overnor's life must be a hard one, he must have to deny himself many
pleasures. Our minister, the Rev. Henry P. Jacobs, wrote a long poem
to be read on the occasion; it was in blank verse like Young's "Night
Thoughts," and some thought he had imitated it; but it was generally
considered very fine, though we had not the pleasure of hearing it at
the centennial--why, I will explain later.

There was to be a grand procession, of course, illustrative of the
arts, trades, and professions in our village a hundred years ago and
at the present time, and Mrs. Jameson engineered that. I never saw a
woman work as she did. Louisa and I agreed that she could not be so
very delicate after all. She had a finger in everything except the
cooking; that she left mostly to the rest of us, though she did break
over in one instance to our sorrow. We made pound-cake, and cupcake,
and Indian puddings, and pies, and we baked beans enough for a
standing army. Of course, the dinner was to be after the fashion of
one of a hundred years ago. The old oven in the Shaw kitchen was to
be heated, and Indian puddings and pies baked in it; but that would
not hold enough for such a multitude as we expected, so we all baked
at home--that is, all except Caroline Liscom. She would not bake a
thing because Mrs. Jameson got up the centennial, and she declared
that she would not go. However, she changed her mind, which was
fortunate enough as matters afterward transpired.

The tenth of August, which was the one hundredth anniversary of the
settlement of our village, dawned bright and clear, for which we were
thankful, though it was very hot. The exercises were to begin at
eleven o'clock in the morning with the procession. We were to
assemble at the old Shaw house at half-past twelve; the dinner was to
be at half-past one, after an hour of social intercourse which would
afford people an opportunity of viewing the house, and a few of us an
opportunity of preparing the dinner. After dinner were to be the
speeches and readings, which must be concluded in season for the
out-of-town celebrities to take the Grover stage-coach to connect
with the railroad train.

By eight o'clock people began to arrive from other villages, and to
gather on the street corners to view the procession. It was the very
first procession ever organized in our village, and we were very
proud of it. For the first time Mrs. Jameson began to be regarded
with real gratitude and veneration as a l