"Windham’s Bi-Centennial 1692-1892; A Memorial Volume of the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Town of Windham, Connecticut, containing the historical addresses, poems, and a description of events connected with the observance of the two hundreth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, as held in the year 1892." Published by the Committee, Hartford, CT, 1893

Windham’s Second Century ­ The Future:

To-day we stand face to face with the Windham of the future. What shall it be? It may be great. We have within our borders the making of a
large and prosperous city of wholesome character. How can it be done? The first thing we need is public spirit, a better realization of the principle that the good of the least, is the good of all. We need more loyalty and confidence in our town, and in each other; --less of this pulling and hauling by rings and cliques for selfish ends, and more of united action for the general welfare, which is always the best welfare of each; less of that spirit which looks upon every new industry as a rival, and chokes off every projected improvement which does not benefit “my property.” We need less of that financial short-sightedness that will stake its all on a Wall street margin or chase an imaginary ten-per-cent dividend into a silverless Montana earth-pit, and more of that practical common sense which knows that earnings reinvested in our own town at four per cent will promote a growth that in a few years will add another four per cent, with the further advantage of knowing where your property is! We need better unity in education. It is time we abolished the hap-hazard school-district system and adopted an intelligent educational policy. The state offers us superior advantages, and we should hasten to improve them. And as for the public school, the one great fact for us all to realize is, that whatever our origin or nationality, one, two, three, or a dozen generations back, and whatever our personal religious creed, the one hope for an harmonious future is in a common education in a common school, and the development of our children into a homogeneous people. This is true of Town, State and Nation, and I am particularly pleased to add that, by inquiry, I find it to be the common sentiment of the more intelligent representatives of three nationalities of which we are chiefly composed. We need a better understanding and appreciation of each other. The probem of the nation is represented in Willimantic. We must look less to the accident or environment of birth and more to the character and spirit of the man. We are here together to stay. Our interests are common, not diverse, and we must seek to develop our agreements, not our differences. We need a keener sense of what the public welfare demands, and courage to follow it. We need to recognize that right principles are the product of experience, and that right action has a positive, practical value as well as an eternal moral obligation. Loyalty to Windham, loyalty to each other, loyalty to conscience, is the spirit in which we shall face the future, and so through the third century of our beloved community, may God speed the right!