USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > A history of Blair county, Pennsylvania. From its earliest settlement, and more particularly from its organization, in 1846 to June 1896 > Part 11
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The parade ended about noon and at 2.45 p. m. the ceremony of unveiling the monument began in front of the Court House. The Semi-Centennial Chorus of 200 voices, Charles Geesy, Esq., director, sang "America" in a thrilling manner, and Rev. D. S. Monroe, D. D., presiding elder of the Altoona District, Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, offered the invocation and at its conclusion the choir sang "To Thee, O Country," after which Comrade Henry L. Bunker unveiled the Soldiers' Monument and Captain Robert Johnson formally presented it to the County Com- missioners. Hon. J. D. Hicks, member of Congress from Blair County received it in the name of the Commissioners and gineers. made a brilliant ten minute speech in which he said that 4,000 soldiers from Blair County fought for the preservation of the Union and there was not a battle fought during the war in which there were not men engaged who were from Blair County.
Thomas J. Stewart, Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, followed in an able ora- tion ocenpying half an hour, after which the band played a patriotic air. The assembled multitude then sang the doxo-
at 4.06 p. m. In the evening the Grand Army Posts held a Camp Fire in front of the Court House and thus the exercises of the second day closed.
Friday, the last day of the celebration, dawned bright and clear, and was a most perfect summer day, the temperature be- ing most delightful, 70 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and a pleasant air stirring. By six o'clock in the morning the electric cars to Hollidaysburg were crowded with people enroute to the County seat. Most of the stores and the P. R. R. shops in Altoona were closed all day. Both elec- trie cars and railroad were taxed to their full capacity carrying passengers, and by half past ten in the morning, when the great civie or industrial parade started, there were not less than 25,000 people in Hollidaysburg and Gaysport, and the total number of visitors during the day was nearly 40,000: being about double that of the preceding day.
The parade started at 10.30 from Gays- port and marched across the Juniata river to Hollidaysburg, to Montgomery street, along Montgomery to Blair, along Blair to Jones, along Jones to Walnut, along Walnut to Juniata, along Juniuta to Mulberry, along Mulberry to East Holli- daysburg and Allegheny street, along Allegheny street past the Court House, where it was reviewed by Judge Dean, the Mayor of Altoona and Burgesses of the different Boroughs of the County, to Gaysport where it disbanded.
It consisted of eleven divisions, led by Chief Marshal W. C. Roller, Jesse L. Hartman, Chief of Staff, and aides.
The first division comprised the Red Men, representing the aboriginese, car- riages with guests, Executive Committee, the Altoona City Band, and the various lodges of Odd Fellows of the County, twenty or more, and the National Boys' Brigade, of Altoona.
SECOND DIVISION comprised the Patri- otic Sons of America, nine camps.
THIRD DIVISION-Uniformed Rank Knights of Pythias and U. R. K. P. Band of Pittsburgh.
FOURTH DIVISION-JuniorOrder United American Mechanics, several councils and numbering 1,000 men, the Oneida Social Club of Altoona and the Tyrone Division Brotherhood of Locomotive En-
FIFTH DIVISION-Order of Artisans, Reese's Cadet Corps, Assembly No. 29 of Altoona and No. 11 of Hollidaysburg. SIXTH DIVISION-Knights of the Golden Eagle, Uniformed Rank, and several subordinate castles, making a fine display.
SEVENTH DIVISION-Catholic Societies, including Knigths of St. George, Emerald Beneficial Association, St. Patrick's Band and others.
EIGHTHI DIVISION .- Young Men's In- logy "Praise God From Whom All Bles- stitute of Altoona, Councils Nos. 120, 132 sings Flow," and the meeting adjourned , and 299, Logan Band and St. John's Tem- perance Cadets.
NINTH DIVISION .- Firemen : Volun- teer Firemen's Association of Altoona, Altoona P. R. R. Firemen, Tyrone Fire-
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY.
men, without equipment, and the Phoenix Fire Company of Hollidaysburg with en- gine and full equipment, Bellwood Fire- men, Bellwood Band, Duncansville Fire Company and hose cart, South Fork Fire Company and Band, and other visiting firemen. An old fashioned hand fire en- gine brought up the rear.
TENTH DIVISION .- Employes of Holli- daysburg Rolling Mill, 150 strong, in working costume and carrying some of their work implements.
ELEVENTH DIVISION. - Floats .- Mer- chandise and machinery displays, ancient relics, old canal boat, old stage coach. etc., The float of William F. Gable & Co. of Altoona, was the most artistic and formal ceremonies of the celebration costly one in this division, representing closed with the adjournment of this meet- ing, but one of the most entertaining feat- ures was yet to come-the pyrotechnic an immense urn entirely covered with ex- pensive lace, "Justice" with her scales, "Liberty" and "America ;" all draped in display on Campus Ridge, near Lakemont white and drawn by eight gaily compari- Park. This began at 8:50 at night with soned white horses, in tandem, with at- the ascension of a large paper balloon to tendants dressed in white. The Young America Clothing Co. also had a beauti- ful historical tableaux.
The procession was about one and one- half miies in length and was three-quar- ters of an hour passing a given point. Be- tween five and six thousand persons took part in it, while twenty-five to thirty thousand spectators lined the streets along which they passed.
In the afternoon the Semi-Centennial exercises were held in the Court House, beginning at 2:40. The room was packed long before the hour for beginning : the crowd began to fill it soon after twelve o'clock. As the Court room will only contain about 1000 persons it follows that not one-thirtieth part of the people in town could gain admission.
At 2:40 the Altoona City Band played a patriotic selection.
chairman introduced Ilon. John Dean, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, a native and life-long resident of the county, who delivered the historical address of the occasion; a mas- terly effort, dealing largely with the re- ligions predilections of the first settlers of the county. The paper is given in full on the following pages.
The address was followed by more mu- sic and then, after a few preliminary re- marks suitable to the occasion, the Rev. Father Cornelius Sheehan, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church, Hollidaysburg, pronounced the benediction, and the meeting adjourned at 4:35 p. m. The
which explosives were attached. The air being calm it went almost straight up- ward till it was lost to view among the stars. Fifteen hundred dollars worth of fireworks were used in the entire display of the evening, some of the set pieces be- ing very fine, among them a full sized locomotive engine and tender. The clos- ing one, "Good Night," sent out its last sparkling scintillation at 10:33 p. m., and Blair County's Semi-Centennial passed into history.
On the whole it was an immense suc- cess from first to last. Not a hitch of any kind occurred. The assembled crowd was larger than any which Blair County had ever seen and not an accident worth re- cording happened during the entire time.
In Condron's Opera House. Hollidays- burg, was maintained an exhibition of relies worth many thousands of dollars, as such, loaned by the individual owners They were surrounded at all times with hundreds of appreciative visitors.
At 2:45 Judge Bell called the meeting to order and made a few brief remarks in and free for the inspection of everybody. which he illustrated the wonderful im- provements in the past fifty years by com- paring the old mail packets, taking a Among these relics and other exhibits were old tomahawks, arrow heads, Indi- an utensils. guns which had shot Indians, guns, pistols and swords that had been used in the revolution and earlier, guns and swords of the war of 1812, the Mexi- can war and the war of the Rebellion, week to carry mail from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, while now we could flash our words by telephone from New York to Chicago almost instantaneously. He paid a high tribute to the enterprise of Altoona and her wonderful growth, and to the broad and liberal policy of the Pennsyl- the first printing press used in Blair vania Railroad Company, the richest in the word, probably. Rev. J. F. Ilart- man, pastor of the Second Lutheran
County, copies of the first newspapers printed here in 1834-5-6, old deeds one hundred years old and more, the original church of Altoona, offered a prayer, the | charter of the Portage Railroad, a clock Semi-Centennial Chorus of two hundred that kept the time in the Portage shops "made at Flowing Spring in 1827, and hundreds of other equally interesting rel- voices sang "Red, White and Blue," af- in 1832, still in running order, a piano ter which Hon. J. D. Hicks read the Prize Poem, "Little Blair, " written by Mrs. Ida Clarkson Lewis. The Band and ics; pictures of all the Judges of the coun- Choir rendered some more music, and the , ty since its organization, etc.
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY.
The Address of Hon. Daniel J. Neff, Welcoming to the Celebration the Guests of the Bar Association.
The people of this county, and others histories and life tragedies are rehearsed from far and near, who were at one time with more of passion and pathos than residen's thereof, or who are interested upon the mimic stage, and the curtain in its history, will, during this week, falls upon many a scene of human misery commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of and despair. The forensic displays of the the organization of the county. They Roman Forum in the palmy days of the will review the progress that has been republic and the empire, the great trials of thrilling and historic interest in West- minster hall, in its meridian glory, are remembered with an absorbing and never fading interest. There, within the old walls of Westminster hall, "has stood the Duke of Norfolk, to answer the charge of asserting the right of Mary, Queen of Scots. to the throne of Eng- land ; and the Earl of Strafford, accused of high treason against the sovereign whom he served too faithfully, and War- ren Hastings, around whose impeach- ment was thrown the gorgeous splendor of eastern imagery evoked by the spell of eloquence from the lip of Sheridan and Burke. " made in art, sciences and invention, the improvements in machinery, in the modes of transportation and the growth and de- velopment of the county in population and wealth of the past 50 years. The occasion will be most interesting and in- structive to all the participants. The judiciary and the bar of the county have deemed it advisable and opportune, that they also should observe the occasion and commemorate it in a suitable manner. The administration of the laws deeply concerns all the inhabitants of the coun- ty. In all enlightened commonwealths the due administration of justice has been esteemed as of great public interest, of supreme importance, and an upright and independent judiciary one of the safe- guards of civil liberty. When we con- sider the character and attainments, learning and ability, of the judges, past and present, who have occupied the bench, we cannot doubt that this county has been fortunate in its judiciary. Judges have sat in our courts who have shed a luster upon the jurisprudence of the commonwealth, and who would com- pare not unfavorably with John Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; with Sir Matthew Hale, Chief Justice Mansfield, or with Sir Edward Coke, the greatest oracle of municipal jurisprudence in Eng- land.
Speaking of the amenities of the bench, I once heard Judge Taylor pay a high compliment to the Supreme Court. A gentlemen of the bar had been arguing a question before him at considerable length. The judge was against him, but he persisted in his argument. The judge finally told him it was useless to argue the question further ; he had decided it. But he said, "you have your remedy ;
take an exception, and you can take the try abounding in mineral resources and
undeveloped wealth, constructed with
case up and have my decision reviewed by a court that cannot err." His honor arduous labor and consummate engineer- specially emphasized the last two words. ing skill, was considered one of the great-
We can look back over 50 years of eventful history and contemplate with interest the many important issues that have been tried, the important decisions
The gentlemen of the bar who attended the first court held in this county in 1846, and were then admitted to practice in the several courts of this county, and who are yet living will, no doubt, reflect upon the many changes that have taken place in the intervening years. They probably journeyed to Hollidaysburg by canal boat by stage coach, or perhaps partly by canal and partly over the inclined planes of the Portage Railroad. The Pennsyl- vania canal, in connection with the Port- age Railroad, constituting a great public highway between the east and the west, was regarded at that time, and in fact was, a work of great magnitude, of su- preme importance. Time had been when the mode of transportation, at least in Central Pennsylvania, was principally by broad wheeled Conestoga wagons Inmber- ing slowly along the pike between Phila- delphia and Pittsburgh, or arks of rude and primitive design, floating down our rivers. The canal east and west of the mountains, traversing in many places dense forests, with the connecting links of the rail and inclined plane, across the Alleghenies, extending through a coun-
est achievements of the age. The Alle- gheny Portage was pronounced by en- lightened engineers in England and France as one of the then wonders of the of our courts that have been rendered. ; world. The exalted purpose, the vast establishing the rights of person and importance of these works, connecting property and defining the landmarks of as they did with the Allegheny and Mon- the law. There is, at times, much in the ongahela rivers at Pittsburgh, and with proceedings of courts to excite and at- the Ohio and Mississippi establishing a great commercial waterway or highway to the Gulf of Mexico, extending in their tract popular interest. There are wit- nessed the tragic and the comic sides of human life, its ups and downs ; life : beneficial effects to the utmost limits of
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL IHISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY.
the national domain, and in their pro- 1848, 1887 and 1893. The aet of April 11, spective operation and effects into the far 1848, was the first great departure. It pro- future could not be overestimated. The vided that every species and description of engineers and scientists of that day were men of high intelligence and varied knowledge, who had studied carefully the most advanced systems of inland na- vigation and railway construction in Europe and applied the knowledge thus acquired to the advancement of great enterprises at home. Standing in the van of civilization and human progress, they helped to build up a great Common- wealth in enduring strength. The canal commissioner of that day was an import-
property, whether real, personal or mixed, which may be owned by or belong to any single woman shall continue to be the property of such woman as fully after her marriage as before, and all such property, of whatever nature or kind, which shall accrue to any married woman during cov- erture, by will, descent, deed of convey- ance or otherwise, shall be owned and en- joyed by such married woman as her own separate property, and such property shall not be subject to levy and execution for ant man, sometimes bigger than the Gov- the debts or liabilities of her husband. ernor himself or the Legislature, the The aets of 1887 and 1893 were still power behind the throne greater than the greater departures in the same direction, throne itself, making and unmaking the tending to the protection of married women in their right of property. fortunes of men. The canal boat captain also was a big man. He walked the deck In our grandmothers' days a married woman could hardly be said to own her spinning wheel in her own right. Now the dashing femme covert can spin along the public highway on her wheel and hold and own her spinning wheel in defiance of the world. of his craft with as prond a step as the commander of a man-of-war walks his quarterdeck. These great public works, it was supposed, would be enduring would last for ages, like the Roman aque- duets or the Appian, over which, for cen- turies, the legions of imperial Rome The Constitution of 1874 made great and radical changes in the fundamental law. marched to their distant conquests. But the tireless energy and the inventive genius of man have achieved conquests
The act of May 25, 1887, known as the over the forces of nature and the ele- civil procedure act, abolishing the distinc- tions theretofore existing between the dif- ferent forms of actionsex contractu and actions ex delicto, and providing that the plaintiff's declaration shall consist of a coneise statement of his demand, wrought
ments undreamed of in that earlier day. The continent is spanned by great rail- ways, grappling the states together with hooks of steel and bands of iron. Queen Victoria ean say "good morning" to Grover Cleveland through the submarine a great and needed reform, and greatly cable. It is said that Chauncey M. De- simplified the pleadings and proceedings in the trial of causes. All these changes pew recently sent a message around the world-25,000 miles-in four minutes. i were made during the last 50 years. Much We have the inestimable advantages and of the old and curious learning of a for- mer age contained in old and musty tomes Doomsday books has become obsolete. Much of what might be termed the rub- bish of the law has been swept away.
conveniences of the electric railway. The telephone is an accomplished tact and the Roentgen ray has been discovered. Dur- ing the last 50 years dynasties have risen and fallen, there have been social and
political upheavals in various parts of the county and for many years afterwards, world, and mighty blows have been struek for civil liberty, the rights of men down all the testimony during the pro- and the emancipation of the oppressed.
The world moves and the young man of this age who would keep up with the procession must step lively.
The changes in our laws have kept pace with the progress of the age in other re- spects. These changes and innovations rection of reform and improvement tend- ing to the elevation of man and the amelioration of the condition of woman.
At the time of the organization of the
the judge and the lawyers usually wrote gress of the trial. We are relieved of that labor now, as the official reporter and stenographer does that work. The judge's charge and the testimony are all typewritten by the reporter, and the plead- ings filed are also usually typewritten.
In former times the Altoona lawyer and engage lodging at a hotel at the county seat for a week or during the sit- ting of the court, For many years during room 29, at the American House, then kept by that jolly landlord and genial host, Daniel K. Ramey. Now all that is chang-
upon the common law have been in the di- would pack his grip on Monday morning
The act of April 9, 1849, exempting prop- . the terms of court I regularly occupied erty of a debtor to the value of $300 from levy and sale on execution or by distress for rent is a humane and beneficient law, as are also all the various laws protecting ed by the electric cars, which run every and giving a preference to the wages of 15 minutes and land the Altoona lawyers manual labor.
at the steps of the court house. The Al-
The legal status of married women has toona lawyer can stand at the telephone been entirely changed, and sweeping mod- in his comfortable office and by issuing ifications have been made by the acts of his oral mandate through the 'phone can
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY.
put the whole elerical force of the pro- could delineate the German or Irish char- thonotary's office in motion or he can be treated to a learned dissertation on prac- tice by Judge Bowers at long range.
Judges and lawyers have, from time im- memorial, been inclined to polite, social intereourse and rational enjoyment. They have been disposed to reasonable relaxa- tion after the labors of the bench and the contests of the forum.
In England, in the olden time, the ser- geants at law were indueted into their office with great state and ceremony. It was attended with feasting, which some- times lasted for several days, and at these like champagne. But I fear I trespass on feasts the lord chancellor and some of the . Judge Landis' domain. He is expected highest dignitaries of the realm, some- i to give us the history of the Blair County times including the king himself, sat Bar. It is, I presume a clear case of tres- down. On these festive occasions the pass quare clausum fregit. lord chancellor usually headed the pro- The Supreme Court of the State is rep- resented here by one of its learned justices. who, on this anniversary, can look back with satisfaction on the many years dur- ereated sergeants at law were allowed the ing which he occupied the bench in this county with credit and distinction. cession to the banqueting hall, thereby giving the sanction of his official approval to this important function. The newly high privilege of paying the bills for these banquets. Rich and fragrant are the There is a gentleman here who former- ly practiced at this bar, although a resi- dent of Huntingdon, now residing in Phil- adelphia. He was admitted at the first court held in 1846. Those who heard him at the bar in days gone by will esteem themselves fortunate in having the oppor- memories that elnster around the inns of court and chancery, which Ben Johnson characterizes as "the noblest nurseries of humanity and liberty in the kingdom." It is said that the inns of court and chan- cery were celebrated for the magnificence ,
of their entertainments. True to those tunity of seeing him and hearing him honored and immemorial traditions, and / again.
cherishing the past associations of the bench and bar of Blair county, the Blair County Bar association have invited the judges of adjoining and adjacent conn- ties, and all the lawyers now living who formerly were resident practitioners at our Bar, and the judge of the Supreme Court who sat for many years as president judge in this county, and the only three ex-associate judges of this county now
Cambria County is here represented by atmosphere of that elevated plateau upon which Ebensburg stands seems to have quickened and sharpened the wits of its Judges and lawyers, for they have always been celebrated for their wit. Michael Daniel Magehan, Michael Hasson and Robert L. Johnson were all in their day, noted wits ; Frank P. Tierney, who many years ago, removed from Ebensburg to Altoona and died some years ago, was a genuine wit, and as a mimic he had few equals. Although of Irish descent he ;
acter with equal facility. His mantle has fallen upon a gentleman who is now the acknowledged wit of our bar. I forbear to mention his name as he is present, and I know he is averse to public notoriety. It may not be said of him, perhaps, as was said of one of the characters in the "School for Scandal" that his wit eosts him nothing, as it is always as the ex- pense of a friend. It might be said, how- ever, that it costs him nothing in this sense : It costs him no effort. It is spon- taneous. It effervescences and bubbles
There is a gentleman from Harrisburg present who years ago enjoyed un bounded popularity and was a power in law and politics in this county. His numerous friends will greet him with the cordiality of the days of yore.
To the Judges of neighboring counties, to the Judges of the Supreme Court, to. the old-time members of the bar, to the ex-Associate Judges of the county, the living, to participate in this semi-centen- only three now living, to all who have re- nial celebration.
sponded to our invitation and kindly fa- vored us with their presence, the Blair- County Bar Association sends greeting
It is gratifying to us to meet here so many worthy representatives of the judi- ciary and gentlemen of the bar from other and extends a cordial welcome to a par- localities.
its learned President Judge. The rarified the celebration of our Semi-Centennial.
tieipation in all there is of interest, of cherished memories, and of enjoyment in Few, if any of us, will see Blair's eenten- nial.
May we now hope that the centennial of 1946 will be the dawn for our county and for our country of the millennial morn of a yet grander and nobler destiny. But as we may not be there to see it let us thank God that we are living to see the Semi-Centennial, and make the best of this occasion, while the train stops at this. half-way station.
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