USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > The centennial of Susquehanna County > Part 8
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A reference to the record of the county and to its present condi- tion, resources, and prospects will not be deemed out of place here. In church and temperance work and in all charitable enterprises it holds and has long enjoyed high rank. When the financial ability of its people is considered it is second to none in public spirit and in disposition and in effort to promote the public welfare.
It was foremost in the work of establishing a common-school sys- tem. 1830 Almon H. Bead, then a representative from this county, presented memorials from its citizens praying for a general system of education : and in 1835, when a member of the State senate, he re- ported a bill having the general features and simplyfiing the details of the school law of the previous session, which was thought to re- move all fair objections to a system of general education.
As early as 1816 an act was passed establishing an academy at Montrose, and the Legislature appropriated $2,000 toward its erec-
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tion. This was maintained with varying success until 1857, when it was superseded by a normal school under the direction of John F. Stoddard, which in turn was in 1863 superseded by a graded school, which is still maintained in the building erected for an academy.
A classical school was established at Harford in 1817, by Rev. Lyman Richardson, which in 1830 became Franklin Academy, and later Harford University. The founder of this school was a distin- guished educator, and is held in grateful remembrance by all who enjoyed the privilege of receiving guidance and instruction from him. The institution with which he was connected for nearly forty years exerted a healthy and beneficial influence upon this and neighboring counties. Other academies have existed in the county and conferred benefits upon it and its people, but their influence was more restricted and local in character than that of the Montrose or Harford institu- tions referred to.
In 1886 this county maintained 315 schools, at an expense of $79,- 379.52 : of this sum $60, 331.61 was raised by direct taxation. In these schools that year 9,446 scholars were taught and 467 teachers were employed. The average number of scholars attending school was 6,710. The average time that the schools were kept open was 6 1/3 months ; the shortest time in any school district was five months and the longest time nine months. Of the teachers employed in these schools InI were males and 356 were females. The average wages paid to male teachers was $34.84 per month ; to female teach- ers $19.37.
These are dry statistics, and to some, perhaps, uninteresting. But they clearly exhibit what the county is doing in the important work of educating its children. While this is a record and exhibit that admits of improvement, it evidences on the part of our people a dis- position to honestly maintain our excellent common-school system, which affords to all free opportunity to acquire an education that will properly fit them for the ordinary business and pursuits of life. As a rule it seems to the wish and purpose of our people to afford to their children the best opportunities which their means will allow for a thorough education.
We are a reading people.
Within our borders are published seven weekly newspapers and one daily ; and these are well sustained. They are conducted with due spirit and enterprise, and are in no respect sensational ; and they give no evidence of a disposition on the part of the publishers to pander to a depraved taste. Their influence is beneficial and adds much to the general intelligence of our people. The properly conducted newspaper is an educator, and, co-operating with our public schools, elevates the moral and intellectual standard of the community in which it circulates. As a result of the agencies for general education already referred to, the average intelligence of our county will com- pare favorably with that of any other in the State.
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Prior to the war for the Union our people had little experience in- military affairs.
Among the early settlers of our county there were one hundred and forty soldiers of the Revolution. two of whom, John Adams and Thomas Williams, lived to be 104 years old. Twenty-six residents of the county participated in the war of 1812.
At an early day military organizations were formed here, and the first militia training was at Thomas Parke's, in Dimock. At one time the taste for military display and exercise was well developed here : and it is within my own recollection that the annual muster, drill, and parade of the militia organizations was the greatest attraction presented to our people. But long before the war of 1861 our militia system fell into disrepute, and it was impossible to maintain here a respectable- and efficient organization under it. When the country was startled by the assault upon Fort Sumpter our citizens were without military experience, training, or organization. But with an alacrity and a patriotic enthusiasm and determination that reflected lasting honor upon them and their county they sprang to arms in defense of law and liberty. From the farms and the workshops, from all profes- sions, trades, and spheres of labor they came, undisciplined but dauntless, to maintain the free institutions of their country. More than three thousand gallant sons of the county entered the military and naval service of the Republic during the terrible struggle that followed.
In all the principal battles of the war Susquehanna's sons were found and always in the line of their duty. The undisciplined men of '61 soon became sturdy veterans, unsurpassed in intelligence, devotion, and courage by any soldiers the world has produced. It was not the fortune of our sons to reach exalted commands or to attain high rank. 'They were content to discharge their duty as patriots in any sphere or field to which the fate of war assigned them. Many were slain in battle; others died in Southern prisons; many returned to us with honorable scars, or wasted by disease. and broken in health by an arduous and exacting service ; others passed through many fiery ordeals and returned unscathed, and all to take up the implements of peace and sink the soldier in the citizen. They made a grand record : the county is proud of it and will not forget the men who made it.
It should not be forgotten that our citizen soldiers were sustained by a patriotic sentiment at home. The mothers and daughters of our county actively enlisted in the work of providing for the sick and wounded. Their labors in this direction were arduous and effective. A record of their work should be preserved and go down to succeed- ing generations with the record of the services of the fathers and sons, on land and sea, in that memorable conflict. I cannot longer dwell on these themes, so dear to the patriotic heart and mind. What of the present as respects our material interests and industries ?
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We have an area of 792 square miles and a population of over forty thousand. We possess an agricultural county, and farming is our prin- cipal industry. We had in 1880 invested in manufacturing $2, 126,983, and paid for labor employed in it $309.163.
The value of the materials used in it was $2,484,482, and the product was $3.569.791. In the same year we had invested in farms with live-stock and farming implements upon them about $16,000,000, and the farm productions were $2,388, 126. In that year the assessed valuation of the taxable real and personal property in the county was $5,084,452. An inspection of the statistics relat- ing to agriculture in this county shows that grass is our most impor- tant crop, and that we excel most in cattle and the products of the clairy. No county in the State or the nation contains better pastures and water than ours, and better butter is not made anywhere. We are convenient to the rich coal fields of the Lackawanna and Wyom- ing Valleys, and the dense population of those regions makes a good market for the products of our farms. With our existing railroad facilities, our telegraphs and our telephones, communication with the country and cities about us is easy. Through the Susquehanna Valley, which contains nearly one-fourth of our population, the N. Y., L. E. &' Western Railroad passes; through the eastern townships is the Jefferson road, affording to the people of that section easy ac- cess to the cities of Carbondale, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre : a little east of the centre is the D., L. & W. R. R., furnishing to the inhabi- tants of the townships along and near it an outlet to the north and south and west ; and last and least is the narrow gauge railroad from Montrose to Tunkhannock, and there connecting with the Lehigh Valley system. This road is of value to the people living along it and at and near its northern terminus, as it gives to them increased facilities for marketing their products in the Wyoming Valley and for obtaining coal. It is probable that in the near future an effort will be made to extend the Bloomsburg and Sullivan road to Bing- hamton via the Wyalusing on the Meshoppen route.
A few of the interesting facts and incidents in which the history of the county abounds have been gathered and presented for your consideration. A brief reference to the attitude of the county in the past on questions of vital interest to society and to the State and upon issues involving the national life has been made. This retro- spect affords abundant cause for pride in our ancestors and their work, and for loyal devotion to their memories and the faith that animated and sustained them. The present condition and resources of the county justify high hopes for its future in material wealth and prosperity, while the character and aspirations of our people produce the conviction that in the fields of moral and intellectual culture its path is onward and upward. May these hopes be justified and this conviction be fortified and sustained by the results and the progress of the next hundred years.
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This address will ever be a valuable document to the student of our county's history.
After the applause, which greeted Judge McCollum at the close of his address, had subsided President Post introduced Maurice B. Moore, who, with but a few moment's notice, read, in a graceful and effective manner the following Centennial poem.
A HUNDRED YEARS. - BY " EDITH MAY" MISS ANNIE DRINKER.
The writer is a great grandaughter of Henry Drinker (the elder), founder of the Drinker estate; 500,000 acres in Susquehanna and neighboring counties, and to whom reference is made in the poem :
Pine, hemlock, beech, stout arms embraced, Close-fronted, as to meet a foe, Spread, right and left, a billowy waste, "Tis just one hundred years ago.
Come but the winter winds to smite With steely edge their columned pride;
No harvest marks the summer's ilight, No dropping seed the gay springtide.
llow gay-with bird life all awake ! How still as a cathedral nave !
You hear the beast that seeks the lake, His lapping tongue that strikes the wave.
Oh, virgin shade and virgin soil; Oh, cloistered beauty kept for God ; Hearken! the heavy foot of toil Ison thy consecrated sod.
And man the spoiler, man the lord, And man the priest unveils thy charms,
"Tis spoken, the creative word- Give fruitful breasts and clasping arms.
The forest falls, the sunshine lifts Its banner from the rugged hills. Strong hands compel reluctant gifts, AAnd smiling wealth the valley fills.
I know the land, I know its reach Of waving hill tops, to the blue Of distant mountains stretching back, Of pine and darksome hemlock too.
I know its sunsets' purple flame, Its changeful moods, its breezes free ; I know! " Who shall divorce proclaim," Sweet Nature, " betwixt thee and me ? "
[And one whose blood is in my heart, One who " a hundred years " is dead, Who in those rude times had his part, Gives me, to day, my daily bread.
Stran
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY.
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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Who cared for the unborn, who planned A future for the unknown heir ; The wide primeval forest scanned And saw a wealthy future there ]
Bloom, pleasant nooks, where I have lain, The noonday sunshine brooding still,
And felt God come, in golden rain,
To wed the mead, the vale, the hill!
Toss, tree tops, in the mid-day heat; Thwart, dancing winds the sunbeams warm ;
Laugh, waves, I've trod with naked feet,
Hills I have climbed through calm and storm ;
Yet, where the wheat springs, comes the tare, Naught perfect here, naught wholly clean ; For " fair is foul, and foul is fair,"
And earth hangs heaven and hell between.
Lord of the harvest, watch this field. Curse Thou the tare, bless thou the grain ;
Bid it a tenfold measure yield When comes " a hundred years " again !
CONVALESCENT RETREAT, Delaware Co., Pa., Aug., 'S7.
The reading of the poem was followed by music ; after which Presi - dent Post introduced the Hon. Martin A. Foran as a distinguished son of Susquehanna County who had won conspicuous honors abroad.
A round of applause came from the great throng as Congressman Foran arose to address the people.
MR. FORAN'S ADDRESS.
MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN : These grand old hills which environ this lovely village, although rugged and picturesque, yet are not indicative of a rich or productive soil; the fierce and chilling winds which sweep to-day in damp, raw gusts through this valley sing not of a mild and balmy clime : there are no odors of the tropics or spice lands ever wafted over what might be termed the foot-hills of the Alleghenies, yet I can truly and honestly say I am glad to be here, for
This is my own, my native land.
After the word "mother " the sweetest word in any tongue is "' home." AAfter years of contest in the world's great battle for ex- istence it is a consolation and a happiness to any man to find him- self again upon his native heath, surrounded by all the holy memo- ries and sweet recollections of his boyhood days. Friends and neighbors, I am indeed pleased to meet and to greet you here to-day, and to rejoice with you that the dreary wilderness of one hundred years ago is now the home of a contented, brave, and manly people.
St
When I received. over a month ago, the kind invitation of your worthy chairman to be present and make a " brief address" I was not informed upon what topic or subject I was to speak, and necessarily, therefore, the address will be brief and perhaps disjointed. Of course the very occasion is suggestive of pioneer courage, hardship. and triumph. But as this is a subject upon which volumes might be written, and as my time is limited to a few brief moments, I can only indulge in a few general observations suggested by the occasion. To do full justice to this subject would involve the consideration of many questions affecting, in great degree, the climatology, popula- tion, political science, and history of our country and her people. Human life is full of contrasts, which serve to clearly define, forcibly- outline, and closely measure the mental vigor, intellectual develop- ment, and the material progress of the human race. One hundred years ago there lived upon this spot scarcely half a dozen human beings, who lived in almost primeval simplicity in a sharp, hard struggle for existence. The section of Pennsylvania now known as Susquehanna County was then an unbroken wilderness of sharp hills and deep valleys, which enveloped in grim and awful solitude the ghostly demon legends of the red man. But in one short century how great a change. Beautiful, well tilled farms appear and gladden the eye. Wherever you turn prosperous towns and villages, alive with the music and hum of industry, greet you on every side. The camping grounds of savage tribes are now the sites of healthy. vigorous young towns ; the forest path, outlined by blazed trees, has given way to turnpike and the mighty iron road ; the howl of the wild beast and the yell of the wild man are silent now ; but the re- sonant air is ladened with the music of industry, the hum of ma- chinery, the click of the telegraph, the cry of the newsboy, the orisons of the church and the pean of the school. The dumb soli- tudes have been made to speak, enslaved natural forces have been made free, and the dark pall of ignorance has been dissipated by the effulgent brightness of advancing civilization. The pioneers, the sen- tient shadows of coming events, the intrepid and valiant soldiers of human progress who, in the latter part of the last century came into the tangled, wild, and silent forests of this county, braved its hard- ships, endured its privations, and struggled with their hard environ- ment, while they removed the obstructions and prepared the way for the mighty army that followed, should certainly claim the full meas- ure of our admiration, if not our devotion. Who these people were, what was their history, their habits, and characteristics are questions I cannot stop to fully answer, though the theme is more than pleas- ing and instructive. The New Englander exemplifies in history the truth of the poet's line.
God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.
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If the pilgrim fathers had come up the Mississippi or the Ohio and colonized the fertile valleys of that State or the rich prairies of Illinois their history at least would have to be rewritten in almost every detail. But these pioneers from the Old World landed upon a high, rock-bound coast and a barren, sterile land. The soil of New England was not productive, nor does its climate tend toward or conduce to effeminacy or enervation. The early settlers of New England wrenched from a stubborn and unyielding soil, in a rigor- ous climate. a mere subsistence. Habits of frugality, integrity, hon- esty, and economy became and were a necessity, while the soil and climate conditions produced a brawny. stalwart, hardy, vigorous race, whose religion was as stern, as cheerless, and unyielding as the face of the land upon which they lived. Under these conditions and in this environment the New Englander was born and raised. By birth, training, and education he was peculiarly fitted and adapted to pioneer life. Many of the first settlers-the oldest pioneers- were from Connecticut. These men were the descendants of a people who possessed in a greater degree the spirit of liberty and independ- ence than any of the other New England colonists. This was un- doubtedly the result of having been the first colonists who really lived independently of British domination./ The first settlement of Con- necticut, though claimed by the Dutch at Hartford in 1631, was in all probability made by pioneers from Massachusetts at Windsor in 1633. These and subsequent settlers lived freely and wholly inde- pendent of the English Crown, in the heart of a bleak, barren wilder- ness for nearly thirty years, as the first charter was not granted until 1661. We are all familiar with the scene at Hartford in 1687, when the historic old oak tree became the receptacle of this charter. The people of Connecticut never lost this spirit of liberty. They were the first to declare for independence, and did more for the Revolu- tionary cause in proportion to population and resources than any of the other colonies These were the men who, after the revolution, took up the march of civilization westward, plunged ahead of the army of progress through the trackless forest, the deep morass, the impenetrable swamp; onward, ever onward toward the setting sun ยทยท Where the star of the Empire takes its way," leaving everywhere they halted a lasting trace, the imperishable impress of a sterling and sturdy manhood. Their history iswritten with the mighty pen of human activity; written in a network of iron and steel bands which cobweb the Jand; written in giant industrial enterprises: written in millions of teem- ing, productive farms; written in myriads of school houses and churches; written wherever activity, pluck, and energy are found upon this con- tinent ; even in the unprogressive Republic of Mexico, and in the in- dustrially and commercially paralyzed dominions of Canada. This is the picture which stands clearly outlined and sharply contrasted with the scene presented in this valley one hundred years ago. The pict-
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ure of to-day is certainly more beautiful, more pleasing. But does it not present, also, striking contrasts ? The early pioneers strove and endeavored to be strict followers of the great Galilean. The golden rule that " whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them," was evidently more respected by the pioneers than it is by their descendants, for the contrasts between great wealth and abject poverty, between sordid pleasures and unholy joys and pain- ful sorrow and stinging misery, are to-day more marked than the contrast between this county in 1787 and 1887. The old pioneers have left us a rich legacy of energy and activity, but their love of neighbor, their frugality and simplicity, though found in their last will and testament, have not remained cardinal virtues in their de- scendants. There is a sentiment abroad in the land to-day that was only slightly known in the long ago. This is the sentiment of gain- gain at the sacrifice of right and justice. This sentiment is con- verting our Republic into an oligarchy ; it is forcing from us the right of opinion, corrupting our political morality, numbing and deaden- ing our moral consciousness. In our mad race after material prcs- perity we forget why we are here-what is the end and destiny of the human race. In the rush and scramble for dollars man and manhood are forgotten. We point with pride to our scientific, our social, and material progress. So did ancient India, Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, but the irony of contrast teaches us the folly of following the path that led to their ruin and degradation. The cul- tured Mohammedan Moor gloried in his treasures of art and science, but the lowly Christian whom he despised, in the fullness of time, easily plucked those treasures of art and science from his enfeebled hand, enfeebled by the luxury and ease which always has and ever will sap and destroy the manhood and the liberty of any people among whom it effects a lodgment. Meetings of this character would be a mere idle waste of time and energy if they left no bene- ficial impress upon the minds of those who attend them. Why are we here? To revere the memory of the dead and do honor to the living pioneers as well as to commemorate the first settlement of our county. We can best serve that purpose by imitating their virtues and practicing the love of neighbor, love of country, love of patriot- ism, the frugality, the simplicity, the honesty, and integrity exempli- fied in their lives. If we do this we will do much to " lift our be- loved America above the slough of mercenary politics and the cun- ning snares of trade steadily onward and upward toward the shining heights which the hopes of her natives foretold."
I feel that I have already trenched upon the scope of a "brief address," but I trust I will be pardoned a few observations upon that part of the county in which I was born and the race from which I sprung. In several townships in the northeastern part of the county the people are almost exclusively Irish or of Irish origin. This peo-
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ple began to come into the county as early as 1833. In a certain sense they were exiles. Driven from the land of their fathers by the great robber nation of the world, they were preceded and followed by merciless slander and misrepresentation, prompted by the brutal power which drove them from their native land. They encountered at first the prejudice which was the natural result of that slander and misrepresentation. But their honesty, rugged manhood, and moral lives ultimately won them the respect and esteem of the people among whom their lot was cast.
Standing here to-day, I most emphatically declare that while I vield to no man a greater love and devotion to my country and her institutions, yet I am proud of the fact that I am the son of Irish parents. Why should we not be proud of our ancestry ? Ten of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Irishmen. The protomartyr of the Revolution, the brave, gallant, Montgomery, who fell scaling the heights of Quebec, was an Irishman : the father of the American Navy, old Commodore Barry, was an Irishman. So also were many of the officers of the Revolutionary army. Upon this very spot, here in this valley, one night over a hundred years ago, camped a part of General Sullivan's army, on its way to protect the settlers of the Wyoming Valley from the savage ferocity of the red devils, which the English Government had incited to deeds of butch- ery and rapine that has no parallel in barbaric history. In the Amer- ican army, Lord Mountjoy so declared in the British Parliament, the Celtic tongue was as common as the English. Coming down to the late war for the Union, Irish valor and patriotism shone conspicu- ously upon every battle-field. We point with pride to Corcoran, Meagher, Mulligan, Sheridan, and hosts of other brave and loyal Americans in whose veins coursed Irish blood. The impress of the Irish race is seen in every State and Territory over which floats our starry flag. But while we have a pardonable pride in our ancestry, we emphasize and accentuate upon all occasions and under all circum- stances that we are Americans to the core-Americans for all pur- poses and at all times. The American, no matter who may have been his ancestors, is fast becoming a distinct, well-defined type, pro- duced by a distinct, well-defined climatology. As Americans we may differ as to race extraction, we may differ in religion or in politics, but we can all unite upon the broad platform of American liberty. We can be all imbued with that true American sentiment that will ever be found in sympathy with the spirit of freedom everywhere. We can all feel our hearts thrill in unison when our eyes rest upon that banner-
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