USA > Pennsylvania > Huntingdon County > History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania : from the earliest times to the centennial anniversary of American independence, July 4, 1876 > Part 27
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" The trains arriving at 9:03 from Mt. Union and Roberts- dale were crowded. The train from Robertsdale contained two brass bands, one from Cassville, and one from Broad Top City, and several lodges of Odd Fellows and other socie- ties. Over 300 persons got on the first train at Roberts. dale, and the train was unable to carry all the passengers from the intermediate stations, and another section had to be run to accommodate all.
"On the arrival of these trains the procession re-formed in the following order: Orbisonia drum corps, fantastics, wagon containing children, little boys, carriages containing ministers, speakers and committee of arrangements ; Cassville band, Orbisonia Odd Fellows, visiting Odd Fellows, Broad Top City Band, Broad Top Societies, other visiting societies and citizens. The procession moved from the depot at 9:30 o'clock over the principal streets of the town and thence to the grove.
" At 10 o'clock, a flag raising in front of the Market House, immediately after which the assemblage was called to order by A. W. Sims; the Cassville Band played " Hail Columbia," after which prayer was offered by the Rev. Wm. Prideaux, returning thanks to Almighty God for his watch- fulness over us in the past and invoking a continuance of it in the future. The Glee Club sang the Centennial Hymn, after which Mr. Tarr read the Declaration of Independence in an impressive manner. The audience then sang the " Star Spangled Banner." Mr. Sims then introduced the Ilon. John M. Reynolds, of Bedford, the orator of the day.
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Mr. Reynolds held the immense audience almost spell-bound for over an hour. He spoke of the hardships endured by those who in the trying times of the revolution gave their all, as it were, to secure the blessings we now enjoy ; he spoke of the trials of civil war we have passed through for the perservation of the union intact ; of our now being at peace with the whole world. He also pointed out the dangers that beset us on every side ; the danger of mal-ad- ministration of officers, corruption in high places, and bri- bery, and stated the remedy to be with the people them- selves. Mr. Reynolds is a fluent speaker, and had we room we would have liked to publish the speech in full. He was followed by the Rev. B. B. Hamlin, D.D., of Chambersburg, in a few well-timed remarks, on the rise and progress of the nation and of America since its discovery by Columbus.
" Speaking being over, dinner was served to all those who could get near the table ; the multitude was so great that it was impossible to accommodate, but the committee spared no pains to furnish provisions for all-and there was plenty for all-if the multitude could have had patience to wait their turn.
" After dinner the enjoyment of the day began, as the crowd separated and dispersed through the grove to enjoy themselves in some of the different amusements provided. A large platform was erected for dancing, swings were put up in different parts of the grove, a greased pole was up for those desiring to climb it; arrangements for playing base- ball were provided, and other amusements. Soon every one was apparently enjoying themselves to their utmost.
" At 2 o'clock the tournament came off. Six knights were entered for the riding. The successful knight was Dr. W. T. Browning, the second best was B. F. Ripple.
"Dancing in the evening was spoiled by the rain.
"The crowd was estimated at 4,000, and we believe that everyone went away satisfied that it 'was good for them to be here' to unite with their fellow citizens in this centennial jubilee of American freedom, in pledging their continued watchfulness over the welfare of our nation in the future, so
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that their children and children's children may celebrate with pride the two hundredth anniversary of this day.
" The very best of order was maintained on the ground."
At Huntingdon, "preparations on an ample scale were commenced some days beforehand, and perhaps never before in the history of our country, were the flowers of our gar- dens, and the evergreens of the forest, the hemlock, the pine and the laurel, called upon for so heavy a tribute to the cause of patriotism, civilization and humanity. These were rapidly and almost magically transformed into wreaths, fes- toons and beautiful devices, by the fair hands of the ladies, who with that energy and patriotic devotion characteristic of our townswomen, worked with the patience of ants and the energy of beavers, in the sweltering sun of day and dur- ing the sultry hours of night, in making a suitable prepara- tion for the coming occasion.
" The work of decorating buildings began early on the morning of the third, and long before evening few buildings, either public or private, were left unadorned, or unfurnished with the most elaborate and tasteful displays of evergreens, flowers, emblems and patriotic mottoes, while from roof-top and window were to be seen the inodest and graceful folds of the red, white and blue, as it fluttered in the breeze. Tri- umphal arches, with pendant festoons, and a most liberal and attractive display of bunting, spanned the entrance to the principal streets and were flung from housetop to house- top along the crowded thoroughfares, contributing largely to the gorgeousness of the scene, and forming an interesting and attractive feature of the occasion.
"The celebration exercises were inaugurated early on Monday evening by the already effervescing patriotism of young America, which manifested itself in the wildest enthu- siasm, the most hilarious merriment, and the utmost noise which the firing of crackers, shouts, confusion, and general deviltry could produce.
" The ringing of the church bells at 12 o'clock was the signal for the ushering in of the new century, and from that time on till daylight the good-natured citizens submitted to
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the deprivation of that sleep which was out of the question, comforting themselves with the reflection that the next cen- tennial occasion might perhaps be ushered in a little more quietly, the novelty of the affair having by that time in some measure subsided.
"Early religious services were held in some of the churches. The Baptist church, which had inaugurated the exercises on the Sabbath previously by a beautiful and tasteful decoration of the building, and an appropriate ser- mon and Sabbath School concert, occupied the hour inter- vening between 5 and 6 o'clock in devotional exercises ap- propriate to the opening of the new century in our nation's existence.
" Immense crowds of people from the surrounding country were in attendance at a very early hour in the morning ; business was generally suspended and all united in the general festivities. The procession formed at 10 a. m., on Third street, which from Penn to Mifflin was a mass of struggling humanity as each division assumed its appropri- ate place in the line of march.
" The procession consisted of,
Chief Marshal Bathurst, with his Assistants and
Aids, all mounted. The Huntingdon Silver Cornet Band, Members of Council and Orators, in carriages, The Independent Hook and Ladder Company, Phoenix Fire Company, Huntingdon Fire Company, Juniata Fire Company, Fire Companies from Tyrone,
Young America, with the Centennial Gun, The Representatives of the Different Trades, Base Ball Clubs, Alexandria Band,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Citizens, &c.,
and presented an imposing and highly attractive appear- ance as it moved on its line of march through the principal
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streets and returned to the yard in the rear of the Court House, where a stand was erected and seats prepared for the guests, and where the exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. F. B. Riddle.
" Whittier's Centennial Hymn was then rendered by the Huntingdon Centennial Glee Club.
" The Declaration of Independence was read by J. M. Bailey, esq., and a Centennial Overture, composed for the occasion by Prof. J. A. Neff, was rendered by the Hunting- don Silver Cornet Band.
" Dr. J. H. Wintrode was then introduced by Frank W. Stewart, esq., of the committee of arrangements, and deliv- ered the oration of the day.
" The exercises were concluded with music, 'Star Span- gled Banner,' by the Huntingdon Centennial Glee Club.
" The balloon ascension was next on the tapis, and was expected to be the crowning feature of the occasion ; accord- ingly all eyes were turned towards the 'Diamond,' where the monster 'Republic' was being inflated as rapidly as possible, and which was soon filled with an eager, surging, expectant crowd of spectators, holding the position with the impatient tenacity of such assemblies, and, amid the scorch- ing rays of a pitiless sun, with the thermometer ranging far up in the ' nineties,' waiting for the skyward journey of the aerial voyagers to commence.
" At a few minutes past three o'clock, Miss Ihling, the female æronaut, arrayed in her gorgeous costume of the Goddess of Liberty, the rich spangles of which were only visible beneath the folds of the linen duster which enveloped her person, and her flowing auburn ringlets partially con- fined by the folds of a blue turban, made her appearance on the scene and seated herself for a few moments, the cyno- sure of all eyes, awaiting the final preparation, not however without casting certain ominous glances towards the western heavens, where a terrific storm cloud had for some time been gathering, and which now threatened momentarily to burst in all its fury.
"The process of inflation, under the direction of Prot.
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Wise, who superintended all the arrangements, was almost completed ; but the storm was coming with frightful rapid- ity. The squadrons of the air were forming in line of battle; the huge air-ship, like some mighty etherial monster impa- tient to be gone, fretted and strained upon her cables, threatening to drag the sand-bag anchorage that held her to terra firma, and it was manifestly apparent that unless she could be released speedily, all hopes of a successful ascension were at an end. But the denouement came. The final preparations were completed; the æronaut, flag in hand, was preparing to take her place in the basket which was being secured to its moorings ;- the band awaited the signal for striking up the national air which was to greet her departure; ten minutes more and she would have been "above the storm's career," and beyond the reach of human vision, on her journey to the region of cloudland ;- when, the storm burst, and with it, almost simultaneously, the balloon. The huge monster of the air gave one or two convulsive starts towards its native element; then with an undulating mo- tion, swayed to and fro, like a drunken man; once it almost flattened itself on the earth, to the imminent danger of the attendants, then righted itself, swayed, and righted again, when the storm struck her. One dull heavy thud-one or two tremendous convulsive heavings, like the death throes of a mighty giant, and the mammoth air-ship, which a few moments before had assumed such tremendous proportions and such a swaggering air of defiance to the elements, now lay prone upon the earth, a mangled, shapeless mass of shreds and network ; her gaseous contents had mingled with thin air, and the ascension for that day was over. But no time was left for moralizing, for philosophizing or grumbling; the elemental contest was now raging in all its fury, and the action had become general along the entire line ; the crowd, so long waiting on the qui vive of expectancy, with the instinct of self-preservation dispersed as rapidly as possible to seek shelter from the torrent of rain which followed the bursting of the storm-cloud, and which placed an effectual quietus on the festivities of the day.
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" The concluding exercises of the evening consisted in a general and extensive illumination of private dwellings, in which most of our prominent and wealthy citizens availed themselves of the opportunity of attesting their patriotism, notwithstanding the inclement and threatening aspect of the weather, and which presented a brilliant and highly inter- esting sight, creditable alike to the energy and public spirit of our people, and in the absence of any pyrotechnic display, forming a most appropriate and beautiful feature of the con- cluding exercises of a day long to be remembered."*
We give in full the oration of Dr. J. H. Wintrode, as an appropriate conclusion to this work :
We are assembled to-day in obedience to that natural im- pulse which prompts a people to do honor to its past. We are here to celebrate with reverent and appropriate services the centennial anniversary of our National Independence ; to commemorate the day that beheld three millions of peo- ple liberated from the bonds and chains of a foreign vassal- age, and taking their proper position among the nations of the earth. And, my fellow citizens, we should celebrate this day in a spirit and manner worthy of the event that we commemorate. We should meet together this day as the children of the same great family, having a common heritage, a common interest, and a common destiny. If all private, and local, and political disputes, and all sectarian strifes and jealousies cannot this day be forgotten, we are unworthy of our high birthright. John Adams very clearly predicted the proper observance of the day when he wrote: "I am apt to believe that the day will be celebrated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God, and by pomp, games, shouts, guns, bells, bonfires, and illumi- nations from one end of the country to the other, and from this time forward forevermore." What heart does not dilate with feelings peculiar to this occasion, and what a host of in- teresting recollections spring up in the mind when we reflect upon " the times that tried men's souls." The narrative of the Pilgrim Fathers, in the spirit of holy zeal forsaking the
*From R. McDivitt's report in the Huntingdon Journal.
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land of their birth, braving the winds of heaven, and the angry wrath of the mighty ocean, landing on the wild and rugged rock of Plymouth, and planting the seeds of a holy religion, as well as laying the foundation of a mighty Re- public, destined to be unexampled in the extent of its terri- tory and rapid increase of its population, its material re- sources and the equality and justice of its political institu. tions, and of those fields of fame on which the hoary locks of the sire " lay clotted in the purple gore of the son," where the traces of the revolutionary fort and ditch remain, in which our fathers knelt in prayer, and battled for the cause of freedom ; all these things beautifully and vividly revive in the mind on this centennial of our nation's existence.
One hundred years have now rolled round since the glorious declaration of the rights of man, which has just been so admirably read in your hearing, was proclaimed to the civilized world ; and in vain do we search the page of history for the record of an event that adorns it with greater lustre, or that more eminently distinguishes the per- sons amongst whom it took place, for their patriotism, their virtue and their valor. " Wiser, far wiser than those who have attempted a similar work in other lands and beneath other skies, they sought not to destroy any vested rights ; they set up no false notions of equality, nor the oppression of the many for the tyranny of the few ; neither did they undertake to sever the chain which bound them to an hon- orable past. They sought rather to make virtue and intel- ligence the test of manhood ; they sought to strike down prerogative and privilege, and open the gates of happiness to all alike. And, my fellow-citizens, if there be anything great, if there be anything noble, if there be anything pre- cious and invaluable in the American Revolution, it is just this, it has secured for all men an equal chance in life." Then, too, it has demonstrated man's capacity for self gov- ernment. It has shown him his just, natural and inaliena- ble rights, and it has taught him, too, that his greatest privilege, is to be free.
Let us for a moment endeavor to go back in imagination
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to the 4th of July, 1776. Let us enter that shrine of Amer- can liberty, old Independence Hall. See those patriotic men pondering upon the magnitude of the step about to be taken ! There are Jefferson, and Adams, and Lee and Hancock, and Hopkins, and Livingston ; there, too, are our own Morris, and Rush, and Franklin, and Morton, and Clymer, and Smith, and Taylor, and Wilson, and Ross. Silenee, deep, solemn, profound silence reigns throughout the hall ! There are those there that seem to waver. See that aged man arise -he easts a look of inexpressible interest and uncon- querable determination upon his fellow-patriots. Hear him as in slow, measured and tremulous accents he speaks : "Mr. President, there is a tide in the affairs of men, a nick of time, we perceive it now before us. That noble instrument upon your table, which secures immortality to its author, should be subscribed to this very day by every member of this house! Ile who will not respond to its call-he who falters now is unworthy the name of freeman! Sir, these gray hairs must soon descend into the tomb, but, I would rather they should descend thither by the hand of the executioner, than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country." He is silent, but the fire of patriotism he has kindled is burning in every bosom in that assembly, and the glorous deed is done.
What was it, fellow-eitizens, that induced these noble men to take this bold and praise-deserving step ? Assured- ly they were not unconcious of the dangers of such a course. "The disparity between the power of Great Britain and that of the colonies, was more apparent to them than it can ever be to us. They saw the first power of the age fresh from the memorable battles in which she had destroyed the naval and colonial power of France. The air still rang with the cheers with which they themselves had greeted her successive triumphs, the honor of which they had come to look upon as their own. IIer armies had been triumphant in every land ; her fleets victorious on the most distant seas." They knew therefore the significance of their act; they knew that should the experiment fail, proud Eng-
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land would rise in all her might, and vindicate the honor of her insulted majesty. And as was there grimly said at the time, they knew they must all " hang together, or all hang separately." It was therefore from purely patriotic motives that they acted.
History records many instances of true patriotism, and of self-sacrificing devotion to country. It records the acts of Lycurgus, the great Spartan law-giver, who furnished Sparta with a code of wholesome laws, exacted from his country- men a promise of implicit obedience to those laws till his re- turn, and then leaving Sparta to return no more forever ; thus seeking to secure the permanence of his institutions by a voluntary banishment from his country. And, although such a course would at this day be discountenanced, making due allowance for the age in which, and the people amongst whom, it took place, it can be regarded in no other light than that of self-sacrificing devotion to country. The de- fence of Thermopyla by Leonidas, and the sacrifice of himself and his three hundred heroic Lacedemonians, is another em- inent example of self-sacrificing devotion to country, and well might they erect a monument to tell to posterity the tale, with the beautiful inscription thereon: "Tell it in Lacedemon, that we died here in obedience to the laws of our country." But neither of these incidents, or any other recorded in history, excels or equals in any of the attributes or characteristics of a true, healthy and enlighit- ened patriotism, that decisive act in which it was declared that " these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States."
But while our thoughts are thus directed to the worth of those who first unfurled to the breeze the star spangled banner of freedom, we must not forget the men of equal worth and patriotic valor who marched through blood and carnage beneath its flying folds, until it waved in security and peace over this "land of the free and home of the brave." Led on by their patriot chieftain, the immortal Washington, whose confidence rested in the arm of Omnipotence alone ; guided by his wisdom and directed by his sagacity, the
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American people entered on the unequal contest, fearless of the issue. Their battle cry was "Victory or Death," and they fought like men determined to be free ; and after eight long years of triumphs and defeats, of varied successes and reverses, victory perched upon their banner. The symbol of pcace again hung in the retiring clouds, and the United States of America, from the very nursery of oppression, stood before the world the fairest, freest and the best nation ever gazed on by mortal man.
The true American patriot feels that he has a name which demands his highest and noblest offering of patriot- ism, and he yields the first fruits of his genius and of his heart to his country. He loves her with the gushing fullness and unselfish devotion of the heart's first and purest love. And how could it be otherwise ? Her soil claims a parent's right to that love ; and were it as cheerless as winter, could he love it less than the Switzer loves his barren cliffs ? Were it as torrid as Arabia, could he cherish it less than the Bedouin his own land ? But the grandeur and beanty of this boon land of his birth, where lavish Nature seems to have gathered her wonders as for a race of free giants-the clustered isles of her sublime and solemn forests, the cata- ract voices that thunder among her hills, the rivers that sweep with queenly magnificence among valleys the loveli- est that zephyr ever visited-how could these be his own and be unbeloved ? . And then her annals, rich in the unri- valed triumphs of a calm and Christian heroism, of valor and of virtue, and more, and far greater than all, her liberty, calm and crimeless, lofty and self-sustained, that lifts her far above all ancient and modern comparison, the morning star of the nations leading in the onward march of Christian civilization, of progress and humanity ! Why, he would be duller than the dullest clod of the valley did his heart not swell with exulting gratitude to the God, who made such a land and made him a child upon its bosom. It is wise, therefore, that he loves his native land, and loves it thus; not with a cold sense of filial duty merely, the trickling of an icy patriotism, but with a full and free passion that
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regards a single life as too poor an offering for such a coun- try, and would give it, not grudgingly or with reluctance, but freely, as the sun does its light or the heaven its dew, would pour out his young, warm blood in the battle and bless each sacrificial drop as it bubbles forth. Oh, more than mountains or rivers, or even wealth and splendor or greatness, is this spirit the true glory of our land. And this spirit, let me say, is no idle dream, no phantom of the imagination ; it is a presence and a reality. It lives, and moves, and has its being in every pulsation of the mighty heart of our country. And when the shadows darken and the peril comes, will it stand forth, mightier than any mere inanimate, physical power, to save and to achieve.
It is held by some that we have greatly degenerated, that we have retrograded into a more shallow and more vulgar race than our forefathers ; that there are no such intellectual giants and no such lofty emotions in these latter days. Where, in our Congress, it is asked, are the white headed Peyton Randolphs, the Washingtons, the Lees, and the Jays ? It is the sentimental habit of every age to decry, disparage, and underrate itself. When the patriots of 1774 met in Car- penters' Hall, they bewailed the spirit of Crom well's day, until the firing of the first bomb into Boston revealed and brought into the light the same stern courage and unyielding in- tegrity in themselves. So, too, the firing of the first gun at Sumpter, in 1861, arrayed us, in a single month, under one banner or another, men who whatever their mistakes of judgment were, surely were not influenced by any considera- tions of gain, but who offered their lives freely for an idea which seemed to them the wisest and the best. In times of piping peace, when money spending seems to be our only business, and money getting assumes with all of us the greatest importance, the Lincolns and Sumners, and may I say it, the Lees and Stonewall Jacksons, go into the back- ground, and the Tweeds the Credit Mobilier men and carpet baggers come to the front, and the hero of Fort Fisher and Dutch Gap, and the Winnebago chieftains, become leaders ; but notwithstanding all this the American people are this
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