This historic horse watering trough and drinking fountain is located along South Main Street in front of the Pettee Memorial Library. A carriage light is attached to the top of the trough. The trough is now used as a planter.
The following quote is etched on the drinking fountain side of the structure:
"How Dear to My Heart are the Scenes of My Childhood."
This quote is from a poem by Samuel Woodworth titled "The Old Oaken Bucket." The poem reads:
How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wildwood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew;
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it,
The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell;
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,
And e’en the rude bucket which hung in the well —
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.
That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure;
For often, at noon, when returned from the field,
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing!
How quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell;
Then soon, with the emblem of truth over-flowing,
And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well —
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.
How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,
As, poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips!
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,
Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.
And now, far removed from the loved situation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell,
As fancy reverts to my father’s plantation,
And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well —
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket which hangs in the well.
The inscription on the horse trough side of the structure is not a quote, but reads:
Given in Loving Memory of
Lewis Porter Stone
Dec. 14, 1845 --- Jan. 8, 1904
1906
The following information about Samuel Woodworth, the author of the quote inscribed on the watering trough/drinking fountain, is from Wikipedia:
"Samuel Woodworth (January 13, 1784 – December 9, 1842) was an American author, literary journalist, playwright, librettist, and poet.
History
Woodworth was born in Scituate, Massachusetts to Revolutionary War veteran Benjamin Woodworth and his wife Abigail Bryant. He was apprenticed to Benjamin Russell, editor of the Columbian Sentinel. He then moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he briefly published the Belles-Lettres Repository, a weekly. He next moved to New York City, but recalled New Haven in his A Poem: New Haven.
"The Old Oaken Bucket"
Woodworth is best known for the poem "The Old Oaken Bucket"."