All honor due ye, hoary heads,
Assembled here to-day,
A power higher than man's own
Hath guarded your pathway;
Else not one aged pioneer
Would answer to the call
Which brings the few remaining ones
With each successive fall.'Tis good to meet and here relate
The hardships each hath borne,
You known of toils and sorrows pass'd
O'er which none others mourn;
You know when the rude little cabins
Loomed up in the distance afar;
Each one brought joy to your household,
For a neighbor, a friend would be there.
'Mid joyful songs and stories
Your evenings slowly waned,
When the choppings, and the raisings,
And the husbands all were gained.
Think not that we would feign forget
Your fearless courage tried,
Nor less appreciate the boon
Your efforts have supplied.
Our eyes behold an Eden,
Where once the forest stood,
Where generations more than one
Have wrestled with the wood.
Where grew the bramble-bush and trees,
Are laws of velvet green,
Imagination scarce can paint
The changes there have been. |
|
Where swale and marshes yielded
naught
To energetic men,
Are orchards now of choicest fruit
And fields of golden grain.
Not a cabin left which sheltered
Our fathers brave and true;
They've crumbled like their owners,
And mansions rise to view.Products alone are not her wealth -
Our Pioneers have cause
To justly feel a pride in those
Who consecrate their laws.
E'en from the swamps came talent fair,
And self-made men are here,
Schooled in a little but of logs,
No college then was near.
We oft bewail, declare our roads
Are not quite smooth enough;
Well, forty years ago to-day
Wood county roads were rough.
The farmer laid aside the wheels,
And, mounted on his horse,
Would ride for many weary mile
To reach the old Court House.
But now instead its dome appears,
As centrally behest,
From seat of Justice speed the trains,
North-South- yea, East and West.
All nature smiles upon you now,
God bless your later years!
The time will come, we'll call in vain
For our dear Pioneers. |
