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Darius S. Gibbs
1860
09 21 COPPERING
The subscriber has opened a shop for manufacturing all kinds of work in his line.
Wanted
20,000 Round Hickory Hoops
100,000 Flat Ash Hoops
50,000 Pork Barrel Hoops
For which the highest cash price will be paid.
Having worked for the old settlers of Watertown and vicinity sixteen years since, and being well known to the inhabitants, I feel the utmost confidence in once more soliciting their patronage. I intend making Watertown my permanent place of residence and hope to merit and receive a liberal share of business. All work done by me warranted to give satisfaction.
Shop 4 doors below Watertown House, 1st St. [First, S, 115]
D. S. Gibbs. WR
1865
07
20 THE RECEPTION OF COMPANY B, 29TH WISCONSIN REGIMENT, Thursday
Evening, July 13th, 1865
Ample
preparations having been made for a Reception Festival to be given to Company
B, commanded by Capt. D. S. Gibbs and such other members of the 29th Wisconsin
Regiment as might be in the city and its vicinity, the affair came off last
Thursday evening, the 13th. It was a
brilliant success in most all respects and it is gratifying to be able to state
that those for whom it was more particularly intended were highly pleased and
delighted with the entertainment to which they were invited.
About three years ago Company B of the 29th Regiment,
known as the Watertown Company, was raised in this city. On the evening before its departure for the
theater of war, the 19th of September, 1862, then commanded by Capt. T. R.
Mott, our citizens provided a magnificent supper for its members, at which, we
believe, everyone was present. On its
return here on the 7th, measures were immediately taken to welcome back the
company, now under command of Capt. D. S. Gibbs, with a similar public
festival.
All classes of citizens cheerfully joined in
completely carrying out this suggestion.
The ovation took place at Cole’s Hall last Thursday evening, attended by
an assemblage as large as was ever collected here on a similar occasion. The ladies displayed great zeal and activity
in this social enterprise and to their effort must be largely attributed the
happy fortune which attended the design and execution of the whole plan. They all felt that too much could not be done
for those who had promptly answered the call of their country, risked so much,
patiently endured every privation and fought so bravely for the preservation of
the Union.
Early in the evening the crowd began to assemble and
soon the large hall was filled to overflowing.
Capt. Gibbs called the members of this company together, formed them
into line, marched them through the streets, and then entered the hall and
arranged them in a semi-circle, in front of the platform, over which was
suspended the American flag, above which were the words “Welcome Home.” Mr. Robert Tompkins, formerly Sergeant Major
of the regiment, was chosen to act as president of the day and he performed his
part in an admirable manner. Everything
being in readiness, he introduced the speaker of the evening, when was
delivered the following.
_________________________
RECEPTION ADDRESS TO COMPANY B, 29th WISCONSIN
REGIMENT
BY D. W. BALLLOU, JR.
Soldiers of the Union Army:
After a mighty struggle of four years, the rebellion
is crushed, the war ended, the Union saved, and you who went out from our midst
in an hour of anxious doubt and intense solicitude –having discharged all your
new and perilous duties in the camp, in the field, and in the shock of battle –
have returned to your families with nothing but the memory of fallen companions
to mingle sorrow with your rejoicing, as you recall the trials and triumphs of
the past.
We have assembled this evening to give you a public
reception, to extend to you a cordial and hearty welcome home again, to express
our gratitude for the sacrifices you have made, to show our appreciation of the
devotion you have displayed, and if we could we would add another green leaf to
the unfading laurel that adorns the brave and faithful soldier’s brow.
In this grateful and pleasing act, the patriotic and
intelligent ladies of this city, who have ever been regardful of your wants and
every ready to relieve them, have willingly united with us in a demonstration
designed to indicate to some extent our deep sense of obligation to you, and to
manifest the admiration we cherish for deeds like yours and for services so
priceless and far beyond all our means to adequately reward.
Scarcely three summers ago, when most of you stood in
this hall with others who will be seen no more – on the eve of your departure
to resist and drive back the angry waves of insurrection then raging all over
the South, thick clouds hung around the present and threw their gloomy darkness
over the future. Before the close of the
full term of your enlistment, you who have survived stand here again, and now,
thanks to your unfailing valor and that of your comrades, under the providence
of God, a marvelous and wonderful change has been wrought. Both the present and the future are so bright
with promise that hardly a shadow rests on the cheering and animating prospects
that spread out before us all, inviting alike the people and the North and of
the South to build up where they have torn down, to make fruitful the wide
regions that have been desolated, to cultivate, improve and embellish the waste
places of the land, to restore what has been destroyed – always excepting the
wrong and curse of slavery – that immeasurable iniquity, let us trust, has
perished and is gone forever.
During your absence – and what a stirring and “crowded
life” of thought, action, agitation and bereavement we have lived during the
eventful interval – both the people and the army have accomplished a great and
beneficent work – both have been firmly traveling the rugged pathway that leads
to universal freedom and impartial justice.
You have made possible the realization of the fond
vision of a perfect Republic – widespread and well-governed – in which all
classes and conditions shall be equal and responsible before the law, as they
are equal and responsible before the bar of Him who is no respecter of
persons. You have aided in completing
what our Revolutionary statesmen so well began, and given additional beauty,
symmetry and strength to the political institutions whose broad and solid
foundations were laid at the commencement of our contest with Great Britain,
over three-quarters of a century ago, which had for its aim and end the
establishment of a Government of the people, by the people and for the
people.
For the first time, on the 4th of July, 1865, we have
been able to read the Declaration of Independence without the reservation of
the inconsistency that the words of flame in which Jefferson wrote that
immortal document were not meant for all mankind, but only for a superior race.
The formidable Rebellion which has just been
overwhelmed and extinguished by the emulous and invincible armies of the East
and the West did not
“Arise in the sunshine and the smile of heaven,
But wrapped in whirlwinds and begirt with woes,”
It began its disastrous career and moved on to its
final catastrophe, until it fell with a crash that not only buried its guilty
and perjured authors beneath its ruins, but filled all with astonishment at the
suddenness with which so vast a conspiracy had dissolved and disappeared. You have been in the midst of its fiercest
storms – with firm hearts and armed hands, you have mingled in the fearful and
bloody strife, and as you advanced forward in your terrible tasks, with
unwavering fidelity and unyielding resolution to conquer, making every blow
tell and sometimes turning even defeat to advantage, we who watched from a distance
the constantly varying and shifting fortunes of the momentous life and death
conflict in which you were engaged, felt our bosoms swell with the liveliest
emotions of pride and hope, as we saw your steady onward progress in the sacred
cause, while victory after victory emblazoned your standard as it waved over
your heads in the wildest tempest of the fight, and beheld inscribed on the
banner of the 29th Wisconsin Regiment, under Col. Charles R. Gill, Col. William
A. Greene, and Lieut. Col. Bradford Hancock, in rapid succession, the memorable
names of Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Vicksburg, Jackson, Sabine Cross Roads and
Mobile, and our exultation was not lessened when we learned that where all had
done well, the Company from Watertown, under Capt. Thomas R. Mott and Capt.
Darius S. Gibbs, was entitled to a full share of the honor so gallantly won and
gracefully worn.
When we bade you a sad farewell we did not know how
long we should have a Government to guard us, or a name worth claiming. We did not know into how many broken and
dismembered fragments this fair sisterhood of States might be scattered, before
we should hail with gladness your reappearance, for it then seemed as if pillar
after pillar of our fabric of empire was parting asunder and falling away, to
be replaced no more. We feel now that
the whole unbounded continent of ours, and as state after state is added to the
Union, star after star will spangle thicker the bright constellation that
already lights up our free country’s glorious flag. These are some of the grand results of your
achievements – dearly purchased indeed, but of value high above all their cost
of life and treasure.
“Let the bells ring out the tidings,
Let the joyful cannon roar,
Truth and Right have won the battle,
Peace and Union reign once more.”
This is a day we have all longed and desired to
see. Your task is finished, your toils
are over, and now, with a union of hearts, a union of hands, and the Union of
States forever, we welcome home “Our Boys in Blue,” who carried the banner of
the undivided Republic from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, from the Ohio to the
Gulf, beating back the advancing columns of the vanquished Confederacy,
determined not to give up the contest for supremacy until every traitorous
ensign had been trampled in the dust, or folded up, hid away from human
sight. You have returned, but not until
the last campaign had terminated, the last expedition had closed, that last
march had been made, the last rebel army had disbanded, the last enemy had surrendered,
the last gun had been fired, the last musket stacked, and the last hostile
footstep had ceased to tread the soil between the Atlantic and Pacific. You have returned, but not until the expiring
tumult and thunder of the Rebellion had died away and the undimmed stars of the
regenerated and restored Republic were again serenely shining in the clear sky
above you, in all their original brightness, every wanderer brought back and
all singing the new song of FREEDOM.
Thrice welcome home are the defenders of the
Union. Unto you be the choicest
blessings of peace and prosperity, under the mild and free Government you have
preserved and consolidated, for you have deserved all and more than it can
bestow.
_________________________
Capt. D. S. Gibbs relied to the above address in a few
happy remarks, thanking the people of Watertown for the uniform kindness, warm
and constant interest they had always shown not only for the health and welfare
of the company from Watertown, but also for the prosperity and success of the
whole regiment. He said that on many
occasions the hearts of the soldiers had been made glad by the reception of
articles sent to them when most needed, and these evidences of remembrance and
regard were duly appreciated and all felt that they were not forgotten by friends
and relatives at home, and this conviction had the best influence on the
soldiers in the midst of severe duties and frequent privations.
At the conclusion of the formal address of welcome,
loud calls were made for the former commander of the 29th Regiment, Col.
Charles R. Gill, when that gentleman came forward and made a speech in which he
reviewed the history of the regiment from the time it left the state to the day
of its return. He gave an interesting
statement of its marches, privations, bravery in battle and achievements,
showing that it had shrunk from no duty or danger, and how it had won for
itself the high and honorable name and fame with which it had left the military
service of the United States. His
remarks were received with repeated demonstrations of enthusiasm, and three
hearty cheers followed his retirement from the stand.
Hon. Hiram Barber, Jr., was next called for, and he
came forward and delivered an appropriate and eloquent address in which he
spoke of the character and value of what had been done and accomplished by the
armies of the Union, and the share taken by those present in the great events
which had occurred during the war. His
remarks drew frequent cheers from the listening audience.
These exercises being over, the President extended an
invitation to the returned soldiers, with their wives, sisters and sweet
hearts, to repair to the rooms below and partake of the supper prepared for
them by their fair country women, which
was promptly accepted by the brave volunteers, and we venture to say that few
of them have rarely set down to a table arranged with more skill and taste, or
more profusely loaded with the best of everything that care or money could
procure at this season of the year, all enhanced by the politeness and attention
of the gay and smiling throng who stood ready to meet and answer all their
calls.
Severe and constant as were the demands made on the
ladies, they went through their part with cheerfulness and vivacity, neglecting
none and courteous to all. Some idea of
the extent of their efforts on this occasion may be formed from the fact that
they entertained over five hundred guests during the evening, and it was far
past midnight before they were relieved from their arduous labors. They won the thanks and admiration of the
heroes from the war, who were the special objects of regard and compliment, and
we have no doubt, are fully satisfied with such a reward.
After supper the band began to play for those who
wished to join the festival dance and in this lively amusement, the hours of
evening flew swiftly by, all seeming to enjoy themselves finely, until they
choose to withdraw themselves from the pleasures and congratulations of the
delightful scenes around them.
With one exception – applicable to ourselves – the
whole affair was a brilliant and complete success, highly creditable to all
connected with it in every respect. When
the Watertown Company went away we gave them our blessings. Now that those the chances of war have spared
have come back, we have received them with gratitude for what they have done
for us. We have performed the last act
of a thrilling drama, by crowning the victors with our thanks and
approbation. We can do no more, after
commending them and theirs to the generosity and care of our common country. Watertown Democrat
History of Watertown, Wisconsin