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Speakers & Entertainers at Chepachet Old Home Day Celebrations
The following is a partial list of speakers at Old Home Day Celebrations as reported, variously, by the Pascoag Herald, the Woonsocket Call, the Providence Journal, and the Providence Bulletin:
1906 Governor George H. Utter; Congressman Adin B. Capron; Colonel Daniel Ballou, United States Marshall.
1907 Governor James H. Higgins; Colonel Daniel R. Ballou; Professor William A. Mowry.
1908
Postponed one day on account of weather, speakers could not make it. Scheduled speakers were: Roswell B. Burchard, Speaker of the RI House; Judge Frank B. Fitzsimmons.
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Congressman Adin B. Capron, Old Home Day speaker, 1906. From the Manual of the Rhode Island Business
Men's Association 1890 - 1907, published by Nathan Briggs and James B. Littlefield, printed by Standard Printing Company, cuts by W. H. Leland & Co., Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1907, p. 6.
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1909 Hon. Francis M. Wood of Burrillville; Judge Francis N. Thayer of Blackstone.
1910
Governor Aram J. Pothier; Judge Francis N. Thayer; Rev. Henry Parsons, Assistant Chaplain, Boston Seaman's Friends Society.
1911 Hon. Francis M. Wood, of Harrisville; Myron E. Cady, Westfield, MA; Rev. John Larry of Providence.
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Governor James H. Higgins, speaker at the 1907 Old Home Day, painted by Milton Lockwood, in the Rhode Island
State House. Photographed by Tom Evans, photograph edited by Marilyn Brownell.
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1912 Francis Gallagher of Providence; (H. B. Burchard of Little Compton, former House Speaker, canceled).
1913 Rev. Frank Nash of Erie PA; Rev. John Hale Larry of Providence; Clarence Whipple.
1914
First day, Attorney Francis Wood of Burrillville; President Edwards of Rhode Island College; Second day, Attorney Arthur Phetteplace; Attorney Frank Steere.
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Rhode Island State General Treasurer Walter Read was recognized in the papers for his presence at the 1907 Old
Home Day event. He may have been introduced to the crowd. Mr. Read, a prominent Chepachet native, was a partner in Read and Potter, which was later Potter and Brown, then Brown and Hopkins.
His daughter, Maude Farnum, a banker and philanthropist, was active on Old Home Day committees during the 1920's. From the photographic collection of the late Robert E. Steere, courtesy of
Martha Willard and Robert E. Steere, Jr.
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1915 Rev. W. O. Kierstead; Congressman Ambrose Kennedy; Congressman George F. O'Shannesey.
1916
Rev. William O. Kierstead of the People's Church of Auburn; Congressman Ambrose Kennedy; Miss Elizabeth Upham Yates; Rev. Henry Parsons, Chaplin of Gloucester (MA) Fisherman's Institute.
1917 Jesse B. Mowry, RI Forest Commissioner; Rev. R. J. Chrystie of Mapleville; Attorney Edward F. Lovejoy of Pascoag.
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Judge Francis N. Thayer, speaker at Chepachet Old Home Day in 1909, 1910, 1920, 1924, and 1934. He was a
regular attender at Old Home Day until his death in November, 1935 at the age of 89. From the scrapbook of Edith Floyd, courtesy of Diane Nobles.
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1918
Frederick J. Dark; Rev. Robert J. Chrystie; Rev. Edwin Simpson, Superintendent of the Rhode Island Anti-Saloon League; songs and recitations in the sanctuary.
1919
John C. Ketchum, Hastings, Michigan, Worthy Lecturer of the National Grange; Attorney Edward Lovejoy of Pascoag; Rev. Gilbert Cutler, North Scituate Baptist Church.
1920 Ernest V. Claypool, Superintendent of Rhode Island Anti-Saloon League; Judge Francis Thayer of East Blackstone, MA.
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Governor Aram J. Pothier, speaker at the 1910 Old Home Day, painted by William C. Loring, in the Rhode Island
State House. Photographed by Tom Evans, photograph edited by Marilyn Brownell.
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1921 State Treasurer Jennings; Rev. Arthur Burden, Methodist Episcopal Church, Mapleville.
1922 RI Superior Court Judge A. A. Capotosto; Rev. Gilbert Cutler of Rockland.
1923 Judge A. A. Capotosto; Congressman Jeremiah O'Connell; Rev. Henry Parsons, Quidneck Baptist Church.
1924 Governor William S. Flynn; Judge Francis N. Thayer of Blackstone; Judge A. A. Capotosto.
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State Senator Arthur Phetteplace, Old Home Day speaker, 1914, 1929, and 1930. From the John Steere Family Album, published by the Steere Family Association, p. 132.
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1925 Attorney General Oscar D. Heltzen, Judge A. A. Capotosto.
1926 Congressman Jeremiah O'Connell; Frank Davis of Chepachet, Tax Commissioner of RI.
1927 Lt. Governor Norman S. Case; Frank Davis.
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Attorney Frank Steere, Old Home Day speaker, 1914, standing next to L. Annie Steere on steps of the Chepachet
Free Will Baptist Church, 1956; Mr. Steere was Town Moderator of Glocester for half a century. Mrs. Steere served on Old Home Day committees for many years. From the John Steere Family
Album, published by the Steere Family Association, p. 144.
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1928 Former Congressman Jeremiah O'Connell; RI Attorney General Charles Sisson.
1929 Congressman Jeremiah O'Connell; Senator Arthur T. S. Phetteplace of Glocester.
1930
Lt. Governor James Connolly; Rev. Harvey Eastman, Slatersville Congregational Church; State Representative Arthur Phetteplace.
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Jesse Mowry, Old Home Day speaker, 1917, 1933. Courtesy of Clifford Brown.
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1931 Governor Norman S. Case; Attorney William A. Needham.
1932 State Treasurer, George C. Clark; Frank Davis; William A. Needham, Secretary of Providence Republican Committee.
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Governor William S. Flynn, Old Home Day speaker, 1924. From a painting by Wilfred I. Duphiney in the Rhode
Island State House.
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1933
Judge A. A. Capotosto; Oscar L. Heltzen, State Insurance Commissioner; Burton T. Mowry of Raynham Massachusetts, past Lecturer, Massachusetts State Grange; Jesse B. Mowry.
1934
Governor Theodore Francis Greene; William A. Needham; Burton T. Mowry; Judge Francis N. Thayer, Blackstone, Massachusetts.
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Burton T. Mowry of Raynham Massachusetts, past Lecturer, Massachusetts State Grange, Old Home Day speaker in
1933, 1934, 1935, 1936. From the scrap book of Edith Floyd, courtesy of Diane Nobles.
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1935
Judge Charles A. Walsh, RI Superior Court; Attorney William A. Needham; Burton T. Mowry; Harriet D. Parsons, widow of Rev. Henry Parsons, founder of Old Home Day celebrations, guest.
1936 Attorney (later Judge) Fred B. Perkins; Burton T. Mowry; Frank Potter.
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Governor Theodore Francis Greene, Old Home Day speaker, 1934. From a painting by A. W. Heintzelman, Rhode
Island State House.
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1937 Lawn party, no speakers.
1938 Rev. Vernon Cooke, Pastor Pawtucket Congregational Church.
1939 Rev. Harvey M. Eastman, pastor Slatersville Congregational Church.
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Frank Potter, Old Home Day speaker, 1936, is the first person ascending on the right; his wife is the first
person ascending on the left. The second person ascending on the right is Mrs. Edgar Potter. The third person ascending on the right is Charles Potter, Frank's brother. Mrs. Edgar Potter was
a soloist in the 1915 and 1916 Old Home Day programs. From the John Steere Family Album, published by the Steere Family Association, p.118.
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1940 Attorney General Louis V. Jackvony.
1941 Harry Sandager (former Congressman); Rev. George F. Sturtevant, Rhode Island State Baptist Convention.
1942 William A. Needham, former Providence City Solicitor.
1943 ?
1944 ?
1945 ?
1946 Rev. Kenneth M. Cooper, Director of town and country work for the Rhode Island and Connecticut Baptist Convention
1947 Lt. Governor John S. McKiernan
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Lt. Governor John S. McKiernan, the last Old Home Day speaker, 1947; he later became governor. From the Rhode
Island Manual 1947-48, published by the State of Rhode Island, Armand H. Cote, Secretary of State, opposite page 152.
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Excerpts From The August 21, 1926 Chepachet Old Home Day Speech
By Congressman Jeremiah O'Connell
The following excerpts from Congressman O'Connell's speech are taken from the Providence Sunday Journal, August 22, 1926, page 4:
"... firmly resolve and realize that in this great land there is room for every citizen, native or foreign born, of whatever creed or color, so long as he obeys the laws and is faithful to its institutions.
"What a wealth of sentiment and meaning is contained in those three simple words "Old Home Day." What fond memories do they revive, what pleasant associations do they recall...most often they are
associated with the hamlet, village, town, or city in which we were born, or where our youthful days were spent. And as youth is the springtime of life, so, too, is it usually the time of pleasure when
carefree and light of heart, we look the world and the future in the face with confidence and hope.
"On this day ... we recall those loving parents, perhaps long since gone to their heavenly reward, who cared for us and loved us as only father and mother can. And there pass before our vision the faces
of the other members of our families and of those friends of our early days, and our hearts are softened by their remembrance, and our love of humankind is immeasurably deepened. And we come to
the inevitable conclusion ... that in all the world there is nothing greater than the love and friendship of our fellow men.
"On this day out thoughts go back to the home, that institution of the human family which has been and ever will be the great bulwark upon which civilization and progress is based. It has been the
underlying cause of the greatness of our nation and so long as it exists in full flower and vigor, the institutions of our country are safe.
"The great and crying need in our country today is for a united country. We have seen in other lands the results of hatred and of jealousies, of persecution, oppression, and misrule. The United States of
America must think with one mind. It must speak with one voice. The heart of our country must be sound. Let us not be too critical of our neighbor, but accord to him, as was intended by our forefathers,
that measure of freedom of thought and action so long as it does not contravene the law, which we claim for ourselves. By following such a course of action, we shall be following those fundamental and
eternal principles which have made our nation today the greatest and mightiest in all the world and which will keep her so in the years to come."
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Congressman Jeremiah O'Connell, Old Home Day speaker, 1923, 1926, 1928, and 1929. From the scrapbook of
Martha Fitch, courtesy of Edna Kent.
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