The Bay State Monthly, Vol. II, No. 6, March, 1885 by Various

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"Both branches of the City Council met on Tuesday evening and
transacted the following business:

The principal business was

IN JOINT CONVENTION.

Major Davis presided and announced that Judge T.K. Ware,
Chairman of the Trustees of the Public Library, had a
communication to present to the City Council.

Judge Ware said that he appeared before the Council at the
request of Honorable Rodney Wallace, who, previous to his
departure for the South, left with him the following
communication which gave him pleasure and gratification to be
able to present to the City Council:

_To His Honor, the Mayor and the City Council of the City of
Fitchburg_;

GENTLEMEN:--The subscriber has felt for a long time that a
building with proper appurtenances for our Public Library here
in Fitchburg was much needed, and makes the following
proposition, viz:

I propose to convey by proper deed to the city of Fitchburg my
lot of land situated at the corner of Main street and Newton
place, and to expend, with the advice and approval of the
Trustees of the Public Library, within the next two years, a sum
not less than forty thousand dollars ($40,000) in erecting a
building on said lot; said building to be under the care and
management of the Board of Trustees of the Public Library for
the time being, and to be used for a Free Public Library,
Reading Rooms and Art Gallery, and for no other purpose.

And it is understood that the city government, accepting these
donations for the above purposes, shall assume and bear the
current expenses of said building, grounds and appurtenances,
after the Library building shall have been completed and
furnished.

If the above proposition is accepted I shall proceed to carry
out the same as soon as it can conveniently be done.

RODNEY WALLACE.
FITCHBURG, March 17, 1884.

Mayor Davis said this act on the part of our esteemed fellow
citizen calls forth the profound gratitude of all the
inhabitants of our city. I cannot allow this opportunity to pass
without expressing my thanks, as a citizen, for the munificent
gift. May his life be long and his prosperity increasing.

The following order, introduced by Mayor Davis, was then
unanimously adopted:

_Ordered_, That the City of Fitchburg accept the donation of
Honorable Rodney Wallace to it of the lot of land on the corner
of Main street and Newton place, and the Library building to be
erected by him thereon, upon the conditions and in accordance
with the terms and provisions contained in his written
communication and proposal to the Mayor and City Council; and
places on record its profound appreciation of the public spirit
and munificence of the donor, and its recognition of the
incalculable benefits which will result to his fellow citizens
and their descendants and successors for all time from this
noble gift.

Alderman Joel said the surprise was so great and so agreeable
that words were not at his command to express the thanks he, in
common with all other members, felt for the munificent gift
presented by Mr. Wallace. He moved that a committee be appointed
to prepare and forward a vote of thanks to Honorable Rodney
Wallace for his gift. The motion was unanimously adopted, and
Mayor Davis appointed Alderman Joel, Councilmen Flaherty and
Parkhill as the committee."

From the _Sentinel_ of April 10, 1884, I clip the following:

"The following resolutions have been presented to Honorable
Rodney Wallace by the special committee appointed at the joint
convention of the two branches of the City Council, March 25:

To HONORABLE RODNEY WALLACE: FITCHBURG, Mass.

_Whereas_, the Mayor and City Council of the city of Fitchburg
have received and accepted a proposition tendered by Honorable
Rodney Wallace of this city, by the terms of which a lot of land
situated at the corner of Main street and Newton place is
donated to the city of Fitchburg, and a sum not less than forty
thousand dollars is to be expended by him, with the advice and
approval of the Trustees of the Public Library, within the next
two years in erecting a building on said lot, said building to
be used for a Free Public Library, Reading Rooms, and an Art
Gallery; therefore,

_Resolved_, That this body desires to voice and place on record
the universal appreciation on the part of our citizens of the
generosity and public spirit of the honored donor, of the
timeliness of the gift, and not less, of the wisdom and
foresight manifested in the particular mode by which the city
is made the recipient of the munificent present.

_Resolved_, That we recognize the fact that a gift of this
nature will result in incalculable benefits to the community so
fortunate as to receive it, enlarging and intensifying, as it
does, all the privileges of acquiring information and securing
culture which a public library affords; providing in a most
accessible and useful form the means by which our young people
and those whose daily toil leaves them little leisure for study,
may draw to themselves the results of all past experience; and
rendering both attractive and easy to all classes of our people
opportunities of turning their thoughts from the sterner
features of their daily occupations to the amenities of life as
presented by specimens of artistic and literary merit.

_Resolved_, That while sharing in the delight of our citizens in
view of the valuable gift thus unexpectedly placed at their
service, we congratulate them even more upon the presence among
them of men whom Providence has blessed in three-fold
measure--with hearts abounding in philanthropic instincts, with
material resources ample for the gratification of such impulses,
and with that rarer gift than either, the judgment requisite to
secure for their donations the widest and most permanent range
of influence.

_Resolved_, That we cannot resist the inclination to felicitate
our honored benefactor upon the deep and abiding joy which must
be the most adequate reward for this expression of his good will
toward our city--the joy arising from the knowledge that every
home within our corporate limits will enter into the enjoyment
of his gift and that not a few of our youth will be allured from
scenes of degrading and immoral pleasure by the presence in a
most convenient location of a beautiful edifice within which are
at their disposal the graces of art and the riches of
literature.

_Resolved_, That the distinguished giver by this gift, the most
valuable ever received by this community at one time from a
single citizen, has "erected a monument more enduring than
bronze and loftier than the regal structure of the pyramids" in
the establishment of a lasting sense of gratitude within the
hearts of his appreciative fellow citizens.

ALONZO DAVIS,
JOEL JOEL,
BERNARD H. FLAHERTY,
JOHN PARKHILL,
(_Committee_)
FITCHBURG, April 1, 1884."

Although $40,000 is the lowest limit named, it should be said that the
cost of the noble pile will far exceed that sum. It was a generous and
princely act for which he will be held in lasting and greatful memory.
He will leave behind him a monument which will forever identify his name
with the intellectual and moral culture of all classes of the citizens
of Fitchburg.

On the seventh of April, the Trustees of the Public Library took
appropriate action on the gift of Mr. Wallace. The following account
appeared in the _Sentinel_ of April 8:

"At a meeting of the Trustees of the Public Library, Monday
evening, the board adopted the following resolution, offered by
Henry A. Willis, and on motion of Rev. P.J. Garrigan it was
voted to enter the same on their records, request the daily
papers of the city to publish the same, and that Rev. P.J.
Garrigan, Henry A. Willis and L.H. Bradford be appointed a
committee to present the action of the board to Mr. Wallace:

_Resolved_, That we have heard with great satisfaction of the
proposed gift by Honorable Rodney Wallace of land and a building
for the use of the Public Library, thus providing for a want
long felt by the Trustees, viz: facilities for making the
Library fully available to the people of the city, which it
never could be in its present confined quarters; that we will
fully co-operate with the generous donor in any manner desired
by him in carrying out the details of his proposed undertaking;
and that we desire here to place upon our records our keen
appreciation of the generous spirit which has moved him to
tender this munificent gift."

The new library building fronts on Main street, and looks out upon
Monument Park and the beautiful Court House of North Worcester County.
It is of Greek classic style, and is built of Trenton pressed brick. It
has sandstone trimmings. It has a frontage of seventy-four feet on Main
street, and is sixty-five feet deep. The basement is ten feet in height.
It is two stories above the basement. The library floor is sixteen feet
high. The second story, which contains the picture gallery, is ten feet
high on the outside, and thirty-two in the centre. The extreme height is
therefore fifty-eight feet. The front of the building is especially
imposing. It has a projection in the centre, twenty-five feet wide and
six feet deep, which extends the whole height of the structure and
terminates in a gable, which is surrounded by a decorated pediment. The
main entrance is approached by massive steps of granite, twelve feet
wide, flanked by heavy buttresses. At the top of the steps is the
entrance porch, eleven feet wide, six feet deep, and arched overhead.
Polished granite columns with carved capitals on either side support the
archway above. In the belt of sandstone above this arch is cut the
legend "Library and Art Building." Above this belt is a row of windows
separated by columns of brick. Above these is a sandstone belt in which
is cut the name of the donor, by vote of the City Government. The title
of the structure is therefore "Wallace Library and Art Building." Above
is a row of circular windows separated by sandstone columns with carved
capitals. The hip roof of the building is crowned by a monitor top,
which admits light into the art room below. Over the entrance is to be
the city seal, in antique and Venetian glass. The whole structure is
amply lighted by a large number of windows.

The basement provides for a store-room, a work-room, and reading-room,
which opens off Newton lane. The public will have full access to this
room. It will specially accommodate the workingmen. The late Honorable
Wm. H. Vose left $1,000, the income of which is to be used in supplying
suitable papers for this room. There are also in the basement a coal
room, and the boiler which heats the whole building. On entering the
building one stands in a large hall, on the right of which is a
reading-room for magazines, and on the left is a large reference room,
and a winding stairway by which the second story is reached. Across the
whole rear of the building is the library room, which is high enough to
admit of galleries. Ample provisions are thus made for all the possible
future needs of the city. In the second story is the art gallery. Around
it are five other rooms, which can be devoted to any of the uses such an
institution may require. When completed the inside will be finished in
hard woods, and according to modern ideas of taste and elegance. The art
gallery will be a model of its kind.

With a collection of books and of works of art to match the thought of
the donor expressed in the building the library will be a lasting
blessing to our city. A gift so timely, and so well adapted to the needs
of a city like Fitchburg, with its population of young people, could not
fail to commend itself, and win the gratitude of every right-minded
citizen. Therefore, any one who will stand in front of this building for
an hour, and listen to the remarks made by those who look up to it as
they pass, will readily learn how deep a hold on the esteem of all
classes of the citizens of Fitchburg this generous act has given Mr.
Wallace.

Lest my estimate of Mr. Wallace may seem extravagant to those who do not
know him, I add the following from the pen of Professor H.M. Tyler of
Smith College, Northampton, formerly Mr. Wallace's pastor. He writes:--

"It gives me great pleasure to send a few lines in answer to
your note, though it would be easy for a critic to say that I
have long since passed the point where I could give a
cold-blooded opinion of Mr. Wallace. I can write only from the
stand-point of warm friendship and cannot be cold in my respect
and admiration for my friend. Mr. Wallace is pre-eminently a
business man; to this the chief energy of his life has been
directed. It seems an impertinence for me to pass judgment upon
his career, but I have loved to study him in his business
habits. By his affability, correctness, and fairness in all his
work he has succeeded marvellously in attaching every one to
himself. All instinctively gravitate toward him, and never wish
to break off their association with him. I never knew a man so
master of his own ways and yet so universally popular. People
love to be influenced or even controlled by him. His office
would be the centre of any community in which he should be
placed. All men love to fasten to him their faith. He has
everywhere learned to gather friends by showing himself
friendly. His interest in the people of his own community has
been shown not merely by his public benefactions. Every one in
want of help has turned to him, and all have had a patient
hearing and generous response.

He has been associated with people of every position and among
all has been a favorite companion. Everyone has felt at home
with him. It is rarely true that a man has gained success with
so thorough a desire that his friends should enjoy what he has
gathered with him. He is thus remarkable for his prosperity, for
the use which he is making of his prosperity, for his delight in
giving pleasure to others, and for the disposition and temper
which finds its enjoyment in such rational and kindly ways.

It is not that one never disagrees with Mr. Wallace. He would
scorn the flattery which yields convictions to attempt to
please. Even when we differ he is none the less congenial. If I
have ever had the feeling that in any respect I should like to
make him over it has generally yielded to the conviction that on
the whole I could not hope to do better than has been done.
Among all the men with whom I have come in contact in places of
business responsibility and honor I do not know another to whom
I give more unqualified respect and esteem than I do to Mr.
Wallace. Cordially,

HENRY M. TYLER."

Mr. Wallace, as has appeared, was for three years associated with
Governor Long in the Government of Massachusetts. In response to a note
from me Mr. Long writes as follows:

"I am glad to know that you are writing a sketch of Mr. Wallace
for publication. If a good subject will make a good sketch your
work will be a success. He is one of the men, however, who write
their own lives, not in the pages of any autobiography, but in
their conduct and character. I have served with him in public
life, and sat with him as one of my Councilors in the Executive
Chamber, and have found him always a fund of practical good
sense, of excellent judgment, trained by great experience in
affairs, and of thorough integrity. He is a representative
Massachusetts man, the builder of his own fortune, equal to the
enterprise of acquiring wealth and position, and magnanimous in
their use and enjoyment. But I like best to recall, as I am sure
do all who know him, his generous friendship, his great public
spirit, and his good heart, of which I have witnessed many
proofs. I trust that it may be many years before his life is
taken in any other way than in such an appreciative and kindly
sketch as you will write of him.

Very truly yours,
JOHN D. LONG."

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 7, 1885.

December 1, 1853, Mr. Wallace married Sophia Ingalls, daughter of Thomas
Ingalls of Rindge, New Hampshire. She died June 20, 1871, leaving two
sons, Herbert I. Wallace and George R. Wallace. Herbert is a graduate of
Harvard in the class of 1877. George studied at the Institute of
Technology in Boston. They are associated with their father in the
management of his business. December 28, 1876 Mr. Wallace married Mrs.
Sophia F. Bailey of Woodstock, Vermont. Mr. Bailey was a member of
Congress from the district in which Fitchburg is included. Mrs. Wallace
is one of the well-known Billings family of Woodstock. Mr. Wallace lives
in a beautiful house on Prospect street, which is surrounded with
beautiful lawns and green-houses which, gratify his taste. From his
front door he can overlook the city and its varied industries in whose
development he has borne so conspicuous a part.

We are near the end of a story which it has been a pleasure to tell.
Vastly more could be told. A volume of incidents could be written. There
are precious secrets of every generous and noble man's life which no pen
may profane by giving them publicity. These are the choice treasures
reserved only for those who know him best, and live nearest his heart.
But the writer desires, as Mr. Wallace's pastor, to add the testimony of
observation and personal knowledge to the rare purity and uprightness of
character, to the generosity of spirit, to the thoughtful kindness, and
to the deep and reverent regard for spiritual things, of his
distinguished parishioner. As an example of untiring energy, of probity
of character, of cleanness of soul, of uprightness of life, of sincerity
of purpose, of firmness of moral principle, he may safely be held up as
a model for young men.

* * * * *

FITCHBURG.

BY MRS. CAROLINE A. MASON.[A]

[Footnote A: Mrs. Mason is a resident of Fitchburg. Her home, on
Rollstone Street, is shown in the "Sketch of Fitchburg." Her reputation
as a writer of verse is not confined to the State. She is the author of
the words of the familiar ballad "Do They Miss Me at Home?" and has, for
many years, contributed poetry to leading weeklies and magazines.--Ed.]

Nested among her hills she lies,--
The city of our love!
Within her, pleasant homes arise;
And healthful airs and happy skies
Float peacefully above.

A sturdy few, 'mid hopes and fears,
Her fair foundations set:
And looking backward now, through years
Of steady gain, how small appears
Her old estate!--and yet,

She dons no autocratic airs,
In scorn of humbler days,
But shapes her fortunes and affairs,
To match the civic wreath she wears
And justify her bays.

Honor and Truth her old renown:
Conservative of both,
The virtues of the little town
She holds in legacy, to crown
The city's larger growth.

Nor ease nor sloth her strength despoil:
Her peaceful farmers till,
With patient thrift, th' outlying soil,
Her trained mechanics deftly toil,
Her merchants ply their skill;

Her ponderous engineries supply
A thousand waiting needs;
Her wheels revolve, her shuttles fly,--
And ever where the prize hangs high,
Her foot, unfaltering, leads.

Her sympathies are large and sweet:
And when, at Freedom's call,
The war flags waved, the war drums beat,
She sprang, responsive, to her feet,
And freely offered all!

Alert in War, she emulates
The Arts of Peace, as well:
Religion, Order, guard her gates;
Wealth, Culture, Thrift, like happy Fates,
Her destinies foretell.

So, through the round of years, she keeps
Advancing on her Past:
Her old-time vigor never sleeps,--
And even as she sows she reaps.
God bless her to the last!

* * * * *

MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE AT SHILOH.

GENERAL U.S. GRANT'S VINDICATION OF GENERAL WALLACE.--THE WALLACE AND
GRANT LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

BY GENERAL HENRY B. CARRINGTON.

[Author of "Battles of the American Revolution."]

It seems common to all great wars that the true version of leading
actions is rarely assured by the immediate reports of commanders. Many
causes secure to such reports substantial accuracy, but the development
of details seldom fails to show that justice to subordinates cannot be
done by the simple statement of general plans and general results. There
are historians who still claim that Arnold had no part in the battle of
Freeman's Farm, September 19, 1777; and many other battles of the
Revolutionary war lacked clear definition until nearly a century had
passed and the records were supplemented by careful examination of the
battle-fields and a more thorough scrutiny of British, French, and
Hessian archives, thereby to correct topographical data and harmonize
conflicting statements.

The case of General Fitz John Porter forcibly illustrates the difficulty
of changing public opinion, once formed, even when supplemental data
enforce military recognition of their value. The Battle of Franklin,
which secured to General Thomas the opportunity to fortify Nashville and
ultimately defeat Hood, and the battles of Stone River, Gettysburg,
Chicamauga and Monocacy, are among the actions of the late war in which
differences of statement as to positions and movements have greatly
qualified first estimates of the relations which various officers
sustained to those actions.

The battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, has been the latest under
scrutiny. It is not the purpose to consider whether the action of the
day was influenced by the arrival of Buel's army, or by the non-arrival
of General Lew Wallace's division; nor whether General Wallace did, or
did not, march by scientific methods, when he moved for the nearest
firing. Among voluminous papers touching the civil war are the copies of
original papers received from General Wallace himself, and of present
interest. These papers received notice from the Western press at one
time, but seem to demand a more formal record, as essential factors in
the better understanding of the Battle of Shiloh.

The following outline is suggested by these documents:

1st. That the Federal line of battle, early in the morning, stretched
out from Pittsburg Landing nearly to the Purdy Road, with General
Sherman's division on the right, within about a mile of that road.

2nd. That General Wallace's division was at Crump's Landing, not more
than five miles from Pittsburg Landing; it being then uncertain which of
the two would be the objective of attack.

3d. That General Grant visited General Wallace at Crump's Landing and
ordered him to hold his command subject to orders, and then steamed
onward to Pittsburg Landing.

4th. That before 6 o'clock, A.M., the sound of firing had led General
Wallace to put his command under arms; and he was prepared to move
wherever active work should demand, even before he was ordered to be
thus ready.

5th. That he concentrated his brigades, then in three camps, into one
mass, at the forks of the Purdy Road and the road to Pittsburg Landing,
so that he might take either road, as orders should decide.

6th. That he understood the original line of battle and the disposition
of its divisions, and knew that General Sherman held the right.

7th. That the order received by him, before 12 o'clock, M., from Captain
Baxter, staff officer of General Grant, was in writing; and while
pronounced verbally, at first, the form it assumed, when reduced to
writing and subsequently delivered to General Wallace, was a direct
order to "unite with the right," and that involved the march on the
Purdy Road.

If the verbal order of General Grant to Captain Baxter, to hasten
General Wallace's Division to Pittsburg Landing, was reduced to writing
by that officer, after he noticed the early success of the Union Line,
he would have shaped the approach of the fresh division to the best
possible advantage, to join the _army_, not the precise _Landing_, if
the army was not there; since General Grant, still being on crutches
from a sprained ankle when his horse fell under and upon him, on the
fourth, was compelled to depend largely upon staff-officers for
judicious action, in exigencies which fell under their eyes, and where
his riding was greatly limited. There is full harmony of events, by
giving full credit to all the data which seem, at first, to work
conflict.

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