^f« Ck\3.ZA-l "Yi^LE«¥]MII¥EI^S2ir¥ Gift of 19 fO yTyo^^^^z^-i^ -rr ^^^ CENTEiv^V,^ ^l A WRITTEN AN'D COMPILED BY JAMBS T. DU BOIS AND WM. J. PIKE, WASHINGTON, D. C: Gray & Clarkson, Printers. 1888. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The compiling of this little volume has been a pleasant yet difficult task. Had the authors known, before the programme was executed, that the work of writing it would devolve upon them careful and correct notes would have been taken of every detail associated with the celebration. But it was not decided to book the proceedings of the Centennial until immediately after the great event had transpired, so that it became necessary to rely largely upon what records had been preserved by the press, the secretary of the Executive Committee, the members of various committees, and the tablets of memory. We have faithfully endeavored to compile everything of importance connected with the Centennial from its inception to its brilliant and triumphant close ; and in this work we have received kindly assistance from the different newspapers of the country, various committeemen, and especially from Mrs. G. W. Capwell, the efficient secretary of the Relic Committee, who has enabled us to publish a fairly correct list of the vast array of antique treasures which were on exhibition at the rink. To these persons and to all others who have in any way aided us we extend our sincere thanks, hoping that the contents of this booklet may interest them and all of its readers and prove itself entertaining and of value to those of posterity who may celebrate the the bi-centennial of our county in 1987. The reader, by perusing the reports of the different meetings and the work of the various committees contained in this publication, will see what an army of patriotic citizens toiled for the jubilee unto a triumphant issue. Their names will not be lost to posterity, and their bright examples will be emulated by their descendants when another hundred years have rolled away and the spot of the Relic Hall, the Banquet Tent, the Centennial Elm, the Old Well, and the Log Cabin will have become doubly sacred to our children's children and to their children. It would be impossible to mention all of those in detail who ren dered effective service in the good cause, but there is one man whom we must single out and salute with words of commendation. When the chairmanship of the Centennial Executive Committee was offered to Capt. H. F. Beardsley he comprehended at once the magnitude of the work connected with it and modestly shrank from the responsibility, but, at the urgent request of his fellow-citizens, he reluctantly accepted the place. To plan and carry out a celebration worthy of the event ; to or ganize and complete a scheme by which the relics of the county were to be secured, classified, and placed on exhibition; to originate, arrange, and carry to a brilliant finale the grandest parade that ever marched within the bounds of the county; to gather together nearly three hundred of our oldest inhabitants and banquet them ; to attend to the minute details of the greatest demonstration the northern tier has ever seen, and to raise, by subscription, the necessary funds to exe cute the splendid programme required a generous zeal and untiring en ergy possessed by a very few men, and, fortunately for the county. Captain Beard^ey can be listed with that limited band. In the execution of his plans he was strangely fortunate. There were selected as his assistants an executive and managing committee of gentlemen, the latter under the lead of the Hon. George A. Post ; a ladies' auxiliary committee, presided over by Mrs. Henry Warner; a relic committee, in charge of Mrs. S. B. Chase, and a staff of assistant marshals, who were quick to percei\e and prompt to execute his plans. It very seldom happens that a leader is supported so loyally through every step of an undertaking by a body of men and women combining so many qualities especially adapted to the service in which they were engaged. No antagonisms were produced by conflicting opinions ; no hostilities engendered by unfortunate jeal ousies; no claims were raised or bitter assaults made, and no damp ening spirit of indifference was displayed in any quarter. The com mittee, coming from all parts of the county, were shown the duty goal, and every man and woman went toward it with zeal and deter mination. The admirable work of the newspapers of the county our citi zens must ever hold in cordial remembrance. They gave to the patriotic enterprise their helpful and potent influence, and to their constant assistance much of the brilliant success of the Centennial is unquestionably due. And now that the battle is over, and the fifty-three thousand peo- sons who watched its course know who were in the thickest of the fight, and know how well they struggled for the great Centennial vic tory, they must harbor for the valiant workers, one and all, a senti ment of profound gratitude. The Authors. P^Efi\CE- The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth days of October, in the year of our Lord 1887, were fraught with undying memories for the citizens of Susquehanna County. They *ere the red-letter days of our ex istence as a community ; but the true glory of them belongs to our forefathers, and their title to it all time cannot efface. The splendid mountains, the silent flowing river, the site of the first log hut, the broad reach of valley, the dust of our fathers were ¦still here to animate us; but the sturdy pioneers were gone and ¦scarcely a vestige remained of their early habitations. Yet the voices of our hallowed dead spoke to us in no uncertain measures, and the lofty influence of their noble lives, we felt, lived with us still, and would live on and on forever. The fruits of their early labors, the re sults of civil and religious liberty, to enjoy which they braved disease, famine, and the solitude of wilderness, now spread a mantle of light over their sacred resting-places and embalm their memory with a ¦savor more grateful to their descendants than though they were en shrined in the death temples of the royal dead. During that trio of memorable days we stood upon a point of time with our faces turned toward the past, and, grasping the meaning -of the hundred years of our existence as a community, we found ourselves cheerfully weaving new garlands to the never-fading chap- lets of those who faced everything most terrible to civilized man in order to lay the broad and deep foundations of free communities ; but in the wondrous changes of the century that is gone we see, after all, only the budding of a few seminal principles — in truth not even the beginning of the end. Standing upon this point of time we find ourselves and our period simple links in the chain of transmission which shall extend the blessings of increased civilization to countless multitudes of our future countrymen. Peering into coming time, far as human eye can reach, not one among us can foretell or even foreshadow the mighty result. What science can calculate it ! What poetry describe ! And yet the future destiny of the whole country depends in some measure upon every man, woman, and child now living beneath the shadow of our flag. Every rain-drop swells the brooklet; every brooklet rushes to the river ; every river flows onward to the sea. The broad ocean of our country's glory can only be maintained by each successive generation leaving behind them enduring monuments of their lofty purposes to lift up and help mankind. May it be the happy lot of those who strove so successfully to give the three October days of 1887 a lasting place in the temple of our local history, ever to cherish the holy fire and substance of the prin ciples of our ancestors, ever to be filled with a love of country that knows no sectional demarkation, ever to be actuated by a feeling of liberality and charity as wide and as deep as the ocean, and always. moved by the spirit of that bond of connection which makes us all as one ! 17S7— Susquehanna County— 1$$7. A visitor writing from Mount Vernon in the autumn of 1787 said: " Washington is in perfect health and is watching with profound in terest the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention now in session at Philadelphia." Comparison of historical events are often interesting. About the time this visitor to Mount Vernon was penning these words con cerning the hero of the Revolution three stalwart men, Ozias, Benajah, and Horatio Strong came to the Great Bend of the Susquehanna River, directly from Athens, Greene County, New York. They were well fitted for the burdens of pioneer life. Ozias. was fifty-three years old and of powerful physique. His wife, who accompanied him, was the daughter of Pelatiah West, the first settler of Lee, Massachusetts. They had twelve children, one of whom, Pelatiah, Jr. , was drowned in the Susquehanna River. Ozias died at Homer, N. Y., November 21, 1807. Horatio, or Orasha, was the son of Ozias, born just nine months and seven days after the marriage of Ozias to Susan West, and was twenty-nine years old when he came to the Great Bend of the Susquehanna, where he was hunter, farmer, and inn-keeper for ten years, after which time he followed the course of empire west to Ohio, dying near Salem in that State in the year 183 1. Captain Benajah Strong, a cousin of Ozias, when he came to the valley of the Susquehanna was forty-seven years old ; he was six feet, two inches in height, had been a captain in the Revolution, and although entitled to, he refused, a pension; saw Danbury, Conn., burned ; and was married to Jane Cochrane, of Woodbury, Conn. , who accompanied him first to Greene County, New York, and then to the valley of the Susquehanna. After three years' residence at the Great Bend of the river he went to Ithaca, and from there to Lan sing, where he bought 2,000 acres of land at $x an acre, which could not now be purchased for ?ioo per acre. His wife died in 1816,, and two years thereafter he married the widow Powers, of Stillwater, N. Y., who was the mother of the first wife of President Fillmore. Benajah died in 1836 at the ripe age of six and ninety. His second wife died in 1850, eighty years old. His son, Benajah, Jr., died at Lansing in 185 1. The history of the Strong family states that these members of it and their families came to the Great Bend of the Susquehanna ' ' not many miles east of Binghamton " in 1787, but there is no positive proof of their having purchased land at that time. Both Benajah and Ozias bought tracts in the summer of 1790. Benajah secured 6oi acres on the south side of the river, which were a part of tracts of land originally warranted to Paul and Roger Harper in 1785, which is shown in the following copy of the original survey plat, and was donated to this work by Surveyor Hiram S. Hanna, of Hallstead. The following concerning the above plot of survey was taken from the records at Harrisburg : A draft of a tract of land situated on the southerly side of the northeast branch of the Susquehanna, opposite to an old Tuscarora town, including the mouth of Salt Lick Creek, in Stoke Township, Northumberland County, surveyed on the 25th day of April, 1785, for Paul Harper, by virtue of his warrant, dated the 4th day of April, 1785, containing three hundred and ninety-nine acres, and allow ance of six per cent, for roads, &c. By WM. GRAY, D. S. To John Lukens, Esq. , Surveyor- General. Two days before Benajah received a title to his land Ozias pur chased 453 acres on the north side of the river, which was a part of the land originally warranted to Joseph Rambo. Ozias must have also owned a part of the Paul Harper tract on the south side of the river, because old documents exist showing that he owned lands adjoining the Elisha Lenard property, which included the mouth of Wiley Creek. All the land above mentioned was deeded by the warrantees to Tench Francis, who transferred it to the Strongs in the summer of 1790. The next spring Mina Du Bois arrived from Philadelphia as the agent of his brother Abraham, and he bought of Benajah Strong the 601 -acre tract on the south side of the river. A large portion of this tract has ever since remained in the family, and is now the property of James T. Du Bois, and on that part adjoining the village of Hallstead is where the Centennial ceremonies took place. (See map of survey.) What were the Strongs doing between 1787 and 1790? The gen ealogy of the family proves that the pioneer triune located at the Big Bend of the Susquehanna in 1787. They probably came from Athens, Greene County, New York, for up to that time Benajah owned a ferry-boat plying between Athens and Hudson. They may have crossed Greene County, and, reaching the eastern branch of the Delaware River, passed down it some distance, and then, cross ing over to the Susquehanna, followed that stream down to the high bluff on the south side of the river where Hallstead is now situated, and where they erected the first log cabin ever built within the bor ders of our county. For the first three years they were probably squatters, spending their time in hunting, trapping, and prospecting. Or, if they did purchase land, the record of the transaction must have been destroyed when the records of Luzerne were burned. Theirs must have been at first a rude existence. A log house on the picturesque bluff, a single room, which was parlor, kitchen, bed room and all to the Strongs ; scant furniture, oiled paper for window-glass, a pail of water for a mirror, pine knots for candles ; the trencher and the wooden bowl for china, pewter for silverware, perhaps milk and warm water for tea, burnt crust for coffee, black- bread for cake. Such was probably their forest fireside and such its interior arrangement. But all around them nature spoke in tones of captivating eloquence, for nowhere, in all the broad domain, was her hand more generous or her smile more winsome than over the region which greeted the eye from the place whereon they had founded their heme. It was a wilderness, to be sure, but it was one of nature's most favored wilds. The great ampitheater into which they had roamed was peerless throughout all the country over which they had wandered. It was, in fact, the most picturesque spot from Otsego to the sea. Rings around stood a chain of silent sentinels mantled with towering pine and hemlock, whose Hogarth-line of beauty against a golden autumn sky must have awakened, in their sunset splendors, the admiration of the sturdy pioneers ; and the broad reach of river, moving noiselessly beneath the shade of the primeval forest, completed a picture unsurpassed amidst the myriad natural beauties of our wonderland. No ax of woodman had touched a forest tree except their own. The river was large with fish. The valleys abounded in game, and the recesses of the mountains echoed the footfall of the swift deer and the mournful cry of the panther. The spot now known as "The Rocks" was a den of bears, and across the river from their isolated home were the famous "Three Apple Trees," where the red men were wont to talk for peace or war before Sullivan swept them from the valley. Toward every point of the compass stretched out mighty reaches of woodland, whose dim aisles remained as yet undisturbed by the presence of the pale face. A large portion of the 792 square miles which now make up the area of the county, and on which nearly 50,000 white men dwell, was then known as Stoke Township, and the only habitation existing within its borders was the old Tus- carora Indian village, just opposite the spot where Salt Lick Creek is lost in the bosom of the Susquehanna. But these tepees were deserted and the Strongs were alone. From their primitive hut on the bluff to the historic stone set by Dave Rittenhouse on the Upper Delaware before the Revolution, all was solitude. Running along the line now marking the northern confines of the county to Apalacon Creek, not a single impress of white civilization could be seen. Passing thence south to where the old Indian trail crosses the border, no settlement could be found. Thence going westward to the place where Forest City now stands, all was a tenantless wilderness ; while the region to the northward , even beyond the Starrucca, had but just caught the sounds of ap proaching pioneers in the persons of the Comstocks and Bucks ; and William Conrad, the Hessian veteran, was then still pushing his way toward the wild valley of the Hopbottom, where he was to have the honor of becoming the progenitor of the first white child born within the present limits of thg county. Within this vast area not an acre had been cleared, and, so far as authentic history has recorded, not a blow had been struck for civilization when the Strongs first looked upon the beautiful valley of the Susquehanna at the big bend of the river and called it their home. Could the clear vision of these brave couriers of civilization have penetrated the vista of the future until it rested upon the dying days of a century a picture would have been unfolded to their view the wondrous truth of which their expanding hearts could not have com prehended. Clio herself. would have fallen dumb at a revelation which so far transcended her loftiest conceptions, and the eyes of Cheery Hope would have been dazed by its marvelous revealment. Instead of a wild waste they would have discovered a great, intelli gent, and progressive community. They would have found twenty- seven prosperous and well-populated townships, furnished with ex cellent school facilities. They would have found manufacturing industries representing two and one-half millions of dollars of capital and paying nearly half a million annually to those employed. They would have found an assessed valuation of real and personal property amounting to over five millions of dollars and farm investments run ning into the enormous sum of eighteen millions. They would have seen two great railroads intersecting the county and rolling over their 14 belted ways the products of every nation. They would have found almost every mind awakened with a consciousness of its powers and putting them steadily forth in acquisition of the high purposes for which they were bestowed. They would have found a county of nearly a half hundred thousand souls alert and passing rapidly into harmony with the intellectual enterprise and social progress of the •age, with no worm-eaten institutions to palsy their energies, no privileged classes to eat the bread they earned, no blind attachment to old forms, and no prejudices covered with the dust of ages But instead they would have found a heritage of rational liberty ; a gov ernment based upon popular interests and sustained by popular will ; a wilderness vanished and an Eden created, whose inhabitants, by the aid of enlightened commerce, taste the luxuries of every clime. In truth, a spot where the sun of no single day leaves the hilltops and valleys in the same condition as when it rose; every hour fraught with advancement ; every day a wonderful development. And, in all of this startling revelation, they could have traced the unmistak able footsteps of the God of nations and the supreme master of the destinies of men. The Centennial Germ. In the spring of 1887 Ramanthus M. Stocker, editor of the " Cen tennial History of Susquehanna County," claimed that, from all the documentary evidence which he could secure, Ozias and Benajah Strong built on the big bend of the river in 1787 the first white home ever erected within the borders of this county, and suggested that, as the Centennial year of that event had arrived, it ought to be duly celebrated. Ex-Congressman George A. Post became deeply inter ested' in this suggestion, and to him the honor is due of having first appealed to the people of the county to celebrate the event. In an able and interesting editorial published by him in the Montrose Dem ocrat the ist day of July, 1887, he expressed his views in part as follows : It was one hundred years ago this coming fall that the first white man settled permanently within the territory of what now comprises. Susquehanna County, and it would seem entirely proper, and, indeed, desirable, that our county's Centennial should be appropriately cele brated. It is our opinion that such a celebration would be heartil)r enjoyed by our people, and could be made an occasion of rare inter- 15 est and productive of good results. One hundred years ago the ter ritory embraced in the county of Susquehanna was a part of old Lu zerne County, without an inhabitant, save Ozias Strong, who settled at Great Bend, now Hallstead, in the fall of 1787, and became the first resident purchaser of land under Pennsylvania title within the county. That same year, 1787, settlements were made in Harmony, Oakland, and Brooklyn. In Harmony by Moses Comstock, a native of Rhode Island, who located on the flat between the Starrucca and Can- awacta Creeks near where they enter the Susquehanna. Here he and his sons, Asa and Abner, made improvements for a number of years, but were finally ousted by Colonel Timothy Pickering, the represent ative of the Pennsylvania claimants. The case of Comstock is not an isolated instance. Many of the hardy pioneers after paying for their lands to Connecticut claimants and making improvements were compelled to pay for their homes again or be dispossessed under the operation of the Pennsylvania intrusion laws. The first settlement of Brooklyn was made by Philadelphians, un der inducements of John Nicholson, a large landholder in that sec tion; but these people were not fitted for pioneer life, and, becoming discouraged, began to sell their improvements in 1798 to Connecticut settlers. William Conrad, a Hessian, who had been brought over here by the British to fight the Americans, against his will, like many of his brethren, never returned home, but became a settler in Penn sylvania. He settled in Brooklyn in 1787, and his daughter Kate, born that year, was doubtless the first white child born in the county ; and Enoch Bishop Merriam, who was born at Great Bend that same year, was the first white child born on the Susquehanna River within this county. Adam Miller, a Protestant Irishman, was also in Brooklyn in 1 787. Thus the three nationalities, English, Irish, and German, were here contemporaneously. Prior to 1787 what is now Susquehanna County was a waste, a howling wilderness, covered with a defense forest of maple, beech, birch, chestnut, and ash, inter spersed with hemlock, while the valleys and ravines were covered with a thick growth of hemlock and pine, with an undergrowth of laurel. The only occupants of these solitudes were wild animals and savage, roaming bands of Indians. As the first settlement was made in Hallstead, that of course would be the proper place to hold the Centennial celebration ; and if the citizens of'^that vicinity will move in the matter and manifest a desire to aid the movement we have no doubt that the citizens of all sec tions of the county would join in furthering the enterpise. We make the suggestion, and if it shall be received with favor we will do all in our power to help along the celebration. The question is. Shall we celebrate? This appeal was responded to promptly by all of the newspapers of the county, extracts from which are given herewith : i6 JSfew Milford Acfvei tiser : The proposition to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Susquehanna County seems to have been favorably re ceived by the people. The project to be successfully carried out de mands the hearty co-operation of our best people. A few enterprising, active men in each town in the county, with the assistance of every individual citizen, can make it an assured success. The news papers of the county should take an active interest in the scheme and every citizen talk and boom the project. Let the good peo ple of Hallstead make a move in the matter. Independent Republican : A meeting of the citizens of Great Bend and Hallstead has been called to take action for the proper celebration of the Centennial of the first settlement of Susquehanna County. Let the good work of preparation go on. A hearty acquiescence and a generous support can be counted on from every part of the county. Everybody will want to have a hand in celebrating Susquehanna County's Centen nial. It is proper, it is right ; our citizens would be derelict in duty should they let the occasion pass without a demonstration commem orating the event — no small affair, but one equaling in magnitude the prosperity, growth, wealth, and intelligence of her people during the period named. Susquehanna Transcript : We trust the people of the county will take some immediate action looking to a Centennial celebration of the settlement of this section. In this country all anniversaries are celebrated much too seldom, and, so far as old Susquehanna County is concerned, there are brains and enterprise sufficient to have a grand memorable anniversary. If our people take hold of the enterprise at all it is safe to say that the affair will be creditable. These are stirring times, and our people are not behind in anything. It does not matter much where the celebration is held, although Hallstead would seem to be the proper place. What is wanted is immediate, decided action. What does Hallstead say? A move from her would be in order. Sentinel : A Centennial celebration of the settlement of Susquehanna County is taking form very rapidly, and, judged by the present indications, a magnificent affair is on the tapis. As the first settlement in the county was made within the present limits of the borough of Hall stead, Hallstead will be the place for holding the Centennial. A committee from that borough visited Montrose on Tuesday, and after conferring with our citizens it was resolved to call a county conven tion to meet in Montrose on Monday, July 25th, to inaugurate the movement. Great Bend Plaindealer: Hallstead greets Susquehanna County with maternal greeting, and this day announces with supreme pleasure that as she furnished the cradle for her birth she feels it her glorious duty to extend her the hospitality necessary to a proper celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of that happy event. To the citizens of Susquehanna County, Hallstead assisted by her sister borough, Great Bend, and the township, stretches forth a hand of welcome saying, "Come and let us join together in celebrating a birth which has had such splendid results." A county second to none in the State for intelligence; a county, the standard of whose public schools is recognized as among the best in the great Commonwealth ; a county where crime is rare and justice a familiar face ; a county where political corruption is scarcely known, and where good citizenship prevails ; a county whose public opinion has always been of a lofty and pure character ; a county whose voice has always been for God, temperance, and the right — this is the result of the glad birth of the county whose cradle was at Hallstead and whose Centennial should be commensurate with the noble record she has made. If the enterprise, energy, and pa triotism of the county will now step forward and make the Centennial what it ought to be there will be one day in our history too large for a single page. It will be an event long to be remembered, and one which will be so crowned with interest as to burst with lessons from which we all may learn much that will make us wiser concern ing the local history of our splendid county. It is a celebration which concerns us all. Hallstead, assisted by the township and Great Bend Borough, welcomes the citizens of the county. They should prepare to come for a memorial jubilee. Development of the Centennial Germ. A few days after the Montrose Z)^/«^irr«/ published its first Centen nial leader A. H. McCoUum, Henry C. Tyler and W. D. Lusk, of Montrose, arrived at the Mitchell House in Hallstead, and in con\^er- sation with N. T. Mitchell and Burgess C. M. Simmons urged upon them the necessity of the citizens of Hallstead taking-immediate steps concerning the Centennial celebration. Burgess Simmons at once called a meeting of the citizens to take place at his office, on Main street, on the evening of the 9th of July. The First Centennial Meeting. The citizens of Great Bend borough and Great Bend Township were cordially invited to attend this meeting, to which they responded by .sending several representatives. James T. Du Bois, of Great Bend Township, was elected president, and John H. Dusenbury, of Great i8 Bend borough, secretary. The following local committee were se lected to take preliminary steps and especially to draft a circular in- vitiug the citizens of the county to hold a convention at Montrose to- decide whether the Centennial should be celebrated or not : W. D. Lusk, C. M. Simmons, James T. Du Bois, of Hallstead; Senator Orrir* A, Lines, Vincent Reckhow, and T. D. Estabrooks, of Great Bend borough ; S. S. Wright, Samuel Loomis, C. B. Dixon, of Great Bend- Township. Adjourned to meet the igth of July at the same place. A Wrinkle Smoothed Out. In the mean time a slight dispute arose. Great Bend borough claimed that the first cabin was erected by Ozias Strong on the north side of the river near the present jite of the Erie Railroad station, while the Hallsteadians were positive that the first cabin was built on. the south river bank opposite the present residence of C. J. Langley. The discussion became animated. Two citizens of Great Bend, ini search of information, visited the oldest resident of the neighborhood, John Buck, son of the Red Rock pioneer, who lives between Great Bend and Susquehanna. Scarcely had they arrived at the Buck farni when up drove two citizens of Hallstead, also in search of informa tion. The venerable old man, who, high in the nineties, is quite infirm, said he was under the impression that the first house was built " on the other side of the river" (the north side), but was not posi tive. The Hallstead representatives returned to their homes and re ported that "Mr. Buck is a very feeble old man, and is under the impression that he is living on the other (north) side of the river, and therefore the ' other ' side which he referred to was in reality the Hall stead side, " while the Great Bend delegates insisted that "the old man knew what he was talking about. ' ' Finally it was agreed to leave the settlement of the disputed point to the Montrose convention , and the local cauldron cooled off. The Hallsteadians Meet Again. At the adjourned meeting held in Justice Simmon's office, the 19th day of July, James T. Du Bois was elected president and W. J. Pike secretary. The following delegates were chosen to attend the Mon trose convention : N. T. Mitchell, W. J. Pike, Hallstead ; Senator O. A. Lines, T. D. Estabrooks, Great Bend borough ; S. S. Wright, James T. Du Bois, Great Bend Township. Before the meeting ad journed the following circular was drafted, and being printed the next morning, was mailed to every postmaster in the county: 19 Cexten.n'ial Celebration Of Susijue/iiznna Cotinty. 'A convention to make arrangements for celebrating the One Hundredth Anniversary has been called to meet at Montrose on Monday, the 25TH of July, 1887, At 2 o'clock, p. m. It is respectfully requested that each town ship and borough send one or more delegates to this Convention. By Order of Executive Committee. Please post this. WM. J. PIKE, Sec-y. Convention at Montrose. On the afternoon of the 25th day of July a goodly number of the citizens of the county, in response to the Centennial Call of the Hall stead Local Committee, assembled in the court-room at Montrose for the purpose of devising plans for the jubilee. The Hon. George A. Post, of Montrose, was elected chairman, and W. J. Pike, of Hall stead, secretary. After stating the object of the meeting. Chairman Post requested that all who were interested in commemorating the Centennial of the county should respond to their names at the call of the different towns. The following gentlemen responded : Brooklyn — J. O. BuUard, C. J. Lathrop. Clifford — J. D. Charle, J. R. Hankins. Gibson — J. J. Manning. Great Bend Borough — T. D. Estabrooks, O. A. Lines. Great Bend Township — S. S. Wright, James T. Du Bois. Hallstead— W. J Pike, N. T Mitchell. Hop- bottom — W. P. Crandall, E. Carpenter, F. A. Osborn, Squire Car penter. Jessup — J. G. Snow. Jackson: — O. H. Perry, L. D. Ben son. Liberty — L. E. Stanford, S. E. Warner. Franklin — ^W. C. Smith, F. A. Smith. Choconut — M. J. Golden, M. Mclerny. New Milford— A. B. Smith, T. W. Boyle. Forest Lake— Abner Griffis. Rush — I. M. Gray, W. N. Barnes. Thomson Borough — J. D. Miller. Montrose — J. P. Taylor, G. A. Post, S. J. Northrop. At the close of this call the Hon. M. J. Larabee moved that the county celebrate its one hundredth anniversary. An interesting dis cussion ensued, in which the following gentlemen took part : Hon. J. B. McCoUum, J. W. Chapman, Hon. M. J. Larabee, A. B. Smith, I. M. Gray, W. P. Crandall, O. H. Perry, A. O. Warren, J. G. Snow, Abner Griffis, S. S. Wright, T. D. Estabrooks, J. D. Miller, and others. The motion being put to vote, it was unanimously decided to celebrate. A motion was then made that the celebration take place at Hallstead. T. D. Estabrooks, of Great Bend Borough, offered an amendment that the E.xecutive Committee to be appointed be em powered to select the place and date of the celebration. The chair then appointed the following persons to name fifteen citizens of the county to act as an executive committee ; M. J. Larabee, Oliver H. Perry, James T. Du Bois; and these gentlemen selected Capt. H. F. Beards- ley, of Montrose, chairman ; C M. Simmons, of Hallstead ; T. D. Estabrooks, of Great Bend Borough : James T. Du Bois, Great Bend Township ; C. M. Shelp, New Milford ; L. D. Benson, Jackson ; W. P. Crandall, Hopbottom ; J. E. Carmalt, Choconut ; W. H. Sherwood, Rush; I. P. Baker, Dimock; C. J. Lathrop, Brooklyn; Horace Sweet, Harford ; Dr. E. Gardner, Clifford ; J. D Miller, Thomson ; M. J. Larabee, Susquehanna. On motion of James T. Du Bois a ladies' auxiliary committee was appointed to act in con junction with the Executive Committee. The followingmembers were chosen and empowered to add to their numbers : Mrs Henry Warner, Montrose, chairman; Miss E. C. Blackman, Montrose; Mrs. S. B. Chase, Hallstead; Mrs. John Hayden and Mrs. L. .\. Smith, New Milford; Mrs. J. H. Cook and Mrs. M. J. Larabee, Susquehanna; Mrs. James T. Du Bois and Mrs. Theodore Hays, of Great Bend Township ; Mrs. D. C. Bronson and Miss Emily Griggs, of Great Bend Borough. .\fter deciding that the Executive Committee should meet at Hall stead the 30th of July the convention adjourned. Executive Meeting at H.allstead. The meeting of the 30th of July was not well attended, only nine members of the committee being present, as follows : C. M. Shelp, J. D. Miller, Dr. E. Gardner, James T. Du Bois, Horace Sweet, C. M. Simmons, M. J. Larabee, W. P. Crandall, T. D. Estabrooks. A final decision was to be made at this meeting as to where and when the celebration was to take place. The committee were first escorted to the ground of the Keystone Agricultural Society, situ ated on the north side of the river, and all of the advantages of that place were fully explained to them. They then visited Du Bois Grove, on the south side of the river, and subsequently the rink. At t.^o- p. m. the meeting was held at the Mitchell House, and in the absence of Chairman Beardsley, T. D. Estabrooks, of Great Bend Boro, was called to the chair, and W. J. Pike acted as secretary. W. T. Estabrooks, the president of the Keystone Agricultural So ciety, attended the meeting and suggested that, provided the Cen tennial celebration were held on the fair grounds and the regular ad mission fee charged, the society would meet a large part of the Cen tennial expenses. Dr. Gardner, Horace Sweet, W. P. Crandall, and others vigorously objected to this proposition, and James T. Du Bois, having moved that the celebration take place in Hallstead on the 14th and 15th of September, the motion was unanimously carried. The Executive Committee was then increased to forty-two members, and each member was empowered to select two persons in his district to raise subscriptions for the Centennial fund. The following is a com plete list of the Executive Committee as it was finally constituted: Apolacon — Wm. Creigh; .A.rarat — J. C. Bushnell; Auburn — ^D. C. Titman; Bridgewater — M.J. Harrington; Choconut — James E. Car- malt; Brooklyn — C. J. Lathrop; Clifford, ist district — Dr. E. Gard ner; Clifford, 2d district — J. F. Hankins; Dimock — I. P. Baker; Dundaff — Thomas Hallstead, Wm. H. Olmstead; Forest Lake — W. A. Southwell; Franklin — F. A. Smith; Friendsville — Richard Fo- ran ; Gibson — George E. Resseguie ; Great Bend Township — J as. T. Du Bois; Great Bend Boro — T. D. Estabrooks; Hallstead — C. M. Simmons; Harford — Watson Jeffers; Harmony, ist district — S. H. Barnes, Charles Schlager ; Harmony, 2d district — J. S. Brandt; Her- rick Centre — Sanford Burns; Hopbottom — W. P. Crandall; Jack son — L. D. Benson; Jessup — P. D. Roe; Lathrop — Henry Decker ; Lenox —Oliver Loomis; Libertj' — L. E. Stanford; Little Meadows — E. B. Beardslee; Middletown — Patrick White; Montrose— Capt. H. F. Beardsley; New Milford — C. M. Shelp; New Milford Town ship — L. J. De Witt ; Oakland Township — Bradley Beebe ; Oakland Borough — -Anson Andrews; Rush — Wm. Sherwood; Silver Lake — Wm. Meeker ; Springville — P. E. Brush ; Susquehanna, ist ward — M. J. Larabee ; Susquehanna, 2d ward — W. H. Telford ; Thomson Boro J. D. Miller; Thomson Township — L. J. Wrighter; Union- dale — H. H. Lewis. W. J. Pike was chosen to act as permanent secretary of the com mittee. Adjourned to meet at New Milford, August 6. The Subscription Meeting at Hallstead. As soon as the place was finally settled upon for the celebration the people of Hallstead demonstrated how worthily the honor had been bestowed. A meeting of the citizens was promptly called to take place at the office of Burgess Simmons, and it was a crowded one. Among the business men who participated were N. T. Mitch ell, J. R. Douglass, Dr. F. D. Lamb, C. J. Langley, John L. Smith, John A Millane, E. R. Mason, W. M. Snyder, W. F. Simrell, L. H. De Forrest, Dell Stanford, J. H. Hollon, L. B. Crook, E. D. Bur ton, J. J. Stockholm, and E. E. Tuttle. The object of the meeting was to raise money for the Centennial fund. Within thirty minutes after the subscription book was opened the business men of the prosperous little borough had placed at the disposal of the Executive Committee S300. A committee of ladies, with Mrs. G. W. Capwell as chairman, was appointed, and within a week the names of nearly every man, woman, and child in the village were on the subscription list. It is believed to be the first instance in the history of this or any other country where such a complete subscription canvass has been made with such results. It demonstrated that if Susquehanna County showed one- half as much interest in the Centennial as Hallstead did it would prove an unparalleled success, and it did. Meeting at New Milford. The 6th day of August found a large gathering of the committee at the Jay House. At this meeting the Hon. Galusha A. Grow, the sage of Glenwood, was in attendance, and the following members of the committee were present : Bridgewater, M. J. Harrington; Brooklyn, C. J. Lathrop; Clif ford, Dr. E. Gardner ; Friendsville, Richard Foran ; Great Bend Township, James T. Du Bois ; Great Bend Borough, T. D. Esta brooks ; Hallstead, C. M. Simmons; Hopbottom, W. P. Crandall; Jackson, L. D. Benson; Montrose, George A. Post (proxy for Chair man Beardsley) ; New Milford, C. M. Shelp ; New Milford Town ship, A. B. Kent (proxy for L. J. De "Witt) ; Oakland, Bradley Beebe; Susquehanna, ist ward, J. Clark, jr. (proxy for M. J. Lara bee); Susquehanna, 2d ward, William H. Telford ; Thomson, J. D. Miller ; Rush, William Sherwood ; Jessup, Peter D. Roe. In the absence of Chairman Beardsley the Hon. George A. Post was called to the chair ; W. J. Pike, secretary- The question of finance was brought up, and the following reports -were made concerning the amounts already pledged : Clifford, $25 ; Great Bend Township, ^50 ; Great Bend Borough, $50 ; Hallstead, $400; Oakland, ^50; Susquehanna, $100 ; Thomson, $15; Mon trose, ^200. The chair appointed the following persons to invite some distin guished citizen of the county to deliver the historical address : L. D. Benson, J. D. Miller, James T. Du Bois. After a short consultation it was decided unanimously to invite the Hon. J. B. McCollum, pre sident judge of Susquehanna County. Owing to the fact that the date, 14th and 15th of September, al lowed a very short time for proper preparations for the Centennial, and also that it would be impossible for the Governor of the State to be present at that time, the date was postponed until some time be tween the loth and 15th of October, the precise date to be settled hereafter. The Hon. Galusha A. Grow, upon invitation of the chair, ad dressed the committee, giving much practical advice and encourage ment to the enterprise. By a rising vote, which was unanimous, Mr. Grow was invited to be present at the Centennial and address the people. The chairman was empowered to select fifteen persons to consti tute the Committee on Invitation. M. B. Wright, of Susquehanna, was unanimously elected as treas urer of the Centennial fund. A general managing committee was selected, consisting of the fol lowing gentlemen: Hon. George A. Post, chairman; Hon. M. J. Larabee, C. M. Shelp, C. M. Simmons, T. D. Estabrooks, O. H. Perry, James T. Du Bois. W. J. Pike was elected secretary of this committee. Adjourned to meet at Montrose August 20. First Meeting at the Centennial Cabin Was held by the managing committee on the igth day of August, the following members being present ; Hon. G. A. Post, chairman; Hon. M. J. Larabee, James T. Du Bois, C. M. Shelp, C. M. Simmons. Capt. Beardsley was also present. The principal object of the meeting was to take preliminary steps concerning the arrangement of the programme. After considerable 24 discussion it was decided to have a grand parade, in which was to be represented every township in the county, all the civic societies, professions, and occupations to take part, and the parade was to be reviewed by the Governor and distinguished guests at the Log Cabin, a reception by the Governor to the old settlers of the county at the Log Cabin, historical address by Judge McCollum, addresses by Gov ernor Beaver, Hon. G. A. Grow, ex-Governor C. C. Carpenter, of Iowa; Hon. Martin A. Foran, of Ohio; Hon. Henry W. Williams, of Tioga County ; and Hon. W. W. Phelps, of New Jersey; a Centen nial hymn by Miss Sarah Jones, of Harford; a Centennial poem by Edith May ; series of amusements, a band of Tuscarora Indians, ex hibition of relics, music by all of the bands in the county, fantastic parade, fire-works and illumination of Mount Manotonome. By resolution the Hallstead Council was requested to give to the Managing Committee power to dispose of all privileges during the Centennial; also to permit the erection of the Log Cabin, already- erected, which requests were promptly granted at a special meeting of the Council. The authority to grant privileges was given to C. M. Simmons and James T. Du Bois. Captain Beardsley was authorized to secure necessary tents, and was chosen to act as grand marshal of the great parade. Adjourned sine die. Executive Meeting at Montrose 2oth of August. This meeting was held in the court-house. Members present : Chairman Beardsley, William Sherwood, W. P. Crandall, Watsort Jeffers, C. J. Lathrop, C. M. Shelp, Peter D. Roe, James E. Car- malt, D. C. Titman, M. J. Harrington, L. J. De Witt, W. J. Pike, secretary. Hon. George A. Post, chairman of Managing Committee, submitted a draft of the Centennial programme arranged by his committee, which (completed at subsequent meetings) will be found elsewhere. Each member of the Executive Committee was authorized to ap point one person in his district to collect relics. After a general discussion the meeting adjourned subject to the call of the chairman. At the Log Cabin September ist. This was the most interesting meeting so far held, inasmuch as a: number of the Ladies' Auxiliary Committee were present, and much enthusiasm prevailed. Members of the Executive Committee present r Chairman Beardsley, J. C. Bushnell, D. C. Titman, M. J. Harring ton, C. J. Lathrop, F. A. Smith, C. M. Simmons, George E. Resse guie, Watson Jeffers, W. P. Crandall, L. D. Benson, L. E. Stanford, E. B. Beardslee, L. J. De Witt, M. J. Larabee, J. D. Miller, James T. Du Bois. Members of the Ladies' Auxiliary Committee present: Mrs. S. B. Chase, Mrs. W. K. Hatch, Mrs. James T. Du Bois, Mrs. M. J. Larabee, Mrs. J. H. Cook, Mrs. John Hayden, IMrs. Wm. D. Lusk, Mrs. Olive Mcintosh. The date for holding the Centennial was definitely fixed for the loth, nth, and 12th of October. The following committee of ladies were appointed to receive and care for the relics : Mrs. S. B. Chase, chairman; Mrs. W. K. Hatch, Mrs. Olive Mcintosh, Mrs. J. H. Cook, Mrs. M. J. Larabee, Mrs. James T. Du Bois, Mrs. Theodore Hays, Mrs. G. W. Capwell, Mrs. S. P. More, Mrs. Fred Smith, Miss Celia De Forest, Miss Kitty Hayden, Miss Agnes Pope. The happy proposition was made to give a banquet to all old settlers of seventy years and upwards, at which the Governor and dis tinguished guests were to be present, and it was received and adopted with applause. The following Committee on Music was appointed : L. J. De Witt, George E. Resseguie,. W. A. Southard, J. D. Miller, and C. M. Sim mons. Miss Sarah Jones, of Harford, was unanimously chosen to write the Centennial hymn. The following complete list of the Ladies' Auxiliary Committee was approved by the Executive Committee, and the meeting adjourned subject to the call of the chairman : Apolacon, Mrs. E. B. Beardslee; Ararat, Mrs. J. C. Bushnell; Auburn, Mrs. B. E. James; Bridge- water, Mrs. M. J. Harrington, Mrs. Lizzie Smith, Mrs. Pickering; Brooklyn, Mrs. H. L. Bailey, Mrs. E. A.Weston, Mrs. Ansel Tewks- bury, Mrs. Willis Kent, Mrs. Dr. Chamberlin ; Choconut, Mrs. James E. Carmalt, Mrs. John C. Morris, Miss Mary Chamberlain ; Clifford, Mrs. M. C. Stewart ; Dundaff, Mrs. Susan Chambers ; Di mock, Aliss Mary Sherer, Miss Lettie Woodhouse ; South Montrose, Mrs. A. H. Jones, Mrs. J. D. Baker ; Forest Lake, Miss Sarah Wright ;.. 26 Franklin, Mrs. Aubrey Smith, Mrs. J. L. Merriman, Mrs. Hiram Smith, Mrs. J. H. Munger; Friendsville, Mrs. Dr. Handrick; Gib son, Mrs. Geo. B. Tiffany, Mrs. C. W. Resseguie, Mrs. Wm. Maxey, Miss Rhoda Carpenter; Hallstead, Mrs. J. T. DuBois, Mrs. S. B. Chase, Mrs. Wm. Mcintosh; Great Bend, Mrs. Emeline Griggs, Mrs. Theodore Hays; Harford, Mrs. Lee Tiffany, Mrs. J. C. Tyler, Miss S. M. Jones; Harmony, Mrs. Westfall, Mrs. McKune ; Lanesboro, Mrs. David Taylor, Mrs. Lyon; Herrick, Mrs. Burritt, Mrs. Lyon; Jackson, Mrs. O. H. Perry, Mrs. Alvin Bardett, Mrs. William Holmes, Mrs. Ormer Olin, Mrs. Orville Griffis; Jessup, Miss Eliza Young; Glenwood, Mrs. Frederic P. Grow, Miss Hartley ; Hopbottom, Mrs. Freeman Bell, Mrs. Myron Titus; Liberty, Mrs. Fred. Stanford, Mrs. Ansel Gere, Miss Carrie Truesdell; Middletown, Mrs. Mary Dimond; Montrose, Mrs. Henry Warner, chairman; Miss E. C. Blackman, Mrs. AV. D. Lusk, Mrs. W. H. Jessup, Mrs. J. B. McCol lum ; New Milford, Mrs. John Hayden, Mrs. Dr. L. A. Smith; Rush, Mrs. V. L. Atwater, Mrs. I. F. Hillis, Mrs. Geo. Hillis, Mrs. Nor man Granger ; Silver Lake, Mrs. E. P. Rose, Miss J. Simpson ; Spring ville, Mrs. Dr. Lathrop, Miss Philena Meacham ; Susquehanna, Mrs. J. H. Cook, Mrs. M.J. Larabee; Thomson, Mrs. C. R. Casterline, Mrs. N. S. Foster; Ararat, Mrs. J. H. Blo.xham, M. C. Tyler; Au burn Four Corners, Mrs. P. C. Bushnell ; Auburn Centre, Mrs. John Tewksbury; West Auburn, Mrs. Theodore Hays; Elkdale, Mrs. J. C. Wells and Miss Eva Lowny; Uniondale, Mrs. Ashur Burdick; Dundaff, Mrs. George W. Hall ; Clifford, Mrs. George W. Stephens ; Royal, Mrs. Stephens ; Great Bend, Mrs. T. D. Estabrooks and Mrs. P. H. Lines; Clifford, Mrs. Ira J. Wetherby and Mrs. Theo dore James; Gibson, Mrs. W. W. Pope, Mrs. Leroy Barnes, Mrs. D. E. Whitney, Mrs. Burton Tiffany; New Milford, Mrs. C. A. Summers, Mrs. W. T. Harding ; Montrose, Miss Florence Lathrop. Final Meeting of Executive Committee. There was a large gathering of the Executive Committee at the Jay House, New Milford, on the 2 2d of September. Three ladies of the Auxiliary Committee, Mrs. John Hayden, Mrs. L. A. Smith, and Mrs. C. W. Resseguie were present. Captain Beardsley presided ; AV. J. Pike, secretary. It was the last meeting of the Executive Com mittee, and Chairman Beardsley took occasion to urge upon the mem bers increased activit)-. He presented the importance of ascertain- 27 ing how much money had been collected and pledged by the differ- ¦ent towns and asked the various committeemen to report The roll was called with the following result : Ararat, — ; Apolacon, — Auburn, gio; Bridgewater, ^25; Choconut, — ; Brooklyn, ^5 •Clifford, ist district, I48 ; Clifford, 2d district, — ; Dimock, ^50 Dundaff, — ; Forest Lake, — ; Franklin, — ; Friendsville, $10.75 ¦Gibson, $28.25 ; Great Bend Township, $50; Great Bend, $50 Hallstead, $400; Harford, — ; Harmony, ist district, — ; Har mony, 2d district, — ; Herrick, — ; Hopbottom, §16.95 J Jackson, $25; Jessup, - — .; Lathrop, — ; Lenox, — ; Liberty, — ; Little Meadows, — ; Middletown, — ; Montrose, $250 ; New Milford, S50 ; New Milford Township, $10 ; Oakland Township, $30 ; Oakland Borough, — ; Rush, $25; Silver Lake, — ; Springville, — ; Sus quehanna, ?2oo ; Thomson Borough, Si 7; Thomson Township, — ; Uniondale, — . Total, Si, 299.95. The proffered use of Du Bois Grove, on Spring Farm, adjoining Hallstead, for Centennial purposes was accepted by the committee. The following Committee on Public Comfort was appointed : J. Gregg McCreary, chairman ; Mrs. Dr. Dayton, Mrs. C. E. Ben nett, Mrs. C. J. Langley, Mrs. O. A. Lines, Mrs. C. B. Woodward, Mrs. Henry Ackert. The chair appointed the following Reception Committee to receive and look after the comfort of invited guests. Hon. William H. Jes sup, chairman ; Hon. J. H. Cook, Hon. O. A. Lines, Hon. E. H. True, Hon. William Maxey, William M. Post, Esq., Gaylord Curtis, Esq., W. D. Lusk, Esq., James P. Taylor, Esq. The chair appointed the following Committee on Decorations: ¦C. J. Langley, chairman; Richard Phillips, C. W. Bankes, L. B. Crook, Mrs. A. G. Young, Mrs. F. D. Lamb, Miss Jennie Barnes, Miss Theo. McKinney. A committee of five on Pyrotechnics and Illumination was ap pointed, as follows: Frank Sands, chairman; Dimmock Jenks, John Maynard, John W. Dusenbury, "W. T. Estabrooks. It was decided to make a naval engagement on the river the main feature for one evening, and "Admiral" Findon, of Susquehanna, was selected to have charge of it. Capt. H. F. Beardsley, Hon. George A. Post, and James T. Du Bois were selected to complete and secure the printing of the pro gramme. 28 At the written request of Treasurer M. B. Wright, of Susquehanna, E. R. Mason, of Hallstead, was appointed assistant treasurer of the Centennial fund; C. M. Simmons, M. J. Larabee, and C. M. Shelp were appointed as Finance and Auditing Committee. Chairman Beardsley was specially directed by the committee to extend an invitation to W. F. Hallstead and wife, of Scranton, to be the guests of the county during the Centennial. He was also in structed to make arrangements for excursion rates on the D. L. & W. and Erie railroads ; to advertise for bids from experienced caterers- to furnish the dinner to the old settlers ; to select a leader for the Centennial chorus, and to decide as to the amounts to be expended in the different features of the programme. Each member of the Executive Committee was instructed to select a young lady from his district to act as waitress at the old settlers' banquet. After a full and free interchange of opinions it was decided that to entitle a person to be called an "old settler" he or she must be seventy years old or upward and have resided in the county forty years or more. The question of charging a small admission fee at the Relic Hall, in case the amount subscribed should be deemed insufficient, was left to the chairman of the Executive Committee, and the members of the Managing Committee ; but in no case should those who have contrib uted be charged an admission fee. The meeting adjourned sine die. The Invitation Committee. ¦ The Hon. George A. Post, chairman of the Managing Committee, who was empowered at the 6th of August meeting at New Milford to select fifteen prominent citizens of the county to serve on the Com mittee on Invitations, with the understanding that he was to act as chairman, selected the following gentlemen : .A. Lathrop, Montrose; Dr. D. C. Ainey, New Milford; W. Scott Brandt, Brandts; L. Griffis, Jackson; E. T. Tiffany, Harford; Jno. Tewksbury, Au burn; H. F. Handrick, Forest Lake ; T. Sullivan, Silver Lake; T. P. Phinney, Dundaff; G. L. Lewis, Thomson; H. L, Bailey, Brooklyn ; V. Reckhow, Great Bend ; J. L. Merriman, Liberty ; J. W. Chapman, Montrose. The following is as near a fac-simile as possible of the first circu lar sent out by this committee : 29 aiKlHct -:- iiHil -:- |{ccc^tion -TO- OLD SETTLERS. LOG CABIN, Hallstead, Pa., \ September 2bth, iSS"]. ( At the celebration of the Centennial of the first ivhite settlement with in the territory now comprising Susquehanna County, to he holden on the 10th, 11th, and 12th of October, 1887, at Hallstead, a banquet loill be tendered to the "old settlers" loho have resided in the county for forty years or mare, and are now seventy years of age and upward, and About eleven o'clock the sun struggled through the rifted clouds- and brought hopes of clearing weather to those who were anxious for the complete success of the Centennial. The crowds continued to pour into the town, the sky slowly freed itself of its gloomy covering,. the handsome decorations of the place added to the increasing brightness of the surroundings, and by noon all was gladness and good. cheer. Early in the afternoon the handsomely uniformed Gibson Band arrived and were soon followed by the well-known band from Springville, and ere long the village seemed filled with music. At two o'clock the Reception Committee, preceded by the Hall stead Band, conducted Judge McCollum, Congressman Martin A. Foran, ex-Speaker Grow, and a number of other distinguished guests to the grand stand, where the literary entertainment of the second day was to take place. The Hon. George A. Post, of Montrose, 69 presided. He read the following list of vice-presidents arid re quested these gentlemen to occupy seats on the grand stand ; Hon. David Thomas, of Great Bend ; Hugh McCollum, Montrose ; S. H. T3arnes, Lanesborough ; P. H. Tiffany, Brooklyn ; Edward Burke, Silver Lake ; Lawrence Curley, Middletown ; George Harvey, B-ush ; Levi S. Page, Susquehanna ; Peter Clark, Choconut, and James Foran, Friendsville. Among the prominent citizens of the county who were present were Wm. Maxey, E. H. True, Orrin A. Lines, Wm. M. Post, G. A. Grow, M. J. Larabee, J. H. Cook, Gaylord Curtis, H. F. Beardsley, IRev. E. B. Olmstead, Father Dunn, Wm. H. Jessup, Eugene O'Neil, W. D. Lusk, J. P. Taylor, M. H. Eisman, Dr. C. C. Halsey, Henry Burchard, Mrs. Daniel Searle, Mrs. J. B. McCollum, Miss Emily C. IBlackman, J. Clark, jr., and H. Benson, of the Susquehanna Tran script ; W. C. Cruser, of the Montrose Democrat ; C. S. Vail and. G. C. Howell, of the New Milford Adveriieer ; S. P. More, of the Great Bend Plaindealer ; Tracy Sweet, of the Scranton Truth; Jas. K. Burnett, of the Scranton Republican , James Hireen, of the Bing hamton Republican, and Mr. Cook, of the Philadelphia Press. After a selection was rendered by the Hallstead Band Rev. E. B. Olmstead opened the exercises with the following prayer : O Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth ! Thou alone art God, full of glory and majesty, dwelling in light unapproachable. We realize that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Thy ways higher than our ways and Thy thoughts than our thoughts ; but we thank Thee that Thou hast made us reasoning beings, capable of comprehending something of this thought concerning humanity. We thank Thee for the generations of men who have come and gone and bequeathed to us such rich treasures of discovery, civiliza- ¦tion, and culture. Our minds turn to-day to the hardy, self-sacrific ing pioneers who pierced the virgin wilderness and awoke the echoes of industry and enterprise amid these sentinel hills. We are re minded of their courage, their energy, their morality. May we be worthy descendants of such illustrious ancestors ! We thank Thee for our country; for her pleasant hills, just now adorned with the 3ellow glories of autumn ; for her fertile valleys ; for her enterpris ing villages ; for her quiet homes ; for her free schools ; for her open churches ;' and above all, for the noblemen of intellect and piety she has nourished. God bless Susquehanna County ! Bless the speakers of this day. Help them to bring to us some thing that shall instruct and ennoble all who listen. 70 Brothers and fathers and mothers — the old men and women — who have come to enjoy the festivities of this occasion. May their last days be their best days ! Let thy blessing rest on this celebration. May it not be charac terized by drunkenness and debauchery, but by such acts as shall have the sanction of conscience, the approval of reason, and the "Well done" of God. Reminded as we are by these gray heads, by these falling leaves and the autumnal moans of the dying year, of life's beauty, help us- all to give earnest heed to the salvation of our souls. Answer this our prayer for Christ's sake. Amen. Hon. George A. Post, president of the day, then addressed the great throng as follows ; Fellow-citizens ; Standing in this presence, I am obliged to con fess that I was not born in Susquehanna County. But it was not mjr fault. For the accident of birth I am not responsible, and, besides, I came here just as soon as I wanted a good place in which to begin the battle of life. I am therefore an adopted son, but I can truth fully say that I have always been treated like one of the family. To day in all that may be said in laudation of this grand old county, in all the emotions of pride that may stir the hearts of those to the manor born, I shall know no different feeling than the natives of the- county. In all that affects the material welfare of Susquehanna County I am deeply interested ; I have ever sought to identify myself with her people, and, by an extensive contact with them I have be come thoroughly impregnated with the local pride with which they are imbued. As the naturalized citizen of foreign birth becomes en amored of our benign institutions, so that when danger menaces them he shoulders his musket and braves the horrors of war for their pro tection, and mingles his blood with that of the natives to show the strength of his devotion to the land of his adoption, so I, though but an adopted son of this county, rejoice in its history, take fraternal pleasure in the honors achieved by its sons and daughters, and in this Centennial jubilee join heart and soul, as we celebrate the work of the pioneers who blazed the way to the transformation of an area of dense forest into a county wherein upward of forty thousand people dwell in pleasant homes and pursue the myriad avocations- incident to the civilization and advancement of the evening of the nineteenth century. Other counties there are in our Commonwealth greater in square miles of territory, more densely populated, more opulent,, more fortunate in the geological formations underneath the surface of the soil, and more favored as natural or artificial centers of trade and manufactures, but I fearlessly assert that there is not one county in all Pennsylvania whose citizens are more loyal, honest, and intelligent. .Among the best and foremost citizens of many States- 71 in the Union are found those whose first breath inhaled the pure air of our county, and who, wherever they are, have a warm place in their hearts for the clime of their kindred. The coming together at this time of our citizens from near and far to exchange neighborly greetings is fraught with great interest, and such an occasion must have a wide-reaching influence for good. As this beautiful borough is thronged with hundreds of our substan tial yeomanry, arid we note the high intellectual character of our people as stamped unmistakably upon their faces, we cannot but feet that old Susquehanna is indeed a good community to live in, and that peopled as it is by so sturdy and worthy a body of inhabitants it is no wonder that it has always ranked high in the estimation of its sister counties in the State. Brought together under the happy auspices of this Centennial cel ebration, here in the vicinity where a century ago Ozias Strong made the first settlement, and where first the giants of the forests suc- combed to the settlers ax, in the territory now comprising our county, as our minds go back to the hardships, privations, loneliness, and dreary surroundings of those who established the sway of civili zation here, let us draw a lesson and an inspiration from their trials and the vicissitudes of pioneer life, and if there be any who would repine because they are not as pleasantly situated as they desire, I would point to yon log cabin and ask, would you exchange places with those who a hundred years ago were dwellers in such rude struct ures, and would you think it bearable to live as they, isolated from their fellows and exposed to innumerable dangers? I know your answer, and yet it is the sacrifices and irksome toil of those old set tlers that we celebrate this day, and in memory of them we hold a carnival of good cheer, and from hill and dale we come with light hearts to begin a new century of human endeavor to this historic spot, now no longer a trackless, dreary waste, but the habitation of several hundred souls enjoying the blessings of cosy homes, good society, education, religious worship, and the beneficent government then but launched upon the sea of national existence, now the proudest nation on earth. Let us then be of good cheer, for ours is a goodly heritage. .A health then to old Susquehanna. May her future years be crowded with the records of glorious prosperity, and may her sons and daught ers ever be true men and women, steadfast in the right, scorning money, industrious and persevering, and as we now in grand diapason sound the praise of those who have gone before us, so may our prog eny lift their voices in our honor when comes another hundred years. At the conclusion of this speech, which was heartily applauded, the Hallstead Band rendered another selection, when President Post introduced Judge McCollum as one who was born and reared upon a 72 farm in this county, who had always resided within its confines and who had achieved the highest distinction within the gift of his fellow- citizens — ^the president-judgeship of his native county. Judge Mc Collum was received with great enthusiasm by the multitude, who listened with marked attention to. the following valuable and inter esting historical address : A hundred years ago Ozias Strong, from Lee, Mass., settled here. He was the first white inhabitant of the territory contained in this county. .Around him was a wilderness occupied by wild beasts and traversed by Indians. On the banks of this beautiful river and in the shadow of these grand hills he built a log cabin and made a clearing. He was on a generous soil and in the midst of scenery attractive and inspiring, but without the advantages and protection afforded by civilized society. He was a pioneer in the work of subduing the forests and developing the resources of a new country. Of his life, his struggles, but his achievements here but little is now known. The public records inform us that in June, 1790, he bought of Tench Francis, a tract of land lying on the north side of the river in the vicinity of the present bridge ; and he aftervi^ards sold from it a farm to Johnathan Dimon, who settled here in 1 791 . In 1 795 he removed from this settlement to Homer, N. Y., where he died in 1807. In the same year that Ozias Strong bought of Francis a tract on the north side of the river Benajah Strong bought of the same landholder a tract on the south side of the river, containing 601 acres, lying on both sides of Salt Lick Creek. On the 21st of September, 1791, Benajah Strong sold his tract to M. Du Bois and Seth Putman. A portion, at least, of the present borough of Hallstead is within the lilies of this tract. Du Bois afterwards became the exclusive owner of it and resided upon it. At one time, and near this point, he kept a tavern, where the early settlers were entertained on their journeys to and from the wilderness south of us where they were then building their log huts and making their first earnings. A large share of this tract is now owned by and in possession of his descendants, who unite with us in the festivities of this day. In that portion of the Susquehanna Valley lying within our county and from which the townships of Great Bend, Harmony, and Oak land were erected, there were, in 1787, evidences of the prior occu pation of it by the Indians. Near us were the " three apple trees" which formed the rallying point and headquarters of all the Indians in the neighborhood. As early as 1779 these trees bore the marks of great age. Near them, in the summer of that year, sixteen hun dred soldiers of the Revolution encamped en route to join the army of General Sullivan at the mouth of the Chemung River, in his memorable campaign against the Indians, who, incited by British /J agents and British gold, had united with the Tories in their murder ous attacks upon the border settlements. These soldiers descended the Susquehanna upon rafts and landed here to pass the night. In the neighborhood of their camp was an Indian burying-ground. In the river not half a mile above us was an island which was a resort for Indian fishing and hunting parties. In Oakland, upon the West- fall farm, traces of an Indian village were found. While at the time of the settlement of this valley by the whites the Indians were not in the actual occupancy of it, they frequently passed along and across it in considerable numbers. In 1788 Daniel Buck and his sons, Ichabod and Benjamin, were settled on the north side of the river, about two miles above the present borough of Great Bend, at a point now known as Red Rock. It was stated in a newspaper article by the late Joseph Du Bois that ¦* ' this romantic locality was known to the early settlers as the Painted Rock, from the fact that high up on the face of one of the cliffs, and far above the reach of man, was the painted figure of an Indian chief." J. B. Buck, in writing of the same locality, said that when his " father came to Red Rock it was all wild. But on examination marks were found that could not be accounted for. The rocks upon the river were painted red, and on the island was found the founda tion of a house." These statements by descendants of pioneers of this valley point to the presence and work of civilized man in it be fore any known settlement of it. Moses Comstock was the first settler at the east bend of the Susque hanna, near the pleasant village of Lanesborough, and it is believed that he was located there in November, 1787. He and his sons for a dozen years at least occupied and improved lands there which he was eventually compelled to relinquish on demand of the Pennsyl- yania claimant, as he had no title to the land which the Pennsylvania authorities recognized. There is little doubt from the evidence at- taintable on this subject that Ozias Strong and Moses Comstock, with their families, were the only white inhabitants of this valley in that year. Jonathan Bennett stopped in Oakland a short time be fore, locating in Great Bend in 1 788, and afterwards sold an improve ment there to Isaac Hale, who came there in 1790; but whether he made the improvement before settling in Great Bend cannot be stated. In Miss Blackman's history of the county four townships are designated as "settled" in 1787. These are mentioned in the order of their settlement, and are Great Bend, Harmony, Oakland, and Brooklyn. It is stated, however, in the same history, that there was not a house in Oakland prior to 1788, and that Jonathan Bennett arrived there that year, I cannot discover that Oakland had a white inhabitant in 1787, but as my researches on this subject have not been exhaustive the statement of the history referred to is not dis puted. I merely say that I have not found the evidence on which it rests. 74 The first settlement in Brooklyn was along the Hopbottom on lands of John Nicholson. These lands, in 1787, Nicholson attempted to colonize, and in five years he collected about forty Irish and German families from Philadelphia and "down the Susquehanna," who were induced to move upon the lands by his promises of supplies and as sistance. Adam Miller, Richard McNamara, and Robert Patterson were first settlers there. As Nicholson failed to redeem his promises- many of these settlers became discouraged and abandoned the lands. In 1 787 not more than six white families were settled in the county, and the clearings of that year would not equal in extent the improved land upon an average "hundred-acre farm" of to-day. There were no settlements in the county prior to 1789 except those in this valley and along the Hopbottom in Brooklyn. In that year settlements were made in New Milford arid Herrick, and before 1800 settlements were made in twenty-one of the twenty-seven townships in the county. Before the date last mentioned there were no settle ments in the towships of .Apolacon, Choconut, Silver Lake, Jackson, Ararat, and Thomson. These were settled in the order named, and the first settlement in Thomson was made in 1820. It would be interesting to note the growth of these settlements from the first dwellings made in them to well-regulated and prosperous communities in the enjoyment of the advantages and the security which the highest civilization affords ; and it would be pleasant and appropriate to this occasion to consider the part of each actor in their organization and development, and to award to each the tribute of respect and gratitude justly due. But a moment's reflection will con vince any one that this cannot be done within the limits of an ad dress admissible to-day. It is not alone the few settlers here in 1787 who are entitled to the rank and consideration of pioneers in the work of creating from a wilderness a grand county, now filled with happy homes, and in which we have a justifiable pride. It was thirty-three years from the first settlement in Great Bend Township to the first settlement in Thomson Township. It was nearly twenty- three years after the first clearing was made in this valley that the act creating our county was passed, and it was nearly twenty-five years before its organization was completed by the election of offi cers. All who participated in the work of felling the forests, clear ing the lands, and planting civilization and local governments here were pioneers ; and all who bore an honorable part in this work are entitled to high praise for the courage and endurance exhibited in wrestling with the perils and privations involved in it. In 1790 the territory, now constituting thecounty of Susquehanna, was embraced in the townships of Tioga and Wyalusing, Luzerne County. In 1791 the court of Luzerne ordered the creation of the township of Willingborough from the northeast corner of Tioga. Its boundaries were defined in i 793, and these made the township 6 miles north and south by 15 miles east and west, and included the present townships of Great Bend, Harmony, and Oakland, with the boroughs- created from them. In the same year Ichabod Buck was appointed constable of the new township. Horatio Strong and Johnathan Ben nett were appointed supervisors, and Ichabod Buck and Elisha Leon ard were appointed overseers of the poor. These were the first offi cers of the first township entirely within the lines of the county. It embraced all the settlements in the Susquehanna Valley. Its growth in wealth and population was not rapid. In 1800 it contained ninet)r taxables, and the amount of taxes levied that year were $810.58. In 1810 the total population of the valley settlements then contained in the townships of Great Bend and Harmony were four hundred and thirty-one. At that time Oakland was a part of Harmony, from which it was taken in 1853. The Harford settlement, or as it was known, " Nine Partners " settlement, was located in 1 790, but the proprietors did not bring their families there until the spring of 1792. It was organized as a town ship in 1808, and its population in i8io was 477. When our county was created by legislative enactment it was embraced in ten townships of old Luzerne, and these were Willing borough, Nicholson, Lawsville, Braintrim, Rush, Clifford, Bridge- water, New Milford, Harford, and Harmony. Of these Willingbor ough, Harford, Harmony, New Milford, and Lawsville were entirely within the present boundaries of this county. The remaining town ships were divided by the southern and western lines of the new county, and the census of 1810 did not disclose the number of inhabi tants then residing in that portion of them brought into the new county of Susquehanna. The population of the five townships men tioned as within the lines of the county in 1810 was 1,255. Bridge- water then had a population of 1,418, and but a very few- of those were in Luzerne County. It should be stated in this connection that at that time Bridgewater embraced, besides its present area, all of Brooklyn, Lathrop, Springville, Dimock, Silver Lake, and Montrose, the eastern parts of Jessup and Forest Lake, and the south part of Franklin. Clifford Township, as it existed in 1810, had a population of 675, but what proportion of this was south of the present county line is not known. New Milford in that year had 174 inhabitants, and Lawsville had 169. The exact population of our county at the time of its creation could not, for the reasons already stated, be ascer tained. The first census, after its organization, was taken by Bela Jones, and showed a population of 9,958. While the act creating our county was passed February 21, 1810, its organization was not completed until 181 2. Its first officers were; Davis Dimock and William Thomson, associate judges; Edward Fuller, sheriff; Chas. Fraser, prothonotary, clerk of the courts and register and recorder ;. 76 Isaac Post, treasurer^; Bartlett Hinds, Labon Capron, and Isaac Brownson, commissioners; Jonah Brewster, commissioners' clerk, and Stephen Wilson, coroner. The county seat was located at Mont rose in i8n ; the corner-stone of the first court-house was laid in 1812, but the building was not erected until 1813. The first court was held January, 1813, in the ball-room of Isaac Post's tavern, John Bannister Gibson, afterward chief justice of Pennsylvania, and among the ablest jurists the country has produced, presiding with his asso ciates, Dimock and Thomson. Wm. Jessup was the first president judge of our courts who resided in the county, and Almon H. Read and Benjamin T. Case were the -first practicing attorneys located here. The first constables of the different townships under the new county organization were qualified in open court -April 26th, 1813. The first assessment of taxes by the new county was for 1813, and the amount of the duplicates issued to the collectors was $3,154. Philander Stephens was the first Representative in Congress from this county, Charles Fraser the first State senator and Jabez Hyde, jr. , the first representative in the lower house of the State legislature. In 1874 our county became a separate judicial district, and at the ¦expiration of the terms of the then incumbents the office of associate judge ceased to exist in it. Before that period we were connected with neighboring counties in a judicial district. In the seventy-five years of our complete county life the office of president judge of our courts has been filled by citizens of our own country a little more than thirty-two years. We have always been connected with neighboring counties in Con gressional and senatorial districts, and sometimes in legislative dis tricts. We have been represented in Congress by our own citizens twenty-two years, in the State senate twenty-six years, and in the house of representatives at Harrisburg seventy-one years. The second Speaker of the American Congress from Pennsylvania was a citizen of Susquehanna County. It is gratifying to know that the record made by these Representatives of the people in the legislative bodies of the State and nation is a clean and creditable one. It is a record of fidelity to public trust and ability, in the execution of it in which the county has pride and satisfaction to-day. For the few facts and dates now presented concerning the first set tlements in and the organization of our county 1 am mainly in debted to Miss Blackman's history, and to it and the Centennial his tory now, or soon to be, published by R. T. Peck & Co., reference must be had for detailed information respecting the growth and progress of the county, the individual actors in the work of settling and developing it, the privations endured and the obstacles overcome by them. These make a record of especial value to the descendants of the pioneers, and one that is full of entertainment and in.struction 77 for all who have an interest in and desire to know the county history. One of the tendencies of this festival is to increase the interest in this subject and the disposition in us to preserve and transmit to the next generation a faithful record of the events, experiences, and methods of our own. It is well that this interest should be quickened and this disposition strengthened, for without these an intelligent and complete history of a people is impossible. As a class the early settlers of our county were brave men and women. They deliberately entered upon a work requiring, for its successful execution, courage, enterprise, and endurance; and these qualities they possessed in a high degree. Their purpose was to con quer a wilderness, to clear the hill-sides and valleys of our rugged county and convert them into pleasant and productive grass and grain fields, and to build there comfortable homes for themselves and their posterity. It is not easy for us, in the full possession of the fruits of their labor and the conveniences and privileges enjoyed by populous and prosperous communities in our day, to comprehend the nature and magnitude of their undertaking. Before them was a pathless. forest. Into it they resolutely entered with enough provisions for their immediate wants and a few household effects and rude imple ments of husbandry, with perhaps a cow and yoke of oxen or pair of horses. These, with their robust manhood and womanhood and their unconquerable spirit, constituted the capital invested in the enterprise. They selected the land they proposed to occupy and improve, and upon it a site for a dwelling. Here they made the first clearing and from the trees felled to make it built a log cabin. It was a rude structure compared with the dwellings that adorn the hills and valleys of our county now, but it sheltered them from the storm and was their home, and soon there clustered about it the at tachments and attractions that belong to no other place in this world. In 1787 there was one such cabin at this point, another near Lanesborough, and two or three along the Hopbottom in Brooklyn, and these were the only human habitations then existing in this county. Then communication between the inhabitants along the Hopbottom and the settlers in this valley involved a tedious journey on foot. There was an isolation in the life they led that the sons and daughters of this day could hardly bear. It alone was enough to ap pal the stoutest heart, but it developed in those who were compelled to endure it a self-reliance and sturdy independence and strength of character essential to the success of a great undertaking. They had neither time nor disposition to indulge in useless murmurings and vain regrets or to contrast their condition with that of the inhabi tants of the older communities. The situation exacted unremitting toil to supply their immediate wants, to make comfortable homes and provide a competence for their declining years. To accomplish these objects it was necessary for them to exercise good judgment and prac- 78 tice strict economy in their expenditures and in the care, preserva tion, and use of the products of their labor. The utmost exertion on their part was necessary to provide the bare necessaries of life, and their food and clothing was often of the coarsest kind. If they raised grain sufficient to feed their families they had no conveniences for preparing it for use, as there were no grist mills within the county or their reach. It is related of Ichabod Buck, by his son, J. B. Buck, that for five years after his arrival at Red Rock he had to pound the grain in a mortar to make flour and bread. Many cases of the same or a similar character might be cited illustrating the necessities and expedients of the early settlers in their struggle for subsistence. But the record proves that amid all these privations and hardships theirfaith in ultimate success did not waver. They believed that upon these hills and in these valleys patient and intelligent labor would finally have its reward in substantial homes and comforts for an honest and independent yeomanry. This belief had full vindication in their achievements here. Those who were industrious and economical and did not meet with disas trous reverses possessed in their declining years productive and well- -stocked farms, with comfortable buildings upon them, and the neces sary implements of husbandry to properly work them. Upon these farms they had raised large families, and to their sons and daughters they had given such an education, or at least the rudiments of it, as the district schools afforded. This was the average outcome of the life of the early settler here. Some fell short of this and others ex ceeded it. But the average result was triumph enough, and could only have been achieved by qualities and spirit worthy of high com mendation and lasting honor. The results mentioned, however, were not all that was achieved. They built roads and bridges, school houses, and churches, and maintained them ; and in all that pertains to citizenship in a free country acquitted themselves manfully. 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- 79 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 181 7, by Rev. L,yman 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 y^ months ; the shortest time in any school district was five months and the longest time nine months. Of the teachers employed in these schools I II 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. AVithin 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 Ihey 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. 8o 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 181 2. 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 '6r 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. \ 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? 8i We have an area of 792 square miles and a population of over forty thousand. Wepossess 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 ;f;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 dairy. 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. 6 82 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 lo smite With steely edge their columned pride ; No harvest marks the summer's flight. No dropping seed the gay springtide. How 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 Is on 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, And smiling wealth the valley fills. I know the land, I know its reach Of waving hilltops, 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. 83 Who cared for the unborn, who planned A future (or the unknown heir ; The wide primeval forest scanned And saw a wealthy future there,] Bloom, pleasant noiks, 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., '87. 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." After 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. 84 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 necessaril)-, 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 lieings, 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 health)', 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 inore 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. 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 lea-st 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 cf 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 " 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 is written with the mighty pen of human activity; written in a network of iron and steel bands which cobweb the land; written in giant industrial enterprises; written in millions of teem ing, productive farms; writtenin myriads of schoolhouses 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- 86 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 pros perity we foiget 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- 87 pie bfegan to come into the county as ejrly 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 yield 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 — Forever float that standard sheet ; Where breathes the foe, but falls before us, With freedom's soil beneath our feet, And freedom's banner streaming o'er us? President Post thanked the audience for the quiet and good order maintained during the exercises, which were then closed with a bene diction by Father Dunn, of Great Bend. From the conclusion of these ceremonies until the fireworks in the evening the vast crowds amused themselves at the Relic Hall, the log cabin, Morris's Shetland pony ring, the eating stands, the various booths/ the dancing pavillion in the Grove, and other places of entertainment. At the south end of the bridge the Brush brothers of Brushville, had on exhibition the famous panther, measuring eight feet, which was killed near their farm some fifteen years ago, and a monstrous wild cat, the largest ever shot in the county. On the east side of the southern approach to the bridge was an uncouth looking showman, covered with crocodile teeth and ribbons, who had on ex hibition in his decorated tent a huge live alligator. During the after noon a man, who was pining for more excitement than he could find within reach, rushed up to a prominent citizen and said, "I say, Cap'n, somethin' must be done to kick up more fun. Let's git up a fight twixt the live alligator and dead panther." Good nature and good cheer prevailed everywhere. As the shadows of night began to fall the Committee on Fireworks were seen making arrangements for the pyrotechnic display on the north bank of the river, about forty rods above the bridge, and the Committee on Decorations commenced to illuminate the town. Through the streets and across the arches burst long rows of Chinese lanterns into light, while on the river bank, stretching away for a long distance, were myriad flaming torches, and the windows of the town .seemed ablaze. When darkness came the battery of artillery stationed near the banquet tent commenced booming, and now and then a stray rocket would flash across the heavens to assuage the impatience of the great mass of humanity that were waiting for the closing scenes of the day. About half past seven an enormous rocket slipped its moor ings on the river shore and, ascending to a great height, was beauti fully reflected by the calm surface of the waters and fell to the oppo site shore, forming an areola that was truly marvelous in effect. This was the opening of the grand display of fireworks, which lasted for over an hour and elicited shouts of delight from the thousands who crowded bridge, street, and banks of river; and when the last set piece was fired these crowds melted away as if by magic, and at 89 Ti o'clock all was quiet and peaceful and naught could be heard save the measured tread of the watchmen whose duty it was to see that " all was well." Segments of the Second Day. It is estimated that nearly a thousand Binghamtonians visited Hall stead. The equestrian attraction at the fair grounds failed to attract, The "1787" illumination at the base of Monotonome could be distinctly read two miles distant. It was composed of Chinese lan terns so grouped on wires as to form " 1787." The Committee on Privileges had about ten offers from "game-of- chance" men; but refused them all. The nearest stand that resem bled a game of chance was the " ring and cane ' ' man. Two of these were on the ground, but slipped away without paying for the privi lege. The real "game-of-chance" men would probably have gone off with other men's property as well as with the privilege money. Dr. E. Gardner, of Clifford, traveled more miles than any other committeeman in drder to attend the regular executive meetings. Such men helped to make the Centennial a brilliant success. Mrs. Major Morris furnished the old griddle for the crane in the log cabin. The absence of drunkeness during the celebration was gratifying to all lovers of decent things. Almost every home in Hallstead was crowded with guests, and the hospitality of its inhabitants will now be proverbial. Montrose contributed $249 to the Centennial fund, besides paying over $100 for the services of Bauer's famous band. Added to this generosity the county seat favored the great parade with a galaxy of its brightest civic stars. Gibson furnished the largest collection of relics, and Harford came next on the list. W. T. Estabrooks and Henry Ackert, of Great Bend Boro, were among the most substantial helpers in the good cause. Judge R. W. Williams, of Tioga County, owing to court duties, could not attend the Centennial. Hon. Martin A. Foran left Tuesday evening for Cincinnati, Ohio. About five thousand people were provided with food at the Mitch ell House. 9° The quaint little office of C. M. Simmons, the Burgess of- Hall stead, next to the log cabin and rink, has more Centennial memories connected with it than any other building in the county. There the first and last Centennial meetings were held ; there the first dollar to the Centennial fund was subscribed, and there the last dollar of that fund was expended. W. N. Snyder paid the first subscription money to Assistant Treas urer Mason — a brand new ten-dollar bill. Master Mechanic Theodore Hays had the great engine house of the D., L. & W. Railroad profusely decorated. The Medical Society of the county met at the Mitchell House on Centennial Tuesday. A solid note from General Manager Hallstead; Scranton, Pa., October nth, 1887. Captain H. F. Beardsley. Dear Sir ; I take it for granted there are some expenses con nected with your Centennial celebration that must be paid. As busi ness matters that cannot be deferred will prevent my being present to-morrow, I herewith inclose my check payable to your order for $50, Very truly, yours, W. F. HALLSTEAD. CENTENNIAL WEDNESDAY. This was the Governor's Day, and the stirring and brilliant events which transpired from the first morning gun until the glorious vision of the burning mountain faded away will be on the lips of our children long after we have been gathered to the bosom of our fathers. As day broke upon the beautiful valley it found the town already crowded to what seemed its utmost capacity. .And still the people came. Every avenue to the village was thronged with citizens of the county and strangers from beyond our borders. At nine o'clock the scene from "The Rocks" presented a wonderful spectacle. Within the limits of the borough every street seemed gorged with a mass of humanity. Along the highways leading into the town from Binghamton, Susquehanna, Franklin, and New Milford there was one continuous line of people on foot, on horseback, and in wagons as far as the human eye could reach. Every special and regular train which arrived was packed with visitors, and the streets con necting with the railroad stations flowed deep with the race of man. The booming of canons, the fluttering of over three thousand flags. 91 the waving sea of bunting and festoons, the constantly swelling -tide of men, and the strains of pleasant music from a dozen bands made a pageant never to be forgotten. Shortly after nine o'clock a dispatch was received from W. F. Hallstead, the general superintendent of the D., L. & W. Rail road that he would accompany Governor Beaver on his special car Comet, which would arrive at 9.15 sharp. Marshal H. C. Jessup with his aid, C. T. Watrous, and an escort of mounted men, ac companied by the members of the Reception Committee and the Hallstead Band, proceeded at once to the railway station, arriving just as the distinguished occupants of the "Comet," Governor Beaver, Mr. and Mrs. Hallstead, stepped upon the platform. After an enthusiastic reception the guests entered carriages, and amidst the melodies of music were conducted through the richly decorated streets to Hotel Mitchell. General Superintendent Hallstead hav ing urgent business in Buffalo, remained in his carriage, and, ac companied by President Lusk and the Hallstead Band, returned to the station. On the route he was driven under a handsomely de corated portrait of himself which the citizens of Hallstead had swung across Susquehanna avenue in his honor. Mrs. W. F. Hallstead and friends, including W. O. Wilson, Scranton; Mrs. Nelson Walker, of Nicholson ; Mr. and Mrs. Harding, of Factoryville ; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Harding, of New Milford, Orrin Hallstead, George Hallstead, son of the general superintendent, and .Assistant Super intendent Garrett Bogart, of Scranton, remained as guests of the town during the day, dining at C. J. Langley's and spending the evening at the home of Gould W. Capwell. Immediately upon the arrival of Governor Beaver at the Mitchell House he held an informal reception in the east parlor, which was thronged with people for an hour, at the end of which time S. S. Wright, of Hickory Grove, took His Excellency for a short drive through the suburbs to show him some of the splendid natural scenerj^ which graces the town on every side. The Great Parade. All through the early morning the various divisions of the parade had been arriving from every part of the county, and all quietly as sumed the positions previously assigned them by Capt. H. F. Beards ley. The following were the marshals and their aides : Marshal Tel ford ; aids, Dr. S. S. Simmons, Theodore Springstein. Marshal Rogers, 92 F. C. Manzer, David Lindsly, G. R. Sanders, Philo Burritt, Dr. Fike, Berdine Stearns, B. Maxey, O. Larabee. Marshal Hardy; aids, ¦George W. Conrad, L. W. Moore, A. J. Sweet, G. L. Stone, L. W. Tennant, H. Grant, H. C. Moxley. Marshal Barriger; aids, B. C. Vance, W. A. Crandell, S. T. Kistler, L. B. Crook, M. S- Lowe, Frank Sands, C. E. Bennett. Detailed: C. E. Stoddard, F. But- terfield, Byron Smith, Norton Roosa. This division consisted of one hundred and twenty-six mounted men, who escorted the Governor. Marshal Southwell; aids, William Creigh, Patrick White, E. B. Beardslee, James E. Carmalt, Richard Foran, William Meeker. Mar shal Jessup; aids, C. F. Watrous, N. M. Finn, J. R. Raynsford, Will iam Carver, J. W. Adams, L. B. Miller, G. A. Jessup, E. J. Saund ers. Marshal Titman ; aids, Irwin M. Gray, W. S. White, N. F. Hine, Mr. Throckmorton, Charles A. Hungerford. At ten o'clock what to the casual observer seemed an endless mass of confusion at eleven o'clock became a splendid marching array of inen. Under the master guidance of Grand Marshal Beardsley the broken columns developed into a perfect system, and when the pro gramme time arrived and the command to " march " was given di vision after division fell into line, and soon the grand procession, nearly two miles long, the finest ever witnessed in the northern tier, was moving in perfect order amidst the ringing huzzas of the multi tude and the strains of music from eleven bands, down the main street, across the river, and on toward Great Bend borough, where it was received by immense crowds amidst gorgeous flag drapery, ever greens, and gay festooning. .At the M. E. Church a counter-march was made and the parade commenced the return to Hallstead, where it was to be received by the Governor and distinguished guests from a grand stand erected just next to the Log Cabin. Making a sharp curve to the east of the cabin gracefully, it swept under the Governor's Arch and approached the review stand, where General Beaver and ¦distinguished guests, who had left the procession, now stood ready to receive the splendid array which passed by in superb order ass follows : Capt. H. F. Beardsley, Grand Marshal, Col. D. W. Searle, Chief of Staff, and R H. Hall, B. T. Glidden, A. M. Snow, and F. A. Marsh as Aids. Old Settlers and prominent citizens in carriages. 93 first division. Colonel William H. Telford, Marshal and Aids. Susquehanna Cornet Band. Knights of Pythias, Susquehanna. Canton Cascade, I. O. O. F., Susquehanna. Moody Post, No. 53, G. A. R., Susquehanna. Tremain Post, No. 81, G. A. R., Lanesborough. Erie Hose Company, No. i, Susquehanna. Lanesborough Band. Nicholson Guards, Lanesborough. second division. Dr. Wm. Rogers and D. N. Hardy, marshals, with their aids. (This. was a consolidation of two divisions.) Gibson Cornet Band. Miss Jennie Dean, representing Mercy Tyler, the first physician in Susquehanna County. Susquehanna County Medical Society. W. C. T. U., in carriages. Captain Lyons Post, No. 85, G. A. R., Glenwood. Cambrian Band. Two hundred pupils from the Soldiers' Orphans' School of Harford in uniform. • New Milford Band. third division. P. R. Barriger, marshal and aids. Great Bend Band. Squad of eighty horsemen from various townships in the county. Springville Band. fourth division. Lieutenant H. C. Jessup, marshal, aids. Bauer's Band, Scranton. Chief Engineer Pope aud Assistants Knoll and Morris, of Montrose fire department. Rough and Ready Fire Company, No. i, Montrose. Rescue Hook and Ladder Company, No. i, Montrose. South Montrose Band. Montrose Fire Company, No. 2, Montrose. Four Brothers Post, No. 453, G. A. R., Montrose. Bissel Post, No. 466, G. A. R., Rush. Heart Lake Band. Captain Beardsley Camp, Sons of Veterans, No. 168, Montrose. Brooklyn Band. 94 Xieutenant Rogers Post, No. 142, G. A. R., Brooklyn, commanded by Assistant Marshal Captain J. W. Adams, followed by detachments from J.- F. Southworth Post, No. 222, G. A. R.,. Franklin Forks. Lieutenant H. C. Titman Post, No. 93, G. A. R., Auburn Four Corners. Simrell Post, No. 233, G. A. R., Great Bend. Small detachments from every other post, G. A. R., in the county were represented in the troop of mounted horsemen in third division. To describe this memorable parade in detail would be a difficult task. There was nothing in it but what was an ornament. To be sure, some ornaments were brighter than others, but all helped to make the affair a complete success. The first division, led by Colonel Telford, followed by the handsomely uniformed cornet band, the Odd Fel lows, Knights of Pithias, two Grand Army posts, and the entire fire ¦department of Susquehanna, moved by the review stand in such a man ner as to bring the encomium "fine, fine " from the Governor's lips. Led by the well-known Gibson band, came the Susquehanna County Medical Society. Heading this body of professional gentlemen was a quaint representation of the first practitioner in the county, "Mercy Tyler," who practiced medicine in the neighborhood of Harford from 1793 to 1810. In the carriages were seated the following well-known physicians, members of the society : Dr. F. D. Lamb, president ; Dr. C. C. Halsey, secretary; W. L. Richardson, treasurer; L. A. Smith, E. F. Wilmot, S. Birdsall, W. W, Fletcher, H. A. Tingley, C. A. Vaness, M. L. Miller. Then came a carriage in which were Mrs. S. B. Chase, Mrs. John Hayden, Mrs. J. H. Cook, and Mrs. M. J. Larabee, all prominent members of the Women's Christian Temper ance Union. They held in their hands a large Bible opened at the 146th Psalm. As they passed the review stand Governor Beaver stood uncovered and gave a warm salute. Preceded by the Cam brian band came two hundred pupils of the Harford Soldiers' Or phans' School, under the direction of Professor Clark and a number of teachers belonging to that noble institution. The Montrose peo ple drifted into wild enthusiasm, and were joined in the jubilee by the vast multitude when the splendid delegations from the county seat, headed by Bauer's famous Scranton band, marched with meas ured tread and noble bearing under the arch and passed the distiiv sruished sruests. 95 The fire companies, with elegant hose-carts, whose burnished silver and brass flashed all the sun there was ; the Hook and Ladder Com pany with fine truck drawn by shapely greys ; the Four Brother Post of the Grand Army of the Republic in uniform and bearing the rib boned canes presented to them by Comrade Benjamin ; the organi zation of Sons of Veterans, comprising nearly all of the handsome young men on the Mount of Roses, such was the galaxy of stars sent by Montrose to help make the Centennial a success. The fine body of men comprising the Great Bend Commandery, the different Grand .Army posts, and numerous cavalcades and bands from the county all received rounds of applause along the line of march. As soon as this impressive pageant had passed the review stand and marched away to the places assigned them for breaking ranks, the Governor, the Hon. G. A. Grow, and other distinguished guests were conducted by the Reception Committee to the Log Cabin where THE OLD settlers' RECEPTION was to take place. A genial fire was roaring in the spacious fire-place, and owing to the chilling air without it was a welcome sight. A great crowd surrounded the cabin, which, at the request of the police, fell back and gave the old folks free ingress and egress. For each of the five hundred old citizens presented to him Governor Beaver had a warm shake of the hand and a kind salutation. A pleasant incident of the day was the presentation to General Beaver of Maj. Asa Hammond, of New Milford, aged 93, and Mrs. Tirzah Bushnell, of Auburn, age 92 years. Mrs. Bushnell was the guest of Senator Lines. She traveled nearly 30 miles by carriage to be present at the banquet, and was accomp anied by Phoebe Ann Adams, daughter, Jessie B. James, grandchild, and Anna S. James, great grandchild, making four generations. -After nearly an hour of constant hand- shaking the distinguished party were conducted by W. H. Jessup, W. D. Lusk, and O. A. Lines, of the Reception Committee, to the great tent where THE OLD settlers' BANQUET had been prepared by Caterer F. M. Kent, the manager of E. L. Troch's confectionery establishment in Scranton. The following is a copy of the admission cards used by the old settlers, and we print in it the names of the two oldest persons who dined with the Governor. 96 '^anquet (Sard. ADMISSION TO BANQUET, Mrs. Tirzah Bushnell, age g2. Maj. Asa Hammond, age gj. PRESENT THIS CARD AT THE DOOR. By a hurried glance through the mammouth quarters were noticed among the invited guests C. E. Whitney, G. C. Howells, G. R. Resseguie, S. P. More, J. Clark, jr., C. S. Vail, E. B. Beardslee, T. D. Estabrooks, C. Munson, E. C. Fuller, J. H. Cook, Dr. C. C. Hal sey, Captain Beardsley, George A. Post, G. A. Grow, Wm. Maxey, E. H. True, E. M. Tewksbury, and M. J. Harrington. In charming costumes of a hundred years ago, the following young ladies, under the supervision of Mrs. S. B. Chase, Mrs. G. W. Cap- well, Mrs. Olive Mcintosh, Mrs. W. K. Hatch, Mrs. J. H. Cook, Mrs. James T. Du Bois, Miss Agnes Pope, and Miss Kitty Hayden served as waitresses at the banquet and won much praise by the ad mirable manner in which they discharged their pleasant duties. Jennie Currier, Halstead ; Ada Cook, Susquehanna , Lizzie Gard ner, T. Grace Decker, Clifford ; Lottie Stockholm, Franklin ; Ma bel Larabee, Thomson ; Theo. McKinney, Great Bend Township ; Eva Page, Jackson ; Lena Lusk, Montrose ; Kitty McCreary, Hall stead ; Ida Barnes, Herrick Centre ; Libbie Sanford, Harford ; Florence Maxwell, Binghamton ; Nina Morse, New Milford ; Ma mie Potter, Gibson ; Kate Ward, New Milford. This galaxy of pretty maidens served this BILL OF FARE, completely satisfying three hundred sturdy appetites. 97 OYSTER SOCP. MEATS. Roast Beef Lamb. Boiled Ham. Beef and Cabbage. Baked Pork and Beans. VEGETABLES. White Potatoes. Sweet Potatoes. Turnips. Tomatoes. Cabbage. Celery and Pickles. Bread and Butter Tea and Coffee. PASTRY. Appple, Mince, and Pumpkin Pies. FRUIT. .Apples, Grapes, and Bananas. Governor Beaver sat at the center table. On his right was Judge Jessup; on his left Judge McCollum. Isaac Hallstead, of Gibson, aged 73, coming a little late and not finding a seat at the other table. Judge Jessup kindly gave him his place of honor at the right of the Governor. At this table were also ex-Senator Nelson and a number of distinguished guests and old settlers. At the other tables, run ning the whole length of the mammoth tent, were comfortably placed about 250 old people. In the absence of the venerable Rev. James B. McCreary, who was expected to ask the blessing upon this impres sive occasion, ex-Senator Nelson performed that sacred duty. Scarcely had the oyster soup been served when one of the sturdy old settlers at the Governor's table quietly remarked to His Excel lency that he " didn't believe in making such a fuss over a Governor, for he was only a man after all." With a twinkle in his eye, the Governor replied good naturedly, " That's so, and especially a one- legged Governor at that." .A peal of laughter followed this repartee, which died away in the hum of six hundred lips that were discussing the menu and telling tales of ye olden times, when burnt crust coffee and black bread cake were Sunday dishes and the wooden bowl and trencher the table furniture. Now that the dear old folk are busy banqueting let us see who of the army of aged people of the county have kindly enlisted as OUR HONORED GUESTS. We have the pleasure, of beginning the treasured-list with the name of Mrs. Letta Arnold, of Hallstead, age 75 years, and will follow it in alphebetical order, but before doing so we wish to say that not withstanding our persistent and earnest endeavors, we have been un- 7 98 able to obtain the age and residence of a large number of those who attended the banquet. We regret this, for we know that one hundred years hence the 500,000 inhabitants of the county who celebrate our bi-Centennial will want to know just who were at this ban(|uet. A. — Daniel Avery. B. — John Brown, Lewis Beebe, Apalacon Zerlotus Bronson, Hiram Blakeslee, Dimock ; Silas Beardslee, age 76, Little Meadows ; John Beardslee, 74, Little Meadows ; Lyman Blakeslee, Springville ; Har rison Brown, Mrs. A. Van Buskirk, Jeremiah Brandow, New Milford Township ; Mary J. Bassett, Mrs. Calista Bennett, 80, South Gibson; Simeon Burdick, Albert Beardsley, 87, Springville, resident of the county 71 years, justice of the peace at Springville 25 years ; Henry Benson, Mrs. Marion Bush, Bridgewater; Elisha Bell, Hopbottom; Mrs. Martha Bell, Mrs. Sophia Barriger, Lewis Benson, 73, Lake A'iew ; Phillip Burdick, James Bell, Susquehanna; Mrs. Brigham, Mrs. Tirzah Bushnell, 92, Auburn, oldest lady at the banquet; Oba diah Bailey, 77, Brooklyn ; A. N. Bullard, 70, Montrose. His mother came from Connecticut, via the Great Bend of the Susque hanna in 1804, and built a log cabin in South Montrose. She was two and one-half days traveling from Hallstead to Montrose. Will iam Booth, Jonathan Bennett, Mr. Blower, Austin Barriger, Great Bend Township ; Marion Bush, Bridgewater ; Mrs. Hearty Blasdell, 82, Fairdale ; J. O. Bullard, Brooklyn ; John Barnum, 81, Middle- town ; H. K. Blower, Alvin M. Barrett, Jackson ; W. H. Boyd, Montrose; L. G. Bennett, 75, South Gibson ; Mrs. L. G. Bennett, 77, South Gibson ; Timothy Butler, Mrs. Lyman Blakeslee, Spring ville ; J. B. Beardsley, 79, Auburn. He has lived on the farm, which he now occupies for 70 years. Reuben Baker. C. — Rufus D. Clark, 83, Hopbottom; Oliver Clinton, Jackson; George L Corwin, C. G. Cole, Mrs. C. G. Cole, Mrs. Henry Cru ser, 74, Montrose; Mrs. Harriet Carter, S. H. Croker, Russell Col- grove, Susquehanna; Mrs. Amy Clinton, Peter Clark, .Alfred E. Corwin, 75, Montrose; Mrs. Horace Case, Joseph Chalker, Robert Calwell, jr., Mrs. Chloe Grossman, 81, ]3ridgewater ; William A. Coleman, William Conrad, N. R. Cole, Riley Case, 87, Hallstead; Mrs. Polly Cowles, S. S. Corwin, Mrs. S. S. Corwin, J. W. Chap man, Si; Mrs. J. W. Chapman, 72, Scranton; Henry Clemens, Michael Condon, Susquehanna; P. H. Corwin, Mrs. P. H. Cor win, O. G. Coughlin, Mrs. O. G. Coughlin, Cornehus J. Curtis, Bridgewater; J. B. Chalker, Mrs. J. B. Chalker, Jeremiah Cough lin, 91, Friendsville. D. — Mrs. Rhoda Decker, 77, Hallstead; Nathaniel Duel, 71, Lit tle Meadows; M. O. Dimmock, Mrs. Mary D. Dean, David Davis, William Darby, Patrick Donovan, John H. Deakin, 70, Franklin; Peter Dunn, 79; Mrs. Peter Dunn, 79, Harford; Michael Doretty, Mrs. Michael Dorettv. 99 E.— John R. Ely, 87, Brooklyn; H. M. English, Willij lirook. F.—D. M. Farrar, L. T. Farrar, 80, Mrs. L. T. Farrer, ford ; L. Fuller, Mrs. L. Fuller, Mrs. Ovid Follett, 74, I ¦Charles French, 78, North Jackson ; Ansel Fox, 72, Little M Avery Frink, A. H. Fish, Mrs. Walter Follett, Mrs. Willis 78, Brooklyn. G.— Abner Griffis, Forest Lake; Mrs. John Griggs, Stej Gelatt, Mrs. Lydia Gardiner, 72, Wanton Green, Mrs. •Green, Edwin R. Grow, Lenox; Robert Gelatt, 76, Thomso L. A. H. Gelatt, 72, Thomson; Lines Green, R. W. G IBrooklyn ; Ira Gage. H.— M. H. Van Housen, Mrs. M. H. VanHousen, W. C. H; Mrs. W. C. Handrick, Mrs. S. D. Hendrick, Washington P Hiram Hibbard, Mrs. Hiram Hibbard, Charles Hazen, Johi John Hoppie, P. Hinds, 79, Little Meadows; George Harrisc Hallstead, 73, South Gibson; D. L. Hine, Mrs. D. L. Hine hald Hill, Mrs. Archibald Hill, Michael Heffron, Apolacon Howard, Ira Hine, 71, Thomson ; Major Asa Hammond, ( Milford. The oldest settler at the banquet, J. B. Johnst Hallstead ; the oldest resident of Hallstead, having lived years, Mrs. J. B. Johnston. K. — Howard Kimball, 78, Little Meadows; Edward I 73, Little Meadows ; Henry Kerr, Simeon Knapp, James Springville ; Alonzo Kinne, 82, South Gibson ; 50 years a ¦of Gibson and 58 years of the county. L. — Mrs. Anna Leach, David Lyons, Edwin Lathrop, Mc 'G. O. Loomis, 74, Lenox ; C. J. Lathrop, 72, Brooklyn Latham, 73, Ararat ; Benjamin Lagier, Emory Larabee, M Teslie, John Lord, Mrs. Catharine S. Lord, 75, Hopbottom ; Tittle, 79, New Milford ; Samuel Lindsay, Mrs. Edwin I Montrose; Mrs. B. Loomis, Mrs. Samuel Lee, Lewis Low Larabee, 78, North Jackson ; Aden Larabee, Mr-;. Aden I S. T. Lee, 75 ; Mrs. S. T. Lee, 71, Choconut; R. O. Lewi Jl. O. Lewis, .Amherst Linsley, Mrs. Lyons. M. — Mrs. S. M. Morse, Mrs. Sarah Leach McMillan, 7 Milford ; Joseph Moore, 73, Harford; J. L. Merriman, 70, ville ; Joseph Miller, Mrs. Mary .A. Meyers, 73, Herrick ' Mrs Irene Moore, William Mesick, Great Bend Townshi McCabe, Mrs. McCabe, Jacob McLeod, Mrs. Jacob McLeo Milford Township; Lemuel Mitchell, Mrs. Lemuel Mitel Mudge, John C. Miller, 70, Springville. N. — Henry W. Northup, 70, New Milford; Patrick ^ Apolacon. O. — William Overfield, Henry Osterhout, 74, Auburn ; Oakley, Henry Osterhout, 70, Liberty ; John Osterhout, I. Abram Osterhout, Liberty. P L. S. Page, Mrs. L. S. Page, Susquehanna ; Noah Pratt, John Perigo, Hiram Pooler, 82, Susquehanna; Stephen Potter, Oliver Payne, Jonathan Pickering, 77, Mrs. Jonathan Pickering, 70, Jackson ; W. H. Pope. R.— H. H. Roe, Otis Ross, 83, Middletown; Mrs. L. Rose, 88, Great Bend Township; Mrs. William Robinson, Dr. W. L. Rich ardson, 72, Montrose; Mrs. W. L. Richardson, 73, Montrose. S. — William Smith, Mrs. Jane Stephens, 73, Clifford ; Burgess Smith, Daniel Stuart, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, M. Southworth, John Steenback, 74, Gibson; Mrs. G. M. Smith, Mrs. E. Safford, 72, Montrose; Mrs. Mary Severance, 78, Clifford; Mrs. Bates Smith, L. Stone, Almon Sweet, Mrs. Maria Southworth, Mrs. Laury Sampson, William Stoddard, Dr. L. A. Smith, 71, New Milford ; Mrs. R. Shipley, Oakland ; David Stoddard, 70, Great Bend Town ship; S. N. Smith, Mrs. .Ann Smith, 83, Great Bend; Benjamin Stephens, Mrs. Benjamin Stephens, Morgan Shutts, Peter Strupler, Airs. Peter Strupler, Dimock. T. — S. W. Thatcher, Mrs. Catherine Travis, Samuel Tewksbury, 84, Auburn; Eliza Tewksbury, 83, Auburn; Amasa Trowbridge, Great Bend Township ; N. Tingley, New Milford ; Abel Turrell, Montrose; Almon Tingley, G. W. Tyler, J. P. Tingley, E. M. Tewksbury, G. W. Trowbridge, David Thomas, 82, Mrs. David Thomas, 78, Great Bend Borough; Charles H. Trowbridge, Great Bend Township ; T. J. Tiffany, Mrs. Jacob Taylor, Harmony ; Mrs. Anna Tiffany, Glenwood ; P. H. Tiffany, Brooklyn ; Mrs. P. H. Tiffany, Capt. J. S. Tingley, Jacob Tewksbury, 77, Bridgewater; Miss Lucretia Tiffany, B. B. Tuttle, Great Bend Township; Free man Tingley, Mrs. Truman Tingley. W. — Edward Whitford, Mrs. Sarah Wright, Loomis Wright, 76, Hopbottom; David Wellman, Mrs. Emily J. Woodward, 71, South Gibson ; T. Washburn, South Gibson ; Joseph Westbrook, William Winter, 70, Thomson; Elida B. Warner, 80, Bridgewater; Mrs. Loomis Wright, 71, Hopbottom; Andrew Watson, Mrs. WiUiams, George W. Woodward, 86, South Gibson, the oldest man now living in Gibson Township ; Gilbert Witter, Charles H. Warner, Mrs. Charles H. Warner, Great Bend Township; Spencer Watrous, 77, Bridgewater; Franklin Washburn, Mrs. Franklin Washburn, N. P. Wheaton, 77, Mrs. N. P. Wheaton, 73, Franklin Forks; J. W. Walker, Mrs. J. W. Walker, John Wood, Ferdinand Whipple, 89, Mary Whipple, 71, Brooklyn; Mr. Whipple has lived on the farm for many years where was located the first grist-mill ever built in the county, a part of the water-wheel of which was on exhibition at the Relic Hall ; Elijah Wilbur, 86, Brackney. V._Mrs. Eliza Van Fleet, E. Vail, Mrs. E. A- ail. What a wealth of white heads. What a sea of sturdy, intelligent faces. What a world of personal reminiscences. What a feast of tale-telling. What a flow of soul. We do not believe that ever be- -fore in the history of this or any other country such a collection of old people, residents of a certain district over forty years, and them • selves over seventy years old, have been gathered together under one roof and banquetted. It was a sight seen only once in a lifetime, but never to be forgotten. Think of a company of patriarchs, whose ages averaged 75 J^ years and aggregated 19,402 years, coming from every part of a county wherein they had been residents for over forty years. "It was an impressive and novel sight, perhaps the most im pressive and certainly the most novel I have ever witnessed," said Gov ernor Beaver, after leaving the banquet tent. It is really to be re gretted that the ages, residences, and brief historical notices of these honored guests were not furnished us in full, as we requested for pub lication in this little work. It would have been a chapter of great interest and value to their descendants and all those who shall cele- larate our second grand Jubilee in 1987. We talk of Jotham's fable of the trees (Judges IX, 1209 B. C.) as the oldest fable extant, and as beautiful as any made since. We call the song of Miriam, ' ' and Miriam answered them. Sing ye to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea," the oldest poem extant. We speak of San Marino on the beautiful -shores of the .Adriatic, on whose capitol is emblazoned the word "Liberty," as the oldest republic in the world; and may it not come to pass in the jubilant days of our second Centennial that our chil dren's children will tenderly deck with bright laurel green the por traits of our venerable guests and call them "the oldest pioneers of our county's civilization" and give them conspicuous places in their great Relic Hall. The days of our years are threescore and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore, yet is their strength labor and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. So says the sacred Psalmist, and in behalf of the honored "twc^ hundred and fifty-seven " we hope for better things. .And our hope is based upon a substantial probability. In looking over the sea of venerable faces within the confines of the great tent one must have been profoundly impressed with the in telligence and sturdy character of the guests. The impress of vig orous health in almost every face augured for each the enjoyment of a full century's lease of life. Dear old folk ! here is our wish for a centennial anniversary for each and every one of you, and may God bless you all. Longevity. Just here a few statistics about longevity may prove of interest. Scientists claim that longevity is increasing throughout the world, and the life insurance reports, in a measure, confirm the claim. In i860 there were 20,000 persons in the United States who were liv ing when the Declaration of Independence was signed, making them all over 80 years old. John Hames, who was living in Georgia at the commencement of the rebellion, was a lad of 10 years when Washington lay nursing in his cradle at Wakefield, Va. ; he was 32 when Braddock was defeated ; 53 when the Declaration of Indepen dence was signed, and was still alive at the advanced age of 138- when Lincoln was elected President. The oldest native-born American white person now living in the United States is probably Matthew W. Burchard, of Detroit, Mich., who was born July 4, 1788, about i year after the Strongs located on the big bend of the Susquehanna. He arises early, sits up all day,. and enjoys life as much as he did at 60 His friends intend giving him a grand centennial testimonial the next 4th of July. Here is a galaxy of famous people now living who are over 70 years old : M. Chevreul, the eminent French scientist, will soon be 102; the once eloquent Kossuth is 85 ; the famous doctor, Dollin- ger, is 88 ; the grand old man eloquent, Gladstone, is 79, and re cently made one of the ablest speeches of his life ; Emperor Will iam, the oldest ruler in the world, is 91 ; Ferdinand De Lesseps, the great canal -builder, is 72; the greatest strategist of his day. Von Moltke, is 87, and still active and energetic; Prince Bismark is 72 ; .ex-President Grevy, of France, who has just died politically of too much son-in-law, is 74 ; Whittier is hale, hearty, and 80 ; Poet Tenny son is 78 ; Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes is 78, and still publishes much that graces our literature ; Richard Browning is over 75 ; Verdi, the great , composer, is 73, and still busy; Messonier, the distinguished French artist, is 72, and is yet giving to the world evidence of his master skill ; P. T. Barnum is 77, and his ambition to remain the greatest showman on earth increases with his advancing years — three hours after his great show was destroyed by fire the other day he cabled to different parts of the world for a new supply of wild beasts and wild freaks of nature ; the Pope of Rome is 77, and is in better health than when he ascended the papal throne in 1878. There is now living on a hill not far from Hackettstown, N. J., a colored woman reported to be 124 years old, probably the oldest colored person in the United States. She has a daughter living who is 80 years old. She claims to have been a manumitted slave, and was a servant in the family of Mina Du Bois when he located at Hallstead in 1791. A newspaper recently reported that a tramp visited their humble hut on the New Jersey hill and demanded a loaf ¦of bread. He was seized by the nape of the neck and bosom of the pants by the mother and thrown out of doors and thoroughly beaten by the daughter after he fell. He left at once for Hackettstown by the shortest route. Some years ago the Russian statisticians claimed that there were forty persons living in the empire 120 years old, fifteen 130, nine 136, and three 138. One was a peasant who attained the age of 138. He was married at 19 ; became the husband of seven wives and the father of thirty-two children. He often said that he fancied death had entirely forgotten him. Another extraordinary example of long life was the case of the Hungarian family of Roven. The father was 174, the wife 164. They lived together as man and wife for 142 years. The youngest child was 115 years old, and was treated at that age with all the severity of parental rigidity. But the English Annals of Longevity overshadow these tremen dous ages, as the following inscription, taken from the official register ©f burials of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, will prove : 1588. Burialles. Fol. 35. Thomas Cam was buried ye 22 inst. of Januarye, aged 207 yeares. Holywell Street George Garrow, Copy Aug'st 25, 1832. Clerk. I04 We simply mention these remarkable cases of alleged longevity to show the possibilities of prolonged human life, with the hope that each of our aged centennial guests may enjoy continued health and prosperity, and that Time may lay his hand upon their hearts "gently, not smiting them, but as a harper lays his open palm upon his harp to deaden its vibrations." FROM BANQUET TENT TO GRAND STAND. When Governor Beaver passed from the great tent, accompanied by the Hon. W. H. Jessup, Hon. Galusha H. Grow, several mem bers of the Reception Committee and a large number of the old set tlers and crossed over the crowded field to the grand stand, the sight was impressive. The sun had broken boldly through the clouds and illumined hill and dale with a resplendent autumnal light. The wind had become less boisterous and the unpleasant chilliness of the air, touched by the moderating rays of the October sun, was no longer annoying. Everywhere the eye turned it was met by crowds upon crowds of men, women, and children. Everywhere were waving flags and gay embellishments. From all quarters came the notes of inspiring music and the hum of mankind. The long bridge quivered beneath the ponderous weight of enthusiastic people ; the streets. were literally packed ; the balconies and house-tops looking upon the grand stand were lined with expectant crowds, while from all points there came a regular ground-swell of jolly good cheer. It was estimated that fifteen thousand people could be seen from the grand stand dur ing the afternoon exercises. AT THE GRAND STAND. In the rear and upon the south side of the grand stand were seated a great choir of 150 ladies and gentlemen from every part of the county under the direction of Professor A. K. Harroun, of Montrose. On the platform were seated Governor Beaver, Hon. Galusha A. Grow, Judge J. B. McCollum, Judge W. H. Jessup, W. D. Lusk, Hon. George .A. Post, Rev. L. W. Church, Rev. R. N. Ives, J. P. Taylor, Dr. C. C. Halsey, Henry Burchard, W. C. Cruser, J. Clark, jr., H. Benson, C. S. Vail, G. C. Howells, S. P. More, Tracy Sweet, Hon. E. H. True, Hon. Wm. Maxey, Hon. E. C. Fuller, Hon. M. J. Larabee, C. E. Whitney, Rev. E. B. Olmstead, and a large number of other prominent citizens and old settlers. The President of the meeting was W. D. Lusk, esq. The vice-Presi- dents were : John B. Buck, Great Bend ; Martin Hall. Jackson ; Maj. .Asa Hammond, New Milford ; Zachariah Brewster, Bridgewater ; Albert Beardsley, Springville; Chauncey Wright, Forest Lake; Eenjamin Glidden, Friendsville ; Abel Turrell, Montrose ; Gideon L. Swisher, Auburn, At half past two the exercises were opened by the grand choir rendering in a very effective manner "Damascus," at the close of which the Rev. L. W. Church offered the following PRAYER ; Thou ever blessed God, our Father and Friend, we thank Thee for the prosperity and blessing of one hundred years. To Thee, the author of our being, belongeth adoration and praise for Thy won derful goodness to men, and especially to this people now gathered from the various valleys and hills of this county to celebrate unitedly the close of this one hundred years. We thank Thee, O God, for the sturdy bravery and steady preservance of our forefathers who, with their wives and little ones, penetrated the wilds of this region at a very early day, and with ax and plow opened up a way for their children coming after them, indue time to gather the harvest of fruit springing from the seed so laboriously sown. Through these valleys and over these hills the wild beasts and still wilder Indians roamed unmolested one hundred years ago, and along these water-courses the timid deer slaked their thirst in numbers to us now nnknown. We thank Thee, Father, that the wild beast and Indian have given place to the cattle on our hills to-day, the corn in our vales, and the thousand happy homes of our people, and that the works of civilization, enlightenment and freedom are ever moving forward with the march of time, and that we are permitted to wor ship Thee without molestation or fear. Continue to us, we beseech Thee, O God of our fathers, these inestimable blessings of liberty, enlightenment and prosperity as individuals and as a people through years and ages yet to come. Bless, O Lord, the aged fathers and mothers with us to-day, and may we, their children, emulate the many virtues they possess, loving country more for the reason of the toil and exposure bravely endured as the price of the heritage we now enjoy. Remember in Thy goodness His Excellency the Gov ernor of this State, now with us, to grace by his official presence the exercises of the day. Make him a man after Thine own heart, and may he, with all our other rulers, govern this people in the love and fear of God, to whom all are accountable for their deeds. Guard our shores from invasion by hostile forces, keep our people from in ternal strife, and defend our free institutions, our schools, our churches and our firesides from every attack, either covert or public, io6 of evil men. We commit all of our interests as individuals and as a Nation into Thy keeping, O Lord who art the only wise .Almighty God. "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be." Amen. •The celebrated Ba;uer's band of Scranton, which was stationed at the southern approach to the bridge, then rendered a popular air, after which President Lusk said : "In opening the exercises of this the third and last day of our Centennial Jubilee, I take pleasure in hav ing the honor to act as President of the day. My worthy conferee^ of yesterday who acted as President of the day said in his opening address that, although he was not born in this county, he came to it young and received so many kindnesses from its people that his love for the county of his adoption was the same as if he had been born in it. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of this day has the honor of being the oldest male child living that was born within the present limits of the borough of Hallstead, which limits, as we heard yester day from the historical address, were within the confines of the tract of land purchased by the first white man who settled in this county. Although not now living in this borough, I am greatly interested in its progress, and am a descendant of one who purchased the first piece of land from the Strongs in 1791. Ladies and gentlemen, in introducing the different speakers this afternoon it gives me great pleasure to present to you James T. Du Bois, who will deliver the "ADDRESS OF WELCOME." Mr. Du Bois said : Mr. Chairman ; Your Excellency, our Governor, distinguished guests, oldest settlers of the Susquehanna County, citizens and stran gers, upon this, the red-letter day of our existence which is so fraught with interest to this town and county, the people of Hallstead take supreme pleasure in sending you greetings, and in bidding you wel come, one and all. To welcome such distinguished guests as these, to welcome such a vast throng of the sturdy citizens of Susquehanna County at any time would be to any man a pleasant, yet impressive task ; but to welcome them upon such an occasion as this makes it thrice pleasant and pro foundly impressive. To his Excellency, the Governor of the Commonweath of Penn sylvania, the eminently good ruler, the truly brave soldier, our gov ernor and our friend, we, the people of Susquehanna County, bow in grateful recognition of the honor and pleasure he has conferred upon us by his presence here to-day, and. Your Excellency, for this distinguished favor, we most respectfully assure you that you shall live in our hearts forever and pay no rent. I07 To say that another distinguished guest now present is welcome- wherever the patriotic people of Susquehanna County assemble to ¦ gether would be but to voice a self-evident truth. From youth to splendid manhood every step in the career of Galusha A. Grow ha& shed undying luster upon the escutheon of our country's fame and progress; and, fellow -citizens, I need but add that no monument ever reared by the hands of men to commemorate the beneficent deeds of mankind will outlive the influence of that immortal enactment of which he is the father, and which secures to the toiling millions of America free homes for free men. Over yonder, resting on the superb highlands of our county, is the pretty town of Montrose, known for its refinement, its culture and production of eminent men. Among the illustrious sons which she has given to the county we have the honor to welcome one in the person of Judge McCollum, our Centennial historian, who is pre-eminent as a citizen, pre-eminent as a jurist, and whose pre-emi nence and good name have helped to make our county great. Another famous son of Susquehanna County was here whom we all were glad to welcome on the second glorious day of our festivities. In young manhood he left your midst to fight the battle of life in the great Northwest, and that he has proven himself a supremely good fighter is evidenced by the fact that he now returns to his native county recognized by all as one of the ablest and most eloquent men in the council chambers of the nation. We are all very grateful that Martin A. Foran, the celebrated author of "The Other Side," has consented to come over to our side during these festivities, and we all sincerely hope that when at last he is called over to the other side (we mean that great, mysterious, boundless, glorious other side) that he will find a welcome there as cordial as is the sentiment of welcome in our breasts for him to-day. Another distinguished guest was here this morning, whose honored name the town of Hallstead bears, and we regret that he is not pres ent now, yet I confess, fellow-citizens, were he here, I could but jX)orly express the feeling of welcome that the people of this place have for him to-day and which they have for him always. I am free to say that the people of this entire region feel profoundly grateful to him for having given to us a railroad which in equipment and able management is second to none in all this land. In these brief words of greeting we must not, we cannot forget that band of venerable inhabitants who are our honored guests this day. To you, pioneers of Susquehanna County, this event is large with interest. One hundred years ago Ozias Strong, forcing his way west ward from the .Atlantic, planted his rude tent on yonder sightly bluff, from whose pretty point of prospect he could count the pine-clad summits of twenty mountains and watch the silent flow of a river which, in picturesque beauty, is peerless throughout the world. It was a Strong beginning of a most successful colony, and, venerable io8 inhabitants, this vast assemblage may read in your faces, if it will, much of the splendid history which that colony has made. Oldest settlers, by your kindly presence here to-day the willing mind goes drifting to scattered settlements in broad reaches of wilderness, to small clearings dotted with stumps and fringed with howling wolves, to sturdy men and faithful women, who, far away from the comforts of civilization and the heartless distinctions of caste, became the cre ators of hearthstones, the clearers of farm lands, and the builders of States. Turning from those rude scenes down to the present civili zation of Susquehanna County, rich in all the blessings which are vouchsafed to the welfare and comfort of mankind, and we are startled to find how much we owe to your industry, to your integrity, and to your indomitable pluck. Therefore, oldest of the county, this day is more your day than anybody's else, and in welcoming you we sin cerely hope that you may enjoy much of its glory and have much of its pleasures. 'A stranger once entered a village and saw a hearse and a long line of carriages standing in front of a church in the door of which stood -a solemn-looking little sexton who had never been known to smile within the memory of man. The stranger approached him and said, ^ ' Is this a funeral ? ' ' The sexton replied that it was. The stranger then asked, "Who is dead?" The sexton named the deceased. The inquisitive man then inquired, " What was the complaint?" The solemn face of the little sexton lit up, and smiling for the first time in forty years, he said, " Why, sir, there is no complaint ; every body is entirely satisfied." So, fellow-citizens and strangers, we ex tend to each and every one of you a warm and heartfelt welcome to these festivities, and when you turn your faces toward your homes this night, may it be with you as it was in the story, no cause for complaint, everybody entirely satisfied. Again we welcome each and every one of you, and may God bless us all. At the conclusion of this address the grand choir sang the^Cen- tennial Hymn, written by Miss Sarah Jones, of Harford, in a man- 2ier that elicited cordial applause from the vast multitude. THE CENTENNIAL HYMN. From far and near, proud, happy, free, We come to swell this jubilee. Life's pulses thrill with rapture sweet This glad Centennial morn to greet, While thoughts of thousands backward run Across the years, as one by one ' • They fall with grand, historic chime Down through the centuries of time. I09 Our fathers, with prophetic eyes, Sa-w this fair heritage arise ; The wilderness they wisely chose Now buds and blossoms like the rose ; Their sons, intelligent and free. Famed in the past, famed still to be, Are found in nearly every State Ot this loved land, our Union great. We stand to-day one land confessed, No blue or gray, no race oppressed, And yet the soil our river laves Holds hallowed dust in honored graves. Our best and bravest freely gave Their lives this heritage to save ; Dark was the night, but Freedom's sun A grander cycle has begun. Fathers and mothers bent and grey, Whose presence crowns this happy day. The teachings you have held most dear Leave with the children gathered here. That they may to their children tell The same great truths and heed them well; Thus, nobler manhood all may see When dies this new born century. We hail each honored guest, From North and South, from East and West, The thinking minds of Keystone State, The soldier, statesman, magistrate. All honest, earnest toilers who Do well the work they And to do ; Lofty or lowly, great or small. Old Susquehanna greets you all. Dear banner county, trusted, tried. Come to the front with loyal pride ; As in the past, as to-day, In all things worthy lead the way. God make us like our fathers wise, That we, with their prophetic eyes. May see, through Him, our shield and sun. Our brighter glory just begun. The Hon. Galusha A. Grow was then presented to the people by President Lusk as " a statesman and orator known and admired throughout the entire county. State, and nation. He was elected and re-elected for six terms as your Congressman. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time the war for the Union was progressing, and made himself famous for his efforts in helping to put down the great rebellion. He is known and popularly known all over the continent as the " father of the homestead act." Mr.. Grow's Address. One hundred and six years before Ozias Strong built his log cabin on the banks of the Susquehanna Charles II, King of Great Britain, granted by royal charter to William Penn and his successors 40,000 square miles of territory including the spot on which we stand, and he named the territory Pennsylvania. The consideration recited in the grant was two beaver skins annu ally — this may be one reason why the people of the State like Beaver — and a reservation of one-fifth of all gold and silver mined. This reser vation has been retained ever since in all conveyances of land by the Commonwealth ., Penn wanted the King to change the name of the territory to New Wales. Had this been done we should all now be Welshmen, and to distinguish us from the Welsh of Great Britain we probably should be called New Welsh. When the King refused to make this change Penn requested him to call the territory simply Sylvania, an anglacized Latin word signi fying forest. Had this request been granted we should have been known as Sylvanians; that is, foresters. But the King declined to make any change, so we are all now and ever more Pennsylvanians ; that is Penn's Forester's, instead of New Welsh. In his native land Penn had thrice been fined and imprisoned for preaching the religious doctrines of the Quakers. In 1682, with one hundred others, he sailed on the ship "Wel come" for the New World to found a State in deeds of peace and on the broadest principles of religious toleration. His practice in all things conformed to his uttered sentiment, " There can be no reason for persecuting any man in this world about anything that belongs to the next." .Almost his first act after selecting the site on the banks of the Delaware for the chief city of his new State was the purchase from the surrounding Indian tribes of part of the lands which they claimed and the ratification with them of a treaty of friendship and peace which while he lived was never broken by either party. The city which he selected was destined, in the providence of God, to become the theater of two of the grandest events in the drama of history, one the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, the other the formation of the Constitution of the United States, September 17, 1787. The Quaker Association, of Philadelphia, was the first religious organization on the American continent to declare slave-holding in compatible with membership in the Church of the living God; and the General Assembly of Pennsylvania was the first of the colonies to prohibit slavery by law. These were the first fruits of Penn's teachings of justice and uni versal liberty. His was the first instance in the history of coloniza- HON- i;,U,USHA A. (IROW. tion from the time the Israelites first drove the inhabitants out of the promised land that the native population had not been forcibly ex pelled or slain by the invading and stronger race. -After the ratification of Penn's treaty under the elm of Shacka- maxon (now Kensington, Philadelphia) a hundred years passed away hefore the first settlers penetrated the dense forest along this northern boundary of his territory. North of us was the country of the Iroquois — the Six Nations — the most powerful Indian confederacy on the continent. Their Long House reached the Hudson on the east and Lake Erie on the west, with the Mohawk River through its center. They made use of the waters of the Susquehanna, the Tioga and Allegheny Rivers for canoe navigation in passing from one end of this Long House to the other. At Tioga Point, now Athens, the confluence of the Tioga and Susquehanna Rivers, and at the three apple trees here just on the other bank of the river, the warriors of this mighty confederacy were wont to meet and decide the grave questions of peace and war. A little way above the apple trees was the chosen burying-ground of •their dead. South of us was the country of the Leni Lenapes — Delawares — the next most powerful Indian confederacy. Along the boundary line of these two warring Indian powers the first settlers of Susquehanna County made their homes. A hundred years have passed away and their descendants must now go two thousand miles toward the setting sun to catch the first notes of Indian war-songs that then echoed along these hills and valleys. While the pioneer settlers were building their rude cabins in these primeval forests the ships of commerce, uninterrupted by law, were transporting men, women and children from their native African homes, and cupidity was consigning them to cruel bondage on -American soil. To-day the sun in his course across the continent no longer rises on a master or sets on a slave. Then the world was without telegraph or railroad. To-day the lightnings of heaven bear men messages of business, of joy and of sorrow round the world in the twinkling of an eye, and trade belts the globe with its rail and steel bands, along which the locomotive, with almost lightning speed, hurls the commerce of nations. In a new country the first and most important labor, as it is the most difficult to be performed, is to subdue the forest and convert the lair of the wild beast into a home for civilized man. This is the labor of the pioneer settler. His achievements, if not equally brilliant with those of the plumed warrior, are equally, if not more, lasting ; his life, if not at times exposed to so great hazard, is still one of equal danger and death. It is a life of toil and adventure spent upon one continued battle-field, unlike that, however, on -which martial hosts contend, for there the struggle is short and ex- pected, and the victim strikes not alone, while the highest meed of ambition crowns the victor. Not so with the hardy pioneer. He is oft called upon to meet death in a struggle with fearful odds, while no herald will tell to the world of the unequaled combat. Startled at the midnight hour by the war-whoop, he wakes from his dreams to behold his cottage in flames ; the sharer of his joys and sorrows, with perhaps a tender infant hurled, with rude hands, to- the distant council-fire. Still he presses on into the wilderness, snatching new areas from the wild beast, and bequeathing them a legacy to civilized man. He falls leading the van of civilization along untrodden paths. and is buried in the dust of its advancing columns. No monument marks the scene of deadly strife ; no stone his resting place ; the winds sighing through the branches of the forest alone sing his requiem. Yet such are the meritorious men of the Republic — the men who give it strength in war and glory in peace. The achieve ments of our pioneer army from the day they first drove back the Indian tribes from the Atlantic seaboard to the present hour have been the achievements of science and civilization over the elements, the wilderness, and the savage. Rigorously by his privations and unyielding energy we have to-day a great empire of free States, the grandest monument ever reared to the political wisdom of man, and when he has covered this whole continent with abodes of civilized life, the genius of liberty and the spirit of free institutions, seizing the standard of the Republic, will bear it across the mighty deep to regenerate old dynasties and breathe new life into decayed empires. Of Susquehanna County, its pioneers, settlers and their decend- ants it may be said, as it was said of the island of Ithaca, by Ulysses in his farewell to King Alcinous on his departure for his home at the end of his seven years wanderings after the fall of Troy. Low lies our isle, yet bless'd in fruitful stores ; Strong are her sons, though rocky are her shores. The three cheers for Mr. Grow, which President Lusk called for as- the Ex-Speaker finished, made the welkin ring in a manner that proved how warm a place he has in the hearts of his fellow-citizens . Here it might be proper to state that it was upon the very spot where Mr. Grow had just spoken that he delivered his famous maiden speech forty-three years ago. .A selection by the grand choir, the " Gipsy Chorus," was finely given and President Lusk then introduced Governor Beaver, saying r "Inthespring of 1861 ayoungman left Centre County, in this State, as a second lieutenant of a company of infantry. From the ppsition first assigned him in the war for the Union he rose step by step until he became General James A. Beaver. \Vhen in the army he not only won the star of a general, but he won a badge more sacred to this people, having lost a foot and a part of a leg in the line of duty. I now introduce to you General Beaver as the Governor of the Com monwealth of Pennsylvania, and ask for three rousing cheers for the patriot and statesman," which were given with such a burst of en thusiasm as to be very flattering, even to the ruler of a great Com monwealth. Governor Beaver's Address. , My Friends and Fellow-Citizens ; I gratefully appreciate the invitation, which is given me to join in the interesting exercises of this Centennial occasion. Important official engagements prevented my taking part in the exercises of yesterday, which to me promised to be the most interesting of the series of public services which mark this event in your local history. I desire to come here as a learner and not as a teacher. The historical address which has already been de livered by your worthy administrator of public justice (Judge Mc Collum) would have given me, as it gave to you, much of the informa tion which I desired to have in regard to the first settlement of this interesting portion of our great Commonwealth. We are such a prac tical people that we fail to make the proper use and learn the proper lessons from such events as you celebrate and perpetuate in these ex ercises. [.At this point a band near the bridge commenced playing, and some one suggesting that the band be notified to stop, the Governor said, " You can't stop a brass band. I've tried that lots of times." Soon the playing ceased and the Governor remarked, " Now we got through that- better than I expected," and then continued his ad dress.] The first settlement on the banks of the Susquehanna within the limits of what is now Susquehanna County was an important event for the entire region. Coming as it did at the close of our great struggle for independence, when our nationality was secured, and when the ability of the nation to maintain itself as a power among the nations of the earth was the experiment on trial, it not only tended to enlarge the boundaries of civilization, but it was itself a challenge as well to the rude forces and formidable obstacles of nat ure as to the native Indians who still frequented the region. The battles of our Revolutionary fathers had been fought and won. The great battle of civilization against the untoward forces which opposed its progress was to be fought out upon this outpost as well as upon the longer skirmish line which bounded at that time the western borders of our great country. All experience shows that each and every gen eration must fight its own battles. It may be a war for independ ence ; it may be a war for mere physical existence ; it may be a war 8 114 against the forests of the frontiers or the wild forces of untamed nature ; it may be a war for mere territorial aggrandizement or it may be a war in defense of the inalienable rights of the citizen, or one in which the integrity of the Constitution and the maintenance of the laws are at stake. All of these different kinds of warfare have been waged by the American people, and in the main waged success fully. Each generation has had its share of such warfare, and the generation which is just now passing away will be long remembered for the great struggle in which it was engaged. And yet, notwith standing all these conflicts fought to successful issues in the past, we are to-day facing new questions and challenged to wage a great bat tle in defense of our established and well-loved institutions. The great conflicts of the world have not all been conflicts of armed men set in battle array against each other. The story of liberty, written in so many different chapters, tells as much of the conflict of ideas as of that of arms. And so, my friends, looking to the future, although we need scarcely apprehend the setting of squadrons in the field to settle the battles of this generation, they will be none the less real, none the less earnest, none the less necessary, and none the less vital than those of the generation which is just now regarded as being num bered, to a great extent, with the past. The forces which war against our social institutions, which would uproot the very theories upon which the first settlement was made on yonder river side, and which Ozias Strong antl his family brought with him when he struck his ax into the first tree and turned the first furrow with his rude plow, are all involved in the struggle. Under which flag is still the great question ? The past conflict to which I have referred was a question of the supremacy of the Stars and Stripes or of the Stars and Bars. The question in the coming struggle is as to the supremacy of "Old Glory," which you have so liberally given to the breeze in all your decorations, or of the red flag which is car ried in our great cities as the emblem of the cause in which all the enemies of social order and of existing institutions in the United States are marshaled. The issue involves our peace, our prosperity, and the perpetuation of our Government itself It is whether or not the America of the fathers is to be the .America of their sons. Whether the institutions established by the new-comers of the May flower and the Welcome shall continue to prevail, or whether the communistic and socialistic influences of other new-comers of later date shall take their place. The Christian Sabbath, with all its at tendant helps and blessings, the family circle, with all its hallowed associations and comforts, the common school, with its mighty up lifting in intelligence and training, the integrity of the corner-stone of the Republic, based upon life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi ness — which involves the idea of property to be earned and held and enjoyed by him who is ready to wage with success the battle of life — all these are involved. "5 There is no question as to the feeling which you and all communi ties like yours have upon this subject. You stand by the old tradi tions ; you want no change in these established institutions ; and yet there may be a question as to -ivhether or not you feel so profoundly upon the subject as to move to the assistance of our great centers of population, whose vital interests are threatened by the influences which are sloughed off from other countries and which find their nat ural home in our populous cities. A community which boasts, as yours does, such a multitude of those whom you are pleased to call " first settlers," who in order to entitle themselves to the honor of such an appellation must be at least seventy years old and have lived within the limits of Susquehanna County for forty years, who have heen honored as these venerable men and women have been honored to-day by the sweet and hospitable attentions of the beautiful young ladies who administered to their comfort in the adjoining tent ; a community which is blessed by the counsels of such men and women, and which bows down with reverence before the hoary head, is not likely to be carried away by the false and pernicious views of life which are just now agitating other portions of our country. You may not be in immediate danger from influences of this sort ; and yet if the experience of the past teaches us anything worth remem- "bering it is that no member of the body-politic can suffer without every member suffering with it. It therefore behooves us to be alive to the great questions which present themselves for our consideration, whether they affect us directly and immediately or not. It behooves us in this great battle of ideas and of principles to range ourselves npon the side of right, of truth, of purity, and of justice, so that that influence may be felt in every possible way for the promotion of the general welfare of the entire country. I have no fears as to your attitude on the great social questions which confront us ; and what is here said is not in the way of argu ment to convince you as to your duty, but simply in the way of ad monition, so that our attitude may be understood and our influence ¦exerted in every proper way. In the prayer with which our devotions were led at the beginning of these public exercises to-day there was an allusion made to the worship of God "with none to molest." Are you sure that there are not to-day in this country organized bodies of men whose main bond of union is the desire to break down the .American idea of the Sabbath, and thus to molest and to overturn, if possible, the worship of the God whose presence and blessing have been invoked upon us in this service ? The fact of such organization is well known, and the mere statement of the fact is all that is necessary to range the law-abiding citizens of Susquehanna County upon the side of right. One who addressed a recent soldiers' encampment greatly regretted that he was not old enough to take part in the defense of our country ii6 in the late war. But he and such as he are old enough now to take an earnest and intelligent part in maintaining and promoting the principles which that war and all other similar wars, whether of bul lets or ballots, successfully waged in the past have established and maintained. There is another consideration which prompts us to the vigorous assertion of our attitude upon this and all other great moral questions. When wrong is met at the outset by the vigorous- and determined opposition of those who are banded together for the right, there is little danger of its assuming such proportions as will req uire the suppressing and coercive measures of the strong-mailed hand. It is not my purpose, nor is it perhaps proper that I should enter into the discussion of such questions as these at greater length. They are of vital interest, and you have shown by your attitude and ear nest attention that you are interested in them ; and in discussing and dealing with them I feel assured that the good county of Susque hanna and its liberty-loving, law-abiding people will be found in the front rank battling for the right- You have by the remarks of your chairman, and in various other ways very agreeable to me, expressed your pleasure in my presence hereto-day. I certainly have as much pleasure in being present. I expected mutual enjoyment, and if you have had as much as I it has truly been a very pleasant day to us all. The Long Meter Doxology was then sung by the grand choir, and as the vast multitude joined in the singing the scene became inspiring. The exercises of the day at the grand stand were concluded by the Rev. Reuben N. Ives, of Binghamton, offering a benediction. The Planting of the Centennial Tree. The Governor never seeming to weary in his efforts to please the people and meet the demands of the Reception Committee then re paired to the spot where the Centennial Tree was to be planted, which was about twenty feet west of the Log Cabin. A sturdy young elm. had been carefully selected from an adjoining mountain by Dr. F. D. Lamb, and as he had prepared a place for its planting, all was in readiness when the Governor arrived. .As soon as it was known what was transpiring, an immense throng of people collected in Susque hanna avenue to witness the ceremonies. When the Governor ap proached the tree he threw away his crutches, quietly pulled up his coat-sleeves, and took a firm hold of the young elm, examining it carefully, saying ; " That is a fine tree, and it ought to flourish in 117 this generous soil." After pulling some dirt and rich sods around the roots, down he went upon his knees and commenced pressing the soil carefully and firmly about the rootlets. ' ' Planting trees is one of my pet hobbies," said he, " and perhaps I can teach some of you how it ought to be done." It was evident by this time that the Gov ernor intended to plant the Centennial Elm himself ' ' He works like a beaver," said an enthusiastic bystander. "That's the man for these United States," shouted a patriotic Hibernian. "Governor, you are getting your cuffs covered with mud," interposed another. " Oh, they'll wash," replied the General, good-naturedly. When he had finished packing the soil about the roots Judge Jessup handed a hoe to a small boy, saying : " Pull some dirt around this tree, my lad, and tell your grand and great grandchildren that you helped Governor Beaver plant it, and charge them to protect it until the second centennial." " That's good," said the Governor, enthu siastically, and added: "Plant more elms here, so that when the bi-centennial of your splendid county comes the people can gather under their generous shade " When the tree was planted, the Governor turned to Justice C. M. -Simmons, the burgess of Hallstead, and to Charles Simpson, the president of the town council, and said: "Gentlemen, I hope you will see that this Centennial Tree is properly cared for and pro tected," and they assured him that his request would be complied with. During the planting of the tree the enthusiasm of the people be came boundless, so that when General Beaver left the spot he received one continuous hand-shaking ovation until he reached the Mitchell House, and hundreds swarmed into the reception parlors and were kindly greeted there. The happy suggestion of planting the Centennial Tree was made by Mrs. James T. Du Bois, and it is hoped that it may grow to be come a landmark of Hallstead and the mecca of the good citizens of the county in centennial days to come. .At 7 o'clock in the evening Governor Beaver and the Hon. Galusha -A. Grow were driven by S. S. Wright to Spring Farm, where they witnessed the fireworks, the illumination of the mountain and spent the night, leaving the next morning at 8 o'clock for Montrose, ac companied by Judge Jessup, to attend the annual meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. ii8 We take the liberty here of introducing an amusing incident which occurred at Spring Farm during the Governor's and Mr. Grow's sojourn there. .As the Governor crossed the threshold of the Spring Farm home he was greeted by Henry, the little two-and-a-half-year- old son of the owner of the place, who seeing a one-legged man for the first time, cried out in German, which he has been taught to speak, " Herr, wo ist dein andreen Bein ? " (Mister, where is your other leg ?) The Governor seemed puzzled at first, and the little fellow seeing that he had not been understood said, ¦" Mister, where is your other leg?" The Governor laughed heartily, and putting aside his- crutches, seated himself by the blazing old-fashioned fire-place, and taking the small boy on his knee, said, " My little friend, I will tell you where my other leg is. A long time ago there was a very cruel war in which men shot at and often killed each other. One da\- a. man must have shot toward me, for a ball came crushing into my leg, breaking the bones and making and ugly wound. It hurt me very much, and some kind friends sent for a surgeon, who came with a big knife and cut my poor leg off. Then some men took it out into the field, dug a deep hole in the ground, and, putting the leg into it, covered it up, and there I suppose it has remained unto this. very day." .As no expression of sympathy came from the little fel low, his father asked him if he were not sorry for the Governor, to- which he answered "Nein" (no). "Why not?" inquired the father. And the small boy coolly replied , " Weil er gut genug auf einem Bein geht" (Because he goes well enough on one leg). The Governor,. laughing, said, "That is the best compliment paid me to-day." The Closing Scenes of a Great Day. As night fell upon the place her sable robes were illumined by tlie brilliant lights which flashed from swinging lamps and flaming torches and bright windows everywhere. All day long nearly twenty thousand people had been harbored and entertained within the borders of the little borough without a disturb ance of the public peace, while everywhere order and good nature prevailed. All day long an unbroken line of men, women and children moved patiently through the Relic Hall without molesting a single article which that treasure-house contained. All day long- the air was filled with a swelling tide of harmony from divers county- 119 bands. .All day long the people had mingled with each other in a spirit of fraternal love and good will, feeling that it was essentially their jubilee, and that it must pass unmarred by any disturbing element. They had met upon historic grounds to celebrate an historic event and seemed proudly resolved to force history to com mend their actions. -Standing near the Centennial Log Cabin, just before the final fiery act was played and casting a glance in every direction, what an in spiring sight met the gaze. Every inch of space was a mass of surg ing humanity bursting with good cheer. The streets were literally a condensation of mankind ; the housetops were freighted ; the balco nies groaned under their tremendous burdens ; the bridge swayed with its ponderous cargo ; the long reaches of the illuminated river- shore swarmed with a great throng of people and all were waiting patiently for the pyrotechnic hour to come. Suddenly, at half past seven, the booming of a deep-mouthed cannon told the multitude that the hour had arrived when the final scene in the centennial drama was to occur. A flash, a red glare, a long and curving light in the heavens, a grand bursting of brilliant colors, which dimmed for a moment the eternal torches of the starry way, commenced a pyrotechnic pro gramme of sublime splendor. While the eyes of nearly twenty thousand people were drinking in the firey galaxies on the northern shore of the silent river a whizzing arrow of light darted from the summit of Mount Manotonome — a re splendent warning that the event of the evening was at hand. Hurry ing quick, another bright-winged arrow went hissing heavenward, and, as if by magic, a swelling tide of red fire swept along the wooded base of the mountain. Then half way up the rocky face, touched as it were by the fire-tongs of electricity, a far-extending chain of lurid light sprang into life and spread its scarlet mantle over all the steep. A wierd wild flame had kissed the brow of Manotonome, and where the kiss fell there spread a widening blush of crimson glory until the sable heights had flashed into living gems of beauty. Scarcely had this ruddy wave pf splendor passed over the mountain when a crown of emerald fire encircled the summit and from out its rugged crest burst a dazzling mass of fire-balls, which, darting high toward the zenith, fell like a storm of meteors upon Manotonome's front. .A ringing shout of wonder and admiration swept over the vast multi tude in the valley, but ere its sounds had died away the pall of dark ness again covered the mountain. The end had come — a splendid climax to a day large with undying memories. And that great flood-tide of humanity, which poured into the town with the sunrise, now set their faces toward their respective homes and almost every one went straight forward. Tallies of the Third Day. The following gives the number of tickets sold at some of the rail way stations during the Centennial : Susquehanna, 2,844; Montrose depot, 285; Factoryville, 20; Nicholson, 125; Kingsley, 327; New Milford, 1,391. Reports from the other stations we have been unable to obtain. The serenade by Bauer's band in front of the residence of C. J. Langley was in honor of Mrs. W. F. Hallstead and friends and the Jessups, who were invited guests of Mr. Langley and wife. Dr. Walter A. Brooks and Andrew Sheak, of Binghamton, volun teered to help to make the illumination of Mount Manotonome a brilliant success. Susquehanna County should be profoundly grateful to Montrose and Susquehanna for the part they took in the great parade. Every newspaper in the county had fine reports of the events of the three Centennial days. Nearly every hamlet and town in the county seemed depopulated on Centennial Wednesday. The only serious accident that occurred was one broken leg, be longing to Eugene Johnson, of Lathrop He received it at the pavillion in the park. Dr. Lamb attended the unfortunate man. Joseph Osterhout had charge of the Centennial Register at the Log Cabin. Seven hundred and fifty names were written in the register. It has been placed among the archives of the county at Montrose, and will be preserved for the bi-centennial. Drs. P. H. Gardner and E. R. Gardner, of Clifford ; Dowry, of Harford ; Tiffany, of Brackney ; -Ainey, of Brooklyn, were present during the Centennial, as were also Drs. Emily C. Wells and C. C. Edwards, of Binghamton. The work performed on Centennial Wednesday by C. C. Sim mons, station agent of the D., L. & W. Railway at Hallstead woul'd have set a dozen nervous men wild. Station Agent Emmons, at the Erie station in Great Bend Borough, had also, perhaps, the busiest •day of his railroad experience. Marshals H. C. Jessup, Paul Barriger, W. H. Telford, Dr. Wm. Rogers, D. N. Hardy, and W. A. Southwell organized and com manded their respective divisions in a manner which told of experi ence, skill, and tact. The handsome piano used at the grand stand was furnished hy .A. M. Bronson, of Susquehanna. The Log Cabin was purchased by James T. Du Bois, who will endeavor to preserve it for the bi-centennial. The splendid discipline of the different bands of the county was a revelation. Probably no county in the State with an equal popula tion can furnish so many excellent musical organizations to a cele bration. Over two tons of provisions were consumed in Hallstead during the Centennial, and yet hungry people could be found. Lawyer T. J. Davis, of Montrose, is said to have contributed the oldest relic. It was a hammered plate three thousand years old, which the sister of Mrs. Davis brought from Damascus. The Tuscarora Indians wanted the Centennial pocket-book, so the}- -\vere not invited to come. Owing to a misunderstanding about constructing the Merrimac and Monitor, and the non-arrival of the Thomson Artillery, the great naval battle did not take place. The committee invited the Cardiff Giant to be present, but he showed the same stony indifference for which he has always been noted. The illumination of Manotonome was seen twenty miles away. The following is as complete a list of the members of the grand chorus as it has been possible to obtain : Dr. A. K. Harroun, director ; Miss Clara Hubbell, pianist. Dimock. — Wm. Baker, Mrs. Wm. Baker. Harford. — Mrs. Lee Tiffany, Mrs. J. A. Sophia, Prof J. A. Sophia. Hallstead. — Rev. M. J. Watkins, Rev. H. J. Roberts, E. R. Mason, Mrs. John Tyler, Miss Jessie Harris, Miss Jennie Barnes, Miss Nellie Krum. Frank lin.— lAr. and Mrs. R. W. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Fish, Mr. and Mrs. O. H. Summers. Gibson. — Gertie E. Resseguie, Matie Manzer. Hopbottom. — Miss Myrtle Carpenter, Mrs, A. W. Miles,. A. W. Miles, George C. Finn. Montrose. — Miss Irene Raynsford, Miss J. Hawley, Miss J. Foster, Miss Ella Smith, Miss A. Harring ton, Mrs. J. W. Benjamin, George Jessup, Dr. B. Lathrop. Rush. — Mrs. O. S. Swan, M. B. Perigo. New Milford. — Rev. J. F. Warner, Miss Lonie Shay, Miss Mamie Trumble, Miss Ellen Fagan, Miss Lettie L. Tennant, Mrs. T. J. Dean, Mrs. H. McDuffer, Mrs. J. F. Warner, George Shay, David Pritchard. Springville. — Miss Jennie Wakelee. Susquehanna. — Miss Julia Curtis, Miss Emma Bourne, Miss Lulu Pope, Miss Flora Tingley, Mrs. A. G. Tait, Mrs. H. A. Dillion, Mrs. James Seddon, Mrs. A. Burton, Mrs. John Mooney, Mrs. O. H. Simmons, J. B. Fenner, Archie Cook, J. Clark, jr., V. Blackburn. Thomson. — A. H. Crosier, Mrs. A. H. Crosier, F. E. Bennett, Mrs. Anna Blackman. Birchardville. — L. T. Birchard. Professor Thatcher, of Binghamton, also assisted in the chorus work. Rehearsals were held at Susquehanna, South Gibson, New Millford, Hallstead, Rush, and Montrose. While the venerable Judge Chapman, of Montrose, now in his 84th year, was at the Relic Hall he paused before a case in which lay an ancient-looking Bible. Pointing to the sacred volume he re marked, "That is the first Bible I ever saw." Several strangers wha stood near by looked at him in amazement, and seemed astonished to find an old man of respectable appearance who had never seen a Bible before. The judge then quickly added, with a smile, "It belonged to my mother." The strangers heaved a deep sigh of relief and com menced an examination of a few of the many things that ' ' came over in the Mayflower." Captain Beardsley, Camp 168, Sons of Veterans, consisted of 28 uniformed men, and their appearance in the parade made a fine im pression. Mrs. James T. Du Bois made a number of aprons from the muslin used at the Banquet as table cloth, and presented them to the Indies as souvenirs. The great ball given by the railroad men at the Mitchell House on Wednesday evening was thronged during a large portion of the night. It took place in the spacious dining hall which had been erected to- accommodate the Centennial visitors. Miss Sarah Jones, the author of the Centennial Hymn, died at her home in Harford on the 1 2th of December, just two months after her 123 sweet hymn, sang by the grand chorus, thrilled the hearts of the vast audience which surrounded the grand stand on Governor's day. Mrs. S. B. Chase, chairman of the Relic Committee, in a letter dated the 13th of December, wrote : "I have just finished the corre spondence necessary to get the relics safely back to rightful owners and hope that everything is now adjusted. It has taken quite an amount of writing, but everything has been found." Centennial Fund Contributors. The following is as complete a list of the contributors to the Cen tennial fund as it has been in our power to obtain. It contains- about twelve hundred names. Without the material aid thus ren dered the splendid programme would never have been executed. All honor therefore to those whose names are found upon this list ;: Auburn — D. C. Titman, Committeejnan. Brooklyn — C. J. Lathrop, Committeeman. O. M. Doloway. J. O. Bullard. S. B. Eldridge. William Graver. B. O. Watrous. Edwin Tiffany. Moses Caldwell. F. H. Tiffany. J. F. Doran. A. C. Doloway. T. E. Shadduck. E. T. Tiffany. A. S. Waldec. Isaac Van Auken. A. W. Kent. E. R. McKinney. A. J. Ainey. H. H. Graver. L. B. Tiffany. C. Rogers. P. H. Tiffany. J. D. Peckham. J. W. Adams. W. L. Sterling. A. Chamberlin. J. M. Kent. C. H. Tiffanv. E. A. Weston. Frank Tewksbury. Ed. Tewksbury. J. L- Peckham. Lyman Sherman. L. Tewksbury. Perry Sweet. W. H. Tiffany. Dell Calph. E. D. Bell. Charles F. Goodrich. S. E. Tiffany. G. N- Smith. C. C. Burch. N. C. Benjamin. H. L. Bailey. E. S Hine. F. Whipple. William P. Bailey. Charles Kent. Obediah Bailey. John R. Ely. F. M. Sterling. A. J. Smith. J. C. Miller. R. W. Kent. J. R. Kent. 124 B. L. Woodward. I. S. Tewksbury. A. E. Tewksbury. E. P. Bailey. R. L. Gere. Connor Stevens. Charles Bailey. L. Bailey. Bridgewater- H. H. Harrington. John Van Allen. W. H. Harrington. J. C. Harrington. E- M. Tiffany. Kirby Bunnell. H. Brewster. W. H. Stark. A. McCollum. Jared Pickett. Ira Foster. David Kimber. J. F. Gardner. Clifford — Dr. E. C. D. Finn. Silas W. Williams. Will Greene. Ira J. Wetherby. Walter M. Leek. Eugene K. Miller. C. H. Horton. Peter Rivenburg. S. E. Lowry. S. E. Finn. Wm. A Miller. T. W. .Atkinson. William Bennett. Henry Bennett. B. F. Bennett. John Watkins. Clifford Literary Union. John Halstead. J. M. Callender. P. H. Gardner. J. G. Wetherby. Hiram Rivenburg, R. Sterling. Edwin Mack. Arthur Mack. Ed. Eldridge. George Gere. J. Gere. R. O. Miles. -M. J. Harrington, Committeeman W. F. Gardner. Spencer Watrous. John Carter. W. E. Babcock. John Hunter. E. H. Pickering. C. E. Tyler. Z. A. Lindsley. C. J. Curtis. S. Swindleman. A. S. Jewett. T. D. Carter. R. Gardner, Committeeman. Jefferson Hobbs. J. B. Burdick. Mrs. J. B. Felts. Emery G. Greene. Judson I. Tripp. B. F. Wells. L. W. White. William H. Hasbrouck. William Hasbrouck. L. B. Lewis. D. L. Stevens. John Stevens. J. W. Lowry. Ezra Coleman. T. W. Reeder. Wesley Reeder. Beeley Peck. S. A. Halstead. O. T. Hull. Grant Stevens. John Tinker. -Annie Thomas. 125 James C. Decker. Perry Yarnes. John Bolton. J. B. Stevens. Peter Bennett. S. C. Stevens. C. M. Hunter. M A. Gardner. William D. Horton. John H. Carey. O. E. Barney. Franklin. W. C. Smith. P. S. Dearborn. J. L. Merriman. S. A. Smith. E. H. Merriman. R. W. Smith. E. L. Beebe. N. P. Wheaton. J. C. Wells. Samuel Arnold. J. R. Bell. Reese Hughes. F. A. Davies. William Jones. George Gifford. John Jones. David Anthony. William Richards. Samuel Owens. — F. A. Smith, Committeeman. J. C. Wheaton. Geo. Stockholm. S. H. Stockholm. B. B. Hendrick. H. J. Deakin. E. B. Hendrick. W. A. Smith. Friendsville. — Richard Foran, Committeeman Rev. Father John J. Lally. Dr. E. L. Hendrick. B. B. Buffun. P. H. Trodden. Michael Dow. A. M. O'Donnell. Robt. Winters. E. E. Lee. R. Gillin. Edward McDevitt. James Smith. S. R. Bunts. Richard Rooney. Thomas Campbell. James Rahilly. Patrick Matthews. Chas Hamlin. Mrs. James E. Carmalt. Gibson.— Hon. Wm. Maxey. G. G. Woodward. C. W. Resseguie. Wm. Rogers. J. J. Manning. H. D. Pickering. C. L. Bennett. B. D. Reynolds. T. C. Manzer. . Geo. B. Tiffany. F. E. Baldwin. W. X Reese. -George E. Resseguie, Committeeman. G. H. Edwards. Fred. Terwilliger. Fred. Hendrickson. C. K. Edwards. F. D. Bennett. Wm. Clark. I. A. Sweet. W. D. Foster. J. B. Claffin. .A. C. Vangorden. D. E. Whitney. C. Lupton. 126 Will J. Lamb. Will H. Esterbrooks. E. L. Hill. E. A. Sweet. E. H. Sweet. C. A. Sweet. Will Hendrickson. ¦Gene Lamb. A. C. Sweet. Lines Green. L. W. Gillespie. Almon Sweet. John J. Patter. H. Webber. N. C. Curtis. Seth Abel. H. A. Barrett. Great Bend Township. — ^James T. Du Bois, Committeeman. S. S. Wright. H. S. Barnes. .A. W. Hallstead. G. A. Adams. W. Green. Mrs. J. N. Green. C B. Smith. L. Doolittle. F. S. Barnes. M. S. Lowe. Henry Mericle. B. P. Tewksbury. D. J. Lindsley. Chas. Warner. B. E. Smith. B. Hutchings. N. S. Corwin. W. M. Knoeller. Wm. H. Miller. John Austin. G. W. Decker. J. H. Osterhout. P. R. Barriger. A. T. Trowbridge. A. G. Brush. S. L. Beavan. Wm. W. Roose. H. M. Parks. C. B. Dixon. H. H. WiUiams. C. D. Smith. C. L. Van Antwerp. C. E. Vanness. J. Carson. Great Bend Borough. — T. D. Estabrooks, Committeeman. B. C. Raitt. J. W. Dusenbury. J. W. Sackett. F. D. Clauss. C. S. Hamlin. F. A. Blatchley. E. P. Hines. W. W. Crandall. J. W. Larrabee. C. B. Woodward. D. W. Fredenburg. Wm. Newman. Thos. Connelly. M. Holdich. W. T. Estabrooks. W. A. Colsten. E. Gill. H. Terboss. R. Ferguson. S. P. More. S. T. Kistler. O. A. Lines. P. H. Lines. H. Ackert. J. H. Dusenbury. J. N. Sackett. C. J. Waldron. L. W. Chichester. A. Arnold. A. L. Reckhow. V. Reckhow. Jno. Foster. Geo. McNamara. J. W. Daniher. E. R. W. Searle. Michael Barry. Michael Kilrow. F. D. Clauss. Harford — Lee Tiffany, Committeeman. W. I. Tinker. B. Sweetsen. H. M. Seley. F. P. Forsyth. A. H. Rynerson. O. G. Coughlin. J. M. Harding. C. H. Stearns. Wallace Gow. G. J. Tingley. L. R. Peck. G. R. Resseguie. M. S. Alworth. James Rogers. CD. Ransom. B. F. Hine. S. J. Lott. H. Brown. -A- H. Harding. A\ G. Follett S. E. Dunn. G. A. Lindsey. .Almon Tingley. .Alvin Stearns. W. S. Sophia. D. M. Farrar. W. J. Lowry. O. C. Tallman. C. S. Johnston. J. C. 'Tanner. E. T. Tiffany. D. L. Hine. "W. R. Blakeslee. Frank Wilmarth. W. Jeffers. Horace Sweet. Geo. W. Tiffany. S. J. Adams. Warren Jones. A. J. Adams. E. j. Whitney. A. M. Leslie. E. Elbercht. F. A. Barnard. D. Van Buskirk. G. D. Nash. F. P. Tingley. O. Grinnell. E. C. Capron. A. M. Aldrich. A. T. Sweet. Freeman Tingley. E. M. Tingley. Fred Tingley. Mason Tingley. H. D. Tingley. Z. W. Moore. Nestor Light. H. G. Adams. H. A. Robbins. C. H. Miller. E. M. Osborn. O. Payne. E. Van Loan. W. Osterhout. W. E. Reynolds. H. Esterbrook. W. B. Guile. Hopbottom — W. P. Crandall, Committeeman. E. M. Tiffany. O. A. Johnston. .A. N. Miles. Thomas Stewart. C. A. Miller. E. E. Tower. A. E. Peck. A. Titus. Elisha Bell. O. D. Roberts. 128 M. L. Tiffany. J. E. Sanders. G. W. Tiffany. Truman Bell. .Asa Day. O. R. Beardsley. T. E. Penny. Mrs. O. R. Beardsley. Mrs. Truman Bell. B. W. Wright. Mrs. E. Bell. Mrs. Myron Titus. Hallstead — N. T. Mitchell, Committeeman. J. R. Douglas. F. D. Lamb. C. J. Langley. R. C. Du Bois. John L. Smith. John A. Millane. E. R. Mason. W. M. Snyder. W. F. Simrell. L. H. De Forest. J. .A. Hollon. L. B. Crook. E. D. Burton. J. J. Stockholm. E. E. Tuttle. George Lamb. John Pike. L. G. Simmons. G. W. Capwell. C. Tierney. L. D. Miller. John Callow. Jos. McLeod. Michael Carigg. Jos. Dennis. N. .A. Wolcott. C. T. McCormack. M. B. Moore. .Addison G. Du Bois. Nathan Brown. Fred. Terboss. James Green. Mr. Allen. Miss Ella Du Bois. ' ' Jennie Barnes. Mrs. McLeod. " J. R. Douglas. " C. E. Swarts. Mrs. John Pike. " Jas. Millard. Miss Kittle Pike. Mrs. E. Du Bois. " T. Adams. " A. M. Tingley. " .Anna Hall. " L. B. Crook. " W. S. Barnes. '¦ M. L. Decker. " T. Canner. " A. N. Canyne. " S. Tingley. ' ' Millard Decker. " Sarah Gillens. " Sarah Wolcott. " James Kirby. Miss Mary Hanna. Mrs. James Doyle. " H. Millard. " R. H. Barnum. " S. D. Ross. " Finch. " J. B. Brown. " S. A. Carpenter. " Gene Capwell. " Fred Dennis. " E. Griffin. " C. Moffatt. " S. Swarts. " E. Bennett. " E. D. Rice. " L. Wilmot. " M. Summerton. " J. Babcock. " Resnell. " E. D. Burton. WalterJBurton. Mrs. N. T. Mitchell. " Sarah Chase. " F. D. B. Chase. " W. K. Hatch. ' ' Mary Wesley. " C. J. Langley. " W. E. Barnes. " O. R. Mcintosh. " M. N. R. Lamb. Fred Lamb. Frank Lamb. Robert Lamb. Mary Lamb. Mrs. Carrie Simmons. Claude Simmons. Milton Simmons. Mrs. G. W. Smith. " E. E. Tuttle. " C. N. Van Ness. ' ' Anna Murray. Miss Maggie Murray. Mrs. Lucy Capwell. Ray Capwell. Georgie Capwell. Charlie Capwell. Bessie Capwell. Emogene Capwell. Fannie Simrell. Mrs. F. E. Van Wormer. " James Snover. Lena Barnes. Minnie Snover. Mrs. Wm. Snyder. Miss K. B. McCreary. Mrs. J. E. Davis. Mary McCarty. Mrs. Mary McCormack. Retta McCormack. Genevieve McCormack. Elizabeth McCormack. Bruce Chase. John L. Ross. Fred Ross. Frank Ross. Willie Ross. Mary Holister. 129 Lucy Baker. Mrs. Celina Barnes. " -Alice Gillespie Elone Gillespie. Wilford Kelly. Anna Maury. Mary Maury. John Maury. George Trowbridge. Patrick Maury. Edith Trowbridge. Edna Trowbridge. Cora Trowbridge. Nettie Jones. Ira Jones. M. Walters. Susan Packard. John Gannon. Mrs. Mary Allen. Mary Allen. Wm. Allen. Francis Allen. James Allen. Peter .Allen. Mary Brown. Lucy Packard. Walter Packard. Viola Lawrence. Bennie Lawrence. Almira Lawrence. Mary Delanty. Maggie Delanty. Edward Delanty. Mary Carrigg. Maggie Carrigg. Rachel Chidester. Jessie Chidester. Freddie Chidester. Willis Chidester. Holdrich Chidester. John Gannon. James Gannon. Mary Gannon. Bridget Gannon. Matthew Gannon. Julia Gannon. Marvin Holister. Lucy Holister. Mrs. C. Noonan. " John L. Smith. " A. T. Smith. " Isaac Bound. "¦ Jos. Gruslin. " James Simrell. " C. R. Elred. ' ' Thomas Coddington. " M. Fisher. " A. Hart. " A. M. Slacker. " J. Gannon. " Wm. Carroll. " Sidney Dennis. " C. F Snover. " E. O'Malley. " C. Knoller. " A. G. Mead. " G. A. Bogart. Miss Nettie Millett. Mrs. Ira Preston. " Chas. Scanlon. " C. E. Jenks. " J. M. Simpson. " L. M. Brown. Henry Smith. Chas. Smith. Catherine Smith. Annie Smith. Mary Barber. Alice Barber. Ella Barber. Richard Barber. John Barber. Margaret Barber. Mary Barber. James Barber. Geo. Barber. Ann Barber. Ida Fuller. Grace Fuller. Susan Fuller. Emma Fuller. Jennie Bound. Katie Gannon. Maggie Gannon. Ella Gannon. Mrs. N. A. Wolcott. " J. L. Decker. " M. J. McNanara " J. M. Finley. " M. J. Duffy. " CM. Currier. " Jno. Maynard. " Jno. Millane. " Betsey Loomis. Hattie Loomis. Harvey Loomis. Fred. Loomis Lizzie Fields. Mary Green. Mrs. P. V. Green. Libbie Green. Arthur Green. Jennie C Brown. Walter J. Brown. Hazel L. Brown. Mrs. -Anna Millard. Abbie Farnum. Bertie Farnum. Mrs. Sarah E. Ross. Bridget Smith. Cornelius Donohue. Catharine Donohue. James McCarthy. Elizabeth Barnes. Ellen Shannon. Thomas Shannon. Martin Shannon. Timothy Shannon. Catherine Reed. Mary B. Reed. Kate Reed. Julia Reed. Hattie Reed. Julia McLeod. Addie McLeod. Hattie McLeod. Sarah .A. Brown. Eva A. Brown. 131 Mary Donohue. Margaret Donohue. Bridget Donohue. James Donohue. Timothy Donohue. Mrs. G. Griffin. Mary Griffin. Eliza (Jonley. Kate Osterhout. .Arthur Osterhout. Richard Osterhout. Jennie Terboss. Nina Terboss. Emma Howell. Effie Fisher. Sarah C. Watkins. Sarah C Watkins. Jennie Watkins. Millisa Watkins. Sophia Ross. Hazel Ross. Cencil Ross. Bridget Hays. Mary Hays. John Hays. Mary Hays. Herrick- L. O. Patterson. G. S. Tingley. Alf Bowell. E. R. Barnes. D. R. Lumly. Hiram Decker. G. L. McConigle. Harmony- Jack^on- O. H. Perry. Milton Balch. J. C Hill. C W. Hazen. Wm. Holmes. A. A. Page. J. H. Lamb. A. M. Pease. C A.Delaney. Mary Adams. Mary M. Adams. George A. Adams. Corintha Barnes. Wellington Barnes. Reuben Barnes. Letty Arnold. Palmira Harris. Jessie Harris. Addie Maynard. Will Merrill. Lucy V. Chidester. Nettie Chidester. Ellen Wyant. Amanda Sweet. Alice Read. Berton Read. Gertrude Read. Ernest Read. Gracie Read. Rose McCroy. Hattie McCroy. Earl Talmage. M. Eustace. P. Eustace. Kate Eustace. -S.ANFORD Burns, Committeeman Oscar Fletcher. H. H. Wimple. R. P. Patterson. A. B. Tingley. Oscar Hine. P. H. Flynn. — S. H. Barnes, Committeeman. -L. D. Benson, Committeeman. E. Dix. G. H. Gelatt. Nat Benson. David Dutcher. A. W. Brown. H. S. Brown. H. Whitmarsh. C O. Tingley. P. Steenbeck. 132 O. R. Guard. L. D. Hall. H. W. Tyler. E. O. Perry. C C Barnes. Fred Butterfield. J. W. Cargill. Will Whitney. Wm. Hamilton. Chas. Pickering. Omar Olin. Fred Benson. Liberty — L. E. Stanford, Committeeman J. J. Tingley. R. E. Harris. D. D. Harris. W. W. Gunsalus D. S. English. J. P. Lindsley. Wm. Chalker. J. W. Russel. Burt Gunsalus. A. P. Bailey. J. B. Chalker. J. D. Hogan. Jonathan Ross. J. D. Beebe. W. A. Crandall. F. A. Marsh. Kirby Marsh. H. A. Truesdell. Herbert Caswell. R. A. Fish. John Butler. C A. Mitchell. Irvin Ireland. Leonard Bailey. Newell Bailey. E. C Coffin. L. W. Howard. Tyler Potter. Lenox — Oliver Loomis, Committeeman. Edwin R. Grow. James Doran. George Nichols. H. N. Smith. Azur Lathrop. Wm. D. Lusk. D. W. Searle. Abel Turrell. J. B. McCollum. Geo. A. Post. W. C Cruser. W. J. Mulford. W. H. Jessup. W. M. Post. A. H. McCollum. C S. Page. D. A. Titsworth. F. I. Lott. E. H. True. F. B. Chandler. J. R. Raynsford. G. Q. Loomis. G. W. Loomis. C F. Hoppie. Montrose. T. J. Davies. J. S. Courtright. C F. Watrous, Jr. T. A. Lyon. G. A. Lyon. W. H. Turrell. F. D. Melhuish. R. B. Smith. A. B. Smith, Jr. D. W. Brown. M. Kasson. D. R. Lathrop. W. B. Deans. H. P. Read. A. B. Burns. J. J. Burns. . R. M. Bostwick. 133 M. S. Dessauer. E. P. Pope. W. E. Williams. C R. Woodin. J. P. Taylor. J. W. Burgess. F. E. Cramer. E. Guy. Dr. W. L. Richardson. H. L. Beach. Rasselas Searle. Geo. B. Little. J. Corwin. S. J. Sparkes. Dr. C D. Mackey. H. C Jessup. A. Nichols. C N. Stoddard. H. C Tyler. G. H. Watrous. O. A. Gilbert. D. B. Brewster. W. W. Williams. New Milford Borough. — C M. Shelp, Committeeman F. D. Summers. J. C McConnell. F E. Moxley. H. Garrett. David Summers. W. T. Moxley. E. S. Garrett. H. H. Van Cott. E. A. French. O. C Whitney. Chas. Fuchers. Geo. Pratt, E. A. Pratt. Chas. Jay. A. B. Smith. L. A. Smith. W. B. Gillet. W. G. Smith. S. Moss. C H. Johnston. C T. Mitchell. C C Pratt. G. G. Shoemaker. F. G. Inderlied. Dean Bros. New Milford Township. Frank T. Wellman. Ira Moss. Samuel Sackett. Theron Grinnell. George Shay. Chauncey Shay. Clarence Shay. Homer Tingley. William Alexander. Wm. M. Van Cotl. Amos Wilcox. Asa Hammond. E. W. Watson. H. La Bar. Mrs. Spencer. E. J. Tyler. D. "D. Plummer. L. W. Tennant. Mrs. H. H. Van Cott. -L. J. De ^Vitt, Committeeman A. C Barrett. E. De Witt. T. Davis. Amos B. Kent. C A. Summers. Charles Morse, Jr. Mrs. Jane Cole. Elmore Tiel. Mrs. Elmore Tiel. Master Ray Aldrich. H. .A. Summers. William Penny. Mrs. M. J. Westfall. William Bennett. T. E. Cole. Culey Bennet. Roger Cole. H. R. Morse. Will Aldrich. 134 Oakland Township. — Bradley Beebe, Commiteeman. Charles Ash. Bradley Beebe. Charles Beebe. F. W. Beebe. Calvin Brush. A. G. Brush. Mrs. E. Brush. F. E. Brush. William Boyden. Emelius Boyden. George Boyden. M. W. Chamberlin. W. H. Canavan. Deforest Carver. George Doolittle. Miles Doolittle. J. K. Grimes. E. J. Grimes. John Hilborn. Washington Hawkins. Mark Heath. G. H. Hurlburt. C W. Lamb. W. T. Lamb. B. C Lamb. E. C Leavitt. B. F. McKune. Patrick Maloney. Thomas Maloney. Jack Maloney. A. G. Matthews. Morgan Norton. H. J. Persons. G. E. Pooler. B. H. Prizer. Patrick Ryan. Lyman Swagart. P. H. Smith. Iddo Skinner. Henry Skinner. Charles Skinner. Joseph Stevens. Frank Stevens. Joseph Towner. Royal Tyler. John Ward. Rush County. — Wm. H. Sherwood, Committeeman. Isaiah Haire. J. S. Hillie. W. E. Jones. James Rooney. George Harvey. Andrew Hoag. James Hoag. W. E. Horoy. A. Carter. John W. Gray. I. M. Gray. Robert Porter. M. S. Warner. Daniel Devine. John Burt. William Kirkhuff. E. F. Kranse. J. C Keeney. C Humerbett. Martin Foley. Barney Kirkhuff. C H. Warner. William Foley. James McDonels. A. J. Terry. N. J. Abbott. W. C. Ball. David Godwin. J. B. Weston. Asa Hikok. W. L. Kinney. G. W. Denga. J. McCauley. C H. Davis. John Lane. W. T. Barnes. S. A. Edwards. T. A. Roberts. Miles Shoemaker. N. R. Jones. T. Haire. John Granger. W. F. Hillis. Frank Foley. R. B. Maynard. T. H. Bassett. J. Q. Terry. Henry Magee. N- H. Rogers. Edward Filan. R. D. Wilcox. George Granger. William Millard. R. N. Hillis. O. P. Chink. H. Hillis. David Angle. Patrick Keenan. Charles Bratyman. A. W. Millard. Bently Carter. Barney Coil. John Quinn. George Billings. A D. Lincoln. Peter McGowan. H. W. Terry. Joseph McCain. Ray Baker. L. B. McCain. G. Green. F. F. James. B. Shoemaker. Nelson Barnes. Dr. N. Granger. Mrs. L. Shoemaker. S. J. Terry. H. C Bishop. H H. Small. I. B. Terry. F. H. Griffin. D. H. Snyder. J. C Warner. Geo. M. Graham. Michael Zachanus. S. Tables. Bela Griffin. James Myres. G. W. Tompkins. Joseph Beaumont. A. D. Gray. Springville — J. M. Jeffers, Committeeman. SusQUEHANN.\ — M. J. Larabee, Committeeman M. B. Wright. Col. William H. Telford. J. H. Cook. M. H. Eisman. George T. Frazier. F. D. Lynn. Eugene O'Neill. James Bell. Gaylord Curtis. S. L. French. Samuel Birdsall. D. J. Peck. H. Sperle. J. Clark, Jr. H. P. Doran. John C. Kane. J. J. Boyle. W. H. Strachen. Charles Boyden. Edward Doherty. James McKinney. "W. W. Fletcher. B. C Stoddard. W. Sheff. O. T. Smith. M. H. Pope. Shaiff Brothers. O. H. Simmons. Dooley Brothers. Henry Helmer, Jr. John J. Ahearn. Malley, Ash & Lobey. Frank Jeller. L. S. Page. C W. Morgan. 136 Thompson Borough- — J. D. Miller, Committeeman. E. A. Foster. V. A. Potter. G. F. Spencer. R. 0. Lewis. W. P. Tallman. T. F. Henwood. J. L. Witter. E. A. Saxton. M- J. Mulvey. F. M. Gelatt. S. D. Barnes. E. C. Kellam. Rob't Gelatt. A. H. Crosier. C R. Casterhne. A. 0. Stimpson. D. A. Chandler. Uniondale — H. H. Lewis, Committeeman. J. E. Thomas. N. G. Dimnick. Edwin Corey. Wm. Anderson. J. W. Ryder. F. Westgate. P. Burritt. Robt. Westgate. 0. Darrow. Chas. Tucker. E. E. Rounds. A. A. Tingley. D. H. Coleman. C .A. Weedeman. J. L. Westgate. S. H. Norton. 0. T. Carpenter. THE balance sheet. The Centennial Finance and Auditing Committee held a meeting at Justice Simmons's office in Hallstead, on the 4th day of November for the purpose of taking preliminary steps to settle up the accounts of the celebration. C M. Shelf and C M. Simmons, auditors, were present. H. F. Beardsley, James T. Du Bois, and W. J. Pike, of the Executive Committee, were also in attendance. A large number of bills were audited and ordered to be paid, and a cjuantity of lum ber, &c., used for Centennial purposes, were sold. The Centennial balance sheet was struck on the 26th day of No vember, at a meeting of the Managing and Finance committees at the office of Justice C M. Simmons, in Hallstead. M. J. Larabee, C M. Shelf, andC. M. Simmons, of the Finance Committee, were present, as were also George A. Post, T. D. Estabrooks, and W. J. Pike, of the Managing Committee, and Capt. Beardsley. Every bill was care fully scrutinized and every cent paid was represented by a voucher. The treasurer, M. B. Wright, and the assistant treasurer, E. R. Mason, used practicable business principles in the discharge of their duties, and Captain Beardsley systemized his accounts with great care, thus making the work of the Auditing Committee far less difficult than it would otherwise have been. 137 It was decided at the Montrose Convention, held the 25th day of July, that the Chairman of the Executive Committee and its Secre tary should be properly compensated for their work, and it was a pleasant moment for the committee when they found that they would be able to compensate these efficient officers in a measure for their arduous labors. The amount voted to Captain Beardsley was ^186. 23, and to Secretary Pike ^75, being the balance remaining in the hands of the Treasurer after all the bills had been liquidated. The thanks of the committee were extended, through the Hon. George A. Post, to Governor Beaver and Hon. M. A. Foran for their attendance at the Centennial, and cordial thanks were also tendered to Treasurer Wright and Assistant Treasurer E. R. Mason. .All of the flags, bunting, and other decorations used during the celebration were placed in the hands of trustees to be loaned when ever any popular festivities may take place in the county. 138 of the auditors will explain itself The following financial exhibit satisfactorily to all interested : Receipts. Auburn, check of D. C. Titman |lo oo Bridgewater 20 25 Brooklyn 40 00 Clifford 52 00 Choconut, Mrs. J. E. Carmalt 5 00 Dimock 65 00 Friendsville 10 75 Franklin 9 00 Great Bend Borough. ... 65 00 Great Bend Township ... 5° 25 Gibson 36 25 Hallstead 362 55 Harford 70 00 Hopbottom 16 10 Herrick 14 5° Harmony, S. H. Barnes . . 10 00 Jackson 16 85 Liberty 10 00 Lenox 3 75 Montrose 251 00 New Milford Borough ... 32 00 New Milford Township . . 16 00 Oakland Township .... 34 75 Rush 32 75 Susquehanna 108 00 Springville, J. M. Jeffers . . 5 00 Thomson Borough . . . 1 5 00 Uniondale 10 00 W. F. Hallstead, D. L. & W. R. R 50 00 Total ... ... 1,422 25 Log Cabin Register . . 27 00 Relic Hall admissions . . . 504 80 Privileges 40 00 Merchandise sold, lumber, &c 87 55 Total 2,081 60 Total 2,081 60 The order drawn to liquidate the last bill bore the Centennial num ber " 100." The kindly hand of Providence seems to have rested up the helm of our Centennial ship from the going out until the coming in of the same. It was the greatest celebration that ever took place in the county, one of the finest that ever occurred in the State, and it was more novel and interesting than any that may follow it in many decades to come. Expenditures. Old Settlers' Banquet— To F. M. Kent, caterer, and other expenses ;?228 21 Decorations — flags, bunting, Chinese lanterns, rink deco rations, labor, &c 130 76- Relic Hall — fitting up rink, la bor, material, expenses trans portation of relics, special poUce, &c. ...... . 296 62 Log Cabin and police ... 24 00 Livery bills 53 5° Teaming and work on grounds 25 49 Rent of tents, labor, expenses, police, &c 144 20 Grand stand, re^viewing stand, labor, lumber, &c . . . 187 53 Incidental expenses .... 66 58 Entertainment of bands . . . 57 5° Centennial chorus 97 12 Entertainment of guests and carriage hire 43 49 Fireworks and illuminations, powder, &c 247 83 Freight and cartage . . 21 10 Printing, including engraved cut of Log Cabin . . . 87 95 Postage, postal cards, and tel ephone 27 37 Salary and expenses of secre tary . 119 66 Salary and expenses of chair man 222 69 TABLE OF CONTENTS Frontispiece — Governor Beaver. Introductory remarks Preface 178 7 — Susquehanna — 188 7 The Centennial Germ Development of the Centennial Germ Invitation Committee's work Chairman Beardsley's Headquarters Portrait of Captain Beardsley. Around the county Hallstead prepares Picture of Log Cabin Cabin Moving Bee The Programme Centennial Monday Formal opening of the Relic Hall Complete List of Relics Fragments of the First Day Centennial Tuesday .Address of Hon. George A. Post Historical address by Judge McCollum Portrait of Judge McCollum. Centennial Poem Address of Hon. Martin A. Foran Portrait of Hon. Martin A. Foran. Segments of the Second Day Centennial Wednesday The Great Parade Old Settlers' Reception At the Banquet Tent List of Old Settlers At the Grand Stand Portrait of Hon. Galusha A. Grow Planting of the Centennial Tree Closing scenes of the Great Day Tallies of the Third Day Contributors to the Centennial Fund The Balance Sheet -•*» - V :