rules the 
 winds and waves. The accessories are in the high- 
 est degree suggestive, especially the local coloring, 
 as seen in the Dutch dwellings of gray stone with 
 heavy gables and tiled roofs, the old windmill, the 
 waiting boat ready to convey its precious freight to 
 the "Mayflower" in the offing, and even the pas- 
 tor's passionate soul-cry for "More Light" flashing 
 forth in ruby and gold from the clear skies over- 
 head. 
 
 The transoms on the main floor, including the 
 stairway, each of which is a work of art, are no less 
 noticeable for their suggestive beauty. In the cen- 
 tre of each is a twelve-inch circular medallion, 
 
 102 
 
THE DEPARTURE OF THE PILGRIMS FROM HOLLAND IN 1620. 
 CHARLES WEST COPE, R.A. 
 
twelve being reproductions of old book-marks used 
 by printers and publishers, mostly in the sixteenth 
 century, while the remaining four in the juvenile 
 room consist of flowers and figures selected from 
 " Flora's Feast " by Walter Crane. 
 
 They may be briefly described as f oUows : 
 
 SPECIAL STUDY BOOM. 
 
 Arion with violin and bow, standing upon the dolphin. 
 Johann Oporin, Basle. 
 About 1510-1570. 
 
 An anchor held by two hands and bearing the Greek letters 
 Alpha and Omega, also Chi Bho, the initial letters of the name 
 of The Anointed." 
 
 Motto: " CONCORDIA." 
 
 Gerardus Wolfschatius, Antwerp. 
 
 About 1601-1625. 
 
 GENERAL BEADING ROOM. 
 
 A crab below, a butterfly above. 
 
 Motto: "MATURA." 
 
 Jehan Trellon, Lyons, and other Lyons printers. 
 About 1540-1550. 
 
 An anchor held by a hand reaching from the clouds. 
 
 Motto: "ANCHORA SPEI." 
 
 Thomas Vautrollier, London and Edinburgh. 
 
 About 1565-1605. 
 
 Also 
 
 John Norton, London. 
 1601- 
 
 108 
 
A primitive hand-press and an open book, surrounded by a 
 ring of serpents. Invented 1428, 1440. 
 
 Copied from a silver medal struck in Haarlem by Laurens 
 Koster. 
 
 A pair of compasses directed by a hand. 
 
 Motto : " LABORE ET CONSTANTIA." 
 
 The best known of several devices used by the famous 
 Plantins of Antwerp, printers and publishers. Introduced by 
 Christopher Plantin about 1550. 
 
 Pegasus. 
 
 Motto: " AD ASTRA VOLAJSTDUM." 
 
 Jeremiah Duemlerus, Nuremberg. 
 
 About 1601-1650. 
 
 The winged bust of a woman with three heads, a woman, 
 an old man, a young man. A laurel wreath above, a star in 
 the woman's forehead, an open book below. 
 Motto: "USUS ME GENUIT." 
 Melchior and Gaspard Trechsel, Lyons. 
 About 1526-1550. 
 
 REFERENCE KOOM. 
 
 A Bible richly bound, in a circle of light. 
 Motto : " YET AT MORI." 
 David Martini, Antwerp. 
 About 1601. 
 
 LIBRARIAN'S ROOM. 
 
 An open book displayed on the breast of Phoenix, bearing 
 the Greek letters Alpha and Omega. 
 
 Motto : l ' RENO VABITUR. ' ' 
 
 Johannes Columbius, Deventer. 
 
 About 1650. 
 
 104 
 
STAIRWAY. 
 
 A boy piping beneath a tree beside a stream on which he 
 has just launched a tiny boat bearing a burning lamp. 
 
 Motto: " TOUT BIEN OU RIEN." 
 
 Elihu Yedder's design for the Riverside Press, Cambridge, 
 first made to accompany his illustrations to "Rubaiyat" of 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 Two hands holding upright a caduceus, on which is perched 
 a bird. The two serpents are crowned. 
 
 Motto: "FROBEN." 
 
 The device of John Froben, Basle. 
 
 About 1490-1525. 
 
 JUVENILE ROOM. 
 
 The Tulips lift their banners red, 
 Or fill their cups with fire instead. 
 
 The little Crocus reaches up 
 To catch a sunbeam in his cup. 
 
 The evening Primrose lights her lamp, 
 A beacon to the garden camp. 
 
 The Lilies of the day are done, 
 And sunk the golden westering Sun. 
 
 Those who have been instrumental in realizing 
 an expression of the sentiment and purpose which 
 here find embodiment are : 
 
 Cutting, Carleton & Cutting, 
 
 Worcester ARCHITECTS. 
 
 Rankin & Woodside, Worcester . . . GENERAL CONTRACTORS, 
 
 105 
 
SUB-CONTRACTORS . 
 
 O. Berggren, Oxford MILFORD PINK GRANITE. 
 
 Boston Fire Brick Co., Boston .... KITTANNING (PA.) GRAY 
 
 BRICK. 
 
 George A. Barnard & Sons, Worcester . ROOFING. 
 
 Willis C. Beveridge, Oxford .... PLASTERING. 
 
 New England Marble and Mosaic Co- 
 operative Co., Boston ..... MOSAIC WORK. 
 
 O. S. Kendall & Son, Worcester . . . HEATING AND TILE WORK. 
 
 Redding, Baird & Co., Boston . . . STAINED GLASS. 
 
 Stenberg & Co., Worcester MURAL DECORATION. 
 
 Plummer, Ham & Richardson, Worces- 
 ter ELECTRIC WORK. 
 
 T. F. McGann & Sons Co., Boston . . BRONZE TABLET. 
 
 Library Bureau, Boston FURNITURE AND FITTINGS. 
 
 Hey wood Bros. & Wakefield Co., Bos- 
 ton FURNITURE. 
 
 Henry M. Pratt, Boston GRADING AND SHRUBBERY. 
 
 The Receipts and Disbursements whereby this 
 was accomplished are best set forth in the Report of 
 the Building Committee submitted to the town at its 
 annual meeting, 3 April, 1905, which is hereto 
 appended. 
 
 106 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BUILDING COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHARLES LARNED MEMORIAL. 
 
 The Building Committee of the Charles Larned 
 Memorial was appointed when the terms of the gift 
 required that one-third of the expense should 
 be borne by the town. Subsequently, Mr. Larned 
 proposed to assume the entire expense of the build- 
 ing, and in view of this change no report to the 
 town, save as regards the Wallace Fund and the 
 $500 appropriation by the town, would seem to be 
 called for, but, as the citizens are deeply interested 
 in all details connected with our Free Public Li- 
 brary, the financial report of the Charles Larned 
 Memorial, in so far as it has been determined by 
 the Committee, is respectfully submitted. 
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS AND APPROPRIATIONS. 
 
 O. F. Joslin . $1,000.00 
 
 Town appropriation 500.00 
 
 Wallace Fund 2,783.84 
 
 Town appropriation for lot 4,500.00 
 
 Charles Larned 25,083.47 
 
 Credit allowed by town on insurance for three years, 116.65 
 
 $33,983.96 
 Town appropriation of $500 overdrawn .... 13.83 
 
 $33,997.79 
 107 
 
DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 
 Lot. 
 
 Movable 
 Furniture. 
 
 Building 
 and Fixed 
 Furniture. 
 
 Total 
 Cost. 
 
 Library site . . . 
 
 $5 500 00 
 
 
 
 $5 500 00 
 
 Telegram Newspaper Co 
 George E. Chaffee, printing 
 J. E. Kimball, labor of teams 
 Vinton Bros., teams 
 Chaffee Bros. Co., pipes, etc 
 John H. McWhorter, labor 
 H. M. Pratt, grading and shrubs .... 
 C S Bacon insurance 
 
 13.80 
 4.75 
 26.39 
 255.58 
 18.10 
 
 678.58 
 
 
 
 54.35 
 140 00 
 
 13.80 
 4.75 
 26.39 
 255.58 
 18.10 
 54.35 
 678.58 
 140 00 
 
 Visiting libraries for plans . . . 
 
 
 
 16 46 
 
 16.46 
 
 Postage, car-fare, filling post holes . . . 
 Stationery and telephone 
 Expense to Boston for plans 
 W H Haven, piping 
 
 3.52 
 
 
 
 .45 
 5.44 
 
 28 48 
 
 3.52 
 .45 
 5.44 
 
 28.48 
 
 William I. Thompson, engineer .... 
 N S Pike cleaning well 
 
 1000 
 
 
 
 8.95 
 
 8.95 
 10.00 
 
 Boardman Bros., copper box . . . 
 
 
 
 
 2 55 
 
 2.55 
 
 Vinton Bros., trucking 
 
 
 
 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 Express on tamels 
 Duncan & Goodell, hardware 
 H. O. Lamson, lighting 
 
 
 
 
 
 3.30 
 175.00 
 453 00 
 
 3.30 
 175.00 
 453.00 
 
 Chaffee Bros. Co., chairs 
 
 
 
 $212.65 
 
 
 212.65 
 
 C. F. Daniels, labor 
 
 .68 
 
 
 
 
 .68 
 
 The Clark-Sawyer Co., tools 
 
 
 9.06 
 
 
 
 9.06 
 
 Duncan & Goodell tools 
 
 
 10 00 
 
 
 10.00 
 
 John H. McWhorter, labor 
 William Miller & Son, labor 
 Doll & Richards, framing plan .... 
 H. M. Pratt, plan 
 Law & Hawxhurst.gas and electric fixtures 
 Dedication expense, printing, etc. . . . 
 Expense telephone freight 
 
 14.75 
 26.03 
 
 18.50 
 15.00 
 
 .50 
 
 184.00 
 40.32 
 2.57 
 
 14.75 
 26.03 
 18.50 
 15.00 
 184.00 
 40.32 
 3.07 
 
 Freight on gas machine . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 6.71 
 
 6.71 
 
 Plummer, Ham & Richardson, elec. w'k . 
 C. G. Farnsworth, putting on door spring, 
 Barnard, Sumner & Putnam, curtains . 
 E. A. Wheelock, door spring 
 Rankin & Woodside, contract 
 Rankin <fe Woodside coal 
 
 
 
 37.80 
 
 41.40 
 1.55 
 
 1.80 
 20,083.30 
 13.50 
 
 41.40 
 1.55 
 37.80 
 1.80 
 20,083.30 
 13.50 
 
 O. Berggren, extra on stone work . . . 
 Cutting, Carleton & Cutting, architects . 
 O. S. Kendall, heating 
 Library Bureau, furniture and stack-room 
 Chaffee Bros. Co., lumber, pipe, etc. . . 
 Postage 
 
 .40 
 
 623.25 
 6.00 
 
 453.30 
 1,029.34 
 800.00 
 3,630.25 
 7.70 
 8.23 
 
 453.30 
 1,029.34 
 800.00 
 4,253.50 
 14.10 
 8.23 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lot, reduced by sale of buildings .... 
 
 $6,552.58 
 681.50 
 
 $932.76 
 
 $27,193.95 
 
 $34,679.29 
 681.50 
 
 
 $5,871.08 
 
 
 
 $33,997.79 
 
 The above does not include the cost of copper roof over stack-room, mosaic floor in de- 
 livery-room, ornamental glass windows and bronze tablet, approximating $2,500, which 
 items were paid by Mr. Larned, and of whose cost the committee has no knowledge. 
 
 JOHN E. KIMBALL, 
 ORRIN F. JOSLIN, 
 ALFRED M. CHAFFEE, 
 
 OXFORD, Mass., 3 April, 1905. 
 
 108 
 
Basement' Plan 
 
 CHARLES LARNED-MEMORIAL 
 OXFORD-MASS- 
 
 Cutting-Carleton'CuHing 
 architects 
 Worcester-Mass- 
 
Tirst-FloorPUn- 
 
 HARUC5 LARNED-NEMORIAL 
 OXFORD MA55- 
 
Second-Floor Plan- 
 
 CHARLES LARNED-MEMORIAL- 
 OXFORD MA5S 
 
 Cutting Carleton'Cuttinfc 
 
 Grchitects- 
 Worcester -Nass- 
 
 Cniiauarian Room 
 
STAIRWAY LEADING TO SECOND FLOOR. 
 
 DELIVERY COUNTER AND CATALOGUING ROOM. 
 STACK ROOM IN REAR. 
 
 DOOR OF LIBRARIAN'S ROOM ON THE RIGHT. 
 
LOOKING FROM JUVENILE ROOM TO GENERAL READING ROOM 
 ACROSS DELIVERY HALL. 
 
 LOOKING FROM GENERAL READING ROOM TO JUVENILE ROOM 
 ACROSS DELIVERY HALL. 
 
A CORNER IN THE JUVENILE ROOM, LOOKING WEST. 
 
 GENERAL READING ROOM, LOOKING SOUTH. 
 
SPECIAL STUDY AND CONVERSATION ROOM.