Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 18.djvu/216



188 Fred Wilbur Powell

on the hill and to share his home in East Gilmanton. "Te- naciously he would cling to his little home," wrote a contem- porary, "believing that if he stayed there his fortune would ulti- mately turn, and the little tract of land which his friends allowed him to remain upon and which he finally believed was his own, would become of untold value, and again he would be a wealthy man. Feeble and almost blind for a year or two, he has tottered about the village, leaning upcMi his cane, an object of pity, believing that in the development and building up of the village the golden time was approaching."^

The question naturally arises as to what he would have done had his prayers to congress been granted. This question Kelley himself answered :

"He asks for a donation of land, that he may be able to repay, in lands or money, those who have contributed to the means of prosecuting his enterprise ; and to make some suitable provision for support now in the decline of life. Could he be placed in a state of freedom from nervous irritation, and have things convenient and comfortable; and could his mind rest from anxiety and excitement caused by his persecuting enemies, and his hands be untied and his feet unfettered, he could again, he thinks be measurably useful to his country ; and with a good degree of vigor, and effect, engage in laborious and philan-

23 Springfield Daily Union^ January 23, 1874.

"I will now speak as to my usefulness to the people of Three Rivers; what I have done to promote the growth and good appearance of the village. . ..

village and promote the mterest of the company, I freely gave to the company land. . and also took several shares ot the stock at par, and also did my
 * To encourage the h^ of the New London and Amherst railroad, through the

friend Pickering of Boston take fifteen or twenty shares, and in other ways en- couraged the building of the road.

"Built three houses and parts of two others and that by my own bands. . ..

"Mr. Pickering, for whom I acted as agent, sold at a reduced price the site of the school house called Pickering Hall, and gave a bill for that spadous and beautiful building, this he freely did, though at my suggestion. . ..

"To make myself further useful to the people, I prepared a circular giving a description of the place, which was sent to the manufacturers abroad, and to such capitalists and enterprising men, as would be likely to come and contribute to its growth and prosperity. . ..

"For several years after coming into the place, I practiced hauling and tilting fsic] wood at the door of poor families and in other wa^s did I consiaer the poor. On the occasion of a Thanksgiving day I made a feast, it would well compare with any of the feasts the rich prepare for the rich and invited widows and orphans to it. My house was filled, ana their hearts were made idad. The next day the fragments were distributed to the poor not present** — Kelley, "Beloved Bretlvcn,** Jan. 14, 1870. Ms.