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The Bates Association Memorials
The Hingham Bell Tower By Sandy Bates
Hingham Memorial Bell Tower
In Hingham, Mass. is located the Old Church
Meeting House. Right next to it is a Bell Tower made of brick. A sign by it
says "Hingham Memorial Bell Tower Dedicated 1912 To The Settlers of
Hingham".
A woman by the name of Miss Susan Willard
and Louis Cornish held a drive to erect the Bell Tower as a monument to the
first settlers of Hingham. This was to be erected beside the Old Meeting
House.
The Tower was dedicated in 1912 with much
pomp and circumstance. The lovely bells sending competing sounds among the
sounds of auto horns. It holds one of only twenty sets of change-ringing
bells in North America. (My note, Change-Ringing Bells do not produce
recognizable tunes, but rung in and orderly sequence in rows. Go to this web
site and hear what change ringing bells sound like ,
http://stpaulsparish.org/change_ringing.html .
The old flint block from the market place in
Hingham, England was to be the cornerstone of the Tower but due to it's
irregular shape was placed inside the Tower. This stone was the stepping stone
that stood in the Public Square in Hingham England.
In 1928 vandals broke the windows in the
Tower. On August 14, 1945 the bells were rung to announce Japan's surrender.
In The Sept 1908 Bulletin the Former
Governor John L. Bates spoke of the part that men of these types of our Bates
Ancestors had in liberating the thought of the world and he called attention
to the Memorial Tower and Chime of bells to be erected.
In the Bates Bulletin April 1909 it first
talks about the Tower to be erected at a cost of $10,000. The hopes were to
dedicate it at the town's 275th anniversary 1910, (My Note: Apparently this
did not happen as it was not dedicated till 1912 ). The Bulletin stated that
Clement Bates descendants should be very interested in this as he was one of
the early settlers.
In the Sept 1909 Bulletin The Association
urged it's members to aid in erecting the Memorial to the First Settlers of
Hingham.
Sandy Bates and her Mother-in-law Esther
Bates took a trip to Hingham, going to the Church and the Bell Tower. And of
course Clements Dedication stone is there that The Bates Association
placed. Harold and Sandy's Double Line of Bates is Clement.
Click picture to view a larger image. The sign at the Bell Tower Reads: Hingham Memorial Bell Tower, Dedicated 1912 to The Settlers of Hingham The Hingham Bell Tower
Old Ship Church Project Friendship Church Marquee The Church
Old Ship Church Cemetery Cemetery Clement Bates & Wife Ann Amos Bates & Wife Ann Hersey
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