USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > An Historical sketch of the origin and progress of the Society of the Sons of St. George : also the charter, by-laws, and permanent resolutions, together with an alphabetical list of the members and associates, list of officers, etc., for one century, from April 23, 1772 to April 23, 1872, to April 23, 1897 > Part 3
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In June, 1871, the Society received a legacy from the estate of Mrs. Martha Nottman of $1,000, less tax $50.
The Society beg to acknowledge the kind services rendered by the Railroad Companies, which have enabled us to send many poor families and persons seeking employment, over their roads, at greatly reduced rates. Also to the National Steamship Co. and the Inman Line, for the generous manner in which they have issued Passage-tickets at very low rates to many families and individuals, who, from sickness and other causes, it was deemed best for them to return to their native land.
The office of Solicitor for the Society is oft-times attended with the discharge of duties of great delicacy and responsibility, -in vindicating the rights of our poor and oppressed fellow- countrymen, subjected to extortion, defamation or oppression. A recent case may serve as an illustration.
Harry Gilbert Gratton, a bright lad of seven years, was brought to this country, from England, by a Frenchman named D'Atalie -bearing the sobriquet of the "Iron-jaw man " :- a person of great physical strength, who with his wife, and this clever little child,-familiarly known as the "Young Zephyr "; acquired great celebrity for their wonderful acrobatic feats.
The parents of the boy being of humble origin, and his father dead, Harry was the victim of much cruel treatment from these people after their arrival in America ; although they realized great profit from his constant performance of acts requiring dex- terity, grace, and courage.
Having been badly beaten whilst in Philadelphia, D'Atalie was arrested and bound over in $800 bail, in January, 1871, by Alder- man Nichols, to answer for it at the next Court of Quarter Ses- sions. When the case was called for trial, the defendant did not appear, and his bail was forfeited. Judge Ludlow confided Harry to the temporary care of W. J. Mullen, the philanthropic prison agent ; and placed him at the disposal of Charles E. K. Kort- right, Esq., H. B. M. Consul at this port.
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MacGregor J. Mitcheson, Esq., as Counsel for the Consul and for this Society, reported to the Court that the welfare of Harry might be best promoted by committing him to the Northern Home for Friendless Children ; there to be reared under the superintendence of the Society of the Sons of St. George. It was so ordered.
Mr. Mitcheson also asked that the bail should be sued out for the use of the injured boy :- which was also ordered. That suit is now progressing. Besides this, $700 in cash was obtained from D'Atalie as additional damages and paid into the Treasury of our Society to be held in trust for the future starting in life of little Harry Gilbert Gratton.
At a stated meeting of the Society held October 24, 1872, Mr. Francis R. Webb presented to the Society a very excellent por- trait (painted by himself) of our aged and respected messenger, Mr. George Fryer, who for 24 years has faithfully filled that office and taken a deep interest in the Society ; always present at the meetings of the Stewards and stated meetings of the Society, and could only be induced to resign that office by reason of his ad- vanced age-few men have been able to be so active as he at ninety years.
At the stated meeting held January 23d, 1871, the portrait of our beloved President, James Allen, Esq., was added to the decor- ations of our room. This faithful likeness was painted at the request of the members, by Mr. Francis R. Webb. It was pre- sented to the Society with appropriate remarks by Shadrach Hill, Esq., Vice-President. The President's reply will be long remem- bered by all present. He was deeply affected at the expression of the appreciation of his services as a member and presiding officer of the Society. May his example be followed by every member.
At the same meeting it was proposed to have painted by the same artist the portrait of Shadrach Hill, Esq., Vice-President, as a companion picture to that of the President, which was done and placed on our walls at the stated meeting in January, 1872. Both these pictures were paid for by the voluntary contributions of the members.
With these few incidents illustrative of the continued interest manifested by the Society in our distressed fellow-countrymen we proceed to give an account of the Centennial.
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At a stated meeting of the Society held April 23d, 1871, the- following was unanimously adopted :
" Resolved, As April 23d, 1872, will be the Centennial of this. Society it will be right and proper that we celebrate that event in a suitable manner, that the chair appoint a committee to be called the Centennial Committee, whose duty it shall be to make up the History of our Society up to that date, together with a complete list of officers and members, and to make arrangements for a proper celebration of that day. The said committee to be. ready to report at the stated meeting in January next or at a special meeting as may hereafter be decided upon. The Presi- dent of the Society to be chairman of said Committee."
The following were appointed the committee : Messrs. James. Allen, Shadrach Hill, James R. Webb, J. G. Kershaw, Wm. Waterall, and William Underdown.
At the same meeting it was on motion adopted that a sub- scription be opened, to be called the Centennial fund, to defray the expenses of the Centennial Celebration not proper to charge in the expenses of the Society.
At a meeting of the Centennial Committee held May Ist, 1871, a design for a silk banner and badges were presented and ap- proved.
At subsequent meetings Messrs. Wm. Massey, F. Fairthorne, Isaac Muff, and all the Stewards were added to the committee.
At the stated meeting of the Society held October 23d, 1871, it was unanimously ordered that the committee procure the best silk banner they could at the expense of the Society, not exceed- ing $250. Also 300 woven silk badges for the members to be paid for out of the Centennial fund. The committee contracted with Messrs. Horstmann & Co. of this city to make the badges. and banner, which were executed in due time to the entire satis- faction of the Society. The banner was exhibited at Messrs. Bailey Co., Twelfth and Chestnut Streets, previous to the cele- bration, and acknowledged to be the handsomest made in this. city
Early in March the committee commenced more frequent meetings. Meeting at the room of the Society, No. 30 Mer- chants' Exchange, on Monday afternoon after the Stewards' meetings, and on Thursday evenings at the residences of some of
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the officers and members. At these meetings the programme was arranged, and social intercourse promoted among the officers and members. The hours spent at these meetings will be long remembered with pleasure by all who attended them.
The programme as adopted was as follows. Adjourned meet- ing of the Society on Monday evening, April 22d, 1872, for the transaction of all business not specially belonging to the regular quarterly meeting. Regular stated meeting of the Society at IO o'clock, Tuesday April 23d, for election of members, etc. Procession at 2.15 p.m. to Grace P. E. Church, where service would commence at 3 o'clock precisely. Address by the Rev. Dr. Suddards. Banquet at the Continental Hotel at 5 o'clock.
The adjourned meeting was held on Monday evening at 7 o'clock. There was a large attendance at this meeting. The room was so full it was impossible to count the number of mem- bers present. There being so much business incident to the Centennial the calling of the roll was on motion dispensed with. Many gentlemen were nominated for membership.
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CENTENNIAL.
The regular stated meeting was held at 10 o'clock a.m. at the room of the Society, No. 30 Merchants' Exchange. James Allen, Esq., President, in the chair. The regular reports were read, and forty-two members elected. This being the largest number elected at any meeting since the organization of the Society, and several nominations were made for membership. The meeting adjourned at noon to meet at 1.30 p.m.
During the recess the officers and members of the Centennial Committee went to Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, where a large photograph was taken of the church with its decorations. The officers and committee standing in and about the chancel.
The Society met at their room, Merchants' Exchange, at 1.30 p.m. Each member wearing a beautiful woven silk badge com- memorative of the day. The officers wearing in addition to the badge an appropriate rosette with gold and silver tassels. About two hundred formed in line at 2.15 p.m. under the Marshalship of Mr. Isaac Muff, and marched from the Exchange accom- panied by Beck's Brass Band, taking with them their beautiful silk Banner over the following route : Up Walnut to Fifth, up Fifth to Chestnut, up Chestnut to Ninth, up Ninth to Arch, up Arch to Twelfth, thence to Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, which was appropriately decorated with English and American flags. The chancel was filled with beautiful flowers. An Arch of Immortelles, with the motto of the Society, " I was a stranger, and ye took me in," was placed over the pulpit.
The service commenced with the Hallelujah chorus under the direction of Mr. James Pearce, organist of St. Marks P. E. Church, after which the Rev. William Newton, Rector of the Church of the Nativity, read the lesson. Then the Rev. Dr. Roach, Rector of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, offered a very appropriate prayer, prepared for the occasion.
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The following Hymn, composed by the Rev. Dr. Suddards, was then sung :
An Island-home was ours, Protected by those powers, Which sway the world :- A realm of strength and light, Prepared for peace or fight, And jealous for the right, With flag unfurled.
We saw a Western Star, Bright beaming from afar, Omen of good- Then dashing o'er the main,
Its brightening rays to gain, Reckless of loss or pain, We braved the flood.
We brought our strength and skill, With willing hands to till The virgin soil- At factory, forge, or bench, In store, or field, or trench,
With Germans, Swedes and French, We freely toil.
The home-born now rejoice, And gladly lift their voice, With millions more- To praise the Power above, For boundless gifts of love,
Which countless peoples prove From shore to shore.
GOD bless our Native Land, And may she ever stand Anchor'd in THEE, A light to all around, And may her power abound, To send a joyful sound O'er every sea.
GOD bless our Chosen Home, Through all the years to come,. With joy and peace- United may we be, As strong as we are free, And growing more like THEE,, "Till time shall cease.
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WILLIAM MASSEY
Vice-President, 1872 to 1874 President, 1875 and 1876 Trustee, 1877 to 1891 President St. George's Hall Association 1875 to 1890
The Rev. Dr. Suddards, Rector of Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, delivered the following appropriate address, which was listened to with deep interest by the large audience :
ADDRESS.
" Brother Members of the St. George's Society : - It affords me pleasure to welcome you within these walls, and as your chaplain, take part in the services of this interesting occasion.
There is one word variously lettered and diversely sounded, in the numerous tongues and languages of our babbling earth, which has in it more tender associations, more quickening power, and more abiding influence over the heart and life than any other. It is that of Mother. How often has it been spoken. Not here and there by a few, but here and everywhere by every one, in every zone and in all climes. We need not wonder that it should be sweet and precious to all rightly constituted natures, or that it should entwine itself around every chord of the heart, when we call to mind the depth, power, and purity of a mother's love for her offspring. James Montgomery, the bard of Sheffield, who was a devout Christian as well as a sincere patriot, attempted to answer the question, What is a Mother's Love ?
"A mother's love-How sweet the name- It is the purest, tenderest flame That's kindled from above: Within a heart of earthly mould As much of heaven as heart can hold Nor through eternity grows cold, That is a mother's love."
Does some one ask, What has this to do with the centenary of the Society of the Sons of St. George ? I will tell you. We have met to refresh our memories concerning things that are past, to speak briefly of men and places that are distant, to express our gratitude to Almighty God for the numberless blessings which he has bestowed upon us, and we regard it as not among the least of his mercies,. that we are the children of what our historians, politicians and editors are constantly calling the Mother Country. That country is our mother, and though she be well stricken in age, and in the opinion of some, rapidly or slowly, losing a por- tion of her vigor and controlling influence among the nations, we
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shall neither repudiate our genealogical descent, nor hide our historic associations ; and I trust that the sound heartedness of her people, and the wisdom of her rulers, will prevent our ever having cause to blush over her stained honor.
We are far from holding her up as a paragon of perfection. If she were such she could not be of the earth earthy. She would belong to another sphere. There have been acts in her distant wars, and measures in her colonial administration and home legislation, which we may deeply regret, but this is not the place, and we are not the persons to expose to the gaze of our- selves or others, at this family gathering, the infirmities, follies, or even wrong doings of our Mother. Regarding her as the cradle of modern freedom, the type of modern order, we would. look with affectionate tenderness on her venerable form saying from the depth of our hearts-
"And rail thy slanders as they will, With all thy faults we love thee still."
If any country under the face of the heavens can be found which has laid deeper or broader foundations for human liberty, or sent the blessings of Christianity and civilization to more varied regions of the earth, and with greater success, we will cheerfully give to it the palm of superior excellence. This has been her mission, and she has not grown weary in her sublime enterprises of mercy to humanity. Within the boundaries of her own vast domain she has a field sufficiently large to tax all her powers for the mightiest work of faith, and a ceaseless labor of love.
The Colonial Empire alone of Great Britain embraces an area of more than five millions of square miles, peopled by one hun- dred and sixty millions of men, embracing varieties of race. so numerous and so various, that no shade of color is wanting, nor is any type of man absent from the motley host. If we can form any clear conception of the extent of her outlying possessions, which by the way we cannot, for five millions of square miles is not an appreciable quantity-and if we attempt to contemplate one hundred and sixty millions of people, we have a sense of something so vast, burdensome and painful, that we are unable to count the dust, or survive the enumeration of such an empire of rational beings. But if we could measure her acres of soil, enumerate her forges and factories, her forts and ports, her marts
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of commerce and seats of learning-if we could take a passing glance at her halls of justice and temples of prayer, if we could see her swift ships as they sweep through all seas, if we could hear her drum beat as it sounds from post to post, and from con- tinent to continent until it encircles the globe - if we could form a clear conception of the number of her subjects on continents and islands the world over, we should have no reason to complain either of her possessions or her power. I have known men who were such ingrates to humanity and blood as to ignore the mothers that gave them birth, on account of their lack of culture, position, and pe- cuniary ability to take rank with their neighbors; but it rarely hap- pens if the old lady be rich and influential and commands a good degree of respect from all who know her, that there is any dis- position to overlook her claims for remembrance and affection. The fact is, as a general rule, a mother can never be forgotten ; neither can the Mother Country. We may leave home and kin- dred, we may roam through distant lands, we may encounter the chill by night and the drought by day-wrong may be heaped upon us, strangers may be more inhospitable than the wildest elements,-or, we may find sunny skies, bracing winds, generous friends and abounding prosperity, still, whether in weal or woe, the home of our childhood, the friends of our youth, the sports and pleasures of our early life, the Guy Fawkes that we burnt on the fifth of November, the nuts and apples of Halloween, the sweet carols we sang in the open air on Christmas morning-the brooks in which we caught our minnows, and the fields from which we gathered our daisies and buttercups on May-day, form ties of affection which
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We cannot sunder if we would, We would not do it if we could.
But with all this deeply planted affection for the land that gave us birth there is no real barrier in the way to having the heart- strings wound around the institutions, interests, soil and people of other and distant lands.
The ordinance of marriage is an illustration of the principle here involved, for a man is to "leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they are to be one flesh." Its practical operation was shadowed forth in the original deed given to our
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first parents,-" Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it."
Thus we find emigration a divine institution. One of the ob- jects in building the tower of Babel was to have a rallying point so high and attractive that it might keep the people together. This did not accord with the divine purpose, and the Most High confounded their language and scattered them abroad on all the face of the earth.
It was confirmed in the history of Abraham when he was com- manded to leave Ur of the Chaldees.
It was practically enforced and carried out under Philip of Macedon, and afterwards by the Cæsars of Imperial Rome, and it has gone on from age to age enlarging the boundaries of civilization, and will continue to go on, not as a device of man, but an ordinance of heaven, until there shall be realized what was predicted by one of the Hebrew Prophets twenty-six hundred years ago-" Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth, and made it; he created it not in vain ; he formed it to be inhabited."
The fiat has gone forth, and in emigrating from one country to another, from one that is old, fixed and well peopled, to others that are young, new, extensive and full of promise, we are not only gratifying a laudable ambition for personal advancement and improvement, but we are also marching in sympathy with the arrangements of providence and the will of God.
There are some things over which we have no control : among these are the place and time of our birth, the parentage from which we spring, and the surroundings and circumstances of our early history; there are others, when we reach years of discretion, that are subject to our own will and providential guidance. Among the latter is this, to leave our native soil, embark for a distant shore, settle down and share the changes and chances of people in another hemisphere, be subject to the authority of their laws, and constitutional forms of government.
It may be proper for me to state that citizens only are eligible for membership in the St. George's Society. Every member has taken the oath of allegiance to the United States ; forsworn all allegiance to any and all other powers and potentates whatsoever, and thus bound up his interests and hopes with the land of his adoption. A resident Englishman in our midst who retains his
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birthright status, can be an associate member to aid its charities and give counsel for its action, but he has no vote on any of its measures, and can hold no office under its appointment.
As members of the St. George's Society we claim that we have given the strongest practical proof of our esteem for these. United States, more marked and conclusive than those, who without volition, purpose or consent were born within their limits. We came by purpose. So came William Penn one hundred and ninety years ago to take possession under letters patent from the second Charles of all that tract of land lying on the west side of the Delaware, which had previously belonged to the Dutch. It was during his first visit as Governor and Proprietor that he chose the sight and laid out his plans for the spacious, well watered, highly favored city, in which it is our privilege to dwell.
So likewise came John Washington, the great grandfather of our immortal George Washington, a name only to be mentioned with reverence and love-placed in the highest niche of fame as a true patriot, a brave soldier, a wise counsellor and a sincere Christian, whose last utterance in the struggle of death was, “ It is well." A glorious close to a noble life.
In like manner came the fathers of Benjamin Franklin, Bishop White, and multitudes of others who have been eminent in every branch of art, science, law, philosophy, and religion. When we speak of England as our Mother Country we claim it as such for the Society of Friends, for the Pilgrim Fathers, the Virginia Cavaliers, and hundreds of thousands of others who have given to this Continent, either under colonial rule or republican govern- ment, their best energies, untiring devotion and warmest love. The fact is, we are all emigrants, either in our own persons or in that of our fathers. It requires no widespread genealogical tree to reach the parent root of our most ancient families, whether of Spaniards transplanted in the Floridas, French in Canada and Louisiana, Dutch at Manhattan Island, Swedes and Finns in Del- aware, or English in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vir- ginia and the Carolinas. Prior to 1727 fifty thousand Germans had established themselves in our own State. But from wherever they came they brought with them tender recollections of their respective nationalities and sought to impress them upon their new home. Canada was called New France, which name she retained for two centuries until Quebec was captured by Gen.
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Wolfe, when all that Northern domain became subject to Great Britain. Louisiana took its name from Louis the XIV., and still retains it, although sold to the United States by the first Napoleon in 1803 for eleven and a quarter millions of dollars. The present New York was the former New Amsterdam, and what was once the Netherlands is now known as the State of Delaware.
The same feeling is shown in the names of towns, as Boston, Cambridge, Carlisle, German Town, and countless others. By the close of the 17th century the largest portion of the coast of North America was in the possession of England very much after the fashion described by a poet :
"The good old rule, the simple plan, That they shall take who have the power, And they shall keep who can."
One exception at least to this method was found in the early settlement of our own State. In the second year of the Province a system of settlement by arbitration was established. No land could be occupied by settlers until it had been purchased from the Indians, and the entire Indian title was liquidated by six great purchases at different times from 1682 to 1784, under a land com- mission established for the purpose. A similar course stands to the credit of our General Government in the honorable purchase of the Floridas from Spain, Louisiana from France, and Alaska from Russia.
I have sometimes thought that one of England's virtues, as well as faults, has been displayed in her mode of looking after her widely scattered family. Like a loving and somewhat jealous mother, she has clung to her offspring however separated from her by distance, and was never slow to defend their rights, and avenge their real or supposed wrongs, whether inflicted by savage tribes, or civilized communities in any or every quarter of the globe. We cannot but honor and respect a government which throws the strong arm of protection over its children wherever they may be; but if fault there has been, I think it has arisen from an undue exercise of natural parental authority. Few persons who are strangers to the deference, respect, and reverence which British children pay to the opinions, wishes and plans of their parents, can comprehend the established principles of rule which are maintained on the
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one side, and the unquestioned obedience and honor which are rendered on the other. And here I think I see a germ of the difficulty which resulted in a separation of thirteen colonies from the Mother Country. They were her children, either nat- ural or adopted. She claimed the right to control them, and if necessary, tax them, and make them pay a portion of the cost of keeping up the family establishment, without consulting their wishes, or giving them a vote in the premises. It was the parental rule exceeding its reasonable bounds. The children resisted and resolved to set up for themselves. Hence the struggle which culminated in the Declaration of Rights, and the Proclamation of Independence.
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