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Tri-Counties Genealogy &
History by Joyce M. Tice
Tri-County Communities
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Bradford County PA
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Chemung County NY
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Tioga County PA
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| 1876 - Celebrating the Centennial
in Elmira |
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A BiCentennial Postcard |
| Article: The Centennial of the U.S. 1876 |
| Township: Town of Elmira |
Article by Helen Mac Dougall Samson (1909-1995)
1976
Sent in by Walt Samson |
Retyped by Debbie Hansen
Postcard from Joyce's Collection |
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APRIL 15, 1976
FROM THE PAST
BY HELEN M. SAMSON
CENTENNIAL
The Bicentennial is being celebrated all over the country in so many
different ways. A German friend writes, "Two hundred years of freedom.
How you all must be celebrating that." But this one isn’t the first celebration
of the Revolution. The first one, the Centennial was a happy occasion for
the citizens of 1876 and the Elmira Daily Gazette did justice to the goings
on when twelve o’clock ushered in the great year on January first.
The headlines, widely spaced down the page followed the familiar eagle
and the scroll with E Pluribus Unum. There were – Blazing Bonfires, Roaring
of Cannons, Clanging of Bells, Midnight Mass Meeting, Everyone Out, Whole
City Illuminated. They ended with a tired, What a Time! What a Time!
At the request of Mayor Smith of Elmira, all church bells were rung
at twelve o’clock on the 31st and the five alarm bell added
to the din. The mayor had been late in making plans for the celebration,
calling a meeting of a committee only a few days before the event. He could
have been forgiven as he had no previous experience in planning centennial
observations. The noise making seemed to grow as the night wore on. Walker’s
Battery turned out and marched with a great crowd that joined them. A hundred
guns were fired on the stroke of midnight and the Rolling Mill’s steam
whistle added a shrill voice. Four locomotives in the yards were fired
up so they could add their whistles. The "Camel-back," a switch engine
was swathed in red, white and blue lights and was run repeatedly at a snail’s
pace, its whistle screaming and the bell clanging, over the rails between
Water Street and the depot. Torpedos were tossed into the crowd. The 110th
Battalion marched up one street and down another and finally stopped in
front of Park Church and fired a salute. At once, the great church was
lighted from the dome to the first floor.
All the street cars were decorated with flats and bunting. They were
also run up and down the tracks for much of the night. People from a distance
were concerned at the noise and lights in the city and were not sure that
some calamity had not occurred.
All of the celebration was not noise and confusion. The churches proclaimed
a week of prayer and many were the sermons preached on the seriousness
of the event.
Elsewhere in the nation, serious people were taking stock of the progress
of one hundred years of freedom. The great Fair in Philadelphia was planned
around patriotic themes. Progress, as amazing as the walk on the moon in
this century, was proudly proclaimed. The west was newly conquered and
Custer’s defeat the year before was the last battle of any consequence
with the Indians. Chicago was rebuilding from the fire of 1871. The discovery
of gold at Sutter’s Mill had resulted in many a disappointed would be miner’s
return to his home. It was less than ten years since the end of the War
Between the States and the death of Lincoln.
In this year, Bell would patent the telephone and the Sons of the American
Revolution would select old Fraunce’s Tavern in New York as the place to
organize. The W.C.T.U. had beat them by two years and were busily at work
trying to close other taverns.
Perhaps the oddest event of this historic year was the selection of
Rutherford B. Hayes as President. The electoral vote had selected his opponent
but disclosures of several fraudulent votes and proof of dishonesty had
thrown the selection to Congress and they decided on Hayes as the man.
Did we have an unelected president in 1876?
We haven’t run many bells or paraded the army divisions as much in this
year of celebration but, hopefully the knowledge of the events of two hundred
years ago will be reviewed and understood and a little old fashioned patriotism
encouraged.
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Tri-Counties Genealogy &
History by Joyce M. Tice
Tri-County Communities
|
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|
Bradford County PA
|
Chemung County NY
|
Tioga County PA
|
| 1879 - Letter Celebrating the
Centennial at Newtown |
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| On September 1, 1879 Kate (Catherine) Bachman wrote a letter to Theresa
Morehouse Johns. At the end of the letter her husband Martin V.B.
Bachman ( a lawyer in Horseheads who had served in the Civil War) wrote
some personal items and then recounted the following tale of the centennial
celebration at Newtown battlefield. I thought this would be very
interesting to many.
… We had a grand centennial celebration over the battle of Newtown and
dedicated a monument to General John Sullivan and the other generals and
the officers and soldiers generally who fought on our side but we left
the poor Indians that fell on the occasion (of the battle I mean) with
no monument but the trees that grow upon their graves. Of the big
guns here were General Sherman, General Slocum and several other smaller
generals, the Governors of N.Y., Pa. & Vt. with their respective military
staffs. The procession and most of the ceremonies were a fizzle but
the crowd and the dust were a success. My wife did not go but I met
with the lodge and marched up the mountain and marched down again and was
covered with dust. I got back to Wellsburgh and then to Elmira and
home, got the dust off and my supper and went to E. (Elmira) again and
saw the fireworks which were grand. I got home at midnight.
If I don’t forget it I will send you a paper with all the ?, speeches and
an account of the ball.
Submitted by Louise Johns Neu January 13, 2006
Postcard of the original Sullivan's Monument from Joyce's
Collection
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Bradford County PA
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Chemung County NY
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Tioga County PA
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Published On Tri-Counties Site On 20 DEC 2002
By Joyce M. Tice
Email: Joyce M.
Tice
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