USA > Pennsylvania > Warren County > Warren > Warren centennial : an account of the celebration at Warren, Pennsylvania July 2d, 3d, and 4th in commeration of the first century after the laying out of the town of Warren > Part 7
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In the evening, when the scene was illuminated by electric lights and natural gas, the effect was very striking and brilliant. The streets and windows in the town were aflame, all the arches illuminated, and many of them bore beautiful transparencies. The graceful bridge over the river was hung with lan- terns, and the road from the Pleasant abutment to the Exhibition grounds was bordered by a line of gas flambeaux, producing a weird and beautiful effect from the streets opposite, the red flames light- ing up the darkness of the woods and bringing out the graceful shapes of the trees. On the grounds everything was brilliant with electricity and gas, the buildings being illuminated by incandescent lights. The Quilting-Party was over at sundown, but the Jackson Tavern was hospitably open. The "Relics and Antiquities" was a little more attractive by night than by day, and the Military and Art, Trades and Industrial exhibitions attracted crowds of visitors every evening, as well as in the daytime.
MILITARY AND ART BUILDINGS.
What is known as the Second Division of the Centennial was devoted to the period from 1861 to
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IS95. This division was in charge of Mrs. W. M. Lindsey, and the able management of its affairs is sufficient guarantee of that lady's ability to manage exhibitions of that kind. In the work she was as- sisted by the following committee: War Booth -- Mrs. W. W. Wilbur, Chairman ; Mrs. B. F. Morris, Mrs. L. T. Parmlee, Mrs. W. M. Lindsey. Centen- nial Booth-Mrs. McDowell, Chairman ; Mrs. J. M. Siegfried, Miss Ellen Clemons, Miss Nora Davis, Mrs. S. H. Davis, Miss Neill, Miss McCauley, Miss Meacham, Mrs. Grindly, Alta Nickle, Burt Meacham, and Harold Wood. China-Painting Booth-Mrs. C. A. Waters, Chairman ; Mrs. C. S. Greenlund, Miss Clara Parshall, Miss Blanche Mair, Miss Gilder- sleeve, Mrs. S. E. Walker. Needle-Work Booth- Miss Elizabeth Rogers, Chairman ; Mrs. W. W. Rankin, Misses Kate Brown and Lizzie Pierce. Millinery Booth-Mrs. F. T. Parker, Chairman ; Mrs. D. Shear, Mrs. A. T. Scofield, Miss Anna Henry, Miss Laura Smith, Miss Harrison, Mrs. J. A. Scofield, Miss Nettie Talbott, Miss Josephine Rankin, Miss Rockwell. Oil Development Booth- Mrs. E. E. Allen, Chairman ; Mrs. W. J. Richards and Mr. W. F. Messner. Warren High School Booth-Prof. W. L. MacGowan. W. C. T. U. Booth-Mrs. L. Smith, Chairman ; Mrs. D. I. Ball.
In the main hall, in which were the principal booths, were exhibited large numbers of curiosities. This was the place where " any old thing " did not go. The dates were from 1861 to 1895, and only articles of that period were shown. On the right, as we entered the building, we saw the Centennial Booth,
SECOND DIVISION CENTENNIAL. COMMITTEE.
ee
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representing the period from 1870 to 1880, with Mrs. Ellen McDowell, Chairman. The Martha Washington Tea-Party, comprising various dames dressed in costumes of the Martha Washington times, was a pleasing feature, with Mrs. Grindly as Martha Washington, assisted by Mrs. J. M. Sieg- fried, Mrs. S. H. Davis, Miss Ellen Clemons, Miss Nora Davis, Miss Florence Meacham, Miss Jennie Bell, Miss Edna Hertzell, Miss Ada Neil, and Miss Fannie McCauley. Souvenir cups and saucers were for sale here. The booth was handsomely decorated in light blue, with white lace.
The next booth on the right was the War Booth, with Mrs. Wilbur, Chairman, assisted by Mrs. L. T. Parmlee and Mrs. B. F. Morris. This booth was decorated with red, white and blue, and flags of various sizes and materials. On the walls were hung portraits in large numbers of famous com- manders, chiefly Pennsylvanians, while relics from the battle-fields of the Civil War were numerous and interesting to view, reviving, as they did, tales of the valor and heroism of the boys in blue. Of the many relics of the Civil War we cannot speak individually, but the booth evidenced work and skill of the chairman and ladies having it in charge. A part of each day the ladies costumed as army nurses, claiming much attention and interest. Over one hundred and fifty articles were exhibited in this booth commemorative of the war time.
The centre of this building was fitted up as a confectionery and lemonade booth, presided over by Mrs. L. G. Noyes and Mrs. Robert Hall. Here
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the fine taste and artistic proclivities of these ladies were manifested. The decorations were green and white, with palms and handsome plants surrounding the counters, where candy, lemonade and cigars were offered for sale. Coming back on the left, as we enter this building, we see an immense display of all kinds of millinery, under the direction and able management of Mrs. Fletcher Parker, assisted by Mrs. D. Shear, etc. Mirrors, lace curtains, and a wealth of bonnets of all kinds, sizes and colors, made this booth very attractive, while the Big Bonnet of 1861 was a source of wonder and admiration to all. Next on the left was the Art Needle-Work Booth, Miss Elizabeth Rogers and Mrs. W. W. Rankin, directors. In working up this department, it was, like the new woman, a fin de siecle product. It is surprising how little needle-work was done thirty-five years ago-none that could be called "art work." It was probably the beautiful exhibit at the Centennial of '76 that taught the women of this country what could be done with the needle, and the sewing-machine has given her time for such work. This little exhibit of seventy or one hundred pieces of art embroidery would do credit to a much more pretentious community. Lack of space only prevented a much larger and more beautiful display.
The next and last booth on the left was the China- Painting Booth, with Mrs. C. A. Waters, Chairman. The first attempts at china decorating were here displayed with the fine and elaborate work done by ladies in Warren up to date. The booth was taste- fully decorated with white and yellow, and the effect
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of the handsome display of china upon this back- ground was very fine. Passing through the door, we walk under canvas to the next building, which is the annex to this department, all under the direction and management of Mrs. Lindsey, with Capt. W. J. Alexander in charge. A fine exhibit by the War- ren Table Works of the celebrated roll-top table was flanked on the opposite side by the Pickett Table Works, which showed a handsome line of like goods, though of somewhat different design. New- maker & Reed also had fine displays of mantels and fireplaces, while the Homer Chair Works made a very handsome display of their goods.
Here also the W. C. T. U. had located their booth, at which sulphur water was dispensed for those who desired it. Further on the Warren High School Booth was seen, where Prof. MacGowan and his pupils were continually giving demonstrations in chemistry, etc., for the benefit of the visitors, and occasionally creating bad smelling gases. The last booth was that of oil development, typifying the business in its various stages and showing the dif- ferent grades of refined oil, and the processes of refining were explained. The arrangement of the booths and exhibits in this division was particularly neat, and reflected much credit on the committee.
But the visitors were not confined to inspecting the exhibits. The program furnished continual amusement for those who could not find room in the buildings. A committee consisting of the fol- lowing persons undertook to reproduce the District
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School and Singing-School of the old days, together with an exhibit of ancient school-books : W. V. N. Yates, Chairman : Miss Ellie G. Scofield, Mrs. S. T. Neill, Mrs. W. D. Hinckley, Mrs. Ray Pickett, Mrs. W. W. Freeman, Dr. W. M. Robertson, H. M. Putnam, H. A. Messenger, C. A. Peterson, and Miss Susan T. Daggett.
A school-room was furnished in a corner of the dancing-hall, the desks and seats made of slabs and decorated with carved initials and pictures of things known and unknown by a number of old boys whose skill proved that they had had practice in their youth. A large collection of school-books of ancient date was made; but the dancing-hall proved to be an inappropriate place for such an exhibit, and it was therefore not displayed. Tuesday evening an old-fashioned school exhibition was given on the platform in front of the grand stand, and witnessed by a large and delighted crowd of old boys and girls, who slipped off the burden of years as they revived memories of old times. Mr. Charles Chase was to have conducted the exercises, but was either unavoidably absent, as he alleged, or laid up from his exertions in the ball-field, as many sarcastically suggested, but his mantle was worthily worn by the portly chairman, and Schoolmaster Yates left nothing to be desired. The opening number was an inno- vation, namely, a beautiful selection by the Indian Band, which nothing but the exquisite music could excuse in such an exhibition. The next number was quite as much of an anachronism, but the exhi- bition of club-swinging by Prof. J. B. Kelly, of Buf-
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falo, was so good that this was overlooked. The school exhibition began in earnest with a comic recitation by Miss Fannie Smith, which made the audience forget that art such as the fair reciter's
was not common in our grandfathers' days.
vocal piece by Ethel McCray, Grace Bush, Bessie Phillips and Lois Nesmith-four young girls-pro- duced a hearty recall, after which the smallest scholar (Mrs. Kate Waters Wilkins) "spoke" "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." When the Indian Band had again discoursed most excellent music the spelling-school was organized from the audi- ence, and Schoolmaster Yates puzzled them with hard words from "Cobb's "Speller," to the great amusement of the audience. As the contest nar- rowed to a few it became spirited and interesting, the victory being finally won by Mrs. Isaac S. Lacy.
When the spelling-match was over and the Indian dances had ceased there still remained the dancing- hall, where, under the direction of Messrs. August Morck, Jr., Samuel G. Allen, of the Jackson Tavern, and Ralph Stone, all went merry until a very late hour.
A detachment of Co. I inspected the grounds nightly, unearthing an occasional stowaway, and then the watch was set and all was still until the rising sun opened another busy day.
THE SECOND DAY.
Betimes, on Wednesday morning, before the weary citizens were fairly astir, the irrepressible Corn- planter Brass Band was parading the streets,
A
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mounted upon an open street-car. By every train visitors arrived in crowds, and the roads leading to Warren were thronged with vehicles. At 10.10 the Mayor and municipal officers of the city of Frank- lin, which was laid out in the same year and under the same Act of the Legislature as Warren, arrived by the Western New York and Pennsylvania Rail- road, accompanied by a number of leading citizens of that city, and by some of the wives and daugh- ters of the gentlemen, all of whom were received at the station by the Burgess and Town Council of Warren as the guests of the borough, and given the freedom of the town. The party consisted of the following :
Mayor W. H. Forbes, Col. R. Richardson, Deputy- Mayor Thomas Alger and wife, Dr. J. B. Jobson, J. W. Rowland and wife, J. P. Robertson and children, Capt. R. H. Woodburn and wife, J. Howard Smiley, H. R. McCalmont and his daughter Maud S .. Boyd M. Park and wife, Anson Sibley and wife, City Solicitor E. E. Hughes, City Engineer T. L. Ken- nerdall, City Clerk E. Jeunett, J. K. Crawford, Hon. Henry F. James, D. W. Ott, H. G. Lamberton, Hon. C. W. Gilfillan and wife, and ex-Judge C. E. Taylor and wife.
The visitors and their escort, preceded by the K. O. T. M. Band of twenty pieces, proceeded in car- riages to the Exhibition grounds. At the bridge the party were met by Landlord and Landlady Jackson and their numerous family, all rigged out in holiday attire and seated in a lumber-wagon drawn by Hon. C. W. Stone's ox-team, driven by
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Master Orren Rowland, and by the Old Folks' Quilting-Party in their hay-rack wagon. Thus escorted, the guests were brought to the Jackson Tavern and heartily welcomed, and in due time hospitably fed by the good-natured host and hostess.
After safely landing this party of visitors, the Burgess and Council returned to the D. A. V. & P. depot to meet the Indian Council of the Seneca Nation. The party arrived on the II o'clock train, and consisted of the following persons :
Frank Patterson, President of the Seneca Nation ; A. Sim Logan, Secretary ; King Tall Chief, Alfred L. Jamison, William Patterson, Alfred Logan, Robert White and Charlie Gordon of the Allegheny reserva- tion, and Frank Seneca, Thomas Silverheels, Thomas Patterson, Jesse Jamison, Lester Bishop and Eli Jamison of the Cattaraugus reservation. This body of Indian dignitaries was escorted directly to the Indian Village and quartered in the vicinity. The Indians occupied the balance of the forenoon with their games and dances, which were very interest- ing to the crowds assembled. The game of lacrosse was particularly exciting and hotly contested.
At two o'clock a large audience assembled at the grand stand, every seat being occupied, and some thousands of persons standing. On the platform were seated the officers of the Centennial Associa- tion, President Stone presiding ; the guests from Franklin, the President and Council of the Seneca Nation, the chiefs of the Senecas, headed by Solo- mon O'Bail and Deerfoot, the Burgess and Council of Warren, the speakers of the afternoon, and many
10
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ladies and gentlemen, including the male chorus under Dr. Freeman.
After music by the K. O. T. M. Band the chair- man introduced the Hon. Caleb C. Thompson, ex- Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representa- tives, who in a clear and distinct voice read the Act of the Assembly approved the 19th of June. 1795. directing the laying out of the towns of Erie, Water- ford, Warren and Franklin.
The next speaker was Major Alexander McDowell of Mercer, Congressman-at-large, whose grandfather was one of the three surveyors by whom the work of laying out the town was performed.
Major McDowell spoke substantially as follows :
Ladies and Gentlemen, and Citizens of Warren County : I am pleased to meet you to-day on this, the Centennial year of the laying out of your beauti- ful town of Warren. My friend has introduced me as the grandson of the gentleman who surveyed the out-lots, of the town of Warren in 1795. While I am proud of the noble deeds of my ancestors, you will understand that I do not hold myself accountable for all of their mistakes; and while I am proud of this act, I am not in any way to blame for being the grandson of my grandfather. During the years that have passed you have accomplished much in your advancement, and have here reared upon the spot then surveyed under an Act of Assembly this beauti- ful city of Warren, of which you are so justly proud, and which has long since been observed as one of the most beautiful towns of our Commonwealth.
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For fifty years you have been represented by some of the most eminent gentlemen whose presence have graced the halls of our National Congress ; and having had the honor of sitting beside your present honored Representative in Congress, I know you are still keeping up your reputation in that respect. And now, in conclusion, I must say that I am proud of your growth and progress, and of your citizens, who have thus gathered to bind you in closer union and friendship as citizens of the county of Warren, of which you are so proud.
I hope you will continue in your achievements. £
I know that greater honors await some of your deserv- ing representatives, and that gubernatorial honors may still reach them. I thank you most heartily for this opportunity of meeting with you.
After another selection by the band, B. F. Morris, Esq., was introduced, and delivered the following historical address :
When the project of celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Warren was talked of I expressed myself as not in sympathy with the movement, fear- ing it would not be a success ; and when the com- mittee came to me to write up Warren's history I was more than ever convinced that my judgment was well predicated.
But now, standing before this gathering of man- hood and womanhood, and seeing the evidences of progression, of achievement, noting the enthusiasm with which the project has been sustained, I have
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arrived at the conclusion that I was mistaken, knew nothing about the temper of our people, their quick- ness, willingness, and intelligent direction of their or your minds.
Here you stand, the product of former genera- tions. Each person has had a distinct individualized history, dating back even beyond your own knowl- edge.
Do you fully realize the advantages you possess over those who first settled in what is now known as Warren and its surroundings? Perhaps not so much in the more determined and stubborn qualities the first settlers had, but you excel in the finer qualities. You have grown out of those hard, material conditions which were necessary to the enduring fibre of the men and women who first settled the wilderness and made it possible for you to be what you are, more elevated in the spiritual qualities, dwelling less upon the material. You are enjoying the fruits of their endeavor.
Could this dumb ground on which we are, talk, what a history it would give of the struggles, the toil and the privations of those who came before us. But the ground does not talk, and the air is silent in this respect. The men and women who formerly inhabited this spot and these surroundings have long since gone to their homes beyond ; their voices and actions are stilled.
Where, then, shall we go for the history that gives us the lives, the habits and thoughts of those who once toiled on the ground where we now celebrate ?
Imagination must be called into requisition to a
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great extent. While I may be able to give some facts and figures, yet I shall not be confined to these. These have already been given more correctly than it is possible to formulate in this short address; therefore I shall dwell in some degree upon the life, habits and thoughts of those who preceded us, using figures only to connect the events as we shall drift upon them in the pilgrimage up the years.
The hundred years that have now passed have been most exacting upon the physical resources of the participants. Sometimes hunger, sometimes fear of the Indians, sometimes fear of wolves, fears of being lost, fears for the lost, and all that makes up the history of the by-gone age.
THE BEGINNING OF WARREN.
Warren County and the borough of Warren were named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill.
Seventeen hundred and ninety-five-the date when Warren assumed an individuality, a name. Before this, this spot was unindividualized - be- longing to the earth, but unorganized by bounda- ries, and had not a name; and yet the river ran as now. Willows shaded the waters, and the tall trees spread their branches. The hills and valleys were before that date, as now, changed only by the settler and his axe. Wild animals inhabited the forests ; animals came before man. Note the gentle opera- tions of evolution -- rising, always rising from the lower to the higher plane. After the animals came the Indians. How long these occupied before the
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white men came is unknown, but centuries certainly. At about 1760 there were civilized men here. How do I know? There is history in trees, stones and running streams. In 1844 a party of civil engi- neers were making a survey of lands near the head- waters of Glade run. They cut down a tree which had a protuberance on one side, a few feet from the ground. The block was cut out. The tree had been blazed-cut into. An European axe had been used. The growths over the blaze indicated the time since the mark was made, about 1760 ; there- fore this is about the date of the advent of the white men into the wilderness. That dumb tree told its story to that little band of scientists.
This little incident is given by John F. McPherson of this place, who was one of the party.
Not many years ago a cribbed well was discov- ered near Garland, and in the bottom of the crib was found an European-made axe, which had lain there since the time the blaze was made on the tree in Glade. This is conjecture, but the language of the tree and the well tell the same story-white men had been here long before written history gives any account. The well had been sunk for the pur- pose of gathering Seneca oil, so scarce and valua- ble then, so plentiful and cheap now. In the ar- chives of scientific research in Paris mention is made of this oil as having been sent to France by French travellers in America. How wonderful is this! Man writing history by digging in the ground and chipping into a tree, all unknown to himself.
Previous to 1760, and subsequently, this whole
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region was owned and occupied by the Seneca In- dians. In the year 1784 the treaty to which Corn- planter was a party was made at Fort Stanwix, ceding the whole of northwestern Pennsylvania to the Com- monwealth. At the time of Wayne's treaty, in 1795, or about that time, several Irishmen came here from Philadelphia. They came up the Susquehanna and Sinnemahoning rivers, penetrating the wilder- ness of Mckean county. Reaching Olean, they passed down the river and made the first settlement in the county. Their names were Robert Miles, John Russell, John Frew, John and Hugh Marsh and Isaiah Jones. They settled in Pine Grove and Sugar Grove townships. The sum total of their cash was only three dollars. This was the first settlement in Warren county. These names are familiar.
In 1805 the county was annexed to Venango for judicial purposes. On the 16th of March, IS19, it was fully organized, and the seat of justice fixed at Warren. It contains 832 square miles. Warren itself has as great a population as the county had in 1830, viz .. 9229.
WARREN BOROUGH.
Warren has an existence by virtue of the signa- ture of Governor Mifflin, in 1795. The bill passed April 18, 1795. The survey was finished during the same summer (1795). This is 100 years af- terward, and this is what we are celebrating. Then this was a prospective city ; to-day it is one in fact. We are realizing, to some extent, that which the
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projectors had in mind. They looked at the topog- raphy of the place, and found it in every way adapted to a large and busy city. The river, the wide valley on each side, the Conewango, with its valleys of more or less width and richness of soil, the distance west and east from any other prospect- ively large place, led the first surveyors who came here to predict this as designed by Providence for a distinctively beautiful and commercial town. It has not grown as rapidly as those who stood sponsors for it imagined it would, but it has grown, is grow- ing, and the measure of their most vivid imagina- tions will yet be filled.
How was the forest subdued ? By a simple but wondrous instrument-the axe. It transforms for- ests into fields and cities.
The town of Warren, as originally laid out, con- sisted of 525 lots, each 58 X 233 feet. An order for the sale of the lots in Warren, Erie, Waterford and Franklin was issued by Governor Mifflin on the 7th day of May, 1796. The commission was issued to General William Irvine (who was the grandfather of our late Dr. William A. Irvine), of the County of Cumberland ; Andrew Ellicott, of Philadelphia, and George Wilson, of Mifflin. But it does not appear that Wilson served. His name is only found in the commission.
The lots were directed to be sold at Philadelphia, Carlisle and the borough of Pittsburg. The num- ber of lots are designated in the document from which this information is obtained. The document is the property of Mrs. Biddle, daughter of Dr.
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Irvine, who has kindly intrusted it with the commit- tee, and to Mr. J. P. Jefferson I am indebted for the perusal. Certain lots were to be sold at each place. A. 1. Dallas's name is attached to the document as secretary. It does not appear here who purchased the lots-at what price they sold ; but it is learned that the sales were not satisfactory ; that the half- payment down, as required, was not complied with, nor was the balance as promptly met as was de- sired. It is presumable some of these lots were not paid for in full. The document itself is on ex- hibition here, and may be seen by anyone curious in such matters. The first permanent building was erected in 1796, and belonged to the Holland Land Company. There were few white people here at this time, but many Indians.
For many years there was but slight increase in the population of the town, or until after the war of 1812.
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