USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Harford > Franklin Academy reunion, June 14, 1900 : Harford, Susquehanna county, Pa., embracing pictures of the institution, and portraits of its principals, history, proceedings of the reunion, addresses, etc., and a complete catalogue of all students ever attending the academy > Part 4
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There was a new feature that appeared in this "Literary Emporium"; our friend Uncle Lyman had inaugurated a system of social parties. Now, ordinarily, a party is made up of gen- tlemen and ladies that come of their own volition. But the rule that was established on that occasion, or during that term was that a committee of six were appointed, three ladies and three gentlemen, to assign or apportion the gentlemen and ladies that should attend those parties; that is, they would take a paper and put down S. B. Chase, and opposite his name such a lady as they desired him to take; and the first that the lady knew about this would be that she received an invitation or direction from the committee that she was to go with such a person, and if she did not send the person to whom she was assigned a decli- nation she would be called upon by that gentleman to take her to the party on a set evening. If there are any of my friends who were students at that time, they will recollect some of these parties, as I find in this paper.
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Those were pleasant days, and the foundation during those weeks and years was laid for worthy, healthy sentiment through- out all this region. We are very proud of the results of the teaching of Franklin Academy. We sit here and listen to' a brother who will soon be chief justice of this State, the highest position that a person can occupy in the legal profession of this State. Many others have served in other paths of honor. And beyond this there was a sentiment laid, I may say a vir- tuous sentiment, a sentiment that inclined people to act in ac- cordance with their feelings of right. We have reason to con- gratulate ourselves that we lived at a time when we could at- tend Franklin Academy, and we may congratulate the present directors that are carrying on this work; congratulate them that they are now reflecting and acting out the sentiments that have been instilled into them by their fathers and grand- fathers who were permitted to enjoy the privileges of this insti- tution.
REV. P. R. TOWER:
I am very happy to be here, friends, this afternoon, and as I have not recovered from that native bashfulness that was mine when I was here as a student, and so being called upon un- expectedly, you will please not do as they used to do when I got on the stage; that is, laugh. There are some here this after- noon that used to do that; and to my recollection and my honest conviction they used to enjoy it. The reminiscence concerning that political convention reminds me of a colloquy written by S. W. Tewksbury that was acted on the foundation of a barn out here. It was my unfortunate business to carry off a man a good deal larger than I was then, and I guess as large as I am now, on a rail. Now, I have lived in several towns and I never have helped to carry any one out on a rail except at Frank- lin Academy, and I wouldn't have done it then but they se- lected me to do it. I suppose they thought I would do what- ever was set before me, if it was a little unpleasant. I wish I could give the name of that colloquy. It was the one in which Lamb (R. G. I think it was) was the clown; out on the ranch in the West.
I have enjoyed this immensely. Last week or the week
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.
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before I shook hands with I don't know how many hundred old soldiers on the field of Gettysburg. God has written on that field the same as he wrote the commandments on the tables of stone, and this nation will never know the time when that history will be rubbed out. And to-day I have taken the hand of so many that I used to know whom I couldn't call by name, that I have been exceedingly thrilled. I shall go from this place remembering this scene. This day and these faces will come back to me. I am glad of this privilege of looking all of you in the face, and I bid you good day.
SAMUEL SMYTH (By Letter);
I wish Henry W. Williams could be with us to-day. The last time I met him in Harford, ten years ago, at the town's cen- tennial celebration, he was so full of emotion that the tears were on his cheeks when we met unexpectedly, recognized and called each other by our Christian names, Henry and Sam. He said, "Isn't this glorious! It is like a little resurrection." .
Let each and every one of us be really and truly Franklin Academy students again for a few hours. Could anything be more enjoyable? It only requires a little imagination, some in- vention, and lots of romance. To represent a party of Franklin students of fifty years ago, we must be young, healthy, robust, hearty, honest, good-natured, obliging, kind, generous, good in every way. It seems to me that I would be willing to give a dollar a minute if I could put this old soul of mine into the body of the boy who bore that same name and used to run around here forty-five years ago. It would be worth a dollar just to give one jump, turn a hand-spring, and stand on my head once. It would be worth two dollars to give just one yell that could be heard over to Loren Farrar's.
Anything relating to Franklin Academy without Uncle Ly- man Richardson would be like playing Hamlet with the Prince of Denmark left out. I never have had an opportunity before, and will not again, of paying my little tribute to the memory of that good man. There are many great men, but good men are scarce. Comparing him with men in general, I have no hesitation in saying, especially in this company, that there was no better. I need not enumerate his virtues; it would exhaust
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my vocabulary. Of faults, I know of none-not one. His was often a trying position. Principal of an Academy accommo- dating many young people of both sexes, abounding in health and high spirits, mischief was prominent at times, as might have been expected, and it called for all his patience, tact, and wisdom to maintain good order and the good reputation of the institu- tion, of which he was very jealous.
SAMUEL OAKLEY:
Ladies and Gentlemen and Fellow Students: As the time is short, I will be brief in my remarks. As I look over this as- sembly, I see a number of the old students that were my class- mates. and the old familiar faces that are near and dear to me, especially some of these old girls. You were young girls then. I have met quite a number to-day that I couldn't recognize. I'll tell you what is the trouble: you have been associating with old Father Time, and he has made havoc with your comely forms and silken tresses. Those tresses are tinged with gray, and the elastic step has lost its elasticity. And another thing, that is, you have grown old, but not only old but homely. I sup- pose if I should take a lingering look in the mirror, which I dasn't do, I would see that I had grown old and homely. The Lord only knows how I could grow homely. When I was a boy and was so homely my mother and father used to say, "Oh, he will outgrow it." Then I read in the physiology that a man changes every seven years. Says I, "Face and all." It says, "Yes." Eight of those conservative periods have passed and I am lugging round the same face still. I tell you when homeli- ness comes on you it will stick to you like burdocks on a wo- man's knitting, and
As I stand before this audience "en masse," I see many students that formed my class;
Which awakens to memory the long, long past, When Uncle Lyman shook his head and whispered.
His exemplary life we can praise and laud, Though all that is mortal lies beneath the sod. You may think this expression rather odd:
"Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers."
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We all form habits in our mortal lives . And we express those habits in sorrow or surprise; They will ever cling to one until he dies. Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
I can see him now sitting on the stage Reading a chapter from the Inspired Page, And then in humble devotion engaged. Then after, shake his head and whisper.
There is not an old student but what remembers, In the morning worship where we all assembled, Some poor student for misdemeanor sat and trembled; For Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
Something, we know, is certainly wrong, For discordant is the worship of prayer and song. The secret of the matter will not be kept long; Still Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
The secret of the matter becomes intense; For days, perhaps, we are kept in suspense, From knowing what student committed the offence; Still Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
The students were up to all kinds of tricks, From stealing eggs to full grown chicks; They would catch it in worship at half-past six, For Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
Roasting the green corn, hunting the coon, At the midnight hour by the light of the moon, Or sitting cosily in some lady's room; Ah! Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
Or some autumn evening a neighbor would catch A half dozen students in his watermelon patch; A report to headquarters quickly despatched Makes Uncle Lyman shake his head and whisper.
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In a neighbor's barn not far away On an old ox-cart stood a load of hay; It was astride the peak at the break of day; Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
Now a scheme he planned for the guilty ones; He commenced this way, as it were, throwing stones; But in the final result there were no broken bones; Still Uncle Lyman shakes his head and whispers.
"Now I want all the students that didn't take part, To assist me this morning in replacing the cart." Every student responded with all his heart; Uncle Lyman shook his head and whispered.
The cart and the hay were soon taken down, Each working faithful till 'twas safe on the ground;
And the guilty parties he never found; He shook his head and whispered.
If he could to-day appear on this scene
With a mind so vast, so shrewd, so keen,
He would make a selection of the students so mean And shake his head and whisper.
Or should we ask him to return To this mortal existence from the mouldering urn,
And take charge of these students to instruct and learn, He would shake his head and whisper.
Dear fellow-students, now I am through; I bid you farewell, farewell, adieu; I wrote this as a reminder to each one of you, How Uncle Lyman shook his head and whispered.
F. E. LOOMIS:
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Students of Old Franklin Academy: It gives me great pleasure upon this occasion to see so many of my friends. We have all looked forward to this
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time, and yet it is with profound emotion that I address you upon this occasion, because I recall many most glorious names that are not with us. I attended school here at first in 1851; I was here in '52, '53 and '54. One of my fellow students was my friend, J. B. McCollum of the Supreme Bench of Pennsyl- vania. He was with me. I am proud of the Alumni of this institution. When I think of the place filled by Franklin Aca- demy from its inception in 1830 to its close in 1865, I say I am proud of it. It was the great school for Northeastern Pennsyl- vania. Students came even from the other states, and, in fact, from all parts of this great State, to attend school; and I feel for one, when I think of the many students, what this great school did for them. True, when we contrast the school we attended with the facilities that other schools afford, of course we suffer by the contrast as it were. They are much ahead of us. But when I think what this school has done through its 'two great societies, the Amphyction and Alpha Epsilon, by their annual exhibitions, their private and public debates when pitted against each other, thus developing the art of public speak- ing that has made many of our number distinguished, this de- serves the highest commendation. I tell you those meetings de- veloped the underlying principles for us. I recall Cyrus C. Car- penter, now departed, ex-Governor of Iowa; I recall my esteemed friend, Galusha A. Grow, ex-speaker of Congress; and I might go on and on. When I think of the departed ones it is with profound emotion; I am stirred to the inmost of my soul.
Don't you remember in 1854, upon those broad fields, when Horace Greeley addressed the several thousands; when the Am- phyction society and the Alpha-Epsilon society, with banners floating, marched down through with bands of music, and the people from all parts of the State, in all kinds of vehicles came? That was a grand occasion; over four thousand people assem- bled; and this school was then the pride of Harord and the pride of all Northeastern Pennsylvania. And our closing exhibition in 1855, the last I attended, was the closing exhibition of Frank- lin Academy.
Now, my friends, you know how often we have walked these walks; the merry laughter of young manhood and young womanhood; you remember that. I feel upon this occasion
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that these are gone, and I feel on this occasion many loved ones have gone out from us, but they are with us in the spirit. And while their foot-steps are not heard any more, the orphans of our soldiers are heard, and I am glad that if we have gone out as a school that these children occupy these grounds. Now, as we go forth from here, we will think of this reunion. We will think of the friends we have clasped hands with, and whose faces we have looked into. And, my friends, this will be our last reunion upon this hallowed spot. I believe this. We shall not have another upon these grounds. But I do trust and hope that we will meet in a more glorious and enduring reunion in our Father's house of many mansions.
E. B. BEARDSLEE:
Ladies and Gentlemen and Fellow Students of Franklin Academy: It is a pleasure to meet you here to-day; to greet those that I knew in years gone by and to recall reminiscences of former days. There is also about it something that is sad. I find but very few that were with me here in '56; and during the time of the Fremont campaign. I can remember, as my friend here, Mr. Chase, suggested, that the committee would appoint some gentleman to go with a lady. I remember the time when they sent the ladies after the gentlemen, and it wasn't quite so pleasant sometimes, for the gentlemen at least, because they couldn't pick out their ladies. And I have thought of many things to-day that I have not thought of before for years; and, as I said, there is a tinge of sadness because many of those that were here in '56 are not here now, and we can all shed the tear.
MRS. M. E. WESTON:
I have been requested to give Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem, "The Boys."
Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys? If there has, take him out, without making a noise. Hang the Almanac's cheat, the Catalog's spite! Old Time's a liar! We're twenty to-night!
.
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We're twenty! We're twenty! Who says we're more? He's tipsy-young jackanapes, show him the door! "Gray temples at twenty?" Yes, white if we please; Where the snowflakes fall thickest there's nothing can freeze!
Was it snowing I spoke of? Excuse the mistake! Look close, you will not see a sign of a flake! We want some new garlands for those we have shed, And these are white roses in place of the red.
We've a trick, we young fellows, you may have been told, Of talking (in public) as if we were old. That boy we call "Doctor," and this we call "Judge;" It's a neat little fiction-of course it's all fudge.
That fellow's the "Speaker," the one on the right Mr. "Mayor," my young one, how are you to-night? That's our "Member of Congress," we say when we chaff; There's the "Reverend"-What's his name? Don't make me laugh.
That boy with the grave mathematical look Made believe he had written a wonderful book, And the Royal Society thought it was true; So they chose him right in-a good joke it was too!
There's a boy, we pretend with a three decker brain, That could harness a team with a logical chain. When he spoke for our manhood with syllabled fire, We called him the Justice, but now he's the Squire.
And there's a youngster of excellent pith, Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith. But he shouted a song for the brave and the free Just read on his medal "My Country" "of thee!"
You hear that boy laughing? 'You think he's all fun; But the angels laugh too at the good he has done; The children laugh loud as they troop at his call; And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all.
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Yes, we're boys-always playing with tongue or with pen; And I sometimes have asked shall we ever be men? Shall we always be youthful and laughing and gay, Till the last dear companion drops smiling away?
Then here's to our boyhood, it's gold and its gray, The stars of its winter, the dews of its May!
And when we have done with its life lasting toys
Dear Father, take care of Thy children, "The Boys!"
HON W. E. MAXEY called upon, but asked to be ex- cused.
H. N. TIFFANY:
I shall have to follow suit of our friend Maxey, and wish to be excused. There are others here that are better able to talk than I. Am glad that I am here, however, to enjoy this. (Mr. T's speech was short. But the president and secretary will not forget his letters of appreciation and sympathy .- Sec.)
J. W. TIFFANY :
I shall not decline; because when I came on this ground it was a hallowed spot. My father built this old Academy. It was here on this ground my mother led me and carried a baby on her arms. It was in that old Academy she worked for eight men. It was the home of my childhood. It was here and over these hills we played; and in after years when I came here to school I could recall the memory. As I was looking over the program yesterday and saw McCollum's name and others I remembered these scenes. Since Time took up the reins and started on her journey there never has been so much accom- plished as there has been accomplished in the last one hundred years. We have lived in an age and a century that have beat all the centuries gone by. This is the century that has made a great advancement. And in it old Lyman Richardson lived. When he commenced the work he didn't commence it for the money that was in it. He carried on this school, and helped to build up the homes, and make the condition of the coming
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generation better than their fathers. His prayer in the morn- ing was for God's blessing upon the children, not only of this institution, but all the country; and when he taught us he said, "Should you become doctors, don't do it for the money that is in it. If you become teachers and go out into the world to make the world better, don't go because of the money that is in it; but when you hear foot-steps coming into the school- room remember that it is a coming generation."
To our young people here let me say, Remember our Uncle Lyman. When you go out into the, world try to make the com- ing generation better. The old school house is gone. The old store is gone. The marble front has taken its place. But I want to say that unless the moral keeps pace with the intellec- tual, its advancement is nothing.
REV. CHARLES M. TOWER:
I think this is one of the happiest moments that I have experienced in a long time. My birthplace was in Pennsyl- vania and for several years I was connected with the schools of this State as student and as teacher; afterwards as one of the pastors of the State. Since 1883 I have been a New York Stater. That has been my home; but I have never forgotten Pennsylvania; and when I come down into this State I have a feeling of gratefulness that I was a Pennsylvanian. I felt a great degree of pride when I saw Mr. Grow come up to-day, that my birthplace was within four miles of his home, and that when I was a boy I used to go down to Glenwood where Mr. Grow's home was. And when we talked this reunion up a few months ago I said, "I will make my arrangements to go down," and I have just enjoyed the day without expression, after seeing, inquiring, looking at these students a few minutes and recalling the occurrences when I was here. A few evenings ago I was thinking of all the names that were here, so that when I saw them I would know them. We have every one of us come here and enjoyed the day; and we know that the dinner was made best to us students; but we must pay for the printing of the valuable book and catalogue upon which our committee have worked so faithfully; for the badges we wear; for the Band that has so enlivened the day; for the stenographer who takes
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our speeches; for the many things that cost money in order to make this Reunion a success.
Moved and seconded that a vote of thanks be tendered to Mr. Matthews, the superintendent of this school, for the generous- way in which he has entertained us. Carried.
On account of the inclemency of the weather the march to the cemetery was changed. The exercises were carried out at the Chapel.
Three selections were given by the "Girls' Quartette" of the S. O. S. Two cornets, an alto, a baritone. They were warmly complimented.
HON. G. A. GROW:
Fellow Students and Fellow Citizens:
This scene, these surroundings, awaken the echoes that: start when Memory plays an old tune on the harp. From the crowded offices of business life we come together to-day to revel for a brief hour in the associations of the by-gone, mid these scenes frequented by our feet when we were young, and life was fresh and sweet. It is on these occasions that we bring together that which impels men on in their life careers. From the halls of this institution have gone forth men in every walk of life; and throughout almost every state in the Union men who have taken part in public affairs in all the relations of life .. The generation now fast passing away has lived in one of the most eventful eras in the world's history. It began without railroad, telegraph or telephone; and to-day a whisper is heard' across a continent; and the lightnings of Heaven bear the mes- sages of peace, of love, of joy, and of sorrow around the world, in the twinkling of an eye; while the locomotive with almost lightning speed hurls the people along the great highways of trade; and machinery has belted the globe with its iron and steel bands; and the Nation receives all in the province of a higher and nobler destiny.
Your flag, christened in patriot blood in the Revolution, re- christened in the mighty conflict of this generation, floats to- day from an island in the Atlantic ocean one thousand miles from
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its American shores, and over a group of islands in far-off Asia ten thousand miles away. Over this vast extent of territory the sun will never rise on a master or set on a slave. You have passed through in your own country that greatest of trials that a Nation can perform, to release your sons from the curse of human bondage; and to-day the gray and the blue at the call of their country go forth shoulder to shoulder keeping step to the music of the Union You have welded this Republic, found- ed by your fathers, so that no power on earth henceforth can enter it, and there will be no interest that will desire it.
What new destinies are blazed out for the nation by can- non on land and battleship on the sea? No good prophet can to-day tell. On this new enterprise let the Nation discharge its duty to a common humanity, for they are the trustees of civilization. The last rays of the setting sun scarcely fade from the hillsides of Porto Rico ere the morning sun gilds the hills of Manila and Luzon. Over this great expanse is to be carried the institution of your fathers' liberty protected by law. Eng- land, with her Magna Charta and her great institutions of litera- ture, stretching eastward, and here the United States of America, first born of these institutions, going westward, carrying the same institutions, will some day meet in the far-off Orient, hav- ing belted the globe with the institutions of civil and religious liberty and the constitution of free government for mankind. These two great branches of the Teutonic races of the world are to carry liberty, Christianity, and civilization to one facing the rising sun, the other following the setting sun, around the globe.
Now what shall be the duties or the destinies of this people to-morrow must be left to the generation of to-morrow. This generation has discharged its duty, yea, fully and well. God Almighty in His providence has so ordained that every genera- tion of men must perform something for the welfare of the race. This generation has performed its part; some things so worthily and some so good that Nations who buy them pay only in blood. You have bought and paid the price, and the destinies of the race are the better; though it was at an inestimable price, it is worth what it cost. To-day seventy-five millions. One hun- dred years ago a few people on the shores of the Atlantic ocean,
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with nothing but their rights on earth and their hope in Heaven. They have planted your flag so high that the world sees it to-day.
And the first question to be met is, "What is to become of China?" There dwells one-fourth the population of the globe; the empire of oldest time. Your flag floats on the Chinese sea. to-day, and no nation of Europe will partition China as they did Poland. No nation in the Old World anywhere is to under- take to work out their civilization, or think upon the dividing. and breaking up of this great nation without first asking the American people. And they only want China, to work out her own destinies, and do it better as one nation than to be split up in three or four. When the time comes that peace reigns in the Philippine islands, and the flag of your fathers is implanted upon every foot of its soil, then will come the time for educa- tion of that people, and in the end a Republic will be established in the archipelago, and it will be the gift of the American people to civilization, our colossal Statute of Liberty enlightening the world, throwing its effulgent rays from the mountain peaks across the Chinese sea and over this empire of ancient time. This the mission of your children, to be performed by them, but with the inspirations of a heroic ancestry; each generation performing its part, and of whose deeds and achievements in peace and in war the American people to-day stand pre-eminent in behalf of the liberty of mankind.
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