USA > Indiana > The Indiana centennial, 1916; a record of the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of Indiana's admission to statehood > Part 12
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When the convention met, the governor's mansion was occupied by a gallant soldier of the American revolution,
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Colonel Thomas Posey, with whose handsome features we are all familiar from the well-known portrait which adorns the State library at Indianapolis. Governor Posey was a Virginian who had fought in the battle of Point Pleasant, in Lord Dunmore's war in 1774. As a captain of Virginia con- tinentals, he had assisted in the defeat of his old commander, the same Lord Dunmore, at Gwynn's Island in 1776. His company was transferred to Morgan's renowned rifle corps, and he served with distinction and great gallantry at Pis- cataquay, Bemis Heights, Stillwater, Stony Point and at York- town. He had served in Indian campaigns under Anthony Wayne, in Georgia, had been lieutenant-governor of Kentucky, United States senator from Louisiana, and was governor of Indiana Territory from 1812 to 1816, succeeding in that office three other eminent soldiers, Arthur St. Clair (of the North- west Territory), William Henry Harrison and John Gibson.
The secretary of the territory was, and for sixteen years had been, John Gibson, a man of rare force, character and judgment. A college-bred man, he was taken prisoner in an expedition against the Indians before Lord Dunmore's war and was saved from the stake in the same manner that Poca- hontas saved the gallant Virginia captain. He later married a sister of Logan, the celebrated Indian chief and orator; and it was our John Gibson who heard and reported the famous speech of Logan, which every school boy will remember, made after his entire family had been massacred by drunken whites: "There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one." Gibson had been with Lord Dunmore and Colonel Posey at Point Pleasant in 1774 and, like Posey, had com- manded a regiment during the revolution.
Thomas Randolph had been attorney-general, but was killed in action in the battle of Tippecanoe and the office had not been filled. He was a Virginian, a descendant of Poca- hontas, a gentlemen of education, cultivation and refinement. His wife was a daughter of General Arthur St. Clair.
Davis Floyd was auditor of public accounts, a Virginian who had served in the Revolution, and had been imprisoned for a brief period for association with Aaron Burr, for whom
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he had procured in 1805 a territorial charter for a water power company at the falls of the Ohio. Henry Vanderburgh, one of the justices of the Supreme Court, had served as a soldier in the Revolution, as had the fathers of John De Pauw, Robert A. New, William and Charles Polke, Joseph Holman, John Dumont, Benjamin Chambers, the Beggs brothers, Samuel Merrill, and many others active in the organization of the new State.
The convention met here in Corydon, June 10, 1816, con- sisting of forty-three members chosen from the thirteen or- ganized counties. The members were magnificently repre- sentative of the Indiana pioneers. Nearly all of them seem to us astonishingly young; but it requires youth to supply the strength, vigor and ambition needed to conquer a wilderness. Among them were many destined to future greatness, Jona- than Jennings, William Hendricks, Benjamin Parke, William Polke, James Noble, Robert Hanna and D. H. Maxwell. And no less eminent was to be the modest squire, John Tipton, who was to be chosen the first sheriff of Harrison county under the new constitution and to be a great leader in the Senate of the United States from middle life clear down to its end.
Members of the convention, like the pioneers they repre- sented, came from all the original colonies north and south, as well as from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and from French, Flemish, German and Indian ancestors. Many were College-bred, but most of them could write only their names. They had inherited widely diverse traditions and beliefs as to political and religious matters, but they stood unitedly for education, religious freedom, and, almost as one man, against slavery.
It was a Frenchman from Vincennes, and, I think, a Catholic, who, as chairman of the committee on a bill of rights, reported this provision, which was unanimously in- corporated :
All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No man shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent. No human authority ought in any case whatever to control or interfere with the rights of conscience. No preference shall ever be given by law to any religious societies or modes of worship, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office of trust or profit.
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The same Frenchman, as a member of the committee on education, consisting, beside himself, of a future judge of the Supreme Court, of college training, and three members, whose letters still in existence prove that they could neither spell conventionally nor express themselves grammatically, reported the following provision, also unanimously adopted:
Knowledge and learning generally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government, and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country being highly conducive to this end, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law, for the improvement of such lands as are or hereafter may be granted by the United States to this State, for the use of schools, and to apply any funds which may be raised from such lands, or from any other quarter, to the accomplishment of the grand object for which they are or may be intended. But no lands granted for the use of schools, shall be sold by the authority of this State, prior to the year 1820, and the monies which may be raised out of the sale of any such lands, or otherwise obtained, for the purpose afore- said, shall be and remain a fund, for the exclusive purpose of promoting the interest of literature and the sciences, and for the support of sem- inaries and public schools. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, pass such laws as shall be calculated to encourage intellectual, scientifical and agricultural improvement, by allowing rewards and im- munities for the promotion and improvement of arts, sciences, com- merce, manufactures, and natural history, and to countenance and en- courage the principles of humanity, honesty, industry and morality.
Nothwithstanding the fact that human slavery had been permitted in the territory and that slaves were recognized as property by territorial law, and the further fact that most of the members of the convention had emigrated from slave states, the convention, without even the formality of a vote, put this provision in the constitution :
There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Nor shall any indenture of any negro or mulatto hereafter made and executed out of the bounds of this State be of any validity within the State.
The convention was in session three weeks and did not sit on Sunday. In that time its members builded for us a con- stitution in my opinion in many respects better than the one we have today.
Its members met here in Corydon in this noble building, and on hot days under the spreading elm we know and love so well. Let us in grateful reverence thank God for their labors.
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It takes but little imagination to fancy we can see presid- ing in that hall today the courteous and suave Jonathan Jen- nings, beside the no less accomplished secretary, William Hendricks, and about them gathered the learned and ambi- tious Isaac Blackford so recently from Princeton; sturdy, honest, and strenuous Dennis Pennington, backed by the nephew of Daniel Boone, the Irish Patrick Shields, progenitor of famous men, the shrewd and crafty Davis Floyd and the capable Lane. I see Frederick Rapp from New Harmony dreaming of a social millennium. And I see the Polke broth- ers, representing different counties, politicians and fighters, cousins of one then living who was to become President; a cousin who was to succeed, in that high office, the great sol- dier who had for twelve years been governor of the territory and was himself to be grandfather of another President yet unborn, whom we know and whose memory we delight to honor.
I like to think that in that month of June a hundred years ago Thomas Lincoln came across the river from Hodgenville with his seven-year-old boy looking for better land in Indiana and, stopping with his brother Joseph on Big Blue river in Harrison County, brought the slim, big-eyed boy to get, in Corydon, his first glimpse of statesmanship and to go home to tell the loved Nancy and little Sarah of the promised land beyond the beautiful river, where, in the county named for the gallant captain of the Yellow Jackets, they had chosen their future home.
I can see, too, the man who succeeded at Spencer's death to the command of Corydon's Yellow Jackets, a hero of Tip- pecanoe, turned modest magistrate the same year, but who led the Yellow Jackets again at the battle of Tipton's Island in 1813. I see him crossing the street to the court house to talk with Floyd, Pennington and Boone about his candidacy for sheriff, and, as I look, the picture fades, and I see the founder of Logansport and the locator of Indianapolis stand- ing in the Senate of the United States, as he did on February 5, 1836, and I can almost hear what he is saying :
I do not wish to be considered an alarmist: my fears have not been operated upon by the rumors of war so frequently heard. I do not expect to raise recruits in time to terminate the war now raging between us and the Seminole Indians, nor am I influenced in the course I have taken by anything that has been said here or elsewhere on the subject of any other war, but purely by a desire to put our peace establishment
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upon a respectable footing, and to prevent the recurrence of these con- flicts with the Indians on our borders.
I am unable to see any just cause for war, unless it arise from un- fortunate collisions, which will occasionally occur. I am convinced that the sure way to prevent war is to be well prepared for it. I am aware that the people of this country look with a jealous eye upon every step taken to augment our military force. The people, when rightly informed, will do what is right. The army is their army; the money to support it is theirs; the government is theirs; and I feel assured that they desire to see the army sufficiently numerous to answer all the purposes for which it was created.
The next paragraph of his speech reads like a report made yesterday by the Secretary of War to our Senate.
It is shown by these statements that, in the Eastern Department, on the lakes and along the seaboard, there are 33 military posts, 14 of which are now without troops to garrison them, and of course liable very soon to go to destruction.
In the Western Department there are 22 posts, 9 of them unoc- cupied by troops. The number of the rank and file of our army is so small that it is impossible for the troops to occupy all the forts. The companies, now consisting of about 50 men shall be increased, so as to enable them to render all the service required to be performed by an army.
The unsettled state of affairs in Mexico, and the actual war in Texas will cause a restiveness among the Indian tribes in the southwest border of the United States, which should not be unprovided for.
The presence of a respectable force at Forts Armstrong and Snell- ing, in 1831-2, would have prevented the war with the Soukees (Sacs), which cost us $2,500,000; and a similar array of troops, if stationed at Fort King and Tampa, would certainly have prevented the war now going on in Florida-a war which will certainly end in the annihilation of the poor deluded Seminoles.
His words of warning fell on deaf ears. Would that today his ringing voice directing the way to lasting peace might be again heard in the Senate speaking for Indiana.
Richly indeed has this our old capital endowed the State with great men from among her sons. Much do we owe to you, Corydon, our ancient civic center. Today, we bring you
just tribute, bride of Indiana's youth. I scorn to credit the tale so often told that an early Governor named you from a silly, sentimental, dolorous song. Rather would I believe that in the golden days, when Spencer was captain of the Yellow Jackets, as well as genial landlord of the tavern near where the court house was to be built in the, as yet, nameless village, viewing with delight the fair prospect of hills green with pas-
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ture and valleys rich with the promise of future production, in memory of the Faierie Queene of the great poet, whose name he bore, our captain named the rustic village for the simple shepherd, Corydon, who, unrequited, wooed the fair shepherdess Pastorella; and, in his christening, consecrated the village forever to innocence, simplicity and beauty.
Fair Corydon, may another century's passing find you as simple, innocent, lovable and homelike as we have found you this day.
The pageant of Corydon, written and directed by State Pageant Master W. C. Langdon, commemorated the days of Corydon's political prestige, when from 1813 to 1825, it was first the Territorial and then the State Capital of Indiana.
PROLOGUE: THE WELCOME OF OLD CORYDON.
The bell of the Old Capitol is rung a half hour before the pageant performance is to begin, and again fifteen minutes before the hour. The bell is rung once more for the beginning of the Pageant. The orchestra plays the Hymn to Indiana.
While the orchestra is still playing, people of Old Corydon come in from various directions, singly and in groups, attracted by the sound of the bell and the music of the orchestra. Seeing the audience, with interest and some surprise they comment upon it to each other. They evidence their appreciation of the importance of the occasion and of the assembled audience, and several of them consulting together agree to call their Governor, General William Henry Harrison. Four or five of them go to the door of the Capitol. The door opens and Governor Harrison appears. He talks with his neighbors, standing in the door- way a few moments, and then cordially comes forward at their sug- gestion toward the people of 1916 on the grandstand and addresses them, while the others of the people of Old Corydon stand variously grouped a little behind him. The music plays very softly as he speaks.
HARRISON :
Our welcome to you all, good friends! I bring The welcome of Old Corydon itself.
You cry "Hello, the house!" We open the door
And answer, "Welcome! The latch-string hangs outside." Are ye surprised to see us here again? But where else should ye find us if not here- At home? It is not gone-the so-called past. 'Tis only that abstraction with the present Obscures to your eyes things of other days. Still must ye heed the things of former days As ye do heed the things of days to come- Or blind and vain the labors of today!
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These walls seem old to you; these elm trees old; These timbers weather-stained. A hundred years Have beaten on this roof, you say, and on The mounded shelters where you think we lie. But look with our eyes, and you then will see A stately pile, fresh-hewn from Nature's rocks, Built strong to last forever, built for you With our small means and ample labor, built For you and for your children; Do but see!
The Commonwealth we dreamed has far surpassed The measure of our boldest, proudest hopes; But ax and gun in hand, it was for you We dreamed, and this old building stands to tell The quality, the courage of our dream And of our toil. Rock, solid rock, high built Four square amid the roadless wilderness!
You, our children-no, they all are gone, with us Across the stream-our children's children and Their children, do ye understand our hopes And heed our dream? In token cherish this Old symbol of our pride and fortitude, When we assumed the task of managing The unformed territorial Commonwealth; Our glory, when with your forefathers here We made the State, our sacrifice, when we In turn gave up our dear preeminence In favor of an unbuilt city to the north, That this our State, your State, unhampered might Sweep forward faster toward her honored place Among the mighty States of this our Nation!
Come, then, come and live with us a space As we relive again those precious days Of eighteen twelve and thirteen; then in turn Of eighteen sixteen, eighteen twenty-five.
The outline of the episodes follows :
Episode I The Completion of the Court House, (1812). Episode II Corydon, The Capital, (1813).
Episode III The Constitutional Convention, (1816). Episode IV The New Capital, (1825).
Around these episodes were skilfully and effectively woven the very warp and woof of the early life of the State, both social and political. Through it all ran impressively the story of the rise to preeminence of the little city, fairly pulsating with the virile, frontier life of the new State, and then, the
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story of how, with fortitude, old Córydon yielded place to the new capital to the north. Long will the beauty of the Epilogue linger in the memory of all who heard.
EPILOGUE: THE BLESSING OF THE YEARS.
All the people depart, leaving the grounds around the old Capitol empty. The door of the Capitol opens again and the old Governor, General William Henry Harrison, comes out and approaches the audi- ence.
HARRISON :
They all are gone-gone, gone adown the years; And Corydon itself has passed since then
Into new paths of broad prosperity Through virile agriculture, business sense, And noble service in the rural life. But every hundred years forever shall The State, her grateful hand upon the head Of Corydon, repeat the blessing of Those old imperial days of enterprise Achievement, service, and of sacrifice!
And you-you too, our reminiscent friends Of nineteen sixteen-so you too shall pass, As Time sweeps on along its course toward Eternity, and when the years again Have told a century, then you will come With us-you too-to sing your praise to Him Who giveth us, in joy and suffering To serve our State, our Nation, and Mankind!
Hark! Hark! The generations gather-there Where only what is noble lives, preserved From any loss forever! Hark! They sing! They come! They come! And coming, raise to Heaven The Hymn to Indiana!
The following excerpts from a letter addressed by the Di- rector of the Commission to County Chairman Thomas J. Wil- son, summarize the Corydon celebration :
You may be interested in knowing the features of the celebration which appeal strongly to me as I look back upon it in perspective. In the first place, the atmosphere of the observance was truly historical and patriotic. It might be urged that historical atmosphere is inherent in Corydon and not of your own making. Yet you did everything to strengthen it by making your observance in perfect keeping therewithi. As an instance of this, your successful efforts to secure priceless heir- looms for pageant equipment, also the appearance of descendants of your
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historic characters to represent the latter in the vivid portrayal of your history. In short, your celebration was conducted upon a high plane, unmarred by cheap and vulgar distractions.
In the second place, yours approached most nearly the ideal of a real community pageant of any yet given in the State. It was a real community effort on the part of your own town and country people, and its distinct success justifies the claims made for the pageant as a means of community expression and cooperation. The naturalness and abandon with which your people threw themselves into their parts was truly impressive and left little to be desired.
Another thing that must have impressed all observing visitors was the effective preparations made in a material way for their accommoda- tion. An instance of this is seen in the magnificent grandstand provided for the occasion. It is but one example of how thoroughly you entered into the spirit of the thing, determined to leave no reasonable thing undone that would make for the complete success of your celebration. For this your efforts and those of Mr. Lew M. O'Brannon, supplemented by those of many, many others, are worthy of the highest commenda- tion.
Finally, I should be remiss indeed, did I not give due recognition to the splendid spirit of true, generous hospitality, so freely manifested by the people of Corydon. Every visitor was looked upon as a guest whose personal comfort and enjoyment was entitled to primary con- sideration. Corydon was not more beautiful, nestled among her pic- turesque hills, and shaded by her magnificent elms, than in the hospitable hearts and homes of her people.
In conclusion, the Corydon celebration was such a success, that may I offer a suggestion that I have heard made, to the effect that you people should make of it a permanent feature. With such splendid singers as your chorus displayed, with the hearty cooperation of your schools, and with your citizens entering so heartily into the pageant, why not repeat it, say every five years. You would thus insure a quinquennial pilgrimage to Old Corydon, providing for our citizens a re-birth of Hoosier patriotism.
Harrison County took a prominent and creditable part on County Day of the State Celebration at Indianapolis. Mrs. Mona LaHue represented the county in the Cavalcade and some fifteen autos filled with Harrison County enthusiasts appeared in the line of march.
The enterprising citizens of Corydon prepared an exact replica of the old State House, placed it on wheels and trans- ported it to Indianapolis, where it attracted much attention and aroused much enthusiasm in the parade. At the sugges- tion of the Governor, the Corydonites, without overmuch persuasion, consented to leave their treasure on exhibition in
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the State House, pending the next session of the legislature! Corydon lost the capital long years ago, but the sons of the present have lost none of the political sagacity that was their fathers'.
On the eve of Admission Day, the citizens of Corydon as- sembled for the last observance of the eventful year and lis- tened to an appropriate program of music and addresses. Thus did old Harrison play well its part to the end. Thus did old Harrison prove worthy of its illustrious past.
HENDRICKS
It took Hendricks County a whole year to catch up with the procession and then but for a day. That it did contribute greatly to that procession, however, no one will deny who saw the County Day parade at the State celebration at Indian- apolis on October 6th. Spurred on by the realization that it had thus far proven recreant to the Centennial trust, a few loyal hearts were determined that old Hendricks should score heavily on County Day. It did. The Hendricks "horn of plenty" float, with twelve young women representing the products of the twelve townships, was a beautiful thing and received much applause. Miss Dorothea Hiatt rode for the county in the Cavalcade.
This was the Hendricks County Celebration! Attorney E. M. Blessing of Danville assumed the part of Centennial Chairman, and while manifesting considerable interest, pro- fessional duties, combined with an absence from the State at a strategic time, seemed to deter him from getting Centennial observance plans set in motion. The inertia of a typical, quiet, self-satisfied county seat town was doubtless a nega -. tive factor in the situation. At all events, Hendricks did not celebrate.
Thanks to the cooperation of County School Superintend- ent Theodore T. Martin, the Hendricks County Board of Edu- cation required that all eighth grade pupils, as a condition for graduation, submit to the Superintendent a story based upon some phase of Indiana history. Mr. Martin issued to the teachers of the county a neat Centennial letter in which he set forth the requirements and offered suggestions for the work and for giving Centennial programs.
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Credit must be given Coatesville for rising to the Cen- tennial occasion. On June 8th the citizens of that patriotic little town held a celebration of its own. In the afternoon addresses were given on State, County and Township history, interspersed with Centennial music. In the evening, State Geologist Barrett gave an illustrated lecture on the beauty spots of Indiana.
Although having to do with Hendricks County only inci- dentally, or accidentally, within its borders occurred a unique observance of the State's anniversary. W. O. Conway of In- dianapolis conceived the idea of appealing to the better nature of the boys of the State School at Plainfield, by encouraging them to express through pageantry their loyalty to Indiana. Receiving the encouragement of Superintendent Hanna, he wrote the pageant, and with tact, sympathy and perseverance led the boys into its spirit. It was presented at the school on May 15th during the time of the meeting in Indianapolis of the National Conference of Charities and Correction. The unconscious abandon with which the boys threw themselves into the presentation was a vindication of the faith held in them and was a joy to beholders. The pageant was divided into five parts as follows :
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