Celebrate at New Bedford

Hundred and Fifty Attend Lincoln Day Dinner at Town Hall

CIVIL WAR VETS ARE HONOR GUESTS

Memories of Abraham Lincoln and the men who held up his hands from ’61 to ’65 were linked with the present day when on Wednesday evening a Community Day Dinner was held in the town hall of New Bedford.  Nearly 150 men were present, so many in fact that it was necessary to set a second table for those who could not be accommodated at the first. 

While the Dinner was a timely reminder of Lincoln Day, yet back of it was a bigger idea, one that would result later in a bronze tablet being erected to the memory of the New Bedford men who went out in the Civil War.  Small though the village is, yet it boasts some 200 names, a remarkable showing. 

TOWN HALL DECORATED

For the dinner the town hall was decorated with red, white and blue bunting, with a picture of Abraham Lincoln looking down on the affair.  The chairman of the Soldiers’ committee was Russell Shields, while the toastmaster of the evening was Tad E. Shields.

The honor guests of the evening were Ex-Sheriff Edwin L. Ayres and Henderson Sharp, the surviving Civil War Veterans of New Bedford and the two old warriors were given a reception that must have been pleasing to them.  Following the blessing by Rev. Henry Ostenmeir, a corps of young men of New Bedford served the guests with generous helpings of oyster stew and the viands that go with it.

For the speaking program there were a number of short addresses that proved interesting.  Rev. Shaffer, pastor of the M.E. church spoke on “The Ancestry and Boyhood of Lincoln.”  Irvin Robb spoke on “The National Convention of 1860.”  Rev. Montgomery of the Mahoning U.P. church spoke on “Lincoln’s Task as President.”  Rev. Ostenmeir spoke on “Lincoln’s Masterpieces.”  F.W. Bradley spoke on “Lincoln’s Tragic Death and Burial.”

MANY GUESTS

Among the crowd present were many guests from New Castle, New Wilmington, and Pulaski and several of them spoke briefly, among them Attorney William McElwee, Jr., Dr. Frederick Taylor and Attorney Mont L. Ailey.

The work of raising the funds for the memorial tablet will be pushed, the dinner of Wednesday evening beginning merely the opening gun.

Already there have been promises of support for the project and within a few months it is hoped that the tablet will be a reality, a memorial in bronze to those mend of New Bedford who went out at the call of Abraham Lincoln.