History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 254

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

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The next meeting of the association was held at the same place, on the l'th of November, 1883.

Prof. Thomas (' Neill, declining to serve as chairman of the Music Committee, Henry W. Kratz was appointed in his stead and place. At this meeting the several chairmen of committees announced their assori- ates. As the linsiness to be brought before the Association accumulated, it was resolved to meet each month, on the Thursday next following the 22d of the month.

iii

APPENDIX.

At this time the general nature of the celebration was discussed at length, resulting substantially in the plan afterwards successfully carried out.

The Memorial Committee was instructed to have prepared and erected a granite monolith to the memory of David Rittenhouse, the astronomer, to be placed in front of the Court-House, marking a continuation of the surveyor's meridian line.

On December 27, 1883, and January 24, 1881, regular meetings were held, at which the various committees reported and further plans were discussed concerning the manner of celebrating the forthcoming anni- versary. The next meeting of the association was held on February 22, 1884, Hon. B. Markley Boyer presiding, when plans were discussed for raising money to defray the necessary expenses of the celebration and were referred to the Finance Committee. C'ol. Theodore W. Bean was ap- pointed chairman of a committee to invite the different vivie and frater- Dal organizations of the county to parade, and Mrs. Sarah S. Rex was appointed chairman of a committee to prepare and issue a circular to the householders of the county, suggesting the kind of articles desired for the exposition, and requesting their loao for the same, with the power to appoint committees of ladies in each township and ward who were tu make a complete canvass of the several districts. The thoroughiness with which these instructions were carried out is attested by the complete list of ladies reporting from nearly every district in the county ; and to these committees is due the credit of canvassing, reporting and actually col- lecting most of the exhibits placed in the antiquarian exposition.

On April 10, 1884, an adjourned meeting of the association was beld, at which the important question of finance was finally decided, and upon suggestion of the Finance Committee a season-ticket, good for four ad- missions to the antiquarian exposition, was ordered to be issued at once, to be sold at one dollar rach, with which was to be presented a memorial certificate of membership of the association. A communication from Hon. B. Markley Boyer was read, asking to be excused from further ser- rices us President of the Association, on account of the press of his judi- cial duties, but still extending to the association his best wishes for sue- cess, and promise of hearty co-operation. The vacancy was filled at the following meeting, May 15, 1884, by unanimously electing George W. Rogers, Esq., as President, but as he was about to sail for Europe, to be absent until the close of the Centennial, he tendered his resignation at the meeting of May 29, 1884, when Joseph Fornunce, Esq., was nnani- mously elected to that position.

Of first importance were the finances. Money had to be raised in suf- ficient amount to assure success. The Finance Committee organizing with David H. Ross, Esq., chairman, and J. A. Strassburger, Esq., as its secretary and treasurer, soon had a plan matured. It pressed the sale of season tickets and memorial certificates vigorously, and popularized this plan of raising the needful funds. Each election district was asked to subscribe one hundred dollars. Within four days of sending out the supplies to the different committeemen, the upjwr district of U'pper Pro- vidence, under the canvass of Professor J. Shelly Weinberger, bad sub- seriled und paid its full quota. Other townships rapidly followed, until the total amount realized from advance sale of tickets and memorial cer- tificates amounted to the sum of three thousand five hundred and fifty dollars. Credit is undoubtedly due to Mr. Strassburger for his active, energetic and systematic work in raising the necessary funds as well as arousing public interest.

The next meeting of the association was held on July 24th, and was one of its largest gatherings. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company announced their willingness to return free of charge all articles shipped over their line, hy express, coosigned to the exposition, and also to give the association a liberal relate on tickets sold to and from Norris- town during the centenial. The full committers on parade, antiquarian and metuorial were announced : also a committee, composed of persons

identifieil with the county, but residing in Philadelphia at the present time, said committee being known as the " Auxiliary Committee in Philadelphia, " of which James B. Harvey was chairman.

At the meeting of the 6th of August, a great amount of detail work was attended to, and from that time the Executive Committee miet almost daily, to pass upon the various questions as they arose.

The Building Committee had a space one hundred feet square floored over in the Court-House lot, upon which were erected four large tents. The court-room was floored over the tops of the seats, and glass cases arranged around the sides of the room and upon three large tables run- ning its entire length. The Grand Jury room was prepared as the Art Gallery, and placed in proper shape under the special direction of Mr. J. W. Ridpath, of Jenkintown, who is deserving of special mention, as giv- ing invaluable assistance in hitting up the room and arranging the pic- tures in proper place. He was assisted in this by Miss Sophia S. Freed- ley, of Norristown, a teacher in the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. The two arbitration rooms were fitted up with tables, upon which were exhibited the old and rare books of the county. When the exhibition opened everything was in readiness.

The Committee on Vocal Music met soon after their appointment, aod invited about two hundred persons to assist in singing, on September 10. About half of that number assembled in response to the invitation, and selecting Professor J. V. Bean as their leader, soon became an efficient chorns.

An immense amount of work was necessary to get everything in run- ning order. But so well was it managed, that when Tuesday morning, the 9th of September, A. D. 1884, came, it fouil everything in its place. A committee of ladies and gentlemen devoted special attention to the deco- rations of the Court House and Music Hall, and both were greatly im- proved in appearance by the artistic arrangement of plants, flags and red, white and blue bunting. The work of the l'onumittee on Parade, the Antiquarian Committee, memorial and literary exercises were most com- plete and satisfactory.

The morning of Tuesday, September 9, 1884, witnessed the opening exercises of the centennial celebration of Montgomery County. The crowd early gathered at the County Court-House, and upon its porch and steps were the officers of the Centennial Association and invited guests.

Shortly after nine o'clock, Joseph Formance, Esq., president of the Centennial Association, cane forward and said : "Citizens of Mont- gomery County, we have met here to hold the opening exercises of the celebration of our county's centennial. I present to you the Rev. Dr. Bomberger, president of U'rsinus College

Dr. Bomberger then spoke as follows :

" I have been asked, my friends, to open these commemorative festivities with prayer ; with prayer to Almighty God. It is eminently fitting that an occasion like this should Le so begun. We owe to Him the blessings we enjoy from the first establishment of our fathers in this country, and especially in this section of it. We owe to Him all that we possess to-day in the way of real prosperity and progress. Let us therefore endeavor, not with the ceremonial formality of a merely decorous prelude to this interesting occasion, but with devout reverence for Him to whom our heartiest adoration belongs, to engage sincerely and heartily, in sungdi- cation, thanksgiving and prayer. Let us pray."

PRAYER.

" Almighty God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and our Creator, gathered tere uuder Thine own Heaven, and surrounded by the works of Thy hands, and realizing that we are Thy creatures, we would come at the beginning of these interesting solemnities and festivities, and look to Thee with devoutly worshipful and thankful hearts, to praise Thy name as we ought to praise Thee for all Thon art, glorious io Holi- ness, fearful io praises, doing wonders, and for all Thou art pleased to be to us, and thus worthily magnify Thy Great and Excellent Name. Help

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

us in these festivities thankfully to call to mind all Thou hast done for 16, all Thon didst for our fathers in generations past. Although we have proved unworthy of Thy many mercies, grant us grace most heartily to feel, «leplore and confess our unworthiness, and yet penitently rely on Thy forgiving grace in Jesus Christ Thy Son. We desire heartily to thank Thee for all Thon hast done for us as a people in days gone by ; that Thou didst bring our fathers to a land rich and richly furnished in all things needful for their bodily comfort. We praise Thee for the tem- poral prosperity that has attended their efforts, and the rich inheritance we have received from them and through them in the earthly gifts which so abundantly surround us; for a rich and fertile land ; for a healthful country, and for all the resource- of it, the wealth and temporal com- forts which abound on every side. But above all do we praise Thy Name that Thon wast pleased to bring to this land a people that feared God and loved righteousness ; that brought with them not only desires for worldlly prosperity, but principles founded on Thy Holy Word, derived from Thy Gospel, and that have been faithfully sown and maintained in our midst. O ! help us to remember with grateful hearts how largely we are indebted to them, and above all to Thee through them, in these respects. May we prove worthy of the holy and blessed inheritance that has been secured and handel down to us. May we not forsake the God of our fathers nor the gospel of our fathers, never turn our backs upon the grace which gave them such peace, such power, and influence for good. We thank Thee for the educational institutions which they founded along-side of the churches they built here years ago, and praise Thy name that what was thus planned has been carried forward and that we enjoy the improvements that have been so secured. And now, Lord, we invoke Thy blessing npon this occasion. Throughont these days of joyous festivities, help us to fear Thy name, and amidst all our gladness to praise the Lord, and may our purpose to serve Thee be deepened and confirmed, that we may go forward into the future a people full of the fear of the Lord, soher, righteous, God-loving, cleaving to the great truths of the gospel, handing them down in Thy name unaltered and uncorrupted to generations to come, that when another centennial shall occur our descendants may rise up to magnify Thy name for what Thou bast through us accomplished on their behalf. Hear our prayer and ac- cept of us iu Christ, our adorable Redeemer, unto whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost, we will give immortal praise. Amen."

After ninsie by the band Mr. Fornance said :

" The Burgess of the town, John II. White, was to have been here to welcome yon this morning. Unfortunately he is prostrated on a bed of sickness. In his absenre the Solicitor for Town Council, J. P. Hale Jenkins, Esq., of Norristown, will address you."

Mr. Jenkins delivered the following

ADDRESS OF WELCOME.

" In behalf of the Burgess of the borongh of Norristown, now stricken with disease, I speak to you, Mr. President, and to yon, ladies and gen- tlemen, fellow-citizens, all, welcome.

" To-day closes the first century of our existence as a county. There can he no hesitancy in saying that none of those who lived within its borilers at the time of its organization, imagined that the close of the first century would find it the home of a hundred thousand happy souls. It is bnt proper, therefore, that we should meet to inaugurate the ceremonies about to take place and eminently fitting is it that these ceremonies should commence by dedicating a meridian stone to the greatest son of her goil, the father of ollen science.

"The men of one hundred years ago knew nothing of steam as a motive power. To day iron roads traverse onr county from end to end and from side to side. Little did they know of the mechanical arts, but now, by the aid of inventive genins, our beautiful valleys are dotted all over with the busy mill and work-shop. The Constitution of the United States was uot framed when our county was organized. Now, securing

to all political freedom and religions tolerance, 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' it is an assured fact-a union of States which none can sever.

"Let me then say in welcoming yon to our county seat on this gala day, that we should devoutly thank au indulgent Providence for the many blessings bestowed upon us in the past, and pray that the institutions which made these blessings possible be secured to us, our children, and our children's children forever.

"Again I bid you, in the name of the Burgess and Town Council of the borough of Norristown, a hearty, thrice hearty welcome."

At the conclusionof Mr. Jenkins' remarks, Mr. Fornance, President of the Association, delivered the following

ADDRESS :

"To-day closes the first century of the existence of Montgomery County. We are here from all parts of the county to celebrate the event. Not only from our own county have yon come, but also from adjoining counties some are here to rejoice with us. You have just been welcomed by the representative of the municipal authorities of Norris- town. On behalf of the Centennial Association, and speaking for the people of Montgomery County, I also give you a welcome.

"It is proper for us to come together and celebrate the occasion in a manner tæfitting the event. We have canse to rejoice. The century just rolled by has brought us great prosperity. In forming the county, the chief idea was nearness to the Court-House. The act of Assembly, establishing the county, states that the cause for entting off three-fourths of Philadelphia County and making Montgomery County of it, was its great distance from the courts at Philadelphia. That seems a strange reason now ; for railroads and telegraphs und telephones have annihilated distance. The easy access to this Court-House is shown by the presence of many of you who bave left your distant homes to day, and are here at this early bour. By railroad, the remotest station in the county is but two hours ride from the county seat, while Norristown itself is but forty minutes ride from the heart of Philadelphia.

" There is a tradition to the effect that it was urged that thecounty seat should be located where the Egypt road diverges from the great road from Philadelphia, at Jeffersonville ; but it was finally decided to locate it some three miles further down, where a road branched off to Swedes' Ford. Here they built the county buildings ; a village sprang up around them, and here is to-day the great town of Norristown.

"Of the five men who were authorized one hundred years ago to buy a piece of land in Norriton township, near Stony run, and contiguous to the Schuylkill River, and erect thereon the county buildings for the new euunty, not one would have dreamed of prophesying the growth that hay followed their selection. The county has grown from twenty thousand to one hundred thousand in population. The town has grown from nothing to nearly fifteen thousand. Our growth has been great in the past ; it must be greater still in the future. Sitnated as we are, in the centre of a network of railroads, near to the great coal beds of Pennsylvania, with easy access to the two largest cities of the country in the midst of fine scenery, with fertile land, and healthfal surround- ings, we have every element for future development.

" Montgomery County was established September 10, 1784. Franklin County was established September 9, 1784. There is hut one day differ- ence between our ages. At Chambersburg, the county seat of Franklin County, they are to-day celebrating their centennial. It is proper that we should send them some greeting. On your behalf I will therefore send them this telegram, ---

"COURT-HOUSE, NORRISTOWN, PA., September 9, 1884.

" To the Centennial Association of Franklin Co., Chambersburg, Pu :

". Montgomery county congratulates her twin-sister on her one hnn- uredth birthday.'

"CENTENNIAL ASSOCIATION OF MONTGOMERY Co.

APPENDIX.

" As we mark this pra, we contemplate the past, and part of our centen- nial celebration is the Antiquarian Exposition. Ilere are displayed the possessions of our own ancestors for comparison with things of to-day. We have collected from our own people the prized treasures of a century. Here are revived fashions of times so different from ours. Here are the works of once busy hands that have long since crumbleil into dust. We see their works, we are reminded of their ways in many respects simpler and more frugal than ours. We honor and respect their memories.

"On behalf of the Centennial Association, I declare this exposition now ojien."

After music by the band, the people in large numbers sought admission to the Antiquarian Exposition.

DEDICATION OF RITTENHOUSE MERIDIAN STONE.

At eleven o'clock A.M. on Tuesday, September 9th, in the presence of a large concourse of people, the ceremonies of unveiling the monolith touk place. Joseph Fornance, Esq., president of the association, standing near the granite stone, said, -

" A Committee was appointed by the Contenmal Association to erect a snitable memorial to the memory of David Rittenhunse. Is that com- mittee ready to report ?"

Hun. Jones Detwiler, chairman of the committee, spoke as follows, -

" Mr. President . En behalf of the Memorial Committee, appointed by the Montgomery County Centennial Association, and at their request, 1 present the following report as their action." [Report handed to Mr. Formance].

Mr. Fornance, in receiving the report, said, -

"The committee appointed present the following report. "

The report was then read.

REPORT.

"At a meeting of the Centennial Association of Montgomery County, Pa., held February 22, 1883, Jones Detwiler was appointed chairman of the Memorial Committee of said Association.

" After due consideration and deliberation, on the part of the chair- man, the following additional members of the committee were appointed, viz.,-Dr. Hiram Corson, of Plymouth; John Hoffman, Esq., llon. Iliram C. Hoover, ex-County Treasurer Samnel Jarrett and Sammuel Rit- tenhonse, of the township of Norriton.

"At a meeting of the committee, held July 24, 1884, all the members present, it was unanimously

" Resolved, -That a monolith, to be styled the memorial stone, be erec- teil to the memory of the eminent philosopher, astronomer and mathema- tician, David Rittenhouse, once a resident of the township of Norriton, Montgomery Co. The stone to be of solid Quincy granite, seven feet / in height, twenty-four inche- at the base, and eighteen at the top, with | four sides polished for inscriptions, and to be planted in the ground to the depth of four feet, imbedded in masonry of stone and cement.

"After consultation on the part of the committee with the different stone-cutters of Norristown, it was agreed to award the contract to George W. Smith.

"Dr. Hiram Corson was appointed a committee to prepare a suitable inscription for the same.

"John Hoffman was appointed a committee to superintend the erection, to have the privilege to call to his aid such assistance as should be re- quired.

"It was agreed to erect the stone at the north end of the present meri- dian line, and to extend the said line about four feet without disturbing the present stones already planted, and to have the ceremonies connected with the unveiling, and passing it over to the proper authorities, to take place on September 9, 1584, at eleven o'clock A.M.

" This is to certify that the foregoing is a correct copy of our proceed- ings.

" JONES DETWILER, Chairman.

" HIRAM CORSON, M. D.

JOHN HOFFMAN.

" HIRAM C. HOOVER. " SAMUEL. F. JARRETT. " SAMUEL RITTENHOUSE."

Mr. Fornance then said, -

" Colonel Bean, to you, as President of the Historical Society of Mont- gomery County. I deliver this report of the memorial committee."

Col. Theo. W. Bean said,-

" Mr. Chairman, in the name and in behalf of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, it affords me great pleasure to receive and accept the report of this Memorial Committee. It shall become part of the rec- unils of the society referred to, and shall ever be cherished as an interest- ing memorial of the event which it reports.

" By courtesy, it is now my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, in further- ance of this memorial service, to introduce the llou. B. Markley Boyer, who will make an appropriate address upon this interesting occasion."

Being thus introduced, Judge B. Markley Boyer made the following

ADDRESS.

" Fellow-citizens : It was a happy inspiration to have engraved upon the meridian stone planted upon the Court House terrace, and dedicated thie olay to its appropriate uses, the name of David Rittenhouse.

** Born in the county of Philadelphia, of which Montgomery was then a part, he resided in youth and manhood, during most of his life-time, within the present limits of our county. In Norriton township, within about five miles of this court House, stood bis patrimonial mansion. There lies the farm mjum which, as a farmer boy, he grew to manhood, and there, throughout most of his life, he afterwards resided.

"There, in a little shop by the wayside, without other instruction than the intuitive promptings of an extraordinary genios, he taught himself to make clocks and mathematical instruments. His clocks remarkable for their accuracy and the beauty of their workmanship, are still trea- sured as heirlooms iu many a househokl. There, in Norriton, he erected his observatory ; there, with instruments in a great measnre constructed with his own hands, he explored the heavens.

" There, learned scientists went for consultation and to participate with him in his observations. There it was he constructed his wonderful urrery, illustrating mechanically the movements of the solar system, upon a scale more elaborate and exact than had ever before been at- tempted, and which was a marvel of mechanical skill, exhibiting by the simple turning of a winch, the relative positions of the planets and their satellites in their respective orbits at any given point of time during thousands of years in the future and in the past. No description can impart any adequate conception of this marvelons achievement in me- chanical art.

" In alluling to it, Thomas Jefferson, who was a philosopher as well as a statesman, wrote : ' We have supposed Mr. Rittenhouse second to no astronomer living ; that in genius he must be the first, because he was self-taught. As an artist, he has exhibited as great a proof of mechani- cal genins as the world has ever produced. Ile has not, indeed, made a world, but he has, by imitation, approached nearer its Maker than any man who has ever lived from creation to this day.'

"In his observatory in Norriton, he observed and calculated the transit of Venus in 1769, which gave him a world-wide reputation for the arcu- racy with which bis observations had been made and mathematical deduc" tions achieved. At that time the whole scientific world had been aroused by the vast astronomical importance of the transit of Venus over the Son's diee, in determining the parallax of the Sun and other scientific

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

results depending thereupon, especially as this phenomenon can occur but twice in a century, and in some centuries not at all.

" If, among the contemporaries of Rittenbouse, there were those in Enrope who left behind them the record of more original discoveries, it " When the L'uited States Mint was established, David Rittenhouse was was owing to their ampler means and more favorable surroundings, | appointed by Washington its first director, and it was he who arranged rather than to any superiority of geoins,

"Our self-taught philosopher unfortunately was not allowed to pass his life merely in philosophical contemplation and experiment. Ile was also a man of affairs, and participated largely in the active transactions of his countrymen. He served his country in various important and useful public capacities, He was a member of the convention which framed the first Constitution of Pennsylvania, and was elected the first Treasurer of the State, und was annually elected to that position by the unanimous vote of the Legislature for thirteen successive years.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 254

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534