MEMOIR OF HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 35 



The two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement 

 of Dorchester was celebrated on the 14th of Julj', 1855. The 

 orator of the da}' was Edward Everett. The central tablet of the 

 great pavilion bore the inscription " Marshall P. Wilder, Presi- 

 dent of the Day. Blessed is he that turneth the waste places 

 into a garden and maketh the wilderness to blossom as a rose." 



Mr. Wilder was a member of man}' horticultural and agricul- 

 tural societies in this aud foreign lands. He was elected a cor- 

 responding member of the Ro3'al Horticultural Society of London ; 

 a corresponding member of the Socidt^ Nationale d' Horticulture de 

 France, at Paris ; an honorary member of the Societe Centrale d' 

 Horticulture dii Departeuient de la Seine-Inf^rieure, at Rouen ; a 

 corresponding memberof the Society forthe Promotion of the Useful 

 Arts and Auxiliary Sciences, at Frankfort on the Main ; an honorary 

 member of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain ; and an 

 honorarj- member of the Royal Academy of Heraldry and Gen- 

 ealogy, at Pisa, Italy. In 1877 he received the degree of Ph. D. 

 from Dartmouth College and in 1884 that of LL. D. from Roan- 

 oke College. Mr. Wilder's eightieth birthday was celebrated by a 

 dinner given him at the Parker House, and on his eighty-fifth 

 birthday a larger company met at the same place to testify their 

 respect and love for him. An account of this celebration was 

 published in book form. On his eighty-eighth (and last) birthday 

 a similar gathering was held at " Taft's," at Point Shirlej^, at the 

 invitation of Benjamin C. Clark, Secretary of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Club, an occasion which will long be remembered by 

 all who had the good fortune to be present. 



Mr. Wilder received all the Masonic degrees, including the 

 thirt3'-third, the highest aud last honor of the Fraternity. 



As a writer and public speaker Mr. Wilder was fluent, forcible, 

 aud popular. His published writings consist largely of agricul- 

 tural, pomological, and historical addresses. On the 2d of 

 March, 1878, he presented to the librar}- of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Societ}' a handsomeh' bound volume of addresses 

 and speeches relating to agriculture and horticulture, which form 

 a most interesting memorial of him. Other similar memorials in 

 the library have been already mentioned in this sketch. One of 

 his most important literary productions was a sketch of "The 

 Horticulture of Boston and Vicinity," prepared for the fourth vol- 

 ume of the " Boston Memorial Series," the materials of which 



